Disclaimer: One would think in all the time I haven't updated, that I would
at least be able to acquire some possession of Gundam Wing, but alas, I
have had no such luck. I don't own anything (and needless to say I do not
own the Beatles, either, who I make reference to in here).
Note: Sorry, I haven't updated in so long. I would really be happy if anyone who was reading this before actually came back to finish for this chapter. I was listening to Beatles love songs writing most of this, not that that means anything, except it turned out mostly fluff ^w^ Not that I don't like fluff, but this is supposed to be angst-y. I went in afterwards and added some tension and a troubling flashback, but I doubt it did much.
So . . . what are you waiting for? This chapter is much more interesting than anything I have to say!
~~~~~~~~~
"Oi, Heero," The braided one shook his head in hopelessness as the previously perfect soldier opened his eyes fuzzily to the semi-darkness of the room, "wake up!"
"Mmm. . . Duo?" Heero rubbed his eyes gently with the back of his hand and Duo blushed at how cute it was when the Asian yawned and closed his eyes once more. The blush quickly faded from the heart-shaped face and it was replaced with a warm smile.
"C'mon, Heero. If you don't get up now, we're gonna miss it!" He leaned over the half-asleep body that curled like a cat in further protest. A long chestnut braid slipped intentionally over Duo's shoulder and the ends brushed the tip of Heero's nose and it was made a further annoyance as the Asian struggled beneath it with a groan and pulled the covers over his head.
It was at this point the covers were tactfully flung from the bed and Heero sprung up, shivering and glaring at the culprit. Duo chuckled slightly.
"Sorry, Hee-chan, but really should get going if we're going to make it in time." He took a half step back, to give Heero time to come out of bed. With a second yawn, the smaller boy stumbled off the bed in nothing more than his boxer shorts, and looked around him, focusing on the window on the wall. The sky was still black as it could be with the many fluorescent lights that lined the city, and he looked at the cheerful Duo who was impatiently bouncing around the room, fully dressed.
"Where are we going?" Heero mumbled sleepily as he rummaged for a spare pair of pants and a shirt. Finding the soft material on a desktop, he slipped the clothing on and made his way, unfocused, into the kitchen where Duo was preparing what looked like breakfast to go. Or rather, breakfast was another word for a couple of zipped plastic bags with cereal inside.
"You'll know soon enough." Duo stated as he snatched a comfortably-sized blanket and threw it in the bag along with everything else, "Come on!" he gestured amusedly at the tired Heero across the room, eyes half-lidded and straining closure, "you can sleep in the car."
Heero stopped short in the widest part of his yawn before finishing quickly with a slightly confused, too-tired-to-be-angry face directed at Duo, who didn't seem to be watching him at the moment, "I'm not a child, you know."
Duo shot his head up in surprise, "I know that Hee-chan, but even adults are allowed to sleep in the car." Duo was about to add that he had several times, but of course he had been driving every one of those times, and he figured it would be against his better judgment to mention that right before they were about to get in the car. Heero caught a sly smile tripping over Duo's lips as if he were the cat who ate the goldfish, but the ex-wing pilot was too busy keeping his eyes open too look any farther into it.
Duo picked up the keys on the counter swiftly, saving every grain of time that could be spent later. When Duo had woken up several minutes before he woke Heero as well, he found himself looking out the window, which wasn't very unusual, but it made him remember the stars. It had been ages since he had been back on the colony. Even though he was terribly homesick, every ounce of his energy since the ending of the war had been spent, though not worthlessly, mind you, with the preventors on earth, helping that Peacecraft girl in her otherwise impossibly idealistic beliefs. This was the best path for him, now, but that didn't make him forget where home was. Even though Sally didn't think Heero had a home, Duo didn't want him to forget what a home really was, even if he couldn't remember. Heero should at least know that he belongs. It had taken Duo nearly 17 years to figure out that he had a home, and Duo wouldn't deny Heero that chance a second time. He grimaced, yes, the second time. Duo knew Heero had missed his first chance at a place to belong a long time ago. All of them had . . . they would have had to in becoming pilots. Even Quatre, who had a place to come home to and a loving family to go back to denied everything for the war. Duo barely knew what he was getting into when he first took to the cockpit of deathscythe, but then again, he had been convinced, then, that he didn't have a home to come back to.
