"Whispered Touches"

Written By: Zazu

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing, nor do I own the characters. I have borrowed them here for some fun and creativity, and this is not for profit. I do, however, own the plot mentioned here, and any instances that you may find similar to real life events are purely a coincidence.

Rating: PG-13 (for now)

Pairings: 1+2+1, 3+4+3, 5+M (may progress to 1x2x1, etc)

Notes: Beta-read by ShenLong Deb. Thank you!!

/blah/ denotes thoughts.

Summary: Heero moves to a new house and finds something odd going on, something he's not quite sure about.

Started: June 5, 2006 :

"Whispered Touches "

Chapter 7


"It was a bad idea," Quatre said softly as he and Trowa left the Yuy household. "When we told Duo...the guilt he felt was magnified. What have we done?"

Trowa shifted the backpack on his shoulder. "It wasn't entirely a bad idea. We did find the letter and we did find a bit of the truth. It was a truth that Duo himself didn't know about. Maybe if the entire story is exposed, Duo will learn to accept what had happened."

"I hate to say this, but it does sound like he killed his family."

Trowa put a hand on Quatre's shoulder, seeing the dejected slump of the blonde’s body. "Hindsight is 20/20, Quatre," he said quietly. "The past cannot be changed, but now the very least we can do for Duo is to expose the entire story and find the kidnapper and murderer. And don't forget; it was that person's choice to conduct the kidnapping and murder."

Quatre brought his hand up to his face with a sigh. "I can't believe I just said Duo killed his family. He didn't. He really didn't."

Trowa hesitated a moment, then wrapped his arms around Quatre. "Don't think like that, Quatre," he murmured against the soft, blond locks. "The series of events is no longer important. What's important is helping Duo deal with what happened, after we thoroughly find the truth." Quatre relaxed in Trowa's arms and wrapped his own arms around Trowa's waist.

"Why are you holding me?"

Trowa smiled into the soft hair. "Because I want to, Quatre. And I've wanted to for a long time."

Quatre nodded against Trowa's shoulder. "I've wanted to for a long time, too. Be held, I mean."

"Fine by me, Quatre."

~*~*~*~*~*~

Meiran and Wufei sat against Heero's bed. Wufei's arm was slung around Meiran's shoulders and in the girl's lap was Naoko. Naoko tugged lightly at Meiran's hair and played with the older girl's hand.

"Did you see how upset he looked?" Meiran whispered.

"Yes," Wufei answered. "But maybe he now needs to learn to accept and deal with it."

Meiran leaned against Wufei's shoulder. "But should we keep prying? We've exposed a terrible truth today, Wufei. What if we only keep hurting Duo? He's already lost his family and he doesn't deserve to be hurt any more."

Wufei leaned his cheek against Meiran's hair as his hand joined hers in distracting Naoko. "I know what you mean. It's up to Heero now, I guess."

Meiran sighed. "I wonder if Duo's calm enough to listen to Heero now?"

Wufei shrugged his free shoulder. "We'll know when he comes back from the attic."

"Kissie?" Naoko touched both Wufei and Meiran's cheeks. The two Chinese teenagers looked at each other, then leaned down, each kissing one of the baby's cheeks. Naoko's giggles soothed and distracted the both of them as they waited for Heero's return.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Heero knocked on the attic door and entered when no voice greeted him. He reflected briefly that it was a lucky thing that his parents had gone out for dinner and a movie since Wufei and Meiran were over. Walking up the stairs, Heero glanced around the dark attic, the moonlight filtering in from the window as his only source of light.

"What more do you want?" Duo snarled from his place on top of a box. His shoulders were slumped, his face buried in his hands and he didn't even spare Heero a glance.

"I..." Heero didn't want to be standing over Duo, so he chose to sit on the floor. He'd just cleaned it since the family often went into the attic to re-arrange the boxes, so he didn't have to worry about getting all dusty. "I wanted to apologize."

"And why the hell should I accept your apology when I pointedly asked you not to snoop around anymore?"

Heero averted his eyes. "You weren't happy, Duo," Heero said softly. "And somehow, I wanted to solve the whole mystery for you."

"You mean for yourself. You and your nosy friends."

Heero shook his head. "For you and your family, Duo."

Heero was shocked when he blinked his eyes, winded from Duo's tackle as the ghost clutched his collar.

"And what the hell do you know about my family to start with?" he snarled. "You've done nothing but be nosy even when I promised not to hurt your family. Even when I promised you I had made empty threats." Duo slammed Heero against the floor a second time, leaving the teenager winded yet again. "So give me another damn good reason why I shouldn't hate you right now."

