"Ray of Hope "

Written By: SkyLark

Disclaimer: All standard disclaimers apply here

Creative assistance from Sunhawk

Warnings: AU, language and possible citrus.

Rating: NC 17

Pairings: Eventual 1x2, 5xS, references to past pairings that are a surprise.

Beta Writing By: Deb

" Ray of Hope "

[Oh, but at often times, those words get tangled up in lines
And the bright light turns tonight
Oh, until the dawn it brings
Another day to sing about the magic that was you and me]
-Lyrics to "You and I Both' performed by Jason Mrza

Smiling from ear-to-ear, Dorothy cupped Heero's face in her hands and sighed deeply, "I've been worried to death over you these last few months." Her smile faded a bit as confusion filled her pale blue eyes. "But Officer Chang was just telling me on the way here that you had amnesia. How do you recognize me?"

"I tried something that helped me get a good share of my memory back just yesterday," Heero answered nonchalantly, too excited to be with his friend once more. He grinned widely, "We have quite a bit of catching up to do. I met someone here."

With a sharp gasp, Dorothy's eyes widened and she smacked his arm. "You didn't!" she exclaimed. Taking his hands in hers, she
practically bounced on her feet and inquired quickly, "Well, who is he? What is his name? Will I get to meet him soon?"

Nodding, the young sailor replied, "Soon enough. His name is Duo and he runs the lighthouse tower that you probably saw when you came in. And it turns out that he and I have a lot more in common than we realized. I planned on heading out to see him." A proud smile tugged his lips as he stated, "You're going to love him."

The nearly forgotten and still-stunned Wufei remained at the doorway when he raised his hand to get the pair's attention. "Okay, I am confused as all hell here. I thought that the two of you were engaged."

Both laughing, the two teenagers turned to meet his baffled gaze. Wrapping an arm around the blonde's shoulders, he held his free hand out and introduced, "Dorothy, this is Wufei Chang, one of the best law enforcers here on the island. Wufei, this is Dorothy Catalonia- my best friend."

Wufei's eyes widened as he sputtered, "F-friend!? Then, you're not-"

Shaking her head, Dorothy smirked, "No. I couldn't say anything before in case Odin was trying to keep up with the story that we were to be married. I had no way of knowing that he didn't remember his past, and I didn't know who I could trust before I found him."

While it all made sense, the Chinese officer still could not help but shake his head with a dumbfounded look plastered to his face. "So your engagement was a cover then," Wufei stated at last.

"My father was the reason for that," Heero explained, his eyes narrowing at the mention of the Senator. "If he knew that his only
son was gay, I would have been out on my own. And I would have been worse off if word of my preference leaked out to the press, devastating his chances of election to Presidency."

Letting out a low whistle, Wufei rubbed the back of his neck and muttered, "You and Duo certainly did have a bad shake when it came to your fathers." All of the tension and worries that had built up to his bringing Dorothy to the hospital dissipated into relief as he grinned widely, "Speaking of Duo, this is going to be wonderful news for him when he gets here."

His cobalt eyes widening, Heero stepped forward. "He's on his way?" he questioned and held his breath.

With a firm nod, the Chinese officer answered, "I called him just before Dorothy and I headed here. He said that he was going to be showing up soon." Tilting his head with confusion in his dark eyes, Wufei turned to the blonde young woman and asked, "So what brought you here after I told you in our telephone conversation that Odin wasn't here?"

At that, Dorothy couldn't help but chuckle, "Well, no offense, but you're a terrible liar." She laughed all the more at the undignified
look that Wufei gave her. Heero covered his mouth and fought the urge to burst out into laughter, himself, but snickered in his
attempt.

There was another knock on the door before Sally stepped into the room with a bouquet of flowers in her hand. Freezing at the sight of the familiar blonde standing beside Heero, the braided doctor's eyes widened and her mouth fell open. Quickly raising his hand, the young sailor grinned, "Surprise."

Grinning warmly, the slight blonde teenager stepped forward with an extended hand. "Very nice to meet you," she began. "Dorothy Catalonia. You must be the doctor that's taken such wonderful care of my friend, here. I am in your debt."

Numbly reaching out to shake hands with the lovely girl, Sally finally managed a bright smile of her own. "Just doing my job,
Dorothy. Heero stayed up for most the early morning with me telling me about what a wonderful friend you have been to him. This certainly is a pleasant surprise to have you here." Looking over her shoulder to Wufei, she smirked, "Told you that you were a bad liar."

Both Heero and Dorothy broke out into hysterics at the mock glare that the Chinese officer gave the doctor. When they regained their composure, the Senator's son gestured to the flowers in Sally's hand and asked, "Who gave you those?"

Blinking in surprise at the question, the doctor looked down to the roses that she had nearly forgotten about. "I found these out in the hallway, actually," she answered. "Someone must have dropped them on the way to visiting..." her voice trailed off as her eyes widened in concern. Quickly looking over to her boyfriend, she asked, "You did call Duo, didn't you?"

