Twinkies, Fairytales and the God of Death
By: Slashman
"You guys have seen the Gundam, right?"
Hilde Schbeiker paused briefly in the aisle as she heard
the young voices. With the new White Fang resistance running around and
recruiting colony citizens, sometimes even unwillingly, she wanted to keep
her eyes and ears open for any possible danger to Duo. The kids might have
heard something and, if nothing else, she could tease Duo over what they
said.
"Yeah... the one that the God of Death pilots, right?"
"I saw the God of Death, too..." the oldest boy said,
his voice going into a full dramatic story telling whisper.
"What does he look like?" a young girl asked.
"He's twelve feet tall, and he doesn't have a face..."
the boy began. Hilde giggled at the story.
"Well, I heard he was really cute," another girl retorted.
Hilde laughed even louder. Duo had his own little fan club going on the
colony, it seemed.
"The God of Death isn't cute!" the older boy shot back,
annoyed. "He's fearsome, with hair of fire, and big claws and..."
"Cute!" the girl said.
"Evil!"
"Cute!"
"Evil!"
"Cute!"
"EEEEEVIIIIIILLLLL!"
Hilde smirked, then picked up a box from a nearby shelf.
Duo had been insistant on her picking these items up. "Look, this is the
most vitally important part of your trip," he had said in a deadly serious
voice. "I don't think I'll be able to save the colonies without them."
She just shook her head, and threw the box of Twinkies into her cart.
"Well, I guess that takes care of it." she said. She pulled
out her hastily written list to be sure, and checked off everything as
she read over it. Just as she was almost through it, her concentration
was interrupted by a wolf whistle behind her.
"Hey babe," a voice called out, "See you finally lost
that geeky little loser."
Hilde turned around to see two young men in military uniforms,
with the white armbands that signified their allegiance to the White Fang.
The first was large and brutish, with a short crewcut and a look that showed
his lack of intelligence. The second was smaller, obviously the brains
of the group, and carried enough confidence for both of them. She had the
unfortunate pleasure of knowing them both.
"Shermer... Clemens... why can't the two of you
just leave me alone?" Hilde couldn't understand Shermer's interest in her,
as she never thought of herself as particularly attractive. She was probably
the only person with that opinion.
"C'mon, your boyfriend isn't around..."
"He isn't my boyfriend!" Hilde cried. "He's just... a...
really good friend..." she defended, but the reply wasn't even convincing
to her.
"Then what's your problem with me?"
Hilde gritted her teeth. "The problem is, you're a jerk."
"You don't even know me, Hilde... why not try?"
"Yeah, then I'd learn you have bad breath, poor manners
and the exact reasons why you are a jerk."
Shermer growled in irritation. "You'll learn to respect
me... I guarantee you that much."
"Sure sure, whatever," she shot back at him. "Mind leaving
me alone? I have shopping to finish."
Shermer muttered something under his breath, but finally
turned to leave. Not wanting to chance another encounter, she finished
the rest of her shopping and checked out. Luckily, the two young White
Fang soldiers didn't follow her, but a terrible sense of doubt surrounding
Shermer's comments did follow her out of the store.
"I don't love Duo," she reassured herself. "I couldn't
possibly love Duo. He's... he's... he's just a complete irresponsible goofball.
And his job is way too dangerous... the chances of him not coming back
are so high... and he's never shown any kind of real interest in me, either...
he probably just thinks of me like a sister, or something... not that it
really matters, because I don't love him."
As she walked down the street, she continued to mumble
to herself. "Duo's a loner by nature. He calls himself the God of Death,
for crying out loud. What's to say he doesn't just up and leave some day,
because the mission he's on calls him off? And I don't know anything about
his past. What kind of person is he really? What's that sense of humor
hiding?
"Of course, none of this really matters, because I don't
love him, right?
"And what do I have to offer? I'm a former Oz soldier,
but he's never wanted to let me fight alongside him. Maybe I offer him
a roof to stay under, and I can cook for him, but there's others who can
do that. There's no real tangible benefit to his being around me, so what
happens when he finds someone who can help him out more?
"But... none of that really matters, because I don't love
him.
"Just because he's cute... and intelligent... and dashing...
and brave... and pretty much a literal knight in shining armor... and just
because he made me completely forget about my commitment to Oz... and just
because that smirk of his makes my heart jump... and because I can't stop
worrying about him every time he goes out on a mission... that doesn't
mean anything.. right?
"Oh god... I DO love him, don't I?"
"COME ON!" Duo screamed at the television. "That should
have been a FOUL! Are you blind or somethin' ya big idiot? Why don't ya
just let him pull out a gun and shoot him?"
