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Misunderstandings and Resolutions (part 1)

Kimi


This is supposed to be two years after Endless Waltz, so all the Gwing boys will be eighteen years old in this fic. Hope you enjoy it!  I only know of Heero's origins from other fics I've read so what I have is probably inconsistent. My apologies.


PART 1: RELUCTANT REUNION

Duo stirred from his sleep, bleary violet eyes opening halfway to concentrate on the smiling image of a clown-shaped clock. Duo squinted. It was 8:00 a.m. "Itai!"

Duo leaped up from the bed, his long, sun-streaked hair flying about him in a honeyed cloud. He raced to the bathroom and rushed through his early morning ritual: warm bath, toothbrush, shave, and breakfast.

Thirty minutes later, Duo raced out of his house. He was wearing black jeans, a black shirt, and his worn-out black sneakers. His hair, instead of in his favored braid, was only pulled back in a loose ponytail. He ran down the sidewalk, muttering curses all the time. Ten minutes later, he screeched to a halt in front of a junkyard. A massive, dark-skinned man with a rainbow-streaked Mohawk hairstyle was standing in the middle, surrounded by five different piles of scrap metal. His fierce black eyes bored into Duo's hapless face. The youth gave an apologetic smile. The man didn't say anything but merely grunted and turned away.

"Oi, Duo! You're way late, man!"

The brown-haired teen turned to see Devon, a blonde young man about his age. Devon was dressed in the uniform dark-blue coveralls and was waving at Duo from behind one of the junk piles. Duo waved back and ran towards the little shed near the junkyard office where their coveralls were stored in lockers. He hurriedly put them on, unwilling to put Morey in an even worse mood than he usually was.

He went back out and started to work. The main task of the junkyard workers is to find and separate any of the unusable items from the usable. He dug in determinedly amongst the piles of Aries and Cancer scrap metal. Looking at what once were formidable death machines, Duo shook his head. Just like him, there was no use for them anymore, now that peace had been achieved.

Thus was the routine of Duo's life after the war. There were no more Oz, no more missions, no more fighting. But Duo was undeniably getting bored of his job as a junkyard worker. The pay was good, but not worth the amount of sweat and boredom that Duo had to endure. There were times when he felt throwing everything away and running off. <To do what?> he thought to himself, digging out what appeared to be a self-destruct mechanism. Duo stared at the handle-shaped device with cut wires hanging from one end and a black button from the other. He tossed it into the pile of unusable items.

Three hours later, he stood up and wiped the sweat from his brow. The midday sun was scorching and sweat was pouring off his tanned skin like rain. "Time for lunch," he hollered out to Devon. The other guy gave a thumb's up sign and Duo leaped from his perch at the top of the scrap pile.

The two walked out of the scrap yard and headed towards their favorite restaurant, Hirde's Café. The dark-haired girl met them outside. She held a hand to her nose. "Pheew!" she cried, eyeing Duo and Devon's sweat-drenched figures. "You are not going in my restaurant! Sit over there and I'll bring your usual." She pointed at a nearby bench that was pleasantly shaded by a huge acacia tree. Both boys nodded and headed for the bench. "Ah!" Duo moaned as he stretched out his limbs, sprawling on the bench. Devon merely grinned.

"Man, I hate this job!" Duo said suddenly. Devon only looked at him.

"Why don't you quit then?"

"Because I don't know what else to do. I mean, the pay's better than the other jobs available in this colony. I guess I could just stick it out." The American grimaced. Suddenly, he straightened up, violet eyes narrowed. Devon followed his gaze puzzledly to see the retreating back of a dark-haired figure in blue jeans and a green shirt. The blonde could not see anything different about the person, other than he appeared to be a newcomer to the city of Mides.

"Is there something wrong?"

"Nani? Oh, iie! That, that guy just reminded me of someone, is all." Duo continued to stare at the retreating figure until he disappeared among the crowd. The American leaned back against the bench and closed his eyes, mind churning.

