Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ True North ❯ True North, Chapter 3 ( Chapter 3 )

True North

Chapter 3

Pairing: 2x1

Category: AU

Warning: sap, OC kid

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: Gundam Wing is copyright Bandai, Sunrise and Sotsu Agency. "Eien no Rhapsody" is copyright Midori Saiha/Ringo Zaidan.

Thanks to Diamroyal for beta reading!

Moira would have watched the storm outside, but she was busy playing Aqua Saga when it started, and unfortunately with video games, she couldn't really stop herself once she got started. It was always either A) she was too tired or B) Dad showed up and told her that it was time for her to sleep already, and he expected her in bed Right Now Or Else that finally got her to save and turn off the gaming system in the end.

In this case, it was August, it was the weekend, and it was just after dinner, so either option would be out of the question for another five to seven hours.

She heard the thunder booming underneath the game's peppy music, but she ignored it. Storm season was always during summer, and this was nothing new. Besides, she needed to get her party up a few more levels before she could beat the next boss. After this, the Ellipsis costume spheres could be unlocked and that'd give the party a lot of upgrades. And honestly, getting to see Aidan shirtless? Moira had to get them tonight.

Of course, she thought, after seeing the post-battle experience points total up on the screen, she could probably go a little beyond that, because apparently, they didn't need so many level-ups after all.

"Sweet," she said, moving Aidan forward on the TV screen. "Just need to save here and we can really get started." The Elysian Fields here had one save point under the baobab tree, and as Aidan ran closer, she saw the familiar spinning purple ball.

Just as the window asking her to save popped up, there was a loud crash of thunder, following by a shrill /breeeeep/ as everything in the living room suddenly shut off, including the TV screen with the "YES" option highlighted on the save window. A few seconds passed. The TV still didn't switch back on. A minute, and still nothing.

Frowning, Moira took her cell phone out of her pocket, only to see a blank, dead screen. This meant that the cell towers had power cut off too.

"Fuck," she hissed. "Fuck a duck!"

This was the worst time to have a blackout. Ever.

***

"Uh-oh," Duo said, hearing Moira's screams. "That doesn't sound good."

Another enraged howl issued from the living room. "NOW I HAVE TO GET THEM UP AGAIN! ANOTHER TWO HOURS OF GAMEPLAY! WHY, GOD, WHY!?"

"Honey, it's only a game. When the power comes back on, you just catch up," Duo called out. He got up from the table to look for candles. He knew there were some in the kitchen drawers. Hopefully there were a few left, and not those scented ones that he got from a colleague. He didn't want the house stinking of Ginger Berry Melon. Even Relena wrinkled her nose when he'd tried to pawn them off on her, primly stating that vanilla was the only fragrance allowed in her house.

He found some long red tapers, held one up to his nose, and put them on the counter with a satisfied nod. "Good, they only smell like wax. Where you going?" he asked, seeing Moira run down the foyer toward the stairs. "I need you to get the matches...oh, /you've/ got them. Terrific," he said, noticing Heero placing them next to the candles.

"I think she went to go check on her stuff. You know, the little music player she always has..." Heero stopped, trying to remember the word for it again.

"The Seashell."

"...yeah, that. And her laptop." Heero glanced towards the foyer. "I'm not sure, but I think I saw her recharging them earlier-"

They heard Moira screeching in frustration upstairs.

"-and it turns out she was."

Duo patted Heero on the back. "Well, that means she can watch the storm with us. Get on the porch, and I'll see if I can't pull her out of her room."

"What if she wants to play the guitar up there?" Heero asked. "She could play the acoustic one without any trouble."

"Nah, she likes watching storms too," Duo said, lighting a candle and going towards the stairs. "It's only a matter of getting her to watch them with us. Go on and set up, and we'll be down in a few."

******

Moira groaned, sliding open the top desk drawer for the light crystals she always kept on hand for blackouts. She couldn't see too well, thanks to the rapidly darkening sky outside. Finally, her hands came across what seemed like a faceted point. She felt for the switch at the base.

"What are you doing up here?" Dad asked, a lit candle in his hand.

She let out a yelp, banging her knee on the desk's steel. "I...I was going to watch the storm outside," she answered, rubbing the injured part. Man, that was going to bruise. She switched the crystal on, throwing a bright aqua-tinged light in the room.

Dad raised an eyebrow, pointing to the window. "You were going to watch the storm outside /there/? Out on the /roof/?"