Duo was so absorbed in the basketball game that he failed
to notice the door opening behind him. Hilde just watched his behavior
from the kitchen for a few minutes, and allowed herself a slight chuckle.
It was incredibly amusing to see how the young Gundam pilot could get into
televising sporting events. There were times she was worried he would destroy
her television set in anger.
"Oh fer CRYIN' OUT LOUD..."
"Hi Duo."
Duo spun around to see Hilde unloading the groceries in
the kitchen. "Oh, Hilde... hiya. How was your shopping trip?"
"Heard some kids talking about you."
"What'd they say?"
"Some said the God of Death looks like some kind of demon."
"Alright!"
"And the girls heard you were cute."
"That's because they're smart."
Hilde chuckled slightly at Duo's comments, then continued
to put away the groceries. "You could help, you know."
"I know," Duo replied, but didn't move.
"Remind me why I help you sometimes."
"Becaaaause.... you wanna save the colonies?"
"Okay, let me amend that," Hilde countered. "Why do I
help you, specifically, when there are four other Gundam pilots out there?"
"Heero's a loner, WuFei's a jerk, Trowa just kinda does
his own thing, and that leaves Quatre. And Quatre's from a rich family.
So that means you're stuck with me," Duo rattled off. "You shouldn't complain...
I've got the coolest Gundam, I'm witty, I'm popular... heck, I am the God
of Death."
The young woman just smirked at her friend, and dangled
a small package in her hands. "Would the God of Death like his Twinkies?"
Duo leapt to his feet, almost tipping over the recliner
he was sitting in. "Gimme!" he said, and ran forward. Hilde put them behind
her back, and grinned mischeviously at him.
"What do you say?"
The Gundam pilot grumbled, and muttered something under
his breath.
"What was that?"
"Thank you," he said, only slightly more audible.
"Good boy," she replied, and patted him on the head. She
then gave him the package, and put the rest of the box in the cupboard.
"So, what's on the agenda for tonight?"
"Nothing, unless you have to rush off and save the colonies
again."
"Eh, I think I'll take the night off unless something
drastic comes up. You wanna do something?"
"Like what?"
"I dunno, you're the idea person."
"You hate most of my ideas, remember?"
"Only because they're stupid."
Hilde shook her head and chuckled. "You really have no
idea how to treat a girl, do you?"
"Well..."
"Let me guess," she interrupted, "You just remind them
of how lucky they are to have you, and that takes care of everything, right?"
"Yer finally starting to understand me."
"Why don't we rent a movie?" Hilde suggested.
"Sure."
"Romance?"
"Action."
"I should have known."
"Yes, you should have."
***
Hilde yawned slightly, in spite of the massive explosion
that rumbled through the speakers of the television. Duo, meanwhile, sat
on the opposite side of the couch, on the edge of his seat. She occassionally
took a handful of popcorn from the nearby bowl, and shrugged as the hero
dodged yet another round of laserfire, and downed an almost infinite number
of villains using a handgun with a seemingly unlimited supply of ammo.
Duo, in spite of these logical flaws, seemed entranced by the action.
"C'mon... get 'em!" he yelled at the screen.
"They can't hear you," Hilde reminded him, but was apparently
ignored.
"No... that's the wrong way! Krieger went down the other
tunnel!"
"Duo," Hilde said, slowly turning to look at him, "You
know he's going to defeat the bad guys and get the girl in the end, so
we can have an obligatory love scene. What's the appeal of watching it
all?"
"It's the same in those romance movies you always like.
'Oh, we can't be together, because I'm from Earth, and you're from the
colonies...', but in the end, the guy moves to the colonies anyway. Wow,
huge suprise there."
"What's wrong with a little romance?"
"Blah," Duo replied, and crammed another handful of popcorn
into his mouth. He didn't even bother to swallow before continuing. "Wmace
ith duww," he managed through the mass of popcorn kernals.
"Let's try that again, without the popcorn."
Duo swallowed. "Romance is dull!"
"Don't tell me you didn't like fairy tales when you were
younger."
"Eh... the most I remember was some nonsense about magical
beans and little pigs building houses. That was the point at which I lost
interest."
Hilde rolled her eyes. "Why doesn't that suprise me, coming
from you."
"What would people say if they heard the God of Death
liked fairy tales, anyway?"
"There are some good ones," Hilde countered. "Some very
good ones."
"Yeah, right. They're all these weird little drug trips
concocted by parents to keep their kids well behaved and entertained."
Hilde stopped the tape, and looked back to Duo. "You're
wrong about that."
"Oh reeeeeally? I imagine you're gonna try to prove me
wrong, huh?"
