Night. Pale moonlight was shining through the thin clouds and the stars twinkled in all their glory. The braided boy in cage no. 2 – the cage in which warrior and soldier slaves were locked up - sat still, watching the moon. It seemed that the moon was very special today.

Duo stood up and went to the iron bars, so that he could look over at the newcomer, the boy in cage no.1 – special slaves. That boy had brown, messy hair and was very strong. Duo couldn’t imagine how he could have been caught without problems.

That said boy was indeed not an easy one to catch. The merchant who owned those slaves, Zechs, was very proud of his new one. He lost about four men to get this special soldier.

Duo remembered how the boy struggled while they put the chains on, and how he kicked and punched as they threw him into the cage. It was yesterday when Duo heard his name for the first time: Heero. Heero, the strongest slave he’d ever seen.

That cage no. 1 was empty for most of the time. As soon as anyone got into that cage, that person soon was sold.

Duo didn’t want Zechs to sell the boy. Heero, that strong boy, could actually help him to get out, so thought Duo.

The braided boy had been a slave since the day his parents died, six years ago. Since then, he was sold and then refused, sent back. Wherever he was, he wasn’t there for long. Either he was so annoying that his owner had enough of him or he didn’t do what his master told him. No matter what he did, he always ended in the same cage where his slave-life had begun.

Duo smiled to himself, thinking about it. He could eventually get free if he could get Heero on his side. Freedom- A dream Duo had for about five and a half years by now.

He decided to contact the newcomer for the first time. Glancing over to the boy, he broke the silence of the night.

"Hey, newcomer . . . " he whispered. No reaction. "Heero . . ." Still nothing. "Hey, boy in cage No 1 . . ." Silence. "C’mon, H-e-e-r-o."

"Hn?" – " Ah, you’re awake, newcomer?"

"Of course I am. How could anyone be sleeping with your talking all the time?" The answer was a snort.

"Hey, I just wanted to welcome you. I wondered how they could actually catch you, you seem to be very strong."

"Hn. None of your business. Go to sleep and leave me alone."

"Heyyy . . ."

"Listen. If you want to stay alive in case I ever get a hand on you, you better shut up now."

"Okay, okay . . . man, you’re really unfriendly."

Duo sat down again, taking a comfortable position to sleep. He had a first impression of the boy now. He was the perfect boy for his plans, a perfect soldier. That boy sure would lead him to his freedom, one day.

Finally, he surrendered to his dizziness and fell asleep.

But Heero couldn’t sleep now. He had to think about what that boy just asked him. Hell, how did they really get him? He didn’t know. That whole day while he sat in the cage he asked himself over and over again, how could they actually get him?

He didn’t know and finally was too tired to think about it. He could think about it later. He was sure he’d spend a lot of time there from now on, although he wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. But first, he had to find his mistake so that he’d never do it again. The last image he saw was the full moon above him before he finally fell asleep too.