"Umm..." Moira shifted from foot to foot. "That was the idea?" She grinned sheepishly, twirling the crystal in her fingers. Dad exhaled loudly, and she winced. That hadn't been a good answer.

"Moira, there's a storm outside. What makes you think that going out onto a slippery area to watch it is a good idea?" he asked sternly. That only made her fidget more; she wanted to hang out by herself and see the storm, but she didn't know how to say it.

"You know what, I...really don't know. I guess I'll just chill in here and whip out the guitar or something," she replied nonchalantly. Dad shook his head, taking her hand and pulling her from the desk.

"We're watching the storm out on the porch. Come on," he said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "Papa's down there right now. It'll be like old times, remember?"

Moira nodded. The last time this had happened was when she was ten, right after she'd caught some fireflies in the front yard. She and Dad had watched the storm underneath the porch, with glasses of lemonade she'd made with Nana earlier that day. Even when the storm had passed, they'd spent the rest of the night pointing out the stars in the sky until she'd fallen asleep on Dad's lap.

She missed those days when it was just the two of them.

Really, she was trying her best with Papa. They'd celebrated his birthday two days ago-he turned eighteen or eighty-one, depending on how anybody wanted to look at it-in a nice restaurant that they'd never really been to all that often. At first she'd suggested Zerzura, a place that was, to her, nice /and/ laid-back at the same time. The look on Papa's face once she mentioned the karaoke shot that down pretty quick.

There went Moira's birthday present; she'd intended to sing a song onstage dedicated to Papa. In the end she just settled for covering some of the meal. Granted, her part-time job at the labs wasn't much, but Dad told her that it was all right, after all, she was just a student. When she tried to play it on her guitar after they got home, she wound up playing the wrong chords, and then forgot one of the verses. Papa didn't act upset about it, but she could tell he wasn't interested.

Dad, Moira thought, was easier to please. Easier to approach, easier to talk to. They didn't spend much time together, but when they did he never made her feel like she was an obligation or something. They enjoyed their time with each other, and hell, Moira understood why Dad was busy. So was she. But it was okay.

With Papa, she was having to try, she thought. That was probably it; she'd thought by now they'd be getting along famously, and well, they were getting there, hopefully.

She just had to try a little harder.

******

Heero had just finished setting up the lawn chairs when Duo strode onto the porch, Moira in tow.

"Here she is!" Duo crowed, pulling her closer. "Got her just in time."

Moira, however, looked like she wanted nothing more than to retreat back upstairs and hide in her room. Heero could tell by how she was squirming, sliding a bare foot in and out of one of her sandals.

At least it was better than knowing she was on the roof watching the storm.

"Did we miss anything?" Duo asked, plopping down in a lawn chair. Heero shook his head, sitting down in his own. There had been some flashes in the sky, but no lightning bolts yet. The thunder, though, was booming while gales of wind whipped the tree branches against the house in an irregular rattle. It was only the awning on the porch that protected them.

Heero's candle flickered momentarily. Moving it farther back from the wind and rain, he glanced at the doorway. Moira was still standing at the doorway, holding a small, glowing crystal point in her hands. He gestured at a lawn chair for her to sit.

She tilted her head, twirling the crystal with her fingers for a few seconds as if considering the offer.

"Sit down," he said, gesturing again. Moira shrugged her shoulders, the straps of her layered tank tops sliding down as she did so, and finally took a seat.

Afterwards, not a word passed between them, except for an occasional gasp of awe from Moira when a lightning bolt appeared in the sky, and then Duo cheering at the resulting boom of thunder. It was just the three of them sitting on the porch, protected from the lashing downpour outside with only a few candles and the crystal for light.

Except for the crystal's bright turquoise glow, Heero felt like he was back in AC 196 again. He'd been here for at most two months and everything around him still felt alien. With the blackout, all that advanced technology had shut down, so now Heero could pretend, even if only for a little while.

He and Duo had watched storms like this before. At first he'd liked doing it only because Duo wouldn't try to talk to him so much in those first attempts to pull him out of his shell; instead, he shut up and gave Heero some badly needed peace. Later, after they knew each other better, Heero saw these outdoor sittings as a way to relax with Duo by his side. It was the two of them not doing /anything/: no sex, no hand-holding or cuddling, no watching the TV, and no conversation. As long as that storm lasted, they were just /there/ in the simple act of being and enjoying each other's company.

