Audrey

by Yukishiro Megumi

Yaoi, shonen ai: 1x2. After moving into New York City with the rest of the Gundam Boys (apartments compliments of Quatre Rabera Winner ^_^) Heero Yuy feels slightly lost. He begins to worry about life after the Waltz. Who but the Braided One and a ball of

Audrey

By Yukishiro Megumi

Gundam Wing Fanfic

Disclaimer: Okay, peeps, you saw this one coming: There is no way in hell that I own Gundam Wing. If this was heaven, I would. I do, however, have the distinct pleasure in owning Audrey, Rin, and the pet store in New York, All Creatures Great and Small (don't go looking for it, I made it up). And to be on the safe side, I don't own whatever brand names are mentioned. Typos, mistakes: Be sure to tell me if you find any! I don't mind at all. I apologize in advance for formatting errors, though. Flames? Bring 'em on. Just read the warning first to prevent me from thinking that you're incompetent.

Warning: Now there's a reason this thing is in BOLD. It's for all you people out there who see the warning, read the fic nonetheless, and go complaining about it afterwards. This one's YAOI. In other words, boy sees boy, boy LOVES boy. 'Kay so far? Let's move on. It's also a 1x2 story, for those unfamiliar with those terms, it's a Heero loves Duo and vice versa. Some dirty language, so sayeth the rating. There is a smidgen of Relena-bashing (but not a whole lot, seeing that I'm not interested in her death) and perhaps Heero is a bit OOC. A bit. So if you flame me after this point, you ARE incompetent. There. I'm finished. Go read, frolic and bask in the glow that is fluff. I don't get depressed often enough to write angst. ^^;;

[AN: Heero thinks in italics, Duo-kun speaks in bold, which suits him just fine ^_^]

*~*~*~*~*

"'Old soldiers don't die, they just fade away'."

The God of Death peered drowsily around from within his 'nest' of cushions, his eyes only just visible between a light blue pillow and a green velour sham. An echo of curiosity lit his vivid violet eyes.

"Eh? Didja say something, Heero?"

Heero Yuy glared emotionlessly over the top of his well-used laptop out the window. "'Old soldiers don't die, they just…fade away'." He thoughtfully tapped a few keys on the keyboard, gently chewing his bottom lip. "An American general said that once. Douglas Mac Arthur."

A head with a long, chestnut brown braid popped out from beneath the small Duo-made mountain on the plush couch. "Ne, Heero, you've just exceeded your daily word quotient! You want to tell me what's up?"

His Prussian blue eyes half-closed, Heero declined to answer, settling for reattaching the stone face he usually wore. But for a minute, the Perfect Soldier hesitated, unwilling or incapable of expressing his apparent unease. Duo waited a few tense seconds. Heero averted his gaze to the bustling, lively streets of Manhattan below. Ironic, he thought bitterly, that in a city of this magnitude I could feel so lonely. His impassive mask deepened with his frown. He scanned the stores along the sidewalk and heaved a weighty sigh. "…Hn…."

Duo finally disrupted his pillow arrangement to plop down backwards in a wooden chair opposite from Heero. "Oi, you're not getting away with that this time, Hee-chan—"

"Hn."

"Nuh uh, no way, I *don't* think so. I always do the talking around here anyway—"

Heero raised an eyebrow in partial amusement. "Duo no baka. Because you never shut up."

"We'll celebrate your first joke later. Right now, I'm going to take your advice to cease and desist. *You* are going to take my advice to speak up. So speak up already."

The Wing pilot eyed the door as if to plead for release. Duo, following his gaze to the exit, nodded stubbornly, grinning and wagging a scolding finger in his direction. Heero scowled. He threw a Heero Yuy Deathglare™, but to no avail. The Braided Wonder would not back down…then again neither would Heero. Resisting the urge to frown, Duo mentally decided to switch tactics. Ah, fuck, this is pathetic. You'd think he'd finally give in a little. Time to resort to my secret weapon…down with the grin, Maxwell! After all, you run, you hide, but you never tell a lie. I love ya, Heero Yuy and you're not givin' me that anymore! Concern began to seep into his voice and expression, like the rain into a dry riverbed. Even the trademark smiled softened, moistened with sincere benevolence.