Seeing Heero like this made him think more than ever about his past, and he was beginning to believe more than ever that this terrible misfortune might have been a blessing in disguise. Duo never thought he'd ever stand this close to Heero ever again, in fact, he was sure of it. When Sally called him that day, he thought he had put everything about Heero behind him, but every time he looked at him, it still made his heart skip a beat. Duo had tried to make friends after the war ended, and it wasn't hard for him, being cheerful and friendly to nearly everyone he met, but sometimes he was just lonely. The people who were able to understand that, like Francine and Terry and the rest of the pilots, were his only true friends. All the rest were just very real mirages, but when he was with Heero, there was no emptiness inside him at all. That Heero had all this revealed emptiness, now, Duo had to admit made him feel uncomfortable, but all he wanted to do was fill Heero with everything that life had to offer. He owed Heero that much, after everything his ex-partner had given him, even unconsciously, all these years.
That's only one of the reasons, of course, that Duo was taking Heero out on this very special night to look at the stars. The Leonids come only once every year, and he rarely had the time, or the discipline to get up and see them. Another reason being that the first time he had time to see them was when he and Heero were partners during the war.
~~ flashback ~~
Duo looked over the green-dark room that had Heero's face glowing almost ghostly in the moonlight from his perch on the windowsill. One knee propped against the glass, and the other leg limply down at the side, Duo shifted uncomfortably. It was always so hard to concentrate with the silence that emptied the room whenever Heero was sleeping. Well, he took that back quickly. His stoic partner never said anything, anyway, and on the rare occasion that something left his lips, it was usually in an attempt to get Duo to shut his.
There was just something, Duo thought, about being asleep that never suited him just right. It was a moment of vulnerability . . . he never thought he'd see the day where Heero left himself open to attack. Despite the gun he gripped tightly beneath that pillow, it was still much too difficult to concentrate in that deafening silence. It really wasn't Duo's cup of tea, sitting around the safehouse, trying to be as quiet as possible to avoid suspicion, and yet, he savored moments like these. So blinded, deafened, tasteless, all of his senses were null, and his mind was beginning to slip as well, watching the green darkness descending onto pale cheeks that rested on pillows and weaponry in the bedroom.
He looked back to the night sky. He was a little homesick sometimes, but it was a little ironic, he chuckled inwardly, considering he didn't have a home. The pain he felt must only have been loneliness, he decided, because he didn't need somewhere to belong to. Memories were enough. That's the only reason he was staying up to watch the meteor shower, anyway. It was childish, Duo knew, but wasn't he still a child? He never had his heart set on growing up, as much as time may have prodded him on.
Sister Helen was the one who told him about the meteor showers from earth. Neither of them had ever been off L2 their whole lives, but the outside world was always in question. Being surrounded by a sky of metal was how they lived their lives, and of course there were projections, sometimes, and scheduled artificial rain for vegetation, but Duo had always been curious, and he couldn't learn enough. He recalled telling Sister Helen how he was going to get off the colony one day and travel all around the colonies and earth. Sister Helen would tell him of vast oceans and endless skies, and endless stars.
She had told him that if you ever see a meteor from earth, they call it a shooting star, and if you close your eyes and make a wish, and if you hold onto it long enough, it will come true. It was just then that Duo was scanning the sky outside, and he saw a blue-tinted streak run across the sky. It was if a star had been shooting across the night. A shooting star, he widened his eyes in surprise before shutting them tightly, and biting his lip. He had to make a wish, and quickly, or it might not come true. It was silly to think that making a wish would make a difference, but he hadn't been sitting up for an hour in this windowsill for nothing. He knew exactly what he wanted to wish for, but he didn't know the right way to word it so that God would understand.
"I . . . I wish that Heero would like m- no, that's not right at all," Duo gripped his eyes tighter down, "I wish we can all just get out of this alive. That's what I really wish for." Duo finished sincerely, turning and opening his eyes sharply when he heard a reaction to his side.
"mmm," Heero mumbled, turning over in his sleep.
"H-heero? You awake?" Duo said stuttering slightly, alarmed, and softly, although apparently not soft enough as the stoic pilot awoke wide-eyed with a questioned, "Hn?"
"Sorry, didn't mean to wake you," the braided one said sincerely, and blushing as the face in darkness pulled up the covers silently and turned to the opposite side. There was an awkward moment of silence.
"Heero?" Duo asked softly, still looking out at the night sky.
"Hn," the lump replied solemnly, refusing to budge.
"Have you ever seen a meteor?" Duo looked from the sky that was scattered with the staggering streaks of light over to the lump.
"That's a stupid question," the wing pilot growled.
". . . from earth," Duo added, too wrapped in the scene unfolding outside to notice the agitated tone and threatening connotation of Heero's words.
