Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Prisoner of War ❯ Snow ( Chapter 20 )

Note: Ugh . . . I feel like I just crashed into a wall or something. I had a pep band game last night, and I'm pretty sure we won both games against Mt. Vernon. Pretty sure anyway ^_^; Ryan was screaming and trying scare people away the whole time as usual, and we all had to sit through that and Will being perverted or talking about cars. Katie's things repeatedly got stolen by people, and the whole affair was just interesting. I had fun. I had weird dreams last night though. I can't really describe it or remember much. I don't own Gundam Wing or They Cage the Animals at night (reference in scene at school). Pairings are still 1+2+1, 3+4+3, and possible 5+S. Enjoy!

Prisoner of War 20

"Won't be long now," Treize stared out at the mist and fog suffocating the atmosphere, slight smile curled on his lips. "We'll meet again, Wufei," his smile grew wider at the thought. A delicate glass of sparking liquid was laced in a perfect grip by his long fingers, clasping gently. In a silent toast with an invisible companion he murmured a slight, "Cheers," and took a sip.

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In silence, Wufei's arms dangled off one raised knee, hanging over the side of the ledge. Around him, soft flakes of snow fluttered in downward spirals. Pure white. It cloaked the broken world in a sheen of innocence. He pictured how the crumbling debris looked blanketed with snow. He wondered if the air was as crisp and sweet as it was where he sat with his head bent down, but still staring outward at his surroundings.

The numb cold seeped straight into his bones, but Wufei ignored it completely, sporting his traditional Chinese robes. `A soldier wearing white,' he laughed inside at the irony. `A symbol of both death and innocence, how fitting,' sarcasm at the tip of his tongue, but he bit down the remark.

"Wufei," a voice sounded softly, grimly. "Mission." And the boy left with those two words with his long braid trailing after him.

`He may seem like an idiot -' he didn't finish the last thought and picked himself up from the ledge. His muscles protested, seized up from the intense cold. "Maxwell," he called.

The teen turned around, "Hmm?" he asked absentmindedly. "What is it, Fei?"

"How are you?" in all seriousness he asked. He watched as surprise lit up those cobalt orbs unblinkingly.

"Peachy," he responded with a cough.

"What about Heero?"

"As well as he can be, I guess," he muttered, kicking a rock from the doorway with a shrug.

"Talk to him sometime," he suggested. Wufei had noticed the gap between the two pilots now. They spoke to each other, got along just fine, but it wasn't good enough for either of them. "It's been a month."

Duo snorted, but the Chinese boy was already gone to be briefed on his latest mission. Instead, silent treads trailed over there, he lifted his gaze and met crisp blue. "Heero," he breathed, swallowing a gulp. All of a sudden he felt nervous in the boy's presence.

"Close the door," the calm voice suggested, no more orders from the perfect soldier. "It's cold."

Duo shot him a lopsided grin and grabbed the golden knob, pulling the door shut. `The only way to live a good life is to act on your emotions. Fuck this.' With confidence, he took several strides to where Heero stood and wordlessly gave him a tight but brief hug. It was comforting to be near him again. In that one embrace, it told both boys what lost words could not; quick flash of warmth, but it didn't dissipate.

"We're going to miss the bus," Duo broke the silence and grabbed his backpack from off the floor, towing Heero along out the front door. "Bye, guys! Good luck on your mission!" he said his partings quickly, knowing his loud tenor would reach their ears.

Heero gave a tiny smile in secret, a sense of relief crept up to his heart, and he allowed himself to enjoy that little moment. Prussian snapped back too impassive by the time Duo's shimmering violet met up with his expression.

"Did you do your homework?" he asked hopefully.

"Yes," he responded slightly puzzled at the question, "of course," slowly midnight blue narrowed.

A sheepish grin was flashed in his direction, "Well, that makes - one of us." He expected a lecture or at least a glare, but Heero merely raised an eyebrow and smirked as the pair progressed to the bright red stop sign at the corner of the street.

