"This Beautiful Life"

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing or its characters

Rating: R

Warnings: Romance & Friendship

Pairings: 2x5, others will be present but subtle.

Summary: 3 years after cutting ties with everyone from the war, WuFei Chang gets into a car accident in his way home from a company Christmas party and wakes up to another life.

"This Beautiful Life"

Chapter 17

By the time WuFei's taxi pulled onto that familiar cul-de-sac, the sun had set and small flurries of snow were drifting down overhead. He paid the driver and stood on the curb, staring at that house, as the taxi disappeared down the street. He smiled, comforted by the sight of those snowmen dressed in familiar clothes, the 'Chang-Maxwell' mailbox, the absurd Christmas decorations.

The porchlight shimmered, a beacon on the doorstep, but the lights inside of the house all appeared to be out and WuFei's heart sank. Duo wasn't there. WuFei walked up to the door, finding the housekey in his pocket. Once he stepped inside, he breathed in deep the smell he now recognized as a mingling of he and Duo's scents. He shut the door behind himself and hung his jacket in the coat closet. His eyes swept appreciatively over the living room: the overwhelmed Christmas tree, the worn sofa, the endless pictures and photographs, those two stockings with he and Duo's names crafted with tender care.

WuFei moved to the kitchen, pausing as he saw down the hallway a light on in Duo's studio. So, Duo was home after all. A sense of satisfaction washed over WuFei. He smiled, decided to start some tea and let the other boy continue his work undisturbed for a bit longer.

The kitchen had been cleaned, a few pots and pans drying in a rack on the counter, the teapot sat on the stove. WuFei set water to boiling, and studied the photographs on the refrigerator. He and Duo traveled often together, some of the locations were familiar, others he didn't know. It was evident which pictures were taken before and after they'd become romantic. He blushed to see one featuring the two of them kissing, Duo's arm around his neck pulling him in, his hand curled in the collar of Duo's shirt dragging them closer together. He wondered what it felt like, blushed at the thought and turned away.

WuFei finished the tea, pulling out two mugs and teabags – oolong for himself, jasmine for Duo. He let the two brew a moment before carrying them down the hall, one in each hand. He stopped at the doorframe of the studio.

Duo was at the easel again, his village at dawn had further revealed itself in the canvas. He was leaned in close with a tiny bristled brush, putting in the finer details, his earphones in place blocking off outside sounds. WuFei waited until the other boy straightened to examine his work before knocking on the door. Duo spun in surprise, tugging the earphones out. His eyes widened briefly before softening and casting downward.

"You're back," he said.

"I am," WuFei confirmed. He held out the cup of jasmine tea. Duo accepted it, putting his brush and palette down, and using the mug to warm his hands.

"Did you find what you were looking for out there?" he asked.

"I believe I did," WuFei said, taking a sip of his tea.

"Okay," Duo forced a smile, "That's good, right? Right. It's good. I mean...you needed to find...whatever you found, and you did."

"Nothing."

Duo furrowed his brow, question in his eyes.

"That's what I found there. Nothing. There's nothing in Bergonia for me. There never was. I needed to see that for myself," WuFei nodded at the painting, "It's coming together well."

"Ah, thanks. I've been working on it most of the day," Duo said, mussing the back of his hair with a wayward hand.

"I apologize. I worried you," WuFei said.

"Don't apologize. I have to worry about you, it's my job. I named the painting," Duo told him, grinning, "Actually, you named it. Promise of Tomorrow. Fits it pretty well, huh?"

"It does," WuFei smiled in return, "We should find somewhere to hang it."

"Yeah, we can do that tomorrow. You should look over your bike tomorrow too, it's in the garage. Get an inventory of what needs replacing and I can put in an order with Howard before they get too swamped with government contract orders for the new year," Duo said, taking a few steps to the door.

"Sounds like a good idea."

"Are you hungry? Did you eat on your trip? I made quiche, saved you some in the fridge. I can reheat if you want."

WuFei stepped back to let Duo pass and he followed Duo to the kitchen.

"I'd like that," WuFei said. He watched as Duo pulled the quiche from the fridge and cut a slice for WuFei. Duo put the plate in the microwave and stretched his arms over his head, yawning, and leaned back to face WuFei, his elbows resting on the counter.

"What did you do in Bergonia?"

"Wandered some," WuFei said, shrugging. He put his cup down on the table and took a seat, "I went to Hinkley&Deluth and the apartments where I...at least, where I remember renting a unit. Walked around the area. Thought a lot."

"What did you think about?" The microwave dinged and Duo brought the plate with a fork over to set on the table in front of WuFei and took the other seat.

"Being alone," WuFei said, he took a bite of the quiche, "This is delicious, Duo."

"Thanks. It's Hilde's favorite. She was sorry to miss you at brunch, by the way," Duo said.

"I'm not even certain I remember who Hilde is," WuFei swallowed another forkful of food, startled when Duo barked out a laugh.

"I'll spare Hilde that one. I guess if you don't remember these past three years you wouldn't remember her," Duo said, explaining, "I didn't introduce you two until after we'd been dating a few months. Took her a minute to recover from that one, though, she admitted it made sense why her and I never worked out. I still think she never truly forgave me until after I introduced her to Quatre."

"Quatre," WuFei nearly choked on his next piece of quiche, "She's your ex and Quatre's..."

"Yup. They hit it off. Who would've guessed? Tomboy mechanic, and metrosexual billionaire. Kind of story they sell in paperback at the grocery store," Duo sipped his tea, smiling around the cup, "You'll meet her, again, at the Christmas party. We'll be getting in early, help with set up, give you and her a chance to reacquaint. That's assuming your memory doesn't come back by then."

"Is there anything we need to do before this party? Many people will be there that we call friend. Is there a gift exchange? Do we have presents?"

