Slowly Fading Part 2 Written by: Elly-chan http://finalheaven.cjb.net/ orangefanta@earthlink.net One Year Later: Duo and Hirde have been living happily together, they started a small trade business and have been doing well financially. Neither of them have brought up the subject of marriage. They've received an invitation to stay with Relena for 2 months during the summer, and also informed that the rest of the `gang' will be there also. Part 2 starts off when they arrive at Relena's mansion. Duo looked at Hirde and smiled. She looked so beautiful in the summer. She was dressed in a loose dress that came to her knees and was yellow in colour. The soft breeze was blowing her hair around her face and her dress tight against her body. A straw hat rested on her back, tied around her neck by a small pink ribbon. She was looking up at Relena's mansion with wide eyes. "Duo! We're staying here? This is amazing!" She ran up to him and threw his arms around him and laughed. "I've never seen a place like this in my life, it'll be perfect!" Duo laughed and swung her around, he felt the same way. He was glad to be back on Earth and away from the shop for a while. He looked up to see Relena running down the walkway towards them. "Relena! You look well. Where do we throw our stuff?" She looked over at their bags, which were rather scarce. "Light packers?" Hirde nodded, "We never pack much. bad habit left over from our jobs I suppose." "Well, that's okay, just yell at one of my butlers whenever you need something, they'll be pleased to get it for you." Relena held her hand out to Hirde. "I'm Relena Peacecraft, pleased to meet you." Hirde released Duo from the embrace and brought her hand down to shake Relena's. "I'm Hirde, Duo's girlfriend," She smiled widely, "We're so pleased to be here! You have no idea how thankful we are." Relena laughed softly, "I'm sure I have somewhat of a clue. Come on in, we're seated at the table for lunch at the moment, the others arrived earlier this week." Duo picked up the bags and followed Relena inside, noticing how perfect the lawn and gardens were kept, it sure as hell wasn't like that at his place. Duo remembered trying to start a garden, but he soon got bored of it, and as Hirde predicted, he ignored it. Like many things. but what could he say? It was his personality! It's what made Duo Maxwell the GREAT Duo Maxwell. In the hallway Relena motioned for one of her butlers to come over and take away their bags. "I'll show you to your room after lunch, since the others are waiting." Duo nodded and then looked over at Hirde, "You ready to meet everyone? You haven't exactly been acquainted yet, since you were unconscious." Duo trailed off in a grin as Hirde looked at him with a scowl on her face. He nudged her lightly and laughed, "Come on hun, you know I'm just playing, they'll love you." Hirde began walking after Relena, mumbling something under her breath, which Duo thought sounded something like, "Hmph, they better." When they walked into the dining room, they were greeted by an extremely happy, but normal, Quatre. His eyes were wide and he had a grin on his face, he had stood up from his chair and raced over to Duo, grabbing him and giving him a hug. "Duo-kun! It's been a whole year! You should have at least given me a call!" Duo released Quatre and shrugged, "Well, I've been kinda busy, I've had a lot of stuff on my hands. And I never knew women were so hard to keep happy." Quatre laughed and glanced at Hirde, "Hirde? I remember you from the war. I'm glad to see you recovered nicely. I'm Quatre Winner." He held his hand out and Hirde brought hers up to shake it and smiled. "It's nice to meet you, Quatre. I've heard a lot about you from Duo. It's a shame we haven't met sooner. I'm not that much trouble unlike Mr. Maxwell here claims." Duo walked over and took his seat at the table, a waiter had pulled out a chair and motioned for him to sit. He was seated with Quatre on his left and Hirde on his right. Boy would this dinner be full of polite gestures and smiles. He was surrounded, there was no way out. "Duo." Duo looked up when he heard his name and saw Heero sitting diagonal from him. He smiled and waved, "Oi! Heero! Keeping up with Relena? Same old grouchy self? Still the perfect soldier? Any kids..?" "No, no, yes, and definitely no." Heero looked down and begin picking at his food, "Good to see you again." "Ditto!" Duo also greeted Trowa, whom didn't have much to say.but that wasn't a surprise. The boy never spoke unless spoken to. Sometimes that was a good thing also. Hirde always said she wished that Duo were given that ability, instead of talking 24/7. Duo noticed someone's absence in-between of stuffing his face full of food and answering questions about how his life has been. "Hey, guys, where's Wufei?" Relena spoke up first, "He accepted my invitation to stay here, and he's arrived. But we haven't seen much of him since. He keeps to himself a lot. He eats dinner with us occasionally. I guess we can't do anything about it." "Ah, he was always wanting to work alone. That sounds like Wu alright! He was always talking about injustice and justice and stuff." Duo continued mumbling about Wufei as he stuffed his face full of the various types of food that the waiters had placed on the table. Quite a lot of choices for lunch, he thought. But, he wasn't going to complain. It had been a long trip to Earth. When they were all done eating their meal, minus Wufei, Relena stood and lead Duo and Hirde to their room. She lead them down a hall with four other doors, two on one side and two on the other. Expensive paintings decorated the walls, as well as a gold dresser between two of the rooms. If they made the hall look this nice, Duo couldn't help but wonder what the hell they would make the room look like. Relena stopped in front of the door at the end of the hall, "This is your room, you remember how to get here?" She laughed. "If you get lost just ask someone, I'm sure they can help you. There are servant bells at the end of each hall, all you need to do is give it a ring." She opened the door and stood back to let Duo and Hirde walk in ahead of her. "You'll be sharing a bathroom with the room next to you. This won't be an inconvenience to you will it? If it is I'm sure I could arrange to move you elsewhere." Hirde fell back on the bed, which was draped with a lace canopy, with silk sides that were attached at each post. She would have to let those down sometime.it would be awfully romantic. "Iie, it's fine Relena! We're thankful that you let us come, sharing a bathroom isn't that big of a deal." She smiled and kicked her feet. Relena began to walk out, "If you need anything, just let me know. Dinner is at 7, I'll leave you alone so you can unpack your things! See you then." She closed the door behind her, leaving Duo to drool at his surroundings. On wall there was a large window and two glass doors that lead to a small porch, they were on the third floor, so it would make for a nice view. On the wall to the right of the doorway, there was the bed, which was the largest and most beautiful bed Duo had ever seen in his life. He'd definitely have fun in here. He looked over at Hirde and grinned, walking slowly over to her and straddling her waist on the bed, leaning down to kiss her softly. "We can pack later." Hirde returned his kiss and then motioned to the window. "Sweetie, shouldn't we put down the shades?" Duo groaned and did as she asked, and shortly taking his place on top of her as they fell into the soft sheets.