"Go to sleep," the perfect soldier commanded, "we have a mission tomorrow. I won't be held responsible if you get killed." Heero finished sharply, taking hold of his gun beneath his pillow and he didn't say another word as Duo let him go back to sleep. The chestnut-haired pilot hardly noticed as his eyes slipped from the window, blurring slightly. He wished nothing had changed. The room wasn't as empty, now, but it had become filled with cold . . . Not that it had been warmer before, but it was a chill no number of blankets could remedy.
~~ end flashback ~~
That was too long ago, and now everything was fine. Heero really had loved Duo, then. He knew that, now, as hard as it might be to believe. Duo smiled as he pointed out the small white tag Heero had sticking out of the front of his shirt. A small blush crept across the smaller boy's nose as he became aware he put it on backwards before he took off and reversed the green t-shirt to its rightful side. It seemed like Heero had changed dramatically, but the strange thing was, Heero -hadn't- changed at all; there was just no reason to hide anything anymore. This is how Heero should have been, Duo thought subtly as he stood in the middle of the room. He wasn't sure what he was waiting for, and to tell the truth, Heero was beginning to wonder the same thing, because Duo was in such a hurry earlier, but had become so caught up in his thoughts that he wasn't really aware of his surroundings. Heero passed the opportunity to wake Duo from his daydreams, and so they were just standing there for no apparent reason, really, when Duo finally took a silent notion that they should really find out what time it was. Looking over at the digital stove clock that read nearly four o'clock, a braid jumped slightly as its owner made a bound for the door, followed closely by a second figure, a little less awake, to whom we are thankful was awake enough to remember to lock the door behind them.
Heero barely realized when it was they got in the car, because when he woke, they were already far away from city lights. Listening to the driver's happy humming of an old Beatles' love tune; he picked his head off the inside of the car door, brushing the cream colored blanket down his arm slightly. He looked at it closely with pleasant surprise, and then at the person who undoubtedly had placed it over him. Duo noticed his consciousness happily, and almost immediately, but chose to finish humming the refrain and give Heero a moment to adjust. There was a moment of silence.
"We're here," Duo said, pressing gently on the breaks, and coming to a slow stop right in the middle of the road.
"Where?" Heero wrinkled his eyebrows slightly as he looked out of his window to the high grasses, and looked across the horizon for the traces of a city. Realizing there really was none, he felt the shaking of the car as Duo exited the car. "Duo?"
Upon hearing no response, the ex-wing pilot opened his door, and stood up, watching as the taller boy sat on the lid of the front of the car.
"Isn't it dangerous to park in the middle of the road like this?" Heero asked, a little annoyed at the loudmouth's lack of response as Duo laid down on the window-shield, arms crossed behind his head.
"Isn't it dangerous to detonate a Gundam when you're still -on- the damn thing?" Duo smirked sarcastically as Heero took a slouched seat next to his ex-partner.
"Did I really do that?" he asked quietly, letting his feet dangle over the edge of the front of the car and kicking them idly, as a child might have, with his hands balancing the weight behind him as he tilted his head back to look at the sky, as Duo seemed to be doing contentedly. The lack of a response from the braided boy told him that he really had done that. Heero supposed it was a silly question, but it was still hard to believe he had such a stubborn streak in him. He looked back to Duo, whose grin had vanished almost as if it never had been there. Clouded violet eyes looked to his own.
"You know, Heero, that's your home up there. Never forget that you'll always belong somewhere," Duo said calmly, "You want to know why I brought you here?"
"The Leonid meteor showers." Heero stated plainly, causing the arms to be unfolded from behind the head of his companion as Duo sat up surprised, and amused, to an extent. Heero didn't want to look straight into the other's eyes because it was just better to imagine the expression painted on that perfectly figured face. "It was pretty obvious as soon as I realized you had led us away from the city."
"Just can't get anything past you, can I?" There was a bit of silence in drowsiness as Duo resumed his comfortable position on the window-shield and both of them looked to the sky, afraid to speak, for fear they would miss the first of the shooting stars in the shower and spoil the moment, but when it was clear that they were still a little early for that, Duo broke the silence. "Do you like it? . . . Looking at the stars, I mean." Heero took his weight off his hands, and took his eyes to the horizon to think.
"I don't know . . . they look kind of lonely to me," Heero paused and pointed, "Like that one, over there."
Duo turned his head to the part of the sky that Heero was looking at, "But there's nothing different about any star over in that direction, and they're all surrounded by other stars, besides." He said patiently, though he wasn't sure he quite understood what Heero was trying to get at.
"You're right," Heero answered, "but they can't see the other side of the sky as easily as we can. There might be something wonderful over there, but even being in the same sky, they might not realize how lonely they are until they reach the other side." Heero stopped, glanced behind at Duo, smiling slightly, and fully at the same time. Duo blinked once or twice before realizing what Heero had meant, and slowly looked back at the stars.
