Auld Lang Syne
By: The Crispy Druid
Song by: Robert Burns
Translation at: .com/poems/translations/auld_lang_
Disclaimer: I do not own any copyrighted material. I do not own the lyrics to this song
Warnings: Shonen Ai. Heterosexuality. Sap. A bit of tushy - be warned!
Categories: Songfic. Poemfic.
Synopsis: A little party at the Base...
Things to remember:
words in italics are song lyrics
Note: The translated poem is not being sung or spoken. The band is playing Theme & Variations on Auld Lang Syne, leading up to Midnight.
Enjoy.
A young man with a mass of unruly brown hair stands before the jazz band, dressed in tails and cradling a trombone in the crook of his left arm. He taps his finger on the 20's style microphone, and the audience stills.
"Ladies and Gentlemen. I would like to thank you all, on behalf of the establishment, for attending this little gala." He looks at his watch, then back to the crowd. "As we have a couple minutes till Midnight, and there's still some formalities to be acted out, I would like you all to watch your watches, and join in with the band at the appropriate time."
The young man turns back to the band, and raises the trombone to his lips.
"One... Two... Three..."
He inhales after three for the pick-up, and as he places the mouthpiece to his lips, the jazz band starts in with the classic song...
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
With days from long ago?
Explosions roar as the black night is lit with the lightning flashes of ammunition zipping across darkness. Silhouetted against the flashes, a giant walks among a field of fallen figures, a cape blowing out behind it in the breeze of battle.
"I gave you a chance, but you would not take it. I cannot be held responsible for your lack of reason." The young boy's voices talks to no one, as everyone is preoccupied with the battle raging around them. The boy pilots his mech around the battle field reaping death with his twin sickles, a tear running down his cheek.
The boy is too preoccupied with the death and destruction he reluctantly causes to see the wreck stand behind him, bringing it's rocket launcher to bear...
For days from long ago, my love,
For days from long ago.
We'll drink a toast to kindness yet,
For days from long ago.
The darkness is absolute inside the cockpit, the boy inside playing nervously with his braid. In the military base across from his position the boy watches as his friend does his job. Even without an audience to watch him the boy puts on an air of nonchalance, sitting skewed in his cockpit on the side of one thigh, lounging as though thoroughly bored.
The boy sits up suddenly, the smirking grin gone as he bears down on the movement from the rubble left in the other mech's wake. In a flash, the cloaked Gundam crosses the distance between his hidden position, and the battle field. In another flash, the pilot sweeps his scythe down, cutting easily through the already half-junked enemy machine.
Still, the strike came too late and the rocket is launched. The boy inside the dark Gundam screams out, trying too late to warn his friend of his imposing death. He moves forward, trying in vain to catch the missile, to swat it from the air with his weapon. He succeeds; almost. He catches the tail of the missile with the tip of his scythe, and the deadly missile veers off, missing the suit before it by mere inches.
A young blond appears on the view screen, just off to the right of center.
"Thanks for the save, Duo. I didn't see that one coming."
Duo blushes, becoming very shy all of a sudden.
"It was the least I could do for ya, Q-man."
Quatre blushes with Duo, then another wave of enemy suits bears down on the pair and the communications are forgotten in the hell that surrounds them.
I'll surely buy a toast for yours,
And you'll buy one for mine.
And we'll take a toast to kindness yet,
For days from long ago.
Two brown haired youths sit at a bar, slowly sipping their light brown drinks. They stared emotionlessly at the mirrored wall in front of them. The bartender was down at the far end of the bar, wiping up some random spill with his rag, and giving the two boys their space.
Heero stirs, coming back to his body from an extended period of thinking and inhales deeply. Trowa swings his gaze up and watches as Heero stretches in his seat. Trowa yawns and brings his glass to his lips. He downs his drink and looks across at Heero as they set down their mugs at the same time. The bartender notices nothing strange, past the synchronised drinking, but Trowa and Heero are both experts at facial control. They notice each other's smirks, and a wink passes slowly between them.
Trowa raises his hand, and points at Heero's drink. As the bartender is refilling Heero's ginger ale, Heero points to Trowa's glass. The two boys clink glasses, and drink deeply.
We two have run about the hills,
And picked the flowers fair.
But we have travelled far afoot,
Since days from long ago.
Wufei walks into the bar, looking somewhat confused and conflicted. He looks up and sees Heero and Trowa sitting at their places. He walks over, ignoring the glance Heero and Trowa share and sits between them at the bar. He looks up at the bartender and signals for a drink.
"Whiskey. One shot. And..." Wufei casts a quick glance at the drinks his friends are drinking. "And a double of whatever it is that they're drinking."
The bartender suppresses a laugh as he pours Wufei his shot of whiskey. Before the bottle is returned to it's place behind the bar, Wufei has downed his drink, and flung his hands down to brace himself against the bar as the liquor burns a path down his throat. The bartender, smirking again, places a third glass on the bar and fills it with the same bubbly, golden elixir that the other pilots are drinking. "Mister... You're either pregnant, or getting hitched. Either way, good luck."
Wufei casts a nearly thankful glance at the bartender over the double shot, and takes time to answer the wishes of the bartender.
"The latter. Thank you."
Wufei tips the glass into his mouth, not noticing the surprised looks that he is receiving from Heero and Trowa and downs the double shot. A moment later, the liquid is spat back into the glass, a surprised look of his own on Wufei's face.
"That is not alcohol!"
Heero shrugs, going back to his drink. Trowa goes back to his own drink, with a slight smirk on his face.
