The fancy restaurant immediately set Heero on edge. He did not mind taking Arys to fancy restaurants, but he did mind when four more couples were tagging along, especially when one member of one of those couples was Duo Maxwell. The braided Shinigami was at the moment behaving himself, but Heero was not sure how long that would last.

Heero almost felt sorry for Hilde. The former OZ soldier bounced along beside her husband, smiling widely. She apparently had no clue that Duo was a bomb that could go off any moment. Or perhaps she did and had gotten so used to it that she had forgotten that other people would wonder at Duo’s behavior.

"Do you think Zechs and Noin will be able to handle all the children at once?" A voice at Heero’s elbow penetrated his thoughts.

Heero looked down at his wife, who was dressed in a navy dress that sparkled with silver. Her dark hair was pulled up, loose tendrils of curls framing her face. He smirked. "No, but who cares?"

Arys slapped him on the arm. "You are heartless, Heero Yuy."

"And you look beautiful tonight, Arys Yuy."

She smiled up at him. "I don’t think a compliment can save you, Heero."

"Well, you do look beautiful." Heero shrugged, looking away.

He felt her tuck a hand under his arm. "And it was given in such a Heero-like manner." He glanced down at her again. "Thank you." Her gray eyes were lit with happiness. He knew that she loved it when they went out on dates together, and in this case, she loved having their closest friends with them.

"Hey, Mister! Can we have a table please?" Duo was waving at a passing waiter as if he were trying to flag down a runaway Gundam.

Quatre was a step ahead of Duo though. He was already at the desk, conversing with the maitre’d. The man was bowing and smiling profusely. Quatre said one thing more and then came back to the group. He smiled at Nari tenderly before addressing the rest of the group.

"It’ll be a few minutes. They’ve got a table for us on the outside balcony."

"Man! My feet are killing me!" Duo plopped down on the plush sofa in the waiting area. "Did we have to walk here?"

Hilde sat down next to him, looking disappointed. "But it was so romantic, Duo." She grabbed his arm, leaning against his shoulder. "I loved it."

The irritated look on Duo’s face softened as he patted Hilde’s arm. "I guess it was worth it if you enjoyed it."

"Imagine that," Arys whispered to Heero. "The guy can be sweet."

"I don’t believe it," he replied.

Quatre led Nari over to the sofa and motioned for her to sit down. The redhead sighed as she settled back against the soft backrest.

Heero stood with Arys over by the wall. Wufei and Mei leaned against the wall next to them. Wufei was searching the restaurant warily as if he were stalking one of his bounties. Arys nudged Mei with an elbow.

"Mei, why does Wufei look so nervous?" Arys asked.

Mei squeezed Wufei’s hand, trying to keep the grin off her face. "Wufei chased a criminal into this restaurant once and the guy got the drop on him. He insists that this place gives him bad memories."

Heero looked over at Trowa and Triniti, who were seated at a small table across from the sofa. Trowa saw Heero’s gaze and smiled ever so slightly. Heero was glad that Trowa had finally found a girl. It must have been hard for him to watch his friends get married off one by one, while he was still left alone. Sure, he had Katherine, but Trowa thought of her as a sister, and there was the slight possibility that she was his sister.

"Winner, party of…" The hostess paused as if she couldn’t believe the number she saw there. "Ten."

"Let’s go, guys! The sooner we get to a table, the sooner we get to eat!" Duo exclaimed, leaping to his feet.

At this loud outburst, the hostess eyed him with distaste and then motioned to the general area behind her. "This way, please."

Soon, the five couples were seated at a large table outside. The view from the balcony was amazing. The sun was just beginning to set into the ocean and had already fired the sky with hues of orange, yellow, and red. Heero heard Arys sigh as she took in the sight.

"Reminds me of our honeymoon…" she said, looking at him with a smile.

Heero gazed at Arys over the top of the menu. Duo was loudly arguing with Hilde next to him. He wondered briefly if his friends would mind if he and Arys moved to another table. Arys’ smile turned into a laugh. She pulled the menu down so that she could see his face.

"Don’t even think about it, Heero. We’re staying here."

Heero attempted to look innocent but he knew he was failing. Arys knew him too well. "Who said we were going anywhere?"

Arys took the menu from him and set it on the table. "Oh, I could see it in your eyes."

"You know I hate shrimp, Hilde!" Duo’s voice wasn’t too loud, but it was loud enough to grate on Heero’s nerves.

"You’re being a jerk, Duo. Stop it." That was Hilde.

Arys leaned over Heero to put a hand on Duo’s arm. "Yeah, Duo. You’d better behave yourself or Heero’s going to go Zero. You know we can’t have that in the restaurant."

