Author: CleverYoungThief
Rating: PG
Warnings: Romance, Language, shounen ai, very very mild angst
Pairing: 1+2
Archive: Gundam Wing Addiction
Disclaimer: Contrary to popular belief, I don't own any of the characters herein. Most political situations, people, and events in these stories are fictional, and don't belong to me, and are taken without permission because I'm too damned lazy to make up my own. The characters and events and stuff in here that ARE mine ARE mine, so don't take them, and if you do, I'll hunt you down and kill you with a spork.
Note: Here's my songfic for the "Heero And Duo" Song thing. My song is "Takeoffs and Landings" by The Ataris, because I've listened to it a million times and I always think of them. ^_^ By the way, I would have done this earlier, as I'm the one who posted a challenge for anyone who sent in a song suggestion to write a songfic on it, but I couldn't really visualize how I wanted the fic to go.
PS: Just because I do a one-shot doesn't mean I'm not working on my many series.
Fear of Flying
Stars. The stars were so much more beautiful from Earth.
~~On this coldest of January nights, we'll drive out past the runway, and watch the planes go flying by...~~
He laid back in the cold, whispering grass and tilted his head to the sky, looking at them. He could see stars, and satellites, and the colonies, all swirling lazily through the night sky, too slowly to see. Below the hill, a line of blue runway lights shone in the darkness, echoing the stars like a mirror.
~~The runway lights are the deepest blue, like the colors of your eyes~~
Beside him, the only things he carried were his laptop's carrying case, and a duffel bag with only the bare minimum of clothing. He didn't own anything else, not even a name.
// What am I going to do now? //
~~So close them tight and kiss me one last time...~~
He felt the slip of paper in his hand, the ticket receipt for the shuttle. He looked at it in the dark, but he couldn't read it, not even with night vision as good as his. He knew what it was, though, so there was no need to read it. A ticket to the Cinq Kingdom. But what there was there for him, he had no idea.
~~If you could go anywhere right now, where would you go?~~
He had enough money. But money alone wouldn't do it. He couldn't just go, go with no idea at all what he was doing. Or what he would do when he got there. There wasn't anything anywhere for him now. He was a member of a dying breed. There was no need for soldiers, anymore.
And he didn't know how to be anything else.
~~And would you miss me when you get there?~~
Suddenly, a cheery voice called out over the hill.
"Yo! Heero! There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you! Why're you out here? You're going to freeze in that stupid tank top, you know that, right? Can't you wear something else, that has holes in it. Don't you have any common sense? Sheesh. It's gotta be thirty fuckin' degrees out here, damn!"
~~There's no place that I would rather be...~~
Heero didn't turn around when he heard the sound of Duo's voice, barely audible over the roar of the shuttles taking off. It was January, only two weeks after the defeat of Mariemeia. He had just been released from the hospital only two days before.
He looked up only when a black windbreaker fell over his shoulders. Duo sat down on the hill next to him, bundled in a coat and still shivering from the cold, braid tucked up under a knit cap. In his hand, he held a ticket, too.
~~Please don't let me, go falling from the sky~~
A hard wind blew across the hill. Duo shivered again and scooted next to Heero until they were shoulder-to-shoulder, sharing body heat. A shuttle roared overhead, flattening the grass and momentarily deafening them. Duo tried to shout over it.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOIN' ALL THE WAY OUT HERE!?"
"...thinking."
~~This fasten seatbelt sign just needs to go out...~~
"WHAT??"
Heero fought an urge to grit his teeth. "THINKING."
Duo winced, covering his ears protectively, mittens acting as earmuffs. The ringing in their ears finally faded as the shuttle faded into the distance. He spoke again, more quietly this time. "Thinking about what?"
~~If only you could be, right here by my side~~
"Where my home is... where it's going to be." Duo laughed merrily. "Aw, that's easy, Heero!"
Heero looked over at him, a puzzled look in his cobalt eyes as he watched the moonlight play on Duo's face, stars sparkling in the Deathscythe pilot's violet eyes, which looked indigo in the deep darkness of the winter night.
~~Home wouldn't seem so far from here...~~
"What's so funny now?"