Hilde looked over to Duo, and sighed softly... soft enough
that Duo wouldn't notice, she hoped. She wondered exactly what it was that
she saw in him, the thing that made her heart skip every time she looked
at him, or even just thought about him. She wondered what he would say
if he knew.
"He'd just laugh it off, Hilde," she said to herself.
"He'd think you were kidding... or he'd say you just weren't good enough...
just give it up..."
But, somehow, those doubts seemed to pass quickly. She
moved a little closer to Duo, and looked into his eyes. "I know of a really
wonderful fairy tale... a very romantic one... if you really want to hear
it."
"Sure, I'll give it the benefit of the doubt," Duo replied,
his typical mischevious smirk displayed again. "Hit me with it."
Hilde took in a deep breath, and looked down to the ground.
"A long time ago, there was an evil kingdom that took young princesses
from the surrounding kingdoms and made them work for them. Among all these
girls, there was a commoner... a very plain, ordinary girl, who was chosen
to work for the evil kingdom as well. At first, she thought she was doing
the right thing... after all, she was helping her poor family, and supposedly
helping to make the world a better place.
"Well, one day, the girl was sent to another kingdom on
an errand. There, she met this man... he was unlike anyone she had met
before. He was openly criticizing the evil kingdom, and the girl's part
in it all. She tried to convince him that her people were in the right,
but even she had her doubts..."
Hilde cleared her throat, as she was finding it harder
and harder to continue. "The man was captured, and they told the girl to
guard him. But, as the man kept talking, the girl starting seeing how more
and more of what he was saying was right... eventually, the man tried to
escape... and the girl... she couldn't bring herself to stop him..."
Hilde moved a little closer to Duo, although at the same
time trying not to make it obvious. To Hilde's suprise, he seemed engrossed
in the story. "As it turned out," she continued, "The young man was a knight
from a nearby kingdom. The girl had no idea, but suddenly felt a need to
help him in his mission, to free her kingdom from the tyrant's rule...
"She left the service of the kingdom, and eventually met
up with the knight again... the two of them worked together, side by side,
trying as hard as they could to overthrow the kingdom. The two of them
grew close, and then, one day..."
"Yeah?" Duo said, obviously anxious to hear what happened
next.
"The girl fell in love with the knight."
There was silence in the room for a moment. Duo raised
a curious eyebrow. "Well, what happened after that? Did they beat the evil
kingdom? What did the knight say? How does the story end?"
Hilde looked up to Duo, as a single tear rolled down the
side of her face.
"I don't know, Duo... how does the story end...?"
For a moment, he regarded Hilde with a confused look.
Then, in an instant, realization struck him. He began to look at Hilde
in suprise, his eyes widened. "Wait a sec, Hilde... are you sayin'..."
Another tear rolled down the side of her face, and she
looked down to the ground. "I know... it's pretty sad, isn't it?"
"Sad... why?"
"C'mon Duo... look at me. I'm just some poor lovestruck
little girl who has fallen for someone unobtainable. I have no real skills...
there's a million of me."
Duo was silent at first, then gently put a finger under
Hilde's chin, and lifted her head up to where she was looking at him again.
"Hilde... you had the courage to rebel against Oz... you
saved my life, at the risk of your own... and you've helped me all this
time, without ever asking for any kind of reward.."
"I want one now, Duo, even though I might not be able
to have it..." she said, the tears starting to come faster now. "I... I
want your heart, Duo."
Duo gently wiped the tears away from Hilde's face. "Listen
to you... million of you... Hilde, you're one in a million."
"You... you really think so?"
"Hilde, a guy would have to be crazy to ignore a girl
like you. Yer beautiful, intelligent, brave, caring... I had no idea you
felt like you did..."
"Is it that suprising?" she said, and finally managed
a slight smile. "After all, you're the mighty God of Death, right?"
Duo smirked back in reply. "Maybe so," he whispered, "But
I never thought the God of Death would end up with a fairy tale princess."
Hilde was suprised to see Duo's hands were now holding
her own. She looked back into his eyes, and saw the compassion she had
always imagined hid behind his exterior of sarcasm. She moved closer, to
sit right next to him.
"Duo..." she whimpered as she tried to find words to express
the feelings in her heart.
"You don't have to say anything, Hilde..." he said softly.
Slowly, Duo leaned forward, until his face was only a few inches away from
Hilde's. They remained there for a few seconds, neither one moving at all.
"Hilde... no matter what I might say, no matter how I
might act... I care for you. Don't forget that, okay?"
| 
Twinkies, Fairy Tales and the God of Death
By: Domon Kasshu