<It---it couldn't be him,> he thought. <Not now. Not after so long.>

"Oi!" Hirde's familiar voice jarred him from his thoughts. She was looking at him, eyes dark with concern. "Daijobu, Duo?"

"Aah. Arigatou, Hirde!" Duo tried to change the subject by grabbing one of the trays Hirde was holding. He sniffed the aroma of freshly-cooked ramen with chicken appreciatively. Hirde handed the tray with miso soup, chow mein, and spring rolls to Devon. "Arigatou," Devon murmured. The two of them dug in.

"Well, I better get back. Enjoy!" Hirde gave Devon a small peck at the cheek and ran back to her cafi. Duo merely jabbed an elbow at his friend's side. Devon only glared and ate his meal. Duo grinned. He had been happy that Hirde and Devon had hit it off; he had not wanted Hirde to suffer from unrequited love like he was still suffering.

Later, they returned the trays and bowls and paid for the meal. As they returned back to the junkyard, Duo felt someone staring at him but he could see no one. The crowd seemed to be doing their own things and not paying the slightest bit of attention to the two of them. Duo said nothing but was tense, still feeling the weight of watchful eyes.

It was dusk when Duo returned to the small, two-bedroom house he had been renting ever since he first came to the colony. He had been fortunate in locating the house just when the owner was moving away and was about to sell it. The newly-named Sahazra colony after the Mariemaya incident was not densely populated due to the fact that it had become a dumping ground for scrap metal to be recycled and its dry, desert-like climate. Most of the jobs available were in scrap yards or recycling factories. As a consequence, people were moving out into the wealthier colonies. With little competition, he had been able to get the house at a reasonable rent.

Duo opened the door and gaped as a tall, broad figure stood from his couch. The setting sun behind the window near the couch shadowed the figure's face. Duo immediately fell into a fighter's crouch, bringing up his fists. He cursed the fact that he did not own a gun, then took it back as he realized what could have happened if he had left a gun in the house. The figure took a step closer. Sapphire-hued orbs became visible beneath a shock of dark hair. They stared intensely at the young man crouched before him.

"H-Heero?" Duo gasped. He straightened up and hit the light switch next to the doorway.

Heero Yuy stood there, dressed in a short-sleeved green shirt and blue jeans. His dark-brown hair had grown thicker and richer and he was taller now, reaching just beyond the six-foot mark. He had also grown broader at the shoulder, though he was still as lean as ever.

"Hisashiburi, Duo." [1]

A deep, intense rage blossomed in Duo. Two years. It had been two years since Duo had last since his erstwhile lover. There had been no note, no call, nothing, for two years. The accumulated pain and sorrow and despair balled up inside him and he let them control him. He launched himself at Heero.

Heero was unprepared for the powerful punch that Duo landed on his gut. Duo followed it with a right cross that threw him back two feet and hit the wall. He lifted one broad hand and wiped away the blood that trickled from the side of his mouth.

"Is that all you have to say, Heero? 'Hisashiburi'? Bastard! Bastard! Bastard!"

Duo flung himself at Heero again and the two rolled on the wooden floor, Duo in a maddened rage and Heero trying to calm him down.

Heero managed to evade the flurry of powerful blows aimed at his head. He rolled Duo so that he managed to get on top. However, that advantage vanished when Duo kneed him in the groin and pushed him off. Pain shot through him, white-hot streaks that had him grimacing as he curled up in a fetal position. He opened pain-wracked eyes to see Duo standing up before him. There were tear tracks along Duo's cheekbones as the violet-eyed boy stared down at him. Duo seemed to have regained a little bit of control, though the wild eyes hinted that Heero was walking a very fine line.

"You bastard! Where the hell were you? Where the fucking hell were you?" Duo glared down at Heero, still in his curled up position. "Two years! Two goddamn years!" Heero felt the tide of pain lessen and he managed to force himself up on a sitting position. He stared at Duo's shaking body and sorrow and anguish welled up inside him. Was it
too late?

"I'm sorry, Duo. You'll never know how much."