Duo shook his head, still grinning. "What do you think a home is, Heero?"
Heero laid back in the grass, looking up into the sky. "...A place to live. A place where you eat and sleep."
"Bullshit," Duo answered, voice still cheerful. He laid down next to Heero, looking up at the stars too, not at his partner.
"Nani?"
~~Passport customs carry-on, remember~~
"That's not what a home is, Heero. You just described a house. A home is nothing like that at all. You're lucky you have me around for a while more, just to set you straight."
"So what's a home?" Heero asked, a slightly sullen look coming over his face. // A while more? Where is he going? Duo... //
~~...to shut off all of your electronic devices...~~
"Don't tease me, Duo. Just tell me."
Duo looked over at him, coming up on one elbow to look into Heero's face. "A home is where people care about you. A home is where people know your name."
"So where is your home?"
Duo looked back into the sky, shrugging. "I don't know. Somewhere up there. I haven't figured it out yet, either. Looks like we're in the same boat. Trowa has the circus, Wufei has the Preventers, and Quatre has L4. You and me, we're left in the cold."
"Hn. I don't have a name. And I don't have anyone who cares about me."
~~Fell asleep on Tuesday, you woke up Monday afternoon~~
Heero's eyes widened as Duo's mittened hand slid into his own, palm pressed against his. When the braided pilot spoke again, Heero could barely hear him.
"Sure you do, Heero. I care about you. I love you." Duo's voice was not quite steady. At first, Heero wasn't sure he had heard him correctly.
Heero looked over at him, blue eyes suddenly afraid. Afraid because those three words from Duo could never, ever be true.
~~I slept right through your international dateline...~~
He wanted to run. He wanted to hide. But he couldn't bring himself to draw his hand away. Or his eyes. But he thought if he kept looking into those violet eyes, his heart would shatter with some inescapable emotion he couldn't name. The intensity of his feelings scared him. So he froze like a deer caught in headlights, unable to tear his eyes away from Duo's face.
~~If you could go anywhere right now, where would you go?~~
Duo's expression became a little less sure, trembling like glass on the edge of a high note, ready to shatter. "Please say something, Heero. Please."
~~And would you miss me when you get there?~~
Instead of saying something, Heero just looked back up at the sky. So many stars. A shooting star left a mark across the darkness like a mobile suit contrail. Then another. And another. Meteor shower. The debris from the Wars was still falling from the sky. The sky was suddenly lit with the remains of war.
~~There's no place that I would rather be...~~
Duo saw them, too. Using them as an excuse to escape from the declaration he had just made. Something to make Heero forget and chalk it up with the rest of the things he always babbled about. But Heero would not forget. Not this time.
"Make a wish, Heero."
~~Please don't let me, go falling from the sky~~
"Huh?"
Duo looked over at him again. "You're supposed to make a wish on a shooting star. Didn't you know that?"
"No."
~~This fasten seatbelt sign just needs to go out...~~
// I wish I could just stay right here forever. //
"Did you wish something?" Heero asked quietly.
"Yeah, sure did. Always do."
~~If only you could be, right here by my side~~
"What was your wish?"
"You can't tell a wish on a shooting star, Heero! It defeats the purpose. You can never tell anyone."
Heero looked back at the sky. "Roger that."
~~Home wouldn't seem so far from here...~~
There was a silence between them. One that Heero, for once, broke. There was a soft ripping sound as Heero tore his ticket into tiny pieces and held it up in his hand. The hard, freezing January wind carried it away like so much yellow confetti.
~~Please don't let me, go falling from the sky...~~
"Heero, what in the hell-"
~~This fasten seatbelt sign just needs to go out~~
Heero put his head on Duo's chest, listening to the warm, steady sound of Duo's heartbeat. It blocked the sound of the wind and the shuttles. He felt Duo tense under him, as if afraid of being attacked, and then the braided pilot relaxed carefully.
~~If only you could be, right here by my side...~~
"Duo?"
~~Home wouldn't seem so far from here......~~
"...Yeah?"
~~The runway lights are the deepest blue, like the colors of your eyes...~~
"I think I love you too."
~~...so close them tight and kiss me one last time.~~
OWARI
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