Summary: Feelings are running high on the shorelines. Duo has arrived on the shores of Sanc Island and is making new friends, and enemies, among the locals as they surf their way towards the big competition. AU

Rating: M

Genre: Drama, Hurt/Comfort, Angst, Romance…? Alternate Universe

Warning:

Probably some OOCness. Kind of bastard Heero in the first chapters. Some swearing. Won't pass the Bechdel test. Somewhat cliché, I think. Hmmz… what more… oh yeah, I'm a bit of a sadist, people will get hurt… sorry about that

Disclaimer: Gundam Wing isn't mine! I'm not pretending they are, I simply love messing around with the lovable characters. Any similarity to existing works is purely coincidental

A/N:

I live for feedback

Sit back, and let the waves take you for a ride.

Chapter 1: Drop In

There is no other element that is quite as mighty as water. It has the power that no other element has. It has the power to give life.

I am as one with the water when I ride on it – in it – when it allows me to ride on top of its surface. It's a tentative allowance. If you make a mistake, or if the ocean is feeling edgy, it drops you into its folds and you are at the hands of a higher power.

It is awe-inspiring. It is terrifying. It makes me come alive like nothing else can.

It will break you though. I know this better than most. I've seen the ferocious power of the waves. I've seen my best friend die at their hands. And still, I cannot stay away.

I let my hand touch the wave, feeling the water under my fingers. My braid slapped against my back. There is no feeling that will ever come close to the thrill of surfing a pipe. The beauty of seeing the exit in a tube of sparkling colors as the water bends the light into rainbows. At that point, there wasn't much light, but the dawn was shining an orange light in the sky.

The pipe was closing and I pumped to gain speed enough to get out and surf over the lip, letting the wave go. It was my last for the day, I decided. Always decide on the last of the day after you've already ridden it. It was something I'd learnt from my days with Solo.

The last few weeks, a black Labrador had been waiting for me on the beach. That night was no different. It sat patiently near the water's edge, waiting for me to come closer, so we could play.

'Hey, boy. You here today as well?' I called when the water only reached me to my shins. The dog immediately skipped into the water with a tennis ball in its mouth, making me laugh.

'All right,' I said and scratched the dog behind its ear as it dropped the ball into my hand, wagging its tail hard enough to make the dog sway.

I threw the ball far along the waterline and the dog flew after it, staying in the water even though it would have probably been quicker for it to go on the wet sand. While he fetched it, I went to my backpack and dug out one of the dog treats I'd bought the previous day. Not having an abundance of money, I was required to conserve what little I did have, but this time I'd splurged.

The dog came back and pushed its nose in under my hand, dropping the soggy ball in my backpack.

'Oh, shit!' I dug into the bag, fishing the ball out. 'I told you, boy, my life is in there, don't go ruining it.'

I laughed as the dog licked my fingers and scratched it behind the ears again.

'I'm not mad, boy. Here, look what I got you,' I said and held out the treat which was readily accepted by the dog.

'I wonder what your name is…' I said to him, letting my fingers bury themselves in his wet fur. He just woofed in response, making me smile as I idly threw the tennis ball for him again. He'd been ready for it and dashed off, kicking up sand in my face and into my half-open mouth, making me spit it out.

'Thanks,' I called, and I saw his ears move to listen, but he kept going forwards and finally reached the ball.

I dug out another treat for him and held my hand out as a sharp whistle travelled in the air. The dog lifted its head to attention and looked at my held-out treat for half a moment before he rushed off towards the noise.

'Guess your owner called, huh?' I said to the emptiness that the dog left behind. The treat went back into the bag and I proceeded to zip it up and put it on my back. I grabbed my board and left the beach.

I'd come to Sanc Island without a plan, without a return ticket and without money. I hadn't exactly made any huge attempts to get involved with the local surfers, now preferring to make friends elsewhere, away from the dangers of the water.

