Disclaimer: All that usual jazz.
Author's Notes: Thank you, thank you, thank you;) Ya'll are great!
****
Some Kind of Wonderful
by Kristen Elizabeth
****
To everything (turn, turn, turn), there is a season (turn, turn, turn), and a time for every purpose, under Heaven. A time to be born, a time to die. A time to plant, a time to reap. A time to kill, a time to heal. A time to laugh, a time to weep." -The Byrds
****
Lo Ke, Vietnam
December 31, 1968
Hilde patiently waited as the man turned his wheelchair around. When he was facing them, Hilde dropped her own clipboard. Her hands flew to her mouth. "Oh my god!! Heero!!"
Sally whipped her head around. "You know him?!?"
"We went to high school together...oh my god..." She ran forward, dropping to her knees in front of Heero's wheelchair. "Jesus, Heero...what happened to you?!"
He stared at her, his deep blue eyes blank, without a spark of recognition. But after a long time, he blinked. "Hilde?"
Tears streamed down her cheeks. "That's right, Heero! It's me...you remember!" She threw her arms around his torso. "Heero...I just...I can't believe it's you..."
His chin settled on the top of her head. "Hilde," he repeated. Heero's eyes closed as a single tear slid down his cheek. "Hilde...and Duo and..." He stopped, looking up at Sally. "I'm...Heero. Corporal Heero Yuy...of the 23rd Infantry." He swallowed. "I've wanted to say that...for so long."
Sally smiled and brushed away her own tears. "Heero, eh? It's fitting. Better than Matthew." She frowned, suddenly recognizing the name. "Wait a minute. I'll be back." With that, she ran off, heading for the medical records.
Hilde drew back and ran her hands over his face. The wrinkled scar of the napalm burn ran down the hairline on his left cheek. His features were older, more rugged, but he was Heero, exactly as she remembered him. "What happened to you?" she asked again.
He frowned, thinking back and assembling all the jumbled pieces. "We were attacked...something exploded all around me." Reaching up, he touched his scar. "I woke up being dragged through the jungle."
"They took you prisoner," she supplied.
Heero nodded. "I had to get out of there, Hilde." His hands grasped her slender arms. "I killed a guard...I cut his throat open..."
She shook her head. "It's all right, Heero. Whatever you had to do to get back to us...it's all right. Oh, god...we have to get in contact with Relena right away!"
"Relena," he whispered. "Relena..."
Hilde wiped under her eyes. "God only knows what they told her happened to you."
He made a move to sit up. "Relena...I have to get to Relena."
"Careful! You're still healing, Heero."
"Relena." Heero's brow furred. "I have to tell her..."
"What do you have to tell her, Heero?" Hilde asked.
"The letter!" Heero shouted. "The letter....it was all wrong." He paused. "What year is it?"
Hilde glanced at her watch. "As of two minutes ago, 1969."
His fist curled up. "It's been three years, then." He started to sit up again. "Relena..."
"Heero, sit down." Hilde gave him a stern look through her lingering tears. "There's so much stuff we have to do first. But the most important thing is making sure you're well. You can't go home if you're not."
"Home," he repeated. "Home to Relena."
Hilde nodded. "Home to Peacecraft. You and me both, Heero." She said a silently apology to Sally who had yet to return. It looked as though she wouldn't be signing on for a permenant position. "We left them at the same time. It's only right we should come back the same way."
****
Peacecraft
February, 1969
"Duo!!" Relena stuck her head out of the bathroom door and shouted down the stairs. "Can you get the phone? My hair is still wet!"
"I don't think the person on the other end will mind," he called back.
"Duo...it might be Quatre. Or the caterer. We were supposed to discuss cream puffs today." The phone rang again. "Please, Duo?"
With a great, exaggerated sigh, he stood up and went to answer the phone in the kitchen. Somehow it seemed that whenever he came over to her place on these weekends home to escape his parents' place, he always ended up talking to a caterer or the florist or the person sewing Relena's dress. The Peacecraft house had become wedding central and Duo was smack dab in the middle of it all.
He picked up the phone on the eighth ring. "Thank you for calling the House of the Wedding. I'm Duo, your tour guide for the moment. How can I help you?"
