A/N: Right first of all I know I said this chap would be out more quickly than the last but
I've been having some serious problems at home. Plus I've been ill and also had an
ongoing eye infection. So hopefully I can be forgiven. Lol.
Also this time, rather than type out a list of reviewers to thank, I've spent a little
time replying properly. So you'll find them at the end of the chap. Lol.
This chap is longer than my other ones and I think it might be the average length of
my chaps from now on. I hope this pleases you all. All that's left really to say is
please read and hopefully enjoy. Lol. (Sorry for my excessive use of Lol. Hehe.)
Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or any of its characters. I'm also only borrowing
the structure of Goodnight Mister Tom for now. I shall pull away from the
plot structure of it soon enough (in case any smart person has picked up on
this^^).
Chapter 4: Building a shelter
The congregation soon dispersed when it was clear the wireless wasn't going to work. Some people stayed behind to speak to the vicar, seeking condolence in god about the uncertain future the war declaration had presented.
The Maxwells and Heero left with sombre expressions. Even Duo looked subdued by the announcement of war as he walked beside Heero, his braid seeming to droop like the tail on a miserable dog. They made the ten-minute walk in silence right up until they got to Seaview farm's front door.
"Cheer up kids. We'll leave fighting this war to the government and go and eat a good Sunday lunch." Joe said, trying his best to lighten the mood.
Duo immediately took the bait, a grin forming on his face and a bounce falling into his step as he walked into the house. He then tilted his head back and sniffed the air. "Roast chicken." He stated matter-of-factly, the grin widening.
Rosie matched her son's grin. "You never get it wrong do you." She said, before opening the door to the kitchen to go and check on the aforementioned roast in the oven.
Duo twirled his braid around in his fingers and then twirled himself around, right as Heero walked up behind him. The two boys were virtually nose to nose. Heero backed up in shock. Duo, if he was surprised didn't let it show, he just stood there with the insane grin still planted on his face.
"Hey we better go help mum by laying the table." Duo said, his voice much calmer than his body language.
Heero nodded numbly, completely bewildered by the boy's bizarre behaviour.
The two boys walked through to the kitchen and washed their hands in the sink before moving over to the dining table, armed with knives, forks, plates and glasses. Duo chattered away like usual and Heero remained stubbornly silent. Both boys had to keep dodging in and out of Rosie's path, who was busily preparing the vegetables to go alongside the chicken. Joe was out tending to the animals as usual.
Eventually they were all sat down to a plentiful roast lunch. Duo had taken a plate of food through to his granddad again and Heero was beginning to wonder if he'd ever meet the old man.
"How are you finding this place, Heero? I know it must be very different to home." Rosie asked smiling, deliberately asking a question that didn't have a 'yes/no' answer.
Heero swallowed the bit of chicken he was chewing a bit prematurely, in surprise at the question, and started to choke as the chicken got stuck in his throat.
"Heero! Are you okay?" Duo shouted, before jumping out of his seat and whacking the other boy on the back.
Heero baulked at the force of the boy's slaps to his back and had to squeeze his eyes shut to block out the searing pain each time the sensitive part of his back was hit.
Eventually the offending piece of chicken was dislodged and Heero only just managed to swallow it rather than spitting it back up.
"Oh Heero, are you alright now?" Rosie asked, looking guiltily at the boy, who's usually pale face was bright red due to the amount of choking he had just done.
"I'm fine, thank you." Heero squeezed out his response through his heavy breathing, still trying to recover.
"Thank goodness." Rosie breathed in relief before turning her gaze to Duo, who was still standing behind Heero with his hand suspended in mid-air. "You can sit down again now, Duo." She said, not unkindly.
Duo seemed to have zoned out but, at the sound of his mother's voice, life returned to his bright eyes and he lowered his hand and sat back down, giving Heero an inquiring look. The city boy shrugged the look off and returned to picking at his food.
Rosie exchanged a worried glance with Joe before turning back to her own food. She decided to leave the question she'd asked Heero alone. There was plenty of time to ask him again.
After they had all finished lunch and had cleaned up Joe told the boys to go and change because they were to start building the Anderson shelter this afternoon. So Heero and Duo traipsed back up the stairs again.
