Love Letter
Chapter One
Tokyo, AC 205
It didn't snow that day; the newscasters had thought that it might. He had loved the snow. It had been what had killed him.
Duo pulled his coat tighter around his body, feeling the cold permeate it nonetheless. He watched as the procession carrying his dead fiancé's body came to a stand still. He watched as the pallbearers laid the coffin down above the grave. He felt a hand run through his short, chestnut brown hair and lay to rest on his shoulder. He looked up, into a comforting pair of emerald green eyes, and he smiled and nodded weakly to the unasked question. He made his way to the casket. A photograph of his former lover sat at the head of the cold, brown case, Prussian blue eyes forever glaring.
He couldn't bring himself to say goodbye.
* * *
"This was Heero´s room," Mrs. Yuy told Duo, leading him into a small, quaint room. It was cluttered with all of Heero's mementos and knick-knacks, but still held the meticulous neatness Duo had come to love in the missing boy. The walls were crafted from a rich, dark brown vaguely reminiscent of Heero's hair color, a hue that matched the accompanying furniture.
"Would you like some tea?" Mrs.Yuy asked Duo.
"Yes, please," Duo replied softly, summoning a smile for the kind woman. Mrs.Yuy walked out of the room, closing the door behind her to reveal a picture of Takeshi Irie on its back. Duo smiled. A few months into their relationship he had found out that Heero had something of a crush on the pop idol.
Duo sat on Heero's old bed and ran a hand down the covers, feeling the plush sink down where his fingers lightly touched it. He grabbed a pillow and hugged it, inhaling the scent of cedar that lingered on the case. He had never been in this room before- after all, he had only been in this house two times. Once to eat dinner with Heero's parents, and the other to help Heero move his stuff into Duo's apartment. Heero probably hadn't been here himself in awhile. Duo placed the pillow back on its spot on the bed, his fingers lingering on the soft cushion. He remembered that Heero hadn't always lived here; he had lived in Sendai up until his last year of high school, when he moved here. His old house was demolished a few years ago to make way for a highway.
What Duo needed now was closure. He traced his finger along the binding of one of the books on Heero's bookshelf, which was sandwiched between the bed and the wall. Heero loved to read. His eyes caught on the binding of a different book. Heero's old yearbook from Sendai? Duo lifted the book from its place on the ledge, flipping it open to a random page. The book opened to the beginning of a directory, listing the addresses and phone numbers of the children attending the school. Duo flipped to the back of the directory, where he hastily found Heero's old address. He dug around in his pockets for some paper, finding an old receipt. Grabbing a pen from Heero's desk, the cobalt eyed boy quickly wrote down the address in Sendai. He had just put the book back on the shelf when Mrs. Yuy entered, carrying a tray of tea.
"Is chrysanthemum okay?" Mrs. Yuy asked. "It was the only thing we had in the house."
"Perfect," Duo replied, getting up to take the tray from her and set it on a nearby table. He hesitated a little, lifting the handle of the teapot. "It was Heero's favorite."
Mrs. Yuy eased herself onto the bed, content to let Duo take over the role of host. "I know."
* * *
Trowa ran his hand in circles on the small of Duo's back.
"I'm not sure I see what this is going to accomplish," he said. Heero's old house was demolished. Duo knew that. There was nothing at that address now save for asphalt. Duo didn't answer his question, only kept writing as he posed one of his own.
"Trowa, did you know Heero in Sendai?"
"No. We met in college."
"But you guys were best friends?" Here Duo paused in his writing to look over at Trowa. Trowa had been there when Heero had died. He had been in the lodge when Heero decided to leave for a late night ski session. Duo couldn't have imagined how it must have been like for Trowa, searching for his best friend after the avalanche. Duo didn't think he could have coped during the search; he was enough of a wreck after Trowa called the next day and explained what had happened. That was after they had found the body.
