While WuFei was off talking to his dead wife, Duo was busy gathering his sewing supplies and trying to calm himself.

The braided boy wasn't very successful in controlling his emotions, so he decided to let them wear themselves out.

"Duo no baka, Duo no baka, Duo no baka!" he sobbed to himself, picking up the last of his materials and heading over to the door.

"I know I'm better at controlling my emotions than that, so why did I let him get to me like that? Not even Heero has made me cry in front of him... Not in a long time..."

Duo opened the door and left the room, kicking the door shut behind him. The sound when it closed was louder than he had expected, and he looked around nervously to make sure none of the other pilots were nearby.

He paused for a moment, unsure of whether he should go back to his room or find somewhere else to go.

"I don't want Heero to think that I'm weak, getting upset and crying over `nothing.' " he mused, still sniffling even though the tears had finally stopped flowing.

Duo's relationship with Heero was relatively new, only three months old, and they were still dancing nervous circles around each other. Duo didn't want to risk doing something to make his lover think less of him.

"I don't know where else to go though..." he thought. His mind finally made up, he headed back to the room he was currently sharing with the Wing pilot.

Stopping in front of the bedroom door, Duo scrubbed away the tears that were still lingering on his face, then entered the room warily. He was greeted by a dark room lit only by the faint green light of Heero's laptop; the only sound was the fast, clacking sound of Heero typing away.

"Yo, Hee-chan..." Duo said hesitantly, walking in and placing his burden on his side of the bed. He stood there, nervously waiting for a response.

"Where have you been?" Heero asked after a few moments. Duo was surprised when he hit the enter key, waited a few seconds, then closed his laptop. Heero stood up from his seat at the computer desk in the corner of the room, stretched, and walked slowly over to Duo.

"I went out to town." Duo replied shortly. He didn't want to tell Heero all that had happened; he wasn't sure how he'd react.

Heero stared at Duo, a strange, thoughtful look on his face. "What's wrong?" he asked finally, stepping closer to the braided boy.

"Nothing." Duo replied, meeting Heero's gaze. He looked away after only a few seconds, squirming nervously.

Heero glared icily at his lover. "Don't lie to me." he growled, grabbing Duo's shoulders tightly.

"I'm not lying..." Duo began innocently, looking up hesitantly. "Nothing's wrong now. I'm fine. Honestly." It was the truth. Technically, nothing was wrong at that moment. Things had gone wrong a while ago, and they would go wrong again soon, but at that exact second, nothing was wrong. Hard logic for most to follow, but Duo was getting along just fine with his way of thinking.

A concerned look appeared on Heero's face. "What happened, koibito?" he asked gently, ready to go out and destroy who or what ever had caused his lover to get upset.

"Nothing, really... It was my fault, actually... I was being stupid."

"Don't call yourself that!" Heero protested, shaking his friend. "Don't ever put yourself down like that!"

Duo looked surprised. "H-Heero..." he stammered, his eyes widening. He hadn't expected such an outburst over something like that, especially not from Heero!

"Don't, Duo. Just don't." Heero whispered, a fierce, protective look glinting in his eyes. Duo gulped nervously.

"O-Okay, Heero..." he stuttered. Heero was scaring him; this wasn't like him. Not that Duo was complaining; truth be told, he rather liked this change... But still!

"Now, what's wrong?" Heero prompted again; apparently he wasn't going to give up until he got an answer and accomplished his `mission'.

Duo sighed, then threw his hands up in defeat. "Okay, I give. I'll tell you." Heero looked quite satisfied.

Duo related the story of the little girl and her doll; he was surprised to see a tear appear in Heero's eye as he spoke. Soon he got to the part with WuFei; controlling his emotions was still hard as he recounted the argument.

"Kisama..." Heero growled, his fists clenching and his eyes lighting up possessively. Duo was elated that Heero seemed to care about him so much, but the look in Heero's eyes also made him worry for WuFei's health.

"Heero, it's okay. Just let it go. I think that WuFei really does feel guilty." Duo protested, gently holding the Japanese pilot back with one hand.

Heero growled in frustration but allowed himself to be calmed. Even still, if WuFei would have walked in at that moment, he would have been a dead man. So far as Heero was concerned, nobody could get away with upsetting his Duo.

"Are you okay now?" the Wing pilot asked finally, staring worriedly at his lover. Duo nodded quickly.

"Yeah, I'm fine now. I don't know why I got so upset... If I were a woman, I'd say it was PMS!" he replied, half-joking, half-serious.

"That's good. But... You look tired. You should get some sleep."

"Sleep sounds really good, but... What about the doll clothes? I have to finish them and give them to that little girl!" Duo looked at the bed longingly.

"I'll finish them for you and wake you when I'm done."

"You can sew? Really?!?"

"Yes. Now sleep for a while."

"But I'm not tired!"

"You're emotionally drained. You need the rest. Go to sleep."

"But Heero, I'm not tired!"

"That doesn't matter. Sleep."

"Okay, Heero, whatever you want..." Duo giggled. Heero raised one eyebrow.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing..." Another burst of giggles. "It's just that you've talked more in the past thirty minutes than you did in the first year I knew you!"

"Hn." The corners of Heero's mouth twitched, even though he was trying to look disapproving.

Duo managed to stop giggling for a few moments as he kicked off his shoes, took off his cap, and pulled off his shirt. Then the laughter came back in full force.

"Poor Relena-sama... She'd be so jealous!" the American pilot crowed.

The smile that had been threatening to appear on Heero's face finally did so. After all, Relena-torture was a subject that never failed to cheer Heero up. The Japanese boy chuckled and shook his head.

"Yes, Duo, I'm sure she would be. Now go to sleep!" He pushed the other boy onto the bed and covered him with a blanket. Still smiling slightly, he sat down next to him, picked up thread, needle, and material, and began to sew.

Duo smiled contentedly and burrowed further under the covers as he watched his love set to his task. "Heero no kawaii..." he thought.

Slowly, the American pilot felt himself being swept into sleep's embrace, despite his protests of not being tired. Perhaps he had been wrong on that account after all. Chalk up another point for Heero...