Marry Me?
By Lady Saffir
DISCLAIMER: I don't own the boys or the girls, just the plot line.

AN - this came about through a weird discussion I had with Boo-chan the other day. Plus I've eaten a TON of Easter candy and Pepsi (a lethal combination if ever there was one) so my sugar stream has a bit of blood in it.

Big thanks goes out to my beta readers for putting up with my bouts of insanity and the snippets I send them to check over. ^_~

*NOTE* Ninmu Ryokai = Mission Accepted

**********************************

Relena stared in amazement at her friend.

"That was the single most...disturbing thing I have ever heard of," she commented, reaching forward to snag some popcorn from the bowl.

"Definitely. Only Duo would do something like that," Sally agreed, wondering how she had ever figured Hilde to be the sane one in the relationship. But this bit of news changed that...

"No, really, that's the honest to god truth about what happened," Hilde insisted.

The three women looked up as Heero entered the room. From the looks they were giving him, Heero wasn't sure he wanted to know what was up, but listening to Relena chat with some friends was better than typing the report Lady Une had requested.

"Heero, have you talked to Duo lately?"

The former Gundam pilot decided he did not like the look the pixyish woman was giving him.

"No..."

Ignoring the wary tone, Hilde pounced, enjoying the chance to tell Heero the good news before Duo could.

"You will never believe what happened. It was so incredible," Hilde gushed, only to be abruptly stopped by Heero's upraised hand.

"You aren't going to tell me about your sex life too, are you? I can handle listening to Duo babble, but I don't think I could take hearing your side of the story," Heero grimaced, trying futilely to block the memories.

"WHAT?!"

As everyone winced, Relena shot Heero a look that plainly said he had to fix the problem he caused.

"Hilde..." Heero winced, knowing what trouble his next statement could cause.

"Why don't you tell us what was so interesting."

Immediately Hilde brightened, her ire at her boyfriend momentarily forgotten.

"Well, see, it all started three days ago, the night before we left for Earth..."

***************************

Hilde sighed in relief, sinking down into the soft bed. Wincing as she flexed her foot, she decided to never again volunteer for an extra shift. Her poor feet would probably walk away.

Crawling under the covers, Hilde settled into place. The colony was slowly shifting into summer mode, but the nights were still cool, and Hilde was not one to turn away any form of warmth. Which reminded her...where exactly was Duo?

Speaking of the devil, Hilde smiled as Duo walked into the room. For three years now they had lived together, but it was only this past year they had begun to share a bed.

"What do you think you're doing?" she asked as he climbed into bed, clad only in a pair of boxers, his hair simply pulled back at the nape of his neck, a sucker sticking out of his mouth.

"Going to bed?"

"And?"

"Um...cuddling with you?"

"Not that I'm not grateful for the extra warmth and all," Hilde murmured, curling up next to his body to capture any stray heat that came her way, "but what are you doing with that sucker?"

"Babe, I thought that'd be kinda obvious. I'm eating it," Duo replied with relish, swirling the ball of sugar around in his mouth.

Dismissing the train of thought as pointless, Hilde contented herself to wrapping one arm about his waist, pulling close for a hug.

"Just don't choke, alright?"

"Not a problem," Duo assured her, sneaking a quick kiss to her forehead. "How was your day?"

"Ugh. I am never, ever pulling a double shift. I don't think I'll be able to walk again for a week."

Duo snorted, still content to work on his sucker.

"I'll rub them for you later. What else happened?"

Hilde thought for a moment, a smile brightening her face with the remembrance of the high point of her day.

"I talked to Noin today. And guess what?"

"I give. What?"

Sighing in exasperation, Hilde ran a fingernail down Duo's side, laughing at his startled yelp.

"I told you to guess, so guess."

"Um...stop tickling! If I choke, I'm gonna come back and haunt you," Duo threatened.

"Sure. Whatever. Now guess already!"