There was a long pause on the other end. "Hello?" Duo began again.
"Um...hello. Duo."
He waved his hand, although it would speed the conversation along. "Are you the caterer by any chance? Because Relena's violently against cream puffs. We want chocolate at this wedding," he lied. "Lots and lots of chocolate."
The female voice on the other end spoke after another second. "Chocolate?"
Duo frowned. "Okay, so you're not the caterer. Who are you?"
"I'm...umm...well, that is to say, I'm..." A deep breath was drawn in. "I assume I'm talking to the...you know...the um...?"
"The groom?" Duo supplied. "No, I'm just the best man. I take care of the minor details while Relena and Quatre nitpick over the guest list and their vows. Like the ones that've been written for hundreds of years aren't good enough." He sighed. "Look, if you want to leave a message for one of them..."
"Actually, I am the caterer. I was just...um...confirming things in my...uh...catering book. When is this all taking place again?"
Duo rolled his eyes. "April tenth," he said, extremely slowly. "Two-thirty in the afternoon at the country club. Have you got that all down, sweetie?"
There was a slight, sad chuckle on the other end. "I've got it. Duo. Don't worry....the caterers will be there."
After he hung up the phone, Duo shook his head. Relena had certainly hired a strange woman to provide the food for her wedding. Strange....but familiar at the same time. He was still puzzling over this when Relena came into the kitchen, her hair up in large rollers.
"Was that the caterer?"
He nodded. "They'll be there. Hopefully with a surprise." He grinned, picturing mountains of chocolate.
"Wonderful." Relena put her hands on her hips. "Just what I need at my wedding. Surprises."
****
Vietnam
Hilde set down the headphones and winked at the unit's radio operator. "Thanks, Wheez." She kissed his cheek. "I appreciate it."
The short, stubby petty officer blushed profusely. "Anything for you, Hilde."
She emerged from the communications tent to find Heero, already waiting for her. "Did you reach her?" he immediately asked.
Hilde studied him for a minute. Two months had done more than just bring clarity to his temporarily jumbled memories. With seeing Relena again his driving goal, Heero had pushed himself every single day. He had gained more weight, and even managed to get back some of his muscle tone. His skin was no longer pale, his hair had returned to its former thickness. The scar down his cheek was still noticeable, but it, like the slash marks on his torso, was a war wound with which he would have to live.
His Prussian blue eyes were full of uncharacteristic eagerness. Hilde's heart almost broke. How could she tell him that Relena was to be married to another man? She wouldn't, she suddenly decided. For the same reasons she hadn't revealed who she was to Duo, she would sneak Heero into America. News of this magnitude had to be told in person.
"No, I wasn't able to," she told him. It was hard to take the disappointment on his face. "But don't worry," Hilde quickly assured him. "We are going home. We just have to be there before April tenth..."
"Hilde?"
She turned glanced over Heero's shoulder to see Trowa Barton headed straight for them, fresh off the latest truck of supplies. "Trowa?"
Heero turned around suddenly, and Trowa stopped completely in his tracks. "Oh my fucking god," the taller man breathed. "Heero..."
Hilde's jaw dropped a few feet. "How do you know his name?"
The question went unanswered for a minute. Trowa approached his friend as though he were a ghost. "How did you..." He started again. "We had you down as KIA, man. What the fuck...?" He began laughing.
Heero broke into a smile. "Trowa Barton. They made you a Corporal."
"Yeah, but you left damn big shoes to fill." The two men clasped hands, shaking vigorously. Trowa shook his head. "Wufei's gonna bust a gut when he finds out."
"Where is he?" Heero asked.
"Took two bullets during that attack...the attack we thought we lost you in. Got shipped home for his trouble."
Hilde shook her head and pushed her body between the two men. "Okay, just how the fuck do you two know each other?"
Heero gave her a strange look. "How the fuck do you know him?"
"I was wondering the same fucking thing, Hilde," Trowa added.
"Oh..." Hilde covered her face with her hands, half amused, half embarrassed. "This is going to be a really long story, I can just tell."
****
"So. You and Hilde."
Trowa pushed the beans on his dinner tray around with his fork. "She told you?"