Heero took the moment to catch his breath, drowning in Duo's amethyst eyes that were darkened with anger.

"I'm sorry, Duo," he finally said. "I don't know what else to say. I sincerely wanted to solve the mystery for you. I had no intentions of spreading the word. I admit I was curious, I stepped over the line, but don't you want to know why your family was chosen in the first place? Did you even know the kidnapper?"

Duo suddenly buried his face against Heero's neck. "Why are you being such a bastard?" It took Heero a moment to realize that there were cold tears against his skin. "Why are you making me think, making me remember? I was asleep in this house until you and your family moved in. You made me remember. Your voice woke me up and made me remember things I never want to remember again."

Hesitantly, Heero brought his hand up and rubbed it up and down Duo's back in a gentle gesture. "I want to help, Duo," he said. "I want to help you face this so you won't be here feeling guilty."

"How can I not feel guilty when you've just proven to me that I had really caused the death of my family? Or my mother and baby sister at the very least?"

"Duo, you are not responsible. The person who chose to kidnap your sister, and chose to kill you and your family; he's the responsible one. You have to understand that." Heero hugged the ghost tighter despite the chill that was seeping into him. "Understand that, Duo. You are not responsible. Let me help you get to the bottom of this and put that man behind bars, as a final justice for you and your family."

Duo was silent and still for a long few minutes before he finally nodded against Heero's neck. "You're right," he whispered. "The least I can do for them is to put that man behind bars. To find out why he wanted to kill Dad in the first place." Duo shifted and sat up beside Heero. "Sorry about that," he muttered.

"Don't be," Heero replied. "I'm sorry, for making you feel sad. I had no intentions of hurting you Duo, and I know my friends and I did that today. Gomen nasai."

"What?" Duo muttered.

"Gomen nasai. That means 'I'm sorry', in Japanese."

Duo shook his head. "It's fine. You're right, now that you've found the letter and we know that everything was done not only for money, but also for revenge, I need to find out what exactly that man had against Dad." Duo looked at Heero with a slight frown. "How...Where did you find the letter?"

"I...I found that letter today with your sister's help. I only went to the house because of your sister."

Duo's frowned deepened. "What the hell are you saying?"

"I dreamed of a baby girl the night before," Heero admitted. "I've never seen your sister, but the baby girl had your eyes. She was sitting on the floor next to the couch and she was patting the floor. When we went next door and couldn't find anything, I saw the couch in the living room and decided to give it a go."

Duo stared long and hard at Heero. "You're not lying?" he said in an almost amazed tone. "You went because you dreamt of a baby with the same eyes as me?"

"Well, your eyes are rather difficult to forget, you know? It's the first thing I noticed, aside from your braid, in that picture in the sports hallway of fame." Heero looked away, a light blush on his cheeks from the subtle admission of physical attraction to Duo.

"Well your eyes aren't too bad either," Duo didn't seem to notice Heero's discomfort. "Naoko doesn't have the same blue eyes as you do, but your eyes...almost froze my soul that night I first confronted you guys and you had me against the wall. Well, frozen as I could possible get, given that I'm already pretty cold as a ghost."

"Don't talk like that," Heero said quietly. "Maybe...you don't have to keep saying that you're a ghost."

"But I am," Duo argued. He cast a sidelong glance at Heero. "Or has that not sunk in yet?"

Heero rolled over onto his stomach as he pulled a piece of paper and a pen out of his pocket and began to scribble. "Well people don't go around sighing about the fact they're human-"

Duo chuckled. "Seeing as being human is the normal thing to...well, the normal thing to be, it'd be rather odd for people to lament that fact."

Heero cast a brief, dry look at Duo before turning back to the piece of paper. "What is a normal human?" he asked.

Duo didn't answer, but the tingling feeling at the back of Heero's neck sharpened, along with a cool sensation falling over him. He shifted a little, his peripheral vision informing him that Duo was hovering close. "What are you writing?"

"Drawing," Heero corrected. "It's a brief sketch, but I wanted to show you..." Heero added a couple more strokes before he sat up, bumping Duo along the way. "Sorry," he muttered before offering the paper to the ghost. "I wanted to show you the picture of the baby in my dream."

"Dani," Duo murmured, staring at the face that Heero had sketched. "It's really Dani," he whispered, drinking in the sight of his baby sister. "It's been years since I last saw Dani..." Duo looked up at Heero, his eyes shining with unshed tears. "Thank you, Heero, for letting me see her again,"

Heero shook his head. "You don't have to thank me." He glanced at his watch. "It's late. Wufei and Meiran are probably still waiting for me. Everyone's pretty sorry about what happened earlier. For intruding into your past like we did. But...well, you know where to find me...if you want to talk. Or anything." Heero flushed a little again; those were rather awkward words coming out of his mouth.

