The Reason I Won't Be Coming

by WickedGame

AU. 1x2, slight 3x4. True love ended with one miscommunication. After six months without the love of your life, how can you cross that burnt bridge and take it all back? 2nd runner up in MediaMiner's Maximum Challenge special category Auld Lang Syne.

1. Prologue

The Reason I Won't Be Coming

a/n: I do not own Gundam Wing nor any of its characters. This is a plot bunny that hopped into my head all of a sudden. I own the plot, so please do not steal it. This is an AU fic, and some characters may seem OOC, but I will try hard to keep them as much in character as possible. Thanks!

Prologue

Two separate men stared at identical folded pieces of parchment with fragrant vellum caught in the middle. The envelopes had been a deep red, the color of a poinsettia, with a gold sticker sealing the flap. The parchment was a golden color, with silver lettering, and the scented vellum not only smelt of pine, but was the color a Christmas tree. A silver angel was on the front of the invitation, glinting shiny and bright back at them. The two men, caught in different neighborhoods in the bustling metropolis of San Francisco, both sighed as they read the message.

Quatre Raberba-Winner

and

Trowa Barton

Request the honor of your presence

On

December Twenty-Fourth

At

Eight o'clock PM

For

A Christmas gathering

Location: 456 Telegraph Hill

San Francisco, CA

Please RSVP (regrets only) to (415) 430-2134

Or to

QRWinner at mac dot com

Both men stared at the invitation with some trepidation. Would he be there? Was this some kind of unique torture? It had been at least six months since they had seen each other. Not since the night that a grave miscommunication had led to a breakup. Not since the night that two people who were madly in love lost everything they had between them.

Yes, both men sat in separate townhouses in the city by the bay, staring at golden parchment, and wondering, not for the first time, if this was a sign. Forgive and forget? Live and let live? Run into his arms and wish the past away? Kiss him senseless and love him with all your might? Admit that you never stopped loving him after all? Admit you were wrong?

Both men place the invitation on a desk next to a computer and stare at it, contemplating.

And both men start to compose a proper response…. and suitable reasons for why they would not be coming. Yet they both know the real reason lies in a six month misunderstanding, and in wounds that have yet to heal.