Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Once Upon a December ❯ chapter 1 ( Chapter 1 )

title: Once upon a December
author: Vega-Lume
disclaimer: I don't own the boys, I just like to play with them. (hee hee )
I do promise to put them back when I am done. (has fingers crossed)
warnings: A/U, death (duh) , Yaoi *maybe*,angst (double duh) ooc (this is an A/U)
spoilers: none whatsoever
beta: nope
-this is NOT a song fic I am simply borrowing the title of the song-

For Presser * hugs *

~Far away,
Long ago,
Glowing dim as an ember
Things my heart used to know
Things it yearns to remember
And a song,
Someone sings,
Once upon a December~
Once Upon a December - Anastasia



Once upon a December
Chapter 1
By Vel

I was a cold morning, as it should have been in early December. Two young boys, one eleven, the other ten, had planned a fishing trip. Both boys smiled as they pushed their small canoe into the stream where their village gathered their fish.

A beaver's dam that stretched across the wide stream, had created a natural reservoir. It was deep enough for the children of the village to dive into when the weather permitted. The two boys had often been found playing in the refreshing water, diving from submerged rocks and splashing each other.

Once the boat was settled into the water, the older of the two rowed towards a large boulder near the center of the stream and looped a rope around the rock to hold them in place. After they were secured they baited their lines and lowered them into the icy cold water.

"Still cold? " The older boy asked when his friend huddled in on himself. A face pink from the chilly breeze poked out from within the warm fur lined hood of its owner's cloak. Brilliant blue eyes glared at the other boy who chucked in response. The younger boy stuck out his tongue, only to be laughed at again.

"You know, Heero. If you do that again your tongue will freeze."

" Duo, you idiot, why'd we have to come here so early? The sun's barely begun to rise."

" It's best to fish at dawn." The older boy replied mater-a-factly, brushing back his fur lined hood. His long mahogany coloured hair shimmering in the early morning light. Heero responded to the comment with a snort and amused violet eyes settled on him again.

" What?"

" Nothing." Duo replied, then jiggled his line, hoping to entice a bite.
Both boys sat in comfortable silence. Checking their lines on occasion. Duo smiled as he pulled up a large fish and placed it in a basket.

" We'll eat good tonight," Duo commented, and peered at the half dozen fish the basket contained.

" Last good meal of the year. I'm not looking forward to dried meat all winter." Heero's face wrinkled up at the thought of eating deer jerky for the next five months or so.

Duo laughed. Winters in the village were hard. Snow and ice made it difficult to hunt or travel and the villagers lived off of storage vegetables, dried meats and canned preserves. Most were starving by the time the weather broke and they were able to hunt again.

" The sun is not breaking through today." Heero stated lifting is face to the sky.
Duo followed his younger friend's gaze and frowned at the dark clouds that covered the sky.

" I think we should pack up."

Duo nodded at Heero's statement and began to reel in his line.
Heavy raindrops began to fall and the wind picked up, causing waves in the once calm stream. The boys scrambled to pack their things. A flash of lightning followed by a thunderclap preceded a sudden down pour. The boys panicked.

" Heero!" Duo shouted, to be heard over the storm. " Leave your line!"
Heero immediately dropped his line, then moved to the older boy, helping to remove the rope that bound them to the boulder. The water had risen so quickly that the rock was now completely submerged.

" I can't get the knot out!" Duo cried as his frozen fingers scraped against the stone.
The boat rocked in the waves, then suddenly capsized. Throwing both boys into the frigid water.

Duo surfaced, coughing out water.

" Heero! Heero! Where are you!?"

" Over here! "

Duo spun in the water and spotted his friend, trying to keep hold on the capsized boat.

" Heero!, stay there. I'm gonna come to you."
Heero nodded. Duo kicked the water hard only to be jerked back painfully. He cried out then looked behind him.

His hair, which he kept confined with in a waist length braid, had become entangled in the woodwork of the beaver's dam.

