It had been four years since she had returned to her hometown on Earth. She had regrets of course. Leaving him was on of the hardest things she had ever done, but she had not been unhappy in her new life. Living with Duo had been dark, dangerous, and ultimately unhealthy for the sixteen year old Hilde, so she had said goodbye and gone home. He hadn't known she was gone until he came home two days later, but Hilde hated lengthy goodbyes and she didn't want to know what expression he would wear when she explained herself.

The war had killed most of her innocence and at first, Duo had been her savior. But as time passed, living in the shadow of the war had frustrated her. She didn't want to be an adult yet, she wanted to have some before she grew up completely. Not that Duo wasn't great, but sometimes that brooding look crossed his face and Hilde would realize how much she lived her life in his world. And then there was her growing attraction to Duo. That scared her as much as anything because she knew Duo could take advantage of her weakness of him. Not that he would, of course. She just wasn't ready to cry over a boy, not even Duo. Die for him, yes. Cry over him, no.

Coming home had been good on her worn heart, pouring a salve on old wounds. She hooked back up with her best friend from childhood, Jake, who had come back from the wars minus a leg. It didn't bother her though because he took a strange pride in his false limb, showing it off to people and employing the gift of any war wound by telling his story to any who would listen. Jake's old father had passed on shortly after the first bombing in their small city. The shock of being moved while in a coma had weakened him further, bringing his life to a silent close. He had died in his sleep, which was a comfort to Jake, who had been nursing his sickly father since he was twelve. He had inherited the family business, a small pub that featured a prize fighting ring and devoted all his time to the humble operation.

When Hilde had come back to the town four years ago and had nowhere to stay since her childhood home was destroyed by the bombings in AC 195, Jake had offered her the apartment he owned since he was going to move into the small loft above the pub for convenience. Hilde had declined at first, but when she made Jake promise to sell her the apartment for a fair price, Hilde suddenly found that she had somewhere to be. Instead of roosting in someone else's nest, like a guest visiting from out of town, she now had her own castle and felt secure in her right to command its business.

Jake offered Hilde a job at his pub as a ring announcer and part-time waiter. After a few episodes early on in her career there, Hilde became one of the featured payroll fighters as well. She lost only a few times and that was mostly when she fought another paid fighter in a weapons match. Her talent and graceful intensity were an admirable combination in the ring. Men fought her if only to land one punch or kick. She inspired awe from all within a two hundred mile radius and she beat respect into those who did not yet know her reputation. Jake's business was never slow again with the constant stream of fighters in and out of the pub.

Many of Hilde's old friends and acquaintances had moved on during the wars, so for a long time, she stayed within the small world of her home and the pub. She learned slowly that she had changed too much to return to the past. And so Hilde matured. There was no more of the child who went to war. In her place there was a kind, but aloof young woman of twenty who had learned to overcome her demons and control her life. There was something that haunted Hilde, though. Now that she had grown, she resented her cowardice about not confronting Duo face to face with her problems instead of running away. But she did not take action to mend this error, because she believed that he had buried her in his past. And Duo Maxwell did not like to dig up his past. So Hilde let time pass between them, never forgetting but closing that chapter in her life. Or so she thought.

~*~

Four years. She had been gone four, long years. He knew she had been unhappy after awhile, but he never expected to just come home to an empty house. Knowing so little of Hilde's past and being unable to uncover much about her except army medical records and progress reports, Duo could not figure out where she had gone. And he still did not understand exactly why she had left him. He knew she wasn't angry with him, because the house had been cleaned, the laundry done and even a dinner waited for him in the fridge the day he came home to her only to find her gone. Her letter had been less than helpful in clarifying her reasoning.

"Dear Duo,

By the time you get this, I'll be gone. Don't worry about me, 'cause I'm going home. I guess I won't see you again, so I'll tell you now that you were a great friend and that I will never forget you. I'm leaving because I need some space to breathe. I can't be the reformed Private Schbeiker for the rest of my life. I haveta find my footing in the world, Duo. I can't live under your wing forever. Try and understand. I would hate to think you're mad at me. Well, I guess this is goodbye, Duo. Take care of yourself and be happy.