Trowa nodded. They stayed that way for a moment, staring at one another, Trowa moving his hand rhythmically in comforting patterns. Trowa loved this. He loved looking into Duo's eyes, getting lost in that strange shade that was neither blue nor violet, but some ethereal mix of both. That's what Duo was- ethereal. Trowa had been Heero's best friend. In college he had always looked up to Heero, who was first in his class and excelled at everything he did. And Trowa had mourned Heero, almost as much as Duo, maybe even more so than Heero's immediate family. But at the same time, Trowa couldn't help but feel that Heero's death was a blessing. Heero's death was what bought Duo to him. And he loved Duo, so much. He felt guilty for it.
"Closure."
Trowa was suddenly broken out of his reverie. "Hmmm?"
"It's for closure."
"I see," Trowa said, even though he really didn't.
"It's symbolic. To say good bye to Heero, one last time. It doesn't matter if his old house isn't there any more. I'm sending this letter for me, not him."
Trowa nodded, and read the letter over Duo's shoulder. He sighed. "Duo, I don't see the words 'good bye' written anywhere on that paper."
* * *
Sendai, AC 205
Heero Yuy looked out his peephole, groaning when he saw his mailman Wufei on the other side. Couldn't the guy take a hint?
"Heero, I know you're in there! Why don't you open the door to get your mail?" He winked at the peephole.
"Why don't you just slide it through the damn mail slot?"
"But that would be denying you the pleasure of my company," Wufei said, smoothing his hair back.
"Umm... that's okay. Any way, I'm sick. I wouldn't want you to catch a cold." Heero pulled his blankets closer to him, as if stressing the point, though he knew Wufei couldn't see him. Looking through the peephole, he saw Wufei think about it, then acquiesce.
"Very well," he said indignantly. "But tomorrow I will be back. With chicken soup."
Heero gave a sigh of relief and turned around, sliding into a puddle by the door as envelopes started coming through the mail slot. He picked up the bundle and made his way to the kitchen, where he plopped them down and started to make some herbal tea. The phone rang just as he was getting settled at the table with his teacup.
"Hello?" he asked, picking up the telephone and an envelope at the same time.
"Ni!!" called an excited voice, calling Heero by his middle and more familiar name. All his friends called him that.
"Quatre!" he said, recognizing the voice. He looked at the return address on the envelope. Duo Maxwell...Tokyo. He didn't think he knew any one in Tokyo, and he was sure he didn't know any one named Duo Maxwell. "So how's life been treating you?"
"Great!" came the enthusiastic reply. Ni only half listened as Quatre filled him in on what he had been doing recently. Curiously, he opened the envelope and slipped out the letter. "So, how's Sister Helen and the father?"
"Oh, they're great," Ni replied, unfolding the letter. "They're in Chiba helping with an orphanage opening or something like that, though. I'm stuck here alone."
"Poor baby. You know, I think I heard about that..."
Ni completely tuned Quatre out as he recognized the start of one of Quatre's ramblings. He drew his focus to the letter instead.
Dear Heero,
Even though I know you will never see this letter physically, I like to think that my words will reach you nonetheless. I never thought that you would leave me like this... I always imagined it would be over a torrent of emotional words, and even then I could hold onto the notion that you would come back to me. But this way, I have to admit that you never will. Just do me a favor, and wait for me? I love you, with all my heart.
-Duo
Ni hadn't realized that the telephone conversation had gone silent until a few moments after he finished the letter.
"Hello? Ni? Are you there?"
"Yeah, Quatre, sorry. I was just going through my mail."
"Oh! Anything interesting?"
"No...I think some one's playing some king of weird joke on me."
"Uh huh. Well, let me know how it turns out...I kind of have to go now. I´ll talk to you soon!"
"Okay. Bye, Quatre."
After Ni hung up the phone he reread the letter. Though it had unnerved him at first, the logical portion of his mind was thinking it over. Maybe this Duo had been trying to reach another Heero Yuy.. .god knows that had happened before. He decided to contact Duo and set him straight. He noticed Duo's name and a phone number and address imprinted at the top of the stationary. Maybe he should give him a call. Ni picked up the phone and begin dialing, getting an answering machine after letting the machine ring about five times.
