Author:  aomurasakiai

Warnings:  Duo POV, AU, Shounen Ai, Sap

Pairings:  2+1+2

Spoilers:  None

Rating:  PG

Notes:  Well this fic is really for a mixture of things.  1. For 2+1+2 day!  (2/12)  2. For Terra's Birthday!  (which happens to be on the same day)  3. For Valentine's Day

Dedication:  Terra Harpel.  Here's the 2nd part of my present to you.  Hope you like it!

Be Mine? (1/1)

It's the day before Valentine's and I am sitting on my bed in my room, gnawing at the end of my pencil.  Of course that soon proves to be a bad idea when the bitterness of the eraser mixed with cheap wood assaults my taste buds, causing me to gag.  Immediately snagging my water bottle, I take a few rather large gulps of water to wash away the horrible taste.  After that little incident I reach into my backpack for a pen.  Somehow, I tend to chew on *anything* when I'm thinking too hard and usually I don't realize what, until it's too late.

Speaking of thinking too hard… no, I'm not doing the homework that I am suppose to have be doing for the past 2 hours.  So then, what *am* I doing if it's not homework, especially if it requires enough thinking to send me gnawing on my pen?  I'm thinking about what to write on this Valentine's Day card.  It's to my best friend… who happens to be a boy… a boy I really like.

Heero Yuy.

I've known Heero for a long time, since kindergarten, 13 years ago.  I remember the day I first spoke to him.  He was all by himself in one corner of the room, quietly playing with those wooden blocks.  He was building this huge tower and as I think back to it now, I still can't figure out how a 5-year-old managed to construct something so freakin' complex!  But Heero is Heero, and he can't be explained by any means.  Anyway, can you see the little guy?  Playing all by himself while everyone else was having fun in his or her little group of friends?  Well me being me, the overly-exuberant-recently-turned-5-and-attempts-to-befriend-the-world little boy, bounced over to him.

"Hi!" I said cheerfully.  "What'cha doin'?"  He glanced up but didn't answer me.  I frowned… or maybe pouted.  I don't remember which.  I crouched down and looked up at the large building he was constructing.  He was almost done at the time, standing up on his tiptoes to place the final block on top.  I stared up in awe.

"Wow…  You're really good!" I clapped for him and he ducked his head, almost embarrassed.  It was the cutest thing in the world!  After I finished applauding, I held out my hand to the silent boy.

"I'm Duo.  Want to be my friend?" He looked up at me, kinda surprised and then glanced around.  I chuckled - I hesitate to call it "giggling" since boys don't giggle - and pointed to his chest.

"I'm asking you, silly!" He looked up at me with those really blue eyes.

"Me?  You want to be friends with… me?" I nodded, a bit enthusiastically.  I think if I'd nodded any harder, my head would've just snapped right off.

"Uh huh!  Then we can be partners and everything!  Share mats when we have nap time and share the table when we have snack time and share toys when we have playtime!" I raised my arms and started to flail them around, excitedly.  It was a habit when I was young.  I gained a small smile and he nodded.

"I'm Heero." I jumped up, screamed out "YAY!" and just bowled right into him for a hug.  I guess you could call it the "flying tackle glomp".  We flew all right… right into the tower, sending it crashing to the floor.  The whole room went silent, but I was too busy laughing to notice and I think Heero was just too surprised to notice either.  From that moment on, we stuck together like best buddies would… two peas in a pod.  We stayed together through elementary school, middle school, junior high, and now we're at the final year of high school.  We sure came a long way.  Me especially.

I don't know exactly when I started to like him more than just a friend.  Sounds cliché, I know.  Well the feelings kinda built up since I'm with him almost 24/7.  Blame it on puberty or whatever, but I developed *really* deep feelings for Heero, bringing me to my current predicament.  I stared at the white and blank card in front of me.  All it had was the traditional, "Happy Valentine's Day" words written in red, embellished handwriting, centered on the outside.

"What to write?" I scratch my head.  I can't exactly write, "Be mine," or "Be my Valentine," without arousing suspicion from my long time friend.  I want him to know that I like him but I have to be subtle… Quickly I scribbled, "To Heero," on the upper left, "Have a," above the flourished writing, and "Love, Duo," on the lower right before I can change my mind.   I place the card in my backpack and forgot about it until the next day.