Duo jogged straight over to his chest of drawers, pulled out his old dungarees and proceeded in pulling his smart shirt over his head, without unbuttoning it. It got stuck as he hadn't even undone the top button. Rather than pulling it back on and undoing the button, he attempted to undo the button when it was still stuck on his head. Proving a rather amusing sight for Heero had he been watching instead of having his eyes focused on his clothes, lying in his opened suitcase. He was carefully scanning the neatly folded clothes, before finally picking out a dark green, short-sleeved shirt and a pair of black trousers.
Duo had finally been successful in pulling his shirt off and was now in the process of buckling up the top of his dungarees. He turned around to see if Heero had picked out his clothes yet and instantly saw the trousers the other boy was holding up.
"You'll roast in those. Believe me; building a shelter is no easy task. I know 'cause I helped build a friend's one a few days ago." Duo said matter-of-factly.
Heero reluctantly dropped the trousers and picked up a pair of corduroy shorts, which were a dark blue colour. As he began to change he made absolutely sure that his bare back was hidden from Duo the entire time, while still listening to the other boy's chattering.
"I'll have to sort my chest of drawers out and then you can put your clothes in too." Duo said unselfishly, a helpful glint in his eyes.
Heero gave him a grateful nod as he buttoned up the rest of his shirt.
When both boys had changed they made their way back downstairs. On the way down Duo found out that Heero didn't have any wellie boots so he offered up his spare pair, which Heero accepted gladly as he didn't want to ruin either pair of his shoes.
They pulled identical wellie boots on and then stepped out of the back door, the hot, September sun shining down on their faces. They were met by three figures; Duo's dad, Joe, and two strangers, too Heero's eyes, one Joe's age and one Duo's age.
Duo grinned at the sight of the other boy. "Hey Trowa! I didn't know you were helping out." He yelled out, running up to the other boy.
"Hello Duo." Trowa said in a soft voice, smiling back at the braided boy.
Heero watched the exchange from afar. He took in the newcomer's brown hair, which hung in a spiky wave, struck out in front in a rather peculiar style. He had piercing emerald eyes, one of which was partially hidden by the long spikes of hair. He was taller than he and Duo were, possibly by a whole head, but still came across as being the same age as them. He wore denim shorts and a white tank-top, showing off deeply tanned arms and legs. He also had wellie boots on but they were a bluey-grey colour.
Duo and Trowa walked back over to where Heero was and Duo proceeded with introductions.
"Heero, this is Trowa Barton. He's a friend from school and also helps out on the farm from time to time." Duo said, gazing steadily at the London boy. He shifted his eyes slightly in Trowa's direction. "Trowa, this is Heero Yuy. He's an evacuee who is staying with us." The farmer's son finished with an unnecessary swing of his arm in Heero's direction.
The two boys locked gazes. Heero had a portion of suspicion in his blue eyes and Trowa's body language gave off a reluctance to trust the stranger.
"Well um…let's get some spades, huh." Duo said, desperately trying to break the icy silence.
"Hold your horses, Duo." Joe said, walking over with the other man following just behind.
Duo stopped and held his hands out in front of him, curling his fingers up as if holding a horse by its reins. Heero smirked slightly and Trowa gave a slightly amused chuckle.
"We need to pick out a spot to start digging before we even think about getting spades." Joe said, hiding a grin that threatened to turn into a laugh at his son's literal behaviour.
The other man was introduced as Charlie, Trowa's father. He had similar colour hair to his son, but instead of having it long at the front and short at the back, he had it short at the front and long enough at the back that he could put it in a small pony tail. His eyes were a dark shade of hazel.
A patch of soft ground, a decent distance from the outhouse, was soon chosen and Joe and Charlie started measuring it out with a tape measure. The three boys wandered off to go and get the spades.
"Have you ever dug a trench before, Heero?" Duo asked, as he unbolted the door to the shed.
Heero gave Duo an incredulous look, which answered Duo's question straight away.
"Yeah um…right, stupid question, of course you haven't." Duo said quickly, pulling the shed door open and entering the dimly lit shed.
