Author's Note: This fic isn't your typical yaoi story. I just like Duo and 
Wufei together, and since I'm not an experience yaoi writer, this focuses a 
lot on their friendship. Althought it has _slight_ yaoi inclinations, it's 
just a story between two good friends. Well, read on and I hope you like it!

Through the Times
by Shinimegami aka Lady Maxwell

"Sometimes in our lives
We all have pain
We all have sorrow
But if we are wise
We know that there's always tomorrow
Lean on me, when you're not strong
And I'll be your friend
I'll help you carry on
For it won't be long 
'Till I'm gonna need
Somebody to lean on."

    "Lean On Me" by Bill Withers

The sun was gradually declining, paving the way for the moon and stars. A 
pair of obsidian eyes stared out into the sunset, trying to mask the concern 
and worry behind them. A sigh escaped a pair of thin lips as a cool gust of 
night wind played with a crown of raven hair.

Wufei brushed a strand of hair from his face, and let his hair flutter in the 
wind for a while before tying it back in its usual ponytail. He glanced at 
his watch. Seventy-two hours, and Duo had yet to regain consciousness. Wufei 
turned and looked at the American, lying lifeless and pale on the hospital 
bed. Closing the door behind him, Wufei exited the balcony and into the room. 
He walked over to him, and with unmoving eyes studied Duo's body.

His tan chest moved slowly up and down, in a steady rhythm of breath. His 
torso was wrapped in white bandages, freshly stained with crimson blood that 
resulted from six broken ribs pressing against his lungs. Wufei's eyes moved 
up to the young man's face, which was still and motionless, something usually 
out of character for Duo Maxwell. Covering his mouth was an oxygen mask, 
helping the ex-Gundam pilot breathe. His eyes were closed in a deep slumber, 
and a deep gash sat above his left eye. Wufei reached over, and brushed a 
strand of jagged chestnut brown hair from his face, and examined the cut 
closer. He noticed a drop of blood seeping from its side. Wufei took a cloth 
from the side table and carefully wiped the red off from the sleeping boy's 
face.

He turned his attention back on the sun, which was almost completely gone 
now, rapidly disappearing behind the Egyptian sand dunes. He wiped sweat from 
his brow, and leaned against the wall, continuing his silent vigil over his 
fallen comrade.

He felt compelled to stay with Duo, feeling responsible for the condition he 
was now in. Wufei closed his eyes and recalled what had happened.

___

Three days earlier.

Lady Une had assigned Wufei and Duo on a mission to infiltrate an Egyptian 
rebel base. Their contacts in Egypt learned of the rebels, who planned to set 
an attack on the colonies, and contacted the Preventers immediately. 
Fortunately, the rebels were a group of amateurs, fueled on revenge, but had 
limited resources. Nothing the great Duo Maxwell and Wufei Chang couldn't 
handle.

They arrived at the base, and quickly got to work. They got the job done in 
less than an hour, but failed to capture a rebel who escaped.

"Death to the Colonies!" the rebel yelled as he unleashed his fury with a 
machine gun. Wufei took his gun and started to fire at the rebel.

"Watch out!" Duo yelled, as he noticed the balcony above Wufei beginning to 
crumble due to the previous explosions.

"Hey Chang!! Get the _fuck_ out of there!!!" Duo's warnings were of no use, 
the gunfire was too loud.

The rebel ran out of ammo, and that's exactly what Wufei needed. He got a 
clear shot of the man, and shot a bullet right through his arm, all he needed 
to disarm him. The rebel dropped the gun and hunched over in pain. 

The next thing Wufei knew, he was pushed into the clearing, and the balcony 
above him plummeted down. The Chinese man took a moment to get the breath 
that was knocked out of him. When he regained his senses, he walked wearily 
to the pile of rubble, where he saw a slender body half buried in the rocks.

