Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Mistaken Words ❯ Do You Remember When? ( Chapter 39 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Mistaken Words

Special thanks to my editors! Pious Knight and morgansgirl, you two do so much for me I just don't know what to say besides thank you!

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing

Do You Remember When?

Heero's eyes focused on the far side of his room and the small patch of sunshine that filtered through the drawn curtains. His room was lit by artificial lights, but seeing this he wished someone would shut them off and open the curtains. He couldn't remember the last time he had actually seen the sun it, had been so long ago. Heero remembered the first time he had come to Earth, his first time seeing the sun, it hadn't impressed him. He had not felt a need to bask in its warm rays, but for some reason, now he wanted to be in that small patch of sunlight, he assumed it was just because he couldn't.

A knock on the door caught his attention, but he didn't look over immediately. He didn't want to take his eyes off that golden glow, a part of him was afraid it wouldn't be there when he looked back. “Good morning Heero,” Relena cheerful voice did finally draw Heero's eyes and his expression relaxed happy to see her.

“What about the conference?” he asked as she stepped beside the bed, he had not been expecting to see her since the conference had started.

She just smiled, “It's Sunday. Yesterday was just a large formal greeting with lunch, nothing really starts until tomorrow.” Relena walked quickly around the bed her pretty smile growing, “So I have the whole day.”

Heero's eyes flickered away from Relena to the slowly moving spot of sunshine, pleased to see it was still there. He looked back to Relena only to see her eyes studying the area of the room he had just been looking at. “Why are those still closed?” she asked, “It's such a beautiful day outside.” Crossing the room quickly Relena threw back the curtains allowing all the sunlight to spill into the room, Heero felt that now familiar pain stab behind his right eye at the sudden brightness but he ignored it. A cloudless blue sky greeted his eyes when he was able to see clearly, and for several long minutes he just stared at it.

She came back to her chair after dimming the room's lights letting the sun do more of the work. Now that the room seemed filled with this natural brightness Heero looked more closely at Relena, noting that had he been paying more clear attention he would have known she had nowhere important to be. Her long blond hair hung loose about her shoulders just the way he liked it, and she wore clothes far more comfortable than that of her usual business suit. Relena took the chair by Heero's bed and pulled her legs up into it, making herself comfortable.

“So how are you feeling?” she asked with a small smile, he knew that question was coming he had lost count of the number of times he had heard the question.

“About the same as always,” Heero responded vaguely, knowing Relena would let it go at that unlike some of the others.

“Well that's certainly better than worse,” she leaned to the side, propping her head on one hand. She was far more relaxed now than she had been at the beginning and Heero too felt a step closer to what they had had. “And I definitely prefer your company to those old men and the conference,” she laughed a little at that.

“What about Dante, Zechs, and Quatre?” Heero asked in return, feeling his lips twitch, it was hard not to feel what Relena was sharing with him.

“They might not be old, but I still prefer you,” her eyes moved away from Heero as she spoke, until they were looking at the table resting partially over the left side of Heero's bed. A cup sat closest to the edge with a straw in it, but Heero knew that's not what had caught her attention, “What's this?” she asked while drawing the table across the bed.

Her small hands took hold of the wooden box even as Heero answered, “A chess set,” he raised his left hand up onto the table motioning towards the small drawers, “It was a gift from Ash.”

“It's beautiful,” she breathed as she unfolded it and opened one of the drawers studying the pieces. Relena put the piece away after a moment and slid the table slowly back to where it had been previously been sitting. Leaning forward Relena rested her arms on the bed beside him and lowered her head onto them as she watched him, “He's a good friend, I didn't realise then, how close you two were…” there was no need for her to specify what she meant by `then'.

Heero studied Relena without really looking at her, “He's just a very stubborn man,” he said remembering all the occasions Ash had forced things to go as close to his way as he could, despite Heero's protests, “With no sense of self preservation.” A tiny almost impossible to see smile touched his face, nothing had deterred Ash, he had been able to push everyone else away except Ash. Heero reached across his body without really thinking, his the fingers of his left hand searching out the golden strands of Relena's hair that had spilled across him when she had laid her head down.

“I know his friendship to you means more than just that,” Relena said with a contented smile, “Even if you refuse to admit it to yourself.”

