A/N: Um...hi? OK, It's my first fic, and it's a Gundam Wing death fic. Probably no very smart, but it sounded like a good plot, so I wrote it. Naaaa! O yeah, lots a yaoi type ness in this fic, so homophobes procede with caution.]






I'll Be Waiting For You A.K.A. The Transformation


Duo finally located the wallet from the pile of laundry he sat in, and handed it up to the silent figure standing before him.
"You ready?"
"Huh?" Duo stared up, confused.
"Out."
"Mind if I don't? I've got a blinding head ache, and I'd slow you down."
"I could lead you." Heero leaned over, offering a hand. Duo slid his arms around the slim neck by his own.
"Lead me where?" He breathed in and memorized every feature, pulling one slender waist to another. Heero smiled, but pushed away.
"I gotta go. See ya."
"You'd look cuter with a purse."
Heero shook his head, and shoved a piece of paper and the wallet into his back pocket. He had somewhere to go.

....

"I can't find my cross! I can't find my! @#$%^& cross!"
"Where'd you last see it?"
"Around my neck, genius. Where else would it have been?"
"Well..."
"Never mind. Don't answer that. You're dirty."

....

Sweat slid down Heero's forehead and onto the display case, obscuring its contents. The lady chuckled quietly.
"That tedious?"
He smiled. He'd been smiling a lot more lately. He might even get used to it. "You'd be surprised."
The lady smiled again. "My, my, it is a little hotter than normal, though. They said they turned the AC up, but I don't know."
Heero smiled as he made his choice. The coins fairly swam out of his hand as he paid for it.
Heero felt it before it happened. The linoleum under his feet cracked and split, the cheap insulation and braces twisted out of shape. The glass displays were reduced to shards of slicing glass, goring into clothes and skin like melted butter. Dummies and people stumbled through the floor.
The noise was deafening. Flames shot up all around him, the walls collapsing in on them. It was beautiful in a cynical way, the fire dancing like gypsies against its own smoke. Or like Duo fighting.
Heero stumbled towards the exit, only visible for the blaring red sign. Then it was gone. The ceiling fell through, taking the exit sign with it. His legs gave way beneath him. Crippled by smoldering plaster, blinded by smoke and deafened by the explosion, Heero rolled over to feel the cold water run down his face.
"Sorry, kiddo looks like I won't survive this time." His voice was choked, his laughter hoarse. The last thing he saw in the fading light was his open wallet, Duo's face smiling back at him.
....

Duo paced back and forth on the bedroom floor. When did he say he'd be back? Or did he say? He didn't even tell me where he was going! Is he cheating on me?
"I'm gonna kill him when he gets back!"
"You may not have to."
Duo spun to face the speaker. "I said that out loud? I didn't mean it, honest! Heero's my best friend. I seriously couldn't live without him. I'm just worried..."
"...Because he's not home?" The policewoman pushed the screen door open, letting herself in. "You're Duo Maxwell? I can tell you a couple ways. As in, you may have to live with out him. Your friend will be gone a lot longer than you thought. But I was taught the best way is straight out. We need you to come identify the body of a teenager found in the wreckage of a shopping mall. This address was in his wallet."
Duo stood blankly, not understanding. "Shopping mall?"
"The air conditioner allegedly over heated and exploded when your friend was in the store. He wasn't the only one. We're having to contact many homes."
"He's... dead?"

....

The funeral had the best turn out since the beginning of the era. Duo stood by himself, watching people receive and clutch tiny containers of ashes close, nearly as close as he clutched his memories. He had decided to let other people scatter Heero around the world. People paused to comfort and hug him, none holding him as Heero did.
"Duo..."
He turned to face the mourner, his fist clenching up with his heart at the voice.
"Hilde..."
He stopped mid scream, startled. Her eyes were red from heavy crying, her magenta beret gone from her head. When she began talking, it was rushed and anxious, worried that she'd never be able to say it again.
"Listen, I know you probably want to pummel me to the next colony, and I've been a real b**** to you. After I found out you were staying with Heero, I was a little jealous, but you obviously don't need to hear the excuses."
"Jealous?"
"You've always been the guy everybody loves, no matter which way you, or they, for that matter, were bent. I almost got used to being that Duo stalker with the pink acorn hat. No body likes me, Duo. Not even you. Yet everybody needs you.
I just want to start over and change, like everybody else in the room. Don't you get it? Even though it was the end of his life, it's the beginning of a change. Just look."
He did. Crowds of red-eyed mourners thronged around the ash distributor, making everything from amends to promises. Quatre sacrificed his favorite teapot. Wufei smiled and greeted people, his sister standing shyly behind him. Trowa was talking to a person near him, his bang cut above his eyes. Miss Noin and Zechs, who had made opposing amends (one to be kinder to the other, the other to ignore the first), were standing together, Noin with her back to her companion. The scientists walked up, boasting new haircuts. Even Relina was there, lecturing people about something other than peace. People were smiling for each other and crying for Heero with real feeling, putting aside their dignity and facades to mourn. Duo turned back, beginning to smile for the first in a long time. Hilde was smiling through her tears, which were honest tears, too. She paused, searching his face and eyes. Suddenly, she flung her arms around his neck. Surprised, he struggled to avoid an embrace, but she didn't hug him. She clasped the necklace, and stepped back to survey her work. From the gold chain hung an upside down triangle with a circle around it.
"It was Relina's idea. She's started a pro-gay rights campaign, and is making everyone wear them."
Duo raised his eyebrows, watching people turn and flash their own. The purpose wasn't quite right, but the affect was pretty cool.

....

Only his bangs were visible above his arms, tears pouring down his face. Hilde dashed in after him, slamming the door behind her.
"I'm so sorry, Duo, I seriously didn't want this to happen. When I invited you to my birthday party, I wanted you to have fun. I'm going to hurt them."
"It's nothing."
"Yes it is! She knew Heero died in that explosion two months ago, and she kept talking about it! Now you're crying, Relina's in there screaming, and that dope is pouting about how she thought you were over it! She's utterly ruined my party!" Hilde slowed down, letting out a sigh to match her mood. Quietly, she slid a pile of paper under his arm.
"Here. You know where the pencils are. Maybe writing will help."
Duo waited until Hilde had closed the door. Slowly, he picked up the pencil and began to write. Out side the door, all was silent as Hilde glared at her guests, her eyes saying more than mere words could express. How could you?!
....

I'm not quite ready to be
Where you are
Leading me, holding me tight
I miss you so much
I don't think I'll survive
As long as you're in my heart

I'll always need you in my arms
I'll always miss you till I'm there
But as long as I am here
I'll do what I can here
As long as you're waiting for me

I couldn't believe it
When I heard it
Gone from this earth, from my arms
I was so scared without you
But I'd never doubt you
I know you're in my heart

I'll always need you in my arms
I'll always miss you till I'm there
Yet I know it was worth it
The changes you brought with it
And I know you're waiting for me

I didn't cry
Until later
Even then, old enemies were friends
I'm glad for the new friends
But they'll never be like you, friend
And I've come with you in my heart

I'll always need you in my arms
I'll always miss you till I'm there
I'll come when it's my time
Any day or nighttime
And only then, when you're waiting for me.

Tears poured silently down his face, splattering the page. Many of the words were smeared, but their meaning stayed. Duo looked down at the bottom of the page, in someone else's handwriting, was scrawled something new.
I'll be waiting for you...

~~~~
fin.
please review ^_^ thank you for reading.