"Hey, this is Duo Maxwell, a.k.a. Shinigami!! Bwahahaha!! If you wish to leave a message for death-"
"or his significant other," interjected a calmer, slightly nasal voice.
"-do so at the beep, and we will return your call as soon as possible!"
"Duo, you barely let me be in any of the mess-"
The voice, which struck Ni as oddly familiar, was cut off by a loud beep. Weird. "Umm... hi. This is Heero Yuy. You recently sent me a letter at my place in Sendai... umm... I don't think you meant to write it to me, though. I just wanted to let you know, so you could send the letter to whoever it really belongs to, it seems pretty important. Ja ne, then."
Ni hung up the phone, wondering where he had heard that voice before.
* * *
Tokyo, AC 205
Duo replayed the message.
"Can you believe this?" He asked.
Trowa didn't know what to make of the situation. "Are you sure you copied down the right address?"
"So what if I didn't? This person claims he's Heero Yuy- don't you think that's kind of weird?"
"Hold on," said Trowa, "Mrs. Yuy dropped by some of Heero's things- she felt you should have them. Maybe his old yearbook is in there. C'mon, let's go sort this out."
Trowa grabbed Duo's hand and led him to the living room, where he had left the two boxes Mrs. Yuy sent over. After a few minutes of searching, Trowa pulled a hardcover book from the larger of the boxes. "Is this the right one?"
"Yeah," said Duo, kneeling beside Trowa. He took the book from Trowa's hands and opened it, flipping through the pages until he got to Heero's class picture. "There he is."
Trowa noticed something to the side of the page. "Look, under the names...there are two Heero Yuys. You must have copied down the address of the other Heero."
"How odd." Duo looked at the names column and saw that Trowa was right. He looked back at the pictures, his eyes coming to rest on the photograph beside his Heero's. There, in black and white, was some one who could have been Duo's exact double. Duo gasped. "He looks...just like me."
Trowa nodded, dumbfounded. He didn't know what to say, except for the most obvious thing that came into his mind. "But his hair is a lot longer."
Duo looked at his twin, and saw that he did have very long hair. It was pulled back in a braid, and reached down past the bottom of the photograph. Duo started. "Do you think- since he went to school with Heero- he could maybe tell me about him? You know, what he was like in high school?"
"I'm sure he could, Duo. We can try and get in touch with him tomorrow morning. Now let's just go get something to eat and go to sleep."
Duo nodded, before following Trowa into the kitchen for dinner.
* * *
Sendai, AC 205
Ni was happy. Father Maxwell and Sister Helen were back, he had slept through Wufei's daily visit, and Sister Helen was in the process of making him chicken noodle soup. He snuggled into the mountain of blankets he had made himself, trying to sink down into his mattress even further. He was sighing contentedly when the phone rang. When the Father and Sister didn't make any attempt to get it, Duo reached his hand out from under the blankets and grabbed for the telephone.
"Argh," he shivered. "Cold."
He pulled his hand back into the warmth of his blankets. "Hello?"
"Hello? Is this... Heero?"
The voice seemed to stumble on his name.
"Yes, yes it is. And who might this be?"
"This is Duo Maxwell."
Ni was momentarily shocked, then relaxed and started twirling the telephone cord around his finger. "Oh. Hello. I wasn't expecting this."
"I'm sorry… it's just, well, I was trying to mail something, so to speak, to a former classmate of yours. I was looking in the yearbook, and I accidentally wrote down your address. Instead of his."
"I see," said Ni, understanding dawning on him. "Don't worry, this happened all the time in high school. But the Heero Yuy you're looking for doesn't live in Sendai anymore-"
"I know," Duo replied. "Heero's... Heero died, just several days ago."
"Oh. I'm sorry." Ni pulled his blankets closer to him, suddenly feeling colder.
"Thank you."
There was an awkward silence during the next few moments, until Duo broke the somber mood.
"I was wondering, if it wasn't too much trouble...if you could tell me what Heero was like, in high school."
Ni nodded to himself. He remembered everything that had to do with Heero with such clarity, and he might as well share it with Duo. Its not like he had anything better to do.
"First of all, you should call me Ni. It's what every one else does."