"Yeah," Duo raised a corner of his mouth unconsciously in accepting the truth to what Heero had said, "Sometimes we don't."
The crickets might have sounded, but it was August, and the insects were already making a run for the cold. They couldn't even see the fireflies, or hear any frogs in the marsh nearby. Silence was all that divided them from the world, and brought them together as well. And then it was, amidst the several, though few clouds that littered the sky, that they saw the first meteor shoot brilliant blue; leaving a trail that faded slowly, almost like watercolor paints wash out in a waterfall, and Heero opened his eyes incredulously, "Was that. . .?"
"You know, someone once told me that if you close your eyes and make a wish on the first shooting star that you see from earth, that it'll come true if you really believe in it."
"Why don't you make a wish, Duo?" Heero asked quickly, looking to the violet eyes that were already fixed on him.
"I've seen plenty of shooting stars on earth, and I already made my wish," He said, urging the ex-wing pilot on, "And in all the years I've known you, Heero, you never once looked at the stars from earth. It's way past time you realized that you -do- have a place to go back to. Space is all of our homes."
Heero closed his eyes tight, and then opened one eye to find Duo staring at him, "Duo, this is silly. No one wishes on stars; it's a child's game."
"There's nothing you would wish for?" Duo asked as Heero twisted uncomfortably, adjusting his position on the car.
"Well maybe I would wish for my memory back, if only so I could, well . . ." he looked up, ". . . remember you."
In a matter of moments Heero was consumed by the most breath-staggering, feather-light hug that he had ever felt, and considering his memory of experience, that might not be very significant information, but whatever the hug felt like, the emotion coming from the other side weighted more heavily than the hug itself. Heero felt like melting beneath it, until he wrapped his arms around the other boy, and felt the sharp intakes of breath stagger beneath his hands and the folds of black cloth. Duo didn't seem as tall as he was before, and to the onlooker, the question might have arisen as to who was the more childish of the two of them.
Of course, Duo's sharp breaths subsided quickly, and he pulled away, the tears on his left cheek being swept away by Heero's brown hair as he looked into the cobalt blue with love and fear, all the same.
"Duo?" Heero asked, smiling at the tears of happiness lining the braided one's face, "What was your wish? . . . the first time you saw a shooting star."
"I wished for everything I thought that I could ever want," Duo answered truthfully as he wiped away his tears that have the potential to be seen as a weakness afterwards.
"Did it come true?" Heero asked, putting his arm around the ex-deathscythe pilot's waist.
"It did, Heero," Duo reminisced, looking into Heero's eyes once more, "and proved me wrong, as well."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Responses (and if you are still reading this, thank you!!)
CSMars: Yeah, I do think that was a bit OOC, too, but I can see him being protective of Relena so much as to do something like that, especially if Relena comes crying to him, and expects him to do something about it. It's not his character speaking, it's his character as an older brother who just had to deal with his little sister who was probably exaggerating the whole thing to an obscene extent. ^^;;
Akennea: Sorry this is so late! I really intended to write more of it earlier, but I'm really glad you enjoyed it. Thanks so much for leaving a review to say so! I'm sorry to say there will be no more Relena Bashing, it was just the last chapter, but I wasn't sure if it was going to work, so I'm really glad you enjoyed that part.
Vampiric Hermit: I'm sorry this is so late! I'm really really really really (this goes on for quite a while) really really sorry!!! I feel really guilty responding when I haven't updated in months, but I'm really glad that you liked it! Thanks so much for reviewing!
Pandora-chan: Thanks so much for you nice reviews! If you're still reading this, then thank you. I'm really scared that no one will. . Yes, Relena ::returns the shudder:: well, lets just be glad she's finally out of the picture. . . and believe me, she is. ^^
Emily Hato: Thanks for reading the first chapter! (Even though the first 4 are really bad, I'll admit.) If you actually read up through the whole thing and are reading this then thank you! I hope you liked it. . . ::hides:: Yes, I know, it's a little sappy ::collapses:: But it's not my fault! ::points to the Beatles songs accusingly:: And see? They did get together ^w^ I love happy endings.
Lady Phoenix Gryffindor: Thanks for leaving a review! I'm glad you like it.
Rez: I'm really really really (I seem to be doing this a lot today) really really sorry this is out so late! ::bows apologetically::
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ahaa! ::wipes off sweat:: All done. Now that you know my bad updating habits, I'd be willing to send out a e-mail reminder of update to anyone who wants it, as the next update could be days, weeks, err. . .months ^^;;; well, you never know. I can't make any promises. Not that this is a such a good story, so you probably won't want to read anymore, but just in case, I'd be willing to send out an e-mail. Just tell me!