It was true, Heero couldn't deny it to himself, it was hard for him to express in words emotions he didn't really understand. As much has he had tried to push Ash away, a part of him had always been grateful that Ash remained steadfast. Despite himself he had come to rely on people at least to some extent, and to suddenly rip himself from the friends he had fought so hard with, it had hurt him more than he expected it would.

Heero looked down at his hand twined in Relena's silky hair, before his eyes sought out her face, “I missed that…” she whispered eyes falling closed. The silence that settled over them was a comfortable one. It was nice for Heero to just be able to enjoy being with her again without feeling like she was forcing herself to sit with him. He knew deep down this had never been the case, but that didn't change the fact that that was how it had felt to him, this was by far preferable.

The soft knock on the door hardly registered with Heero, it was enough to alert him, but he didn't bother turning to look and see who it was. “Aww now isn't this a nice sight!” Ash's smile could be heard clearly in his voice as he strode into the room. Relena jumped having clearly not been paying enough attention to even have heard the door. Heero was surprised at the blush that flooded her cheeks as she sat a little straighter though still resting her arms on the bed. “Oh don't stop just `cause I'm here,” Ash continued to grin like a Cheshire cat, “Heero you didn't tell me you could melt women, what other secrets have you been hiding?”

Heero levelled the man with a steady glare, but Ash had seen enough of them to know these daggers were dull. “Princess,” Ash continued without missing a beat, “I'm glad our second meeting is under better circumstances, I never really got a chance to apologise for all that happened to you.”

She offered Ash a gracious smile, it was genuine, and lit up her entire face, “As I myself have been told several times recently,” her eyes fell to Heero, “It's all in the past.”

Ash nodded in agreement to that, and turned his focus to Heero, “So Heero…”

“Don't ask,” the Japanese man cut through Ash's relaxed drawl, he saw through the corner of his eye that Relena's eyes flickered between them in silent question.

“That's not fair, just cause you can't bring yourself to be honest with me,” Ash protested.

Heero rolled his eyes, “Fine!” he sighed, “The same as always,” he spoke each word purposefully, feeling a victory near at hand. Not only was this not among the answers Ash didn't want to hear it was also more than just two words, he couldn't complain about this.

Ash opened his mouth to contest his answer but stopped, “Well it doesn't tell me very much but it isn't exactly breaking the rules…” he appeared to think about it for a moment, and Heero looked away to Relena still seeing a confused expression on her face. “I suppose I'll except it for now, but I'll get you to be honest one of these days Heero,” the former pilot knew better than to say anything then, no matter what it was it would have just further encouraged Ash. “I'm tired of his usual answers to how he's feeling,” Ash explained to Relena with a crooked smile on his face, “So when I'm here the traditional answers don't apply.”

Relena laughed a little at that, her eyes searching out Heero's face “And you play along with this?”

“I find my way around it,” he told her dryly.

“That won't last for much longer,” Ash countered with a laugh, and sat himself down on the edge of Heero's bed. “I thought it might be nice if I brought everyone in since Quatre had the day off…I hope I'm not disrupting any plans,” he was entirely serious now.

“No, I think it's a great idea,” Relena was quick to assure.

As much as Heero had been enjoying his time alone with Relena, he felt a spark of excitement at the thought of spending time with all of them. He hadn't actually seen Quatre since this had all been resolved, but he felt there wouldn't be as much tension with him. Quatre might like to blame himself for bad things that happened, but he understood Heero's situation. He had been the one to destroy the colonies and satellites, and had managed to come back from that and complete the war, in his own way making up for his mistake. Heero was also hoping that Ash's presence would relax the situation, as he had done with Wufei, and Wufei hadn't needed the help.

“Good,” Ash breathed a sigh of relief, “I wasn't able to get a hold of Trowa, Duo gave me his cell number but he wouldn't answer.”

Heero saw Relena's expression falter then, and he wondered what she had to regret about that? But this didn't seem like the time or place to ask, “Don't worry about it, he'll come when he's ready.”

Ash nodded to that his smile returning, “I was thinking we could all play some euchre,” he pulled a deck of cards from the pocket of the light jacket he was wearing and placed it on the table in front of Heero. “Duo told me this was a game you've played before,” Ash shrugged out of the jacket and tossed it on the counter.