Chapter One
Tokyo, AC 205
It didn't snow that day; the newscasters had thought that it might. He had loved the snow. It had been what had killed him.
Duo pulled his coat tighter around his body, feeling the cold permeate it nonetheless. He watched as the procession carrying his dead fiancé's body came to a stand still. He watched as the pallbearers laid the coffin down above the grave. He felt a hand run through his short, chestnut brown hair and lay to rest on his shoulder. He looked up, into a comforting pair of emerald green eyes, and he smiled and nodded weakly to the unasked question. He made his way to the casket. A photograph of his former lover sat at the head of the cold, brown case, Prussian blue eyes forever glaring.
He couldn't bring himself to say goodbye.
* * *
"This was Heero´s room," Mrs. Yuy told Duo, leading him into a small, quaint room. It was cluttered with all of Heero's mementos and knick-knacks, but still held the meticulous neatness Duo had come to love in the missing boy. The walls were crafted from a rich, dark brown vaguely reminiscent of Heero's hair color, a hue that matched the accompanying furniture.
"Would you like some tea?" Mrs.Yuy asked Duo.
"Yes, please," Duo replied softly, summoning a smile for the kind woman. Mrs.Yuy walked out of the room, closing the door behind her to reveal a picture of Takeshi Irie on its back. Duo smiled. A few months into their relationship he had found out that Heero had something of a crush on the pop idol.
Duo sat on Heero's old bed and ran a hand down the covers, feeling the plush sink down where his fingers lightly touched it. He grabbed a pillow and hugged it, inhaling the scent of cedar that lingered on the case. He had never been in this room before- after all, he had only been in this house two times. Once to eat dinner with Heero's parents, and the other to help Heero move his stuff into Duo's apartment. Heero probably hadn't been here himself in awhile. Duo placed the pillow back on its spot on the bed, his fingers lingering on the soft cushion. He remembered that Heero hadn't always lived here; he had lived in Sendai up until his last year of high school, when he moved here. His old house was demolished a few years ago to make way for a highway.
What Duo needed now was closure. He traced his finger along the binding of one of the books on Heero's bookshelf, which was sandwiched between the bed and the wall. Heero loved to read. His eyes caught on the binding of a different book. Heero's old yearbook from Sendai? Duo lifted the book from its place on the ledge, flipping it open to a random page. The book opened to the beginning of a directory, listing the addresses and phone numbers of the children attending the school. Duo flipped to the back of the directory, where he hastily found Heero's old address. He dug around in his pockets for some paper, finding an old receipt. Grabbing a pen from Heero's desk, the cobalt eyed boy quickly wrote down the address in Sendai. He had just put the book back on the shelf when Mrs. Yuy entered, carrying a tray of tea.
"Is chrysanthemum okay?" Mrs. Yuy asked. "It was the only thing we had in the house."
"Perfect," Duo replied, getting up to take the tray from her and set it on a nearby table. He hesitated a little, lifting the handle of the teapot. "It was Heero's favorite."
Mrs. Yuy eased herself onto the bed, content to let Duo take over the role of host. "I know."
* * *
Trowa ran his hand in circles on the small of Duo's back.
"I'm not sure I see what this is going to accomplish," he said. Heero's old house was demolished. Duo knew that. There was nothing at that address now save for asphalt. Duo didn't answer his question, only kept writing as he posed one of his own.
"Trowa, did you know Heero in Sendai?"
"No. We met in college."
"But you guys were best friends?" Here Duo paused in his writing to look over at Trowa. Trowa had been there when Heero had died. He had been in the lodge when Heero decided to leave for a late night ski session. Duo couldn't have imagined how it must have been like for Trowa, searching for his best friend after the avalanche. Duo didn't think he could have coped during the search; he was enough of a wreck after Trowa called the next day and explained what had happened. That was after they had found the body.