Without money, there isn't much one can achieve when it comes to choosing where to sleep, but I'd found a small, run-down shed that no one appeared to be using. The door and windows had been boarded up, but I was lean enough to be able to fit through a small window on the side, that they had probably left on the basis that no one would try to get in there. How wrong they had been.

I had moved buckets upon buckets of sand into the small shed so that I could have a decently soft place to sleep on, and had placed blankets on that so the coldness of the sand wouldn't seep through. Without direct sunlight to heat it up, sand is rather cool. It doesn't quite make for the best of beds.

It wasn't the best place is ever slept at, but it wasn't the worst either, and I was happy that I had at least found a place with a somewhat intact roof.

I puffed my pillow to make if soft and laid down on my makeshift cot, pulling my other blanket on top of me, and quickly fell asleep.

During the days, I had taken to searching for jobs. Usually I woke up around midday and walked the miles into the city. The problem with this is that the locals are highly adverse to any outsider coming in, and there weren't any job offers on display. If there were, they had mysteriously been filled when I came to the counter and I was starting to lose hope that I would find any work.

I stopped outside of the local grocery store and felt my stomach complain about the fact that I hadn't yet eaten anything that day. In my head, I calculated how much I had left and sighed when I came up with the expected answer. Not nearly enough. Maybe I could at least get a fruit now, and I would go to the pier for some fishing later.

I opened the door. The bell rang to announce my arrival but the place seemed completely deserted. There were some cheap oranges, but I was loath to pay for them when I could pick them when I went back to the beach. In the end, I found some bread that had passed its expiration date, thinking I'd be able to haggle over the price a bit. Stepping up to the counter, it was still empty.

'Hello?' I called

'Out back!'

I frowned, placing my old bread on the counter and went behind it to open the door. It wouldn't open far, so I pressed against it as much as I could and squeezed my way through.

Cartons and their contents and a huge shelf were lying scrambled all over the floor. At the end of the shelf, an old man was sitting up unsteadily and I hurried over to him to assist. There was blood running down his face and I looked around for a towel, but as I didn't see one I discarded my t-shirt and pressed it against his head.

'I'm stuck,' the man said and I followed his gaze to his foot that was caught underneath the shelf.

'Can you withdraw it if I lift it, sir?'

'I'm not invalid'

'I'll take that as a yes,' I said, chuckling softly as I got back to my feet and lifted the shelf. It wasn't all that heavy, but he would have had a hard time getting the leverage to do it on his own.

He pushed himself backwards, allowing me to drop the shelf back down.

'Do you have a phone? I'll call an ambulance,' I said and he scoffed at me.

'I won't go in an ambulance, kid.'

'What?'

'My car keys are on the desk, help me over there and I'll drive.'

'You'd keel over before you get halfway to the hospital,' I said and he paused, thinking about it.

'Go up front and lock, then drive me to the hospital,' he said. It seemed like he was used to getting his way

'An ambulance –'

'Now, kid!' he said and I shrugged. It wasn't like I had anything better to do anyways, so I squeezed my way out of the door again, turned the sign to Closed and locked the entrance to the shop.

When I got back, the old man had managed to limp his way to the desk where he was now leaning heavily, one hand on the desk, the other clutching my t-shirt to his forehead. I stepped up and grabbed the keys that were lying in front of him.

'Lean on me old man,' I said, and almost choked on my words, but they were already out. Then he laughed and I relaxed.

'Who are you calling old, insolent youth,' he said in a surprisingly teasing tone. I helped him put his arm over my shoulder and we went outside ungracefully.

'Lock up, kid. Second key on the right,' he said and I obediently turned and locked the backdoor before we continued our slow way to the car.

'Which way?' I asked as I pushed the car into gear and left the parking lot.

'Ah, you're the tourist that's been going around begging for jobs.' I grinned as he said it, evidently everyone knew everybody around here. 'Just head straight until I tell you to turn.'

We went quiet then, and I shot the occasional look at the old man, wanting to make sure he didn't fall asleep on me. Even more, that he didn't die on me.