- Your little friend, Hilde Schbeiker"

And that was it. He had lost her forever, or so he thought. The idea scared him badly, but somehow he hung onto the hope that she would stroll through their door one day, like she had never been away at all. It nagged at him that he hadn't been enough of an incentive to stay. Hilde had always laughed at his jokes and went along with some of his stranger schemes, but there were times when she would look lost and alone amongst his war comrades. She would lose her spark, her flair, and instead she would just pantomime enjoyment of their company. Hilde had demanded of him once why he couldn't just act his age, but had shrunk into her shell immediately afterwards and had refused to clarify what she meant. Duo supposed that the vague remark had had something to do with her departure, but he still didn't understand that she meant that he had gotten old without her and she still needed room to grow.

After Hilde vanished, leaving him her half of their business after one last untraceable withdrawal, Duo threw himself into his work, taking on nearly double the amount of Preventer missions. He kept going, working and joking around with his circle of friends, but Hilde lingered on his mind, even as he encountered other women.

He was a sturdy young man of twenty now, still wearing his hair in a long braid and still as mischievous as ever. He was taller and his wiry frame had filled out with time. He was more rakish now that he had lost the baby fat in his cheeks and his sloping jawbone had become more defined. He still wore black mainly and kept his silver cross around his neck at all times, though tucked under his shirt so no one would see "Hilde" scratched into the back of it. She, like the cross itself, was a good luck charm for Duo, though when he had told her that years ago, she had laughed it off as flattery.

All in all, Duo was the heart throb of the Preventers base, but he never went out with the same girl twice. It took him awhile to realize that he compared them all to the rambunctious tomboy who used to live with him. But Duo still maintained, at least outwardly, that he only thought of her as his best friend.

~*~

"Ladies! Gentlemen! If you will direct your eyes to the stage please! Tonight we have four fights for your entertainment. First up: the human boulder, Hutch Crostley, versus Mitch "Matchlock" Bragdler! Second: Tony Purvis, our rising lightweight contender, versus Vince "The Chill" Matsley! Then, up to fight is the crowd favorite, Dodger Kwas, and his worthy opponent, Tres Ykalr! Finally, our leading lady, Hilde Schbeiker, will take on the man we all love to hate, Duke Lincher!"

Jake's voice crackled over the old speakers and each name save the last was met by chorus of cheers. Lincher's name inspired a resounding howl of contempt from the crowd. Tonight, the small bar was full to capacity with fans here to cheer on their favorite fighter. But the last fight promised some extra fun since Duke was confidant he would beat Hilde, thus earning him a date, or so was his deranged thinking. And knowing the spunky young woman, Duke was going to be in for some serious pain tonight.

Hilde had taken a liking to the fighting in the ring since the war had left her with a thirst for combat. It was also the only place she could be superior to anyone, since most people around town still treated her like she was the little girl from before the war. In the ring, Hilde fell into an almost predatory state, a product of her time in the military.

As odd as it sounded, the fighting had done just as much for her healing process as anything else had. Through her fists, she could harness her anger and control it with calculated attacks. Plus, the feel of flesh and bone impacting with her knuckles was a rush on a purely instinctual level. So as the girl laid back her short hair under a black bandanna and started stretching her muscles while the first fight began, her focus kept her from noticing the dark figure in the corner booth pull out a communication device with the Preventer insignia on it. Nor did she hear him say in a low voice, "Kuan Ti1 reporting in. I think I found something of interest. Bring Hades. Kuan Ti out."

1. (a Chinese god of war, who is honored b/c he prevents war rather than causes it)

~*~

The heavily clothed figure groaned inwardly as he followed his companions through the small town's streets. For some reason, "Kuan Ti" had wanted them to come to a little bar to watch some prize fighting match. Not his idea of a fun evening, but since they had been sent out here on a reconnaissance mission, fun had been hard to come by.

But still, waking a guy up and dragging him out to a pub was no way to have fun. Except if you wanted to get drunk, which did not appeal to him at all.

