Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Nevergreen ❯ Chapter 9

Nevergreen 9/?

The Goologong brothers were waiting, two black pillars at the front gate with white teeth flashing as they grinned, drawing Duo to them and leaving, disappearing around a corner toward the basketball courts and the `student's' playground where Heero was not welcome. Instead, Heero followed Trowa inside and put his name in the little book on the register before heading to his staff room, grass crunching under his heels, air hot on his head as the sun thrashed everything beneath it.

The air conditioner was on but whining so Heero grabbed the neat pile of books he needed for the day and left, heading straight for his room which was blissfully empty and still a little cool, untouched yet by the sun's rays. He sat at his desk, his schedule before him, and he just stared at the back wall, finally letting his thoughts drift and the memories wander in.

He remembered being the one sitting at the desks in front of him. He remembered the way the teacher would glance in his direction, ask him the answer to a question. He remembered his original indifference, the carelessness that pursued his boredom across the classroom and beyond it, and the way his teacher had tagged along after it, chasing it down and eventually…pinning him to the blackboard one cool evening after tutoring that wasn't needed, breath warm and skin scented…Not boring. Not known. Then the waiting…

Most of all, Heero remembered the waiting. The desire for more, the reluctance to do anything about it knowing he couldn't make the first move. Then making it, doing anything he could to break the boredom once again growing, and the waiting that followed…So much waiting, so many moments, lifetimes, forever's…Would he have wasted them all?

"Zechs…" A name, nothing more. A wisp of memory being buried by red dust and leaf litter in a land the original teacher would probably never see. It was not a fate Heero cared to think about, merely one he knew he had to learn from.

"Oi, Mr. Yuy!" Marie skipped through the door, hat drawn so low over her eyes she had to tilt her head back just to get a half decent look at him.

"Miss. Barton," Heero acknowledged, then realized what he had said. "Are you any relation to Mr. Barton?"

Marie blinked, thought about it then shook her head as she tossed her things on the desk directly in front of Heero and sprawled in the chair, skirt splayed in a rather…indecent manner. Heero made a note to keep his gaze fixed above desk level.

"Nah, never saw him before he moved here," Marie winked. "Wish I was related…he's fuckin' hot! Imagine how jealous I could make them sluts if I could say he was me uncle!"

Heero shook his head, wondering what Trowa would think of that, and winced, trying to put himself back into teacher mode. It just didn't want to come; that detachment from his students, the distance he required was no longer there because he could remember being there. Being one of them. And now…

`I want one of them.'

"Language Marie, and take off your hat," Heero noted and she thankfully blushed, sitting up straighter and closing her legs, taking off the hat as the rest of the class slowly trickled in, taking their seats and pulling out their books.

Godfrey, a small white kid, skinny as a rake with swollen joints and the knobbiest knees Heero had ever seen, raced in ten minutes late, looking like he had just got out of bed. Heero looked at him, looked away and looked again, and sighed. First period was always the worst.

"Godfrey, did you sign in late at the office?"

Godfrey shook his head.

"Go sign in now please."

Godfrey looked around the classroom, a little confused as to why no one would look at him. Sighing, he stood, sniffling loudly, sucking the snot back up his nose and then when it still wasn't enough, wiping the booger that was dribbling down his lip off his face and wiping it off on his already snot encrusted shorts as he bolted out the door.

Feeling more than a little queasy, Heero turned to the blackboard, writing the textbook page and activity on the board in the corner and proceeding to explain how to add up fractions. The topic had never seemed so interesting, but then, Heero had never wanted so badly to distract himself from other things.

Turning after writing up the latest set of problems, Heero sighed at all the hands that were up. It seemed his morning was not going to be easy.

"Jacinta?"

The small black girl at the back of the room let her hand fall to her desk with a loud `thunk' as she scrunched up her flat nose in thought.

"I dunget it, Sir."

Frowning a little, Heero looked around the room and noted several students nodding in a similar fashion, all of whom were noted as having learning difficulties and who he suspected of being part of the local shame culture. Thinking quickly, he moved to the front of the room and started moving his desk. The kids just watched him like he had lost his mind until he had the desk pushed up against the side wall and a large space was made in the front of the room.

"Move your desks," Heero urged. "I want as much space as possible."

