A/N: Well, I have to say a huge 'wow'! I never expected so many reviews for my first chapter. So big thank you's are due to Some_Ugly_Girl, dark cloud, Virginie, Natea, FucK wAR, Cherrii, Galyn, Mariana1, vicky, and Star Dragonsong. Thanks so much, guys. I can't tell you how much the reviews meant to me.
I also want to say that you should scrap what I said in my last author note about Heero's dad being Japanese, because I'm now making it so that Heero's granddad is Japanese, making Heero only a quarter Japanese. Like I said before, this is all very essential to my storyline. Other than that read and enjoy. It's an extra long chappie, so hopefully you'll like it. ^_^
Disclaimer: I don't and unfortunately never will own Gundam Wing or its characters. I'm making absolutely no money out of this story.
Chapter 2: Seaview farm
As they walked, the smell of salty sea air filled Heero's senses.
'I knew Hastings was a seaside town but I didn't realise I was this close to the sea.' Heero thought to himself, again trying to sort out his bearings.
"We're here." Rosie said, bringing Heero out of his musings.
Heero looked up and saw a large, white thatched roof. It was surrounded by several fields and a couple of barns and sheds.
'A farm!?'
Rosie pushed the front gate open and motioned for Heero to follow her through the gateway. He did so, still staring at the large farmhouse, which was so different from home.
The front door of the house was in a stable door type fashion. Heero stared with some interest at the way the two parts of the door swung away from the frame as Rosie pulled it open; ready to admit the two of them.
"Joe! Duo! I'm back! Come and meet our London boy." Rosie yelled at the top of her lungs as she walked over the threshold of the house.
Heero shrunk back a bit from the sheer volume of her voice, but soon followed her into the house. The room he was standing in was your usual sort of cloakroom type place. There were coats hung up on pegs in one corner of the room, with shoes and boots neatly stacked underneath in a shoe rack. There wasn't much else in the small entrance hall, apart from the bottom of the wooden staircase and the two doors leading off to other parts of the house.
The sound of footsteps padding rapidly across the floor upstairs told Heero that someone was on their way down.
"I'm coming, mum! Dad's not here though. He had to go see to Cop's bad leg, out in the far field."
The shout downstairs, which easily matched Rosie's vocals for volume, was followed by the sound of boot-clad feet descending the stairs at an alarming rate.
Heero watched as a boy, possibly slightly taller than himself, jumped the last four stairs and landed gracefully in a crouching position at Rosie's feet.
"Honestly, Duo. What have I told you about running in the house?" Rosie scolded with no real conviction in her voice and a knowing smile, which added an extra glint in her already gleaming eyes.
Duo grinned sheepishly at his mother, before turning to look at Heero. Heero immediately tensed up, not one for making friends easily and not sure whether he actually wanted to make friends with this boy.
He stared hard at the boy, taking in the long, chestnut braid, the violet-blue eyes which matched his mother's exactly, the impish face which screamed mischief and the mud streak reaching from the bridge of his nose right down to his left cheek bone. The boy wore shabby-looking dungarees, which ended at his knees, with no shirt underneath, leaving Heero to wonder how the boy could possibly be warm enough this cold September day. He had green wellington boots on his feet, and mud-streaked arms and knees.
"Hello. I'm Duo. Pleased to meet you."
He put on a half convincing North London accent and wore a lopsided grin as he spoke. He held out his hand and his cheeky grin widened.
Heero stared in horror at this extroverted boy. He was the complete opposite of Michael, who was quiet, neat and tidy, very levelheaded, and careful with what he said. This boy was so unbelievably shameless. He looked desperately for Rosie but she had wandered off somewhere, leaving Heero in the hands of this strange boy.
Duo stared at the London boy standing in front of him, with his hand still out-stretched for the handshake greeting. He had slightly darker hair than his own with a fringe that sat untidily, cut so that it fell just above his eyes. His eyes were a startling blue but didn't seem as full of life as they should have been. He wore what looked like his school uniform; white shirt, navy blue jumper, grey shorts and socks, and black sturdy shoes on his feet.
"What's your name, kid?" Duo asked, now withdrawing his hand and giving Heero a slightly confused look.
'I guess I better say something.' Heero thought, giving the boy another calculating look.
"Heero Yuy."
Duo shivered slightly at the severe tone the boy used. It was barely audible, being just above a whisper, and it seemed to have a certain amount of discipline in it. Duo, however, was not one to back away from making new friends and retained his cheeky grin.