The three other men with him did not leave him enough room to escape, so the man sighed again in resignation to his fate. Besides, it it was prize fighting, he might be able to vent and earn some pocket change at the same time.

Grinning darkly, he cracked his knuckles in anticipation. Some unlucky fool was going to pay dearly for the God of Death's lack of sleep.

~*~

Hilde gingerly stepped closer to the ring and slipped her finger less gloves onto her hands. The bandanna keeping her unruly bangs out of her eyes was readjusted as Hilde waited for the match between Dodger and Tres to end. As Duke hopped around outside the ring in a strange warmup exercise, Hilde crouched on one knee and focused her mind on the fight, more out of habit than necessity. Hilde had fought Duke Lincher dozens of times and the pompous fool had yet to land one blow. It was a record she quietly prided herself in.

This time, though, she knew that she shouldn't play with him in the ring. Hilde needed to pull a short, swift knockout, which was not her usual style. But even an idiot like Duke would be able to see how she would be guarding her left side after awhile. And the less people were aware of her lingering injury from two weeks ago, the less chance of Hilde being challenged to many matches after the one with Duke. The crowd would understand if she was slightly off her game, but there would be no forgiveness if they knew she was so far off her normal level. Hilde was hoping her plan would work as well in reality as it did in her head.

None of the other paid fighters would be challenging her for awhile, namely because Duke was the only one who worked at the pub who was ignorant that Hutch had actually broken two of Hilde's ribs the last time she was in the ring. The crowd couldn't tell because Hilde had ridden her adrenaline rush through the end of the fight, which she finished well. Tres had caught her afterwards and ordered that she let him give her side an examination, since he had noticed her difficulty in breathing.

Except for Duke, the fighters at the bar had an odd sort of camaraderie. When they were in the ring together, they fought hard, but always as a sort of sport, never out of malice. Tres was the "doctor" of sorts, while Mitch managed scheduling and match ups. Hilde was the only female fighter, but the boys treated her no differently than they would each other, nor did they go any easier on her in the ring, which was exactly how she liked it. And except for Duke, she was fairly evenly matched with any of the other fighters.

That man was a fluke more than anything when it came to his employment. He had fought a few exhibitions against a precious fighter and had filled in for him during a couple of absences. When the fellow was called away to live permanently with his cousins on L5, Duke had been an interim until a better fighter could be found. Unfortunately, even when they had hired Vince, Duke didn't leave. So they all beat the crap out of him every week and he never seemed to take a hint. About a year ago, he had gotten it into his head that he was the one for Hilde, so he claimed the day he beat her in a match, he would also win a date with her. Tonight's match was no exception to the "rule." The only reason Hilde was fighting, though, was because she needed to satisfy both her pride and the demanding crowd of customers.

Hilde heard the door open and close from across the bar. She barely paid attention to the sound, though she had the passing thought that it was rare to get customers this late. Most people knew to be here long before the matches started. No other thought could be given to the matter, because Dodger had been disarmed and pinned by Tres, finally ending their match. It was time for Hilde to fight.

The two sweaty men exited the ring to the music of people's voices and as he passed, Dodger lay a hand on Hilde's shoulder and squeezed once in encouragement. Duke pulled himself up into the ring by the fraying ropes and pranced around the ring, punching imaginary opponents to the jeers of onlookers. Hilde entered more quietly, standing in her corner, deceivingly tranquil. After yelling incoherent boasts into the mocking crowd, Duke took his place in the corner opposite.

Jake stepped into the ring and called out the money stacked against each corner, referring to Hilde as red and Duke as blue. While he spoke, Hilde removed her thinning sweatshirt jacket, leaving her in a loose-fitting black, sleeveless shirt and a heavily worn pair of jeans. Her dirty, black boots from her OZ days peeked out from underneath the hem of the pants. She did not show more skin than necessary because of scars from her wartime battles, but she was never a flashy girl anyway, so it was no great loss.

Jake retreated to the ropes again, and as he hopped down from the ring, he threw a cautionary glance Hilde's way. Ignoring it, she patiently waited for someone to ring the bell to begin the fight. When she was focused, everything went into the fight and all other things were blocked out of her mind. Only a very few things could break her intense concentration now.