And so it was that when Godfrey came running back into the room, grinning with a big green booger once again sliding free from his nose and raced toward his desk he ran, instead, straight into a pile of stacked chairs that crashed down like a small building, the girls screaming in shock and the boys laughing at Godfrey, who sat on the floor looking totally stumped.

"Alright. This side of the room is the top of the fraction. That side is the bottom," Heero explained, choosing to completely ignore what had happened. It was definitely best to ignore Godfrey, and his runny nose, and his snotty shorts, and…Ignore.

"The back of the room is the first fraction, the front is the second one. So, how many people should be in each corner?"

The students mumbled amongst themselves for a while, but slowly a few of the bolder kids took charge, sending students off to corners, those who had understood the idea of fractions working out who needed to be where. When they finally had it right Heero just nodded at them, and then drew a large question ark after the equals sign on the board.

"So, put the answer in the middle of the room."

The kids once again erupted into action, talking amongst themselves to figure out who needed to move, how many people they needed to get into the middle of the room, sitting them down in two little blocks to indicate the top and bottom of the fraction. Heero noticed those with learning difficulties starting to look around and the understanding dawning on their faces as they started pointing and putting in their two cents. Smiling to himself, Heero went to the board and wrote up ten more fractions and then waited until all was quiet.

"Alright. You have a minute to solve the first one."

The students raced, Heero timed and when the bell went they had done nine fractions. Not a lot of work, but next lesson they would be able to move on knowing every student in the class understood, and that every student had enjoyed learning it. Heero knew which he considered to be more important.

"Oi, Mr Yuy," Marie already had the hat back on and had to crane her neck all the way back just to see him. "We gotcha fa sport `ey!"

Grimacing as he recalled Relena saying something of the sort, Heero just nodded, not feeling any of the elation that appeared on Marie's face as she skipped out the door and raced across the quadrangle heading for her next class.

"Hey, short stuff!" A familiar voice bellowed over the quadrangle and Marie stopped dead in her tracks, turning sharply to look at a nearby door. Heero followed her gaze and caught sight of Duo, firmly stuck between the Goologong brothers, an odd look on his face. "Principal wantsya…better hurry…don't wanna leave him hangin', not that there's muchta hang!"

"Fuck you gingerbread boy!" Marie bellowed back, but she rushed off toward the main office as if the fires of hell were on her heels. Heero waited at the door as the senior trip made their way to his class, sauntering on like they owned the place, though Heero shuddered as he felt Duo brush against him on his way through the door.

Relena came next, early rather than punctual, as always. She smiled prettily as she met Heero at the door, leaning in a little too close for Heero's comfort as he leaned back against the door to get away.

"I am so looking forward to our walk this afternoon Mr. Yuy. It's so wonderful that the male teachers at the school take an interest in the more womanly physical pursuits such as walking."

Heero groaned inwardly, wondering if there was any way at all he could get out of it, but he knew there wasn't, and besides…It seemed Duo had his back. Sort of.

"Walkin ain't what you're pursuing Barbie-bitch, and if ya really want a workout Wayne'll be more than happy to tap your pasty arse."

Sighing, wondering just where the students learnt the vulgar mass of wannabe literature that frothed from their mouths twenty-four seven, Heero waved at the tables and chairs still piled against the walls.

"Please, put the desks back where they're meant to be, and Duo…leave Miss. Darlian alone."

"Aww, Sir, you take all the fun outta school…"

Heero couldn't help but notice Duo had replaced `life' with `school'. Snorting, he grabbed hold of his desk and pulled it back to the middle of the room as the other students began to arrive and immediately helped right the furniture.

"Ha! Someone finally found something useful for your lazy arse," Hilde noted from the doorway before sauntering in and sitting down on one of the desks already put back in its place.

"You could help scrag," Duo muttered. "Or does your rag mean you can't crag?"

Hilde just grinned shaking a hand through her hair as she sniffed loudly.

"Not with you fag, or the pink slag." Hilde sniffed at Relena's indignant snort.

"Pink slag?" Dorothy raised an inquisitive brow from her place at the door. "Is the teacher in drag?"

Heero, mouth open ready to intercede, merely stopped, blinking at all the eyes suddenly on him as he stared at Dorothy, mind racing, trying to remember what he had actually chosen to wear that morning. All he came up with was that he hadn't; Duo had chosen his clothes and in his current state it was entirely possible Duo had chosen something inappropriate.

