Melody sighed as she put the last dish away in the cabinet. Duo had helped clean the oatmeal off of everything, but after that she had sent him and the other chibis outside. She hoped that they would run off their excess energy in the back yard, away from most breakable things. Fortunately, only two plates had broken during the impromptu food fight after breakfast. She had gotten off the phone and had gone back into the kitchen to find all the chibis innocently helping to carry dishes to the sink, and Duo picking up the remains of the two plates that had 'fallen off the table', as he put it. She noticed he was careful not to let any of the chibis near where the plate pieces were, telling them to stay out of the way so they wouldn't get hurt. He had also apologized for the mess, but the mischievous glint in his eyes told her that while he really was sorry for breaking the plates and causing a mess, he'd probably have done the same thing again, even if he had known what would happen. That's when she sent them all to play in the back yard.

She glanced out the window to see all the chibis, including Treize and Milliardo, tackle Duo, and the ensuing tickle-fest made her smile briefly. The eight of them were obviously having a great deal of fun, and she almost wished he was staying a bit longer. She looked around to the leftover green oatmeal sitting in a bowl on the counter, and stressed the 'almost' in her mind. The doorbell ringing broke her free of her thoughts, and she hurried to the front door.

She opened the door to reveal a rather apologetic-looking Dubird standing on the front porch, and the older Quatre a step behind her. She impulsively grabbed the two of them in the same hug. "Thank goodness you two are here!" she exclaimed at the same time.

Dubird patted her arm comfortingly, and extracted herself from the rather suffocating hug. "Sorry it took so long. Traffic at this time of the morning is pretty bad."

The two of them followed Melody into the house.

"So, where is our wandering chibi?" she asked.

Melody blinked, and then returned her look with one of perfect understanding. "They're all playing out back," she answered, leading the way. "I was hoping they'd wear each other out before too long!"

Quatre grinned at that. "Duo didn't have coffee this morning, did he?" he asked shrewdly.

Melody shook her head. She leaned forward a bit and dropped her voice to a whisper. "I hid the coffee last night," she confessed a bit sheepishly.

He winked at her conspiratorially. "I've done that on occasion myself."

Dubird only laughed and headed out to the back yard. The tickle-fest was still going on, with all the chibis on one side, and Duo on the other. "So there you are!" she announced, crossing her arms over her chest. Duo grinned nervously at her, deliberately keeping the chibis between them.

"Hey, Du!" Chibi Duo ran over to give her a hug, followed by Chibi Quatre. "What'ya doin' here?"

"Well, I'm here to pick up Duo," she answered after administering the proper hugs.

All the chibis joined in the chorus of sad "Awwws!" that her announcement evoked.

"Does he really gotta go?" Chibi Relena asked her, her little face unusually serious.

Dubird nodded. "Yeah, he's really gotta go. But don't worry, he'll come back to visit someday!" She fixed Duo with a stern look. After he finishes fixing my radio."

Chibi Duo tugged on her jeans to get her attention. "He's not in trouble, is he?" he asked, remembering Duo's comments yesterday morning. "He's been real good helpin' us and fixin' dinner and he made a GREAT breakfast this mornin’ too!" The other chibis nodded at this, and collected around Duo protectively. "We don't want him to go if he's gonna be in trouble! He can stay here and look after us! And he can sleep in our fort, and make breakfast for us every mornin'!"

Melody groaned softly under her breath at that comment; "Not in my house!" she shouted inside her head as Quatre slipped a supportive arm around her shoulders. Dubird simply shook her head. "Don't worry, guys. He'll be fine. I'm not kicking him out or anything! He just needs to finish my radio, that's all."

The chibis reluctantly parted ranks and let Duo through.

He tried his most disarming smile on Du as he headed for the door. "I'll go get my stuff, then." She simply raised an eyebrow, not fooled for a moment. He smiled at Melody as well, who simply smiled back, carefully hiding her relief. They all followed Duo back into the house, the tickle-fest having come to a rather sad ending.

As they reached the back porch, Chibi Quatre tugged on his older counterpart's pant leg. "He's really not in trouble, is he?" Chibi Quatre's blue eyes seemed much bigger in his concern, and Quatre reached down to give him a hug.

"He's really not in trouble," he reassured his younger self. “So you don’t have to worry.”

Chibi Quatre heaved a sigh of relief, and scampered after the other chibis to help Duo pack.