The former pilot reached up to finger the deck, remembering the first time Duo and spoken of the game, and explained it to him. It had seemed an odd game to him at first but one he had quickly come to like, more so for the banter than the actual game. “I've heard from Dante and Une that you and Duo had a rather interesting first meeting?” Relena said with a mischievous smile.

Ash looked suddenly put on the spot, a sheepish smile overtaking his features, “Ah…about that…” he laughed a little at seeing Relena's smile widen at that, it wasn't often that Ash was caught off guard.

Heero looked between the two of them his expression clearly questioning, he hadn't heard anything about this meeting. Relena laughed easily, “I'm sorry Ash, I couldn't resist,” her attention turned to Heero, “Ash and Duo decided to have a fight to decide who was the better friend.” Her smile widened and she winked at Ash.

“So who won?” Heero asked looked Ash's way.

Ash pulled a hand through his hair eyes glancing away, “Well…it's kind of a draw,” he shrugged his shoulders.

A silence fell over the three of them, and Heero turned his attention to Relena who had taken hold of his left hand where it lay on his body. It wasn't long before he felt Ash's considering eyes studying him, briefly he considered ignoring them, but how long before a comment came? Turning his eyes to Ash Heero was surprised not to see a knowing smirk on his friend's face rather Ash looked deep in thought his eyes studying a part of Heero very intently. “I've been meaning to ask you,” Ash began gesturing towards Heero's right arm, “Why haven't you been using it?”

Heero flexed his left hand gently causing Relena to let go and reached up for the blankets that covered his right arm. He released his hold on the gun before he began to pull the sheets back to reveal the brace that held firm to his forearm. “Just harder to move right now,” he said slowly drawing his arm up, there was pain when he tried to move it, and he could feel it was more sluggish than his left but he was able to do it.

“I was wondering if cards would be a problem. Glad to see you can still use it. How bad's the break?” he asked.

The former pilot looked down at his right arm and shrugged, “Never asked,” he admitted placing the matter aside as someone knocked on his door. Three sets of eyes watched as Duo, Wufei and Quatre walked into the room.

Quatre strode over to Heero's bedside quickly his expression a mix of remorse and relief, “It's really good to see you awake,” he greeted “I'm sorry I couldn't come to see you sooner.”

“Don't worry about it,” Heero disregarded the matter, he knew how busy Quatre was, it could be an effort at times just for him to be able to spend a little time with his sisters. Heero could feel a slight tension build within the silence that followed, and he wished there was something he could say to dispel it, but there wasn't. Ash thankfully stepped forward or at least reached for the deck of cards.

“Alright now that we're all here, it's time to pick partners,” he smiled openly to all in the room, “Duo, you and Heero against my self and Quatre, Relena and Wufei play the winner?” Ash offered seeing as no one had really jumped at the short opening he gave them.

Heero's eyes sought out Duo's face and saw a slightly unsure expression, but there was hope in those eyes. He wanted to do this as much as the others but Heero thought they probably felt like they didn't deserve to have the friendship back that they had all almost lost. Heero was determined to show them that wasn't the case at all. The edges of his lips curled slightly into a tiny smile. For someone like Duo, the expression stood out clearly, and he returned the smile albeit hesitantly as he moved to sit near the end of Heero's bed. Quatre took up position opposite Ash, who was trying to arrange the table so it was within easy reach for Heero along with the others. Relena remained sitting in the chair next to Heero's bed, her head resting on her hands, crystal blue eyes constantly wandering about the room.

As Ash began to shuffle the deck of cards, Heero watched him look over each face, a tiny smile touching his lips as he did. The Japanese man didn't think anyone else noticed, despite the fact that they were all here and about to do something they hadn't in years, the tension remained subtle but still clearly there. Heero wondered what Ash had up is sleeve as he began to slowly deal out the cards.

“So I think it's time we share some dirt,” Ash broke the silence suddenly, his voice and manner both completely relaxed. “What sort of stories do you have about him?” he thumbed in Heero's direction, his smile widening at the varying reactions he received. Wufei was smirking at this, while Quatre looked surprised. Heero looked to Duo who sat across from him unable to read his friend's face. “What do you say?” Heero knew Ash wouldn't be deterred by silence he'd push for what he wanted.

“Do I have a say in this?” Heero asked with a raised eyebrow as he reached with his left hand for the last card dealt to him, placing it along with the others into his right.

