Names
By Sutashi
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Trowa drove down Main Street in
his big truck. Duo sighed. (He was in the passenger seat.)
"Hey Trowa," he said casually, " who'd want
to buy this truck after we trade it in anyway? I mean it's
not the most fun vehicle to drive" He leaned back in
his chair. "The seats are mighty comfortable though"
No reply.
Duo prodded him in the arm with his finger. "Hey buddy, you're
getting to be like Heero! Can't ya something, pal?"
Trowa looked at Duo. "It's been bugging me this whole
time Trowa's not my real name" he sighed.
"You said it yourself, names are things that others give to
you and no one's given me a name"
Duo sighed.
The two didn't say anything until they got to the used car
dealer. Trowa traded in the truck for a sports car. When Duo and
Trowa were back in the car, Duo again attempted to spark a
conversation.
"I guess you couldn't haul Heavyarms around on this
thing, could ya?" He laughed feebly. He reclined his chair
and rested his feet on the dashboard.
"Keep em off" Trowa pointed absently at Duo's
feet.
Duo scowled and took his feet off the dash. After a long silence,
he mentioned, "You know I was never given a name
either"
Trowa looked at Duo out of the corner of his eye.
"Not directly, that is" he continued, "I
named myself, ya know."
"Yeah?" Trowa replied.
The two former pilots continued to drive in silence. When they
got to the apartment complex they were rooming in (along with
Heero) they got out of the car and walked up to the door of their
apartment. Duo hadn't even set it fingers on the doorknob
when the door was flung open and Wufei stormed out, grumbling
something about injustice.
Duo's eyes followed Wufei until he got in his black 4-wheeler
and took off. Duo and Trowa exchanged glances, and Trowa shrugged.
The two went inside and saw Heero lounging on the couch, watching
some action-thriller movie.
Duo sighed and mumbled something that sounded like, antisocial'
and he went to his room. His watch said 2100 hours- nine o'clock.
It was too early to go to bed, but too late to really go anywhere.
He sat down and grabbed a comic book. He flipped through it
lazily. "I've read this a thousand times" he
said to himself, "and I've only had it two days! I've
got this thing memorized!" he began to quote the comic book,
word-for-word, until Heero called him into the other room.
"Wow, you're breaking the trend and actually talking to
me?" Duo said sarcastically. He looked at the TV. "Oh,
I see it's your girlfriend, Relena.
Heero shot an evil death glare at Duo and turned back to the TV.
Relena was motioning to her right, and Quatre stepped out and
began to give a speech.
"Ah I see" Duo smirked, "You're
jealous of Quatty, aren't you?"
Heero's eyes shot daggers at Duo.
"You wish you could be out there, Relena hanging on your
every word" Duo smiled. "Let's face it, pal
neither of us are pacifists, she'd argue with you like there's
no tomorrow."
Trowa walked quietly into the room with a bag of chips. "Come
on you two stop fighting."
Heero raised an eyebrow at Trowa.
"Oh, so now you're a pacifist?" Duo smiled.
"Watch out, Heero, he's going to try to close in on
Relena!" (Trowa and Heero both glared at Duo) "Woah,
guys! It was only a joke! Sheesh!"
Duo yawned. "I'm going to bed." He got up and
sauntered out of the room. He heard Heero muttering something
that sounded like, good riddance'
Lying on his black comforter, Duo stared at the ceiling. "I
named myself, ya know" he whispered into the darkness.
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Duo lay in bed, trying to
fall asleep. He yawned, and rolled over. Soon he was snoozing.
He stood amongst a pile of rubble. He bent down and picked up
something, something shiny. He rubbed the soot off of it. No,
he thought, This can't happen not again
He turned the golden cross over in his hand. His name was
engraved on the cold metal. Duo Maxwell
A noise behind him brought his thoughts back to earth. He gripped
the keepsake tightly and closed his eyes. He knew what, who,
was behind him.
Reluctantly he turned around and saw a little boy with a black
baseball cap rummaging through the ruins. The boy turned, and Duo
saw the kid's braid swing with the motion. The young Duo was
staggering among the bricks, heaving some aside to clear his path.
Little Duo came across a body. Both Duos recognized it instantly.
"Sister Helen" they breathed in unison.
Duo's grip tightened on the cross he was holding. He
attempted to blink back tears. He quietly turned and walked away
from the scene, down the street in that L2 colony. He turned and
glanced into a somewhat vacant lot. There was a small shack
standing near the back of the property, and there were young,
dirty children all about. Many of these children, however, were
lying on the ground, with other children looking over them. He
again saw himself, this time younger than before, standing over
one of those other kids. He recognized this other person as Solo,
the first person to really care about him.
At this point in life, young Duo's hair was not braided, it
was rather long and messy. He pushed it back over his shoulder
and held out a bottle to Solo. Solo held up a hand in protest,
then motioned to the other sick orphans.
Older Duo turned around again. He knew he was in a dream
but he couldn't wake himself from it.
He finally woke in the morning; the sun was peeking through the
slats of his mini-blinds and shining in his eyes. Duo blinked. He
groggily walked out into the kitchen, yawning and stretching.
Trowa was pouring some cereal into a bowl and adding milk. Duo
grabbed a rock-hard donut from the refrigerator.
"Did you have a good sleep?" Trowa asked the braided
boy.
Duo didn't answer. He looked at the linoleum. "People
who care about you" He said quietly.
"Huh?" Trowa looked at Duo inquisitevely.
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Duo looked at Trowa and smiled.
"Names are given to us by people who care about us," he
said softly.
Trowa looked unsure.
"Even if it comes to the point of naming ourselves, it's
the people who care about us that do it."
"What makes you sure?" Trowa replied, stirring the milk
that was left from his cereal.
Duo put his donut aside so it could thaw. He set his elbows on
the table and rested his chin in his hands. "I just recently
learned that." he shifted and leaned his chair back. "I
once had a friend named Solo"
And Duo told Trowa how he got both of his names.
Trowa sat for a moment then asked Duo what his name should be.
Duo picked up the phone and dialed a number. He talked in a
hushed voice to the person on the other end, then after finishing
the conversation, called someone else.
When Duo sat back down at the kitchen table, he picked up the
donut and took a bite.
"Well?" Trowa asked him.
"I talked to Quatre and Catherine. And myself. The decision
is"
Heero stalked into the room, grabbed a mug full of coffee and
left.
"You should just name yourself," Duo shrugged.
Trowa sighed. "I guess I'll just stick with Trowa
Barton."
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End.
I left it open-ended, finish it off however you want to. :) Please Review!