___

Wufei took a deep breath as he opened his eyes. He knew it wasn't entirely 
his fault, but he felt an obligation to stay alongside his...friend. Wufei 
scrunched his brow. _Friend._ He never knew he'd be using that word to 
describe Duo Maxwell. Before, he was always just another Preventer, an 
acquaintance...never...a _friend._ Nevertheless, Wufei was thankful for the 
evolution.

___

AC 197

"Wu-chan, you need to loosen up some. Oh, wait, my bad. You need to loosen up 
_a lot._"

Duo's violet eyes sparkled as he threw a piece of dim sum in his mouth. He 
gestured with his chop sticks as he continued his one-sided conversation with 
Wufei. "I mean, you're _hot,_ man. Like, 'if I were a girl, I'd totally jump 
on you' hot." He took a sip of his soda. "I'm telling you, once you loosen 
up, you'll be a total babe magnet." 

"Like you?"

Duo smiled."Exactly."

Wufei snorted. "No thank-you."  

"Trust me, Wu-chan. I'm an expert when it comes to the ladies." He grinned.

Wufei rolled his eyes. It was their first mission as Preventers, and Heero 
and Sally were out patrolling. The two were stuck in the hotel room, with 
nothing to do. Surprisingly, Duo convinced Wufei to eat at the lavish Chinese 
restaurant across the street from the hotel.

"I don't know why I put up with you, Maxwell." Wufei raised his hand to call 
the waiter for their check.

"Because you loooooove me," Duo teased as he stuffed an egg roll in his 
mouth. Wufei rolled his eyes once more, a gesture he was accustomed to when 
around the braided baka. Wufei sighed as he signed the check, secretly 
grateful Duo took on _Heero_ as 'the best friend.'

___

Wufei smiled inwardly as the memory of that night was replayed in his mind. 
He glanced outside. The sun was gone now, and stars were slowly starting to 
fill the sky. He turned his head to Duo, who was showing no signs of waking 
up any time soon. He pressed his lips as he remembered another event, one 
that would carve the two men's friendship in stone forever.

___

AC 199

The moon was full and bright, lending its glow to the Earth below. A pair of 
black eyes were locked onto a figure standing on the edge of the beach. The 
wind was playing with his waist-long braid, and his eyes were staring up into 
the heavens. Wufei watched as Duo took something from his neck- the golden 
cross always hanging from it- and threw it into the ocean. Duo's next motion 
was surely a surprise- he took a pistol from his pocket and pointed it to his 
head.

Wufei's eyes widened, and he rushed to the coast. Just as Duo was about to 
pull the trigger, the Chinese boy lunged at him, sending the both of them to 
the ground.

"What the _hell_ do you think you're doing?" Duo yelled, intensity behind his 
voice. He threw Wufei off of him as the waves crashed over their bodies.

"Stopping you from making the biggest mistake of your life!" he yelled back 
over the sound of the waves. He got up and took the pistol in his hands. 
"What were you thinking?"

Duo lunged at him, trying to grab the gun. "Give that to me!"

"No!"

Duo jumped forward, and Wufei took a step back. He tripped over a rock, 
knocking him off balance, allowing Duo to take the pistol from his hands. As 
he pointed it towards himself, Wufei clenched his fist and punched Duo in the 
face. The American staggered backwards as the gun fell from his hands.

"What the fuck are you thinking, Maxwell?" he said, out of breath as he 
slowly approached the young man. Wufei picked the pistol up from the ground 
and shoved it in front of Duo's face. "This? You were going to resort to 
_this?_ That is what cowards do!" Wufei threw the gun onto the floor.

Duo wiped his face, wet with a mixture of tears and saltwater, and looked at 
Wufei with dead eyes. "You haven't been through what I've been through, 
Wufei. You don't know." His voice was cold and unfeeling. 

"Don't tell me I don't know what you're going through, Maxwell. I watched as 
my colony, my _home_ , was blown into oblivion. My wife died in my arms. 
Don't tell me I don't know."