"Welcome to Seaview farm, Heero. I'll give you the grand tour."
With that boldly spoken, Duo grasped one of Heero's wrists and dragged him through the door at the side of the room, eager to show him round the rest of the house and the farm.
The room they entered was unmistakably the main living room. There was a window at the front of the room, giving a view of the front garden and beyond. A large fireplace covered a good portion of the wall directly opposite the door. An old, comfy-looking chair took up the position closest to the fireplace and a double-seated sofa was next to that. The floor was carpeted with a thin, grey carpet, with an extra rug laid out in front of the fireplace.
"This is the front room, where we all congregate in the winter because of the fire." Duo said, giving a half chuckle and mentally congratulating himself on using a big word.
Heero gazed around the room but said nothing as he took in the layout and colours of the room. Duo clucked his tongue impatiently and grabbed Heero's wrist again.
"Come on, Heero. There's loads more to see."
Heero was dragged out of the room, back through the entrance hall, and then through the other door, leading into the back of the house.
The next room they came to was the kitchen. It was a large room, as was accustomed in most farmhouses. There was a well-used aga on one side of the room, a large refrigerator in another corner, and a sink unit at the far end, which had some surface area surrounding it. Storage cupboards were underneath the sink and surface areas. In the middle of the room was a large, wooden, rectangular dining table.
"This is the kitchen." Duo stated the obvious, putting a lot of extravagance into sweeping his arms around the room.
Heero gave a very slight nod in acknowledgement, looking in silent awe at the large kitchen, before his wrist was grabbed yet again and he was dragged off through another door.
Heero found himself in a room that contained a big, tin bath, a basket crammed full with dirty washing, a clothes line, a door leading outside and a door leading off to another room.
"That's granddad's room." Duo said, gesturing towards the door at the far end of the room. "He's quite old and doesn't venture out much but when he does he usually just sits in his old chair by the fire, smoking his pipe."
Heero only half took in what his companion was telling him as he stared eagerly out of the window-panelled back door.
"You wanna see the farm?" Duo asked cheerily, picking up on where the city boy's attention lay.
Without waiting for any sort of answer, Duo grabbed Heero's wrist yet again and pulled the back door open. He walked out at a very brisk pace, dragging the slightly smaller boy behind him.
They had walked for no longer than a minute when a fairly large border collie dog bounded towards them, its tale wagging nineteen to the dozen. It jumped straight at Duo, knocking the boy, flat on his back, to the floor and started to lick his face all over.
"Hahaha…Jess…stop it…it tickles!" Duo managed to gasp out despite having the wind knocked out of him from her powerful paws.
Duo finally managed to persuade the dog to let him get back to his feet. He then proceeded to dust himself down and clean as much slobber off his face as possible. When he had done this to a degree he was satisfied with, he turned to the dog and grinned.
"Jess, say hello to Heero. He's gonna be staying with us for a while."
Heero watched the black and white dog sit, her head cocked to one side, and tail still wagging at a tremendous rate, as if she was taking in every word Duo said to her. She then got up, turned round, and raised her paw up, gently, to Heero. Duo chuckled when the boy from London let out a shocked gasp.
"I trained her myself." He stated proudly, as he leaned forward and patted the dog affectionately on the top of her head.
As soon as Duo spoke though, Heero seemed to have lost interest as he was staring into space again, seeming to be lost in a world of his own. Duo snapped his fingers in front of the boy's face, determined to show him round the whole of the farm before teatime. Heero jumped at the sound but quickly composed himself again and allowed himself to be dragged off towards the barn.
By the time they reached the far field with the stables attached it was five thirty, nearly teatime. Duo had shown Heero the pigs, the chickens, turkeys, cockerels, and ducks, the cows and the tractor, at which he proudly proclaimed that they had enough fuel to last them for a while should the war bring in fuel shortages. The strong animal stench was overwhelming Heero a bit but the stubborn boy didn't let it show one bit.
"Duo, is that you?"
"Yeah. Hi dad." Duo answered the deep voice as he entered the stable, dragging Heero behind him. "Are you still fixing up Copper's leg?"
"Yes. She's been suffering a lot with it. I'm going to have to leave her in here until its fully healed." Duo's dad explained, his back to the boys as he was comforting the chestnut-coloured mare.
"Dad, our evacuee is here." Duo pulled Heero up next to him as he spoke, a big grin plastered across his face.
Heero scowled at the indignity of being pulled around and being referred to as if he was their personal property. He soon made his expression neutral again when the farmer turned around, remembering the promise he had made to his parents about being good and not upsetting his temporary guardians.
