Gundam Wing Fan Fiction / Trigun Fan Fiction ❯ The Game ❯ Remembering the past ( Chapter 14 )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: Arigatomina 
Anime/Manga: Gundam Wing Fan Fiction / Trigun Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Fantasy / Adventure | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 07.23.2006 | Pages: 2 | Words: 2.2K | Visits: 279 | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: Gundam Wing Fan Fiction / Trigun Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Fantasy / Adventure | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 07.23.2006 | Pages: 2 | Words: 2.2K | Visits: 279 | Status: Work In Progress
Notes: Extra short part, almost entirely dialogue.
The Game
Part 14: "Remembering the past"
Dinner had been an awkward thing, mostly because Ernest didn't act or look like someone who was supposed to be 'dead.' According to Heero, Japanese ghosts didn't have feet. They just had these spiral points like genies or something. And as far as Duo knew, all ghosts were see through, no matter what country they hailed from. Then there was the fact that he could touch things, and Duo had caught him breathing as much as any living person. He was pretty sure ghosts and dead people didn't need to breathe. Altogether, he was left with the impression that this 'they're all dead here' thing was just another hype made up by The Game to make this realm appear even stranger than it already was.
Nightfall found Duo on the balcony in the back of the inn. Like the window in the library, it looked out over that pretty stream that wasn't really there. Heero joined him after a while and they sat together, just looking at the wrong-colored sky. It was blue and purple, with what looked like clouds but clearly weren't. It was dark and pretty in a 'clearly not real' sort of way. Eventually Duo decided he liked it. He also liked how they could see the moon shimmering on that not-there stream despite the fact that there wasn't a moon in the sky.
They ended up discussing how strange the game was, and this realm in particular. That led to something Duo had been wondering about, especially after realizing they'd failed to update Quatre before going to not one, but two additional realms.
"I wonder if we can save our game," Duo muttered. "Pause it, go back to the real world, and then come back in where we left off later. We've probably been in here for weeks. It seems strange that Quatre never said anything about us saving and taking a break."
"We can ask Setsuna when we get back to the port," said Heero.
"Yeah. She'd probably tell us more than Quatre, anyway. And it's not like anyone will miss me if I stay in here for a few months without coming out."
"Not even Hilde?" asked Heero.
Duo sighed. "Not even. She knew I was getting restless before I did. When I left I told her I'd probably wander around if my plans fell through. She promised to hold onto my mail and forward it if I settled down somewhere. Like that would happen."
"I thought you'd already settled down," Heero admitted. "Started a normal life."
There was a strange emphasis put on the word normal that made Duo grin at the odd colored clouds over them. He laughed a little and slunk lower against the wall.
"Normal," Duo snorted. "Do you even know what that means? I don't think I know anyone who's really normal."
"I wasn't raised to be normal," Heero said quietly.
"You and me both. Shit, we were out killing people when most kids were going through the dirty magazine stage of puberty. That's about as far from normal as it gets."
"I tried, though," said Heero. "After we all split up. It didn't work. I can't remember a time when I wasn't living one day to the next."
Duo gave a wistful smile. "All for the mission..."
"Mission, goal. There was always something to aim for. Then there wasn't anything. I don't see how normal people handle having nothing to aim for. How do they decide what to do? Where to go?"
"I figure they settle down," said Duo. "Raise some babies, or just get hitched and let life take them where it wants. But you know, I tried that. It gets boring. I tried to settle down, got a normal job - the most boring thing ever, I swear - and Hilde was looking for a business partner, so I had the companionship. It just didn't hold. I got restless. I don't know. Maybe it's because she started dating and wasn't around as much. But I figure that's where games like this come from. Not this one, normal ones. I guess I could have tried to get into a hobby like that, maybe be a kid again and just get away from that boring every day is the same damn thing life. It's how I ended up here, anyway. Just looking for adventure where there wasn't any."
Heero was quiet for a while. He hadn't expected Duo to have been in the same situation he'd found himself in. Somehow it was even worse knowing a person as cheerful as Duo had reached the same depressing conclusion he had.
"People always say life is its own adventure," said Heero. "I tried to see it that way, but I didn't."
"I didn't, either," Duo muttered. He sighed and shrugged, doing his best to add some levity. "But you know, I was probably going about it all wrong. I mean, Hilde and I didn't exactly have a lot of chemistry. We almost never argued. She was like this perfect little housewife with the whole cooking and walking away when we disagreed thing. I'm pretty sure she did it because she knew I was spoiling for a fight half the time. But still, it was always quiet, even before she started going out more."
"You picked the wrong person, then."
