Gundam
Wing is not mine. I know that and so do you. ~_^
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Shi-chan: After "Amayadori," I'm prepared to go without sleep and
write till 6!
Duo: You...freaking...nutcase...
Heero: You had to pick THIS story to work on, didn't you!?
Shi-chan: It wouldn't matter, would it? If I did Death Becomes Him or Switch,
I'd still need both of you as main characters!
Quatre: Write a nice 3x4!
Trowa: Yeah!
Shi-chan: You're...offering?
Quatre: Um...
Heero: They're just willing.
Shi-chan: *shrugs* Tomorrow, maybe. As for now...
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Jack Frost Yuy
~By Shimegami-chan
Part 3
Shounen ai, and sap, and angst, suicide, language, and stuff.
Enjoy, and merry belated christmas! (Nani!?)
Duo had adapted to Heero's situation surprisingly quickly, throwing on his
black parka and opening every window in the house so Heero wouldn't melt or be
uncomfortable. Heero was grateful.
Duo also seemed to be taking the whole thing quite well, which made Heero
wonder if the braided American really was all right. They chatted about
anything and everything for two hours in the kitchen, sharing an Oreo ice-cream
cake that Quatre had in the freezer.
When all was said and done, however, they had a lot of problems to deal with.
Duo wanted to tell Quatre, Trowa, and Wufei about Heero's return, but Heero
insisted that they would think he was crazy. On the other hand, Heero wanted to
talk to the others and reassure them, but Duo was afraid that they would STILL
think he was crazy for bringing Heero back from the dead, especially as a
snowman.
Heero informed his lover that it hadn't all been Duo's doing, even though he
knew that was untrue. However, when the two returned to the front yard and
stood together long into the night, the Deathscythe pilot finally decided to
tell them when they returned. He unfortunately wasn't given much of a chance,
when the other pilots returned at ten that night they found Duo asleep on the
lawn with his arms locked tightly around Heero's waist. Heero himself was
sleeping standing up, colbalt eyes hidden behind snowy lids. Trowa pried Duo
off the snowman and they carried him inside to bed.
Duo regretted it--he became sick for the first time in his life. Shinigami had
caught an awful cold hugging his snowman all day, and had to stay in bed.
It was Christmas Eve.
The American boy eventually woke up much later into the evening than he had
planned, the sun already beginning to set, with Quatre sitting at his bedside.
He moaned and called softly for Heero, but got no answer.
Quatre looked up at the whimper and patted Duo's shoulder soothingly.
"Shh, you're inside now. You're sick."
"Where's Heero?" Duo mumbled, still not fully conscious.
"Oh, Duo." Quatre put down the book he'd been reading and edged his
chair closer to Duo's beside. "Have you been having nightmares
again?"
"If they've got Heero, they're not nightmares," Duo said defensively.
"And anyway, I wasn't dreaming." He eagerly told Quatre the whole
story, about Heero becoming the snowman and the cross and the green gloves.
Quatre sucked in a sharp breath. "Is that why you were hugging that
snowman so possessively yesterday? My God, Duo, I didn't know it was getting
that bad..."
"I swear, I'm not crazy!" Duo sat straight up and attempted to lurch
out of bed. "He'll talk to you, if he knows I told you. You'll see!"
The American leaned heavily on the windowsill.
Outside, not a bit of snow was to be seen.
Duo's mouth dropped open. "But he...where did he...where's the
snow!?"
"They got the weather controls working," said Quatre simply.
"Most of the snow melted this morning."
"No...no way..." Tears were beginning to well up in Duo's indigo
eyes. "I never got to say goodbye! NO!"
Quatre started to panic. "Duo, you were feverish! You probably still are!
I'm sorry--"
Duo's flashing eyes turned on the little Arabian. "I was NOT imagining
it."
"Duo--"
"Where's the gloves, then!?" Duo grabbed his parka and bolted out the
door. "If he melted, why aren't they out there? He must be still here,
somehwere! I'm not letting him go again! Not until I say goodbye!"
"Duo!" Quatre cried, knocking over the chair in his hurry. The front
door slammed violently shut. "DUO!"
He was gone.
-------------------------
Duo ran through the streets, shouting his lover's name until his lungs hurt.
He can't go. Not yet.
"Duo?" Heero's voice called weakly. Duo sprinted toward its source,
an old junkyard similar to the one he and Hilde used to run, right after the
war. The American scrambled toward it to find Heero in a bit of a mess.
The Japanese pilot had used his wide range of skills to hotwire three old
deep-freezers together into a hollow-square shape, with the cool air
concentrating in the center. Heero sat in the stream of vapour, doing his best
not to melt before Duo's eyes.
"Heero!" Duo rushed to Heero's side, noticing worriedly that the
snowman was breathing in short gasps and losing body mass quickly. He held the
gloved hand in his own. "Heero, please don't leave me!"