“Not unless it's `Yes I think that's a great idea!' no,” Ash shook his head smiling like a mad man. It was impossible not to feel affected by his good mood, and smiles could be seen on both Quatre and Duo's faces now. They were standing on the edge of something, it was something they all wanted just a tiny piece of normalcy. But could they get it? Were they worthy to enjoy a moment of peace?

“Well there was that time he jumped from the hospital…” to Heero's total surprise it was Duo who was speaking, his eyes on his cards as though he were still a little unsure but wanted to see where this could possible take them.

Ash laughed at that, “I find pulling a gun on him works rather well to keep him there,” his comment was vague but Heero remembered the incident that Ash was referring too.

An eyebrow raised on Duo's face as he passed out a card, it was clear he was curious about that, “Well I was sort of on the run at the same time…” Duo looked at Heero from the tops of his eyes, “It was the fact that he didn't pull his parachute right away that bothered me a little.”

Heero smirked a little at that, still able to clearly remember Duo's reaction when he had set the leg that had been broken in the fall. Heero trumped the cards already on the table and let Duo take the trick, as he tossed out his last card winning them the first round. “So this jumping out of high places is not an unusual thing for you?” Ash asked tossing the missy to Duo to begin the next round.

“What else has he jumped from?” Quatre asked the dreaded question, Heero rolled his eyes the smile on Ash's face was devilish.

“Never give him an opening…” Heero mumbled under his breath, still really enjoying himself.

As quiet as it had been Ash still seemed to catch that, and though he didn't call Heero on it, a glint entered his eyes that Heero was positive was not a good sign. “He decided to jump from a helicopter without attaching his harness, about partway down he decided something might be useful to slow his fall,” Ash shook his head smiling, “By that point his only option was bare hand on rope.”

“I was wearing gloves,” Heero corrected in a monotone.

“Still got burned, didn't you?” Ash threw back almost sounding smug.

Duo laughed out right at that, for the first time appearing to completely relax, “Death from above,” he smiled, “That's nothing new with Heero.”

“I thought he seemed unnaturally comfortable with it…” Ash said sounding entirely serious, “He seemed a little too quick to turn to that as his way out.”

Relena reached out a hand to rest lightly on Heero's, her eyes seeking out his as though to make sure he was enjoying this, he nodded to her once to assure. This was the banter he had missed all those years, not only that but to be surrounded by people who understood him completely, something he had never quite allowed himself to believe Ash could do. Quatre looked in Heero's direction, “Wasn't there a time when you were protecting Relena that you used that method?” he directed his question to Heero, ever polite while the others were content to speak about him. Either way it didn't matter to Heero, he knew he wouldn't be the one answering that question, but if it got the others talking than it was all worth it.

“Yeah,” Wufei confirmed from his position at the left side of Heero's bed, he leaned against the wall watching the game with a relaxed air about him. He didn't have to struggle over the same barriers as the others, so he could just sit back and enjoy. “He leapt from the second floor loft in a ballroom to take out a potential target.”

“He had a gun,” Heero defended tossing out a card to follow suit with what Quatre had lead with.

“The stairs as I recall were right next to you,” Wufei pointed out calmly.

“Would have taken too long,” the Japanese man said in an offhand way.

“You could have broken something!” Duo retorted with lightning speed his usual smile now settled firmly on his features.

Heero shrugged, “I landed on something soft.”

Ash barked a laugh at that, “You've been doing this for how long?” it was a rhetorical question as he continued to laugh.

“So what happened; he tried to jump out the window with you there?” Duo asked Ash, “You said you pulled a gun on him? What happened to his gun?”

“It actually was his gun…” Ash sat a little straighter, that hand having been played giving him a moment to reminisce as Quatre shuffled the deck of cards. Heero shut his eyes at this, he couldn't really remember this event and he knew that was never a good sign. “Someone had been drinking a little too much. When the hospital staff tired to examine him he became difficult, so I took his gun from him.” Ash looked over at Heero a disgustingly sweet smile on his face, “You behaved yourself relatively well after that.” Heero glared daggers in return but that only seemed to fuel Ash on.

“Heero's never much been in favour of doctors,” Wufei said with a shake of his head, “I seem to recall Sally having a hell of a time with you after you took out that terrorist.”

Heero remembered it all too clearly, and he shook his head, “I was fine.”

