Disclaimer: Nothing but the plotline belongs to me.
Author's Notes: Thanks for keeping on with the story. It makes me very happy that people are enjoying it;)
****
Some Kind of Wonderful
by Kristen Elizabeth
****
"Don't talk of love, but I've heard the words before; it's sleeping in my memory. I won't disturb the slumber of feelings that have died. If I never loved, I never would have cried. I am a rock. I am an island." -Simon and Garfunkel
****
Peacecraft
April 1966
"So, you don't have a listing for a Hilde Schbeiker anywhere in Hollywood?" Duo looked down at the pad of paper sitting next to the phone. "What about Beverly Hills? Or...um...I don't know. What else is out there? Oh, I see. No listings means no listings. Got it. Thanks for your help. Bye."
He set the grease-smudged receiver back into the cradle just before his boss entered the office. "Maxwell, there's a lady out there waiting for service."
Duo took a moment to tuck his braid into his coveralls before heading out to the front of the gas station. As he approached the brand new convertible, the woman seated behind the wheel pulled off her straw hat and sunglasses. "Duo!!"
"Relena?" He ran around to the side of the car to greet his friend. "What the hell are you doing in town so early?"
"I didn't have to take my history final and Quatre had enough people for the teach-in, so I left a few days early." She held out her arms for a hug.
He gave her a quick one, but his attention was on the car she was driving. "Nice wheels, princess. Very nice. Yours?"
"A late birthday present from my brother. He's tired of having to drive me back and forth from school." Relena gave him a smile. "It's really good to see you again, Duo. Have you heard from..." She closed her mouth. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have..."
"Don't sweat it, princess. No, I haven't heard from Hilde. She's sort of...dropped off the face of the planet." Duo glanced up at the blue sky. "But what really gets me down is that I haven't even seen her on TV. And I've actually bought issues of *Seventeen* magazine, looking for her picture. Nothing."
Relena shifted on the leather seat. "Well, it's a tough business to break into. She's probably just so busy...you know."
"Too busy to remember me, at least."
"Duo..."
He shook his head and patted the shiny hood. "No down thoughts today. Do you need this baby filled up?"
"Actually, no. I just wanted to see you." She smiled. "Hope I'm not keeping you from work."
"Work? What's that?" Duo winked. "Oh! I can't believe I almost forgot to tell you!!"
"Tell me what?" She licked her lips. "It looks to be...good news?"
Duo nodded emphatically and pulled a worn envelope out of his coveralls. "Guess who's just been asked to join the academics at North Carolina State University?"
"Oh my god!!" Relena leaned over the car door to throw her arms around him. "Congratulations, Duo! I knew you could do it!!"
He laughed as he returned the embrace. "It's only because you told me I could, princess. Trust me."
"No, it was all you." She pulled back. "Oh, this is going to be so wonderful! There's so many classes that I know are going to really interest you. And the SDS...Duo, you've just got to join the SDS! Quatre's always in need of passionate people to help out and if anyone's passionate, it's..."
Duo arched an eyebrow. "And just who is this Quatre that you've now mentioned twice?"
"A friend," Relena replied, far too quickly. "He runs this amazing organization on campus Students for a Democratic Society."
He nodded. "Have you told Heero about your new friend Quatre?"
Some of the color left Relena's cheeks. "I haven't spoken to Heero since New Year's Eve, Duo."
"No letters? Nothing??" Duo blinked. "Oh, Relena....take it from someone who can't contact the one person he wants to. Losing touch hurts. Really bad. And with all that Heero's going through over there..."
"He's written you?"
Duo hesitated. "Just once. Right after he arrived in Saigon. He said he had sent you a letter when he was in Okinawa. To your house here, not to the dorm. You never got it?"
Relena gritted her teeth. "No. But then, my brother has a very unique take on protecting me." She started the engine. "Can you leave work and come with me? I'll need help cleaning his blood off the walls."
