Disarmament
comet01
Thanks to everyone who read/reviewed this story! I wasn't sure there was going to be interest in this story, but I've gotten a pretty good response so far. Again, to all of my readers, thank you!!
Chapter 2- Walking Ahead While Looking Back
The bar was shockingly quiet. As Duo entered, he saw the bartender cleaning off goblets, along with his friends. The rest of the tables and stools were completely empty, and the only sound that could be heard was the quiet chatter amongst his friends.
Passing by the middle-aged bartender, Duo looked him in the eye. He removed his hat, pressing it to his chest, and gave the man a small nod. My friends probably begged you not to close up. Thanks, buddy. He then turned away from the bartender, smiling, and took a seat with his friends.
He found himself sitting across from WuFei, who had been silently eating a bacon cheeseburger, eyeing the conversations on the other end of the table. Duo was satisfied with the arrangement; he didn't want to be forced into talking. Heero was sitting next to him and muttered some indecipherable words as he pushed a basket of onion rings toward Duo, who then decided to occupy himself with eating.
Duo had almost forgotten the euphoric feeling he got from onion rings. They were such a simple delicacy that he only got from a simple atmosphere. The bar had always been such a robust and lively haven for him once the war ended. Pool and darts had always been a reliable way to get money out of a drunk man, and Duo would always make them pay him with the precious tickets to whatever sporting event they were going to, along with a basket of onion rings. He would then proceed to talk to another stranger, coercing him into a couple of beers. The process repeated itself about three or four times, depending on how lucky he felt. He became quite infamous in many of the colony's bars. He was happy.
Now, he could only see the sullen faces of men who had no self worth, men he sympathized with. He learned that the bar was the best place to find a broken man. Yearning to convince himself that he wasn't one of them, he obsessively sought out to help each and every broken soul who wandered the bars. Full of altruistic intentions, he met one man after another….
Duo's mind snapped back into his present surroundings. He slowly pushed the onion rings away. I'm with my friends now. I have to stop doing this. He tilted his head up with glazed-over eyes and his patented fake smile. He watched WuFei tussle with a piece of bacon, and he broke into a real smile. The silly savagery was just what he needed.
"I'm not saying that the new bill isn't going to pass, Quatre. I'm saying that it is inadequate for the needs of the project and it really has no business being passed."
The voice was that of Relena Darlian. Duo hadn't remembered seeing her before, but he assumed that she had just met up for lunch. He didn't care. He sat quietly and eavesdropped on the current conversation.
"But Relena, if $60 billion isn't enough to finish the project, we can just wait for a more opportune time to ask for more. The Mars Terraformation Project isn't very urgent right now. People are much more concerned about fixing the damages from the war."
"If we don't make Mars a hospitable area within the next year, there will be no project to continue. The workers will refuse to stay. That's why we need to finish this as soon as possible."
"The people working there are passionate about improving their lives. Don't worry about them backing out. We all want a better life, and right now that means we have to focus all of our funds onto fixing up the colonies and compensating the victims' families."
Duo had never realized just how charismatic Quatre was. He should be a politician. He had very little interest in the discussion, though. Listening to it only made him think of the war, and pestilent memories that lingered because of it.
"The people of the colonies believe that they're living in rubble right now. We can't let them continue to think that, Relena." Quatre was trying to be persuasive. Duo knew, however, that he couldn't resist his urge to comfort people. "The project will be fine. $60 billion is a lot of money. We just need to spend it wisely to keep everyone happy."
Suddenly, Heero gave Duo a powerful nudge. He almost fell off of the bench. "Hey, what was that for?"
"Come on."
Duo knew that Heero wasn't going to elaborate without further prodding. He got out of his seat. "Why are we getting up?"
Heero looked surprised that he even asked the question. "Did you really like that conversation at the table?" Duo adamantly shook his head. "That's what I thought. We're getting some drinks."
"Er…I better not, Heero. I'll go with you, though." Duo looked stupidly at his friend, not knowing what else to say. He wanted to say something, though. The indecision hurt him almost as much as the silence.
The two young men found themselves at the counter. Duo was self-conscious about his discomfort over the situation; Heero was very good at picking out emotions in people, and he knew that he was making his discomfort more than obvious enough for Heero to notice. Heero had ordered his drink, picking up a tall glass of what appeared to be straight-up vodka and sat on one of the vacant stools at the counter. Duo did the same.
"So buddy, you gonna have anything else with that vodka? Just watching you drink that is making me sick."
Heero stopped moving completely, even if only for a moment. His dark blue eyes narrowed into a sharp gaze. Duo felt the blood cascading to his face, feeling like Heero was reading his mind. His friend ran his hand through his short, messy hair and turned back to his drink after saying "What happened?"
Duo knew this was not a question, but a demand. Heero wasn't one to ask questions. "Uh, you ordered that drink and now I feel queasy? That seems normal to me." Duo knew that wasn't going to be acceptable.
"Something happened between you and Hilde."
Duo was caught off guard. "Someone's been lying to you, buddy." The patented fake smile returned. "Hilde and I are fine. You shouldn't be so gullible. I thought you were smarter than that."
The man with an IQ of 171 shrugged and gulped down the rest of his drink. "Fine." He got up out of his stool and headed toward the door. "If you do have problems, you can stay at my place."
"What? You're leaving?"
Heero stared coldly. "I need some fresh air. You can come too, if you want."
Duo knew what would happen if he went with Heero, but almost wanted it to happen. He wasn't positive whether he wanted to tell the sensitive, intricate details of the story just yet, but he did know that Heero's cold manipulation and indifference was the only way for it to come out.
Maybe if I tell him, I'll finally be able to sleep again.
With a pang of instant regret, Duo quietly followed Heero out the door, forgetting about the others.
To whom it may concern:
I'm writing this letter to inform you that I won't be living on this colony anymore. I'll probably be gone by the time you see this. Please don't be mad that I didn't say goodbye. I love you all and didn't want to leave under such rushed circumstances, but life throws in a few surprises for all of us, and, unfortunately, most of them aren't good. I don't know what I would do with the rest of my life here anyways.
If I told you where I was going, I think that would spoil the point of leaving in the first place, so I apologize if I hurt your feelings. I wouldn't ever be able to redeem myself in the eyes of any of you ever again. As my loved ones, it would hurt me very much to see you disappointed. Therefore, I will never come back. I know it will be hard or even impossible to forget about me, but please try to continue with your lives as you normally would.
Although I feel burdened by being so cruel and demanding of you, I'm doing this because I hope that, one day, it will take some of the extra baggage away, and that I will be able to start a new life. I will never forget any of you who played such an active role in my life and development on this colony. I love you, and will miss you all.
Hilde
PS- One last favor: Please don't look for me. I cannot force you, as I will be living a perfectly conspicuous life and have no plans to change my name. However, as friends and loved ones, I hope you'll grant this. Again, I will always remember you.
Hilde nodded in uncomfortable satisfaction as she put the letter back on the table. She was never used to being as cold and calculated as she demonstrated herself to be in the letter. However, she found that it suit her purposes well. She felt cleansed of guilt as she headed to the airport. Today was the big day. And, starting tomorrow, she would start life as she attempted to bury the one she was currently living.
Sorry that this took a month to get out. Trust me, it won't take as long to get the next one out, and it will be much better quality (hopefully).