'You looking for jobs without your shirt on, kid?' the man asked then and I couldn't help but laugh loudly in disbelief.

'You've got my shirt, old man,' I said; adding the "old man" deliberately this time, as a countermeasure for him calling me kid. I thought it was justified.

'Oh, yeah,' he said as though he just remembered and laughed slightly. 'There ain't no jobs for outsiders here, though.'

'I've noticed,' I said in frustration. 'I've been going to everyone I could find to try and get a job.'

'Left here,' the man said and I had to break quite hard in order to make the sharp turn.

'Bit more warning, next time,' I grumbled as I straightened the car back up, shifted gears, and pressed on the throttle again.

'Where's the fun in that?' he asked in amusement, and I was certain that this man was crazy.

'Just press that shirt against your head and make sure your brains don't fall out,' I said silently, not really intending for the man to hear me, but obviously he did because he laughed boisterously.

'I like you, kid. You're hired!'

'What?'

'You keep asking that question, you need to listen more closely. Take a right up here, the hospital is just ahead.'

'I heard you, I just didn't believe you.'

'You can count? Addition and subtraction?'

'Yeah,' I said, dragging the word out longer than necessary.

'Then you're hired. You can start as soon as you've dropped me off at the doctor's.'

I blinked in surprise. This was not exactly how I had imagined getting a job, but I'd take it.

'Sure. You trust me?'

'Should I have any reason not to trust you?' he asked, raising an eyebrow and looking at me with his head tilted.

'Usually you don't just –' I interrupted myself as he raised his eyebrow even higher, making me afraid it would blend in with the hair. Well, who was I to look a gift horse in the mouth? 'No, of course not! I'll take care of your store.

I parked the car and got out to help support the man into the hospital. As soon as we came in through the door a nurse came up with a wheelchair, into which I deposited my new boss, to his apparent dislike.

'I close at eight. The money from the day goes in the safe in the back, code fifty-four eighty-nine. Count it and put it in an envelope before you lock up.'

'Got it.' I couldn't believe he trusted me, a complete stranger, with the code to his safe. There was something seriously off with this man. Lucky me.

'I open at seven in the morning. Be there,' he said, and was rolled away.

'What about the car?'

'Take it, I'll get back on my own,' he called and I was left standing by the doors to the hospital, looking after the old man that I only then realized that I didn't even know the name of.

I drove back to the store, put the bread that was still on the counter back in its original spot. I didn't have the money to pay for it, and not having the owner here to haggle with, I really couldn't just grab it. In my older days, I might have, but since I had met Solo, he'd made me stop those things and focus on the surfing.

There were a few customers during the rest of the day, with a peak when works let out, but apart from that it was pretty dull. I'd found a book in the back room and was sitting by the register reading when a bunch of guys came in, talking loudly.

I eyed them cautiously. Back home such a gang would have been a teller of trouble about to come, but here it seemed as though everyone knew each other, and I hadn't seen any fights more serious than the regular disagreement.

'Did you see the news, Wufei?' a tall, muscly guy with long blond hair asked and a black-haired dude turned around to face him, giving me a chance to study his features in the mirror in the ceiling. He looked Korean, or maybe Chinese. Yeah, probably Chinese, his hair black as a raven, his build leaner than the blond, and probably slightly shorter as well, but it was hard to tell in the mirror.

'About the Gundams? Yeah, I noticed.'

The Gundams was the most prestigious surfing competition, held the shores of Sanc Island. This season, it was going to be held during the end of January, when the waves are known to be their roughest. Solo and I had been looking forward to it ever since we'd qualified, but then he'd gone, and I'd come here alone. There were still months to the contest, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to compete anymore.

The only news I knew they had released recently was who would be allowed to enter the bonus contest, Rift Wars. You had to compete in Gundams to be allowed to enter Rift Wars, and Gundams was already a quite exclusive contest, with only the top Pros, and two locals from Sanc allowed to enter. The locals qualified to compete against each other in a first qualifying contest where the two best would go on to compete in the Gundams.

