Warnings: doting!Duo and… um… there might be some cross-dressing going on ;)
Chapter 16: -ing
After spending months on the island without anything remotely exciting happening, things had suddenly gone haywire and time was now in short supply. We had promised to set sail that very afternoon, but our ship had just spent a damp and stormy winter moored in the bay and was in dire need of repairs. No less daunting was the fact that we didn't even have a crew to man the ship, dilapidated as it was. Thankfully, that last problem wasn't really a problem at all once word got around that everyone willing to sign up would receive a fair share of the promised rum.
Quatre made himself comfortable on the quay with a goose quill and ink pot and in less than an hour had a long list of names in his accounting book. Effortlessly slipping back into his role of bossy first mate of the Heavyarms, he then proceeded to bully the new crew members into organising provisions, having been granted access to the Inn's well-stocked pantry and the distillery. In the meantime, Trowa and Wufei went one last time to Doc J's shipyard to ask for – to Wufei's utter frustration— metal spare parts for last minute repairs on the ship. Doc J, however, seemed so fascinated by this unusual project that the two could not stop him from coming back with them to the harbour to oversee the repairs himself.
The task of looking for the missing Heero fell to me and I wasted no time. The first place I checked was the distillery, which was just as I had left it the night before, empty and depressing. After that I looked for him in the kitchen, the storerooms, the cellar, his bedroom— at last when the sun at noon began its slow descent towards the horizon I looked for him up and down the island, everywhere I could think of, every place I knew or had heard Heero ever mention before. If he had really been abducted by Zechs, his father or someone else would have no doubt noticed by now, so he had to be somewhere on the island, didn't he? There was one thing I knew with perfect certainty – I wouldn't leave the island without him.
By afternoon I had returned to the Inn, sitting broodingly on the front steps and flinging pebbles over the cobblestones. Clack. Clack. Clack.
We had never wanted to spend so much time on this island in the first place, but now that we were finally about to leave and get a hold of our treasure, it was somewhat puzzling to find that I was utterly miserable and, strangely enough, filled with a crushing sense of regret… regret over my wasted life, full of whirlwind adventures and breathless activity but lacking true contentment and happiness, regret over not holding onto Heero when I had had the chance and always getting sidetracked by frivolous things, like drinking or card games or buried treasures, things that weren't really important. The sun was getting dangerously close to the choppy white-capped waves now. In an hour or less it would start to set. I dropped my head into my hands and sighed pitifully.
Clack!
Clack!
Two dainty pearl earrings fell into the dust next to my feet.
I looked up. The window to Relena's abandoned bedroom high up on the fourth floor was slightly ajar. The heavy brocade curtains were drawn closed though; and everything else looked completely innocuous.
Relena's bedroom…
I jumped to my feet and was halfway up the stairs to the first floor before my mind had time to catch up with my feet. On the second floor, I tried to slow my steps so as not to draw too much attention, but I still reached the fourth floor mere moments after setting foot on the third. Cautiously, I peered down the hallway.
There, right in front of Relena's room, sat one of the thugs that had taken apart our room this very morning. He lay stretched out in his chair and appeared to be fast asleep. He was also armed with a rusty gun and a very long knife, I noticed nervously.
Carefully, barely daring to breathe, I crept into the hallway and towards Relena's room. With my heart in my throat, I reached for the door handle. Slowly, I pushed it down. The door didn't budge. It was locked!
As soon as I released the handle, I heard a quiet, muffled noise behind the door.
Leaning as close as possible, I whispered: "Heero? Are you in there?"
Again a muffled noise from the other side of the door and then a well-loved voice whispered back: "Took you long enough."
I almost laughed with relief but caught myself, glancing towards the sleeping guard.
"Heero! What happened? Why are you in there?"
"My father locked me up."
"When?"
"This morning. Duo… Can you help me?"
"Of course! I will! Where's the key?" It really wasn't advisable to force the door open, not with an armed guard sitting right next to it. He was almost two heads taller than me and easily twice as broad… Not that I wouldn't be able to take care of him. Of course, I could. But… my motto in life had always been to avoid unnecessary violence whenever possible. Luckily, I was a pretty fast runner.