" Christ! Heero, my hair is caught!" Duo tugged on his hair but could not gain enough leverage to loosen it.

The water continued to rise and was now spilling over the top of the dam. Duo sputtered, trying franticly to keep his head above water. He could hear his younger friend calling to him but the water in his ears would not allow him to hear clearly.

Suddenly smaller hands wrapped around his helping him free his hair. Duo looked up to see Heero at his side. The younger boy had removed his cloak and swum against the current to his friend. His simple brown, homespun tunic was soaked, plastered against him like a second skin. His trousers and fur-lined boots weighed him down, threatening to pull him under.

" Move aside." Heero shouted and Duo complied, giving the youth space in which to gain the leverage he needed.

Heero placed his booted feet against the dam and grasped the end of Duo's braid with both hands. He pulled with all the strength he had and the hair gave causing both boys to fall into the water. Heero's tunic snagged the dam holding him in place while Duo was swept down stream.

Heero untangled himself easily and pulled himself partway up the side of the dam where it was easier for him to keep his head above the icy water. Duo had managed to grab hold of the boat, which was still tethered to the boulder, bobbing and thrashing in the now violent currant.

Heero felt relief wash over him, Duo was safe for the time being. Suddenly a deafening crack was heard as the dam gave way to the tremendous force of the water building up behind it. Heero's eyes widened when the surface beneath him crumbled and was swept away.

" HEERO!!!!!!!!!" Duo cried out as the beavers dam disappeared into the water with a huge splash. Large hunks of wood and debris rushed towards the violet-eyed boy in a great wave and Duo dove beneath the surface, swimming up into the capsized boat. He was barely able to grab hold of a planked seat when the rush of water hit.
It seemed an eternity when the force died down and the water calmed. Cautiously, Duo released his grip on the seat and came out from beneath the boat. Falling rain met him and he blinked to clear it from his eyes.

Nothing.

There was absolutely nothing. No rushing water. No dam. No Heero. Only the tethered, capsized boat and himself.

" Heero!" Duo shouted. The sound of rain striking the water's surface was his only reply.

" Duo?!' The sound was so faint that the braided youth barely heard it.

" Heero?"

" Duo? Heero? Boys, where are you?" Duo's jerked his head toward the shore. He could make out lanterns on the shoreline.

" DAD!!!!!!!!" Duo cried and there was uproar from the men on the shore.

" He's in the river." Someone called then there was a splash as some one jumped into the water.

" Son, where are you?"

" Near where the dam was!" Duo shouted.

Duo was relieved when moments later he was in his father's arms, being pulled to shore by the rope tied to his fathers' waist. A warm blanket was wrapped around him.

A man grabbed Duo's shoulders and turned him gently.

" Duo, where is Heero?" Duo looked into the face of his best friend's father.

" He was on the dam." Duo said softly, exhaustion and hypothermia setting in. Heero's father shook him before he lost consciousness.

" When! When was he on the dam?"

" When it broke..." Duo's eyes rolled back and he slumped into the mans arms.

" Odin?"

" We keep looking, Maxwell." Heero's father stated handing Duo to his father.

" Odin, if he was washed down stream, we may never find him."

" Take your boy home to his mother, Maxwell. " Duo's father nodded and turned carrying his son into the woods. The rain had died down and the weather warmed a bit.

" Snow." A dark haired man commented, and Odin nodded.
Several moments later, just as the snow began to fall. Maxwell rejoined the search party.

The group searched both sides of the stream, which by now had widened to a river. No
one said a word to the determined father of the missing ten year old. Ken, the father of a boy who was friends with both Heero and Duo, looked at the blond man sadly. The likelihood of finding the child was slim, and the chance of the child still being alive was even less then that.

Maxwell's dog, Shini began to bark and pull at the rope his master held. The man released the hound and it bounded down stream and into the water near the shore. The men paused and peered through the falling snow.