Duo looked down, and took a deep breath. "I...it's just...I can't take it, 
Wufei. Heero's dead!" He laughed. "Can you believe I'm saying that? Heero Yuy 
is _dead!_ Killed because he took a bullet for _her_. It wasn't worth it! No 
one is worth risking..._giving_ your life!" He was becoming hysterical. He 
collapsed onto the sand, face buried in his hands. "Today at his funeral, I 
kept telling myself he wasn't dead. That he was just hurt. He was the perfect 
soldier, Heero never got hurt." He looked up at the moon, tears staining his 
pure face. "But now...he's gone. He's _really_ gone." He got up, frustrated. 
"You should have let me do it Wufei!! I don't have anything left! What's the 
use of living when you have nothing to live for?!"

Wufei drowned in the river of pain Duo's violet eyes displayed. "You just 
can't give up, Duo. You can't. You have to trust fate, and know that it will 
take care of you. It will lead you to where you need to be."

"I don't need your lectures right now, Wufei." Duo turned his back to his 
friend. He shook his head. "I can't go on, Wu-chan. I'm...just not strong 
enough."

Wufei pressed his lips together. He knew what Duo went through in the past, 
and he sympathized with him. He saw through Duo's plastic smiles, and knew 
the American used his smile as a mask to hide his pain. But Wufei knew 
exactly what he was going through, and understood, because Wufei had _his_ 
mask as well. The barriers Wufei put up were _his_ way of dealing with pain, 
and the one person who could understand him enough to see through it...was 
Duo.

"Well, then..." Wufei whispered as he walked towards Duo. "I will be strong 
for you."

Duo turned around, surprised. He hadn't expected Wufei to say such a thing. 
Wufei kept his eyes staring out on the horizon. "You have been there for me," 
he continued. "I am simply returning the favor." He placed a hand on his 
shoulder.

Duo swallowed hard, and took a deep breath. He faced Wufei, and smiled 
genuinely, his violet eyes shining in the moonlight.

___

Wufei's head snapped back, and he opened his eyes, not realizing he had 
fallen asleep. He yawned, and stretched his body. He took a seat next to the 
bed and stared at his friend. 

At twenty-one, the two lived through more than most people do in an entire 
lifetime. He looked out the window, and saw that the sun was rising. He 
closed his eyes and said a silent prayer, but it was interrupted as a beeping 
noise came from the machine hooked up to Duo's body. His heart signs were 
getting faster, and his breaths were getting deeper. Wufei breathed in- it 
was both a yawn and a sigh of relief- as he watched Duo's eyes flicker open.

Wufei stayed silent as the violet orbs slowly studied the room. After a 
moment, the violet stare found obsidian.

Wufei sighed and shook his head. 'Baka,' he whispered.

Duo inhaled slowly, wincing as his memory began to return. "You're alive," 
he said, his voice hoarse and dry. "So what are you complaining about?"

Wufei shook his head again, eyeing Duo's body. "Look at you." He looked at 
his friend in the eye. "You didn't have to-"

"Let's save us both some time and cut the crap. We're both alive," he 
smiled as a pain shot up his side. "Barely..." Wufei laughed. 
"And...anyway...I was just returning a favor. You saved my life...I saved 
yours." He closed his eyes. "Call it even."

Wufei nodded. "Yeah." He laid a hand gently on Duo's shoulder. "Get some 
rest, you look like hell." Duo laughed, his eyes still closed.

Before Wufei left, he turned around, and glanced at his friend. A small smile 
crept across his lips as the sun began to slowly take its home in the sky. 


THE END

Author's Note: Here's my first fic that doesn't include any kind of romance!! 
Wow, I'm so proud of myself! Well, what did you think? I love Wufei and Duo 
together. Oh, and sorry to Heero fans, but I had to kill him off in order to 
push Duo and Wufei closer together. Don't get me wrong, I love Heero, but I 
just felt I needed to write about the God of Death and the Solitary Dragon. 
So uh...yeah...that's it. Hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed 
writing it! Any questions? Comments? E-mail me at dreamer1x0x0@aol.com


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