[Keep the candle burning
All it takes is one steady heart
In a world that's turning
Shine a light and pierce the dark]
--- Lyrics to 'Keep the Candle Burning' Performed by Point of Grace
Ray of Hope Part 25
The wait was a great deal more difficult to handle than he thought it would be. Sighing deeply, Wufei ran a hand over his black hair down to its ponytail as he paced the floor of the living room anxiously. There were a million reasons to keep his lapse in judgment to himself, he destroyed the proof of his deceit and no one was any the wiser of his actions. But the guilt was at gnawing away at him ever since he looked though Sally's private records.
One of the things that the Chinese officer always respected of his lover was her honesty in their relationship. The very least that he could do was return the favor. He was not about to do was compromise the trust that they had.
Nearly jumping at the sound of the front door opening, Wufei turned on his heels to watch as his lover entered. Smiling warmly at him as she closed the door behind her, Sally removed the hood of her wet, green raincoat and greeted, "Hi, love. How was work today?"
Wufei swallowed hard when she approached after hanging her coat to kiss his cheek. Lightly returning the gesture before she pulled away, he forced a grin and shrugged, "Oh, it was a typical Friday. It was nice to get back to the station. Someone has to keep Treize in line. I'm the only one who seems to be capable of that."
The braided doctor chuckled deeply and sank back into the soft cushions of their brown couch. Kicking off her shoes, she sighed deeply in content, "I've been waiting to do that all day. It's the first time I've been off my feet in hours."
His dark eyes widening, Wufei took the opportunity to, hopefully, soften the blow that would undoubtedly fall on him. Quickly sitting beside his girlfriend, he helped stretch her out on the sofa and began massaging her feet. Sally blinked in surprise at him, but smiled warmly in appreciation before lowering her head on the armrest behind her. Closing her eyes, she sighed deeply once more at the attention her throbbing feet were receiving.
After caring for his lover's feet, Wufei finally swallowed hard and began quietly, "Sally..." The words caught in his throat for a moment, as if they themselves were afraid of what would happen when they were exposed. Lowering her feet to the floor, the young woman smiled encouragingly. With a deep breath, he finally frowned deeply, "There's something that I need to tell you."
Sally lowered her feet and straightened with concern in her eyes. Frowning deeply, she asked, "What is it?" Their eyes meeting, Wufei's mouth opened and closed in his vain hope of finding his voice once more. Gently rested her hands on his shoulders, the young woman smiled reassuringly, "Whatever it is, you know you can tell me. We promised to always be open and honest with each other, right."
When the Chinese officer lowered his gaze from her in uncertainty, Sally smirked, "So long as this won't be another 'I'm actually gay' talk like the one that I had with Duo, we're fine." She chuckled deeply and with a raised eyebrow, she commented, "A girl can only take that announcement so often, you know."
Despite her attempts to lighten the mood, Wufei could do little more than laugh quietly. Slowly meeting her gaze again, he sighed deeply, "A few weeks ago, one of the days that I was able to pick you up at the hospital after your shift, I... I did something that I shouldn't have." Her smile quickly fading, Sally blinked in confusion.
Throwing caution to the wind, the raven-haired policeman shook his head and blurted out, "I found Heero's medical file on your desk and I looked through it. I found a name that you wrote down in your notes and used it in my investigation in finding his real identity. There was a match in the missing persons report, but I burned the file this afternoon because I couldn't go through with it."
Nearly panting at the end of his hurried admission, Wufei froze when he took in how rigid his lover was as she sat beside him. Her back straight, her eyes wide and her fists clenched into tight fists in her lap, Sally's face slowly turned red. Snapping from her shock, the braided doctor glared heatedly at the young man and shrieked, "You did what!"
All but jumping to her feet, she paced before the couch but kept her eyes on the cowering officer. "Damn it, Wufei," she yelled, "You know that I take the trust and confidential relationship that I have with my patients seriously!
"I know that you've been Hell-bent to find out who he is, but you know that you never should have touched those records! How could you do that to me?" The haze of her rage slowly faded as the remainder of the confession replayed in her mind.
Pausing before Wufei, his head lowered so that he could study the white carpet, Sally's eyes widened anew. "You found a match and you destroyed the file?" she asked quietly, the disbelief wrapped around her voice.