"Welcome...Heero." The farmer said, reading hurriedly off the boy's cardboard tag. "I'm Joe, Duo's dad. I hope he's been looking after you well."
Joe smiled kindly at Heero, who gave a small nod in the tall man's direction. He had the same chestnut hair as Rosie and Duo but it was cut quite short and most of it was hidden under his flat cap. His eyes were a dull bluey grey colour, but that was probably one of the only differences between father and son, except maybe the height. Heero couldn't believe that Duo would ever grow as tall as his dad, who was probably six feet tall.
"Anyway, you kids better go back to the house and clean up for dinner, especially you Duo." Joe said, taking in Duo's muddy face, arms and knees.
"Hey! What are you implying?" Duo asked in a mock-hurt voice, his eyes sparkling in amusement.
Joe chuckled. "Tell your mother that I'll be along shortly." He added, ruffling Duo's hair.
"Don't touch the hair, dad!" Duo said, his voice a bit more serious this time.
The two boys left the stable with Joe's amused laughter following them out.
'They have such a light-hearted relationship. It's more like a friendship rather than father and son.' Heero's thoughts were wistful but he quickly checked himself. His own father acted the way he did for Heero's own good. He knew that and just had to accept it.
When they got back to the house Rosie was bustling about in the kitchen, happily humming to herself.
"Go on upstairs and clean up, you two. Dinner's nearly ready." Rosie instructed the two boys, without even lifting her head from what she was doing.
"Okay mum." Duo replied, his voice still very cheery.
Heero had managed to keep his wrist to himself as the two boys ascended the wooden staircase, with Duo virtually galloping up the stairs and talking non-stop.
"Mum's home-cooked meals are the best, Heero. You're gonna love them. She should have left us a bowl of hot, soapy water in my room so we can clean up. You're sharing a room with me. That's okay, right? I mean it is a big room an' all."
Heero stared in amazement at the boy's back. 'Does he ever stop talking!?'
They entered the room, which was the second on the left from the top of the stairs; they're being two other rooms on this floor. The dull sunlight shined through the decent sized window, illuminating the two beds lined up against opposite walls with roughly another space in between them for another similar sized bed. There was a chest of drawers in the corner furthest from the door, and a small desk with a chair pushed under it in the corner opposite the door.
The predicted bowl of water sat in the middle of the space between the two beds. A fresh towel was laid out beside the bowl.
"You can go first." Duo offered graciously. "Your hands are nowhere near as dirty as mine." He added, closely inspecting his muddy hands and arms with an amused grin on his face.
Heero couldn't help but smile slightly at the boy's unselfish thinking as he moved himself over to the washing-up sized bowl. He plunged his hands into the warm, soapy water, rubbing them gently together, cleaning them thoroughly, half listening to the incessant chatter from the braided boy.
"...The sea is amazingly beautiful when the moon is at it's fullest. You're gonna love it!"
Duo finally stopped talking when he thought Heero wasn't listening anymore.
"Um...sorry. I do tend to go on a bit." He apologised. "I personally blame my mum." He added with a devious grin, before walking towards the bowl upon seeing Heero had finished with it.
Heero was finding it hard to not warm to the boy even though he had decided he didn't want to befriend him because he was so different to himself and he didn't like befriending people too easily anyway.
When Duo had finally washed all the mud off his arms and legs and at least had a good go with the streak across his face, he jumped back up to his feet, grabbed Heero's wrist again and dragged the boy back down the stairs.
"Duo, did you bring the bowl down?" Rosie asked, shouting from the kitchen as the boys made they're way through the hall.
"I'll bring it down after dinner, mum." Duo replied, pulling Heero into the kitchen.
"That boy! Thinks of nothing but his stomach." Rosie thought out loud in an exasperated tone.
Duo chose to ignore his mother's comment and sat down at the table, gesturing for Heero to sit next to him. Heero took his seat and stared at the large table, filled with steaming hot dishes. Roast pork, roast potatoes, carrots, cauliflower and garden peas all adorned the tabletop. Rosie came across, carrying a jug of onion gravy.
"I hope you like pork, Heero." She said in a cheery voice that rivaled Duo's.
"Um...thank you." Heero nodded, looking again at the huge amounts of food. 'Are four people really going to get through all of this?' He thought with trepidation, forgetting the fifth person in the house.