Heero grabbed Arys’ arm and turned to Duo himself. "Duo, is there any way you can switch with Wufei?"

Duo looked offended. "You’d rather sit next to Wufei than me? Well, now I’m staying right here."

"Heero, why don’t you tell him what we want and we’ll go for a walk?" Arys asked.

"We’ll both take the grilled salmon, okay, Duo?" Heero said. "With the rice pilaf."

Duo’s forehead wrinkled with intense concentration as he listened to Heero’s order. Then, he smiled. "Do you want fries with that?"

Heero groaned as Arys pulled him to his feet and tugged him away. He followed her to the railing of the balcony, as far away from the table as they could get. He was surprised when Arys reached up to touch his cheek and then kissed him, right there in full view of the couple sitting at the table behind them. Heero watched as the couple left, the woman wrinkling her nose and then giving her date an expectant look as they walked toward the indoor room of the restaurant. Then, Heero closed his eyes as Arys moved closer. He was just getting into it when Arys pulled away, only a mere few inches, but it felt like she had pulled away a few feet. He looked down to see her gray eyes staring up at him thoughtfully. Her hand reached up to his hair this time, and she pressed her forehead against his so that she was gazing right into his eyes.

"Do you have your gun with you?" she asked in a whisper.

Heero frowned. "I always carry a gun with me, Arys. You know that."

Arys kissed him again. "Just making sure. I need to tell you something, so start kissing me…"

Heero didn’t need another invitation. He wrapped his arms around her and followed her instructions. He could not believe he was doing this in public. Well, there was a first time for everything. He could feel the eyes of their friends on them.

"There’s a table of six people inside the restaurant. They’ve been watching us ever since we came in," Arys said in his ear.

Heero kissed her cheek. "Yeah, I saw them. Do you think they’re trouble?"

"Yes."

Arys leaned against the railing as Heero stepped closer. Heero felt her head against his shoulder. Heero knew that she was probably discreetly trying to peer into the restaurant.

"What are they doing now?" He asked.

"Watching us. And just to let you know, Duo’s laughing at us."

"Figures. So what should we do?"

"You’re the perfect soldier. You tell me."

"Well, I think I should go beat up Duo…"

Heero heard Arys laugh softly. "You know that’s not what I meant."

"I think we should wait until they make their move."

"Fair enough. Ready to go back?"

Heero tightened his grip on her. "No."

Arys laughed again. "Okay, Heero, you win. Five more minutes."

And for five more minutes they were lost in a whirl of emotion.

Duo made a face at the rest of the group as they watched Arys and Heero at the railing. They were pretty far away but he could still tell what they were doing. He could not believe that they were doing this! This was so unlike the couple. He smirked. Actually, maybe it wasn’t.

"Why don’t we ever do that in public, Duo?" Hilde asked him.

Duo sighed. "Because, Hilde, it’s embarrassing."

Hilde tapped him on the shoulder. "I’d think you’d be used to being embarrassed by now. With the way you act."

"I act perfectly fine in public," Duo said.

Hilde rolled her eyes. "Sure, Duo."

"All right, fine. Let’s go." Duo grabbed Hilde’s hand.

Hilde blushed. "What?"

"You want to do that." Duo waved at Arys and Heero. "Fine, we’ll do it."

Hilde’s blush turned to anger. "Not with that attitude, we won’t."

"Who ordered the prime rib?" Their waiter came by with a load of plates.

Duo let go of Hilde’s hand and glared at her. "Saved by the steak. Someone’d better get those two lovebirds back here if they want their food."

Heero led Arys back to their table just as the food was arriving. Duo was glaring at them, and Hilde sat quietly next to him, looking distressed. Wufei and Mei were both hiding smirks behind their hands. Trowa and Triniti were oblivious, and Quatre and Nari looked completely confused.

Duo was the first to speak as the waiter set a plate of food in front of him. "So, did you two enjoy your walk?"

Arys frowned slightly, and Heero could tell from Duo’s tone that something was wrong. Hilde slapped him on the arm to get him to quiet down. Duo sighed and then set to devouring his steak.

Heero seated Arys beside Mei and then sat down. He eyed the grilled salmon in front of him, suddenly feeling very much not hungry. He was too busy wondering what the suspicious group a few yards away was planning for them. Arys reached for her fork and somehow knocked it off the table. She leaned down to pick it up and then Heero heard her whisper something unintelligible to Mei. Mei nodded almost imperceptibly.

Arys straightened and began eating her salmon. She glanced over at Heero. She had noticed him looking at her.