The braided man laughed as he unzipped his coveralls to save her seats from grease stains. In his jeans and white undershirt, he jumped into the car. "Friends help you hide. Real friends help you hide bodies."
****
Hollywood
"I really appreciate this, Sarah."
"It's no problem, Hilde." The older blond girl tucked a white cotton sheet around the cushions of her couch. "You can stay here for as long as it takes, I promise."
Hilde crossed her too-thin arms across her stomach. "I just can't believe I let myself...get in so far." Tears welled up in her eyes. "But when I woke up with those two guys on either side of me..." She stopped, not needing to elaborate.
"You're very lucky that you caught yourself, Hilde." Sarah held a pillow under her chin as she slipped a cover onto it. "Most girls I meet on the casting circle don't get out in time. It's really sad....but that's the glamorous Hollywood life."
The bitterness of sarcasm didn't escape Hilde. "I'm learning that." She sighed. "So much for being the next Marilyn."
"Hey, look how she ended up," Sarah pointed out. "You can only be you, Hilde. All the party favors in the world aren't going to make you any more than what you are. Only less."
Hilde nodded. "Thanks. I really appreciate...you know."
"You're welcome." Sarah plopped the pillows down onto the couch. "Now, you take a nap. I bet you haven't had good sleep in months." She started out the door towards the kitchen. "I'll be at this audition until at least seven, so if you get hungry, just raid the fridge. Bye, wish me luck!"
"Thank you," Hilde called out as her friend left with a parting wave. "Break a leg!"
Once the little house was quiet, Hilde settled her emaciated body onto the couch. Sleep, proper food...Duo...she hadn't let herself have any of them in more than just a few months. As usual, the image of Duo created sharp guilt in the center of her chest. Her usual course of action to rid the pain was a hit of something really good.
She shook her head. Not this time. It was time to stop covering up her problems. Time to deal with them. With a shaky hand, Hilde reached for the rotary phone. It was four in the afternoon on the east coast; Duo would be at work.
"Long distance operator, please."
In only a few minutes, a phone across the country rang. She swallowed when Duo's boss picked up.
"Howard's Garage."
Hilde licked her dry lips. "Hi. Um...is Duo there?"
"Nope. He skipped out 'bout half an hour ago with some chick." The man snorted. "You wanna leave a message for him?"
A thread of pain wove its way around her heart, squeezing all too tightly. "No. No message. Thanks."
She held the heavy receiver to her ear for long time after Duo's boss had hung up. The numbness in her body went unnoticed, ignored just as she had ignored Duo. It wasn't his fault that he had moved on; it would have been beyond selfish of her to expect him to still be faithful to her. She certainly hadn't held up that ideal on her side.
But hearing it so plainly, so officially...she fell asleep with the phone in her hand, tears drying on her cheeks.
****
Lo Ke, South Vietnam
"I think it's beans again." Clutching his metal tray, Wufei shook his head and softly swore. "What I wouldn't give for a bowl of rice. We're surrounded by a million fucking acres of rice fields and all we ever have are beans."
Heero nodded, but could think of no reply. Beans might have been the staple of their diet since they had touched down in Saigon, but they at least made up a hot meal. And after the air attack on Lo Ke a month earlier, Heero was grateful to be alive to eat anything at all.
The dinner line lurched forward, pressing Heero along with it. He was grateful for the distraction; his thoughts need not linger on the last major battle. They had lost a good portion of their platoon before the AF boys had managed to kick back at the Vietcong. Heero shook his head to clear it. He was alive, unscathed. And it was beans he smelled now. Not the burning flesh of his friends.
Having reached the head of the line, Wufei reluctantly held out his tray for his dinner. But the man behind the table in charge of serving suddenly folded his meaty arms and gave Wufei a hard stare.
Wufei scowled. "Planning on serving anytime soon, pal?"
"I don't serve people with slant-eyes," the man spat. "I shoot 'em out in the jungle."
Heero managed to grab Wufei in time to keep him from lunging at the other man. "Hey!" he told the server. "He's one of us. Just give him his dinner and we'll forget the whole thing."