Thanks so much for reading! A review would mean so much! ^_^
Note: Sorry, I haven't updated in so long. I would really be happy if anyone who was reading this before actually came back to finish for this chapter. I was listening to Beatles love songs writing most of this, not that that means anything, except it turned out mostly fluff ^w^ Not that I don't like fluff, but this is supposed to be angst-y. I went in afterwards and added some tension and a troubling flashback, but I doubt it did much.
So . . . what are you waiting for? This chapter is much more interesting than anything I have to say!
~~~~~~~~~
"Oi, Heero," The braided one shook his head in hopelessness as the previously perfect soldier opened his eyes fuzzily to the semi-darkness of the room, "wake up!"
"Mmm. . . Duo?" Heero rubbed his eyes gently with the back of his hand and Duo blushed at how cute it was when the Asian yawned and closed his eyes once more. The blush quickly faded from the heart-shaped face and it was replaced with a warm smile.
"C'mon, Heero. If you don't get up now, we're gonna miss it!" He leaned over the half-asleep body that curled like a cat in further protest. A long chestnut braid slipped intentionally over Duo's shoulder and the ends brushed the tip of Heero's nose and it was made a further annoyance as the Asian struggled beneath it with a groan and pulled the covers over his head.
It was at this point the covers were tactfully flung from the bed and Heero sprung up, shivering and glaring at the culprit. Duo chuckled slightly.
"Sorry, Hee-chan, but really should get going if we're going to make it in time." He took a half step back, to give Heero time to come out of bed. With a second yawn, the smaller boy stumbled off the bed in nothing more than his boxer shorts, and looked around him, focusing on the window on the wall. The sky was still black as it could be with the many fluorescent lights that lined the city, and he looked at the cheerful Duo who was impatiently bouncing around the room, fully dressed.
"Where are we going?" Heero mumbled sleepily as he rummaged for a spare pair of pants and a shirt. Finding the soft material on a desktop, he slipped the clothing on and made his way, unfocused, into the kitchen where Duo was preparing what looked like breakfast to go. Or rather, breakfast was another word for a couple of zipped plastic bags with cereal inside.
"You'll know soon enough." Duo stated as he snatched a comfortably-sized blanket and threw it in the bag along with everything else, "Come on!" he gestured amusedly at the tired Heero across the room, eyes half-lidded and straining closure, "you can sleep in the car."
Heero stopped short in the widest part of his yawn before finishing quickly with a slightly confused, too-tired-to-be-angry face directed at Duo, who didn't seem to be watching him at the moment, "I'm not a child, you know."
Duo shot his head up in surprise, "I know that Hee-chan, but even adults are allowed to sleep in the car." Duo was about to add that he had several times, but of course he had been driving every one of those times, and he figured it would be against his better judgment to mention that right before they were about to get in the car. Heero caught a sly smile tripping over Duo's lips as if he were the cat who ate the goldfish, but the ex-wing pilot was too busy keeping his eyes open too look any farther into it.
Duo picked up the keys on the counter swiftly, saving every grain of time that could be spent later. When Duo had woken up several minutes before he woke Heero as well, he found himself looking out the window, which wasn't very unusual, but it made him remember the stars. It had been ages since he had been back on the colony. Even though he was terribly homesick, every ounce of his energy since the ending of the war had been spent, though not worthlessly, mind you, with the preventors on earth, helping that Peacecraft girl in her otherwise impossibly idealistic beliefs. This was the best path for him, now, but that didn't make him forget where home was. Even though Sally didn't think Heero had a home, Duo didn't want him to forget what a home really was, even if he couldn't remember. Heero should at least know that he belongs. It had taken Duo nearly 17 years to figure out that he had a home, and Duo wouldn't deny Heero that chance a second time. He grimaced, yes, the second time. Duo knew Heero had missed his first chance at a place to belong a long time ago. All of them had . . . they would have had to in becoming pilots. Even Quatre, who had a place to come home to and a loving family to go back to denied everything for the war. Duo barely knew what he was getting into when he first took to the cockpit of deathscythe, but then again, he had been convinced, then, that he didn't have a home to come back to.
Seeing Heero like this made him think more than ever about his past, and he was beginning to believe more than ever that this terrible misfortune might have been a blessing in disguise. Duo never thought he'd ever stand this close to Heero ever again, in fact, he was sure of it. When Sally called him that day, he thought he had put everything about Heero behind him, but every time he looked at him, it still made his heart skip a beat. Duo had tried to make friends after the war ended, and it wasn't hard for him, being cheerful and friendly to nearly everyone he met, but sometimes he was just lonely. The people who were able to understand that, like Francine and Terry and the rest of the pilots, were his only true friends. All the rest were just very real mirages, but when he was with Heero, there was no emptiness inside him at all. That Heero had all this revealed emptiness, now, Duo had to admit made him feel uncomfortable, but all he wanted to do was fill Heero with everything that life had to offer. He owed Heero that much, after everything his ex-partner had given him, even unconsciously, all these years.
