Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Entropy ❯ Chapter 1

Entropy

 

I strain to keep my eyes from falling closed. I've always found chemistry boring. But after the second war ended, I decided that I would like to have a high school diploma, and Duo and I enrolled in Sakura High School. Wufei says we're wasting our time, since we can get a job with the Preventers easily. As Duo likes to say though, “Just who wants to work at the age of sixteen, anyway?”

 

So here I am, relearning chemistry. Duo's sitting next to me, displaying his complete lack of self-control by burying his head in his arms and trying to fall asleep. I'm glad he's here. He keeps me calm, surprisingly enough. Our classmates still stare at us. They know who we are, what we did. We'll always be soldiers to them. Duo reminds me that I'm not alone.

 

I glance down at my textbook, and a bolded word catches my eye.

 

Entropy - A measure of the disorder or randomness in a closed system.

 

Can one really measure disorder? The universe is a closed system, so is there some machine that can measure the amount of chaos in it? I tune into my teacher's lecture to see if he is saying anything interesting.

 

“Because, really, nothing can happen without entropy. More disorder must be created in order for something to exist. If there was no increase in entropy, then time would essentially stop. We wouldn't even know, because nothing would change. Anyway, we calculate entropy the same way we calculate enthalpy.” I stop listening there.

 

Entropy explains human nature pretty well. We can't change anything without changing something else in the process. Like the war. Both wars. Muddled. Hectic. Chaotic.

 

But it led up to this peace. Everything is so calm. I like to just sit and listen to the silence, knowing that there isn't anything that I need to focus constantly on. When did I become like this? Maybe time stopped for a hundred years, and I'm the only one who changed. I became reliant on people. I started to relax. I learned how to be human.

 

I amuse myself by trying to figure out exactly when that could have been. Maybe it was when Treize died. Maybe it was when I fired a blank shot at Mariemaia. Maybe it was when I woke up in the hospital and stared into Duo's eyes.

 

Maybe it was even when I first saw him, and time slowed down enough to not stop, but to still change me. It certainly seemed like that year of war lasted much longer.

 

Maybe I should just learn from Duo and start sleeping through chemistry.

 

I sigh and turn to gaze at Duo. I find myself doing this often lately. It's so easy to be friends with him. I feel as though I've known him forever, even though we hardly even talked during the war. He catches me staring at him and winks. I smile softly back as the bell rings, signaling the end of class.

 

Later that day, we sit in our dorm room. Duo amuses himself on the computer while I quietly read Of Mice and Men. Duo sighs loudly, and spins in the computer chair, stretching lazily. He looks at what I'm reading, and laughs.

 

“Oh, it's us!”

 

I look up at him, perplexed. He comes to sit with me on my bed, leaning so that his back is against mine.

 

“There's lot's of guys here, but we're different. You know why?”

 

I smile, understanding. “Because I've got you to look after me, and you've got me to look after you.”

 

“Yup!” His rich laughter sends vibrations through my back. I turn around, forcing him to fall backwards, and I catch his head in my lap.

 

“Promise?” I ask quietly, looking into his eyes.

 

“'Course, Hee-chan. I wouldn't be here if you weren't.”

 

“Good, because I'm not planning on leaving your side anytime soon,” I say as I run my thumb over his cheek. He blushes, and reaches to intertwine his hand with mine.

 

“Hey, what's gotten into you all of a sudden?”

 

“Sorry,” I say quickly pulling away from him. He tightens his grip and pulls me down until I'm resting my head on his stomach, our hands still clasped.

 

“Don't ever back away from me, Heero. I'll follow you wherever you go.”

 

“Stalker.”

 

“Hey now, don't put me on the same level as Relena.” I laugh, enjoying the feeling of his torso moving in and out as he breathes.

 

“You seem more relaxed lately,” Duo says, reaching up with his other hand to push my wild bangs out of my eyes.

 

“Only because I've got you to look after me. Right?”

 

He smiles back. “Always.” The look in his eyes sends flutters through my stomach.

 

I think I've loved him for some time now. Maybe it started the moment I started to change. He seems to feel the same, at least as far as I can tell. It's one of those things where I know he knows and he knows I know, but neither of us will ever change it. We'll just stay with each other, never really crossing that line. At least, for now. Maybe someday the world will stop and it will be just the two of us, together, for the rest of forever.