“Not that she believed you,” Wufei returned dryly.

“Well I'd say we're all to blame for that,” Heero looked up as his friend. There had been a time when Sally didn't feel the need to hound them so much, she had expected them to come to her when injured. But it had quickly become clear that their idea of what needed treating and Sally's were entirely different. After a few episodes of her discovering a hidden injury Sally had become a great deal more persistent not leaving them alone until she knew everything no matter how long it took.

“Euchre,” Ash announced rather pleased with himself, he gathered the cards and quickly shuffled them dealing them out and placing the missy before Heero, and the game was on again before anyone could say anything. “So Duo, how did you first meet Heero? I understand violent greetings are the norm for you guys…”

“He tried to kill me,” Heero answered for his friend, as though it were an everyday thing. Heero liked the smirk he saw flash onto Duo's features at that he was relaxing.

“Only `cause you were trying to kill her,” he point in Relena's direction, for her part Relena was quietly laughing her arms pressed to Heero's side lightly just keeping a contact there. “And wouldn't you know it! She defends him!” Duo still sounded as disgruntled now as he had back then.

Relena laughed outright at that, “Can you blame me? What girl can resist someone so dark and brooding?” she smiled up at him, for his part Heero just gave her a sceptical look, only increasing the sparkle in her eyes.

“Not many apparently,” Ash replied leisurely, “Heero, remember that time with the stripper?”

The conversation stumbled over that one, Heero just slowly shook his head, Ash had stretched the truth a little before, now he was just outright lying, “Ash…” there was a warning note in his voice but Ash was having too much fun now, and the other's were glancing his way obviously curious to see where this was heading. Relena on the other hand just looked amused, Heero felt pretty sure she knew it wasn't true.

“Hey it's not my fault you're embarrassed now…” he smiled cheekily.

“It never happened,” Heero clarified calmly.

“If you want to remember it that way…” Ash appeared thoughtful for a moment, “You know as surprised as I was back then, I only really had one question. Were you of age then? Are you of age now? How old are you?” he didn't seem to care that that was three questions.

“Don't make me kill you,” despite himself Heero was still enjoying this.

Ash's eyes lit up, “You'll have to get out of bed first!”

Heero's hand had lowered the cards and slipped down to the blankets searching out that familiar concealed object. “Thankfully someone actually had a little foresight,” Heero pulled the gun from beneath the blankets and with some effort aimed it at Ash.

That caused more than one pair of eyes to widen, “Where did you get that?” it was Relena who asked the question he could see in all of their eyes.

“Gun Fairy,” Heero replied with a straight face.

Duo burst out laughing at that, “What? He takes stitches and leaves weaponry?”

Heero smiled a little more openly, “Something like that…” he said softly as Ash took up the deck of cards still laughing over that exchange.

Thanks for Reading!

Pictures on the Wall:

John walked into the monitoring room next door to Heero's carrying a small cooler in one hand, his brown eyes were a little surprised to see Wufei sitting in the room. The Chinese man was seated behind the desk onyx eyes focused intently on the computer screen before him, though he did look up briefly when John entered the room. He moved deeper into the room glancing over Wufei's shoulder as he placed the cooler down on the edge of the table, “Chess strategies?” he questioned an eyebrow raised.

Wufei looked up with a dry laugh, “Getting Heero to eat has come down to a chess game every time, where at the very least he ends up eating half of what I bring him.” Wufei turned the chair so he was more fully looking at John, “If I win he eats it all.”

“Well at least he's still eating some…” John shook his head, Heero could be such a stubborn boy, “He's been getting more difficult, but I'm hoping I've found something that might be a nice treat.”

“Oh?” Wufei questioned sounding very curious. John removed the lid of the cooler allowing the former pilot to looking inside at the contents, “Well it's certainly worth a shot,” he smiled a little at that.

“That's what I was thinking,” John returned the expression and shut the cooler. His eyes sought out the monitor which displayed the image of Heero's room. He saw Ash sitting with the Japanese boy, both pouring over the chess board Ash had bought. “That was an excellent gift,” he spoke softly drawing a nod from Wufei as the Chinese man returned to the computer screen before him. Inadvertently learning what he had wanted to know John took hold of the cooler and walked back out of the room making his way to Heero's.

Morganeth Taren'drel