~*~*~

I run through the halls to reach Heero's locker.  Breathing heavily, I glance around to see if he is coming.  With trembling fingers I twist the combination lock and after 3 tries I finally get it to open.  We've been exchanging our combination numbers ever since junior high and it really helps to have double locker space, mostly for my own benefit since I'm such a packrat.  I sometimes wonder myself where all my stuff comes from.  I locate Heero's Physics textbook, remove it and place my card between the pages.  Heero has just as many admirers as I do and at the end of every Valentine's Day, both of our lockers are overflowing with cards.  The textbook is a much safer place and I put it back before closing and locking the small metal door.

~*~*~

"Heero… I'm scared…" I glance warily at my closed locker and I can almost *see* the cards pushing against the metal.  They are also sticking out of the edges, but Heero shakes his head and holds up a plastic bag.  I swallow and take hold of my combination lock, turning it to the correct numbers.  I pull on it and it pops open.  I take it off but I keep my hand on the door, feeling the force against it.

"Ready?"

"Aa…" Heero says, holding the bag right under my locker.  I open the door and all the cards spill out like a landslide.  It fills up the bag in a split second, some falling to the floor.  Year after year I am always amazed at the amount of cards I receive.  Maybe it's because of the fact that every person always gives me more than one card, usually around 4 or 5.  The most was 14 or something like that.  Apparently some people have too much time on their hands.  After picking up all the stray cards, Heero ties up the bag and hands it to me along with his own.  He's holding my English book for me as well as his Physics book.  My heart pounds quicker as I wonder if he has seen my card or not.

"Want to come over?" he asks me while walking out of the campus.

"Sure.  We can sort all of these out in your room since mine is messy as it is."

"I don't understand why you can't keep it neat," he says, almost exasperated.

"I don't understand why *you* have to!  I mean your parents are never home to nag you," I retort back.  Heero's parents are both doctors so they're rarely home.  I guess it makes him lonely so he always invites me over or he comes over to my house.  Of course I don't mind at all.  It's a short walk to his house, a couple of blocks or so.  He reaches for his keys to unlock the door while taking his shoes off at the porch.  It took me a long time to get used to that weird Asian habit but I automatically follow suit.  We head upstairs to his room and I toss the bags of cards onto his bed.

"You want something to drink?" Heero asks me, as he sets our books on his desk.  I stare at his Physics book, almost seeing my card burning a hole through the pages.  That single card could cause the end of our 13-year friendship!  Oh crap… now I really regret having written that.  I must get it back.

"Sure.  Thanks," I say quickly.  Heero gets up and heads out of the room.  Once I'm sure he is gone I leap up, head over to the desk and flip through his book to find my card.  Success!  Relieved, I put it into my backpack before Heero comes back with two cans of soda.  After taking a long drink, I look over at my friend.

"So Heero, shall we?" he nods and we both open our bags of cards and let them spill out onto his bed.  We sift through them, picking out all the interesting ones to read them out loud.  An hour passes by and the pile is decreasing steadily.  Heero picks up another pink card and rolls his eyes.

"From Relena *again*?" I ask and he turns it over for me to see.  Sure enough it was.

"That makes it how many now?"

"34," he answers, tossing it back into the bag.

"Jeeze and I thought I had it bad," I say laughing.  I pick up another card and I didn't notice Heero tense up beside me.  But, my laughter gets caught in my throat when I read the short message in the not-so-pink card.  I read it again… and again… and after the third time, I finally glance over to Heero.  He has his head lowered and is playing with a card, turning it over and over.

"Heero…" I whisper.  He looks up, almost shyly at me.  I smile at him and reach into my backpack to retrieve my card again, pushing it over to him.

"I know.  I saw it already in Physics class," he says, picking it up.  "I took a chance because of this.  I didn't know what you wanted me to think when you signed it 'Love'.  But I hoped…"

I place my hand on his shoulder.  His cobalt blue eyes lock onto my violet ones and I can see the hope shining in them.  We both move closer to each other, our eyes closing slowly.  Finally our lips meet… so soft, so sweet and his card flutters to the floor.

//Duo,

Be mine this Valentine's Day.

Love, Heero//

Owari