"Good one," he commented in his soft tone, edges softer than the usual hard ice. "Better finish it on the bus."

"Aww come on. I'll fit in better if I slack off," he whined in good humor, smoky violet glimmered slightly in enjoyment of the near perfect weather.

The Japanese soldier stopped his efficient pace and swiped a white flake of snow off the tip of the other's nose. Duo's eyes crossed in the process, and soon after the strangely familiar episode, a memory flashed back. Heero left him no time to think as he walked past the confused student, secretly smirking.

"The bus is coming," he announced and proceeded to drag the braided boy the seven feet to the yellow, Twinkie-like vehicle, deciding that he liked controlling where Duo was going. `No wonder he does this so much to me,' he mused. "If you really want to fit in - " he drawled, "finish the last problem a second before the bell rings.

Duo granted him a wry smile, "Haha," he laughed dryly. "Looks like someone's been brushing up on the ways of a typical teenager."

They boarded the depressing vehicle, and the American took the opportunity to give the girls all a wink and an adorable smile. They smiled back, coolly of course. "Looks like someone's been brushing up on Harry Potter," Heero shot back under his breath, knowing the other had heard every word, Prussian eyes flicked over to the book tucked under Duo's arm.

Pouting in response, the braided teen stuck his tongue out with indignity. "Mature," Heero commented, smirking slightly at the sight of the pilot. Large violet eyes peered at him curiously as he did so, wondering what in the world was going inside the Japanese youth's head.

"Harry Potter is cool!" Duo protested loudly.

* * *

"All right, class," the Honors English teacher pushed her thin-framed glasses up her nose, "You need to finish the rest of the book by tomorrow as your assignment. You may SSR (Sustained Silent Reading) for the remainder of the period," She clapped her hands in finality and let loose the class.

Immediately, the freshman scrambled from their desks and ran to sit next to each other, grinning as friends whispered to each other. Duo scooted closer to Heero, whom was immersed in the novel, and peered at the other boy curiously with bright violet eyes.

"Hey," he greeted softly.

Heero ignored him blatantly, Prussian blue still fixated on the text. His eyes scanned the page quickly, hitting the period, and he flipped the back cover over. Pushing the book towards the top right-hand corner of his desk, he finally looked up.

He stared at the other pilot unblinkingly, waiting for Duo to talk. Only - he didn't . . . In fact the American was staring at the creamy beige of his desk, unruly bangs downcast. Heero narrowed his dark eyes; confused, wondering what was going inside of the other's mind, but hesitant to ask.

Mouth opening slightly, the boy let out a whistle of air before settling on correct words, and he quietly asked, "Duo?"

"Hmm?" Dark lilac lifted, shifting into view. A smile spread through his heart-shaped face, confusing the other pilot even more.

`He's happy . . . then why is he being so - obedient?' Clearly Duo could read his thoughts because he was waiting for Heero to take the initiative and ask. "You're acting different," he stated blankly, drawing out the words slowly.

Dark brows shot up, "Like it?" he laughed when the other didn't formulate any reply.

`Yes,' he mind immediately jumped on the thought. `But . . .' "It's just different," and turned his attention to shifting through his backpack. He pulled out a bottle of water only to have it snatched away with one swipe of Duo's hand.

The boy merely grinned coyly at him, teasingly swaying the prize in front of Heero's eyes. The Japanese youth gave a half snort and stole it back. Untwisting the white cap, he took a large swig of water, midnight blue never once leaving the braided teen.

"Mission accomplished," he added for effect, smirking only slightly.

Duo's threatening death glare resulted in an adorable pout, large purple eyes shimmering pathetically. Heero cast an unreadable look straight into those eyes before flicking away to the black writing scrawled neatly across the board. He nonchalantly tossed the youthful soldier his water bottle, much to Duo's surprise. He grinned, following Heero's suite and took a long gulp of the pure liquid, marveling at the ease it slid down his throat.

