[Blackbird singing in the dead of night, take these sunken eyes and learn to see
All your life, you were only waiting for this moment to be free
Black-bird fly
Black-bird fly, into the light of a dark black night]
--- Lyrics to 'Blackbird' performed by Paul McCartney
Ray of Hope Part 23
Quietly opening the door to the cabin, Heero stepped aside for Duo to enter before him. Already, the smells of breakfast cooking filled the air. Walking from the kitchen, Noin smiled warmly to her red-eyed son as she opened her arms to him.
The lighthouse keeper smiled back at her as he all but fell into her arms, wrapping his own tightly around her. Gently kissing his head, the young woman whispered, "Good morning." Heero remained a few feet back, smiling when Noin winked to him as she held her son.
Grateful that she did not press to see how he was feeling, Duo returned the greeting in kind before pulling back. "Breakfast smells great, mom," he complimented sincerely. His stomach grumbled lightly in anticipation after the emotional evening the night prior had strained nearly all of his energy.
Her smile widening, Noin shrugged, "Why, thank you, but I can't take full credit for this one." She waved her hand for the pair to follow her to the kitchen. Looking over his shoulder, Duo frowned to his boyfriend in confusion at what she had meant. With a shrug of his own, Heero shook his head as he followed.
When they entered the kitchen, the two young men gazed on the scene that greeted them with wide eyes. Standing at the counters and oven were Sally, Wufei, Trowa, Hilde, Quatre and Catherine as they made an assembly line while cooking a meal that could feed an army. Standing close were Zechs and Solo, large plates in hand to gather up the pancakes, meats and other foods as they were finished.
At hearing the others enter, the band of friends looked up from their work to give him warm smiles and a chorus of 'hello's.' Blinking his wide violet eyes, the braided young man sputtered, "W-what's all of this for?"
Shrugging, Hilde flipped another pancake on the grill and answered, "Well, we all took the day off today so that we could spend time with you and your family. Along with that, we'll be taking care of all of the cooking today so you don't have to worry about it." The others in the assembly line grinned and nodded to the surprised lighthouse keeper.
With small tears in his eyes, Duo shook his head, "But Trowa, what about your shop? And your family business, Quatre? And Sal?"
The tall Latin mechanic turned away from the grill on the counter to fold his arms and reply, "I had Joe take over for the day." Looking to the sailor, he smirked, "And I'm giving you the rest of the week off, too." Heero's eyes widened anew as his mouth opened to protest when Trowa held his hand up and insisted, "Don't worry. We'll be fine handling the work load until you get back on Monday."
A small smile tugged at the Japanese youth's lips as he nodded firmly, "All right. Thank you, Trowa."
Quatre continued to check the slices of ham and bacon that he was cooking as he commented, "We all could afford some time off from our jobs, Duo. This is more important than my staying at my office working on accounts."
Nodding, Sally added, "Early this morning, I called in Doctor Harrison to take my patients today. He was more than understanding, considering the circumstances." With a wink to Catherine, she stated, "And I wasn't about to have Catherine go into work today when she wanted to be here, as well."
The said redhead filled one of the plates that Solo handed to her and grinned, "That's right. So stop worrying about us and what we 'should' be doing. We're doing just that now by being here and helping out."
Duo looked from Heero back to the others as his mouth opened and closed. "I-I don't know what to say," he whispered when he finally found his voice.
At that, Wufei snorted, "You don't have to say anything, Duo. Just sit down and relax for a change." He looked over to Noin and smirked, "That goes for you, too, Misses Yuy." Taking up one of the full plates along with Zechs and Solo, he set it in the middle of the table in the adjacent dining room along with the other heaping trays of food.
Noin chuckled deeply, "Oh, all right." She gently took Duo's wrist to lead him and Heero into the dining room to take their seats. As the others began to fill the room, she leaned close to her son's ear and whispered, "I'm proud of you, you know. You must have made quite an impact on your friends for them to go out of their way to do all of this."
Swallowing the lump that had been forming in his throat, Duo fought the small tears filling his eyes. On his other side, Heero smiled warmly at him and squeezed his shoulder. With the cooking finished, the remainder of the 'family' took their seats. Gazing at the concerned and smiling faces, the lighthouse keeper told them in a quiet, broken voice, "I can't thank you enough for this, guys."
Their smiles warming, his friends all nodded or gave some gesture of understanding. "You would do the same for any one of us and it's our pleasure," Sally reassured him with a wink. On that sentiment, the gathered family filled their plates and started enjoying their quiet breakfast.
* * * * * *
Between the large breakfast, lunch and dinner that his friends had made during their stay, there were going to be plenty of leftovers to feed the residents of the cabin for at least a couple of days. Nearly all of the rooms had flower displays that had been sent in condolences to the beloved lighthouse keeper on light of his loss; and the deliveries showed no sign of stopping anytime soon.