She pointed at his plate with her fork. "Eat, Heero." It looks less suspicious. Her eyes told him.

Heero shrugged and picked at the salmon half-heartedly.

Thirty minutes later, they were finished eating and nothing had happened yet. Duo pulled his napkin off his lap and set it on the table.

"Well, that was deli…"

"We thought we’d let you finish one good meal before we kill you." A voice said from behind Mei.

Heero turned around as a man stepped away from the corner where he had been standing, smoking a cigarette. The man had a gun in his hand. He waved it at them threateningly. He stopped behind Heero, right between his seat and Arys’ seat. Heero could almost hear what Arys was thinking.

"Don’t try anything funny. I do have backup." The man’s voice was low. Heero did not recognize it.

Duo was indignant. "Look, Mister, at least tell us who you are and why you’re trying to kill us."

"You don’t need to know who we are." The man nodded slightly and suddenly five more men surrounded the table.

Heero locked eyes with each person at the table and saw his plan mirrored in them. He hoped it would work. Heero turned to Arys.

"I love you."

Arys slipped her right hand underneath his suit jacket, her other hand touching his cheek. She smiled, still gazing into his eyes as she pulled his gun, aimed it at the man standing behind Duo and Hilde, and fired. As soon as the man tumbled backwards, Arys and Heero hit the floor. Heero grabbed the chair and swept it at the leader’s legs. He fell to the ground and Heero grabbed Arys’ hand as they scrambled underneath the table and out the other side to meet Wufei and Mei. The bounty hunters had managed to take down the man standing behind them and were now hiding against the wall outside the restaurant, beside the large glass doors that led inside the restaurant. Duo was helping Hilde up after picking up their plates and throwing them straight at the two men standing behind Quatre and Nari. Trowa had had no trouble taking out the man standing behind him and he was standing calmly over the fallen man, Triniti’s hand in his.

Heero nudged Wufei as he and Arys leaned against the wall beside him. "What’ve we got?"

"Looks like almost the whole restaurant was in on this. The waiters have magically disappeared, and anyone not involved in this crazy group fled as soon as those jerks came over to our table." Wufei’s grip on Mei’s arm tightened as bullets whizzed through the door.

"How many?" Arys asked.

Mei leaned over to glance at Arys. "I’d say around twenty-five."

Arys whistled. "Think we can handle that many?"

Heero nodded. "Sure. There’s another door into the restaurant down that way." He pointed toward where he and Arys had been kissing earlier. "We’ll come in that way and get in behind them."

"Does everyone have a gun?" Arys pulled up the hem of her dress slightly to reveal a holster strapped to her leg. She reached down to pull out her pistol.

"Hey, where’d the leader go?" Duo came up, Hilde behind him. Duo was holding a grenade.

Heero stared at the grenade. "Where’d you get that?"

"Oh, Howard called me a few minutes before we left the house. He said there might be trouble at the restaurant. So, I snagged a grenade from the junkyard before we came over. It’s a good thing they don’t have a weapons check here."

Trowa and Triniti stood out of the way of the bullets, but not against the wall. "You knew about this, Duo?" Trowa asked.

Duo shrugged. "It was only a threat. I wasn’t sure if anything would really happen." He grinned. "Guess Howard was right." He held up the grenade. "Shall I?"

Heero motioned to the door. "Be my guest."

"Better take cover," Duo said as he positioned himself beside the door.

Quatre looked uncertain. "But you’ll destroy the restaurant! And what if there are still innocent people in there?"

Duo lowered the grenade. He sighed. "I hate to say it, but he’s right. It would be better if we can get rid of these guys without using a grenade."

"I suggest that you surrender! It would be much easier for everyone!" The leader’s voice said from inside the restaurant.

"What does he think we are?" Wufei said angrily. "Cowards?"

"Wufei, Duo, come with me. We’ll surround them inside. And Duo, bring your grenade. I have an idea."

"What about us?" Arys and Mei said at the same time.

Heero put a hand on Arys’ arm. "Stay here and distract them. We don’t want them to know that some of us are gone."

Arys made a face, but she nodded. "All right. We’ll keep them down while you guys run across."

"Thanks."

"Trowa and Hilde, why don’t you run across with us and take the other side of the door?"

Trowa nodded, letting go of Triniti’s hand. "Stay here," he told her.

Triniti smiled. "Be careful."

Heero, Duo, and Wufei crept along the wall inside the banquet room, hoping they wouldn’t run into any idiot waiters who hadn’t left yet. Heero wondered when the police would show up, or if the police would show up at all. Well, maybe they could take care of this big mess before the men in blue came. Heero looked back at Duo, who was still holding the grenade.