"It's almost Christmas," the braided youth commented after a short silence, still remembering to whisper quietly.

"Yeah."

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Sally hopped off the black motorcycle with a small grunt, dusting off flecks of white snow off her shoulders lightly. Cornflower-blue eyes lifted slowly to drink in her surroundings and tried to memorize as much detail about the area as possible. The last thing she wanted to do was to get lost before her work was done.

It had been well over a month now and still no new orders from Colonel Treize, far too long. Steady tasks and missions were impossibilities in war. The schedule was always subject to abrupt change, rocky and unpredictable. Still it was never like this, and Sally was beginning to feel the restlessness creep up on her. She had kept the tracking device in her bag all those weeks, slipping it out sometimes to watch the blinking, red dot. And she wondered what those youthful soldiers were doing.

Now she stood in front of their safe house, ready to confront them with everything she knew. It was strange that the choice was to surround themselves by nosy neighbors in this beautiful, suburban neighborhood. Time was ticking by whether it was going fast or slow, she didn't know, but Sally had done her research. Five new kids were registered in the local high school as freshman. `No doubt they've gone past all the hardest senior classes. Maybe they want to slack off as freshman, not that they can't do it any year, age-wise - it's much less noticeable, but dear God how can they stand those immature kids?'

She mused to herself, hands clamping her hips, eyes glittering in nervousness. A grim line served as her mouth, feeling rooted to the spot. The door was only so far away, which was maybe 15 or so feet. The house was silent, and classes had already commenced an hour ago. `Maybe no one's home,' she reasoned with herself, anxiousness increased to dangerous levels. `But three of them called in sick today . . .' Sighing in defeat, the internal battle silenced, and she walked towards the imminent door.

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Blue ink scratched across the white smoothly, pouring down words in the piece of loose-leaf. `Jennings - he's been through more than anyone should go through in his life, if you can even call it that. No child deserves to be beaten and abused, scarred for life. It's amazing people can be so foolish, but he is so strong to be able to survive through it.' The pen dropped with a soft clang on the desk as Duo sighed.

Creasing lids squeezed amethyst depths shut away from anyone's view. He remembered - something about his former life. Another piece of the puzzle concerning his past. Slowly his eyes fluttered open, settling his gaze on the boy seated next to him. The soldier crouched over his own notebook, quickly scrawling down organized thoughts with passionless duty. `Does he remember? Or are we both headed for the loony bin?' Duo wondered thoughtfully. `Serendipity maybe that we're both here still alive.'

Soft music fluttered from a nearby stereo, Christmas carols sang so sweetly by the orchestra. He surveyed the room with interest. Evergreen branches were literally everywhere in wreaths, tinsel wrapping around the room, and perfected by a grand pine tree. Silver and golden balls, shimmered in light, hung off of selective branches, small figurines and symbolic items dispersed around. The room was faintly sprinkled with a glittery substance, congregating the most on patches of cotton snow. Tiny bulbs emulated a soft light, the main source dimmed, making the crimson ribbons stand out more among the others.

"Kirei," he murmured to Heero.

Dark blue, even more navy in the dimmed lights, scanned his surroundings for the first time, "Aa," he agreed. "Christmas has a certain affect on most people," he noted plainly. "Maybe that's why you're acting different."

"Huh?" wide eyes stared back.

Heero's gaze softened only slightly, but it was enough to be noticed. Duo's eyes narrowed in suspicion. Heero cut off his thoughts, "You've always liked Christmas."

The braided boy continued to stare at him, "Huh?" Confusion clouded his vision before a new possibility dawned on him, "You remember?"

Prussian eyes flickered away quickly, "Hai," he replied quietly.

`Damn. He's too cute like this - all shy . . .' An itch -- Duo wanted just to lean over and touch the other pilot, but he managed to suppress his urges. `Wufei's right. It has been way too long. I can't imagine how I could have gone on this long not talking to him.' The American gave a soft sigh and began to pack up this stuff; many others had done the same.