"Yeah, well, it's not like I had a lot of options," Duo smirked. "You ran off and disappeared, no contact at all. Wufei didn't want me causing chaos in his orderly little Preventor group, and Quatre wasn't even available for calls. You should have stuck around longer. We could have made a go for it together. At least with each other to bicker with, we'd have never gotten bored."
"It never crossed my mind," Heero admitted. "It would have been strange. The furthest thing from normal. But not boring. You're never boring."
"The only time I'm boring is when I'm sleeping," Duo grinned. "And who's to say strange can't be normal, too? Sounds like fun to me, like college roommates. You'd complain about the mess, I'd poke back at you being an obsessive neat freak. And don't even get me started on the cooking. I can't even boil water for tea without forgetting it and burning the coating off the bottom of the pan. And you'd be wanting to eat healthy tasteless crap all the time. I'd end up getting fat off take out and deliveries until you'd have to roll me off the couch just to get me to exercise."
He glanced over to see his teasing rewarded by a faint smirk. He glanced away too soon, though. A few minutes of silence and he found his mood slumping again. As funny as the idea of actually living with Heero was, he knew they'd have ended up really fighting eventually. And then they wouldn't even be friends anymore. He'd seen it firsthand with Hilde. Friendship just wasn't enough. Hell, even Quatre and Trowa, who he'd been sure were more than just friends, hadn't lasted a year together.
"I've been watching everyone," Duo said softly, "since the war and all. They either start a family and raise up the next generation, or they devote themselves to working for the greater good. Everyone. Quatre was all set on rebuilding, Trowa had his circus doing free shows for the poor districts, cheering people up everywhere they went, Sally roped Wufei into working for the Preventors, and then there's Relena. She'll probably be fighting for one cause or another until she's too old to stand. And there I was just watching them from a distance, wondering what the hell I was supposed to do with myself."
"I couldn't see myself doing any of those things," said Heero. "Not even being a Preventor and following orders again. I considered it, but...I didn't want any part of it. I don't know what I want."
"I thought I didn't want to fight anymore," Duo sighed, "but I still ended up calling Wufei. I just thought that maybe if it were like the five of us together again, it wouldn't be so bad. There's something wrong with that. Some of my best memories took place during rebellions when we were all risking our lives. I wanted to get away from that, but in the end I tried to go crawling right back into it. Maybe that's the real reason Wufei turned me away. I just missed you guys. I didn't think I'd ever see you again, and there wasn't a place for me with the others."
"That's why I stayed away," said Heero. "I didn't want to disturb one of those normal lives. We all worked too hard for the chance."
Duo flashed him a weak smile, wistful, but sort of nice because Heero had the same sort of look on his face. "Aren't we a pair. Who'd have thought we'd end up meeting in a role playing game. What a strange world."
"Yeah."
.-.
They went from being asleep in their adjoining rooms in the inn, to being wide awake in the portal room. It was disconcerting how that had happened, but none of them remembered having woken up and dressed. Duo didn't want to think that The Game had done it for them, but it must have. They'd been removed from the realm as soon as their time was up and placed in the port just the way they'd left. The only difference was the item bag Wolfwood was still carrying.
Duo immediately had him put on his band so they could contact Quatre. He took the news that they'd failed the task rather well. Almost too well. It made Duo wonder if he'd expected them to fail from the very beginning. He probably had, considering the whole order from the Programmer and all.
"I'm glad you're all right," said Quatre. "You did the right thing in not attempting that task again. And your injuries are gone?"
"That's what the 'Light Trips' are for," said Duo. "We were in a hurry, so we forgot to contact you first."
"I understand. Are you ready to continue, then?"
Duo shared a look with Heero at the obvious impatience. He shook his head when Wolfwood looked curious. "In a minute. I want to ask Setsuna something."
He turned to their guide, who flashed him an amused and faintly curious smile. "Is there a way to stop playing, leave, and then come back and continue the game later?"
"It's possible," said Setsuna. "The pass to resume is limited to forty-eight of your real-time hours. You receive a pass for every four tasks you complete. You must complete another task before you will receive a pass to exit and resume."
Quatre spoke up quickly, his tone a little too worried. "Is there some reason you're in a hurry to exit?"
"No," said Duo. "No hurry. Just wanted to see if it was possible."
"I see," sighed Quatre. "Well, I suggest you save up any passes you receive until you have a good reason to exit. In fact, it might be best if you keep an extra pass in your inventory at all times, in case of emergency."
"Good plan," Duo said, sharing another look with Heero.
Wolfwood fidgeted like he wanted to ask what all the pointed looks were about. Duo waved a hand at him and he subsided, though he continued to frown in confusion.
"Well," Duo said brightly. "I guess we should get on with the next task."
