Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Promise Me ❯ Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing. Really. This story is based off of the manga Hotaru no Mori. If you want to read it, go to www dot sakura-crisis dot net.

 

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Who loves believes the impossible.

-Elizabeth Barrett Browning

 

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I remember the first time I met him. I was six years old. Eleven years ago, now. I was staying at my grandpa's house for the summer. He lived in one of those small towns where everyone knows everyone else. It was stifling for me. Even at that young age, I hated being known. It felt wrong. I guess I've always been a loner.

 

But then, so was he.

 

I'm getting ahead of myself. All I want to do is write down his story… my story… or I guess, our story. I don't know where he starts and I end, anymore.

 

I wanted to get away from that small town. It was at the base of a mountain that was covered in trees that towered over my small stature. The villagers never entered it; they called it the Mountain of God, and said that monsters lived there. I decided that I didn't believe in monsters, and went in to escape.

 

I didn't expect to get lost. The townspeople had said that once you entered the forest, you weren't allowed to leave. I started to believe that the superstition had some truth in it as I wandered through the lonely woods.

 

Hours passed, and I began to panic. I ran, looking for a way back to the familiar surroundings. I became a regular little kid, lost and scared, just trying to find a safe place. I finally wore myself out and collapsed on the soft carpet of grass beneath my feet.

 

And that's when he showed up.

 

He asked me if I was crying. Of course I wasn't crying. Boys didn't cry. But my face was buried in my arms, so it was an easy mistake. I just shot him a glare, and then I realized what I was looking at.

 

It was a monster.

 

Or at least, that's what I first thought. I soon realized that he looked just like the teenagers in my grandpa's town. Except for the mask, of course. He had a mask covering his face that was faintly reminiscent of a rabbit, or maybe a fox, and it was colored light green. He seemed unfathomably tall to me, and he leaned casually against a tree.

 

With a scowl, I picked myself up off the ground and walked past him. Well, I tried. My legs were still tired from running, and I tripped just as I was about to pass him. I saw with alarm that I was going to crash into his legs, but it didn't happen. He stepped out of the way, leaving me to smash my face into the rough bark of the tree.

 

“Sorry,” he said softly as I brushed the dirt off of my face. “You're a human child, aren't you?”

 

My glare returned. “Of course. What else would I be?”

 

I heard him laugh a little bit. “If a human ever touches me, I'll vanish.”

 

I stopped when I heard that. Was this really a monster? “So… you aren't human?” I asked, peering up at him while trying to hide my curiosity. I took a few steps towards him.

 

He merely said, “I live in this forest.”

 

I scowled. “So I suppose you really are a monster, then?” He didn't answer. I closed the distance between us and reached out with my short arm to grab at his shirt, but he nimbly stepped out of the way. I tried again and again, trying to disprove what he said, but he was always just out of reach. I finally collapsed onto the ground, out of breath.

 

“Do all monsters vanish when a human touches them?” I said when I regained my breath. “What is `vanish', anyway? A punishment for letting us see you?” The questions I asked surprised me. I've never been a curious child. Except for when I was around him. He was always an enigma, always just out of reach, out of understanding.

 

“You're an ignorant boy,” he said as he looked down at me. “'Vanish' means disappear, go away forever. If you touch me I have to leave this wood. I won't be able to come back ever again.”

 

I looked up at his odd mask. He had said that the forest was his home. If I had succeeded in touching him, would I have really driven him away from his home?

 

“Gomenasai!” I said as I quickly stood up and bowed. The Japanese just came out; that happened sometimes. I've always found it easier to express myself in my native language. I could see his puzzled look, however, and repeated myself in English. “I'm sorry, so sorry… I didn't realize what I was doing. I'm sorry.” I looked down at my feet, feeling more than a little ashamed.

 

I heard his feet push against the grass as he walked away. I thought I would never see him again. I was wrong. He was back in a minute, with a stick in his hand.

 

“I can't touch you, so hold this,” he said kindly. “I'll lead you out of the forest.”

 

“Domo-“ I started to say, but I quickly stopped myself. “Thank you.”