"My father must have the key. He probably keeps it on his key chain in a pocket of his waistcoat, but he only takes it off when he goes to sleep."
"Heero..."
"Yes?"
"We're supposed to be leaving in less than an hour. I was looking for you all day to tell you."
"Oh."
There was a brief silence.
"You… are going after the treasure?"
"No, well, yes… it's complicated."
"I see," he said bravely. It was a front. I could tell. His voice was clear and uninflected, but there was a tenseness in his words that told me he was as close to hopelessness as he'd ever allow himself.
Suddenly, I had an idea. "Wait a second," I whispered. "Be right back!"
"Duo, you baka. I can't leave. Of course I'll wait."
I rolled my eyes. Always full of attitude.
I moved soundlessly to the end of the hallway. There was another window and unlike the window in Relena's room, which sat right above the Inn's front door, this one overlooked the dark narrow alley. If we could climb down from this side, we might actually be able to get out of the house without drawing anybody's attention. It was certainly safer than marching with Heero right through the Inn.
Now for the awfully tall and muscular guard, still snoring softly in his chair... Furtively, I glanced around the hallway, looking for anything that might be used as a somewhat effective weapon. There was… a heavy looking copper chamber pot, sitting on the doorstep of the room next to Relena's. Well…
"Heero," I whispered. "Get as much of Relena's dresses as you can find and tie them together like a rope."
"Understood."
Alright. I took a deep breath and gathered my thoughts. First, the guard, then the door. As quietly as possible I took the chamber pot and, noticing that it was fortunately empty, carefully lifted it up over the sleeping guard before letting it sink straight onto his head with a loud bell-like ding!
The man did not even wince but slid smoothly from his chair. Out like a candle and for a good long while, too, I thought with satisfaction.
"Ok, Heero. Get out of the way," I warned, "I'm coming!" Then, I took a few steps back and threw myself against the door.
A heartbeat before I made impact, it miraculously opened on its own.
It was too late to stop— I barrelled into the room, stumbled and almost did a somersault into the impressive heap of dresses Heero had pulled from Relena's wardrobe.
"Relena had a spare key," Heero explained drily, holding up a delicate gold key with a pink ribbon tied to it. "It was in one of her dress pockets."
He smirked, but offered me his hand to help me to my feet. I couldn't hide a smirk of my own when I allowed my eyes to sweep over him to make sure he was unharmed and noticed his attire.
"Are those your sleeping clothes, Heero?"
He scowled and looked down at his nightshirt, which might once have been a perfectly presentable bland white nightshirt, before it got mended with a myriad of colourful patches of various shapes and sizes by an overenthusiastic and quite possibly colour-blind seamster. And like everything else Heero seemed to own, his nightshirt too was much too large for him. It kept slipping off his right shoulder and ended just an inch above his stockinged, slipperless feet.
"Is there something wrong with it?"
"Oh, no! It's fine! It's a perfectly fine nightshirt, very… nice indeed." My eyes kept wandering to his exposed shoulder.
"Hn." Heero noticed my adoring looks and quickly yanked up the wayward fabric to cover himself. "We're wasting time. Let's get out of here, Duo."
I blushed, nodding quickly, and together we lugged his sister's dresses into the hallway. It was still deserted but for how long we didn't know, so we hurriedly tied one end of our make-shift rope to the window frame and pushed the rest of the gigantic heap of fabric through the narrow window. The free end of the rope dangled a few short feet above the cobbled street.
"Thank god for that girl's fashion sense," I said, only half-jokingly.
The quality of Relena's dresses apparently wasn't too shabby either for all that flimsy lace held fast without tearing until we made it down in one piece. I caught Heero when he jumped down from the end of the rope, grasping him gently around the waist and carefully placing his unprotected feet on the rough-hewn cobblestones.
"Careful," I whispered gently, my lips suddenly very close to the delicate shell of his ear, which interestingly flushed a very pretty pink and I was sorely tempted to kiss him again. But nimble as he was Heero had already wriggled out of my arms. When I turned to look at him, he frowned deeply, making it very clear that my touch was still as unwanted as the night before. Ah yes, I remembered; he still believed me to be in love (or lust) with his sister. I hoped his resentment would eventually fade enough to let me explain myself, but— now clearly wasn't the moment.
