Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Behind Closed Doors ❯ 5: Waiting ( Chapter 5 )

5: Waiting

There is a man who sits on the corner. That's all he does. So Heero sits and watches him, intrigued, the laptop at his side beeping away quietly, never ending its search. Heero hardly notices it any more; its like an extension of himself. But he notices the man.

The man has a hat in front of him. It is filled with coins, but the man never reaches forward, never takes them out. Heero can hear the people talking in whispers as they pass. They say he's crazy, that man on the corner, and they make wishes when they throw coins in his hat, confident he won't use them and not really caring if he does. He doesn't. He just sits, as if he's waiting.

And Heero sits on the opposite side of the street, just watching, waiting for him to finish waiting while he waits himself. There's something about that man on the corner that interests him, but it has been so long since he was interested in anything that he can't tell what it is. He watches in the hopes of finding out. It's not like he has anything better to do.

A small girl comes by early in the morning. She's in her Sunday best; a beautiful navy velveteen dress with lace cuffs and collar, her dark hair done up with bright red ribbons. She stops near the man and kneels beside him on the pavement; looking at him from the height he's chosen and Heero finds himself standing, edging closer, laptop in hand, to hear what she might say. It's like a great secret about to be revealed. From the mouth of a little child that can't be more than three years old. God only knows where her mother is.

"What are you waiting for mister?" Yes, what are you waiting for?

"Life, little girl. Just life."

Heero smiles knowingly as the little girl just shrugs and runs away. But the man who sits on the corner is watching him, and he leans over, taking a single gold coin from his hat, and holds it out. An offering.