When Moira came along, it was easier to add her to the storm watches than Heero had originally thought. She'd been loud, crying when she was hungry, wet, and any time in between when she was full and dry. But on the first storm of that summer, they'd taken the squalling infant outdoors onto the porch, Heero bouncing her up and down to soothe her. He'd told Duo that it was a bad idea, that if they took her outside to watch, her cries would be heard within at least a ten mile radius, but Duo had waved a hand dismissively, dragging out the lawn chairs anyway.

As the first lightning bolt streaked across the sky, though, Moira had gone quiet. There had been none of the telltale signs of her starting to cry; instead, she stared wide-eyed, enchanted by what she'd seen. Except for some soft coos and gurgles, she lay quietly cradled in Heero's arms until the storm passed. Then she'd fallen contentedly asleep.

The storm seemed to have the same effects on her now as it did then. The crystal lay in her lap, forgotten, while she gazed at the sky while her hands were folded on her stomach, legs crossed at the knee.

She and Duo were both quiet. It wasn't that Heero disliked their chatter-in fact, he'd grown to like the sound of their voices even more since his revival-but silence every now and then was quite welcome. Especially when it was with family. If he wanted it to be quiet, there was plenty of time when neither of them were in the house, but then it was empty.

Heero leaned back in his chair, hoping the storm wouldn't end too soon.

******

Duo had forgotten how enjoyable a storm could be, even with a blackout.

Of course, that happened when you were busy as hell. The past two months had been nothing but running around. The only things he did at home were eating and sleeping, it seemed like. The rest of the time was split between the labs and the hospital, writing articles for medical journals on his findings and checking on his patients.

Frankly, it was a miracle he was still healthy, given that he was down to two meals a day, if he considered what they had in the lab cafeteria a "meal." Running a thumb under his chin, Duo grimaced. He needed a shave. Badly. The stubble was so much that he wondered why he didn't have any five o' clock shadow whenever he'd been able to catch a glimpse in the mirror. And if it hadn't been for Heero's pointed reminders, he probably would have forgotten to shower as well. Still, it was better than Professor G tossing a soap dispenser on his desk and saying, "Just in case you've run out at home!"

His patients, so far, were doing just fine. Once they'd gotten over the side effects of the gene therapy, there hadn't been many problems. He still planned to do monthly checkups until a year had passed, and then he'd go up to three month checkups, and then six, and then finally yearly.

The only drawback was that the most face-time he'd had with Heero was during those checkups. Face-time when he was alert and/or not eating, that is. Luckily, Heero didn't seem to mind only getting to see Duo while being poked and prodded. Much to Duo's satisfaction, Heero was thriving. He'd gained weight and developed an appetite so big that it threatened to overshadow Moira's. Then again, physically, he was at the age where most boys had a final growth spurt, so he wouldn't be eye-to-eye with Moira much longer.

While that was good, he /missed/ Heero. He'd waited fifteen years to see him again. Now that he was here, Duo didn't get to see him all that much, and it got so goddamned frustrating. The only reason Heero wasn't working with him side by side now was because he needed to retake certification, and the exams weren't going to be until April or so. That was a good thing; sixty-five years of scientific developments was going to be a lot to learn and absorb, even for Heero.

And then there would be the chaos in the scientific community to deal with, once word got out that Heero Yuy, the youngest scientist in history to win the Nobel Prize, was now alive and well. They'd been as hush-hush as possible when Heero had been revived, so that he could gain some strength back, but if he was going to return to work, his return couldn't be kept a secret forever.

Duo stole a glance at Heero, who was sitting on his left. He was visibly relaxed, legs stretched out in front of him. Duo grinned to himself; even with all this craziness around them, they still managed to find some peace.

The storm was beginning to show signs of letting up, the lightning reduced to brief flashes in the dark gray sky. The thunder's shattering boom shrank gradually into rolling grumbles. Soon it'd only be raining, and when that reduced into a lazy drizzle, all they'd have to remember of the storm was the grass and leaves, a lush green with water in the moonlight.

But Duo planned to sit out here all night and make this night last as long as he damn well could. He'd go back to work whenever the lights came back on, which wasn't now, and from the looks of things, probably wasn't going to be for a while.

******

Fireflies slowly appeared in the front yard, their bright greenish yellow lights lazily twinkling on and off in the cool August evening.