"Sit down! Books out!" Heero thought his voice sounded a little strained, even to his own ears. He ran his hands down the side of his jeans, just to remind himself he was not in fact wearing a dress, and then turned to the board. He could get his revenge…

"Sorry I'm late, Mr. Yuy," Quatre ducked into the room at the same time Heero let the chalk slip a little too far through his fingers and deliberately raked his nails down the blackboard.

He had the class's undivided attention.

*

"And then this poor woman just walks out into the water and doesn't stop walking…and the sun sets and that's all there is. It's so terrible, such a tragic end to such a powerful, beautiful woman! You really must read the novel Mr. Yuy. I'm sure a man such as yourself would understand how absolutely tragic it is!"

Heero was thinking a lot of things. That yes, it was tragic that Relena wouldn't do the same thing. That yes, he could easily understand why he would get enjoyment out of a book that killed off a Relena-type character in a brilliantly tragic end. That yes, he did understand, but also that Relena didn't. The book was not completely a tragedy, but only someone who truly understood what a sun set was would know that, and Heero understood.

Turning to glance at the few dawdlers lagging behind Heero extricated himself from Relena's company and fell behind, in time with Marie and Jacinta, who were whispering animatedly about some party on Friday night.

"Party?" Heero inquired quietly, hoping he could distract them enough to pick up the pace.

"Yeah, there's this party we wanna gota but Marie dunno if she can coz her Dad's gonna be here then," Jacinta explained, falling into step with Heero.

"I thought he wasn't coming until Saturday?" Heero asked, recalling Marie saying something about her dad visiting that weekend.

"Nah, he works at a Catholic school and there's a Feast day so they get to have a long weekend with their families. That's why Dad's comin to see me."

"But he's known about that for weeks and we wasn't comin then…How come he just decided to come now?" Jacinta looked more than a little confused and it was obvious she was disappointed that the feast day might disrupt her party plans. It was almost amusing to Heero, who listened to their exchange with only half his attention, the rest of his mind dedicated to the slow increase in pace that was slowly leading the few stragglers closer to the main group ahead of them.

"Who knows. I really wanna see him but, so maybe I'll go to the party for a few hours and leave early so I can see him…He's callin tonight so I'll tell him about it then and see what he reckons."

"Don't tell ya Dad! He might not let ya go!" Jacinta squawked, smacking Marie on the shoulder so hard Heero was sure it had to hurt, but Marie just shrugged.

"Dad let's me do anything I want. Not like he can stop me; he doesn't live here."

Heero wondered just how many students had parents who couldn't do anything to stop them, remembering his own regimented childhood under his uncle J. Had that old bastard ever caught wind of the parties Heero went to he would never have let him leave the house. It made Heero grin just remembering.

Satisfied the students were moving quickly, Heero let himself watch his surroundings, oblivious to Relena when she once again found her way to his side and started rattling off her latest English notes. He was a Math's teacher; he had never really liked English and really didn't care to listen to what she had to say.

Sport passed relatively quickly and they soon returned to the school, marking off names and letting the kids go. Heero waited until the last bell went before returning to his classroom to clean up and prepare for the next day.

It was hot. Heero had thought it was just that he had been walking for sport, but it was only getting hotter. The complete dryness in the air was shifting slightly, there was a thickness to it all completely foreign to Heero. He suspected a change in the weather was coming but could not begin to guess what. So he didn't.

"I would say you smell, but I think I'm just as bad."

Turning from his desk, Heero smiled as he caught sight of Duo sitting in the corner desk, reclining in the chair as if the plastic thing was comfortable. He moved lazily, skin laced with sweat and grime, a small bruise on his elbow. Heero waited until they were less than a meter apart before he reached out and brushed his fingers over the dark mark questioningly.

"Basketball. Keith decided to play against me and Wayne and…well, Keith's kinda good at pushin people over."

Heero just smiled, letting his fingers trail up from the bruise to Duo's neck, jaw, caressing the cheek before his hand slipped behind and grabbed Duo's plait, trailing it through his fingers until it fell back against Duo's back. Duo merely stood there, still and quiet, lids lowered, breathing low and slow.

"You ready to go?"

Heero grabbed the few books he needed and tossed them in his bag before nodding. Duo just grinned and headed for the door, hands shoved in his pockets as Heero pulled the classroom door shut behind him.

