Disclaimer - *walks up to you, does a twirl* This is me *pulls a bald guy in a suit from nowhere* This is Bill, who is the head of some corporation which owns Anime. Do we look alike to you?
**How many times do I have to tell you? I understand!
By Felflowne aka Espion
'It was difficult, but we have acquired the perfect soldier, and we are in the process of eliminating him.'
The speaker leant back in his expensive leather chair, which gave a fat squeak.
'How long?'
The first man gave a greasy smile.
'There is still the small matter of my payment, Lord.'
'In time. Patience my underling.' The first man wriggled slightly at the remark, before continuing.
'We have him in a secure hangar, with his Gundam.'
The master's eyes widened.
'The war has left him hollow. He is no danger to anyone…' continued the weaker man hastily.
'He is a danger to me,' said the smaller man, 'and that is why he is going to die.'
*
Heero lay on the ground, and concentrated on the coldness of the hangar floor seeping into his bones. He wondered vaguely why they hadn't come to take Zero away yet. But it didn't matter. Nothing mattered any more. He was purposeless and lost, with no one to guide him. His thoughts lingered for a moment on the two people who could have helped him.
One, seen by many as obsessive, but merely worried to death about him.
The other, who had seen Heero through the wars, kept him afloat, keep him human enough to do his job.
He decided to remember them, as he'd known them.
Firstly, the image of the first came into his head.
A girl, stretching for a cup on the top of her bureau, as she was kneeling on the carpet trying to catch her pet hamster. Her fingers grasped for it and missed several times. She was just too small. He remembered how he'd picked up the cup and knelt down beside her, and helped her, using the cup, to wrestle the tiny ball of fur and teeth into its cage. When they were done, they were both bleeding, and the girl's hair was in disarray.
In some ways, he'd realised, she was still a girl. Having a pet… Being small… But in others, she was much more. The wars had aged all those involved, and she was no exception. Unlike some, 'though, she'd managed to retain some part of her innocence.
She laughed and giggled, then looked at him.
'You'll have to add Master Small-Animal-Catcher into your credentials,' she'd said, smoothing her hair. He hadn't responded, not knowing what to say, but she had smiled anyway, and sat down at her desk, and pulled some papers toward her.
She'd put her glasses on, and was instantly transformed into the Counsellor she was. She'd chewed on her pen in a childlike way before looking up at him again.
'I can't say I agree Heero. Disappearing will not make your problems dissipate.'
'I haven't got any problems.' That blunt answer would have put off the vast majority of inquirers, but this girl knew him too well. She sighed and took off her glasses.
'You can't fool me Heero, I know you. You may not like to admit it, but I do. Your problems will find you.'
She looked at the papers.
'If it will make you feel better, Heero, I'll sign them.' She did so.
He took them and turned to go.
'Will I see you again?' The question hurt, but as he turned, he saw she wasn't looking at him.
'I'll take that as a 'no', but be safe Heero, Ok?'
Heero now felt truly unworthy of this girl's friendship, and felt he had to do something to thank her for all her effort. He crossed the gap between them and enveloped her in a hug. He heard her squeak of surprise, and then she'd hugged him back. When he pulled back, she was still smiling.
'There's hope for you yet, Yuy. Now go on, get outta here before I call security.'
He'd smiled a small smile at her offhand manner and idle threat, and then he had crossed the room and disappeared out of the window. He hadn't seen her since.
Those papers had been fake reports that he had been killed.
Heero was brought back to cold reality from the warm happy memory by his nerve endings re-informing him that he was lying in an uncomfortable position. He ignored them, but used the interruption to begin his remembrance of the second person.
Although the first memory had been a happy one, this one was different. It bought a rarely practised smile to the ebbing boy's lips.
He remembered everything about the second person as if they were still with him, instead of being halfway across the Earthsphere, enjoying life after the war.
He remembered their beautiful eyes. The only eyes that ever seen his soul. He remembered how if the person merely brushed against him, he would go weak inside and snap at them, not wanting the feeling of weakness, but craving it nonetheless, because it meant that they were near.
It didn't matter that the conversation was one sided. It gave him a chance to listen to his colleague's voice. He never realised how much that his workmate had meant to him; he was only starting to realise now.
Far too late.
He ignored Soldier's interruption. Surely it meant something that he realised his feelings at all, rather than living his entire life as an automaton.
All the times their hands had brushed and he'd wanted to grab their hand and never let go. All the times, all of them. His eyes opened, in two senses of the phrase.
He realised. He saw. He knew. Even though it was too late, he decided to say it anyway.
Reaching out a hand to no one, he whispered, 'I love you.'
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Awwww…Heero no kawaii baka! Will it work out? Dunno, haven't written it yet. Reviews always welcome *^_^*
Felflowne xx