The bell sounded and its dull tone was still ringing as Duke launched himself at Hilde. She ducked away and drove her fist into his arm to give her some room to evaluate his strategy and to keep from letting their height difference from becoming a problem. Duke whirled, teeth flashing and fists raining down towards the slim young woman. She weaved in and out, darting from place to place, landing powerful blows on his arms, making them heavy with pain. As his blows became weaker and sluggish, Hilde took the offensive, Her knuckles slammed into his sides and a well placed kick to his shoulders nearly knocked the much larger man off his balance.

Over and over, she sliced in and pulled out, quickly wearing Duke down. She dimly heard Vince yell from the sidelines to finish it, but Hilde couldn't disappoint the crowd. The roars of the people around the ring drove her on and on, past when she should have been brought to her knees in pain

~*~

"She should finish him off. She's won already, that much is obvious," murmured the normally silent young man.

Kuan Ti looked impassive, but his eyes betrayed odd concern. His blonde friend pressed him for an explanation, and slowly he replied. "She's guarding her left side. She was injured before she stepped into the ring tonight. If she wants to keep up the charade of normalcy, she should pull out now, before the lumbering oaf figures her out."

The figure to Kuan Ti's right made a grunt of agreement, rubbing his thumb slowly over the fingernails of his right hand in slow, measured movements, containing his own urge to fight. The blonde and the first speaker, a tall man with long, brown bangs, nodded and returned their gaze to the fight.

It was Hades, though, who did not answer. He watched every movement the fierce slip of woman made. His mind was whirling, arguing violently back and forth about the object of his attention. His breath seized every time she narrowly missed a hit. His pulse raced as she landed blow after blow. Could it be? Who? Who?

Her bandanna slid off as she spun from an attack, fluttering to the ground like a raven's feather. It clicked. The eyes, the exposed hair and its close crop, the tough little frame that had pulled through countless injuries. He didn't notice himself stand and when he thought he whispered her name, he screamed it in desperation and shock.

Time slowed to a crawl. Their eyes met, her tense arms relaxed, scared blue orbs stared at him across the smoke-filled room. Then she convulsed, her eyes widening in shock and pain. Blood reddened her pale lips as tiny droplets sprinkled the floor. Duke withdrew his fist from her side and watched triumphantly as she crashed to her knees, holding herself as if she thought her body would fly apart at any moment. And as the other fighters rushed the stage to her side, just before the huddle around her closed completely, she raised her eyes to his again and her crimson dyed lips weakly formed his name.

~*~

"Duo."

Vince and Jake laid Hilde out lengthwise on the mat as Tres pushed her shirt up and felt her bandaged ribs. The set had been broken and more likely than not, a lung had been punctured. Jake ran for the phone as Mitch herded people out of the bar.

The sound of flesh violently meeting flesh dimly registered in Hilde's mind. Duke's sharp cry and a thud met her ears, and painfully she managed a small smile. The people around her were shifting, it was too blurry to see much, but she felt the bodies harshly being removed. There was yelling, but it sounded like they were all far away.

Something warm wrapped around her and a smell wafted over her, a smell that reminded her of safety, of home. She relaxed; she was protected now, nothing could happen to her. Her mind, foggy for reasons that she couldn't quite understand, struggled to reach out to the reality that was escaping her, to acknowledge her transference of control before sleep took her. Only one word emerged from the dense gray mist that overtook her body and as she slipped away, she heard the most beautiful thing in the world and all its colonies.

"Hilde, I'm here..." "Duo..."

~*~

It was bright, very bright. There were two intense lines of yellow light, from which orange-red light branched out to touch the edges of consciousness. She squeezed her lids harder, trying to reachieve the deep blue she had been swimming in for so long. But the light refused to release her, and as punishment for her struggle against it, the light rained a slow, throbbing pain down on her body. She groaned in protest and a few short seconds later, a shadow passed over her, cooling the heat that had burned her face, and though the pain did not subside, she smiled in pleasure because now the light would suffer for its unjust treatment of her. Her protector was here.