Heero sipped his coffee. He had never liked the drink before, but since being returned to life, he had a renewed appreciation for everything. "She didn't have to. The guilty look when I mentioned Duo was enough."
"Duo?"
"Do you have feelings for her?" he asked, ignoring the question.
"No." His friend set down his fork with a sigh. "You probably want to kick my ass for that, don't you? Well, Hilde and I agreed a long time ago that we would only have..."
"Sex?"
"I know she's your friend, but she's also a woman, and I didn't do anything that she didn't..."
Heero cut him off again. "What happened, or is happening, between you and Hilde is none of my business." He took another sip of coffee, savoring the strong flavor.
But Trowa pressed on. "Because you know, we're halfway across the world from everything familiar...and almost everyone we know. Like Catherine. I think being here..." He lifted his shoulders. "It's sort of like all bets are off. No rules. Anything goes."
"Still...anymore justifications and I'll have to kick your ass just on principle."
There was a pause before Trowa started laughing. "Fuck, we missed you, Yuy. You know, Chang never believed you were gone. They closed your file, stamped you KIA, and sent out the telegram, but he wouldn't accept it. He even tried to get this doctor, Dr. Po, to talk to her superiors and have them re-open your case, to look for your sorry ass out there. And she had almost agreed, right before they discharged him. Of course, she would have done anything for him."
"Wait." Heero set down his mug. "How does Chang know my doctor?"
Trowa lifted an eyebrow. "Long story. I'll tell you someday. Maybe, after this is over, we can all get together and...I don't know...grill hamburgers. Play baseball. Something really American."
"You just better be there, Barton." He picked up his coffee again. "You get out in August, right?"
"Yeah. I think three tours of duty are just about all the Army deserves of me. But if I get bored before then, I could just stub my toe and go home like you two losers."
Heero smiled. "Take care of yourself, man. Your Catherine's waiting for you."
"I will. And what about you?"
"What about me?"
Trowa pulled a cigarette out of his uniform pocket. "Is Relena still waiting for you?"
"She thinks I'm dead," Heero replied, flatly. "Even so...I have to believe that she is." He watched Trowa light up. "It's the only thing that's keeping me going."
"Are you going to let her know before or after you knock on her front door?" Trowa asked, exhaling.
Heero blinked smoke out of his eyes. "We tried once. But I don't know if I want to try again." He touched the wrinkled burn scar on the side of his face. "I don't want to scare her. At the same time, I suddenly don't want to tell her something like this over the phone. Or in a letter."
His friend nodded. "I can see that." He handed Heero his cigarette and stood up from the canteen table.
"Where are you going?"
Trowa scratched his stubbled cheek. "I'm leaving tomorrow. Won't be back until long after you two ship out..."
It took a moment, but Heero finally caught on. "Go. Have a good time. Don't mention the word 'Duo'."
Giving him a puzzled look, Trowa started out of the canteen, heading for the nurses' tents. Heero looked at the cigarette between his fingers before he extinguished it in the remainder of Trowa's beans. It wouldn't be good to pick up any bad habits. Relena hated cigarettes.
****
"Tell me there's nothing to be nervous about." Hilde looked at the man in the plane seat next to her. "Heero? Hello?"
Heero glanced up from what he was reading. "Did you know that Jackie Kennedy got remarried?"
"Since when do you care about what Jackie Kennedy does?"
He closed up the magazine. "Since I've been doing everything possible to keep my mind occupied."
Hilde sighed and took Heero's hand. "I'm scared to death to see Duo again. Especially after..." She squirmed slightly. "Well, you know...about Trowa."
"I do know." Heero looked at her. "But if you're expecting me to judge you, I won't."
"Why not? I might if you had been sleeping with a nurse, or something."
Heero lifted his shoulders. "As far as I'm concerned, what happened over there, stays over there."
After a long moment, Hilde smiled. "You're a good friend, Heero."
"You do still care about Duo, don't you?" He waited for her to nod, which she did so, but with a heavy head. "We're all going to be together again soon. You and Duo." Heero settled his head back into the cushioned seat. "Me and Relena. The way it's supposed to be."
Hilde bit her lip. If ever there were a time to tell him about Relena's upcoming wedding...this surely wasn't it. "Of course. The way it's supposed to be."