Trowa nodded. They stayed that way for a moment, staring at one another, Trowa moving his hand rhythmically in comforting patterns. Trowa loved this. He loved looking into Duo's eyes, getting lost in that strange shade that was neither blue nor violet, but some ethereal mix of both. That's what Duo was- ethereal. Trowa had been Heero's best friend. In college he had always looked up to Heero, who was first in his class and excelled at everything he did. And Trowa had mourned Heero, almost as much as Duo, maybe even more so than Heero's immediate family. But at the same time, Trowa couldn't help but feel that Heero's death was a blessing. Heero's death was what bought Duo to him. And he loved Duo, so much. He felt guilty for it.
"Closure."
Trowa was suddenly broken out of his reverie. "Hmmm?"
"It's for closure."
"I see," Trowa said, even though he really didn't.
"It's symbolic. To say good bye to Heero, one last time. It doesn't matter if his old house isn't there any more. I'm sending this letter for me, not him."
Trowa nodded, and read the letter over Duo's shoulder. He sighed. "Duo, I don't see the words 'good bye' written anywhere on that paper."
* * *
Sendai, AC 205
Heero Yuy looked out his peephole, groaning when he saw his mailman Wufei on the other side. Couldn't the guy take a hint?
"Heero, I know you're in there! Why don't you open the door to get your mail?" He winked at the peephole.
"Why don't you just slide it through the damn mail slot?"
"But that would be denying you the pleasure of my company," Wufei said, smoothing his hair back.
"Umm... that's okay. Any way, I'm sick. I wouldn't want you to catch a cold." Heero pulled his blankets closer to him, as if stressing the point, though he knew Wufei couldn't see him. Looking through the peephole, he saw Wufei think about it, then acquiesce.
"Very well," he said indignantly. "But tomorrow I will be back. With chicken soup."
Heero gave a sigh of relief and turned around, sliding into a puddle by the door as envelopes started coming through the mail slot. He picked up the bundle and made his way to the kitchen, where he plopped them down and started to make some herbal tea. The phone rang just as he was getting settled at the table with his teacup.
"Hello?" he asked, picking up the telephone and an envelope at the same time.
"Ni!!" called an excited voice, calling Heero by his middle and more familiar name. All his friends called him that.
"Quatre!" he said, recognizing the voice. He looked at the return address on the envelope. Duo Maxwell...Tokyo. He didn't think he knew any one in Tokyo, and he was sure he didn't know any one named Duo Maxwell. "So how's life been treating you?"
"Great!" came the enthusiastic reply. Ni only half listened as Quatre filled him in on what he had been doing recently. Curiously, he opened the envelope and slipped out the letter. "So, how's Sister Helen and the father?"
"Oh, they're great," Ni replied, unfolding the letter. "They're in Chiba helping with an orphanage opening or something like that, though. I'm stuck here alone."
"Poor baby. You know, I think I heard about that..."
Ni completely tuned Quatre out as he recognized the start of one of Quatre's ramblings. He drew his focus to the letter instead.
Dear Heero,
Even though I know you will never see this letter physically, I like to think that my words will reach you nonetheless. I never thought that you would leave me like this... I always imagined it would be over a torrent of emotional words, and even then I could hold onto the notion that you would come back to me. But this way, I have to admit that you never will. Just do me a favor, and wait for me? I love you, with all my heart.
-Duo
Ni hadn't realized that the telephone conversation had gone silent until a few moments after he finished the letter.
"Hello? Ni? Are you there?"
"Yeah, Quatre, sorry. I was just going through my mail."
"Oh! Anything interesting?"
"No...I think some one's playing some king of weird joke on me."
"Uh huh. Well, let me know how it turns out...I kind of have to go now. I´ll talk to you soon!"
"Okay. Bye, Quatre."
After Ni hung up the phone he reread the letter. Though it had unnerved him at first, the logical portion of his mind was thinking it over. Maybe this Duo had been trying to reach another Heero Yuy.. .god knows that had happened before. He decided to contact Duo and set him straight. He noticed Duo's name and a phone number and address imprinted at the top of the stationary. Maybe he should give him a call. Ni picked up the phone and begin dialing, getting an answering machine after letting the machine ring about five times.