"Fine, fine. Yeesh, you'd think Noin was pregnant or something, the way you're acting," Duo muttered.

"Yup."

Duo gagged.

"Oh, you have to be kidding. That is NOT a mental picture I want to have."

"Mmm. Sorry. So we have to get her something before we leave for Earth tomorrow," Hilde announced, testing to see exactly how ticklish Duo was.

Very ticklish, it appeared, as Duo swatted away her hand once more.

"I'll leave it to you to pick out the gift. That way Zechs won't accuse me of trying to corrupt the kid or anything."

Silence settled over the couple, Duo still working on his sucker. The quiet night and the comforting feel of Duo's chest rising and falling under her hand sent Hilde into a state of near slumber, when Duo's voice woke her.

"Hilde?"

"Hmm?"

"Will you marry me?"

The words caused Hilde to wake up a bit more, a smile spreading across her face.

"Yes."

Hilde looked up to see Duo swirling the sucker around his mouth, an answering smile crossing his features.

"Good."

Hilde settled in once more, falling fully asleep in a matter of minutes. Above her, Duo kissed her forehead once more, depositing the remains of his sucker in the trash bin.

***********************

Heero snorted, almost unsurprised at the news.

"It figures he'd propose that way. I don't suppose that would work with you, would it?" He asked hopefully, turning to catch Relena in the act of wrinkling her nose at him.

"Sure. But the press will want details, and are you prepared to live for the rest of your life being known as the biggest sap in the world? The story I'd have to make up could be pretty wild."

Heero paled.

"No, that's okay. Let me just make sure I've got the finer points down," Heero ticked off each option on his fingers. "Flowers, both of us dressed up, dancing, a romantic candle lit dinner, a stroll on the beach under the moonlight, a ring, and a really flowery speech that will no doubt find its way into the newspapers. Did I get it all?" Heero asked hopefully. He had heard Relena concoct stories about some of their earlier dates. He still hadn't lived down the part where he supposedly tangoed under the moonlight with a rose in his mouth.

"And?" Relena asked expectantly.

"A smile?" Heero offered weakly.

"Smiles. Plural tense."

"Right. I'll make a note of that in the mission parameters. Now if you ladies will excuse me, I think I need to finish that report for Lady Une."

Relena hid her laughter behind her cup. Sally's lips twitched uncontrollably, as Hilde fell into the couch cushions, unable to stop the laughter that bubbled up.

"The coast's clear," Relena announced a minute later, allowing her laughter free reign.

Immediately all three women collapsed into a heap.

"Oh, my sides...Relena, I can't...believe that Duo's proposal actually got Heero to promise something like that!" Hilde wheezed, chuckling at the memory of Heero's face.

"I didn't know he'd react that way either, but hey," Relena shrugged, snagging another handful of popcorn, "who am I to refuse an offer to have a sweet, romantic, sappy Heero for one night?"

Hilde sighed.

"True, true. So...since it was MY fiancée that prompted yours to promise a nice proposal, does that mean Duo can do a little...surveillance...on the evening? For posterity and nostalgia, of course," Hilde winked, catching Sally's eye with a meaningful wink.

"She's right, Relena. And to make sure everything goes well, I think the other guys need to go with Duo to help him out," Sally wheedled.

Relena threw her hands up in defeat, mock glaring at her friends.

"Fine. But if they do ANYTHING to ruin the moment and Heero goes into 'soldier mode', you guys owe me a month of...of baby-sitting when we have kids!"

Putting their heads together for a minute, Hilde and Sally finished their huddle, turning to grin at the former princess.

"A chance to see Heero as a pile of mush? For that, we'll throw in TWO months of baby-sitting...as long as we get a copy," Sally bargained.

"Done."

The negotiations over, the three friends sealed the deal with popcorn, pizza, and root beer.

Unnoticed by the three women, one Heero Yuy smirked from his place outside the double doors.

"They want sap and mush? Ninmu ryoukai."