****
To Be Continued
Author's Notes: Thank you, thank you, thank you;) Ya'll are great!
****
Some Kind of Wonderful
by Kristen Elizabeth
****
To everything (turn, turn, turn), there is a season (turn, turn, turn), and a time for every purpose, under Heaven. A time to be born, a time to die. A time to plant, a time to reap. A time to kill, a time to heal. A time to laugh, a time to weep." -The Byrds
****
Lo Ke, Vietnam
December 31, 1968
Hilde patiently waited as the man turned his wheelchair around. When he was facing them, Hilde dropped her own clipboard. Her hands flew to her mouth. "Oh my god!! Heero!!"
Sally whipped her head around. "You know him?!?"
"We went to high school together...oh my god..." She ran forward, dropping to her knees in front of Heero's wheelchair. "Jesus, Heero...what happened to you?!"
He stared at her, his deep blue eyes blank, without a spark of recognition. But after a long time, he blinked. "Hilde?"
Tears streamed down her cheeks. "That's right, Heero! It's me...you remember!" She threw her arms around his torso. "Heero...I just...I can't believe it's you..."
His chin settled on the top of her head. "Hilde," he repeated. Heero's eyes closed as a single tear slid down his cheek. "Hilde...and Duo and..." He stopped, looking up at Sally. "I'm...Heero. Corporal Heero Yuy...of the 23rd Infantry." He swallowed. "I've wanted to say that...for so long."
Sally smiled and brushed away her own tears. "Heero, eh? It's fitting. Better than Matthew." She frowned, suddenly recognizing the name. "Wait a minute. I'll be back." With that, she ran off, heading for the medical records.
Hilde drew back and ran her hands over his face. The wrinkled scar of the napalm burn ran down the hairline on his left cheek. His features were older, more rugged, but he was Heero, exactly as she remembered him. "What happened to you?" she asked again.
He frowned, thinking back and assembling all the jumbled pieces. "We were attacked...something exploded all around me." Reaching up, he touched his scar. "I woke up being dragged through the jungle."
"They took you prisoner," she supplied.
Heero nodded. "I had to get out of there, Hilde." His hands grasped her slender arms. "I killed a guard...I cut his throat open..."
She shook her head. "It's all right, Heero. Whatever you had to do to get back to us...it's all right. Oh, god...we have to get in contact with Relena right away!"
"Relena," he whispered. "Relena..."
Hilde wiped under her eyes. "God only knows what they told her happened to you."
He made a move to sit up. "Relena...I have to get to Relena."
"Careful! You're still healing, Heero."
"Relena." Heero's brow furred. "I have to tell her..."
"What do you have to tell her, Heero?" Hilde asked.
"The letter!" Heero shouted. "The letter....it was all wrong." He paused. "What year is it?"
Hilde glanced at her watch. "As of two minutes ago, 1969."
His fist curled up. "It's been three years, then." He started to sit up again. "Relena..."
"Heero, sit down." Hilde gave him a stern look through her lingering tears. "There's so much stuff we have to do first. But the most important thing is making sure you're well. You can't go home if you're not."
"Home," he repeated. "Home to Relena."
Hilde nodded. "Home to Peacecraft. You and me both, Heero." She said a silently apology to Sally who had yet to return. It looked as though she wouldn't be signing on for a permenant position. "We left them at the same time. It's only right we should come back the same way."
****
Peacecraft
February, 1969
"Duo!!" Relena stuck her head out of the bathroom door and shouted down the stairs. "Can you get the phone? My hair is still wet!"
"I don't think the person on the other end will mind," he called back.
"Duo...it might be Quatre. Or the caterer. We were supposed to discuss cream puffs today." The phone rang again. "Please, Duo?"
With a great, exaggerated sigh, he stood up and went to answer the phone in the kitchen. Somehow it seemed that whenever he came over to her place on these weekends home to escape his parents' place, he always ended up talking to a caterer or the florist or the person sewing Relena's dress. The Peacecraft house had become wedding central and Duo was smack dab in the middle of it all.
He picked up the phone on the eighth ring. "Thank you for calling the House of the Wedding. I'm Duo, your tour guide for the moment. How can I help you?"