They stepped toward the Random portal, but Heero pulled them on to the door next to it. Duo grinned when he saw that it was the Fantasy one he'd originally wanted. He winked at Wolfwood, who shrugged and made a mum gesture to show he wouldn't say a word. This was a good chance to see exactly how much Quatre knew about their movements when they didn't tell him anything. If they pushed him enough, maybe he'd explain why he was so eager to keep them from pausing and exiting the game.
.-.
TBC
The Game
Part 14: "Remembering the past"
Dinner had been an awkward thing, mostly because Ernest didn't act or look like someone who was supposed to be 'dead.' According to Heero, Japanese ghosts didn't have feet. They just had these spiral points like genies or something. And as far as Duo knew, all ghosts were see through, no matter what country they hailed from. Then there was the fact that he could touch things, and Duo had caught him breathing as much as any living person. He was pretty sure ghosts and dead people didn't need to breathe. Altogether, he was left with the impression that this 'they're all dead here' thing was just another hype made up by The Game to make this realm appear even stranger than it already was.
Nightfall found Duo on the balcony in the back of the inn. Like the window in the library, it looked out over that pretty stream that wasn't really there. Heero joined him after a while and they sat together, just looking at the wrong-colored sky. It was blue and purple, with what looked like clouds but clearly weren't. It was dark and pretty in a 'clearly not real' sort of way. Eventually Duo decided he liked it. He also liked how they could see the moon shimmering on that not-there stream despite the fact that there wasn't a moon in the sky.
They ended up discussing how strange the game was, and this realm in particular. That led to something Duo had been wondering about, especially after realizing they'd failed to update Quatre before going to not one, but two additional realms.
"I wonder if we can save our game," Duo muttered. "Pause it, go back to the real world, and then come back in where we left off later. We've probably been in here for weeks. It seems strange that Quatre never said anything about us saving and taking a break."
"We can ask Setsuna when we get back to the port," said Heero.
"Yeah. She'd probably tell us more than Quatre, anyway. And it's not like anyone will miss me if I stay in here for a few months without coming out."
"Not even Hilde?" asked Heero.
Duo sighed. "Not even. She knew I was getting restless before I did. When I left I told her I'd probably wander around if my plans fell through. She promised to hold onto my mail and forward it if I settled down somewhere. Like that would happen."
"I thought you'd already settled down," Heero admitted. "Started a normal life."
There was a strange emphasis put on the word normal that made Duo grin at the odd colored clouds over them. He laughed a little and slunk lower against the wall.
"Normal," Duo snorted. "Do you even know what that means? I don't think I know anyone who's really normal."
"I wasn't raised to be normal," Heero said quietly.
"You and me both. Shit, we were out killing people when most kids were going through the dirty magazine stage of puberty. That's about as far from normal as it gets."
"I tried, though," said Heero. "After we all split up. It didn't work. I can't remember a time when I wasn't living one day to the next."
Duo gave a wistful smile. "All for the mission..."
"Mission, goal. There was always something to aim for. Then there wasn't anything. I don't see how normal people handle having nothing to aim for. How do they decide what to do? Where to go?"
"I figure they settle down," said Duo. "Raise some babies, or just get hitched and let life take them where it wants. But you know, I tried that. It gets boring. I tried to settle down, got a normal job - the most boring thing ever, I swear - and Hilde was looking for a business partner, so I had the companionship. It just didn't hold. I got restless. I don't know. Maybe it's because she started dating and wasn't around as much. But I figure that's where games like this come from. Not this one, normal ones. I guess I could have tried to get into a hobby like that, maybe be a kid again and just get away from that boring every day is the same damn thing life. It's how I ended up here, anyway. Just looking for adventure where there wasn't any."
Heero was quiet for a while. He hadn't expected Duo to have been in the same situation he'd found himself in. Somehow it was even worse knowing a person as cheerful as Duo had reached the same depressing conclusion he had.
"People always say life is its own adventure," said Heero. "I tried to see it that way, but I didn't."
"I didn't, either," Duo muttered. He sighed and shrugged, doing his best to add some levity. "But you know, I was probably going about it all wrong. I mean, Hilde and I didn't exactly have a lot of chemistry. We almost never argued. She was like this perfect little housewife with the whole cooking and walking away when we disagreed thing. I'm pretty sure she did it because she knew I was spoiling for a fight half the time. But still, it was always quiet, even before she started going out more."
"You picked the wrong person, then."
"Yeah, well, it's not like I had a lot of options," Duo smirked. "You ran off and disappeared, no contact at all. Wufei didn't want me causing chaos in his orderly little Preventor group, and Quatre wasn't even available for calls. You should have stuck around longer. We could have made a go for it together. At least with each other to bicker with, we'd have never gotten bored."
"It never crossed my mind," Heero admitted. "It would have been strange. The furthest thing from normal. But not boring. You're never boring."