'Have you qualified yet?' the blond asked and the Chinese scoffed.

'I've got a chance if I get a good position during the next three qualifiers. If I win one, I'm all set, so I'm hoping to get a spot. You?'

'No, I'm out already. Treize still has a shot though,' the blond said and nodded towards one of the guys that was looking through the meat section. He was, if possible, even taller than the blond, with a mop of brown hair on his head, features set in stone.

'Yeah, if I win the next three qualifiers, I'm all set,' he said and I grinned. I had never seen these guys surf, but they were obviously quite good if they were qualifying for the Gundams. Even attempting it took some guts and skills. Or foolery. I wasn't sure where I fit. A fool with guts, maybe?

'Trowa, you're in already, aren't you?' the Chinese asked the fourth and final guy of their group. He had brown hair, bangs covering the left side of his face, but his sharp jaw structure stood out and I was staring for a moment before I caught myself. I turned my eyes back to the mirrors. They were all rather attractive.

'Yeah,' the guy called Trowa answered simply as he grabbed a twelve-pack, hesitated a moment, and grabbed another one.

'What about Quatre?' the tall guy they'd called Treize earlier asked.

'He's not competing,' Trowa answered curtly and walked towards the counter. He frowned as he saw me sitting there, looked around and over my shoulder towards the back room before he shrugged and put the packs of beer on the counter.

'What about Heero?' the blond asked and I saw the Chinese shrug as I rang up the beer.

'You know he doesn't compete, ever since she died,' the Chinese said with a dejected tone. 'We haven't pushed him.'

'Maybe it's for the best, so the rest of you can have a chance,' Treize said in a loud, amused tone.

'You're already giving up?' the blond asked in plain amusement and I smiled. He was probably just being realistic; the chances of winning three contests in a row are quite slim, no matter how good you are.

'So, you gonna let me pay, or…?' the guy in front of me said and I flinched as I was brought back to where I was, and what I was supposed to be doing.

'Shit! Sorry, buddy,' I said and rang up the second case, blocking out the conversations going on around me. 'It's 31.98, please.'

He held out two twenties, looking at me with narrowed eyes, making me slightly uncomfortable. Uncomfortable typically made me defensive, so I tried to push the feeling away. I took the twenties hit it into the register, from where I picked up his change, and gave to him.

'Guys, let's get going,' he said, pushing his bottles further along the counter, making room for the next.

The other three came up from behind the shelves and all lifted their eyebrows as they saw me.

'Where's the Boss?' Treize asked, and placed his assortment of meat on the counter, and I started to ring them up.

It had taken me two customers before I realized that "the Boss" was actually the old man's nickname, and I still didn't know the name of the man I'd taken to the hospital.

'He had an accident,' I said for the umpteenth time that day. Like I said, everyone knew each other, and I guessed everyone was kind to the man having the only bigger grocery shop in town. He seemed to be pretty well liked. 'He'll probably be back tomorrow.'

'We don't see outsiders much in these parts,' the blond said just as the door opened and the bell rang loudly to announce a new arrival, making me look in that direction.

A brown-haired guy walked in, and he made all the hairs on my body stand at attention. He looked like trouble, and I've seen my fair share of it. Actually, I've been my fair share of it. His hair was shaved on the sides and he had enough mousse in what was left to make it stand up on his head. He was walking with certain steps towards the counter, not even sparing me a raised eyebrow as he leaned over and grabbed a pack of cigarettes.

'There's a line,' I supplied him helpfully as he held out his money, and he looked at me in disbelief.

'I don't wait in lines.'

'Then go wait somewhere else,' I said as nonchalantly as I could. I didn't flinch when the guy smacked his hand down on the counter.

'You don't want to make me your enemy,' he said and reached his hand out to pat at my chin.