"Damn right! You're sorry! High-and-mighty-'I'm-the-Perfect-Soldier'-Heero Yuy is sorry for abandoning his lover for two years! Is that supposed to make me feel better? Is it?" Duo gave in to impulse and launched himself again at Heero. Heero, this time, was prepared and managed to catch Duo's flailing wrists and trap him face down on the wooden floor. He winced as pain from his still throbbing groin shot through him again, though he did not let go of Duo's wrists.

Duo closed his eyes and began to cry silent tears, unreleased sobs sending tremors through his body. Heero stared down at his ex-partner, uncertain of what to do. He slowly let go of Duo and sat down to lean against the wall, closing his eyes.

I'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorry! chanted across Heero's mind. He wanted to say something, anything, but his vocal chords felt frozen.

Duo continued to cry even as he felt Heero's weight disappeared from his back and his wrists were released. His arms flopped down to the floor on either side of him. The two were silent, merely immersed in their own worlds of agony and regrets.

"Doshite, Heero? Why now?"

Heero started as he heard the quiet question. He opened his eyes to look at Duo but
the other boy had not moved at all from the floor. He closed his eyes again, and ignoring his
throbbing jaw, began to talk.

"I went to see you after the Mariemaya incident. Relena---Relena and I had managed to
talk before that incident and I told her about you. She was outraged and ran off. I think
that was partially why she got caught. She was not thinking things properly."

"Sou ka." I do see, Duo thought. You felt responsible and so you went after her. "After everything, she appeared at the hospital. She told me that you knew I was in the hospital but you didn't care. I knew you had been angry that I wanted to save her and I thought that maybe you still were. She said she was willing to overlook my relationship with you. I refused her offer. She was nothing to me but a friend and a cause. I thought she had finally let go since she took that rejection quite calmly. I was wrong. She came to me a few minutes before my shuttle was about to launch and told me that you and Hirde had been seen going out together. I wouldn't believe it and I didn't listen to her. Then I came to this colony and I saw you and Hirde at the junkyard. You looked so close and I heard some people talking about how you made a cute couple."

Duo could not say anything. Two years of separation because of one girl-child's spiteful jealousy?

"I---I didn't have anything to offer you, Duo. Not even a normal life. Not the way she could. But I didn't want to just leave you without giving you that choice. If you wanted her, then it would have been your choice. So, I left you a letter at the mailbox of this very house and waited for your answer."

Duo shuddered. He remembered one day, a few weeks after he came to the city of Mides, when Hirde had offered to get his mail. Duo had laughingly agreed, not expecting there to be any. Hirde had returned a few minutes later saying that there had been no mail, but there had been a disturbance in her eyes that Duo could remember noticing, though he had said nothing at the time. Now he knew what had happened.

"You didn't answer my question, Heero," he said quietly, sitting up. Reddened eyes met Heero's, still filled with turmoil. "Why now? Why two years later?"

"Because it wasn't until now that I found out that you didn't marry Hirde. I left when you didn't reply to the letter. There was no way you could not have gotten it. I found work as a bodyguard for different people and I was very busy. I also did not want to remember you." Heero's eyes met Duo's frankly. Duo said nothing.

"Two months ago, Quatre and Trowa emailed me about a reunion of the Gundam pilots. He thought that the two of us were still together but I corrected him on that. Still, he asked me to contact you. I agreed."

"What do we do now, Heero?" Duo asked quietly.

"I---I don't know."

"Maybe all this was Fate's way of telling us that we are not mean to be."

"Since when did Shinigami bow to Fate?"

Duo had no reply to that. He closed his eyes and let go of the pain and the agony that had been with him. He had thought himself scorned, forgotten. He could not have been further from the truth. But the question was, could they make it this time?

"We could, Duo." Heero's reply to his unspoken query jarred him and he stared at the Japanese boy. "We could make a new start."

A new start, a new beginning. Duo stared out the window and was startled. The night had passed and dawn was breaking on the horizon. Slowly, he nodded. "Hai."

[1] - Basically, it says 'It's been a while' or 'long time'

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