Warnings and disclaimers on first page
DEDICATION: This is dedicated fondly to Lynds/ WWS. glomps You are the best! LOL!!!
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CHAPTER 20
"I was an orphan for the first
half of my life; but then one day some men came and kicked the gang
and me out of our 'home.' I was furious, where did they expect us to
go? But a man told us that a church had offered to take us in, I was
skeptical to say the least. When we got there a nun wanted to cut my
hair, but I argued so much that the father allowed me to keep it and
Sister Helen braided it for me," Duo smiled ruefully and
flicked his braid. "Kept it ever since."
"Eventually the kids from my gang were adopted or sent to foster parents, other kids filtered in, taking there place. I never was, every foster family I was sent to sent me back. I was too argumentative, too feisty. I was almost like the adopted child of the church, I was always there. Father Maxwell had plans for me being the next priest of the church." Heero watched impassively, letting Duo speak.
"I remember talking to them, all my twisted logic making sense in my childhood head. We had theological discussions concerning God and the existence or lack there of. I always argued that there was only a God of Death. It made sense, as a war orphan, much of my past was connected with pain and death. Father Maxwell and I bantered back and forth; Sister Helen was appalled, that a child so young would think such things.
"Unfortunately good times like that are often brief for me, the war was intense and a small rebel faction were allowed to bring there wounded to the church to be cared for. Father Maxwell and Sister Helen kept preaching peace; but all the rebels argued and fought with them, yelling at them to keep there pacifist ways to themselves, several times even physically attacking them. It made me so angry, I wasn't able to control myself and made a daring offer.
"I jumped forward, knowing they wanted a mobile suit, so I offered to steal them one; in exchange they would have to leave the church." Duo looked downcast, a loud sigh emitting from deep within him, "I broke into the alliances base and stole a mobile suit. . . . When I got back to the church I saw carnage, children were dead and as I wandered forward I saw Sister Helen; I ran to her. There wasn't much life left in her, it was the first and only time I saw her hair down. She was crying, telling me how Father Maxwell had preached peace til the end. . . ." Duo let his gaze settle on his toes in a decidedly downcast manner. The drudging up of painful memories quenching his normally vivacious spirit.
Heero was silent, his mind racing. He couldn't imagine such a past would spit out such a vibrant, humorous young man. Everything about him had meaning. His last name his braid, the cross. A feeling of protective pride rushed through him. Duo was strong, for having gone through that without being bitter, but he should never have to feel that kind of pain again.
Duo watched the ground, waiting for some sort of reaction from Heero. He was glad he hadn't spouted sympathetic apologies. That wasn't what he was looking for. He really hated sympathy. He wasn't sure what he expected but what he got was certainly not on his list of possibilities.
"I don't know who my parents
were, I spent much of my childhood with a man named Odin Lowe. He
taught me how to be a soldier, I learned how to shoot, how to fight,
how to win. I learned I didn't need any emotion to deal with him, so
I locked mine away. It didn't happen consciously. One day we took a
mission and I believe Odin was killed. After that I was trained by
an old man, I simply called him J, he called himself a doctor,"
Heero shrugged. "I don't know if it was true, either way, my
training continued and I became what was termed as the Perfect
Soldier. I fought for what is now The Earth Sphere Unified Nations."
Heero let out a heavy laden breath. He hadn't really told anyone
this before, others knew some of it, Relena, Quatre, Trowa. All of
them involved in the war in some way.
Duo gaped. Heero, his
Heero, was the Perfect Soldier? Not much was known about him, the
Perfect Soldier, he had disappeared after the war. Though curious,
the people were appreciative enough to let the man disappear.
Duo sat up, looking Heero straight in
the eyes. "I can't believe it. I don't see a cold emotionless
soldier in you. I don't see the killer people always talk about when
referring to the Perfect Soldier."
Heero had never felt so flattered in his life. A newly familiar knot twisted pleasurably in his stomach. Something akin to gratitude emerged, but it was stronger and tinged with other, sweeter, emotions as well. A small grin graced Heero's lips.
"Furthermore, even if it is true, that is in the past now. . . . Right?" Duo asked, his violet orbs searching Heero.
"As long as there is peace, I will not fight." Duo seemed mollified, but a dark shadow lurked in his eyes. Duo knew what was being said, if there is another war; the Perfect Soldier would come back. . . .
~*~*~
The rain was falling in sheets, blinding the road in sheets; blinding Heero's way; but he was a skilled driver and he took it slow. He had finally asked Duo to meet Relena. And he had mentioned the fact that he would be leaving in two weeks for a conference with Relena. It was bound to happen. He used to be traveling all the time, never in one place for more than a month. But it wore heavily on Relena and when she fainted on her way to a conference, people began noticing again that she was human. Peace talks came more and more often to Sank. Which was quite reasonable with all that she had to do in the meantime. It made sense, as it was a central location where people could meet without everyone going all over; but every once in a great while they would have to do the traveling.
So in three days, Duo would be meeting him after work and Relena had some time left over to meet him. Heero clenched the steering wheel in excitement. He felt like this was the last hurtle. He had been dreading the day he had to tell Duo about his past, but today had presented the perfect opportunity and Heero had taken it. To say Duo's reaction pleased him would be an understatement. It had thrilled him beyond all possible belief. Now, Relena was meeting Duo and all would be perfect. He knew she would love him, his outgoing manner was very magnetic. Heero felt excitement boil within him, and somewhere in the back of his mind he remembered the time when these sort of emotions were unknown to him. He didn't mind though, not anymore. It had bothered him originally, but today, as Heero, himself, had so gracefully pointed out, there was peace. There was no war and no need for the emotionless Perfect Soldier. . . .
tsuzuku
I realize it is short, but I got online and realized, "Oh Crap, it's Thursday and I only have 2 pages written..." Well I wrote a little more, but I didn't have time to write out the Relena/ Duo meeting so that may be a short chapter of its own on Saturday. What do ya think? Another short chap on Saturday? Thanks for all your help! Oh and YOUR REVIEWS! I don't have time to write Arigatous, but on Saturday I will... if I post. THANKS!
~Annie
