Author: Keiran
Title: Made in Heaven: Terms and Conditions 1/1
Rating: 10+
Warnings: shounen-ai, a loose take on religion, God and Christmas.
Pairing: 1+2+1
Genre: romance, fluff.
Notes: This is a sequel to "Made in Heaven", updated as a chapter cause it cannot quite stand alone.
Thanks to Shenlong Deb, for betaing!
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Christmas cheer hovered in the air. Heero, from his position on the couch, glared at it, with all his might. The local personification of Christmas cheer beamed right back at him. "Lighten up, teach! We're almost finished here anyway, look how pretty the tree is!"
Muttering something vaguely obscene about 'bloody Tooth Fairies', the blue-eyed man scowled at the – otherwise adorable – picture of his tiny daughter in the arms of said fairy, putting the final bulb on the Christmas tree. To the girl's delight, the two of them were hovering a few feet off the ground.
"Whatever I did to deserve this?" Heero muttered, smacking his forehead. It had been over a week since he had found the unfortunate supernatural element in his daughter's bedroom. Along with a note signed by God Himself, proclaiming that the attachment (the fairy) was his Christmas present. Life just couldn't get any weirder.
Of course, he hadn't been all that quick to believe it. In his world Tooth Fairies had no place. Thanks to the efficiency of his and Marie's morning routine, he had managed to ignore and erase the night before from his mind, and all was fine with the universe; until they had gotten back home.
The first thing that had greeted them was the smell of cookies. The recollection made Heero extend his hand and bring one of the aforementioned cookies to his mouth. He made a point of not losing the scowl as he munched. Granted, he continued thinking back, some of the cookies turned out to be burnt, some undercooked, and most misshapen, but Duo had grinned at the small family from under the thick coating of flour and dough as if the cookies were the greatest culinary achievement of the century.
Marie ignored the cookies anyway. She had been much more excited by the idea of a winged elf baking in her kitchen. Of course, just to keep everyone excited, Duo had chosen that exact moment to turn around (wings still fluttering and all, his ankle was, obviously, still hurting) and stick his naked palm into the oven.
Predictably, Heero had been forced to finish the cookies while Marie, beside herself with excitement and worry, had bandaged the pouting fairy, whose expression cried 'foul' louder than any words.
"Hey, Heero!" The man started as someone's hand waved in front of his face.
"What do you want?" he asked gruffly. Honestly, supernatural creatures!
"My ankle is healed now, so I'm taking Marie to do some window-shopping. Is that okay?"
"And you're going to do what? Hover on the street? I don't have spare boots."
"Oh, clothes are not a problem," Duo waved his hand vaguely. He was wearing an undershirt and his shorts at the moment, but another vague wave later and his outfit seemed to melt on his slight form and reform as a more earthly set, appropriate for the wintry weather.
"That's so cool! How do you do that?" Marie bounced over and hugged Duo's waist like there was no tomorrow.
"I am a Fairy, after all. However embarrassing it seems now," he muttered under his breath. Heero refrained from snickering. After the first shock had passed, he had spent a good hour or so amusing himself with the thought of having an actual Fairy in the house.
A very attractive Fairy to boot.
Heero sighed to himself. He watched Duo poke Mariemaia lightly on the nose and help her put her coat on. The girl took to the other man immediately – it must have been the combination of flying, magic and the plain, old likeable quality Duo simply oozed. It was really, really hard not to like him.
Two hours later, when Duo and Marie finished their little excursion Heero was still sitting on the couch, pondering the existence of God (for which he had written proof now). He had never been particularly religious. He wasn't even an atheist. His religion was 'If I Ignore It, It's As If It's Not There'. Watching the happy face of his little girl and the grin on Duo's face however, the blue-eyed man decided that he just might start believing, and that he definitely liked the omnipotent cause for the existence of the universe.
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T'was the night before Christmas, and Heero had absolutely no clue what had woken him. The alarm wasn't to ring until seven. Marie wouldn't be up until half eight, unless someone woke her. Stretching, he thought that since he wasn't asleep at 5.54 am, he might as well put the presents under the tree. His daughter did still believe in Santa Claus, after all.
And considering the recent developments, he had to admit she had a point.
He kicked the covers to the side and stretched again. His bed was too comfortable, really. He rolled to the edge and swung his legs over it. Hissing as his bare feet made contact with the cold floor, he stood up and located his slippers. He hated mornings for this very reason: warm feet and cold floors did not go well together.
Yawning widely, he opened his dresser and fished around for the bag with gifts. Ah, there it was. Several packages wrapped in red-and-gold with matching ribbons. More than one would think there should be, but guests were coming later on in the day. Heero stood up, the bag in hand, and made his way to the living room.
It was still dark outside, or rather it would have been dark, had it not been for the full moon. Heero was fond of the full moon. It gave everything a special kind of edge – things showed a whole new range of qualities under the light of the moon.
Take Duo for example. Sitting under the pale light, wrapped tightly in the blanket he was sleeping under, watching the street outside. His face had an expression Heero hadn't seen before – for once the lips that were always smiling were downcast, the twinkling pair of unusually coloured eyes lacked their gleam. For once, Duo did not exude the aura of happiness.
"Duo?" Heero ventured clumsily. Comforting people was not his forte. Duo forced a smile onto his face.
"Yeah?"
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
"'Nothing' usually means you want to talk about it." Duo sighed.
"I'm just thinking. About Heaven."
"What about it?" Now Heero was curious. He had a chance to find out what Heaven was like, from someone who'd actually been there!
"I was just thinking how it was another place that didn't want me," Duo admitted softly. The blue-eyed man felt awkward. "I was an orphan, back then. A little hellion, they would call me. I lived in several orphanages, before they sent me to a church orphanage. It wasn't bad, not really. The priest cared for all of us, but well. I was too used to being on my own, too old to learn anything. As soon as I turned eighteen I was out of there. Then I met Hilde. And the funny thing was, she was the first person who seemed to want me around. I was the happiest I've ever been. And then I got myself killed. I don't regret it, not really," he added hastily, seeing Heero's eyes gain a pitying look.
"I still think saving someone you cared for is a good way to go," he continued. "I ended up in front of the Powers that Be, became a Tooth Fairy… And then, completely out of the blue, I get dropped into someone's home, blocked from Heaven."
Heero sighed and busied himself by arranging the presents under the tree. Joining Duo on the windowsill, he handed him quite a large package, tied with a golden ribbon.
"Merry Christmas," he said quietly. "I don't think God didn't want you there," he added, watching Duo hug the parcel to his chest in wonder. "I think He just-" 'Apologies for the delay' flashed through his head, "thought you might like it better here."
"You think so?" the violet-eyed young man asked. The street lights outside went out, one by one. The sky brightened ever so slowly, welcoming the first day of Christmas.
"I know so," Heero replied with utmost certainty. It was so easy to be certain with written proof, he mused. Duo smiled. Not the happy grin he always wore, but a smile.
Heero could swear he had never seen anything as beautiful in his life. He blamed the surprise for what happened next. Very slowly, watching for signs of fright (or flight), they moved towards one another. Closer and closer, until their lips met, and Heero promptly threw the running commentary out the window.
Who needed Heaven, when they could have this?
They parted reluctantly but did not move apart. Heero tugged the blanket around Duo open and leaned into the Fairy, making himself comfortable between the warm body and the cover. Duo shook his head and rested the present he'd been hugging on the other man's chest.
"Aren't you going to open it?" Heero asked, making an effort to look up.
"I can wait," he replied with a smile.
Outside the living room a little girl grinned to herself. All it took to make her daddy happy was one letter to Santa.
THE END.