Lying
Author: Gabrielle MoonBeam
Fandom: Gundam Wing (Sotsu, Sunrise and Bandai own it)
Archive: My page (www.angelfire.com/anime4/gabrielle_mb) and FF.net. Want it? Ask.
Warnings: Oddity, shounen ai. 1+2+1
Notes: Another one of these little ficlet thingies. I don't know where they keep popping up from, and even if they make any sense... *grabs a mallet and hides it behind her back* Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll go bang some sense into my muse.
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"Duo. What are you doing on the roof?" Heero's words are soft, inquiring. His blue, blue eyes see nothing but Death sitting atop the roof, admiring the night with a sad, sad smile.
Duo's eyes glint violet in the low light, sparkling with the moon, the stars and lurking dawn. He doesn't seem to hear or see Heero, he doesn't notice the anxious boy.
Heero steps closer, sits down next to the silent American. He casts his gaze across the seeming darkness, watching for the special something Duo sees in the wilderness.
"What are you going to do now that the war's over, Heero?"
A simple question, seeping through the cracks of silence, quieting the chirrup of cicadas. Heero's at a loss for words, his fingers rubbing against the smooth rooftop. Duo's eyes never leave the heavens.
"Ne, what are you gonna do? Marry Relena?"
Heero nods, feeling satisfied that Duo has once again voiced every thought in him. Heero feels like he doesn't need to speak, that he's never had the urge to when Duo is around to talk enough for then both.
A sad, sad smile covers Duo's lips like a blanket tucked too close to a slumbering baby. He doesn't need to see Heero's nod for he already knows his answer.
"Ha, who would've thought?"
And the smile turns bitter and cold and freezing.
Heero shivers, feeling the night wind, feeling cold for a little moment.
"Why are you gonna marry her, Heero?"
Heero's brows furrow, he contemplates the words, the question and the simple meaning.
"Do you know what marriages and weddings are all about, Heero?"
Duo still smiles, still hides and still runs.
"They're about frills and flowers. They're about making you believe in forever. And they're about love, Heero, all about love."
Duo's head turns, tilts a little, just a little towards Heero. The violet of Duo's eyes is still directed forwards, not watching, not looking at the Japanese pilot.
It's afraid it'll break.
"And do you know anything about love, Heero? Ne, ne Heero?"
Heero's ears pull back, twitch from the tone in that grave voice. The Japanese pilot moves, tries to find comfort on the solid wood of the rooftop. Joyous voices drift lazily upon the wind, dancing.
There's a party not many feet down on the ground.
"I thought you didn't."
Duo's head moves, the rope of a braid slithering against his back like a tail or like a snake and Heero can't move his eyes away from it.
"Then you're marrying her just because you're expected to. Just because it's another mission, it's another life, it's redemption..."
Duo's voice dies and the American's eyes close and lips never lose their smile.
"And more than anything... You crave redemption. A safe haven from the horror at night."
Heero is quiet, still. Like a marble statue he sits there and lets Duo talk for them both. But something rips at his consciousness, something that Duo has said without the words to fill the silence, the never-ending silence.
"But you don't love her and it's okay."
A dark laugh, something hollow and dead.
"And you'll destroy her. You'll destroy her life by not loving her, for what she needs the most is not another bodyguard. She needs a prince, she needs her fairytale ending."
Heero's eyes can't leave the slumped American, the one with the smile, smile, smile upon full, beautiful lips.
"And you'll forget about me, you'll forget everything and you'll be happy."
Heero's hand comes up to touch one full cheek.
The smile shatters, dark water pours from the closed eyes of a jester Death.
Heero shifts closer to the one beneath the shell and grasps it with both hands and pulls and pulls.
And the Japanese boy holds the crying American, holds him until everyone else fades away.
"You are lying, Duo."
Duo's eyes open and for a while they stare into Heero's. The braided boy struggles to understand, tries to see the logic and the meaning but can find none.
"All this time when I let you talk for the both of us, you were lying."
A quiet chuckle, muffled against a green tanktop made of something soft.
"I was lying too."
Duo's dry laughter dies, he lifts his head to watch the Japanese boy's face warily.
"I won't marry Relena. I need to find something else."
Duo's lips curve up, to a half-smile, but Heero halts the movement by placing a feathery touch upon them.
"Don't smile."
Duo shakes his head, tilts it back down and rests his forehead against a steadily beating heart.
"Just... Be here."
A simple statement, something Heero needs.
Duo nods, and the two of them sit together on a cold rooftop on a cold, cold night when all of Earth and Space celebrate.
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