Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Touched ❯ Epilogue

Touched

(Epilogue)

Pairing : 2x5x2

Rating : R overall

Warnings : Yaoi, lime, mild angst/sap/violence

Disclaimer : GW belongs to Sunrise, Sotsu and Bandai. I wish I owned it though.

Summary : A mission finished at the expense of one pilot getting hurt. Two boys find themselves sharing space in the same safehouse, and finding a connection while learning to live with each other.

+++++ : Change of scene

~~~~~ : Scene break

< > : Recalled speech

// // : Thoughts

A/N : This doesn't follow the canon storyline. ^_^ Feedback appreciated!

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The next, and last, email for them came the morning after. Wufei, true to routine, was the one to first stir, then untangling himself from the mess of limbs and hair he lay in to check the message.

Duo, still wrapped in the sheets, hadn't even bothered turning to look. He knew what was coming anyway.

Quatre had sent word that he would be sending the Maguanacs to pick them up the next morning.

++++++++++

They had spoken little for the rest of the day. Precious few hours were used up erasing their existence from the safehouse. The medical supplies and unopened cans of food stored away for whoever would use this safehouse next. The packing took even less time.

In the late evening, Duo had found himself straying out of the safehouse and to the little clearing. He stood there for a long time, hands stuck in his pockets, soaking in the caresses of the cool breeze. Wufei had appeared soon afterward, coming up from behind and wrapping his arms around Duo, laying his head against Duo's neck.

They stayed there the whole night, sitting down when their legs grew tired, neither of them quite able to return to the now desolate safehouse to face its hollow hallways and listen to the echoes of memories.

++++++++++

And in the end of it all, it was…and was not what Duo expected.

He stayed behind just a little longer to watch Wufei's departure, his eyes following the white-clad figure even long after it had disappeared from sight. He had figured out it would be this way, that he would be the one watching Wufei leave, and not the other way round. He didn't know why he knew - he just did. But he didn't mind. Not really.

Even when it was his turn to return to his own chosen path, Duo looked down and saw himself clutching one hand to his chest.

He remembered the conversation he had with Wufei earlier, their farewell, and he smiled.

< "Hey, Wufei! Wait up! Sheesh, what's the hurry?"

"Yes, Duo?"

"Nah, just…well, just wanna ask you something. Heh, nothing serious. Just something."

"Yes?"

"Let's say…I'm just saying, you understand, that when the war is over…if the war's over, that is. This, this street kid - completely ordinary street kid - bumps into a friend. Not just any friend, you know. A special one, but still, just a kid like him, you know. Uh…what do you think…the uh, friend would say? I mean…"

"Well - "

"I mean, hypo - hypothetically speaking, of course!"

"Duo - "

"You know what? Don't answer. I don't even know why the hell I'm saying such stupid things. You don't have to - "

"Maxwell!"

"Yeah?"

"Duo. I was going to say that…the friend would ask the street kid if he could make that tasteless soup again…Hypothetically speaking, of course."

"…I…I see. Heh."

"What would the street kid say? Hypothetically."

"Well…guess the street kid would just *have* to say yes. Hypothetically, he's rather hopelessly hooked on that friend, I'd say." >

Wufei had raised an eyebrow at that, the only hint of his acknowledgement of Duo's confession surfacing in the twinkle deep in his eyes. It didn't escape Duo however, and he had laughed, at both their childish hemming and hawing, and also his own very un-Maxwell awkwardness. In that instant, Duo thought that maybe everything between them had been resolved. Just maybe.

They never did say goodbye to each other. Not in words, no. Before Wufei turned to leave, he had lifted a hand to Duo's chest, brushing his fingers across the black fabric in a fleeting caress.

And Duo etched that touch into his memory.

It was the simplest gesture, but it felt enough.

~*~ Fin ~*~

August 2003