"Duo."

She wanted to see him, so she wrestled against her locked eyelids, sticking to each other from disuse and sleep. She heard him hum at her softly in amusement and she tried harder to break free of her foggy prison. Her took her hand into his big, warm one and he brushed his thumb over her knuckles.

There! Her eyes opened, but her vision was too blurred to see anything more than a dark outline against white. Slowly, she blinked her eyes as more and more of him came into sight.

"Duo," she sighed in relief as she finally cleared her vision completely.

"Hey there, Hilde-babe. Long time, no see," he crooned in an odd voice.

She squinted in confusion, but let it pass. A wave of deja vu hit her and she remembered her last stay in a hospital, so many years ago. He has been there then too, with news that the war was over and that it was time to go home. Back then, home had been a solid word; now, Hilde seemed to use it very loosely, referring to an apartment that she spent so little time in, a place that held few memories and even fewer possessions.

She had left much of her stuff at Duo's house when she had left, since it was bought with money from their business. Being a fighter at a bar was not nearly as lucrative a business and Hilde had lost interest in buying herself trinkets long before the war. When she had lived with Duo, she had a desire to make their home a haven, but her current apartment was just the place where she slept. Most everything she had now was scraps of her life from before the war, what she had had when with OZ, and some things Duo had given to her. And pictures. Hilde had always loved taking pictures, so her tables and parts of the walls were covered in photographs from all parts of her life.

Pictures of her family. School photos where she was smiling with dimpled cheeks and sporting strange haircuts. Pictures of her friends in OZ. Newspaper clippings Jake had saved of her trial and dishonorable discharge. Pictures of her and her "townie" friends. Pictures of Jake. Pictures of the other fighters posing in goofy "muscle-builder" stances. Pictures of Duo. Lots of pictures of Duo.

He looked different from the sixteen year old she had left behind. His face was thinner, more defined, and though still slim, he now took up much more room, partially because of his new height. He was a man now, Hilde realized slowly.

"And what does he think of me?" Hilde panicked inside, "I still look like a kid!"

His eyes, his deep purple eyes, they were still the same she saw, to her great relief and comfort. But what kind of emotion was flowing out of his eyes now, Hilde hardly knew.

~*~

"Oh God, help me," thought Duo as he held her hand and she smiled at him.

A wave of unconnected feelings washed through him as she said his name and all he could do was let a smile tug at the corner of his mouth. She looked basically the same, but there were small differences. Like the light tan or the way she had filled out into her frame. Hilde was no longer a child, and Duo didn't know whether to be sad or pleased about the changes.

"Hey Duo," she said in a rough, crackling voice.

He released her hand and retrieved his glass of water from the nearby table and put it into her hands.

"Thanks."

She lightly tilted the glass with both hands and clumsily drank the cool liquid to relieve the burning dryness in her throat. When some of the water dribbled down her chin, she blushed and laughed carefully, knowing now that the pain she felt was centered around her left lung.

With uncertain hands, Hilde returned the glass to Duo, who was looking on in concern. An awkward ate the air between them as he set the glass down again. After an eternity of gazing at each other, yet refusing to look at the others' eyes, Hilde broke the quiet reverie.

"How have you been?"

"Busy. Between the scrap yard and the Preventers, I don't have much time to breathe, let alone relax."

"Anyone special?"

Duo paused before answering that one. "No, can't find the right girl, you know? How about you? Any lucky guy lined up?" he asked nervously.

"That's a laugh. Besides that freak Duke, nobody wants a girl like me as anything more than a buddy," she said casually.

"That's hard to believe," Duo laughed, thinking about his own trouble forgetting her special qualities when looking at other women, "How 'bout that Jake guy who keeps coming in?"

Duo's stomach twisted tightly in wait of the response. "Jake?" her nose wrinkled and her eyes laughed, "Ugh, no way! Jake's like a brother. I mean, I remember when he used to squash bugs between his hands, then come and show me and then chase me with the nasty bug goo, trying to wipe it in my hair. No thank you, a little too much history there," she said, exaggerating her point by rolling her eyes.