That's only one of the reasons, of course, that Duo was taking Heero out on this very special night to look at the stars. The Leonids come only once every year, and he rarely had the time, or the discipline to get up and see them. Another reason being that the first time he had time to see them was when he and Heero were partners during the war.
~~ flashback ~~
Duo looked over the green-dark room that had Heero's face glowing almost ghostly in the moonlight from his perch on the windowsill. One knee propped against the glass, and the other leg limply down at the side, Duo shifted uncomfortably. It was always so hard to concentrate with the silence that emptied the room whenever Heero was sleeping. Well, he took that back quickly. His stoic partner never said anything, anyway, and on the rare occasion that something left his lips, it was usually in an attempt to get Duo to shut his.
There was just something, Duo thought, about being asleep that never suited him just right. It was a moment of vulnerability . . . he never thought he'd see the day where Heero left himself open to attack. Despite the gun he gripped tightly beneath that pillow, it was still much too difficult to concentrate in that deafening silence. It really wasn't Duo's cup of tea, sitting around the safehouse, trying to be as quiet as possible to avoid suspicion, and yet, he savored moments like these. So blinded, deafened, tasteless, all of his senses were null, and his mind was beginning to slip as well, watching the green darkness descending onto pale cheeks that rested on pillows and weaponry in the bedroom.
He looked back to the night sky. He was a little homesick sometimes, but it was a little ironic, he chuckled inwardly, considering he didn't have a home. The pain he felt must only have been loneliness, he decided, because he didn't need somewhere to belong to. Memories were enough. That's the only reason he was staying up to watch the meteor shower, anyway. It was childish, Duo knew, but wasn't he still a child? He never had his heart set on growing up, as much as time may have prodded him on.
Sister Helen was the one who told him about the meteor showers from earth. Neither of them had ever been off L2 their whole lives, but the outside world was always in question. Being surrounded by a sky of metal was how they lived their lives, and of course there were projections, sometimes, and scheduled artificial rain for vegetation, but Duo had always been curious, and he couldn't learn enough. He recalled telling Sister Helen how he was going to get off the colony one day and travel all around the colonies and earth. Sister Helen would tell him of vast oceans and endless skies, and endless stars.
She had told him that if you ever see a meteor from earth, they call it a shooting star, and if you close your eyes and make a wish, and if you hold onto it long enough, it will come true. It was just then that Duo was scanning the sky outside, and he saw a blue-tinted streak run across the sky. It was if a star had been shooting across the night. A shooting star, he widened his eyes in surprise before shutting them tightly, and biting his lip. He had to make a wish, and quickly, or it might not come true. It was silly to think that making a wish would make a difference, but he hadn't been sitting up for an hour in this windowsill for nothing. He knew exactly what he wanted to wish for, but he didn't know the right way to word it so that God would understand.
"I . . . I wish that Heero would like m- no, that's not right at all," Duo gripped his eyes tighter down, "I wish we can all just get out of this alive. That's what I really wish for." Duo finished sincerely, turning and opening his eyes sharply when he heard a reaction to his side.
"mmm," Heero mumbled, turning over in his sleep.
"H-heero? You awake?" Duo said stuttering slightly, alarmed, and softly, although apparently not soft enough as the stoic pilot awoke wide-eyed with a questioned, "Hn?"
"Sorry, didn't mean to wake you," the braided one said sincerely, and blushing as the face in darkness pulled up the covers silently and turned to the opposite side. There was an awkward moment of silence.
"Heero?" Duo asked softly, still looking out at the night sky.
"Hn," the lump replied solemnly, refusing to budge.
"Have you ever seen a meteor?" Duo looked from the sky that was scattered with the staggering streaks of light over to the lump.
"That's a stupid question," the wing pilot growled.
". . . from earth," Duo added, too wrapped in the scene unfolding outside to notice the agitated tone and threatening connotation of Heero's words.
"Go to sleep," the perfect soldier commanded, "we have a mission tomorrow. I won't be held responsible if you get killed." Heero finished sharply, taking hold of his gun beneath his pillow and he didn't say another word as Duo let him go back to sleep. The chestnut-haired pilot hardly noticed as his eyes slipped from the window, blurring slightly. He wished nothing had changed. The room wasn't as empty, now, but it had become filled with cold . . . Not that it had been warmer before, but it was a chill no number of blankets could remedy.