While Septum, himself, was not the most liked person on the island, few people did not know or love Duo. It had been very overwhelming to him to see how many people had him in their thoughts and prayers. With a small smile, he smelled the large rose bouquet that Sylvia Noventa and her family had sent. The small sympathy card remained in the display, just as all of the others stayed in their arrangements. There would be another day to read the sentiments... when he was ready.
The front door opened and Heero stepped into the living room with a mechanic book under his arm. At seeing his partner smelling the flowers from a yellow tulip display that he had not seen before, he smiled, "That's a new one."
Straightening, Duo turned quickly to face him and grinned. With a gesture to the arrangement, he nodded, "It just got here about an hour ago. The Frasier family sent them. Years ago, I helped their little girl get her cat out of their tree when I was passing by. They were good friends of my mother too." Shaking his head in wonder as he looked to the display, he said quietly, "I can't believe that they remembered me after all this time."
"Well, you're pretty hard to forget," Heero replied softly as he lowered his book to hug his boyfriend from behind. Leaning back into him, Duo closed his eyes with a hum of content, resting the back of his head on the sailor's shoulder. Gently kissing the exposed neck, the Japanese teenager lightly nipped at the skin with a few playful bites where he knew that it would tickle thanks to prior experience.
Duo laughed and tried to break free of his partner's hold. Chuckling deeply, Heero help on tight enough to keep the lighthouse keeper in his arms to get a couple more bites. When he finally turned to face the sailor, the American kissed him lightly on the lips before hugging him tightly. Looking to the book on the small coffee table, he pulled away to pick it up and asked, "How is the research coming?"
Heero shrugged, "Not too bad. When I visited the shop to have a better look at the car this morning, I think I found the problems that it's having. With any luck, I might have it running in a few weeks. I'll finally have a chance to work on it during my lunch when I get back to work on Monday."
With a nod, Duo smiled, "That's great. I know you're anxious to get back there." Biting his lip, he swallowed hard and his smile faded. Their eyes locked once again and he breathed, "Thank you for taking Trowa's offer to stick around here this week. Between you and my family, here, I wouldn't be doing so well right now."
Lightly wiping away the stray tear that ran down the lighthouse keeper's face, Heero cupped his cheek. Smiling lovingly, he whispered, "Despite how you may think that I would rather be working, I wouldn't want to be anywhere else than right here with you."
A small, relieved laugh bubbled from Duo's chest as he leaned into his boyfriend's touch. "Thank you," he finally managed with a sincere grin that reached his eyes. Leaning in, Heero pressed their lips together in a gentle kiss.
The sound of footsteps approaching broke the pair as they turned to watch Zechs entering the room. In his hand, he held the daily newspaper. With a solemn nod to his stepson-to-be, he frowned deeply, "I just thought that you should know the paper announced the location and date for the funeral."
His violet eyes widening at that, Duo blinked before replying, "Oh. Okay. Thanks, Zechs." Lowering the paper onto the coffee table along with Heero's book, the tall man nodded once more before stepping from the room.
Silence hung in the living room as the braided young man stared at the folded newspaper, his eyes unreadable. Finally, after a long pause, he shook his head and announced firmly, "I won't be going. I can't." Biting his lip once more, he looked up to the cobalt eyes watching him and frowned, "Am I terrible for that?"
"No," Heero answered reassuringly as he shook his own head slowly. "Whatever you want to do, you have to make sure it's the right thing for yourself. No one has the right to judge you, or your decision."
Relief filled the lighthouse keeper's eyes and he nodded, if a little unsure of himself, "Yea. You're right." Running a hand through his long bangs, he sighed, "I think I'm going to get a shower before heating something up for dinner."
Well aware that a shower was his partner's way of relaxing, Heero grinned, "All right." He headed over to the table to pick up his book again and stated, "I'll busy myself with more research, then." He gave Duo another kiss, making him grin widely before he made his way from the room.
Waiting in the doorway of the living room, the sailor watched as his boyfriend disappeared up the stairs. Once he was alone, Heero quickly moved back to the table to take up the newspaper. Unfolding it, he looked up the obituary section.
* * * * * *
Officer Une was just about to close her office for the day when her fax machine came to life. Sighing deeply, she rolled her eyes with a mumbled, "Figures." She lowered her uniform coat and headed over to the machine.
As she took up the cover page, she grinned, "Well it's about bloody time." Quickly, she walked over to her desk to call an internal number. When the familiar voice greeted, she asked, "Treize, is Wufei still here?"
The smile was evident in his voice as he answered, "No, my dear. He stepped out for the night. He's going to be stationed with the second district for the next couple days." She could envision the lopsided curve of his grin as he commented, "But, you know, I'm always willing to assist you."
"Sorry," the brunette officer chuckled deeply. "But it's just a report that Wufei had requested. I'll put it in a file for him to collect when he's back in." Her lips tugging up, she smirked, "But I'll take a rain check on that offer." Before the young man had a chance to respond, she hung up the telephone.
Collecting the pile of papers that came in, she stacked and sealed them away in a yellow envelope. Writing 'Wufei Chang' on the front of the envelope, Une put the report on her desk. Turning out her office light, she closed her office door after her.
TBC...
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