Duo's stomach untwisted itself and then joined with the rest of his internal organs in a merry little dance around his chest cavity. Hilde was free! She wasn't in love with anyone! Wait! Why did he care?

The though came upon him so suddenly, he did not stop the frown from crossing his face.

"Whatcha thinking about, Duo?"

He snapped out of it quickly, but he knew he was up against a wall now. "Nuthin', Hilde-babe," he laughed nervously.

"Uh-uh, you're not getting away that easy, braid boy. C'mon, spill."

He lost all thought at that moment. If you had asked him years later, he would've told you his brain died and his mouth took on a mind of its own. Whatever it was that happened, Duo spilled the most dangerous question he wanted to ask her without any working up to it, thus blind siding Hilde with a difficult situation.

"Why did you leave?"

~*~

It hung in the air like a knife threatening to cut them both at any wrong move. Duo looked shocked at his own words and stepped back, fumbling for an apology, some way to heal the moment they had been sharing. His hand was caught, though, in her small one, and the young woman refused to let go.

"C'mon Duo. Let's talk about it, if that's what you want," she said softly, her eyes downcast, but her hand firmly embedded in his own.

"Why? Why didn't you come to me? Talk to me then. I would've tried to help."

"Duo, do you know what it's like to have a birthplace?"

Her question, in all its randomness, caught him off-guard. "No. I was always alone, never had a home that didn't get blown up for good before."

"I had a birthplace, Duo. I had a few people to come back to. My childhood wasn't completely destroyed. Four years ago, I was still a kid, whether you thought so or not. I still needed the place where I was born to be who I was. I needed people who knew my parents. I needed people who could tell corny old stories about how I used to terrorize their poodles, or whatever. I needed to grow up the right way. I wanted to finish school. I wanted to be a kid. The more I was with you, the more I sold away the person I was before the war. And you? You were my best friend, but you had all those other friends and people around you all the time. I was just that poor girl you picked up along the way. I wanted to be more than that, Duo. I wanted to have my own friends, ones I didn't make through you. I wanted you to see people from my history, but I had to come back to find them, and you never wanted to talk about anyone leaving. So I denied that ever had a past for you. I let myself be the clown dependent on you. But I wanted to be more than that. I wanted to be able to take care of myself. But most of all? I was scared. I cared about you and it scared me because I was just this kid inside, and you were the Shinigami. You were a man already. And you didn't need to prove anything to anyone. You needed an equal, and I just wasn't it, so I had to leave. I was living off of your life. As wonderful as it was, it was still me giving up everything for you, and I wasn't old enough to do that to myself. I needed to just live for me, Duo. I needed to be me."

Her confessions floored him and his eyes studied her trembling visage as she studied the other wall. He watched painfully as she bit her lip, then put up her walls again, the few he had never managed to knock down. After a long space of silence, he took his hand from hers gently. Moving to the door, he stopped only as his fingers played on the cool metal doorknob.

"I never meant to make you choose between me and the rest of your life. You're the most important person in the world to me and I hate that you felt scared of me. I just...I only ever wanted you to be happy. My door's always open, no commitments necessary, Hilde-babe. "

He shut the door softly behind him, too late to hear her much softer and gentler, "Thanks, Duo."

~*~

Two weeks passed in her apartment and Hilde was going nuts. Well, she had yet to give in to daytime television programming, but she was close. Instead, she had set to the near-impossible task of organizing her picture collection. She had finally finished pre-OZ, OZ, and recent. There was a reason she hadn't sorted through what she affectionately dubbed "The Duo Era." But, when one has nothing to do and is cursed with ruthless efficiency at everything they do, it was only a matter of a few days before there were only picture of L2 left unsorted.

She studied each picture of her younger self carefully and she studied the pictures of Duo even more carefully. Hilde had long since made peace with her decision to leave him, but suddenly she realized how often she felt lonely and hollow, even with the guys from the bar and with Jake around, all of whom she dearly loved like her lost family.