"The only time I'm boring is when I'm sleeping," Duo grinned. "And who's to say strange can't be normal, too? Sounds like fun to me, like college roommates. You'd complain about the mess, I'd poke back at you being an obsessive neat freak. And don't even get me started on the cooking. I can't even boil water for tea without forgetting it and burning the coating off the bottom of the pan. And you'd be wanting to eat healthy tasteless crap all the time. I'd end up getting fat off take out and deliveries until you'd have to roll me off the couch just to get me to exercise."
He glanced over to see his teasing rewarded by a faint smirk. He glanced away too soon, though. A few minutes of silence and he found his mood slumping again. As funny as the idea of actually living with Heero was, he knew they'd have ended up really fighting eventually. And then they wouldn't even be friends anymore. He'd seen it firsthand with Hilde. Friendship just wasn't enough. Hell, even Quatre and Trowa, who he'd been sure were more than just friends, hadn't lasted a year together.
"I've been watching everyone," Duo said softly, "since the war and all. They either start a family and raise up the next generation, or they devote themselves to working for the greater good. Everyone. Quatre was all set on rebuilding, Trowa had his circus doing free shows for the poor districts, cheering people up everywhere they went, Sally roped Wufei into working for the Preventors, and then there's Relena. She'll probably be fighting for one cause or another until she's too old to stand. And there I was just watching them from a distance, wondering what the hell I was supposed to do with myself."
"I couldn't see myself doing any of those things," said Heero. "Not even being a Preventor and following orders again. I considered it, but...I didn't want any part of it. I don't know what I want."
"I thought I didn't want to fight anymore," Duo sighed, "but I still ended up calling Wufei. I just thought that maybe if it were like the five of us together again, it wouldn't be so bad. There's something wrong with that. Some of my best memories took place during rebellions when we were all risking our lives. I wanted to get away from that, but in the end I tried to go crawling right back into it. Maybe that's the real reason Wufei turned me away. I just missed you guys. I didn't think I'd ever see you again, and there wasn't a place for me with the others."
"That's why I stayed away," said Heero. "I didn't want to disturb one of those normal lives. We all worked too hard for the chance."
Duo flashed him a weak smile, wistful, but sort of nice because Heero had the same sort of look on his face. "Aren't we a pair. Who'd have thought we'd end up meeting in a role playing game. What a strange world."
"Yeah."
.-.
They went from being asleep in their adjoining rooms in the inn, to being wide awake in the portal room. It was disconcerting how that had happened, but none of them remembered having woken up and dressed. Duo didn't want to think that The Game had done it for them, but it must have. They'd been removed from the realm as soon as their time was up and placed in the port just the way they'd left. The only difference was the item bag Wolfwood was still carrying.
Duo immediately had him put on his band so they could contact Quatre. He took the news that they'd failed the task rather well. Almost too well. It made Duo wonder if he'd expected them to fail from the very beginning. He probably had, considering the whole order from the Programmer and all.
"I'm glad you're all right," said Quatre. "You did the right thing in not attempting that task again. And your injuries are gone?"
"That's what the 'Light Trips' are for," said Duo. "We were in a hurry, so we forgot to contact you first."
"I understand. Are you ready to continue, then?"
Duo shared a look with Heero at the obvious impatience. He shook his head when Wolfwood looked curious. "In a minute. I want to ask Setsuna something."
He turned to their guide, who flashed him an amused and faintly curious smile. "Is there a way to stop playing, leave, and then come back and continue the game later?"
"It's possible," said Setsuna. "The pass to resume is limited to forty-eight of your real-time hours. You receive a pass for every four tasks you complete. You must complete another task before you will receive a pass to exit and resume."
Quatre spoke up quickly, his tone a little too worried. "Is there some reason you're in a hurry to exit?"
"No," said Duo. "No hurry. Just wanted to see if it was possible."
"I see," sighed Quatre. "Well, I suggest you save up any passes you receive until you have a good reason to exit. In fact, it might be best if you keep an extra pass in your inventory at all times, in case of emergency."
"Good plan," Duo said, sharing another look with Heero.
Wolfwood fidgeted like he wanted to ask what all the pointed looks were about. Duo waved a hand at him and he subsided, though he continued to frown in confusion.
"Well," Duo said brightly. "I guess we should get on with the next task."
They stepped toward the Random portal, but Heero pulled them on to the door next to it. Duo grinned when he saw that it was the Fantasy one he'd originally wanted. He winked at Wolfwood, who shrugged and made a mum gesture to show he wouldn't say a word. This was a good chance to see exactly how much Quatre knew about their movements when they didn't tell him anything. If they pushed him enough, maybe he'd explain why he was so eager to keep them from pausing and exiting the game.
.-.
TBC