They could see where the dog had stopped and picked up their pace. The dog's low mournful baying greeted them as they approached.

There, lying face down at the edge of the river, three miles from where he was last seen, was Heero. His tunic was torn and he was missing one of his boots. Twigs and other bits of debris clung to his slight body. Odin kneeled beside is son, brushing the damp dark brow hair from the child's eyes.

The once vibrant blue gems stared lifelessly ahead, glazed and unmoving.

"Oh God no." Odin sobbed pulling the lifeless form into his arms. Heero's head lolled against his father's shoulder and the other men saw his face. Pale as freshly fallen snow. His lips slightly parted and blue. And his eyes, half-lidded and dead.

" Odin, I'm so sorry, " Ken said softly, placing a hand on the grieving man's shoulder.

" Come, Odin. We have to leave." The crushed man refused to move. Maxwell removed his cloak and help it in his hand.

" Give him to me." Maxwell said firmly, tugging at the boy gently. Odin reluctantly released the bundle.

Maxwell wrapped his cloak around the body the cradled it in his arms. Ken crouched and pulled Odin to his feet leading him back to the village. Shini following silently.

* * *

Helen, Duo's mother and Maxwell's wife was waiting on the porch of their home; Maxwell's homestead was the first they came upon when they entered the village.

" No," She gasped when she saw her husband carrying the wrapped bundle. She knew that the sweet child her son had befriended had been lost. Heero's feet and one slim hand, dangled out side of the cloak, his fingers and the toes on his bare foot were blue and lifeless.

Maxwell looked at his wife then just past her, where Duo could be seen in the doorway.

" Helen, keep Duo inside." Helen nodded and ushered her son inside, closing the door behind her.

The three men continued on, Odin's home was very near to Maxwell's and it did not take long for them to reach it. The door flew open as they approached and a woman with long blond hair came out.

" Linda [1]?"

The woman's eyes darted from face to face, before settling on the bundle in Maxwell's arms. She shook her head franticly, tears streaming from her eyes.

" Linda, help your husband." Ken said, leading the alarmingly quiet man to his wife. The sobbing woman threw herself at Maxwell, trying to pull her dead son from his grasp.

" Linda, help Odin." Ken repeated. The woman's tear stained face turned to her husband and saw her worst fears confirmed within his eyes.
She let out a heartbreaking wail and crumpled to the snow, Odin dropped beside her, and the couple sobbed.

" Ken, you better go home. Tell your boy." Ken nodded and spared a final look at the broken family before turning home.

Maxwell crouched, the child still safe in his arms. He carefully placed the boy on his fathers' lap then stood slowly.

"I know that this is very painful for you, but there is not much time. He should be buried soon."

Odin looked up at Maxwell, and noticed that the tall mans' brown hair was covered in snow, and he was shivering. His cloak was still wrapped around Heero. He nodded once, then turned to look at his wife. The woman had pulled the cloak away from Heero's face and was gently petting the boys' soft cheek.

"I'll make the arrangements." Odin said gently and turned down the path that Ken had taken.

He arrived at the Chang household, just moments after Ken had arrived home. He climbed up the steps onto the porch and knocked on the door. After a minute or two the door opened to reveal a woman with long black hair. A young boy around Duo's age and his younger sister sat on either side of their father.
Ken stood when Maxwell entered. Ken's son, Wufei also stood drawing his sister Meiran into his arms, both children looked crushed.

"I know that this is very soon but the child must be buried today."
Ken nodded, he understood that with winter already settling in, if the burial was to be delayed then the ground would be to frozen to dig.

"Alright then," Ken said then turned to his wife "Hana, fetch my spare cloak for Maxwell."

The woman nodded and disappeared into another room, once Maxwell had the cloak the to men set out into the snow.

tbc…

[1] Linda, the name of the woman whom Odin had planned to marry in Naomi's Shattered Moments.I could not think of any other name so I borrowed it, and now I want to ensure that Naomi gets the credit she deserves.