The alley was empty and as we peered around the corner we noticed that other streets, too, were more or less deserted. It seemed the islanders had gathered at the harbour to witness the impending departure of the Heavyarms. Suddenly, I realized that our ship must be due to set sail any minute now. I glanced towards the West, where the sun sat very low above the horizon, slowly bleeding into the sea.
I deftly untied the last dress dangling from the rope, grabbed Heero's hand and pulled him after me towards the docks.
"Let's go, Heero. We have a ship to catch!"
As the sun was just about to slip below the horizon, Mr. Sawdown stood proudly before the large crowd of islanders that had gathered on the quays to speed us on our way, many of them more than a little sad to see us off, like the ardent admirers of Quatre's cooking, but some of them also quite glad to have us gone, like the unlucky sods who'd lost all of their buttons and spoons and forks in our card games.
With a grand gesture of his right hand (his left was absentmindedly petting his waistcoat pocket, where part of a golden key chain could be glimpsed if one looked very closely) Sawdown now motioned towards the Heavyarms, which, shoddily repaired and manned with a ragtag crew whose only communality seemed to be their undying passion for rum, was for all intents and purposes ready to at least set sail again (though how long the hasty repairs and the goodwill of the crew would hold up remained somewhat unclear).
"I see, you have indeed kept your promises. You have a ship… a very interesting ship, I must say." He gave the oddly-shaped metal bits and pieces adorning the wooden hull a rather puzzled look. "And a… a truly valiant crew, I'm sure."
Trowa stood at the helm of the ship and nodded politely at the man's words. Back on the planks of his own ship and flanked by Quatre, who for once had a careless, bright smile on his twitching face, he no longer looked like Doc J's ship hand at all, but had the air of a shrewd and capable pirate captain about him; my poor, foolish heart seized painfully for a moment as I suddenly remembered my own ship, lost long ago to my greed and stupidity. Never, I promised myself fervently, never again would I so foolishly gamble with what I loved, be it in a card game or though my own unwise actions. As if to seal the promise I tightened my grip on the hand still clutched tightly in my own.
"Ah, I see you did not only sign on men for your new crew, but women as well," I heard Sawdown remark from his place of honour on the quay, smiling meaningfully and pointing to the figure shrouded in delicate silks at my side. The crowd laughed uproariously and many craned their necks to catch a glimpse of the figure decked out in blindingly pink ruffles.
"Well," I drawled, smirking roguishly, and gently put an arm around Heero, dressed as he was in Relena's latest ball gown and a matching shawl to cover most of his face and hair. Drawing him against my side for everyone – including his unsuspecting father – to see, I said: "I am indeed glad you noticed her. You see, I somehow came across a treasure while we had the pleasure of staying on your lovely island. A rare beauty, with an even rarer heart, kind and strong. Though… a bit sooty around the nose and not very clean, I must say. The poor thing had to labour tirelessly to assuage her father's greed—a heartless, unfeeling lout of a man—not sure if you know him. But that matters little now for she is mine and I intend to keep her! As no one seems to see her for the treasure she truly is, it is their loss one way or another, wouldn't you agree?"
I tried to press Heero yet a little closer to me, taking advantage of the situation like the sneaking thief I was, but he angrily stepped on my toes. Maybe I shouldn't have commented on his lack of personal hygiene in front of the whole island... Flinching at the pain in my foot, I turned back to Sawdown just in time to catch his reply.
"Well, yes, of course. An honourless man indeed. But she will undoubtedly sweeten your long journey." At that the gathered pirates cheered and whistled suggestively. Pleased with the crowd's reaction, Sawdown's smile broadened. "Now, we do not wish to keep you any longer. Just remember to bring Relena back in one piece – without a scratch to mar her skin, mind you – and all that I own will be yours!"
Ah, I thought, as with Sawdown's final words of farewell our crew finally got to work - weighing anchor and hoisting the sails - the very best thing you ever owned I already have.
Tbc