"Duo, give me your grenade."

"What?"

Heero sighed. "I said, give me your grenade."

"Oh, fine." Duo frowned but handed the grenade over.

Heero looked at Wufei. "Can you get over to the other side of the group? When the men drop their guns, you’re going to need to kick them away from the men on that side."

Wufei nodded and crawled away.

"Wait a second," Duo said. "How are you going to get them to drop their guns?"

"You’ll find out. Stay down until I tell you to stand up," Heero replied as he leaped to his feet. Duo groaned as he buried his head in his hands.

"Stop!" Heero waved his hands like a maniac.

All the shooting stopped. He stared into the faces of twenty-five angry men, whose weapons were now all leveled at him.

"I have a grenade!" Heero shouted.

The leader just laughed. "We can kill you before you pull the pin."

Heero smiled. "I already did." He waved the pin at them.

A collective gasp rose from the men and a few of them bolted for the front door.

"Now, you will die with us." The leader looked smug.

"Oh, none of us have to die. This grenade has a three-minute timer. I know how to keep it from going off."

"Sir, he’s a Gundam pilot. He would know something like that!" One of the leader’s men exclaimed.

"Shut up! Don’t you think I know that?" The leader continued to stare at Heero. "What do you want?"

"I think the question is, What do you want?" Heero clenched his hand around the grenade. "Drop your guns."

"Don’t listen to him!"

But the men would not have any of it. Heero heard the satisfactory clink of guns hitting the floor.

"All right, guys, go get ‘em."

Duo and Wufei stood up and began kicking guns away, raising their own weapons threateningly. At that moment, a whole troop of police burst through the front door and surrounded them.

"Perfect timing," Heero said as he slipped the pin back into the grenade.

As the leader was handcuffed, Heero walked toward the officer taking charge. "Here, give this to him. Tell him it’s a dud."

The officer looked confused. "Hey, where’d you get this?" He waved the grenade at Heero, trying to stop him. But he just shook his head when he saw the huge group gathering at the glass doors leading outside to the balcony. "Come on, let’s take these boys in," he told the officer standing next to him and motioned to the remaining men inside the restaurant.

Duo slapped Heero on the shoulder. "How’d you know it was a dud? I never told you."

Heero couldn’t resist giving Duo a smug grin. "I know you’re crazy, Duo, but not that crazy. Still, you should have told me that it was a dud."

Arys grabbed Heero’s arm and turned him around so that he was facing her. "Heero Yuy, don’t you ever do that again. If I had known what you were going to do, I would have…"

Heero put a finger against her lips. "You would have tried to do it yourself. And do you think I would really have let you do something like that?"

"And why not?"

"You don’t have the tact for negotiating."

Arys sighed. "Like you do." She shrugged. "Oh well, it turned out all right. But it scared me to death when you popped up like that, waving that grenade around."

Quatre looked disappointed. "Well, this was some night out."

Nari agreed. "Who would’ve thought we’d be targets for crazy groups like that?"

"Next time, we’ll have to try a different restaurant."

Nari laughed. "Don’t look at me. You’re the one who picked this one."

Trowa and Triniti came up beside Quatre and Nari. "Maybe next time we should just go to your place, Quatre," Triniti suggested.

Quatre glanced at Nari, saw her nod, and then smiled at the couple. "Yeah, that’s a good idea. I’ll get the Maganac Corps to guard the mansion while we’re there."

"Excuse me?" A tentative voice asked from behind the group. "I need to question all of you about what happened tonight."

"I’d be glad to answer your questions!" Duo leaped in front of the officer, dragging Hilde behind him. "See, this was supposed to be a quiet night out. We haven’t seen each other for a few weeks and this was the only time we could all meet together without having the kids around. You know how kids are. And after we finished our meal…"

Heero blocked out the sound of Duo’s voice as he gazed down at Arys.

"Well, Heero, you saved our lives."

"I had help though."

Arys poked him in the chest with one finger. "But you came up with that crazy dud grenade plan. How would you like me to thank you?" She grinned up at him.

Heero laughed. "Well, that’s a stupid question. You know exactly how I like my thank you’s."

"Haven’t had enough, have you?" Arys shook her head.

"Never, Arys," Heero replied as he took her in his arms again.

Wufei and Mei stood back, surveying the overturned tables, knocked-over chairs, and the holes in the carpet. Wufei smirked.

"What are you grinning about?" Mei asked. "We could have been killed!"

Wufei took Mei’s hand and led her to the front door, past the officer still listening to Duo rant and rave. He kicked aside a broken chair disgustedly.

"I knew there was a reason why I hate this restaurant," he said.