Chapter 5
He wasn't at all sure he could do it…after all, they were only lovers in the respect that they kissed frequently and shared a room. He had never said the words before…
But Duo had. Now he remembered!
"Hee-chan?" Duo said.
"What?" Heero looked up from his book. "What do you want?"
"No need to act like that. We're alone." Duo smiled, sitting down on Heero's bed next to his elbow. "I made sure of that." He leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on Heero's lips.
"What do you want?" Heero set his book down and spoke in a softer tone.
"I love you, Heero." Duo curled himself into Heero's arms. Heero wrapped his arms tighter around Duo and just sat there.
Walking around to where he would be able to see Duo's face, a single tear escaped his eye.
"It is almost too late! The final petal is about to fall!" the teapot exclaimed.
"What?" Heero asked. He had not known anything about petals.
"Once upon a time, in a far away land, a young prince lived in a shadowed castle. Although he had everything his heart desired, the prince was spoiled, selfish and unkind. One night, an old beggar woman came to the castle and offered him a single rose in return for shelter from the bitter cold. Repulsed by her haggard appearance, the prince sneered at the gift and turned the old woman away. But she warned him not to be deceived by appearances, for beauty was found within. When he dismissed her again, the old woman's ugliness melted away to reveal a beautiful enchantress. The prince tried to apologize, but it was too late, for she had seen that there was no love in his heart. As punishment, she transformed him into a hideous beast and placed a powerful spell on the castle and all who lived there. Ashamed of his monstrous form, the beast concealed himself inside his room. His only window to the outside world was a magic mirror. The rose she had offered was truly an enchanted rose which would bloom until his twenty-first year. If he could learn to love another and earn their love in return by the time the last petal fell, the spell would be broken. If not, he would be doomed to remain a beast for all time." Here, the candlestick paused. After a deep breath, he continued. "As the years passed, he fell into despair and lost all hope. For who could ever learn to love a beast?"1
"So, let me get this straight." Heero knelt beside Duo's head and pulled it up onto his lap. "This prince was basically a bastard without a sex life…and he was punished for it by being turned into a hairy monster with a magic mirror and an enchanted rose. And the last petal is falling from this rose as we speak. I have to say three little words to Duo before that petal falls and that will break the spell?"
"Yes. Now hurry. You haven't much time." The clock moved closer to the couple as he spoke.
Heero took a deep breath, debated for two point five seconds about whether to say it in English or Japanese, decided on English, and wrapped Duo's braid around his hand. "Duo…I love you."
Just as the last whispered word escaped Heero's lips, he looked up to see the last petal on the dying rose in the glass jar sever completely from the stem and fall in painfully slow motion to land silently on the desktop over which the devoid stem hovered. Sucking in a deep breath, Heero flicked his eyes downward, hoping against all odds that he had said it at the right time.
Closing his eyes in sad defeat, he heard a soft moan. Deep blue eyes shot wide open as a soft voice carrying much needed comfort rang in his ears.
"Mmmm…love you too, Heero."
"Duo! You're alive!"
"Yeah…I guess. I'm never watching this movie again, though." Duo laughed as he attempted to stand, succeeding only with Heero's help.
"Now, how do we get out of this God-forsaken castle?" Heero asked of the common household items lying around at his feet…except now they weren't common household items.
"We will show you out." A tall, thin man with a disturbingly familiar French accent led them through the castle, giving a brief tour as he did so.
When they finally reached the doors, Everybody in the castle was following them.
"So, where to now, my love?" Duo asked as they walked through what appeared to be Ancient Greece later that day.
1 This is the actual prologue from the movie, in case no one recognized it.