Realization and panic soon filled Wufei's widening eyes as he nodded, "Just before Dorothy showed up. I thought that he would have been here by the time we showed up." Heero was already putting the pieces together as his skin pale. Swallowing hard, the officer said quietly, "He must have seen Dorothy here."

Heero was moving instantly for the door, stating, "We have to get to the cabin. Hopefully, he headed back there." As he opened the door, he looked over his shoulder to Sally and suggested, "Call Noin and make sure that Duo already left. If he did, tell her to keep him there with her if he does show back up."

"Right," the braided young woman nodded firmly as she quickly followed with Dorothy and Wufei right behind.

All but throwing open the front door to the cabin, Heero ran inside and called, "Duo! Noin!" Sally, Wufei and Dorothy followed after him, all to be stopped when Zechs and Solo stepped into the hallway with concerned faces.

From behind the two blonde young men, Noin stepped forward with a deep frown. "He hasn't come back yet. And he never carries a phone on him, so there is no way of getting a hold of him now."

Running a hand through his unruly hair, Heero hissed, "Damn it. Where would he have run to?" He moved past Duo's family and into the living room as he announced, "I'm going to call Trowa and Hilde to be on the lookout for him."

"I'll call Quatre and Catherine from the other line," Noin nodded before running off to the kitchen.

With her sunhat in her two hands, Dorothy nervously fiddled with the brim. Biting her lip, she looked guiltily up to the blonde men
before her. Solo was the first to step forward while clearing his throat. With a slight blush on his cheeks, he spoke quietly, "I'm
Solo, Duo's brother." At that, he held out a hand.

Feeling her own cheeks burning a bit, the blonde young woman smiled warmly and shook his hand. "Dorothy," she replied softly. "Heero's friend." Both Zechs and Solo blinked in shock at her `title'. Chuckling softly, Dorothy told them, "We'll explain in a bit, once we know where Duo is." She bit her lip once more and muttered, "I fear that I am the reason he ran off."

Heero sighed deeply as he stepped back into the hallway. Noin returned with a shake of her head when he turned to her. "He
couldn't have gone far," the young sailor said at last. "Maybe we should just split up and start looking for him."

At that, Zechs grinned, "He'll have to come back eventually, Heero. Whatever misunderstanding there was at the hospital, you can explain once he comes back home." The others all nodded their heads in agreement.

Something wasn't right. Heero just felt it. But unable to think of where his lover would have run to, he did not know where to start
looking-even if they were on an island. Perhaps giving Duo some time was the best thing to do for the time being. Rubbing the back of his neck uneasily, he closed his eyes and sighed deeply, "All right."

Wrapping her arms around the sailor's shoulders, Noin smiled, "Now, why don't you and your lovely friend have a seat. I'll start some tea and we can all get acquainted." Unable able to keep from grinning at the offer, Heero nodded to her.

* * * * * *

Wiping at his shimmer eyes, Duo made his way down the paved path to the large marina. Using the access key given to all of the boat owners that used the facility, he opened one of the large double doors. His feet moving on their own accord, the lighthouse keeper made his way down the middle pier.

Reaching the three boats that his father gave over to him, Duo looked up to the Atlantis. Carefully unhitching the craft from its
post, he climbed aboard and navigated it through the doors that always remained open to the sea.

After reaching about a mile out from the island, the lighthouse keeper turned off the propellers of the vessel and lowered anchor.
Bobbing lightly on the waves, Duo wrapped his arms around his waist and looked back to Horizon Cove.

Satisfied that he was a safe distance from everything as he wanted for the time being, he walked down to the lower deck to lie on the cot down there. Wrapping a light blanket around him, the braided young man sighed deeply as another tear rolled down his cheek. Silently willing the world away for just a moment, he closed his violet eyes and fell into a light slumber.

Back at the marina, Howard and one of his young Sweepers stepped inside. "Good thing you got a hold of me when you did," the old man said as he stepped to the control panel by the main doors. "I was pretty busy this morning and never had a chance to check the weather."

"Well, as bad as they were calling this storm to be, I didn't think you'd be thrilled if the bay doors were left opened," the brunette
young man commented while watching his boss punch the commands into the control panel.

At the last key punch, the bay doors slowly closed away the open sea. When they clicked shut, the hum of the motors working them hissed as they shut down. Wiping his hands, Howard grinned to his student, "Simple as that. Now you know what to do in case you can't reach me at a time like this. I'll leave a sign on the front doors, here, to announce to the owners that we're looking out for them by keeping their boats locked in."

The Sweeper shrugged, "I doubt that anyone will be stopping down to go for a sail with the weather we're expected to get, but that's a good idea." Looking to his watch, he smirked, "Well, what do you say I treat you to lunch, old man."

His stomach grumbling at the mention of food, Howard chuckled deeply, "You know, I always did like you, kid." Sign in hand, he led the way back out of the marina. Looking over his shoulder before stepping out, he called, "Good night, Pretties." That said, he
turned out the lights that normally always stayed on and closed the large door behind him.

TBC

Chapter 36

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