 

We walked through the cool shade, and I said softly, “It's almost like a date.” To this day, I don't know what prompted me to say that. Just my childish innocence, I suppose.

 

“It's not like a date at all,” he said, sounding amused.

 

He took me to a place where there was a small archway made of stone. A dirt path started beneath it. It looked familiar, like the place where I had entered the forest.

 

“Just keep walking on this path, and you'll get home,” he said, letting go of the branch. “Goodbye.”

 

But for some reason, I didn't want to say sayonara to him. I turned and looked up at his mask. “Are you always here? Can I come back tomorrow?”

 

I imagined that he was looking at me contemplatively, but it was impossible to tell. Finally, he said, “This a forest full of monsters. Didn't the villagers warn you?”

 

I felt my lips curve into a smile. “I'm Heero Yuy. What's your name?”

 

He just continued to “stare” at me. I felt myself grow nervous and slightly fidgety. “Well, anyway,” I said when I decided that he wasn't going to say anything, “I'll come back here tomorrow. I'll bring you a gift.” I walked away down the little path, not sure if he'd even be here the next day.

 

“Trowa. I'm Trowa.”

 

I turned around quickly, but he was gone.

 

My grandpa scolded me when I got home. I told him that I had gotten lost in the forest, and asked him if there were really monsters there.

 

“Around the summer time, there's always the sound of music coming from the forest. My friend went in there once, and he said that he stumbled onto a festival that was being held by the monsters. I never saw any, though.”

 

I went to bed that night full of thoughts of Trowa.

 

The next day I went back to the same spot, holding a small box in my hands. To my surprise, he was waiting for me.

 

“I'm surprised you came,” he said in his soft voice. I wondered what his smile looked like.

 

Running towards him, I shoved the box towards his hands, forgetting what would happen if I touched him. He jerked his hands away and the box fell to the ground, a shattering sound coming from inside.

 

“I'm sorry! I forgot,” I cried, feeling like an idiot.

 

Trowa bent down and opened the box. He pulled out the pieces to a small, crudely shaped clay pot that I had made myself. I blushed a bit as he surveyed my handiwork.

 

“Follow me,” he said, walking into the forest. I obeyed.

 

He carefully peeled back the bark of a grey-colored tree to reveal a sticky sap. Using it like glue, he pieced the pot back together. The cracks hardly even showed. After he was done, he looked up at me and said, “Thank you. It's nice. I didn't think that you would even show up, let alone bring such a nice gift.”

 

I definitely blushed after he said that. I rarely received such absolute praise. “Arigato,” I mumbled, forgetting to speak English.

 

I felt the rough wood of a branch hit my hand. When I looked up, I saw that Trowa was offering it to me to hold, as he had done the day before.

 

“Let's go. It's too hot here.”

 

We walked deeper into the forest. I had brought a lunch for both of us, and I pulled it out when we sat beneath a big tree. But Trowa said he didn't want it.

 

“Monsters like me don't eat,” he explained. So he stretched out on the grass and napped as I quietly ate my lunch.

 

After I was done, I just looked at him, studying the mask. I found myself wanting to know what he looked like underneath it. It should be okay to just touch the mask, I thought to myself, hoping I was right. I carefully lifted it off of him, and saw his face for the first time.

 

He had light brown hair the glinted in the sun as it covered his face. He was still sleeping peacefully, and his lips formed a small smile. I wanted to brush the hair out of his eyes, but I restrained myself.

 

I don't know how much time passed before he opened his eyes, but it felt like a second. His eyes were such a deep green that it made the grass around him seem dull, but as his gaze bore into mine, I realized that I had been staring at him for far too long.

 

“I'm sorry!” I said with embarrassment as I dropped the mask in my hands. It landed on his head with a loud sound.

 

“Ouch… crazy kid,” he said as he sat up. “So what did you think? My face isn't that big of a deal, right?”

 

Dodging the question, I said, “Why do you wear a mask?”

 

He turned his face up to the sky, the mask hiding his expression from me. “If I don't wear a mask, then I won't look like a monster.”