He drummed his fingers on the beige desk in boredom, eyeing the clock every few seconds, commanding the time to change anxiously. Bright red numerals stared back at him with the same mocking contempt before it finally relented; 8:30. The bell rang, and the hallways flooded with over two thousand students trying to squeeze through the thick throngs of teenagers.

Absent-mindedly, Heero's free hand grabbed a hold of his comrade in an iron grip, dragging him back despite the protests. "Stay," he ordered.

"What?" with mild annoyance, Duo crossed his arms, looking at his friend.

"Trowa just spotted someone around our safe house," he explained quietly but quickly as the two walked out the door of the classroom.

"What???" the same word took on a completely different meaning this time. "Who?"

"It's definitely a girl."

Duo squeaked despite himself and choked out, "A girl? What the Hell is a girl doing, sneaking around like that? I mean what if she somehow gets inside? She'll find out everything and blow our cover, and we'll have about two thousand people be able to identify us, including the teachers!!! Is it Relena? Damn, she has some nerve! I mean . . ." he babbled on insanely, and even Heero could barely understand what he was saying at that incredible speed.

He firmly and effectively clamped Duo's mouth shut with his hand and gave him a meaningful look. "Duo . . ." he stared in a warning tone. "Calm down," slowly, blue turned away, staring straight ahead as the boys expertly weaved through the crowd. "And what do you mean Relena?" caution laced his tone.

Slowly Duo's wild violet had calmed, and now he smiled sheepishly, "Don't tell me you've met her, too . . ." groaned the American.

"Relena Darlian/Peacecraft?" a wary glint flashed in his eyes. "Almost blew my cover - on several occasions," he snorted.

"Oh man!" Duo laughed, shaking his head. "I know exactly what you mean and so does Wufei." He paused for a moment, "Actually . . . she was looking for someone all the times she ran into us. And come to think of it, I think she was looking for you!" Wide cobalt stared in astonishment at Heero.

`Oh shit.' "Hn?"

"Yeah, she would kind of say this long, dragged out, tone-deaf screech. It's barely distinguishable, but it sure as Hell sounds like your name, now that I think about it," he gave a helpless shrug.

"No wonder she ran into you guys," The Japanese student observed as they stepped through the door to their second period classroom. `Strange how Duo and I have the exact same schedule.'

"Uh-uh!" Duo smacked his piece of gum, "She knows?" he hissed at the pilot, nearing stopping in the middle of the rows of seats.

"Dr. J told her a vague sense of what was going on," he snorted again, pushing the other to start walking again. A quirked eyebrow explained Duo's question. "To scare her away from me."

The braided boy grinned at his answer, "I'm guessing that it didn't work, huh?"

A simple smirk curled at the edge of his lips, "Not in the slightest aspect." `At least she's not here.'

"Well," they eased into their seats. Duo tapped his chin lightly with his index finger thoughtfully. "I think this is one of those forbidden fruit kind of things. Anyway, I'm just glad she's not in this school yet. It would turn this whole place into a red danger zone," he rolled his eyes.

`Bingo.' Heero merely nodded and riffled through his black backpack. Smoothly he slid out a simple pencil pouch, a book and a binder. Shifting through papers, he pulled out the prize - last night's homework. He set it aside in the corner, dropped his bag to the carpeted floor, and he was set for class. Meanwhile, Duo was frantically finishing off the last ten problems on the page, pencil almost flying off of the page three minutes before the bell was to ring. Heero watched, amused, and smirked again. `Baka.'

With adrenaline rushing through his veins, his drastic speed remained the same, and two minutes passed like a breeze. Like pulling the finished product from a typewriter, Duo snatched the paper up in triumph. "Done!" he announced proudly.