I grew up on the streets. I've learnt how to defend myself, and I don't take kindly to people touching me without my say so. So I deftly hit his hand away from me, making him drop the cigarettes on the floor. He looked at me in surprise, working his way towards anger. I saw the hit coming before he started moving his hand and had ducked by the time his fist struck where my head would have been. He lost his balance and had to catch himself against the counter, where he managed to topple one of Trowa's packs over. I managed to move quickly enough to catch it before it hit the floor, but it also got me in the path of a furious lump of crazy-person. He spat at me and I felt it leave a track as it slowly slid down the side of my face.

Then he was pulled backwards off the counter, and I had to take a deep breath to keep myself from spitting right back at him. No more fights; I'd made that promise once to Solo. But we had both broken it afterwards. For some reason we always seemed to pull in the wrong crowd. Or we had been the wrong crowd.

The aggressive guy was being held back from coming at me again by Trowa and the blond

'Mueller!' someone called from outside. 'You coming, or what?'

'Yeah!' the guy called out and glared at me, but stopped fighting against Trowa and the blond. They tentatively let go, but kept their hands close to his arms, just in case.

Mueller fished out a twenty from his pockets and put it on the counter before he turned to pick his cigarettes off the floor.

'Keep the change. It looks like you need it for a new shirt,' he said sharply and I glared at him even as I felt the blush travel up my cheeks as he pointed out that I was still topless.

When he left I took a deep breath and deposited Trowa's beer back onto the counter.

'Thanks,' I muttered to the guys that had intervened. I was embarrassed at the display, but all of them burst into laughter, making me look up at them in surprise, and a bit of anger. What were they laughing at me for?

'Sorry, it's just, I've never seen Mueller so completely off his game before,' the blond said between laughs and I had to smile. I turned to grab a piece of paper and wipe my face from that disgusting spit before I continued ringing up their goods.

'We don't get a lot of outsiders in these parts, they go a bit further up the road,' Treize said, kind of repeating what the blond had already said before this Mueller guy had shown up. 'But, for an outsider, I'd say you handled yourself spectacularly.' His voice had a bit of that "holier-than-thou"-quality, so I was a bit unsure whether or not he was giving me a compliment, but pretty soon settled that he was.

'Thanks, buddy. Is he always like that?'

'When people try to make him stand in line, yes,' Trowa said in a straight tone and I smirked.

'Hey, I gave him an option,' I answered and put the last of the meat into a bag. '72.35 please.'

Treize handed me the money and then the Chinese put his basket on the counter, filled with chips and dips. They were definitely going to have a barbecue and I felt my own stomach protest at its emptiness. Two more hours before I could get out of here and get some fishing done, so I could finally get some dinner.

I rang up the last of it and waved them off. They had been a lot cooler than I had given them credit for when they first stepped through that door. I told myself that the fact that they were surfers had nothing to do with it. They still would have been cool. But then again, what had captured my attention had been their talk about the Gundams, and I sighed as I sat down in the chair, picking up the book again.

I didn't need surfer friends. Especially not ones crazy enough to qualify for and enter the Gundams. I'd had enough of that, thank you very much. But still, it was nice, listening to them talk, much like Solo and I had used to do. They had been talking about the surf, and the weather, and other, more general topics that friends always manage to find. But it had been the surfing that had brought out the passion, and I envied them.

I missed it.

A/N:

I am not a surfer, unfortunately. I've tried my best to gather knowledge about the surfing community, but there will be mistakes. Most(all) are going to be blatantly obvious to anyone familiar with surfing, I ask that you tell me about these places if you wish to see it changed and think it's salvageable. Feel free to tell me otherwise as well, I'll do my best to adjust. (Please provide a source for your claims so I can validate them before changing anything)

Any and all mistakes are mine and mine alone.

Gundam Wing is probably the fandom I'll always come back to. It was my first fandom I got sucked into, and I still love the characters and their diversity. So despite the fact that the fandom has become much smaller than it once was, I decided to put this little piece up there. I hope it can bring those of you that are still around some enjoyment. It will be a long-runner :)