Title: Evensong
Author: Shinigamis Little Silencer (shinigamis_little_silencer@hotmail.com)
Rating: G
Pairing: Tis sort of a surprise, but I bet you'll guess right off who they are.
Disclaimer: Don't own Gundam Wing, it belongs to a bunch of other people, and as far as money goes I'm not profiting from this little story in any way, shape, or form.
Note: Okay, I wrote this in two - two and a half hours. I haven't written anything in a long time. Don't be kind. Tell me exactly what you think of it.
Evensong
Swiftly falling September twilight blanketed the house in a warm autumn glow. The stars began to peek out of their hiding places, laughing at the loner below. Two happy hearts entwined as one, a beating forever silenced by the hand of the forsaken. Cheerful laughter, once melodious and intimate, faded through the trees, never quite reaching the heavens above.
Dusk faded into night, but the moon and the stars shone brightly on the earth, blacked out once or twice by falling leaves. One of the floating husks landed on Duo's notebook paper, and he brushed it aside with a well worn hand.
The wind rippled the pages of his long and sentimental letter, and Duo at once sighed and decided to go back into the cottage. It had seemed a good idea to write his lover under the maple where they had spent so much of their time together, but the light was gone and he was continuing in darkness as it was.
Regretfully, Duo rose and walked the short distance to the back door of the cottage. The soft creak of wood on metal hinges added an air of spookiness to the fall atmosphere. A pale ray of moonlight raced into the house and fell on the upright piano in the corner. Duo sighed as a brief flash of warm flesh and sparkling blue eyes clouded his senses. Those hands had expressed Beethoven's No.14 Sonata in a way that chilled Duo, even today. He shut his eyes tightly against the noise that continued in his mind.
Rouge brushed up against Duo's leg, startling him out of his reverie. Duo stooped down and picked the black-and-white spotted cat up off the floor, petting the soft fur beneath his hand as he walked to his bedroom.
The cat had long been a companion to the both of them, and had spent every peaceful night in their bed, curled between the two of them, purring as they drifted off to sleep. Duo smiled at the memory as he placed the cat on the bed. Rouge immediately curled up on Duo's side of the bed and he stopped for a moment to contemplate the wondering look in his eyes.
The other side of the bed had been deserted for some time, and Duo sometimes wondered why Rouge didn't just curl up on that side of the bed instead. Duo shook his head as he deposited the half-filled notebook on the small bedside table. Ever since he had left, Duo had been writing to him. He never sent any of it, and he didn't think he ever would. Words meant very little to the lone traveler, and Duo suspected that even if his lover did receive those heartfelt words meant for his eyes alone, he wouldn't appreciate the love and time it had taken him to compose them.
Duo contemplated all this as he undressed. Rouge was cleaning himself in the middle of Duo's sheets. A wicked grin pierced his less-than-rosy cheeks as Duo grabbed hold of the top sheet and, gently lifting it, rolled Rouge over onto the unoccupied side of the bed.
Rogue curled back up and Duo slipped under the covers and sighed. Presently he was asleep and dreaming of his lover.
His broken soul was evident in the lackluster violet of his eyes as Duo watched his lover's back disappear down the road again. He heard again the promise made of a love unbroken by distance or time. The words were clearer than he wished in his mind, and Duo saw himself collapse at his lover's feet again, weeping with heavy sorrow. He watched, seemingly outside himself, the tears fall and stain the smooth concrete beneath his fingers.
As the scene clouded, he became aware that his fingers were moving. Ivory keys presented themselves beneath them and he heard himself playing that sad, moving song. The 'Moonlight' Sonata flowed from his hands freely in a moment of pure hope and light.
Duo awoke gasping for breath. He felt a comforting warmth on his chest and foolishly assumed it was his vanished lover. Memory soon returned however, when he distinctly heard from the piano in the living room the very notes he had dreamt played.
Duo blinked and sat up, disturbing Rogue who was indeed the source of warmth on his chest, and got out of bed.
His heart pounding in his chest, Duo advanced slowly to the open doorway of his bedroom. Anger flooded his soul as he heard the notes repeated, somewhat haltingly...a player out of practice. That someone would play this horrid trick on him, and defile the very keys he had kept covered since the fateful day of his lover's departure, made him tremble with rage. Duo shut his eyes tightly on the thought and repressed his rage. Anger quickly subsided to an overwhelming feeling of serenity as Duo peered around the corner of the doorway.
The back door was open and moonlight spilled into the room, illuminating a single figure at the upright. Leaves, blown about carelessly by the brisk wind, skittered frightfully around the figure.
Duo choked back a sob and stole quietly into the room, determined not to make his presence known to the traveller. Hope swelled in his heart as he approached the player. Duo stopped a few feet from the stranger, who was still struggling with the notes.
Swallowing hard, Duo knelt beside the piano bench and whispered the stranger's name. A moment of uncertainty passed, and Duo held his breath. Finally, the stranger turned and revealed his face in the piercing moonlight. Duo bit his lip hard enough to draw blood to keep from sinking completely to the floor in tears.
He was home. His lover had come home.
With a delicate hand, Heero reached out and brushed his hand lightly across his lover's cheek. Warm tears spilled from Duo's eyes and created a warm slickness between his cheek and Heero's hand.
Rouge jumped into Heero's lap and purred soothingly. Heero petted both his lover and his cat, and nothing in the world could make him happier. Duo closed his eyes and rested his head in Heero's palm, relishing the warmth of companionship once more.
The wind wound its way into their bedroom, blowing lightly at first, but growing exceedingly stronger. Notebook pages were whipped about on the small bedside table in the hale wind as the two lovers found each others arms again...forever.