Heero raised a dark brow as he glanced at the page at his handwriting. Usually, as he grudgingly had to admit it, Duo's manuscript was completely neat, smooth. But as one would scan down the page, it only got worse, but it was still more legible than the guy's in front of Heero. `I guess that's a good sign . . .' An obnoxious bell shuddered through the room.

"Anyway, so I think she likes you," he brought up after his little moment, setting the homework down on his desk.

`Huh?' "What?" `Relena . . .' "Why?"

"Oh, come on," he rested a tilted head on his propped-up hand and blinked once for affect. "She's practically stalking you," he moaned. "You can't say that's just because she's trying to stop your missions."

`Shit. Happens to be with word of the day - for now . . .' A neutral mask had no intention to budge a millimeter as the boy patiently repeated his question, this time seeking a different answer, "Why?" `A soldier? Someone that kills? A pacifist would be attracted to that? Hard to believe.'

Duo let lose a laugh, "Looked in the mirror lately?" he snorted all in good humor. Heero just stared at him blankly. "Oh my God," Duo muttered under his breath in exasperation. "You're hot. Okay? No one can truthfully deny that fact, so it's definitely reasonable that she's attracted to you. And plus," he smacked his gum again, "you got that whole enigmatic air around you. I mean no one can figure this emotionless machine out. `Oops. Eh, maybe he'll take it as a compliment . . . Face it, Maxwell. No one likes to be called that no matter what.'

"I didn't mean it like that," he sighed, scratching his head a little as he sighed.

"Like what?" he asked softly.

His voice quiet, Duo leaned in to whisper, "We're soldiers, Heero, and damn it, you're the perfect model of what we all should be; emotionless fighting machines. If you have feelings, you don't let it get in your way - you're just so efficient and immaculate."

`You have no idea, Duo. I should be what you think I am.'

"But you shouldn't be. None of us should be that way. We are human," the American paused. "You have to open your heart. Who knows - maybe this Relena chick can get through to you. God knows I've tried," he gave a small smile. "No one can really figure you out, and it's driving me insane," he laughed. "So she chases after you, trying to figure you out, trying to influence your actions," he explained, wist ghosting over his words. "No one can figure you out . . ." reiterated Duo, leaning back in his seat. His gaze flickered to Heero's face and swallowed hard when it came to view. He looked at the braided student strangely, brow creasing if only just faintly. `Whoops . . . That came out wrong.'

"You're closer to that than you think," the whisper slipped past his lips so lightly, easily. `Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck! But what's so wrong about it? I - I don't know. What's wrong with getting close to a best friend? Dammit, because it's a liability! / How many times does he need to save your sorry ass? / And damn you.' He swore he could hear that voice smile in satisfaction. `/ Think. What is wrong with trusting a trustworthy person? /' It disappeared - all the while the tumultuous thoughts tumbled behind an impassive shield.

The look on Duo's face, confusion, surprise, and awe - almost convinced Heero of the voice's argument. `I can trust him. I do trust him. It's too late.' So he just turned to face the front of the room helplessly in the wake of his epiphany. `He was my best friend and the best one I have now. We've grown up, but what else has really changed?'

"Thanks," Duo croaked, voice adjusting to talking after the silence. "It's good to know," he nodded and grinned. "So where's the teacher?" Restlessness stirred in his body as he drummed his fingers on the table, amethyst darting around the room.

"Right here, Duo," the Algebra teacher smiled at the pair of boys once Duo's gaze locked on target.

"Oh! Hi, Mrs. B!" he greeted, nudging for Heero to do the same. He merely grunted a hello, barely audible much less coherent.

Mrs. Brandon laughed at the polar opposites. "Good morning, I see that we both have our homework? Mm-hmm," she nodded as she scanned the page, to insure correctness. "Perfect as usual. You two are about the smartest students in this class," she sighed. "Impossible to find mistakes. I wonder why you're in Algebra I."

