Author: hostilecrayon
Pairing: 1+2 (Chibi)
Rating: G
Warning: Chibi Angst, fluffy, AU-ish
Disclaimer: I don't own anything other than the computer I'm using right now. And I still didn't even buy this. Anyone want to buy Gundam Wing for me?
Notes: This is what happens when we talk about Kinship and Genealogy Charts in my Cultural Anthropology summer college class.
A Solitary Triangle
"You draw yourself in the middle - a triangle for boys and a circle for girls - and label it Ego. Please do this now, class. Remember, this is just practice, so if you mess up, it's alright. We are just getting a feel for how a Genealogy chart works." Mrs. Gates drew a circle on the board and labeled it in big letters as an example.
Duo looked down at his paper and drew a big triangle and labeled it like the teacher did. When he was done, his large, blue-violet eyes were drawn back to the board, awaiting further instructions.
"Now, color it in and write your name across the top." Again, she gave an example, and Duo set to work. He smiled a little as he colored his triangle just right, so that no white was showing.
He liked school, and though he got in his fair share of trouble, he did really well and he appreciated the opportunity. Even at eight years old, he knew that he was lucky to be able to go. He wanted to go to college someday and become something big. He wanted to be famous. Maybe then he wouldn't be looked at as a street rat anymore.
"Is everyone done? Next, you draw a triangle and a circle next to each other above you, and draw a line to connect you to them, like this." She demonstrated. "Label them with MO for your mother and FA for your father."
Duo's eyebrows knitted together as he noticed everyone drawing. He didn't know what he was supposed to do.
"Duo, why aren't you writing anything?"
"I don't have any parents." A murmur rippled through the classroom and Duo glared at the room in general for making him want to hunch in on himself. He forced himself to sit up straight and take it like a man. Solo would have never forgiven him if he curled up in a ball like some wimp.
"But Duo, everyone has parents," Mrs. Gates said softly.
Duo shook his head, listening to the other kids start snickering. He heard a few of the children whisper about how he was always so dirty because he didn't have parents, and that they probably left him because he was so stinky. It was something he'd fought over a lot. He didn't smell, and Sister Helen would never let him walk around 'stinky'. Just because he had lived on the streets once didn't mean that he wasn't clean now that he had the option to be.
"Duo?" Mrs. Gates coaxed.
He tugged nervously on his braid, which was nearly waist length and shiny now that he had his own brush, and opened his mouth to say something when another boy in the class beat him to it.
"I don't."
Curious blue-violet eyes swung around, looking for the source of the voice, and his eyes landed on a boy he recognized, but he didn't know personally. The tousled haired boy had sharp blue eyes that darted smoothly between the teacher and Duo, fully giving his attention to them both. It was the kid all the kids stayed away from. He'd heard them talking about him like he were some kind of monster, but he looked like a normal boy to him. He was just very quiet.
"You don't what, Heero?"
"Have any parents," he said coolly, glaring around the room as if daring them to say anything. No one did.
"But everyone-" The bell rang loud and clear, firmly interrupting Mrs. Gates as all the children scrambled to get out of the classroom first.
Heero walked over to Duo and showed him his solitary green triangle on his impeccably smooth white sheet. Duo held up his slightly more crumpled purple triangle and smiled crookedly. "Do you live in an orphanage like me?"
Heero shook his head slightly. "I live with an old man who took me in. His name is J."
"What a weird name." Heero nodded, and turned towards the teacher.
"How can we become related?" The boy asked bluntly.
"You and Duo? You can't, dear. You have to be blood-related to be related."
Heero's face pinched in concentration for a moment before narrowing his eyes and saying, "But parents aren't blood-related." He glared at her, accusing her of lying with his eyes.
"That's because they're married."
"How do you show that?"
She took her chalk and drew an equal sign between the mother and father symbols she drew earlier. "But you two aren't married," she pointed out.
Heero ignored her and pulled out his green color pencil and drew a triangle on Duo's paper with an equal sign connecting them. He printed his name neatly and handed his paper to Duo, who followed suit, even if his name was written much less neatly.
Heero then turned and showed Mrs. Gates.
"But dear, like I said, you aren't married."
"If it means we don't have to be alone anymore, than we'll get married." His eyes shifted uneasily to Duo. "If Duo wants to, that is."
"Yeah! I'd love to!"
"But boys, you don't even know what marriage is..."
"It means I have a family!" Duo said defiantly, his voice raising in intonation to fully punctuate his understanding.
"It means a lot more than that, Duo."
"I don't care. We can figure that out later, right Heero?" Heero nodded and turned to walk out the door with Duo in tow. "Hey Heero?"
"Yes?"
"...Does that make you my husband?"
"...I guess."
"...Okay. Wanna get some ice cream? Sister Helen gives me a little money so I can get one every day, but I can go without tomorrow. Come on, I'll buy you one!"
Heero smiled and for the first time since he started school, he felt a little lighter leaving the school grounds.
---
Ten years later, as the couple said their vows in front of a private audience, Duo smiled brightly when Heero handed him his chart from all those years ago, and Duo, in turn, handed Heero his.
"I can't believe you kept it," Duo breathed.
"I told you I'd marry you."
He chuckled softly. "So it was an engagement present?"
Heero smiled softly. "You did agree, after all."
"Yeah..." he whispered. "Now I won't have to be alone ever again."
"Me either."
They kissed, sealing the promise that started so innocently in their third grade classroom over a Genealogy assignment. It was a promise that lasted the rest of their lives.
OWARI
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