***Duo***

My fist hit the wall and made a small indention. Surprisingly, Heero looked up from his laptop, albeit calmly. He gave me this look that plainly stated "now what."

"I made a mistake with Yuri."

"Obviously."

Sticking my tongue out at him, I continued. "ANYway. You should've seen her with the stimulator; she was awesome. Any other person would just think she's a prodigy, right? Of course she is, but I know her and I know she's been practicing. Someway. Don't ask me how, I don't know. I do know that all that wasn't from memory, because her shoulder muscles tensed. And that means that she's lying!"

Heero nodded. "And what did you do to make her run off?"

"Eheh... How'd you know?"

"It happens in every situation of this type."

"Oh. Well...I grabbed her wrist and told her to tell me the truth."

Again the Perfect Soldier nodded. "I suggest you do what I do, buy her something and beg for forgiveness."

"So Rel can make you do all that, eh? Hehe...Wait 'til all the others find out! They'll be-OWW!" With his amazing speed Heero had crossed the room and grabbed my braid.

"They will know nothing. Wakarimasu ka?"

"Yes yes! Leggo! You're gonna pull my hair out man."

He dropped the braid and I tenderly rubbed my head, wincing. Sheesh. I'm very attached to my head. Literally too.

"Um, thanks buddy. I'm gonna go out and take your advice, so if anyone asks, I'm out. See ya later."

Heero had resumed to typing away at his beloved laptop.

The closest mall was only ten minutes away, but I sped there anyway. I wanted to give Yuri her present before she tried her Gundam. What should I buy her? Flowers wilt, and she was never big on jewelryˇK.then I saw it. An antique store with beautiful music boxes. She once told me she would die without music. Hopefully that's not true.

The tiny brass bell on the door tinkled as I came in. The perfect one was right in front of me. A carousel, midnight blue with stars and moons painted in silver and gold. The horses were sterling silver. I turned the key five times, and a soft melody played. Strange, it sounded faintly familiarˇKwhere had I heard it? It was on one of Yuri's CDs! Three years ago it was her favorite song; I could only pray she still liked it.

The old clerk carefully placed it in a white box and wrapped it up in light yellow paper with cherubs. He smiled tenderly at it.

"Forty-three years ago I made this for my wifeˇKShe loved it so much. Sadly, my dear Lizabeth died during the war. Please take care of it young man."

Hearing that made me depressed. Why did so many innocents have to die? Fate is so cruel.

"I will, sir."

Giving him a fifty-dollar bill, I left the store. It was priced at twenty even thought the worth was much more than that.

Yuri was still up in her room when I came back. Hilde saw me and discreetly exited the room. She saw the box in my hands, smiled approvingly, and silently wished me luck.

"Uh, Yuri?"

"ˇKWhat do you want Duo?"

"I came to apologize, and to give you this."

She turned around to face me and softly said, "You didn't have to go get me something. An elaborate apology would've been enough." A smile appeared.

"Well, I'm very sorry for doing what I did; I had no right to. Hopefully you'll accept this gift as a part of my apologies and like it."

Yuri gingerly unwrapped it and opened the box, taking its content out. As soon as she saw it her eyes watered up.

"Oh my gosh DuoˇKit's lovely!"

"Listen to the song. I don't know if you still like itˇK"

It played out in a clear, tinkling sound. I watched as she brought a hand up to her mouth, eyes starring in disbelief.

***Yuri***

The music box was a beautiful gift, like everything else Duo had ever given me. And the melodyˇK It was Yutada Hikaru's "First Love", one of my utmost favorite songs and one that was hard to find these days.

Duo placed his hands on my shoulder, and I could feel his warm breath on a particularly sensitive spot on my neck. The sensation made my knees go weak. No one had ever made me feel this way beforeˇK And I had certainly never needed either of my past boyfriends the way I needed him right now.

His hands slid down to my waist. I twisted around in his embrace; our faces only inches apart. The violet-blue orbs reflected mine, the same want and longing in both pairs. Slowly, as if time had stopped, our lips met.

The moment was sweet, but I guess it's true that humans really do need air. We reluctantly parted. His gaze on me was too much to bear and I looked down.

His voice barely above a whisper, he asked me the one question I could not answer. "YuriˇKI need to know if you're for real or not. I need an answer. Was that sincere or are you just playing with my feelings. Do you really love me?"

I backed away until I felt the wall bump into me. My eyes shone with hurt and disbelief.

"What..? You think I'm the type of girl who will do anything with any guy? Do you really? Oh my God, Duo! You should know me better than that! Don't worry, your feelings for me are definitely reciprocated but if you must know, I don't feel like I deserve you and I sure as hell don't know what to do with my emotions!!"

I was aware of the fact that my voice had grown louder with each word and that probably everyone in this hallway-which was basically Hilde, Heero, and Relena-could hear me, but I didn't give a damn.

Duo coolly asked me, "So, what, you're saying you're afraid?"

Gritting my teeth I replied, "Yes! I'm afraid! I'm afraid because I've never felt like this toward anyone. Don't you understand?"

"Yuri, you can't always run from your feelings. It won't solve anything and you know that. However, just because I'm saying all this to you does not mean I don't understand your fear. I fully comprehend it and I'm willing to give you the time and space you need, but we can't keep having these episodes that raise my hopes up for nothing. Onegai, Yuri, for both our sakes." I sighed. "It's not like I want to repeat things or evade my problems, but you provoke a passion in me I never thought possible."

"Do I now." He remarked while smirking.

"Yamete. Yea you do. Look, for the time being all I can promise you is that I'll sort things out when this is all over. Until thenˇKI'd appreciate it if you wouldn't breathe on my neck in that place like that! You don't know what that does to me. In any case, if you're not willing to wait for me I'll understand."

"I'll wait for you for all eternity, until the stars fail to shine as brilliantly as they do."

"Thank you...um...I guess I better go check out my Gundam now. Ja."