"Thanks, Mrs. Brandon," Duo grinned, looking at the dark red five that stained his page. He watched the teacher move on to the next student with a heavy sigh, arming herself with the large sharpie. "I didn't like that little smile she gave us," he turned to face Heero.

"Hn," the boy grunted with arms crossed as Prussian eyes surveyed the room.

"So!" he smiled brightly at the change of topic, slapping his hands on the desk. "How do you think the others are holding up?"

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"Winner!" Wufei snapped angrily. "You mean to tell me that - that - *this* is the mission Maxwell informed me about?"

Quatre only smiled at his outburst, "It's brilliant, isn't it?"

The serious scowl that stretched across the Chinese youth's expression broke into a positively evil smirk. Highly rare, "Absolutely."

"Quatre will inform you of how we're going to go about this - operation," the usually silent pilot remarked, leaning up against the white plaster of the wall.

"May I ask why you're taking a sudden interest in Maxwell and Yuy?" Wufei crossed his arms, staring back at the young Arabic.

"They obviously aren't that great at helping themselves, and we have to all be together. People work best as a team, and the tension has to go," he took a small sip of tea, staring out at the winter scene beyond the pane of glass.

"And?" he waited expectantly.

He gave a sheepish smile, "It feels right." The blonde pilot sank into the leather seat, twirling about randomly in thought with a light sigh.

A thump, soft but definitely audible sounded outside. Three sets of ears pricked at the unexpected noise. Slowly the trio advanced to the door with caution, but Wufei halted the other two. `Probably some salesmen . . . but why was there only one knock? Something's not right.' Narrowed obsidian kept steady observation straight ahead - down the stairs, to the foyer. His demeanor altered completely as he answered the door. The unexpected sight of the woman from the in completely took him by surprise.

`Fuck.' Aghast was clear in his dark eyes, "What do you think you're doing here, woman?"

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Replies to Reviews

Hatter, The Mad- Hi! Thank you so much for taking interest in this story and leaving a review ^_^ All the comments made me feel so special and stuff. Heero and Duo will definitely get through it all and figure it out - possibly when very wet ^_~ Lol. That was just a random idea I got a long time ago when I started this story. I was still working on my dead one, and there were some scenes that popped into my head that wouldn't fit in the other one. I'll try to keep it sane and interesting though. Don't worry about the parts. People know I suck at updating now because of school, and I have written 21 already (on ffn). I try my best . . . but I'm juggling The Ladies' Man, too.

Shella-chan- Hola, chica! How are you? Good I hope. I'm really, really tired right now. I'm not sure why. I think it's because I fell asleep at like four or something and had really weird dreams. I woke up around 11AM, and read more of the sweep series. I love that series. It keeps getting better and better as you go along. There are so many talented people out there, ne? Anyway, thank you very, very much for the awesome review! I know what you mean about the girls on GW though. I mean Relena - I really don't mind her so long as I don't see her actively pursuing Heero. Her ideals are very naïve, and it's funny how even I figured that out. But nevertheless the way she goes about them and what those ideals are is quite admirable. She's a brave, an equolent speaker, and generally kind person. Still I don't like her much just because of that Heero thing and her naivety, so that is sometimes why I want to kill her ^_^;; She does annoy a lot of people though, including me. First time my friend Mandi watched the series, she was already screaming at her to shut up. It was hilarious!

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Yay! I can finally upload this thing now. I hope everyone is having a fun in life. I have finals starting tomorrow, so, um, yeah . . . ^_^;; My first one will be really easy - Algebra. I can't believe people can find it hard, but you know. The ones I'm worried about are band (must cram music terms in head), honors English vocab (100 words, most of which I don't use, ever), honors biology, and court cases in law. We tackled learning 10 different but very closely related ones in a week. HPFrench doesn't sound very hard either, so I think I'll be okay! Mostly it's just parts of certain exams, so I think I'll pass all of them. Not that people would care, but you know . . . Reviews are very nice but not completely necessary, I suppose ^_^ I hope you guys liked!