"Alright, Heero, I'll wait for when you're ready," he said softly. With the quiet swish of sweatpants he left his seat to return to the couch. Startled by the kindness he thought he perceived in his roommate's words, Heero looked up to see a braid and a lithe arm hanging over the armrest. The gentle sound of exhalation reached his ears. He guiltily looked down at his feet, the barriers constructed around himself cracking, if only slightly, under the rush of something, some emotion that frequently accompanied Duo's gestures of friendship. Couldn't hurt, telling him, could it? Telling him what I'm thinking…might…help. Maybe that will get rid of this void. His talking can do more than fill the air…

The self-proclaimed Shinigami felt the light touch of a hand on his shoulder.

"Duo…have you faded yet?"

He bit back a sarcastic response, sensing the anguish underlying the odd-sounding question. Looking upwards at the young man standing over him, he met Heero's troubled eyes that betrayed his soul.

"Honestly? I dunno. There's a part of me that will always be out in front. Now I say this without any trace of my usual ego: after what we did, how we fought for peace so hard, I don't think we'll fade completely."

"…." Heero slowly paced to the window. Duo watched his eyes settle in a particular direction only briefly before closing meditatively. "Was it easy for you?"

Duo rubbed the back of his head. "Eh…relatively. I think of it as getting the biiiiiiiiiiiiig vacation after working overtime for so long…"

Heero repressed a smirk.

"…Though you could hardly call flying a Gundam working overtime."

Purposefully striding towards the couch, he moved his face only a few tense inches from his own. Although he was immune to Heero's Deathglares™ and certainly used to sudden outbursts from Heero, he couldn't help but feel slightly in awe of the intensity radiating from him. He shivered from feeling Heero's breath warm his lips.

"But if it's so easy…why…why do I feel so empty?! So *useless*?!"

Heero stormed away to his sparsely decorated room before Duo witnessed the breakdown of the Perfect Soldier.

Left alone, Duo bit his lip. So that's it. He wants to know where the soldiers go when the peace is won. The Perfect Soldier feels like the Perfect Lost Boy. He had known Heero to be introverted, granted, but he never became so agitated without becoming wistful first. It couldn't have been something he said. Heero had spoken first. What if…. That's it! Something outside the window. He kept looking out the window! Shinigami, you're a genius.

The braided boy practically launched of the couch, heading straight towards the window. Skidding along the hardwood floor in his softest socks, Duo narrowly missed the table, impacting into the wall hands first.

"Lemme see," he murmured under his breath. "I was over theeeeeeere, Hee-chan was right about heeeeeeere, and he looked over in this direction." Positioning himself accordingly, Duo glanced from shop to shop, trying to discover the object of Heero's previous fixation. None seemed likely: a shoe store, an office, clothing boutiques, and—

"That's it! It's gotta be, right, Hee-chan?" blurted Duo.

There on the street, a patch of color amongst the chic, contemporary stores and impersonal city design. Topiary trees stood cheerfully on both sides of the brass-door entrance, partially hidden under a red, gold and turquoise canopy. Parakeet cages and fish tanks were visible through windows set in pink granite. Embellished on the windows in silver lettering was the phrase "All Creatures Great and Small". Duo blinked in disbelief and interest.

Heero had been gazing at a pet store.

*~*~*~*~*

Like my first fanfic so far? Gimme a review! Hate it? Want to see it burn in hell? If you can write a constructive review with a logical argument as to why it should be damned to the fiery realms, go ahead and gimme a review! Flames? Have fun, kiddo, just re-read the warning before you do. And don't worry about going easy on the newbie. I'm tough. Since I'm going to be away for a while (and *sniff* won't be near any *sniff* COMPUTERS!!) this will be continued at a later date. Thanks for reading! ^__^

--Megumi