"Maybe he's one of you. I see a little slant in your eyes, too." He looked at the patch on Heero's uniform. "Yuy. Kind of a Chinkish name, isn't it? Yuy and Chang."
Wufei struggled against Heero's arms, although Heero wasn't quite sure why he was still holding his friend back. The other soldier was simply asking to be hit. "Look below the name, asshole." Heero's eyes narrowed. "It says 'US Army,' just like yours."
"Kind of a sad day when the greatest army in the world has to resort to letting in yellow-faced..." The man didn't get to continue; just then, his back arched in pain as his arms were twisted around behind him.
Another soldier became visible around the server's bulk. "Is there a problem here?" the man asked. "The line's being held up." The dark-haired man released the server. "Are you giving these guys shit, Fetzer, because you can't even spell 'Red China'?"
The server grabbed his arms, rubbing them. "Fuck off! I don't have to..." The new soldier landed a direct punch to the fat man's nose. He stumbled and fell, landing face down in the mud.
Heero let go of Wufei. "And my name is Japanese, you piece of shit," he told the man's unconscious body. "Not Chinese."
"Not that there's anything wrong with being Chinese." Wufei spit on the ground next to the server's face. He glared at the man who taken out Fetzer. "We could have taken him, you know."
"I'm sure you could have." The new guy picked up where the fallen soldier had taken off and filled Heero and Wufei's trays. "I'm Trowa Barton. And you're welcome, by the way. " At Wufei's insistence, Heero moved on towards the tables with his dinner.
It wasn't until much later that night that Heero saw Trowa Barton again. It wasn't his shift to patrol the camp, but Heero was up anyways, seated just outside the makeshift barracks, smoking a cigarette and staring at the tiny picture he carried with him always.
He sensed someone coming and was immediately on guard. One could never be too careful. "Who is it?" he called out.
"Barton." The man appeared in the dim light from the moon. "You have another one of those, man?" He pointed to Heero's cigarette.
"No, I don't really smoke them." He handed what was left of it to Trowa. "I just needed something to do with my hands."
Trowa took a long drag. "Yeah, I know that feeling." Sitting down a few feet away from Heero, Trowa used the cigarette to gesture to Heero's picture. "Girlfriend or wife?"
"Fiancee." Heero licked the corner of his mouth, still tasting the tang of tobacco. "I think."
Taking the picture without asking, Trowa nodded. "Pretty."
"Beautiful," Heero corrected him. He tucked the picture back into his pocket. "Relena."
Trowa exhaled a lungful of smoke. "They're what keeps a man going. Mine's Catherine."
"How does she feel about all of this?"
Shrugging, Trowa extinguished the cigarette on the ground. "She wasn't crazy about it; what woman would be? But now I get a letter a day and that seems to keep her happy."
Heero slapped at a huge mosquito. "Good for you."
"Relena's not a letter-writer?"
He cleared his throat. "Neither of us are right now."
Trowa stood up and brushed off the back of his uniform. "At least she's not sending you a 'Dear John,' man. Take it easy."
Heero pulled the picture back out after Trowa had left. Relena with another man. His muscles grew taut with anger at the mere idea. Suddenly, he remembered the letter he had sent to her from Okinawa. His eyes closed in sheer agony. If she had read it and listened to it...he would have no one to blame but himself if she wound up in another man's arms.
****
Peacecraft
Duo plucked a grape out of the fruit bowl that sat in the kitchen of Relena's house. Chewing thoughtfully, he stared at the cheery wallpaper, printed with various herbs and vegetables. Just one of the many leftover signs of Relena and Millardo's parents. Duo hadn't known Relena all that well when her parents died, but he understood how the crash that had claimed them had affected her. His parents, while still alive, might as well have been dead to him for most of his childhood for all the attention they had paid to him.
At that moment, as he helped himself to more fruit, Relena was upstairs with Heero's letter, discovered only after a thorough search of her brother's study. Duo had left her alone to read it. From the little he had gathered from Heero's letter to him, whatever was in Relena's was not going to make her very happy.