Duo stared at the city kid in interest. 'That's only the second time he's spoken since he got here and what a difference from when he gave me his name. He sounded really...nervous.'
Duo's quiet thoughts didn't last for very long as Joe got back from the stable and started to carve the pork up, causing Duo to start 'oohing and ahing' over the prospect of a beautifully cooked roast dinner.
As the meal progressed, Heero couldn't believe the amount of food these people were putting away and yet none of them were visibly overweight. He himself hardly ate a thing. This wasn't unusual. All his life he had had a small appetite, and nothing had changed now.
"Heero, are you sure you've had enough?" Rosie asked, looking anxiously at the pale child.
"Yes. Thank you." Heero said, gazing up at the concerned woman.
'They did say that the evacuees might need time to adjust. I'll let him eat a meager amount, for now anyway.' Rosie thought while giving Heero another Maxwell trait smile.
Heero and Duo helped clear up after dinner and then they went to take Heero's suitcase upstairs. Duo picked up the brown, standard-sized case and groaned.
"What have ya got in here!? It's killing me arms."
Heero smirked at the slight exaggeration in the farmer's son's voice, knowing fully well the boy was easily strong enough to lift the suitcase reasonably comfortably.
They ascended the stairs; Heero trailing behind as he tried to gather his thoughts together.
'He just seems to have such an infectious personality but I know befriending him would be a bad idea. Anyone I get close to seems to either reject me or have something bad happen to them. I thought I'd finally found a friend for life in Michael but then he got ill and is probably going to die.'
Duo placed the suitcase on the bed nearest the door and then picked up the bowl containing the now dirty and cold water.
"I'm just gonna take this down stairs to the kitchen. You can sort your stuff out. I put your case on the bed you're gonna be sleeping in." Duo spoke at a much more sedate pace, seeming to have calmed down and possibly tired from the busy afternoon they'd had.
Heero stood still and watched Duo walk slowly out the door, balancing the bowl of water carefully so he didn't spill any. As soon as the farmer's son had disappeared down the stairs, Heero walked slowly over to his appointed bed. It was you're standard sized, single bed, with clean, white sheets and a patterned duvet and pillow.
Heero opened up his case and looked at the clothes he and his mother had packed in there last night. The past few hours suddenly seemed like a dream. It was like he was back at home again, not in some strange farmhouse in the countryside. He blinked back a tear that was threatening to spill out from the corner of his eye.
'I won't cry! Only little kids get homesick. I'm not homesick!'
Heero's thoughts didn't really convince him but his determination stopped anymore threatening tears from forming.
Before Heero had a chance to really sort through any of his belongings, Duo came bounding back in the room with a large, black, rectangular piece of material in his hands.
"Mum told me to put the black out up just incase anything happens before war is officially declared." The farmer's son explained excitably.
Heero just stared at the boy, wondering how he could get excited about the imminent war. He shrugged it off and watched with a little interest and a little amusement at Duo's struggle to hang the black out up in the window.
Duo finally got the black out up and wandered off downstairs again to get a gas lamp so they could see what they were doing. Heero searched through his case, in the half-light, for his pajamas. When he finally found them he struggled out of his school uniform and into his pajamas, managing to stub his toe on the side of the bed at the same time.
"Hey, are you alright? I heard you cry out. Did you hurt yourself?" Duo asked, rushing back in the room, gas lamp in hand.
Heero was hopping around, his right foot grasped in his hand, and his pajama top only half pulled over his head. Duo couldn't help but laugh at the scene in front of him, as the city boy continued to curse under his breath.
Heero eventually stopped hopping and pulled his top on properly, giving Duo a death glare at the same time. He then moved his suitcase on the floor and climbed into bed, pulling a book out of his bag as he did so.
"So I guess you're still not gonna talk to me." Duo said, looking rather forlornly in Heero's direction, before letting out a small sigh and placing the lamp on the desk.
Heero opened his book, ignoring the braided boy. Feeling less like talking than usual. Duo sighed again and walked over to his own bed, where his pajamas were neatly folded up under his pillow. He quickly changed into them, took another quick peek in Heero's direction, and then climbed into bed. He wasn't really tired yet but he didn't feel like reading so he curled up into a ball under the covers.
"Night, Heero." He whispered, more to himself than to the other boy.
Behind his book, Heero smiled a sad smile, before he continued reading his book.
End chapter.
Well, that's it for chapter 2. I hope you liked it and that I didn't confuse you too much. Please leave your comments in a review and I'll try my hardest to update soon.
Lol.
Alana^_^