"Ah, koi, we knew this was coming," Heero wheezed.
"Damn weather," Duo cursed, hugging his lover's fragile body to his
own.
"Which was worse, Duo?" asked Heero thoughtfully.
Duo looked into Heero's colbalt eyes, clear as ever. "What?"
"Is it worse for me to die here in your arms, or alone in the cold, dark
snow?"
"Better to say our good-byes," Duo mumbled into Heero's cold chest.
"Better to hold you for as long as I can."
"Good." Heero gasped. "That's how I wanted it too."
"Oh God, don't leave me..." Duo pleaded. "Not again..."
"I'm sorry, my Shinigami. It's Christmas Eve, aren't you supposed to be
happy?"
Duo smiled through the tears. "Hai."
"Then, love, I can try to hang on for you. I promised you that I'd be home
for Christmas."
Duo just sobbed and buried his head in his lover's thin arms.
-------------------------
The other pilots had been searching the city for hours, and the night began to
stretch furthur and furthur on.
"No sign of him," Wufei said grimly. "There aren't many places
left to check."
The three young men began the long walk back towards the house, at Trowa's
suggestion that Duo might have returned, but Quatre stopped the group at the
chain-link fence of one of the junkyards.
"Wait," he whispered. "Is that Duo?"
Trowa and Wufei fell silent and listened intently to the night sounds. Indeed,
Trowa's sharp ears also picked up the sweet sound of a low baritone voice,
singing softly into the darkness.
"...I'll be home for Christmas,
You can count on me..."
The choked voice faltered for a moment, while the three boys ran to the gate
and slipped inside.
There was Duo, on his knees, crying softly, and the snowman held his hand
tightly as he finished the last words of the song.
"I'll be home for Christmas...if only in my dreams."
"I don't want to think it was a dream, that's the problem," Duo said
hoarsely. "Heero...koi..."
"Don't cry, Duo, I'm not gone yet," Heero whispered. "Please
don't cry."
The three pilots merely gaped at the scene, neither able to utter a word. Heero
reached up to touch the cross dangling from Duo's neck.
"It didn't keep you safe," Duo sobbed. "There's nothing left in
there." He pulled it from his neck and pressed it into Heero's gloved
hand.
Heero stared intently at the little charm. "There's a lot of love in that
little peice of metal, Duo." He gave one last cough and his snowy body
shimmered and fell away, leaving a slight human shape clad in spandex shorts
and a green tank top. "There's a lot of love left in you too. Don't cry,
please, koibito."
Duo gasped at the sudden change and embraced Heero immediately, tears falling
on the green fabric, slim fingers winding around Heero's warm neck. "I
don't want you to go."
"I don't want to go either." Heero sat up straight and held Duo
close. "But this is the way it has to be."
"Heero..." The chestnut bangs brushed lightly against Heero's
forehead as Duo kissed him firmly on the lips.
"Let me go, Duo." Heero said softly. "You needed me here
tonight, but Christmas Eve is nearly gone."
Duo nodded shakily and hugged him tight, kissed him again. "I'll miss you..."
"I'll never go very far," Heero promised. "I'll be watching you,
until we can be together again."
"I love you..."
"And I you." With that, what was left of Heero Yuy turned to sparkles
and snowflakes in Duo's shaking arms.
The American got slowly to his feet and turned to face his friends. Instead of
the cold, dead eyes Quatre expected, Duo's violet orbs still shone with love
and respect, and he took Quatre's hand in his own. "You guys went and
missed Christmas Eve."
Trowa could only gape at the Deathscythe pilot. "What just..."
Quatre gave Trowa a knowing smile and moved over to cuddle against him. "I
understand, Duo. Let's go home, okay?"
With Wufei muttering curses at the lack of snow in their wake, the tired pilots
headed home.
-------------------
Duo's spirits had been lifted, despite everything he'd gone through, but he
still wasn't sure what to expect when he arrived back at the house.
The four boys clomped into the porch and kicked off their boots, and Quatre
rushed to the kitchen to make tea--and hot chocolate for Duo. Trowa went to
start a fire in the fireplace, while Wufei ran back outside for wood. Duo
returned to his room to change his wet clothes.
Inside, on the bed, lay a small white box, a scarf, and a pair of gloves. The
garments were still wet from melted snow, but the little jewelry box was
pristine and padded inside with cotton. Inside lay his golden cross, the chain
unbroken, shining in the lamplight and glistening with water and salty tears. A
note was folded on the bed.
"To keep you safe.
I'm watching.
Ashiteru,
Heero."
Duo clasped the chain around his neck.
"You've never broken a promise to me before, koi."
I love you, Duo.
Somewhere, Heero Yuy smiled.
-----------------------
Shi-chan: .....sad....
Duo: Hai....
Heero: ......
Shi-chan: *sobs uncontrollably*