He considered heading back upstairs to see if she needed moral support, but as he made a move towards the living room, she appeared in the kitchen from the hallway. She stopped and looked up from the floor to meet his worried eyes.
Her pretty features were heavy; even her flower-print blouse and jeans seemed to hang on her body. The letter in her hand fluttered to the ground as her knees gave out from under her.
"Princess!" Duo ran and caught her before she could go down. "Princess...what is it? What did he say?"
Relena shook her head, unable to form words. Her forehead came to rest against Duo's shoulder as his arms encircled her slender body. As she began to cry, Duo gingerly reached for the abandoned letter, his curiosity too great to be ignored. Plus, he reasoned, how could he help Relena unless he knew what was upsetting her?
Heero's handwriting was small and neat. Precise. Calculated. Duo gently rubbed Relena's back as he began to read.
*Dear Relena,
By the time you read this letter, I will be on my way to California. From there, Vietnam is waiting for me. I know you don't agree or approve, but I never asked for either of those things from you. All I wanted was your support. I'm trying very hard to understand why you couldn't give it to me.
You have always been a step above me, Relena, and I've valued your opinions above anyone else's. But this time, I believe you're wrong. You might think you know what's going on in the world, but I'm living it. I'm not reading about it in textbooks. Give me some credit for that, and for being able to make choices for myself and my life.
You told me, during our last night together, that I might die this year. If I do, I will die having loved and been loved, and that's more than any man can ask for. I won't ask you to mourn for me if it should happen. I'm a soldier. Soldiers die. All I ask is that you go on with your life without me, even if I survive. I'm only one man, Relena. I've never had anything to give you but myself and I can't even give that anymore. Find someone else who can give you more.
Yours, Heero*
"It's over," Relena whispered into the crook of Duo's neck. "It's all over."
Duo simply continued to hold her on the kitchen floor of her childhood home. There wasn't anything else he could do.
****
To Be Continued
Author's Notes: Thanks for keeping on with the story. It makes me very happy that people are enjoying it;)
****
Some Kind of Wonderful
by Kristen Elizabeth
****
"Don't talk of love, but I've heard the words before; it's sleeping in my memory. I won't disturb the slumber of feelings that have died. If I never loved, I never would have cried. I am a rock. I am an island." -Simon and Garfunkel
****
Peacecraft
April 1966
"So, you don't have a listing for a Hilde Schbeiker anywhere in Hollywood?" Duo looked down at the pad of paper sitting next to the phone. "What about Beverly Hills? Or...um...I don't know. What else is out there? Oh, I see. No listings means no listings. Got it. Thanks for your help. Bye."
He set the grease-smudged receiver back into the cradle just before his boss entered the office. "Maxwell, there's a lady out there waiting for service."
Duo took a moment to tuck his braid into his coveralls before heading out to the front of the gas station. As he approached the brand new convertible, the woman seated behind the wheel pulled off her straw hat and sunglasses. "Duo!!"
"Relena?" He ran around to the side of the car to greet his friend. "What the hell are you doing in town so early?"
"I didn't have to take my history final and Quatre had enough people for the teach-in, so I left a few days early." She held out her arms for a hug.
He gave her a quick one, but his attention was on the car she was driving. "Nice wheels, princess. Very nice. Yours?"
"A late birthday present from my brother. He's tired of having to drive me back and forth from school." Relena gave him a smile. "It's really good to see you again, Duo. Have you heard from..." She closed her mouth. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have..."
"Don't sweat it, princess. No, I haven't heard from Hilde. She's sort of...dropped off the face of the planet." Duo glanced up at the blue sky. "But what really gets me down is that I haven't even seen her on TV. And I've actually bought issues of *Seventeen* magazine, looking for her picture. Nothing."
Relena shifted on the leather seat. "Well, it's a tough business to break into. She's probably just so busy...you know."
"Too busy to remember me, at least."