They started walking, Duo leading, and Heero trailed thoughtfully behind as they headed in the opposite direction to the house, down the back of the school through the Ag plot and over the back fence. The trees were thicker here, and greener, the ground thick with bush scrub. Heero didn't comment as he was led through a small, winding path, often climbing over a broken log, through a hole in a twisted wall of willow, under a hanging branch.

They came to the river but did not stop, following it downstream, over wire fences, around the bends until at last the ground rose , the river widening out and there, on the top of the small earthen rise, was the biggest willow tree Heero had ever seen.

The river was flowing sluggishly, and the long branches of the willow hung out over the edge and dragged in the water, creating ceaseless ripples as the water tugged and pulled, begging the willow to play. Duo went to the willow, grabbing a fistful of green cascade and pulling it aside, bowing low.

"After you, good Sir."

A smile twitching at the corners of his mouth, Heero ducked his head and walked inside the willow, surprised at how cool it was inside, the air trapped inside cooled by the water, shaded from the sun. It was beautiful, and looking up into the branches Heero thought he might have finally realized why they had come. Wrapped up, ready to be unfolded and tossed out were several long ropes, knots tied along their length. One had a swing attached to it, another a bar. A hole had been cut in the side of the willow, leading straight out over the river.

Duo came in, letting the willow fall back into place behind them, closing them in, hiding them from prying eyes. Heero waited, not sure what Duo expected, but Duo wasn't paying him much attention, leaning over to pull things out of his bag. Heero stared at the two towels that Duo spread out on the leaf litter, grinned as Duo pulled out a pair of board shorts, and just stared when Duo tossed him his own.

"Took me forever to find them," Duo noted at Heero's surprised look. "Who keeps their Boardies in their underwear drawer anyhow? Honestly."

Heero just laughed, turning around at the same time as Duo and quickly changing, folding his clothes neatly and putting them away in his bag.

They climbed the willow then, crawling up into its wide, low hanging branches and unwinding the ropes. Heero wasn't sure it was such a good idea, but Duo grabbed a brick from a small pile at the base of the trunk and tossed one in. It splashed loudly and then sank…Heero could see it for the first meter or so before the water grew too muddy and swallowed it whole.

"It's the deepest bend in the main river and it's completely empty. Perfectly safe. Don't be chicken Heero," Duo grinned, and then pushed off the branch he was sitting on, flying out over the river on the rope, feet wrapped tight about one of the knots before he let go and fell, laughing the whole way and crashed into the water in a spray of brown and blue as the millions of little droplets reflected the sky above before settling back into the river as Duo surfaced, treading water lazily as he waited for Heero.

Shrugging, knowing Duo would not do anything to endanger him, Heero grabbed the bar and pushed off, tucking his feet up under it and hanging on upside down as he watched the river swing beneath him for a moment before letting his legs straighten and sliding off, diving down into the water…

Duo was right. It was damn deep. It took much longer than he expected to reach the bottom, to push off and come back to the surface. Duo gave him an odd look when he appeared, but said nothing, just waited, treading. Heero swum lazily, finding the dirty water somehow cleansing. It was so warm on the top, so cold below, and the dirt seemed to scratch at the sweat on his body and drag it away downstream. Soothing.

He reached Duo, turning on his back and filling his lungs with air to float as he pulled Duo on top of him. Duo struggled at first, not really sure what Heero was doing, but Heero just held him and he soon settled, arms draped over Heero's shoulders as if her were a raft, chin resting on Heero's chest he watched Heero watch the sky.

"I like it here," Heero admitted, a lazy smile on his lips as he watched a cockatoo dip from one tree to the next. He was not just talking about the river.

"I thought you might," Duo replied quietly and his leg fell between Heero's, floating in the water, rubbing gently. Heero's eyes roved off the sky to Duo's face, to the wicked glint in his eyes as the water lapped at their bodies. It was definitely a deliberate move, Heero knew, but he got his revenge by shifting his hip so his own leg was rubbing against Duo's groin.

"Bastard," Duo moaned and it was the best sound Heero had heard all day. He smiled, letting the air out of his lungs and sinking, coming up for air and laughing as he watched Duo squawk indignantly, spluttering his way to the surface to growl at Heero, who had already started swimming back to the willow.

The afternoon continued, Heero learning several new tricks on the ropes, losing all fear of falling he might have held as he plummeted into the river again and again and he started to understand how people could think Bunyips lived here. Why people dreamt of living there, in the river, under the water where they could do nothing but play all day.