~~ end flashback ~~
That was too long ago, and now everything was fine. Heero really had loved Duo, then. He knew that, now, as hard as it might be to believe. Duo smiled as he pointed out the small white tag Heero had sticking out of the front of his shirt. A small blush crept across the smaller boy's nose as he became aware he put it on backwards before he took off and reversed the green t-shirt to its rightful side. It seemed like Heero had changed dramatically, but the strange thing was, Heero -hadn't- changed at all; there was just no reason to hide anything anymore. This is how Heero should have been, Duo thought subtly as he stood in the middle of the room. He wasn't sure what he was waiting for, and to tell the truth, Heero was beginning to wonder the same thing, because Duo was in such a hurry earlier, but had become so caught up in his thoughts that he wasn't really aware of his surroundings. Heero passed the opportunity to wake Duo from his daydreams, and so they were just standing there for no apparent reason, really, when Duo finally took a silent notion that they should really find out what time it was. Looking over at the digital stove clock that read nearly four o'clock, a braid jumped slightly as its owner made a bound for the door, followed closely by a second figure, a little less awake, to whom we are thankful was awake enough to remember to lock the door behind them.
Heero barely realized when it was they got in the car, because when he woke, they were already far away from city lights. Listening to the driver's happy humming of an old Beatles' love tune; he picked his head off the inside of the car door, brushing the cream colored blanket down his arm slightly. He looked at it closely with pleasant surprise, and then at the person who undoubtedly had placed it over him. Duo noticed his consciousness happily, and almost immediately, but chose to finish humming the refrain and give Heero a moment to adjust. There was a moment of silence.
"We're here," Duo said, pressing gently on the breaks, and coming to a slow stop right in the middle of the road.
"Where?" Heero wrinkled his eyebrows slightly as he looked out of his window to the high grasses, and looked across the horizon for the traces of a city. Realizing there really was none, he felt the shaking of the car as Duo exited the car. "Duo?"
Upon hearing no response, the ex-wing pilot opened his door, and stood up, watching as the taller boy sat on the lid of the front of the car.
"Isn't it dangerous to park in the middle of the road like this?" Heero asked, a little annoyed at the loudmouth's lack of response as Duo laid down on the window-shield, arms crossed behind his head.
"Isn't it dangerous to detonate a Gundam when you're still -on- the damn thing?" Duo smirked sarcastically as Heero took a slouched seat next to his ex-partner.
"Did I really do that?" he asked quietly, letting his feet dangle over the edge of the front of the car and kicking them idly, as a child might have, with his hands balancing the weight behind him as he tilted his head back to look at the sky, as Duo seemed to be doing contentedly. The lack of a response from the braided boy told him that he really had done that. Heero supposed it was a silly question, but it was still hard to believe he had such a stubborn streak in him. He looked back to Duo, whose grin had vanished almost as if it never had been there. Clouded violet eyes looked to his own.
"You know, Heero, that's your home up there. Never forget that you'll always belong somewhere," Duo said calmly, "You want to know why I brought you here?"
"The Leonid meteor showers." Heero stated plainly, causing the arms to be unfolded from behind the head of his companion as Duo sat up surprised, and amused, to an extent. Heero didn't want to look straight into the other's eyes because it was just better to imagine the expression painted on that perfectly figured face. "It was pretty obvious as soon as I realized you had led us away from the city."
"Just can't get anything past you, can I?" There was a bit of silence in drowsiness as Duo resumed his comfortable position on the window-shield and both of them looked to the sky, afraid to speak, for fear they would miss the first of the shooting stars in the shower and spoil the moment, but when it was clear that they were still a little early for that, Duo broke the silence. "Do you like it? . . . Looking at the stars, I mean." Heero took his weight off his hands, and took his eyes to the horizon to think.
"I don't know . . . they look kind of lonely to me," Heero paused and pointed, "Like that one, over there."
Duo turned his head to the part of the sky that Heero was looking at, "But there's nothing different about any star over in that direction, and they're all surrounded by other stars, besides." He said patiently, though he wasn't sure he quite understood what Heero was trying to get at.
"You're right," Heero answered, "but they can't see the other side of the sky as easily as we can. There might be something wonderful over there, but even being in the same sky, they might not realize how lonely they are until they reach the other side." Heero stopped, glanced behind at Duo, smiling slightly, and fully at the same time. Duo blinked once or twice before realizing what Heero had meant, and slowly looked back at the stars.
"Yeah," Duo raised a corner of his mouth unconsciously in accepting the truth to what Heero had said, "Sometimes we don't."