"Duo..."
He shook his head and patted the shiny hood. "No down thoughts today. Do you need this baby filled up?"
"Actually, no. I just wanted to see you." She smiled. "Hope I'm not keeping you from work."
"Work? What's that?" Duo winked. "Oh! I can't believe I almost forgot to tell you!!"
"Tell me what?" She licked her lips. "It looks to be...good news?"
Duo nodded emphatically and pulled a worn envelope out of his coveralls. "Guess who's just been asked to join the academics at North Carolina State University?"
"Oh my god!!" Relena leaned over the car door to throw her arms around him. "Congratulations, Duo! I knew you could do it!!"
He laughed as he returned the embrace. "It's only because you told me I could, princess. Trust me."
"No, it was all you." She pulled back. "Oh, this is going to be so wonderful! There's so many classes that I know are going to really interest you. And the SDS...Duo, you've just got to join the SDS! Quatre's always in need of passionate people to help out and if anyone's passionate, it's..."
Duo arched an eyebrow. "And just who is this Quatre that you've now mentioned twice?"
"A friend," Relena replied, far too quickly. "He runs this amazing organization on campus Students for a Democratic Society."
He nodded. "Have you told Heero about your new friend Quatre?"
Some of the color left Relena's cheeks. "I haven't spoken to Heero since New Year's Eve, Duo."
"No letters? Nothing??" Duo blinked. "Oh, Relena....take it from someone who can't contact the one person he wants to. Losing touch hurts. Really bad. And with all that Heero's going through over there..."
"He's written you?"
Duo hesitated. "Just once. Right after he arrived in Saigon. He said he had sent you a letter when he was in Okinawa. To your house here, not to the dorm. You never got it?"
Relena gritted her teeth. "No. But then, my brother has a very unique take on protecting me." She started the engine. "Can you leave work and come with me? I'll need help cleaning his blood off the walls."
The braided man laughed as he unzipped his coveralls to save her seats from grease stains. In his jeans and white undershirt, he jumped into the car. "Friends help you hide. Real friends help you hide bodies."
****
Hollywood
"I really appreciate this, Sarah."
"It's no problem, Hilde." The older blond girl tucked a white cotton sheet around the cushions of her couch. "You can stay here for as long as it takes, I promise."
Hilde crossed her too-thin arms across her stomach. "I just can't believe I let myself...get in so far." Tears welled up in her eyes. "But when I woke up with those two guys on either side of me..." She stopped, not needing to elaborate.
"You're very lucky that you caught yourself, Hilde." Sarah held a pillow under her chin as she slipped a cover onto it. "Most girls I meet on the casting circle don't get out in time. It's really sad....but that's the glamorous Hollywood life."
The bitterness of sarcasm didn't escape Hilde. "I'm learning that." She sighed. "So much for being the next Marilyn."
"Hey, look how she ended up," Sarah pointed out. "You can only be you, Hilde. All the party favors in the world aren't going to make you any more than what you are. Only less."
Hilde nodded. "Thanks. I really appreciate...you know."
"You're welcome." Sarah plopped the pillows down onto the couch. "Now, you take a nap. I bet you haven't had good sleep in months." She started out the door towards the kitchen. "I'll be at this audition until at least seven, so if you get hungry, just raid the fridge. Bye, wish me luck!"
"Thank you," Hilde called out as her friend left with a parting wave. "Break a leg!"
Once the little house was quiet, Hilde settled her emaciated body onto the couch. Sleep, proper food...Duo...she hadn't let herself have any of them in more than just a few months. As usual, the image of Duo created sharp guilt in the center of her chest. Her usual course of action to rid the pain was a hit of something really good.
She shook her head. Not this time. It was time to stop covering up her problems. Time to deal with them. With a shaky hand, Hilde reached for the rotary phone. It was four in the afternoon on the east coast; Duo would be at work.
"Long distance operator, please."
In only a few minutes, a phone across the country rang. She swallowed when Duo's boss picked up.