Duo laughed, propping his chin in his hand, "Do you honestly think you would let us get a week to this party without having all of our Christmas gifts purchased, wrapped, and ready to go?"

"No. I suppose that wouldn't be in my nature."

WuFei wondered what kinds of gifts they purchased for everyone. He imagined the other pilots could be difficult to shop for. Quatre could buy himself anything he wanted, and because of it, didn't value material things. Heero and Trowa were similar but for different reasons. Heero didn't value unnecessary things, so anything he could put to good use he might appreciate, and Trowa was transient, the less he had the better. WuFei realized he didn't even know what he'd purchased for Duo that Christmas, but there were presents under the tree and some of them had to be put there by himself.

Beyond the pilots, there was Sally, Relena, Catherine, and, of course, Lady Une and her daughter, Mariemeae, this Hilde person that WuFei couldn't recall knowing anything of. WuFei frowned, putting his fork down and feeling dizzy, as he realized there could be other friends he hadn't encountered over those past couple days. Duo mentioned Howard, WuFei vaguely remembered the poorly dressed older junk salvager from the war, would he be at the Christmas party and was his friendship with the boys on a level that required a gift? Just how many friends did WuFei and Duo have together?

Duo picked up WuFei's fork and stole a bite of the quiche.

"You're thinking pretty hard about something over there. Maybe I can lighten your load, you think about one half and I'll think about the other," Duo said.

"It occurred to me that I've never been Christmas shopping before," WuFei confessed, "Or, I don't remember having ever been Christmas shopping. I wouldn't know where to begin."

"Not surprising. The first time I took you Christmas shopping was a nightmare," Duo said, "I lost you like twenty times in the crowd, and, at least one of those times, barely found you before you murdered a mother of five. She elbowed you in the eye and was yelling at you for getting in her way and making her lose out on the last of some Princess Peacemaker doll. Corporate crap toy doesn't even pay Relena royalties for ripping off her image."

"That definitely sounds like the Christmas I know and hate," WuFei muttered.

"It got better after I taught you how to move with the flow of the crowd, use it to drift you towards your target instead of fighting against the tide. You grew up on a polite colony, that whole 'excuse me', 'pardon me', 'coming through' crap doesn't work in the real world. By the time I got done with you, you'd blend right into the streets of an L2 slum colony. Also, you got to steer clear of the toy aisles. Luckily, our friends haven't popped out any bundles of joy yet, and Mariemeae's never been a kid at heart, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. Your money's on Relena first, mine's on Hilde," Duo passed the fork back and stretched out his legs under the table, his knee, again, brushing up against WuFei's leg.

"Do I..." WuFei considered the oddity of his words before continuing, "Did I learn to enjoy Christmas shopping?"

"Hell no," Duo exclaimed, smirking, "Well, you'd never admit to it anyways. You do draw up battle plans complete with tactical maneuvers and exit strategies. I keep suggesting we do the shopping earlier, before the Christmas rush, but we haven't managed it yet. I think you like the adrenaline high."

"I doubt that," WuFei said, even as he realized it was probably true. he finished up the quiche and rinsed the plate off at the sink, "Do I ever cook for you?"

"Nope. You're banned from cooking," Duo said. He folded his fingers behind his head and leaned back in his chair.

"Banned? Why banned? I've survived on my own before, my cooking can't be that bad," WuFei replied, returning to his seat at the table.

Duo grinned at him.

"Survived on your own? Tell me, are we talking about your survival during the Take-Out and Delivery era, Flash Frozen Then Nuked to Flavorless era, or the brief, yet memorable, It Came in a Can period? I survived through parts of those terrible times, too, before I claimed the kitchen and instituted your ban by majority vote."

"Okay, fine," WuFei scowled, "You do so much around the house. Do I do nothing for you in return?"

"Well..."

"On second thought, don't answer that."

Duo laughed, "Honestly, you've done more for me than I could ever do for you."

"You keep saying that, and I think I finally know what it was," WuFei said. Duo's face fell.

"You do?"

"I've been thinking a lot about why I would have taken you home from Quatre's party after your outburst, about the outburst itself. You came to live with me because you didn't have a place to live. I got you a job with the Preventers because you didn't have a job. You were required to go to therapy, took up art as a way to work through your problems. You mentioned that it saved your life," WuFei smiled at Duo, smug at having solved the mystery, "I'd heard about other soldiers suffering from a similar depression following the war. Posttraumatic stress disorder, correct?"

Duo's feature's relaxed.

"Complex PTSD," he said, "Counter balanced your own uncomplicated version."

"My..." WuFei made a face. He'd spoken to a psychiatrist once with the Preventers following a disquieting episode after a case where a man had walked into a café with a bomb strapped to his chest and set it off. WuFei had suffered a panic attack at the scene. The psychiatrist had suggested PTSD, but he hadn't been cleared to know details of WuFei's history during the war and, thus, couldn't give a more definitive diagnosis.

Duo nodded, "None of us got out of those wars without a few problems upstairs."

"I don't understand why you would hide this, Duo. It's nothing to be ashamed of," WuFei said.

"I know," Duo shrugged, "But I want to ease you back into our life. Show you it's a beautiful place here before I let you see the warts."

"I see. I think I'll turn in for the night. It's been a long day."

"I'll join you," Duo suggested and WuFei paled, paralyzed in his seat, "Uh...I mean, I'll join you in turning in for the night...but to the couch. Not the bed. With you. That would be silly."

They stood and went to prepare for bed. WuFei scurrying around Duo, unable to keep the blush out of his face when near the other boy. He had made the choice to believe the story of their relationship and to accept this life, which meant at some point he was going to have to share that bed with Duo.

~ * ~

Chapter 18

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