They looked so much better when it was really dark outside. The street lamps didn't do much to make the sky any brighter, but now that they were off, the fireflies looked even more beautiful.

Of course, if it was darker out, it meant that more stars were going be visible tonight. Moira had learned that fact each and every time they'd gone to the planetarium for field trips. She switched the crystal off, put it in the pocket of her capris, got up and walked onto the lawn.

It had just stopped raining, and with the exceptions of a random torn branch or two, the grass was wet, furry and softer than usual brushing against her bare ankles. The clouds were rapidly disappearing and in their wake, much to her delight, was a black sky /filled/ with stars glittering down from above. She could even see the Milky Way if she squinted a little bit.

The air felt terrific too, especially after how muggy the day had been. It was so refreshing that Moira wanted to pour it into a glass and take a long drink. Screw Aqua Saga; she couldn't remember the last time she'd had any good stargazing.

"You're not going to lie down in that, are you?" Papa's voice cut through her reverie. Moira realized that while she'd been looking at the sky, she'd knelt down in the wet grass. She considered saying, "Yeah, I am," and then promptly lying down and rolling around in it, but it wasn't really worth the trouble. Except, of course, it was a lot more fun lying in the grass and watching the stars than on the porch, but she could get an okay enough view there anyway. She'd just be lying on concrete, but stargazing was stargazing.

Moira got up, brushing stray blades of grass off the denim of her capris, and walked back to the porch. She kicked off her sandals and lay down, putting her arms behind her head for a pillow.

"Better?" she asked, arching an eyebrow at Papa.

"Isn't that uncomfortable?" he asked in turn. "Why can't you take your chair outside?"

"You /have/ to lie down to see stars. It's the only way. Help me out here, Dad."

Dad chuckled. "Gonna have to go with her on that one, Heero. Sorry." Moira heard a scraping sound as Dad moved his chair forward. "How's it look tonight?"

She grinned. "Terrific," she murmured. "What? You're not lying down?"

"Naw," Dad drawled, his voice slow and smooth, "I don't feel like getting up right now." His chair creaked, probably because he was stretching-Moira couldn't see-and he sighed in contentment. "God, this breeze feels good. No, I don't think I want to get up. Even for those stars."

"You're not moving from there, are you?" Papa asked. His expression wasn't very readable, except that it looked like he was deep in thought. Moira shook her head.

Suddenly he got up from his chair. Before Moira could ask what he was doing, Papa knelt down, lifting her head up gently and placing it in his lap.

"Um...thanks," she said, taken aback by the gesture. She'd expected him to try and drag her upwards, or just look at her disapprovingly until she got up. It was so hard to tell.

Papa snorted. "At least this way you'll be comfortable," he said, leaning back on his hands and peering outside. Up close, Moira noticed that the dark stripes on his shirt weren't black like she'd thought, but instead an intense forest green. The thin cloth brushed against her cheek as she turned her head, trying to get herself settled. She hadn't seen Papa in a T-shirt unless he was sleeping; other than that, he tended to dress real preppy, except not so rumpled like her classmates; everything tended to be pressed with him.

"Can you see the Big Dipper?" he asked.

Moira laughed. "Of course I can! It's over there," she said, pointing a little off to the right. "If you go a little bit down and to the left...there's Polaris, and then that W-shaped thing over there is Cassiopeia." Her finger traced the shape out for him.

"How did you learn where all of these constellations are?" One of his hands had moved to her head, resting lightly on top of her bangs.

She shrugged, feeling the straps of her tank top move a little more into place. "Dad pointed out Polaris for me once. But the rest I looked up on the Internet or on star charts in the library. I'm thinking about going into astrophysics at Blair."

"Why not astronomy?" Papa's eyes shone a deep cloudy sapphire blue in the weak candlelight. He looked thoughtful, and strangely enough, Moira thought, very interested in what she had to say.

"Well," she said, pointing both index fingers up at him, "I really don't know. I guess with astrophysics, there's other stuff you can do. Like with zero point gravity, that's going to be the next big thing, you know? So after I do some work with the physics, I could take breaks stargazing. It's closely related to astronomy, anyway." Her hands danced in the air as she spoke, dipping and twirling.

"I see," Papa said, his fingers running slowly through her hair. She felt them meandering toward her scar, like he was curious about it, but wasn't sure about asking-and therefore touching it-yet.

Moira saw a flicker of movement up in the sky, just near Altair.