"Howard's Garage."
Hilde licked her dry lips. "Hi. Um...is Duo there?"
"Nope. He skipped out 'bout half an hour ago with some chick." The man snorted. "You wanna leave a message for him?"
A thread of pain wove its way around her heart, squeezing all too tightly. "No. No message. Thanks."
She held the heavy receiver to her ear for long time after Duo's boss had hung up. The numbness in her body went unnoticed, ignored just as she had ignored Duo. It wasn't his fault that he had moved on; it would have been beyond selfish of her to expect him to still be faithful to her. She certainly hadn't held up that ideal on her side.
But hearing it so plainly, so officially...she fell asleep with the phone in her hand, tears drying on her cheeks.
****
Lo Ke, South Vietnam
"I think it's beans again." Clutching his metal tray, Wufei shook his head and softly swore. "What I wouldn't give for a bowl of rice. We're surrounded by a million fucking acres of rice fields and all we ever have are beans."
Heero nodded, but could think of no reply. Beans might have been the staple of their diet since they had touched down in Saigon, but they at least made up a hot meal. And after the air attack on Lo Ke a month earlier, Heero was grateful to be alive to eat anything at all.
The dinner line lurched forward, pressing Heero along with it. He was grateful for the distraction; his thoughts need not linger on the last major battle. They had lost a good portion of their platoon before the AF boys had managed to kick back at the Vietcong. Heero shook his head to clear it. He was alive, unscathed. And it was beans he smelled now. Not the burning flesh of his friends.
Having reached the head of the line, Wufei reluctantly held out his tray for his dinner. But the man behind the table in charge of serving suddenly folded his meaty arms and gave Wufei a hard stare.
Wufei scowled. "Planning on serving anytime soon, pal?"
"I don't serve people with slant-eyes," the man spat. "I shoot 'em out in the jungle."
Heero managed to grab Wufei in time to keep him from lunging at the other man. "Hey!" he told the server. "He's one of us. Just give him his dinner and we'll forget the whole thing."
"Maybe he's one of you. I see a little slant in your eyes, too." He looked at the patch on Heero's uniform. "Yuy. Kind of a Chinkish name, isn't it? Yuy and Chang."
Wufei struggled against Heero's arms, although Heero wasn't quite sure why he was still holding his friend back. The other soldier was simply asking to be hit. "Look below the name, asshole." Heero's eyes narrowed. "It says 'US Army,' just like yours."
"Kind of a sad day when the greatest army in the world has to resort to letting in yellow-faced..." The man didn't get to continue; just then, his back arched in pain as his arms were twisted around behind him.
Another soldier became visible around the server's bulk. "Is there a problem here?" the man asked. "The line's being held up." The dark-haired man released the server. "Are you giving these guys shit, Fetzer, because you can't even spell 'Red China'?"
The server grabbed his arms, rubbing them. "Fuck off! I don't have to..." The new soldier landed a direct punch to the fat man's nose. He stumbled and fell, landing face down in the mud.
Heero let go of Wufei. "And my name is Japanese, you piece of shit," he told the man's unconscious body. "Not Chinese."
"Not that there's anything wrong with being Chinese." Wufei spit on the ground next to the server's face. He glared at the man who taken out Fetzer. "We could have taken him, you know."
"I'm sure you could have." The new guy picked up where the fallen soldier had taken off and filled Heero and Wufei's trays. "I'm Trowa Barton. And you're welcome, by the way. " At Wufei's insistence, Heero moved on towards the tables with his dinner.
It wasn't until much later that night that Heero saw Trowa Barton again. It wasn't his shift to patrol the camp, but Heero was up anyways, seated just outside the makeshift barracks, smoking a cigarette and staring at the tiny picture he carried with him always.
He sensed someone coming and was immediately on guard. One could never be too careful. "Who is it?" he called out.
"Barton." The man appeared in the dim light from the moon. "You have another one of those, man?" He pointed to Heero's cigarette.
