Promise
The snow fell silently, coating the ground in a blanket of frozen white. Normally, Duo would have been entranced by the beauty and peace that the scene inspired within him. Today, however, he barely noticed as he glanced impatiently at his watch.
Heero was late. Hardly surprising… the Wing pilot had been far from enthusiastic about attending the New Year's Eve party. But, after much pestering – er, persuading on Duo's part, Heero had finally promised that he'd come. Now, Duo was beginning to be worried. The Perfect Soldier was never late.
Suddenly, Duo spotted Heero walking toward him. The so-called Shinigami jumped and waved like a small boy, an unnaturally wide grin plastered on his face.
"Oi, buddy, didn't think you'd make it," he said happily, giving his friend a thumbs-up. "Now, hurry up, would ya? We're already running late!!" he called over his shoulder, beckoning Heero to follow.
However, Heero remained where he was. Duo stopped, staring at his friend with a puzzled expression. Seeing that Heero had no intention of moving, Duo's face became angry.
"What do you think you're doing?!" he demanded. "You promised that you'd come!! How can you back out like this?!"
Heero simply stared, and replied quietly, "I just received word. I have another mission. I'm sorry, but this takes precedence over my promise to you." His expression throughout his speech remained the same as always… non-existent.
Duo's anger had drained away, leaving a stunned, slightly fearful look in its place. Slowly, even that drained away, and his eyes lost their luster.
Glancing away sadly, he said softly, "I see. Well, I guess you gotta do what you gotta do. Don't worry about it. It's justa party. You be careful, ya hear?"
Duo turned away. Just as he began walking toward the road and his car, he was halted by Heero calling to him. Turning, Heero held out his hand to Duo, his face for once showing some emotion – an unexpected tenderness. "It's not just a party," was the soft reply. "I made you a promise. I can't keep it, but… I swear to you that I'll find some way of making it up to you. This promise I will keep."
Duo abruptly flung his arms around Heero, holding him tight. "I know you will Heero. I know you will. Just make sure and stay alive so you can keep it, ne?" He chuckled weakly.
"Duo," Heero said, his voice uncharacteristically hesitant. He seemed about to say something, but the words caught in his throat. "I will," he said instead. His eyes, however, had no such problems saying what they meant.
Duo stared in amazement. And then he smiled, understanding fully what Heero's eyes were telling him, and feeling more content than he could remember feeling for a long time.
*******
An out side observer would wonder at the present scene. Most would feel a great deal of pity at the one-sided conversation. After all, it was clear that the braided boy was expecting someone very important to him to show up. I imagine most witnesses – had there been any – would have liked to take a stick to whoever the poor boy had been waiting for… But clearly the boy himself was the most affected, apparently unable to accept his solitude. And as the boy continued to hug thin air, it's unlikely that even he noticed the tears rolling down his face as he continued to smile in an absolute joy that covered a terrible loneliness.
Well, that's it. Sorry it's so short. I was following the doujinshi that I based this on fairly closely… at least as far as the pics were concerned. I couldn't read it (so I can't read Japanese!!!), and I was dying to fill in what Duo was saying, and what he thought he was seeing, since in the dj, you could see the entire time that he was alone. There was never any indication that it was Heero he was waiting for, but I like DuoxHeero, so I thought that would be best. I tried my best to convey the sadness and pity the story inspired in me, but I'm afraid I didn't do a very good job… And the ending stinks; my muse decided to leave that bit up to me, and I'm no good at touching endings. Anyway, please tell me what you think. This small piece of work is nowhere near as good as the original, and I
would tell you who drew it and where you could get it, but I'm afraid I can't remember… ~_~;; Yeah, well… ja!!!