The boys were soon walking back towards the two men. Duo and Trowa carried two spades each and Heero carried the fifth one. Trowa and Heero were still giving each other suspicious glances and Duo walked in between the two looking mildly uncomfortable.
Joe and Charlie accepted a spade each off their sons and they all found a spot inside the lines marked out for the trench and began to dig.
Heero, being a stranger to manual work, found the digging quite hard going. The hot sun was beating down onto the top of his neck, where the collar on his shirt finished, and he found himself rubbing sweat from his forehead after only about twenty minutes.
He looked across at Duo, who was working on a patch of ground to the left of himself. The farmer's son didn't look like the heat was affecting him at all. He had moved a lot more earth than Heero had. Although, Heero noted, the braided boy seemed to have gotten quite a lot of that earth over himself because he had mud streaks staining his arms and knees already. Heero shook his head in disbelief at the sight and turned back to what he was doing, but not without seeing Trowa give him another glance.
'What's his problem?' Heero thought, before shoving it to the back of his mind and pushing his spade into the stubborn ground once more.
The five of them had been digging for a good couple of hours, having only taken a quick drink break after about an hour and a half, and they had a fairly large trench dug so far. The aim now was to increase the depth a bit more and then they could fit the steel sheets of the shelter into place.
Soon after the drink break Duo had unbuckled the top bit of his dungarees and then buckled it up around his waist, letting the top bit dangle down, allowing his bare chest and back to get some air without the denim obstructing it. Trowa, Joe and Charlie had also pulled of their tops as the day's heat mixed with the strenuous labour. Only Heero kept his shirt on. He had unbuttoned all but three of the buttons, so that his shirt flapped slightly in the faint breeze, but it was clearly evident that he would be far better off without it.
"Hey Heero." Duo said, stopping his digging and moving over to stand next to the other boy. "Why don't you just take this thing off? You're sweating like a pig." He carried on and then went to grab a handful of Heero's shirt in explanation to the 'this' in his sentence.
Heero's reaction was extremely fast and rather more vicious than he meant it to be. He swung around and sent the farmer's son sprawling over backwards into the mud by giving him one almighty shove, both palms pushing firmly against Duo's chest.
"Get off me!" Heero heard himself shout, something he'd wanted to do even less than shoving Duo to the ground.
Duo sat on the damp ground, leaning on his hands, which he had thrown down to catch his fall. He looked up into Heero's angry blue eyes and didn't know whether to feel hurt or angry and so ended up with a confused look in his eyes.
Duo opened his mouth to say something but Heero hastily muttered something about going to the toilet, spun on his heel and ran off towards the outhouse. Duo shut his mouth again and just stared at the city boy's retreating back.
"What's going on?" Joe said, walking over to the half of the trench the boys had been digging.
Duo climbed to his feet and quickly pinned a grin to his face. "Nothing much really, dad. A little digging here, a little digging there, you know like we're supposed to be doing." He finished speaking with a nervous chuckle as he caught sight of Trowa's narrowed eyes.
"Hmm…okay, but Duo, try not to get too mucky." Joe said, his eyebrows raised but a dismissive tone in his voice.
Duo gave his dad a cheery wave as the farmer wandered back over to Charlie, before turning to Trowa and his narrow eyed stare.
"What happened to your 'I never tell a lie' motto?" Trowa asked, his emerald eyes narrowing even more.
Duo fingered the end of his braid nervously. "It wasn't a lie. It was just um…hiding the truth…" Duo said, his voice a little higher than usual.
"Whatever, Duo, but I don't see why you're prepared to break your most treasured motto for a townie you hardly know." Trowa said with a small hint of a sigh.
"Heero may just be a 'townie' in your eyes but as far as I'm concerned if I can just bring him out of his shell a bit he could become a great friend." Duo retorted angrily, but in a low voice so as not to alert their fathers.
Trowa stared in stunned silence at his friend's unusual behaviour. He couldn't recall ever seeing Duo get so heated up about something. He continued to stare as Duo turned his back on him and started to dig again, sending his spade into the ground with renewed energy. Trowa let out another sigh and turned back to his own digging.