"Hey, this is Duo Maxwell, a.k.a. Shinigami!! Bwahahaha!! If you wish to leave a message for death-"
"or his significant other," interjected a calmer, slightly nasal voice.
"-do so at the beep, and we will return your call as soon as possible!"
"Duo, you barely let me be in any of the mess-"
The voice, which struck Ni as oddly familiar, was cut off by a loud beep. Weird. "Umm... hi. This is Heero Yuy. You recently sent me a letter at my place in Sendai... umm... I don't think you meant to write it to me, though. I just wanted to let you know, so you could send the letter to whoever it really belongs to, it seems pretty important. Ja ne, then."
Ni hung up the phone, wondering where he had heard that voice before.
* * *
Tokyo, AC 205
Duo replayed the message.
"Can you believe this?" He asked.
Trowa didn't know what to make of the situation. "Are you sure you copied down the right address?"
"So what if I didn't? This person claims he's Heero Yuy- don't you think that's kind of weird?"
"Hold on," said Trowa, "Mrs. Yuy dropped by some of Heero's things- she felt you should have them. Maybe his old yearbook is in there. C'mon, let's go sort this out."
Trowa grabbed Duo's hand and led him to the living room, where he had left the two boxes Mrs. Yuy sent over. After a few minutes of searching, Trowa pulled a hardcover book from the larger of the boxes. "Is this the right one?"
"Yeah," said Duo, kneeling beside Trowa. He took the book from Trowa's hands and opened it, flipping through the pages until he got to Heero's class picture. "There he is."
Trowa noticed something to the side of the page. "Look, under the names...there are two Heero Yuys. You must have copied down the address of the other Heero."
"How odd." Duo looked at the names column and saw that Trowa was right. He looked back at the pictures, his eyes coming to rest on the photograph beside his Heero's. There, in black and white, was some one who could have been Duo's exact double. Duo gasped. "He looks...just like me."
Trowa nodded, dumbfounded. He didn't know what to say, except for the most obvious thing that came into his mind. "But his hair is a lot longer."
Duo looked at his twin, and saw that he did have very long hair. It was pulled back in a braid, and reached down past the bottom of the photograph. Duo started. "Do you think- since he went to school with Heero- he could maybe tell me about him? You know, what he was like in high school?"
"I'm sure he could, Duo. We can try and get in touch with him tomorrow morning. Now let's just go get something to eat and go to sleep."
Duo nodded, before following Trowa into the kitchen for dinner.
* * *
Sendai, AC 205
Ni was happy. Father Maxwell and Sister Helen were back, he had slept through Wufei's daily visit, and Sister Helen was in the process of making him chicken noodle soup. He snuggled into the mountain of blankets he had made himself, trying to sink down into his mattress even further. He was sighing contentedly when the phone rang. When the Father and Sister didn't make any attempt to get it, Duo reached his hand out from under the blankets and grabbed for the telephone.
"Argh," he shivered. "Cold."
He pulled his hand back into the warmth of his blankets. "Hello?"
"Hello? Is this... Heero?"
The voice seemed to stumble on his name.
"Yes, yes it is. And who might this be?"
"This is Duo Maxwell."
Ni was momentarily shocked, then relaxed and started twirling the telephone cord around his finger. "Oh. Hello. I wasn't expecting this."
"I'm sorry… it's just, well, I was trying to mail something, so to speak, to a former classmate of yours. I was looking in the yearbook, and I accidentally wrote down your address. Instead of his."
"I see," said Ni, understanding dawning on him. "Don't worry, this happened all the time in high school. But the Heero Yuy you're looking for doesn't live in Sendai anymore-"
"I know," Duo replied. "Heero's... Heero died, just several days ago."
"Oh. I'm sorry." Ni pulled his blankets closer to him, suddenly feeling colder.
"Thank you."
There was an awkward silence during the next few moments, until Duo broke the somber mood.
"I was wondering, if it wasn't too much trouble...if you could tell me what Heero was like, in high school."
Ni nodded to himself. He remembered everything that had to do with Heero with such clarity, and he might as well share it with Duo. Its not like he had anything better to do.
"First of all, you should call me Ni. It's what every one else does."