 

You don't look like one anyway, I thought, but all I said was, “That's weird.” Trowa laughed at me.

 

I spent the rest of the summer like that. I visited Trowa everyday. Sometimes we would spend the whole day in silence. We didn't need words to express the happiness we felt at having company. When we did talk, we talked about my life. Trowa said that his wasn't as interesting as mine, but I always yearned to know more about him.

 

Then summer ended, and I had to leave. I was sad to say goodbye to Trowa. I had no way of knowing if I could ever see him again. I didn't know what monsters did during the year.

 

“I have to go home tomorrow, Trowa,” I told him with an unmasked sigh as I looked down at my hands. He was silent for a long time.

 

“Can you come back next year?”

 

I looked up at him with hope in my eyes, and nodded enthusiastically.

 

From then on, summer was my favorite time of the year. No matter what happened while I was away, the summers with Trowa were always the same. The only difference was that I was slowly getting closer to his line of vision, although I never quite made it to his height. A few incidents from those summers stick out in my mind.

 

Many times when we walked through the forest, monsters came up to us and warned me that if I ever touched Trowa, they would eat me. I learned that they had much respect for him, and didn't want to lose him anymore than I did. Still, I noticed that they could touch him without him disappearing, and I longed to be a monster so that I could do the same.

 

When I was around thirteen, we were sitting in the shade of a big tree covered in beautiful red blossoms. Trowa had his mask off. He had become more and more prone to taking it off around me, but when we were around other monsters he always put it back on. His eyes were on the delicate flowers and my eyes were on him, when he said, “I've never been able to reach those branches. The flowers bloom every year, but I have to wait until they fall to hold them.”

 

“Why don't you just climb the tree?” I asked, shifting my gaze to the rough trunk.

 

He laughed softly, a sound I had become accustomed to. “It's a little undignified for a monster. Especially if I fell. The other monsters would laugh at me.”

 

I looked from him to the tree, and stood up with steady resolve. “I'll climb it for you then. It doesn't matter if the monsters laugh at me.” I was surprised at myself. I hated it when people laughed at me. But somehow, if it was for Trowa, I thought that I could bear it.

 

I pulled myself into the branches easily, and worked my way onto the end of one, Trowa standing below me. As I reached out for one of the flowers, I heard a crack, followed by a series of popping noises. My eyes widened. I didn't even have to time to yell before I started to fall.

 

“Heero!” Trowa yelled. He stretched out his arms, ready to catch me.

 

I tried with all my might to yell at him to move, but the sounds wouldn't come out. He must have seen the panic in my eyes because before I reached him, he stepped out of the way, and I smashed into the pile of leaves below me.

 

“Are you alright?” he asked anxiously as I pulled myself up.

 

I nodded, tears in my eyes. Boys don't cry, I scolded myself, but I couldn't help it.

 

“Promise me, Trowa. Promise me that you'll never touch me, okay? Please?” My breathing was harsh, and my voice shaky.

 

He smiled at me, and I could see the pain in his eyes. “I promise.” He reached out towards me, and I froze. I watched, transfixed, as he reached for my hand. I was surprised to see that the flower was still in my grip. He carefully grasped it, and I let got. As he lifted it up, he smiled at me again, this time with happy eyes. “Thank you for such a wonderful gift, Heero.”

 

Even as I grew, Trowa stayed the same as he had been the first time I met him. He seemed happiest when we just sat in the sun and looked at the nature around us. He always made me feel peaceful, and during the winter months, I often wished that I could see him. Summer was the only time I ever felt alive, because that's when I was with him.

 

The next summer, when I was fourteen, I told him about my new high school. We talked about how fast time went by. I told Trowa that I planned to graduate quickly and get a job near the forest so that I could see him all the time, in fall, spring, winter, and summer.

 

He just smiled a little sadly at me, and said, “I have something to tell you about myself.”

 

My heart sped up. Trowa had never talked about himself. I faced him, ready to listen to whatever it was he had to say.

 

“I'm not a monster, not really. But I'm also not a human. I used to be, though. When I was still a baby, my parents left me in this forest. At that time, I was supposed to die. The god of this mountain, however, took pity on me and used his magic to sustain my life. I stayed here, unable to die, just like a ghost. My existence isn't a true one.”