* * * * * *
Heero ran all the way to the outhouse, pulled the door open, and shut himself inside. He leaned heavily against the wall and slid down until he was seated on the floor. Resting his arms on his knees, he laid his face in his hands, rubbing his thumbs in tiny circular motions on his temples, a calming techniques Michael had shown him. Michael would have been disappointed that he had lashed out like that. He had been helping Heero by teaching him calming techniques so that he didn't need to lash out at people. He also knew exactly what Michael would have said about it too because he had said it so many times before.
"You didn't have to lash out, Heero. You should have counted to ten and asked him to leave you alone, calmly."
Heero couldn't help but smile. Michael just had this way about him that made people sit up and listen. Sometimes when he was talking to Michael it was like talking to his late grandfather. His grandfather was Japanese and had died three years ago. Heero had been learning Japanese off him but had stopped after he had died. Maybe he would start learning again. He could ask his mother to send on the Japanese dictionary/grammar book his grandfather had given him for his ninth birthday.
'Duo wasn't being spiteful like the others, he was just trying to be helpful.' Heero thought. 'But I don't understand why he should care. He only met me yesterday. Nobody has ever cared about how I felt before. Except Mother, Grandpa and Michael' Heero buried his face deeper into his palms. 'Damn, I've got to stop feeling sorry for myself. I'm sure glad father isn't here to see me like this.' Heero's shoulders shook a bit at this thought and he instinctively brought a hand round to his back, running it gingerly over the slightly raised part of skin. 'I suppose I should get back and help them dig.' He thought grimly, using the wall to help himself back to his feet.
* * * * * *
Duo was shovelling away at the ground furiously, whipping up earth in all directions. Eventually Trowa had to call out to him to stop because the farmer's son was completely covering him with earth and he wasn't able to get any digging done himself. Making for a very uneven half of the trench.
"Duo Stop! You're getting earth everywhere."
Duo looked up, startled by the sudden voice in his ear. He noticed that it was Trowa and quickly poked his spade into the ground and placed his hands on his hips.
"What's up?" He asked, as if he genuinely didn't know what he had done wrong.
Trowa gestured to his mud covered body and Duo grinned at him.
"Gawd! You're even messier than me!" He let out a low whistle and then turned round, picked up his spade, and got back to work.
Trowa stared at his friend in stunned silence for a second time before letting out an impatient sigh and picking his own spade back up and setting back to work, not without glimpsing Heero's return, but saying nothing as the London boy picked his own spade up and began digging his section again. Duo looked up briefly but quickly put his head down again and carried on digging, at a much more tolerable pace now.
Eventually they had dug the trench deep enough and the three boys sat back as Joe and Charlie fitted the steel sheets of the shelter into place. Rosie brought out some glasses of cold lemonade for them and the three of them sat in silence sipping their drinks and watching the men at work.
Once the shelter structure had been fitted securely into the trench, Charlie and Trowa had to go home for their tea. So after some overly enthusiastic goodbyes from Duo and a polite goodbye from Heero, the Barton father and son left for home.
"I've made some sandwiches. Why don't you boys go and wash your hands and we can all have a tea break." Rosie called cheerily out of the open back door.
Duo's face lit up and he ran inside. Heero followed at a cautious distance, unsure as to how Duo felt towards him after their little rift. They both washed their hands at the kitchen sink, the mud mixing with the soap as they did so, making a rather gungy mess.
"We're sure making a mess." Duo said with a laugh.
Heero stayed quiet, even more confused as to what Duo was thinking. 'He's probably forgotten about the whole incident.' He thought in wonderment.
The Maxwells and Heero had their tea of sandwiches, cake and lemonade outside with some idle chatter, mostly from Duo, and then Joe and Rosie had to go and attend a Community meeting to discuss the situation the war declaration had put them in. Heero and Duo were to stay home and start covering the shelter with earth.
"Hey Heero, how about you start that side and I'll start this side?" Duo asked, pointing out the respective sides of the trench.