Exhausted, Heero rested on one of the wider branches of the willow, satisfied that even if some passerby came to the river they would never see him hidden away in the tree. It was his own private universe, where he could do whatever he wanted and at that moment he wanted to be right where he was, Duo sprawled on top of him, his weight pushing bark patterns into the skin of his back. It was a comforting discomfort and Heero chuckled at the thought, causing Duo to lift a little to stare down at him, curious.

"Can I undo it?" Heero asked, running a hand down the long length of hair, wanting to see it droop and drape all over them just like the willow. Duo merely shrugged so Heero snatched the band off the end and started weaving his fingers through the wet, matted mess, loving the way it stuck to his fingers and dripped dirty water all over them. It was somehow…natural.

"My best friend Solo…he's at university in Bathurst now. He and I made a bet when we were little to see who could grow their longer." He grinned at the memory and the light in his eyes made Heero want to meet Solo; meet the other half to the larrikin lying on him. "I won, of course…Solo probably trimmed his hair in secret just to let me win. But I was gonna cut it off…till I realized how much mum's new fuck hated it." He chuckled darkly at that, low and gritty in a way that made Heero's hands tighten about their fists of hair, releasing it only when Duo winced at the slight pull.

"Why do you stay there. You're old enough to leave." It was something he had been wondering about all the way back from Orange but had not dared ask.

"Habit," Duo shrugged. "It's a small town. Everyone knows me. If I left...they would know where I went before I got there. I don't want that. When I think of somewhere they won't find me, I'll go, and I'll laugh at them all when I get there."

Like the Bunyip, Heero thought, smiling sadly, playing with the hair. Like himself. He had run to the one place he had known they would never find him; the one place none of them had ever been. Beyond the Blues to the heart of the Bush; the center of the state. All because of a name.

Evergreen. In a land that never was.

The sky was darkening, shadows lengthening and Heero noted the sky seemed darker than usual; the sunset hazier, filled with a fiery orange.

"I didn't realize it was that late," Heero noted and Duo shifted on him to look out through the hole in the willow at the sky. His eyes narrowed immediately as he pushed off Heero.

"It's not that late."

Confused, Heero sat up, following Duo down the trunk, quickly drying himself off with his towel and pulling on his t-shirt and shoes. Duo was already picking up his bag and heading out of the willow, eyes fixed on the sky.

Heero looked up as the willow fell shut behind him, only to blink back the water that welled in them at the brightness. The sky was fast turning a thick, blood red and seemed closer to the earth somehow and while Heero knew the sun would soon be setting this colour was not its doing. This was something else.

"Tro was fuckin right!" Duo hissed, already heading back along the path toward the school, feet picking a fast pace. Heero could sense his worry and hurried to follow.

"What's going on?"

Duo turned to look at him, hand reaching out instinctively to grab Heero's, fingers interlacing as Duo leant in, lips meeting Heero's fervently, tasting of the river, excitement and fear.

"Dust storm coming."

"You're nervous…" Heero noted as Duo started walking again, pulling Heero after him, refusing to release his hand.

"Damn straight. I hate storms." Duo glared at the sky that continued to darken, not a cloud in sight, just the sheet of blood above. "And this one's going to be a monster."

Heero felt something shudder inside him as Duo released his hand and they emerged at the school, running through the Ag plot. Heero knew Duo had to go home, knew he was about to run off in the opposite direction, so he grabbed hold one last time, not caring who might see and just hoped that the sudden beating of his heat, the pace of the blood pumping through his body was just the storm, not the foreboding he feared it could be.

"How do you know?"

Duo just stared at him, puzzled.

"That it's going to be a monster. How do you know?"

Duo grinned as he back away, already heading home, in the opposite direction to Heero as he called back over his shoulder.

"There's no wind, no cloud…this is the edge. The storm's not even here…Yet."

And Duo was gone, bolted around a corner as the air started to thicken that final smudge, red dirt thick on Heero's tongue as he gathered his wits and bolted.

The door opened just as he arrived home and Trowa simply stood there, face carefully blank as he looked out at the sky. The sun was setting and all the world was stained red.

"How'd you know?" Heero asked as they stood in the doorway and watched the lazy wind start to drift in over the plains.

"I've been waiting," Trowa said softly. "The storm always followed the little rain cloud."