 

He looked up at me with those beautiful green eyes filled with sadness, and I wanted to hug him, comfort him, more than ever.

 

“Heero… you should just forget about me. You should get on with your life.”

 

I laid back in the grass and sighed. “Trowa… I think about you during the winter, and the fall, and the spring. I want to be here with you during those times. So please… even if time someday separates us, just please, never forget me. Let's just stay together as long as we can.”

 

That was the only time Trowa ever told me about himself.

 

Then came the summer that I was seventeen. The last one. We were in the forest, fishing, and Trowa told me about a monster festival that was being held that night. I thought of what my grandpa had told me all those years ago, about the music coming from the forest. My attention was jerked back to Trowa at his next words.

 

“I want you to come with me. You were too little before, but I've always wanted to go with you.” He looked down as he said it, almost shyly.

 

“Of course,” I said warmly. “But it seems odd. What will it be like?”

 

“All the monsters dress up as humans, so it will be just the same as your festivals. But don't worry. I'll protect you.” He looked at me out of the corner of his eye, and I ducked my head, wishing that my bangs could hide my face like his could.

 

“When you say that, I want to hug you,” I said softly, not knowing how he would react. I only said it because someone once told me to listen to my emotions, and that was how I felt, even if I didn't quite understand why.

 

“Good. That's my wish,” he replied with an enigmatic smile, and I looked up at him, feeling a little sad. We walked back to our meeting place, and I promised to come back at eight.

 

That night, before we went to the festival, Trowa took a length of cloth and tied one end to my wrist and the other end to his.

 

“It's almost like a date,” I said with a smile, remembering my words in the past.

 

“It is a date,” said Trowa firmly. Then he started to lead me into the forest.

 

As we entered the clearing where the festival was being held, I looked around in awe. “They look just like humans.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Except for you. You're still dressed as a monster.”

 

He stopped and looked at me, then pulled the mask off his face. He placed it on mine before gently kissing it. I felt my heart speed up to double time, but I stayed still.

 

“Heero… when you're gone, I always think about you. I want to run through crowds of people just to find you, to be with you. Keep the mask. It's a present, to let you know that I will never, never forget you.”

 

Even as I was happy to hear him say that, I felt an overwhelming amount of sadness engulf me. It felt like a goodbye. I remembered how he had told me to forget him, and wondered if he would ever come back to our meeting spot again.

 

I looked around at all the monsters, my heart heavy. There was a young one running near us. He didn't see a branch on the ground, and tripped over it.

 

“Oh, watch out,” said Trowa, grabbing his wrist to steady him. The boy said thank you and ran away. Then I noticed something.

 

“Trowa, your hand!” It was… fading. Just disappearing, starting from the fingers that had touched the boy. He looked at it in disbelief. I turned around to see if I could catch a glimpse of the boy. “He was a human?”

 

“Heero.” I turned back to see Trowa with a grin on his face, his arms spread wide, arms that were quickly fading away. “Heero, I can finally touch you.”

 

I didn't hesitate. I ran to him, the mask slipping off my face, and fell into his arms, holding him close. For just that moment, we were two humans, together.

 

“I love you,” I whispered into his shirt.

 

“Yeah,” he said, pulling me closer. “Me too.”

 

Then he was gone. Forever. I fell to the ground as the tears began to come, and I cried for a long time.

 

A part of me disappeared with Trowa that day. I don't think that it's coming back.

 

I picked up the green mask in my hands, and held it close to my chest.

 

“Heero…” I looked up to see monsters surrounding me. They no longer held their human shapes. “Heero, thank you. We wanted to stay with Trowa longer, but he was finally able to hug a human. Thank you.”

 

I walked away from the forest, and I haven't gone back since. It's winter now. I think that it will be a long time before I enjoy summer again. The memories I have of Trowa still make my heart heavy, but I'm happy that I got to spend that time with him. I'll never forget him, or the warmth that I felt when I was finally, finally able to hug him.