"No, I don't really smoke them." He handed what was left of it to Trowa. "I just needed something to do with my hands."
Trowa took a long drag. "Yeah, I know that feeling." Sitting down a few feet away from Heero, Trowa used the cigarette to gesture to Heero's picture. "Girlfriend or wife?"
"Fiancee." Heero licked the corner of his mouth, still tasting the tang of tobacco. "I think."
Taking the picture without asking, Trowa nodded. "Pretty."
"Beautiful," Heero corrected him. He tucked the picture back into his pocket. "Relena."
Trowa exhaled a lungful of smoke. "They're what keeps a man going. Mine's Catherine."
"How does she feel about all of this?"
Shrugging, Trowa extinguished the cigarette on the ground. "She wasn't crazy about it; what woman would be? But now I get a letter a day and that seems to keep her happy."
Heero slapped at a huge mosquito. "Good for you."
"Relena's not a letter-writer?"
He cleared his throat. "Neither of us are right now."
Trowa stood up and brushed off the back of his uniform. "At least she's not sending you a 'Dear John,' man. Take it easy."
Heero pulled the picture back out after Trowa had left. Relena with another man. His muscles grew taut with anger at the mere idea. Suddenly, he remembered the letter he had sent to her from Okinawa. His eyes closed in sheer agony. If she had read it and listened to it...he would have no one to blame but himself if she wound up in another man's arms.
****
Peacecraft
Duo plucked a grape out of the fruit bowl that sat in the kitchen of Relena's house. Chewing thoughtfully, he stared at the cheery wallpaper, printed with various herbs and vegetables. Just one of the many leftover signs of Relena and Millardo's parents. Duo hadn't known Relena all that well when her parents died, but he understood how the crash that had claimed them had affected her. His parents, while still alive, might as well have been dead to him for most of his childhood for all the attention they had paid to him.
At that moment, as he helped himself to more fruit, Relena was upstairs with Heero's letter, discovered only after a thorough search of her brother's study. Duo had left her alone to read it. From the little he had gathered from Heero's letter to him, whatever was in Relena's was not going to make her very happy.
He considered heading back upstairs to see if she needed moral support, but as he made a move towards the living room, she appeared in the kitchen from the hallway. She stopped and looked up from the floor to meet his worried eyes.
Her pretty features were heavy; even her flower-print blouse and jeans seemed to hang on her body. The letter in her hand fluttered to the ground as her knees gave out from under her.
"Princess!" Duo ran and caught her before she could go down. "Princess...what is it? What did he say?"
Relena shook her head, unable to form words. Her forehead came to rest against Duo's shoulder as his arms encircled her slender body. As she began to cry, Duo gingerly reached for the abandoned letter, his curiosity too great to be ignored. Plus, he reasoned, how could he help Relena unless he knew what was upsetting her?
Heero's handwriting was small and neat. Precise. Calculated. Duo gently rubbed Relena's back as he began to read.
*Dear Relena,
By the time you read this letter, I will be on my way to California. From there, Vietnam is waiting for me. I know you don't agree or approve, but I never asked for either of those things from you. All I wanted was your support. I'm trying very hard to understand why you couldn't give it to me.
You have always been a step above me, Relena, and I've valued your opinions above anyone else's. But this time, I believe you're wrong. You might think you know what's going on in the world, but I'm living it. I'm not reading about it in textbooks. Give me some credit for that, and for being able to make choices for myself and my life.
You told me, during our last night together, that I might die this year. If I do, I will die having loved and been loved, and that's more than any man can ask for. I won't ask you to mourn for me if it should happen. I'm a soldier. Soldiers die. All I ask is that you go on with your life without me, even if I survive. I'm only one man, Relena. I've never had anything to give you but myself and I can't even give that anymore. Find someone else who can give you more.
Yours, Heero*
"It's over," Relena whispered into the crook of Duo's neck. "It's all over."
Duo simply continued to hold her on the kitchen floor of her childhood home. There wasn't anything else he could do.
****
To Be Continued