Heero nodded numbly, not wanting to admit that he was tired from all the digging and also still slightly worried that Duo was angry at him for the shoving incident. He walked over to his allotted side and crouched down. He grabbed a handful of damp soil and dropped it over the shelter. The coolness of the earth felt refreshing to his hand and a little smile appeared on his face as he settled to his new task.
Duo watched Heero from his side of the trench. He, like Heero, was crouched down piling earth onto the Anderson shelter. 'I wonder what made him flip out like that earlier? Maybe he just doesn't want to be friends with me.' He ended his thought with a disappointed sigh and carried on piling earth on the steel structure, not being able to bring himself to look at the other boy now.
The two boys carried on working like this for a good hour when Duo became bored of the silence and plucked up the courage to look at and talk to the other boy again. He dropped the handful of soil he held onto the half-covered shelter and looked up and across at Heero.
"I'm sorry if I offended you in any way earlier. I didn't know what I was doing was wrong." Duo said all this and then immediately bowed his head, thinking that he wouldn't get a response because it wasn't like he usually did.
Heero lifted his head up. 'He's apologising to me? I don't understand. What should I say back to him?' He clung to his thoughts for a moment and then decided on his words, although still uncertain if what he was saying was the right thing. "It's me who should be apologising. I shouldn't have lashed out like that. I'm sorry."
Duo's head shot up and he stared across at Heero, amazement etched across his features. 'He actually responded! Three whole sentences! Plus he apologised to me!' His thoughts sounded so loud in his head he was worried he had spoken them out loud. For the first time in his life Duo was speechless. He wasn't sure how to respond and in the end decided on a cheery response that anyone would expect him to come up with. "Apology accepted, buddy." Duo said this with a huge grin on his face.
Heero looked at the other boy in horror. 'I'm glad he's not mad at me but he just doesn't seem normal. Even Michael wouldn't have accepted my apology as easily as that. He would have lectured me to death first.'
Duo was taken aback by Heero's response. 'He really does have a problem with me. I bet nobody has ever tried this hard to make friends with him before. I guess I better keep my distance for a bit otherwise I might scare him off completely.' With a little reluctance he averted his gaze from the other boy and dug his hand into the damp soil again and sprinkled it over the shelter.
Heero missed the reluctance in the farmer's son's eyes and just saw Duo turn away from here and seemingly leaving him on his own, just like everyone always did. 'I was right! It was all just a false act. He's had enough of me now and he can't be bothered to pretend to be friends anymore.' Heero cast the thought away and expertly drew a blank on his face, leaving all emotions behind.
When Joe and Rosie returned from the meeting, Heero and Duo were still in the same positions covering the shelter with earth. The two hours of tedious work was really showing on the two boys, especially Heero. He was having trouble keeping his eyes open.
"Look at you two. You're both in right states. I'll go and heat some water up for baths." Rosie said, carefully hiding her concern for the weary look on Heero's face. 'I mustn't treat him differently from Duo. Janet said that the child staying with her got very mouthy with her when she tried to treat him differently from Susie.' She left Joe to sort out the boys and went inside to heat enough water to give both boys warm baths.
Joe inspected the boys work and gave a low whistle. "You boys sure worked hard. You've nearly got it covered. We'll just have to get the ladder out tomorrow morning to cover the middle parts of the roof and then we're done. I'm very proud of you both." He ruffled Duo's hair and gave Heero a cheery smile. "Let's put these spades away and then go inside." He finished, picking up two of the spades and walking towards the shed.
Heero and Duo picked up the three remaining spades and followed Joe to the shed. They put the spades away and made their way to the back door.
Several minutes later Rosie had the tin bath filled with warm water and Heero was left alone in the room with the bath, with the promise that he wouldn't be disturbed. He glanced at the bath with a small amount of interest. He had grown up in a modern house which had electricity, central heating, and a fixed bath with hot and cold taps. 'I don't think they go without these things because they can't afford to install them. I think they prefer to keep this farm house old fashioned.' He thought, while running a finger through the warm water inside the tub.
He withdrew his finger from the water and carefully unbuttoned his shirt. He then eased it off his back and winced a little bit as the rough material caught on the raised scar on his back. 'I don't hate you for this dad but you scarred me for life. How could you do this to your only son?' He stripped the rest of his clothes off and climbed into the tub, letting out a sigh as the warm water rose up around his tired body.