Slowly, wheels turned in her head. How old was she now? Twenty? And yet, she still had to act like the sweet and innocent child around town. Why did she feel so alive in the ring? Why did that fighting make her feel worthwhile? Why did she change into an older, more mature person in the fight? Why was she two different people, one on the outside and one on the inside? What did she have here besides friends? A past? Did she want to cling to the past forever?

Hilde spread her photos of Duo out on the carpet in front of her. Her deft fingers brushed across the glossy surfaces of the prints. Her brows furrowed as she glanced at them. A paper edge snagged her finger and a thin line of red rose on her ivory skin. Gingerly, Hilde took up the offending picture and looked at it closely.

It was one of herself, standing in their living room, in a mock fighting pose brandishing a pillow and smirking at the camera operator, ready to strike. "Duo must've taken it...," she muttered appreciatively.

She realized that her finger could be bleeding on the back of the print and she flipped it over to check for damage. Instead, she was greeted by Duo's scrawl in black ink. The two words there made reality crash in on her. "My Hilde."

There was a small smiling doodle next to it. A smiling doodle with a braid. Hilde's breathing returned and everything focused suddenly. Ruthless efficiency set in with a vengeance. Stumbling for the phone, Hilde punched a number that she hadn't dialed in four long years, but her fingers punched the key pad in confidant rhythm.

"Maxwell & Schbeiker Salvage Company, can I help ya?"

"Howard? Hi, it's Hilde..."

~*~ Duo moved slowly up the concrete steps to his house and slid his key into the lock. The darkness around him only added to his exhaustion. Seeing Hilde on Earth four weeks ago had taken all the energy out of him. Debriefing had been a hassle and he had been acutely aware of the people who had greeted his friends upon their return.

"Not like they need the attention. We were only gone two months," he growled as he entered the house and fumbled with his jacket, throwing it on the chair next to the door. All he wanted now was to crash on that soft bed of his and think about the new Hilde until he fell asleep. He had seen her a couple of times from afar since her release from the hospital, but hadn't had the nerve to approach her after their talk. She was better off with her friends.

His dark house was comforting and warm to his shattered nerves. It took him a moment to register the flickering screen across the room and the tantalizing smell of popcorn. At the sight of a small head over the back of the couch, Duo automatically slipped out his pistol and stealthily snuck up to the intruder.

Suddenly, he roughly grabbed the person around the neck and pressed the barrel of the gun to their temple. To his utter surprise, the person barely shifted. Instead, they took another few kernels out of a bowl in their lap and popped them into their mouth.

Then Duo inhaled, in surprise mostly, but when he did, he was greeted by the smell of soap mixed with a sweet fragrance he knew from the pillow he slept with when he was home. The pistol, safety on, slid down to the cushions of the couch as he whirled around to the front of the couch to face her.

"Hilde!" he cried, hands gripping her shoulders.

She smiled broadly at him and put her hands on his shoulders. "Duo!" she laughed in imitation.

Removing her hands, she pushed the bowl out of her lap and brought her knees up to her chest. "Did you expect someone else?"

Stepping back, he looked at her carefully. "What about your home? And your injury? How'd you get on a shuttle with an injury like that?"

Hilde smiled at him and patted the spot next to her, putting the gun on the floor.

"After the movie, Duo. After the movie." A long moment passed before he grinned widely and plopped down next to her, grabbing a handful of popcorn and stretching himself out over the length of the couch, draping his legs over Hilde's lap. "So...what're we watching?" he asked around chipmunk cheeks.

Laughing, she shoved his heavy legs away and settled into an old custom reborn.

~*~

The third movie was almost over and Hilde was now half-asleep, leaning into Duo's chest with his arms wrapped around her waist protectively. Now or never.

"Hey, Duo."

"Hmm...?" he asked groggily.

"If you want...I'll be your Hilde again," she said quietly.

Duo digested her words a moment then smiled softly. Glancing down at her face, he knew she was asleep finally. He tightened his grip on her lightly and in the flickering blue of the screen, he answered, "Welcome home, Hilde. Welcome home."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~