"Oh!" she gasped. "That's right, it's August, so it's shooting star season. Look over there," she said, pointing at the falling star. Another one began to move, this time around Arcturus. Papa didn't say anything, but just looked in the direction where she was pointing and nodded.

"It's not exactly the middle of the month yet, but when it is, it's going to look a lot better than this," she continued. "The trouble is that we probably won't be able to see it so well, thanks to the lights being on. That's a shame, because they're so beautiful, aren't they?"

Papa didn't answer, but kept looking at the sky, as if he was trying to see something very far away. He was like that for a long time, gently stroking her bangs and smoothing them down from her temples.

"Papa?" she asked.

"Huh?"

"Aren't they pretty?"

It was hard to tell, but she thought she saw the corners of his mouth turn up slightly.

"Yeah. Yeah, they are," he replied, voice barely above a whisper.

******

"Out like a light," commented Duo. Heero heard the squeaking of his lawn chair as the other man got up, and then the soft shuffle of flipflops as he came to sit down on the porch itself.

Moira had long since fallen asleep, her normally animated hands lying still on her stomach. Now that she wasn't talking, smiling, or frowning, her face had taken on an eerie, seraphic calm in the light provided by the moon and the dying candles. Heero's hand was still on her forehead, playing absentmindedly with her bangs.

"I wish this night would /never/ end," Duo said, his voice low. A firefly landed on one of his hands, blinking on and off a few times before finally drifting away.

"Why?"

"Because I haven't felt this good in a long time," was the indulgent reply. Duo reached out and pulled Heero close, enveloping him in the familiar smell of coffee and soap. "Look, the power's all out, so the world's standing still. And there's /nothing/ like being outside just after a storm when that happens. It's /finally/ cool out, with the fireflies and /that/."

Duo swept an arm across the sky, still glittering with stars. "The real reason, though, is because for the next few hours or so, I don't have to run off to the labs, write manuscripts, or go and check on patients. All I have to do," he said, clasping slightly sticky arms around Heero's shoulders, "is stay here. With you."

Heero snorted. Duo's chin felt scratchy. "You haven't shaved," he said. Duo rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"Yeah, I know. I guess I haven't had time. If it wasn't for you, showering would have gone right out the window."

"Duo, it was either that or the couch," Heero grumbled. He was beginning to feel a little warm. Maybe he should have worn shorts today like Duo had; he looked so comfortable with his bare calves sticking out of his worn denim cutoffs. Duo laughed. He sounded relaxed and carefree.

"I'm sorry about that, Heero. But unless I'm doing your checkup, I'm either eating or sleeping when you're around. At least now I'm awake to hear you say that," he said. "I think I'm going to see about getting a day off soon."

"Are you overworking yourself?" Heero asked. Duo sighed and pushed back some wayward strands of hair.

"Sure feels like it. I didn't think that it'd be this hectic after I found the cure, to tell you the truth, but now I'm up to my eyebrows in work. You know what that's like, right?"

Heero nodded. If he'd been older than fourteen when he won the Nobel, the media would have probably been more insistent for press conferences and interviews. Even then, it didn't do much to minimize the workload he'd gotten. But then again, he hadn't minded it so much. He was a workaholic by nature. So was Duo, but apparently he had a different approach with it.

"I miss seeing you," Duo blurted. "I know that sounds real stupid-because you're here now-but ever since Moira's graduation, I haven't really been around to actually /be/ with you except for those checkups, and those are only once a month." He held up one finger.

"I hate that," he continued ranting, his hand balling into a fist for a split second before reopening and waving crazily in the air. "I feel like I'm being taunted somehow; oops, not yet, not yet, gotta wait a little longer. I did this /because/ I wanted to see you, and...and..." he fumbled for the right words. Before he could, Heero leaned into Duo and placed his own hand on Duo's wrist, moving it upwards and interlacing their fingers.

Duo gave up, falling silent. They sat like that, listening to the crickets chirp in the dark for a long time. Finally, Heero pulled Duo's head close and whispered, "Bed?"

Duo gazed at him thoughtfully for a few minutes, his eyes gleaming. Then the corners of his mouth turned up in a sly grin and he nodded, chuckling slowly.

"Yeah...bed," he whispered back, kissing Heero full on the mouth. "I'll put Moira in her room. Just clean up and wait for me."

With that, Duo scooped Moira into his arms, carrying her into the house and leaving Heero behind on the porch with a few dying candles.