Heero blinked and let his eyes re-adjust to the darkness around him. Looking around he noticed that he was still on the bridge. He was in the same position and in the same spot, but was he technically there? Or was he still a ghost? He knew what the flash meant, that Chesara had changed something. He wasnt in a new location, so . . .

Looking up, Heero caught a face full of snow. It was snowing again, as it had been when he had jumped into the frozen river to save Chesara. Looking below him, he saw that river. Once again it rushed under him, churning with itself and still pounding on the bridge beams.

Heero stood up and looked towards the town. It was too dark to see anything and the snow was making the scene even worse to figure out. He squinted and tried to see his street, to see where his home hopefully was. But he was interrupted.

"Hey you!"

Heero spun around to see the bridge watchman running up to him. "What are you doing out here?" He asked as he reached Heero and looked straight at his face.

"Huh?"

The man looked directly at Heero and looked into his eyes, trying to read the strange man who was out in the middle of a closed bridge in the middle of the night. "Are you ok?"

For a second, Heero did not realize it, but then it hit him. His eyes went wide and his heart jumped in a fleet of excitement. "You can see me?!?!"

The watchman was now very confused. "Well, yeah, of course I can see ya."

Heero couldnt contain himself. He grabbed the man by both arms and shook him slightly. "You can see me!"

"Is this a recent development, sir?" This strange, moppy haired boy was beginning to scare him.

Heero released the frightened man and turned towards the town. "Thank you!" he yelled at the sky and proceeded to head towards town at a full run.

A few minutes later he was entering the quiet street where his apartment building was. He looked around was overjoyed to see everything the back to the way it was when he had left early that morning to go to work. The buildings were in good condition, the streets were clean, and no one was lying on the ground, covering themselves in newspaper. The streetlights were on and the snow passing over their beams of light created a wonderful, picturesque scene.

He ran towards the apartment building and passed many people he knew, ones he had seen a while before huddled together next to a burning trash can.

Heero ran into his building, now perfectly clean and new. He passed no rats on his way up the stairs and the walls were smooth, no chipping paint. When he reached his floor, the only thing he did pass was his neighbor, returning home from walking his dog. He looked up and smiled when he saw Heero.

"Well, hello Mr. Yuy," he said in his charming, elderly voice. George beside him began to wag his tail with excitement. Another person meant another person to pet and play with him.

Heero had almost missed him, but turned around and gave a quick smile. "Hello, sir." He turned and scrambled with his keys, finally finding the right one and unlocking his door, leaving behind a very confused Mr. Sumitsu and a slightly disappointed George. As he entered the apartment he almost slammed the door back into its frame, completely forgetting that his keys were still in the door.

"Duo!" Heero searched the lavishly furnished living room. Duos chair was snug in the right corner of the room, right next to Heeros. Across from that, the love seat that they often sat on, was covered with a blanket. No doubt that Heero had taken a nap there and left the blanket. The focus of the room, however, was very different from when he had stormed out a few hours earlier.

In the corner across from Duo and Heeros chairs, a magnificent tree stood proudly in a tree base. Its body was intricately decorated and lit up with thousands of little Christmas lights. Streamers ran around its width and ornaments of all shapes and sizes hung on the trees branches. In the large free spaces, enormous red bows accented the gold tinsel. And on the very top, an angel with a light bulb candle smiled down at Heero.

After staring in aw at this for a few seconds, Heero continued about the house searching for Duo. He ran down the hallway, passing the kitchen, and as he did so, his nose pulled him back to its doorway. Peaking in, he saw the oven warming a loaf of bread. By the smell Heero could tell it was cinnamon, his favorate. He took in a deep smell of it and turned down the hall. "Duo!"

He ran through the study where his laptop still lay on the desk, open and blinking the "You Have Mail" message. Heero doubled back to close the laptop. He could check his mail later. Woah! Did he just think that? Heero Yuy being able to wait to open his mail?!?!? This truly was a night for miracles.

He passed the empty spare room and finally made it to their bedroom. "Duo?!?"

As he entered the room, he saw no one there. Their large, full size bed was in the middle of the room, undisturbed. No one had yet been in it to sleep, so where the hell was Duo?! Disappointment and regret flooded him. Where was Duo? Everything else was back to normal, so where was he?

Then there was a noise. Similar to that of the keys he had heard in Quatres cell. He perked up and ran as fast as he could to the front door. The only other person with keys was Duo - he was here. Heero slowed down when he entered the living room and saw the door open. But in the door did not step Duo, it was Quatre. He opened the door and grew a wide smile when he saw Heero.

"Heero! Hi!" It was an amazing relief to see the blond free of bandages and painful scars. He came in the door, followed closely by Trowa who was in a little argument with Wufei. Each of them carried some kind of food; Quatre held a large caserole, Trowa a pie, and Wufei held something very intricate that looked Chinese.

Both Trowa and Wufei greeted Heero at the door and to their utter astonishment, Heero gave them each a hug and a "Merry Christmas!" in return.

Finally, the person he had been waiting for entered the door, pulling Heeros keys out of the door as he did so. Luckily he set down the pot of food he was carrying before Heero bull rushed him.

Heero grabbed the American in a tight embrace, hugging Duo to him with all his strength. It was only when Duo let out a small squeal of suffocation that Heero loosened his grip. He showered Duos face in kisses, something he had never done in front of the other pilots and it left them speechless.

"I love you Duo," Heero managed to mumble between kisses, "Im so sorry." Heero then pulled him into a deep kiss. Full of passion and love.

A few seconds later he pulled away and stared into Duos eyes. He cupped Duos face in both hands. He noticed that those eyes were the same color of the river. That color was only beautiful in Duos eyes.

The silence was almost too much for the others. Heero was not a man to pounce around hugging people and go kissing his boyfriend in front of everyone. Wufei stood with a strange, unreadable look on his face. This was very strange. What happened to Heero? Wufei thought, Has he no pride?

Trowa stood beside Wufei, still holding his pie. He had no problem with Heero being like this, it was just . . . unusual. Next to his boyfriend, his eyes wider than ever, Quatre stood about ready to drop his tray in astonishment.

There was a few minutes of stunned silence and then Heero broke it. "I love you. Merry Christmas."

Duo had an unusually speechless expression on his face. He couldnt find the right words.

Heero turned to the other pilots, "What are you guys doing here?"

Finally Duo was able to say something, "They, uh . . . I, um, I invited them over for Christmas."

Great! Heero replied, What are we waiting for?

The evening continued in much the same fashion with Duo being smothered with kisses, Heero acting like he was on a sugar high, Quatre laughing at them, and Trowa and Wufei continuing their argument. It was a wonderful Christmas.

* * * *

Chesara turned from the scene in front of her and faced her superiors, waiting for judgment.

"Well," Tobias said, "I am very proud of you."

"You did a wonderful job," Sion added.

Chesara could not prevent a smile from coming upon her face. "Does this mean?"

"Yes," Tobias said with a nod, "You get your wings."

Unable to contain herself, Chesara jumped at Tobias and gave him the biggest hug an angel could give. Tobias smiled down at her and put his hand on her head. In a warm, flowing wave of light, a pair of wings appeared. They were large and silver with golden tints everywhere. It was as if they had been decorated with sparkle powder the way they glistened in the light of heaven. An even bigger smile came over Chesara as she jumped to give Sion a similar hug.

Down on Earth, in Heero and Duos living room, a small bell on the tree was knocked by something and began to ring.

~ ~ ~

Owari