"Correct - it's Ginger Ale. I don't drink alcohol and Heero seems to see fit to drink what I'm drinking. You might have noticed, had you not been in such a hurry."
Heero sets down his glass, as Trowa takes a drink. "So... Who are you marrying?"
Wufei smiles. "Sally. She asked me a few days ago."
"Then how did you get here to Sanc? I thought you were on duty in North America."
Wufei blushes. "I hopped the first plane out of Vancouver a few days ago." Wufei sighs. "I called Sally this morning with my answer. I said yes and she chewed me out for bolting. But she forgave me; said that Sanc is a better place for the wedding, anyway."
Wufei frowns. "I just wish my father could attend. He never thought I was going to get married, you know? And now I can't even visit his grave." Wufei downs his nearly full glass of ginger ale, then slams the glass down on the bar, gasping for breath. He grins and seeing that their glasses are empty, hooks an arm over each of his friend's shoulders after putting a large denomination bill on the bar for payment.
"That should cover their tab and mine. That stuff actually works right, if you drink enough of it, fast enough. Let's go get us some tuxedos and pin down Quatre and Duo. They're somewhere in Sanc right now, aren't they?"
Heero nods mutely, a small smile on his face, and stands with a grinning Trowa to be drug from the bar.
For days from long ago, my love,
For days from long ago.
We'll drink a toast to kindness yet,
For days from long ago.
Duo and Quatre were sleeping in bed, when the knock came at the door.
"Come on, you two! You're going to be late for the fitting!"
Duo roused, glaring out of the bedroom, towards the living room and the offending noise.
"Go away! We're not at home!"
Duo looked down at Quatre, and noticed the smile on his lover's face. The knocking continued.
"All right, all right! We'll be right there!"
Duo reached down, and gently shook Quatre awake. Quatre inhaled deeply, and stretched. As he relaxed, he rubbed his eyes open and smiled as he brought Duo's face into focus.
"Hey there."
Duo smiles back, and gently moves a lock of Quatre's hair out of his face.
"What were you dreaming of?"
Quatre blushes. "Our first night... together."
Duo laughs. "Good to know I was that good. Buuut... Wufei is at the door, yelling at us to get ready for 'our fittings'."
Quatre laughs also. "You think Sally finally realized that Wufei wasn't ever going to ask her and she'd have to take matters into her own hands?"
"Probably." Duo smirks down, rolling on top of Quatre, and grinning. "And when are you going to make an honest woman out of me?"
Quatre laughs, and pushes Duo off the bed. "As soon as you ask me too, Duo!"
Duo laughs back and scurries off to get dressed, Quatre giving his bare bottom a soft slap and chasing Duo into the bathroom to vie for sink space.
Outside, Heero and Trowa lean against the wall on either side of the door as Wufei paces impatiently. At the sounds of laughter coming from inside, the three settle down and wait for the couple's morning fun to finish so that their day can continue.
So take my hand, my trusted friend,
And give a hand of Thine.
And we'll take a goodwill toast,
For days from long ago.
The ballroom is full of attendants as the band leader takes the trombone from his lips and addresses the assembly again.
"We're here to hitch Wufei Chang," the band-leader waited for the applause to die down, then continued. "-And Sally Po," more applause. "-Tonight, during this special time of new promises. So. If Sally and Wufei do-" the band leader signals the drum roll to start and the waltz they had been playing stops abruptly to comply with the signal. "They may kiss each other, as may all the rest of you, in..." The band leader glances at his wristwatch. "Five..."
Duo and Quatre share a glance, deciding that soon, Wufei and Sally would be the ones watching the spectacle. Quatre makes a mental note to tell Trowa and Heero not to get rid of their tuxedos just yet.
"Four..."
Trowa and Heero share their own glance, smiling at each other. As Trowa comes to a decision of his own, he leans forward to whisper into Heero's ear.
"Three..."
"So... Would you like to combine our dwellings?" Heero smiles larger, and turns his face to reply.
"Two..."
"Hn." Trowa raises an eyebrow, but seeing the mischievous look on Heero's face as he turns, Trowa smiles back and whirls Heero around, dipping him.
"One..."
Everyone takes a deep breath, preparing for the moment that everyone had been waiting for...
"HAPPY NEW YEAR!"
Everyone leans in, the more adventurous not waiting for their partner's mouth to close. The band-leader raises his trombone once again to his lips and signals to the drummer. The drummer plays another rim shot, and the band starts up with an 8 bar introduction to the song that everyone knows. The kisses break, everyone smiling, as they all pick up the tune and raise their voices in song.
"And for auld lang syne, my jo',
For alud lang syne;
We'll tak' a cup o' kindness yet,
For auld lang syne."
~Finis~
The last verse is the actual lyrics of the chorus, and the part that everyone thinks they know. ^_~ Not only do I close this fic with the lyrics of the song, but with every character in the song singing it, hence the bolding and italicizing. And in case you didn't catch it, this IS my self insert fic. ^_^ I'm the bandleader. ^_~ Yes, I am taking credit for all of the G-bois getting together. All who deny this... are probably right. ^_^ Vm
Posted as a present to Saharra Shadow for reviewing my Avatar fic - original ending note intact! One of three moldy-oldies from my archive. Written years and years ago, posted to a now defunct GW fan-board where I managed to amass a small following before getting my first boyfriend and losing my muse. ^^; A little late for the season, but Peace and Prosperity to everyone who reads this for the balance of 2011! ^^ Vm