Duo nodded. "I'll...come down in a few minutes, to say goodnight to Naoko."

Heero nodded. "I'm sure she'd like that." He stood and headed for the stairs.

"Hey, Heero?" Heero turned to see Duo holding up the brief sketch he'd done, the image of the baby girl facing him. "Meet my baby sister, Danielle. She's almost two years old. She'd be about nine this year."

Heero offered a little smile. "She's a beautiful baby girl."

Duo smiled fondly at the picture. "Thanks, Heero. Dani was beautiful, inside and out. She used to call me "Doh" since she couldn't pronounce the 'u' in my name."

Heero nodded. "I'd like to hear more about her, if you want to tell me about Dani."

"I'd like that, too. Goodnight, Heero."

"Goodnight, Duo."

~*~*~*~*~*~

The following evening, Heero had received permission from his parents to host a sleepover. Wufei and Meiran were still in town for the weekend as it was only Saturday, and both Quatre and Trowa were allowed to join the sleepover. It hadn't taken long for the teenagers to take turns apologizing to Duo as soon as the ghost had appeared, joining them in the basement. They lounged about once the awkward tension had been dispelled. Wufei and Meiran were in a debate about what topping would be the most delicious on the pizzas they were about to order. Duo was reading the book he'd borrowed from Heero, while said teenager was busy setting up Quatre's laptop with his home's wireless Internet connection. Quatre was hiding a grin behind his hand as he watched Trowa entertain Naoko, who was batting at the hair extending in front of his face. Trowa seemed at a loss as to how to treat Naoko, and since the baby girl seemed entertained trying to bat at his hair like a cat after a toy, he simply held the girl to prevent her from falling and turned his head left and right, causing the girl to giggle and continue with her baby talk.

Quatre chuckled as Trowa winced when Naoko hit his nose and watched as the teen admonished Naoko gently about hitting people. Wing joined them in the basement and Naoko lost interest in Trowa's hair in favor of following the dog as Wing padded over to sniff Duo and lick the hand offered to him.

"What's so funny?" Trowa asked in a low voice, combing a hand through his bangs before rubbing his nose.

"You and Naoko," Quatre replied. "She doesn't realize that she hit you, you know?"

Trowa shook his head. "Probably not, but I'm supposed to tell her that regardless, aren't I?"

"Probably," Quatre shrugged. "I'm the youngest in my family so I don't really know how to treat babies either." He glanced around to ensure no one was looking, then leaned close to whisper into Trowa's ear. "Come pick up the pizza with me?"

"They do deliveries though." Trowa blinked at the odd request.

"Just come, will you?" Quatre asked softly, watching as Duo abandoned the book to pull Naoko into his lap and tickle the girl, lying down and letting the baby lie on his stomach while offering his braid to the girl.

Trowa shrugged. "If you two are done choosing the pizza toppings, Quatre and I will go pick it up. We can stop by my family store to pick up some drinks too," he added so no one would make the same comment about pizza delivery.

Meiran shrugged and let Wufei call and order the pizza, her brief glare ensuring that her boyfriend ordered the toppings she wanted. Wufei sighed and dialed the number while Heero tossed his house keys to Quatre, who caught them deftly before heading up the stairs with Trowa only a few steps behind him.

"Who's a cute baby girl?" Duo cooed, tickling Naoko with the end of his braid. "Hm?"

Naoko cooed, taking the braid and promptly putting the end in her mouth.

"Oh Naoko, no!" Duo tried to pry his braid from Naoko's mouth. "Why are all babies like this?" he muttered, tickling the side of her cheek to encourage her to open her mouth so he could remove his braid. Seeing his baby holding what looked like a leash, Wing opened his own mouth in attempt to take the 'leash' into his own mouth. "Wing, no!" Duo supported Naoko easily and rolled to avoid the dog. "Naoko, stop." Duo tried to cast a stern glance at the baby, who paused and released the braid from her mouth. Her eyes shone with tears from his stern voice and Duo was quick to try and distract the baby by smiling and whistling. Naoko planted her hands on Duo's cheeks.

"Mum mum," she said to him.

"What does 'mum mum' mean?" Duo asked.

"She's hungry," Meiran replied, standing. "I'll go get her some food for now. She can eat cut up pizza, right?"