Once Heero had had his bath, Rosie emptied the tub, which now contained murky water, and refilled it for Duo. Duo went into the little room and undressed, climbing into the tub and letting out a sigh similar to Heero's as the warm water started to work its magic on his mud covered body. 'I wonder when I should start trying to befriend Heero again. He got totally freaked by my acceptance of his apology. I definitely need to give him his own space for a bit. Oh well, he'll come out of his shell soon. I'll make certain of it.' He finished the thought and slid under the bubbles.
Once the two boys were clean and dressed in their pyjamas, Rosie gave them both a cup of cocoa to take up to bed with them and they said their goodnights and ascended the stairs.
Duo clambered straight onto his bed and managed to spill some of his drink on the sheets. "Damn it! How do I always manage to do that?" He cursed, before using his sleeve to wipe his sheet, causing both of them to have chocolaty stains on them.
Heero snuck a little look but offered no help, just keeping quiet and doing what Duo should have done; that is putting his cocoa on the floor and then climbing into bed.
Duo watched this and slapped himself playfully on the head. "Why didn't I think of that?" He then put his mug on the floor and drew his bedcovers back. He sat there staring at his hands for a minute, trying to decide whether to strike up a conversation with Heero or not. 'No I mustn't. I have to give him some space.' With that thought he plucked up a book from the little pile on the floor by his bed and opened it. 'A little bit of Roald Dahl ought to help.' He thought with a content sigh.
Heero watched Duo open his book. 'Roald Dahl? I guess he either isn't as good at reading as me or he just prefers reading younger books.' Heero thought, before picking up his own book; Hard Times by Charles Dickens. He let out his own sigh, but hardly one of pure content like Duo's, and carried on reading from where he'd left off this morning.
End chapter.
Phew! Well that's that chappie done and dusted. If anyone has any questions or just wants to be nice and leave a review (hehe) I'd be really grateful. I can't think of anything at the moment to explain but obviously I'll be happy to answer questions to the best of my abilities. Thanks for taking the time to read. Lol. ^_^
mysticheero - Thanks a lot for your review. It was a joy to read. I can understand
completely about the exam thing. Ack! So not looking forward to mine in
May and June. Heero and Duo are 12, btw, they weren't meant to come
across as 5 year olds. Oh well. Thanks again for your review.
Mariana1 – An ickle bit more on Heero's father this chap. Lol. Here is your 'more', sorry
it took so long. Thanks for your review.
gundam06serenity – Sorry this one took even longer (I have my reasons, very good ones)
This one is even longer tho. Thanks for your review.
CuriousDreamWeaver – Thanks for your review. I'm glad you enjoyed it and thanks a lot
for your compliments about my use of language. It's those
comments that make me feel happy. Lol.
holly – Thanks for your review. Heero's great isn't he, but I still can't decide between
him and Duo. Glad you like the fic.
Star Dragonsong – Thanks for your review, Star. Gafield's Pookie! Awww. Glad you
found another pc and found this chap made it worthwhile. Hope you
enjoyed this one. Lol.
Purple Uranium – Woo! A query to clear up. Just what I've been waiting for.
Chamberlain was prime minister up until May 1940 and then
Churchill took over. Thanks a lot for the review and hopefully I've
cleared up that little question. If you have anymore queries don't
hesitate to ask. Lol.
Natea - ^_^ Thankies for betaing again for me. I really appreciate it. Lol. The
Chamberlain speech idea was kind of a last minute addition (actually I couldn't be
bothered to type out the whole thing). I was kind of worried about having Duo's
teddy in it cos not many 12 year old boys still hug teddy bears in bed but there is
a good reason so…why not. Also included some more Heero past stuff, just for
you. Lol. Thankies for your review.
vicky – Heya! Thanks a lot for your review. Getting compliments off you about my
writing and historical knowledge is great. Brightened my day (only cos you're
under pain of death to be nice. Hehe. Only joking) Thanks again for your review,
mate. ^_^
Next chapter soon hopefully. Home life and health permitting. Lol.
~Alana~