Chapter 3
The strange music continued, and the mysterious voice kept singing. The two young men looked at each other and turned away various times, wondering what to do. Finally, at what appeared to be the end of the song, Heero decided it was high time he put his plan into action. He caught Duo's gaze, smiled, and started to lean forward. As he did, he saw something out the corner of his eye. A couple of eels were swimming toward the small boat.
The eels lifted their heads above the water, eyes glinting maliciously. Slowly, it dawned on Heero...the eels were going to tip the boat!
"Duo! Get down!" the young Japanese boy threw himself over Duo just as the slithering forms in the water capsized the boat.
The two boys were instantly thrown into the water with force enough to knock the air temporarily from their lungs. With the shock of the sudden air loss, Duo's eyes shot wide open. Closing them tightly against the powerful, surging onslaught of water, he grabbed Heero roughly around the neck. Heero returned the embrace, but only to protect them both from the eels, who were still floating nearby.
In the desperate moment of trying to find a decent hold, their lips met. Neither of them had done it on purpose, it had just...happened. The kiss had been brief, but it had been enough for Duo. The boys disentangled their limbs and kicked for the surface.
As Duo's head broke the surface, he sucked in a huge breath.
"Arigato, Hee-chan!" He threw his arms once more around the Japanese boy's neck.
"You...you can talk!"
"That's 'cause you finally figured it out. This was a scene from The Little Mermaid and you broke the spell!"
"Can we get out of the water now?" Heero sighed, happy because they could leave, but a little disappointed; the silence had kind of grown on him. Duo nodded and, as soon as they were sure the eels had gone, they swam for the bank and climbed out of the water.
They walked the path around the lagoon for a while, then the sky began to darken.
"Looks like it's gonna rain…" Duo started.
"Do you get a kick out of stating the obvious?" Heero asked.
"Sometimes." Duo shrugged.
The rain started slow, then it went faster and hit the ground harder and in larger drops. The boys started to run, jogging at first, then running all out.
The next few things happened in slow motion for Heero. A clap of thunder. A flash of lightning. Then darkness.
When Heero opened his eyes, he was on a castle balcony. Duo was lying not four feet away. They were both soaked. Heero managed to make his way over to Duo without anything jumping out at him, so…in his mind, it was all good.