Heero nodded. "Thanks, Meiran."

Wufei blinked as his girlfriend jogged up the stairs and followed after a moment. Duo chuckled. "Everyone is waiting on your hand and foot, baby Naoko."

Naoko reached for Heero, who was still distracted at the laptop. She waited until Duo had set her down and steadied her before she toddled over to Heero and climbed onto his back since he was lying on his stomach. She pulled at his hair and he winced.

"Naoko, no pulling," he admonished, turning a little but unable to discourage the girl from grabbing his hair. She wrapped her arms around his neck with a little laugh and continued her baby talk. He smiled indulgently as he continued to work on the computer. Duo sat down beside him, looking at the screen.

"What are you doing again?" he asked.

"Setting up the wireless for Quatre. Everyone is here for the sleepover, but we have an assignment to finish and submit on-line as well. My computer's going through an upgrade so Quatre brought his laptop over."

"I see," Duo answered, easily loosening Naoko's grip around Heero's neck. Heero shot him a grateful look and turned back to the laptop. Duo looked up the stairs. "What's taking everyone so long to get the food?"

~*~*~*~*~*~

Upstairs, Meiran pulled the apple sauce from the fridge and turned, only to walk into Wufei.

"Do you mind?" she asked, side stepping him to set the jar on the table before she made her way to the cupboard where she grabbed a plastic dish and then the drawer to get a spoon. As she began to spoon the apple sauce into the bowl, Wufei wrapped his arms around her, resting his cheek against her hair.

"Are you mad at me about the pizza toppings?"

"No," she answered.

He smiled a little. "You're mad because I ordered anchovies on one of the pizzas and you don't like anchovies."

She shrugged childishly as she mixed the apple sauce a little and closed the jar. "Can you either let me go, or put the jar back into the fridge?" she asked.

He took the jar and set it back on the counter. "Naoko likes anchovies though," he commented. "And I like anchovies."

"Anchovies are high in cholesterol and sodium," Meiran countered.

Wufei turned Meiran around. "We're teenagers. And Naoko is a baby. We can indulge in high cholesterol and sodium foods once in a while. Pizza overall isn't exactly healthy, you know."

Meiran scoffed, reaching for the jar with one hand as she tapped Wufei's nose with her other hand. "Then neither of you are to come near me in the next twelve hours after you eat anchovies." She bumped him out of the way with her hip before replacing the apple sauce in the fridge. When she turned again, Wufei had her trapped between the fridge and himself. He leaned in to steal a kiss before he pulled back.

"Sorry, Meiran," he chuckled. "But since it's a rare chance for us to get several pizzas unless we're here with a larger group, this is my one chance to eat anchovies, even if I have to find another way to get near you afterwards. I guess I'll just have to get my share of closeness to you now in order to tide me over until you're tired of evading me after I eat those anchovies." He leaned in again to kiss her even as she giggled and turned. He kissed her ear and guided her lips back to his to kiss her again.

"Don't let me interrupt," Duo sang, and the Chinese couple immediately broke apart, Meiran hiding against Wufei's shoulder.

"Maxwell!" Wufei growled. "Have you no sense of privacy?"

"I do, normally," Duo said. "That's why I spoke to let you know I'm passing through. There's a hungry toddler downstairs, in case you both forgot." He picked up the small bowl of apple sauce and made his way silently back towards the basement stairs. "Carry on," he chuckled before disappearing down the stairs.

~*~*~*~*~*~

"So why did you want to make a trip to the pizza store?" Trowa asked as he and Quatre walked down the street. The sun was setting and he admired the sky.

"I wanted to ask you something." Quatre glanced almost shyly at Trowa before averting his gaze again.

"What about?" Trowa looked down at Quatre as the blond detoured from the path to the pizza store to sit on a bench. The streets were empty; the next street over would lead them to the more commercial stores in the neighborhood including the pizza place so Trowa sat down, figuring Quatre wanted to speak privately.

"Yesterday...um..." Quatre fiddled with his fingers and cleared his throat. "I..." he sighed and after a moment, stood. "Forget it. Let's go get the pizza and drinks."

"Hey." Trowa refused to move. "We came out here to get the pizza because you wanted to say something. So say it," he encouraged lightly.

Quatre paused a moment before he sat down on the bench again. Trowa let the other teen gather his thoughts for a minute.

"I wanted to ask you about yesterday, when we left Heero's," Quatre finally said. "If you were doing that just because you thought I needed it, or..." he trailed off again, closing his eyes as a flush crossed his pale cheeks. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to," he added quickly.

Trowa blinked and smiled, understanding Quatre's question.