The crickets might have sounded, but it was August, and the insects were already making a run for the cold. They couldn't even see the fireflies, or hear any frogs in the marsh nearby. Silence was all that divided them from the world, and brought them together as well. And then it was, amidst the several, though few clouds that littered the sky, that they saw the first meteor shoot brilliant blue; leaving a trail that faded slowly, almost like watercolor paints wash out in a waterfall, and Heero opened his eyes incredulously, "Was that. . .?"
"You know, someone once told me that if you close your eyes and make a wish on the first shooting star that you see from earth, that it'll come true if you really believe in it."
"Why don't you make a wish, Duo?" Heero asked quickly, looking to the violet eyes that were already fixed on him.
"I've seen plenty of shooting stars on earth, and I already made my wish," He said, urging the ex-wing pilot on, "And in all the years I've known you, Heero, you never once looked at the stars from earth. It's way past time you realized that you -do- have a place to go back to. Space is all of our homes."
Heero closed his eyes tight, and then opened one eye to find Duo staring at him, "Duo, this is silly. No one wishes on stars; it's a child's game."
"There's nothing you would wish for?" Duo asked as Heero twisted uncomfortably, adjusting his position on the car.
"Well maybe I would wish for my memory back, if only so I could, well . . ." he looked up, ". . . remember you."
In a matter of moments Heero was consumed by the most breath-staggering, feather-light hug that he had ever felt, and considering his memory of experience, that might not be very significant information, but whatever the hug felt like, the emotion coming from the other side weighted more heavily than the hug itself. Heero felt like melting beneath it, until he wrapped his arms around the other boy, and felt the sharp intakes of breath stagger beneath his hands and the folds of black cloth. Duo didn't seem as tall as he was before, and to the onlooker, the question might have arisen as to who was the more childish of the two of them.
Of course, Duo's sharp breaths subsided quickly, and he pulled away, the tears on his left cheek being swept away by Heero's brown hair as he looked into the cobalt blue with love and fear, all the same.
"Duo?" Heero asked, smiling at the tears of happiness lining the braided one's face, "What was your wish? . . . the first time you saw a shooting star."
"I wished for everything I thought that I could ever want," Duo answered truthfully as he wiped away his tears that have the potential to be seen as a weakness afterwards.
"Did it come true?" Heero asked, putting his arm around the ex-deathscythe pilot's waist.
"It did, Heero," Duo reminisced, looking into Heero's eyes once more, "and proved me wrong, as well."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Responses (and if you are still reading this, thank you!!)
CSMars: Yeah, I do think that was a bit OOC, too, but I can see him being protective of Relena so much as to do something like that, especially if Relena comes crying to him, and expects him to do something about it. It's not his character speaking, it's his character as an older brother who just had to deal with his little sister who was probably exaggerating the whole thing to an obscene extent. ^^;;
Akennea: Sorry this is so late! I really intended to write more of it earlier, but I'm really glad you enjoyed it. Thanks so much for leaving a review to say so! I'm sorry to say there will be no more Relena Bashing, it was just the last chapter, but I wasn't sure if it was going to work, so I'm really glad you enjoyed that part.
Vampiric Hermit: I'm sorry this is so late! I'm really really really really (this goes on for quite a while) really really sorry!!! I feel really guilty responding when I haven't updated in months, but I'm really glad that you liked it! Thanks so much for reviewing!
Pandora-chan: Thanks so much for you nice reviews! If you're still reading this, then thank you. I'm really scared that no one will. . Yes, Relena ::returns the shudder:: well, lets just be glad she's finally out of the picture. . . and believe me, she is. ^^
Emily Hato: Thanks for reading the first chapter! (Even though the first 4 are really bad, I'll admit.) If you actually read up through the whole thing and are reading this then thank you! I hope you liked it. . . ::hides:: Yes, I know, it's a little sappy ::collapses:: But it's not my fault! ::points to the Beatles songs accusingly:: And see? They did get together ^w^ I love happy endings.
Lady Phoenix Gryffindor: Thanks for leaving a review! I'm glad you like it.
Rez: I'm really really really (I seem to be doing this a lot today) really really sorry this is out so late! ::bows apologetically::
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ahaa! ::wipes off sweat:: All done. Now that you know my bad updating habits, I'd be willing to send out a e-mail reminder of update to anyone who wants it, as the next update could be days, weeks, err. . .months ^^;;; well, you never know. I can't make any promises. Not that this is a such a good story, so you probably won't want to read anymore, but just in case, I'd be willing to send out an e-mail. Just tell me!
Thanks so much for reading! A review would mean so much! ^_^