There was a long pause on the other end. "Hello?" Duo began again.
"Um...hello. Duo."
He waved his hand, although it would speed the conversation along. "Are you the caterer by any chance? Because Relena's violently against cream puffs. We want chocolate at this wedding," he lied. "Lots and lots of chocolate."
The female voice on the other end spoke after another second. "Chocolate?"
Duo frowned. "Okay, so you're not the caterer. Who are you?"
"I'm...umm...well, that is to say, I'm..." A deep breath was drawn in. "I assume I'm talking to the...you know...the um...?"
"The groom?" Duo supplied. "No, I'm just the best man. I take care of the minor details while Relena and Quatre nitpick over the guest list and their vows. Like the ones that've been written for hundreds of years aren't good enough." He sighed. "Look, if you want to leave a message for one of them..."
"Actually, I am the caterer. I was just...um...confirming things in my...uh...catering book. When is this all taking place again?"
Duo rolled his eyes. "April tenth," he said, extremely slowly. "Two-thirty in the afternoon at the country club. Have you got that all down, sweetie?"
There was a slight, sad chuckle on the other end. "I've got it. Duo. Don't worry....the caterers will be there."
After he hung up the phone, Duo shook his head. Relena had certainly hired a strange woman to provide the food for her wedding. Strange....but familiar at the same time. He was still puzzling over this when Relena came into the kitchen, her hair up in large rollers.
"Was that the caterer?"
He nodded. "They'll be there. Hopefully with a surprise." He grinned, picturing mountains of chocolate.
"Wonderful." Relena put her hands on her hips. "Just what I need at my wedding. Surprises."
****
Vietnam
Hilde set down the headphones and winked at the unit's radio operator. "Thanks, Wheez." She kissed his cheek. "I appreciate it."
The short, stubby petty officer blushed profusely. "Anything for you, Hilde."
She emerged from the communications tent to find Heero, already waiting for her. "Did you reach her?" he immediately asked.
Hilde studied him for a minute. Two months had done more than just bring clarity to his temporarily jumbled memories. With seeing Relena again his driving goal, Heero had pushed himself every single day. He had gained more weight, and even managed to get back some of his muscle tone. His skin was no longer pale, his hair had returned to its former thickness. The scar down his cheek was still noticeable, but it, like the slash marks on his torso, was a war wound with which he would have to live.
His Prussian blue eyes were full of uncharacteristic eagerness. Hilde's heart almost broke. How could she tell him that Relena was to be married to another man? She wouldn't, she suddenly decided. For the same reasons she hadn't revealed who she was to Duo, she would sneak Heero into America. News of this magnitude had to be told in person.
"No, I wasn't able to," she told him. It was hard to take the disappointment on his face. "But don't worry," Hilde quickly assured him. "We are going home. We just have to be there before April tenth..."
"Hilde?"
She turned glanced over Heero's shoulder to see Trowa Barton headed straight for them, fresh off the latest truck of supplies. "Trowa?"
Heero turned around suddenly, and Trowa stopped completely in his tracks. "Oh my fucking god," the taller man breathed. "Heero..."
Hilde's jaw dropped a few feet. "How do you know his name?"
The question went unanswered for a minute. Trowa approached his friend as though he were a ghost. "How did you..." He started again. "We had you down as KIA, man. What the fuck...?" He began laughing.
Heero broke into a smile. "Trowa Barton. They made you a Corporal."
"Yeah, but you left damn big shoes to fill." The two men clasped hands, shaking vigorously. Trowa shook his head. "Wufei's gonna bust a gut when he finds out."
"Where is he?" Heero asked.
"Took two bullets during that attack...the attack we thought we lost you in. Got shipped home for his trouble."
Hilde shook her head and pushed her body between the two men. "Okay, just how the fuck do you two know each other?"
Heero gave her a strange look. "How the fuck do you know him?"
"I was wondering the same fucking thing, Hilde," Trowa added.
"Oh..." Hilde covered her face with her hands, half amused, half embarrassed. "This is going to be a really long story, I can just tell."
****
"So. You and Hilde."
Trowa pushed the beans on his dinner tray around with his fork. "She told you?"