"Sorry if I wasn't clear," he said softly before reaching to take Quatre's hand into his. "Unless you don't want this," he released Quatre's hand only to have Quatre reach out to stop the retreat of Trowa's hand.

"I do," Quatre murmured. "I just didn't know if you did, too," he confessed. "I...wanted to make sure."

Trowa smiled. "So, is it sure enough now?"

Quatre nodded with a relieved smile of his own. "Do we...tell the others?"

Trowa shrugged. "I don't see why we have to hide it from them. It's our business but I don't intend to let go just because they're around." Trowa emphasized his words by squeezing Quatre's hand lightly.

Quatre grinned and stood, tugging at Trowa's hand. "Come on then. That's been bothering me all day and now that I've cleared it up with you, I'm really, really hungry." He pulled a little to encourage Trowa to walk with him. "Let's go get those pizzas."

Trowa hid a smile at Quatre's happy grin, the warmth inside himself growing at the sight and the knowledge that he was the reason for Quatre's smile. He pulled Quatre to a stop and hazarded a quick hug before continuing on the way to the pizza place.

~*~*~*~*~*~

"So now that everyone has been fed," Heero said as he lounged against the couch patting Wing's head. Everyone else was scattered around. "Maybe we should discuss our next step in solving the mystery." Heero glanced at Duo, who was holding Naoko and helping her drink some water without spilling it.

"Do you know if there are any of your family's things left?" Quatre asked hesitantly. "What happened to your things when...after..." Quatre trailed off.

"As far as I know, a distant relative dealt with the selling of most things like furniture, and the house. I think he donated a lot of other things like our clothes. There was a plastic box though that I think he put in the garage. I don't know what was in it though."

"Garage?" Heero asked, sitting up. He thought for a moment. "There was a box," he remembered. "We didn't look at it while we were unpacking things. Now that you mention it, Mom and I had forgotten about it." He stood. "I'll go get it."

"I'll give you a hand," Wufei said, following Heero up the stairs. A few minutes later the two returned with the box and a rag, which Wufei used to wipe off the dust. Heero then nudged the box towards Duo who set the baby aside and reached hesitantly towards the box. After a moment, he removed the tight seal and pulled the lid open. Everyone gathered closer to peer into the box. Duo pulled out an envelope first and set it aside as another item caught his eye. He lifted a stuffed dog out of the box.

"Dani's favorite toy," he murmured. "Paw. I made him for her back in middle school in the Home Ec class we all had to take." He stared for a long while at the toy before someone else grabbed the toy. He blinked out of his reverie to see Heero trying to discourage Naoko from taking Paw. The girl was pulling at the toy, smiling.

"Naoko baby, no," Heero said, prying her fingers from the worn, stuffed animal.

"It's okay, Heero," Duo let Naoko take the toy, which she promptly hugged.

"Maybe you should open the letter first," Quatre said, his keen eyes seeing the words 'To Whom It May Concern' on the envelope. Duo nodded and tore it open.

"To Whom It May Concern," he read. "The contents of this box are important items that belonged to the family that once lived in this house. It is your choice to dispose of them, but these items may be the key to the family's true identity," he looked at the others. "It's not signed. What identity?" Duo frowned.

"Let's see what else is inside," Trowa suggested. Duo nodded and lifted a family album out of the box, along with three different notebooks. Finally, he pulled out a cross.

"This cross was my mother's," he said softly before setting it down. He lifted the first notebook, a navy one. "My diary," he murmured. Then he flipped open the other two notebooks, his eyes widening. "Mom and Dad's diaries," he said softly.

"We'll leave you to read those, if you choose to read them," Meiran said quietly. "Why don't you guys do your assignment first?" she suggested to Heero, Trowa and Quatre. "Wufei, can you deal with the dishes and maybe take Wing on his evening walk? I promised Heero's mom to bathe Naoko."

Everyone nodded their agreement to the suggestions and went their separate ways. Duo took the three notebooks, his family album and his mother's cross with him up to the attic where he sat by the window. For a few minutes he fingered the cross as memories of playing with it floated through his mind. He wondered why these items hadn't been thrown out, or why the cross hadn't been buried with his mother. Then, he remembered that after Danielle's kidnapping his mother had taken the cross off and vowed not to wear it until her baby daughter had returned safely to their arms.

Duo's hand rested on the cover of the photo album, but he turned away from it to look at the three diaries. With a deep breath, he picked up his mother's and began to read.


~*~*~*~*~*~

To Be Continued...

Written: December 26, 2006

Chapter 8

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