Heero sipped his coffee. He had never liked the drink before, but since being returned to life, he had a renewed appreciation for everything. "She didn't have to. The guilty look when I mentioned Duo was enough."
"Duo?"
"Do you have feelings for her?" he asked, ignoring the question.
"No." His friend set down his fork with a sigh. "You probably want to kick my ass for that, don't you? Well, Hilde and I agreed a long time ago that we would only have..."
"Sex?"
"I know she's your friend, but she's also a woman, and I didn't do anything that she didn't..."
Heero cut him off again. "What happened, or is happening, between you and Hilde is none of my business." He took another sip of coffee, savoring the strong flavor.
But Trowa pressed on. "Because you know, we're halfway across the world from everything familiar...and almost everyone we know. Like Catherine. I think being here..." He lifted his shoulders. "It's sort of like all bets are off. No rules. Anything goes."
"Still...anymore justifications and I'll have to kick your ass just on principle."
There was a pause before Trowa started laughing. "Fuck, we missed you, Yuy. You know, Chang never believed you were gone. They closed your file, stamped you KIA, and sent out the telegram, but he wouldn't accept it. He even tried to get this doctor, Dr. Po, to talk to her superiors and have them re-open your case, to look for your sorry ass out there. And she had almost agreed, right before they discharged him. Of course, she would have done anything for him."
"Wait." Heero set down his mug. "How does Chang know my doctor?"
Trowa lifted an eyebrow. "Long story. I'll tell you someday. Maybe, after this is over, we can all get together and...I don't know...grill hamburgers. Play baseball. Something really American."
"You just better be there, Barton." He picked up his coffee again. "You get out in August, right?"
"Yeah. I think three tours of duty are just about all the Army deserves of me. But if I get bored before then, I could just stub my toe and go home like you two losers."
Heero smiled. "Take care of yourself, man. Your Catherine's waiting for you."
"I will. And what about you?"
"What about me?"
Trowa pulled a cigarette out of his uniform pocket. "Is Relena still waiting for you?"
"She thinks I'm dead," Heero replied, flatly. "Even so...I have to believe that she is." He watched Trowa light up. "It's the only thing that's keeping me going."
"Are you going to let her know before or after you knock on her front door?" Trowa asked, exhaling.
Heero blinked smoke out of his eyes. "We tried once. But I don't know if I want to try again." He touched the wrinkled burn scar on the side of his face. "I don't want to scare her. At the same time, I suddenly don't want to tell her something like this over the phone. Or in a letter."
His friend nodded. "I can see that." He handed Heero his cigarette and stood up from the canteen table.
"Where are you going?"
Trowa scratched his stubbled cheek. "I'm leaving tomorrow. Won't be back until long after you two ship out..."
It took a moment, but Heero finally caught on. "Go. Have a good time. Don't mention the word 'Duo'."
Giving him a puzzled look, Trowa started out of the canteen, heading for the nurses' tents. Heero looked at the cigarette between his fingers before he extinguished it in the remainder of Trowa's beans. It wouldn't be good to pick up any bad habits. Relena hated cigarettes.
****
"Tell me there's nothing to be nervous about." Hilde looked at the man in the plane seat next to her. "Heero? Hello?"
Heero glanced up from what he was reading. "Did you know that Jackie Kennedy got remarried?"
"Since when do you care about what Jackie Kennedy does?"
He closed up the magazine. "Since I've been doing everything possible to keep my mind occupied."
Hilde sighed and took Heero's hand. "I'm scared to death to see Duo again. Especially after..." She squirmed slightly. "Well, you know...about Trowa."
"I do know." Heero looked at her. "But if you're expecting me to judge you, I won't."
"Why not? I might if you had been sleeping with a nurse, or something."
Heero lifted his shoulders. "As far as I'm concerned, what happened over there, stays over there."
After a long moment, Hilde smiled. "You're a good friend, Heero."
"You do still care about Duo, don't you?" He waited for her to nod, which she did so, but with a heavy head. "We're all going to be together again soon. You and Duo." Heero settled his head back into the cushioned seat. "Me and Relena. The way it's supposed to be."
Hilde bit her lip. If ever there were a time to tell him about Relena's upcoming wedding...this surely wasn't it. "Of course. The way it's supposed to be."
****
To Be Continued