With a deep sigh, her lover raised his head to peer into her surprised eyes and nodded, "I couldn't go through with it, Sal." Wufei rubbed his hands together nervously and shrugged, "And that's not just because I felt guilty over how I got the information in the first place." Biting his lip, he frowned deeply and said quietly, "This morning, I ran into Heero at Septum's grave and I realized that I was wrong to make the assumptions I have."
A small smile tugged at Sally's lips. Tilting her head, she inquired, "I'm sorry, but did you just say that you were wrong? I can't recall a time that those words ever came out of your mouth, I must have misheard you."
Rolling his eyes, Wufei answered in a cleared voice, "I was wrong." His frustration vanished and his eyes filled with sincerity matched in his voice as he said quietly, "I couldn't keep this from you. And I am so, very sorry for what I did." Taking her hands in his, he pressed his lips to them before looking back up to her. In little more than a whisper, he begged, "Please forgive my lack of better judgment."
Unable to hold onto her anger after the heartfelt plea, Sally pulled him into his feet and kissed his lips gently. "Forgiven," she reassured softly when she pulled back to meet his hope-filled gaze. "I know that wasn't easy for you to come clean, or for you to finally put an end to your search, and I appreciate the fact that you did both."
With a deep sigh of relief, Wufei threw his arms around her tightly with a wide grin. "Thank you," was all that he could manage brokenly in her ear. He leaned his head to give a much more passionate kiss to better express his appreciation.
At the kiss's end, Sally smirked at the Chinese officer. "Let's get dinner started." leading the way to the kitchen with her lover close behind, she looked back with mischief in her eyes. "Oh, and don't think that you're getting off that easy," she warned. "I think that you've earned at least a week of sleeping on the couch." Quickly pecking her stunned partner's cheek, she chuckled deeply.
Left to stand alone in the living room, Wufei watched the braided doctor walk off. A small smirk tugged his own lips. Shaking his head, he chuckled deeply to himself and all but ran after her. The sentence was more than relaxed when it came to fitting his crime. There would be no argument from him over the arrangement.
In the end, Wufei knew that he would gladly sleep on the couch for the rest of his days if it meant that he would be so fortunate to stay in Sally's good graces.
* * * * * *
Climbing the stairs that led to the lantern room, Heero looked up to the scene that awaited him in the round quarters. Just outside, the hollow patter of the rain against the metal gallery filled the air along with the gentle swishing of the revolving mirrors. The thick, dark rain clouds that blanketed the sky kept the sun hidden, but the red shade to them was enough of a sign that the sunset was nearing its end.
His back turned slightly to the young sailor, Duo just finished lighting the tall wick with the long match in his steady hand. When the flame caught to burn the wax, he smiled as he always did at the sight, his violet eyes glowing in the light. As he pulled back and closed the glass door to the lantern, Duo blew out the match in his hand. Slowly turning his head to look into the cobalt eyes watching him, the American grinned, "Hey. Took care of whatever it was that you needed to take care of?"
Returning the grin, Heero nodded, "Yea. Sorry that it took me so long to get back." He closed the distance between them to hold the lighthouse keeper tightly to him, kissing his cheek before resting his head on his shoulder.
While the braided young man wrapped his own arms around him, the sailor thought back to that afternoon at the graveyard. The whole experience had taken a grater toll on him emotionally than he had counted on. After the lunch that he had with Wufei, he just walked around town to clear his head. It was not until the first signs of the sun making its journey below the horizon when he realized the time and hurried back home.
...Home.
It almost seemed a surreal thing for Heero to actually have a place that he could call home. Such a simple word with such a profound meaning. He certainly had come a long way over the months since waking with no memory of who he was, or of anything from his past, to finally feeling that he was where he belonged. Small tears filled his eyes as he continued to hold his savior in his arms, overwhelmed once more that day as he thought of how blessed he had been to get a second chance at life.
After a long silence, Duo finally pulled back and looked once more into his boyfriend's eyes. With a deep breath, he frowned deeply, "Wufei called me a while ago to tell me where you ended up going."
His cobalt eyes widening at that, Heero stiffened and his mouth opened to quickly explain why he had not been forthcoming with him as to his plans. The lighthouse keeper gently placed his fingers over the Japanese youth's lips to keep him from speaking.
Biting his lip, the braided American's eyes filled with tears as he continued, "He told me what you said to Septum. He thought that I had the right to know. Considering the source, you must have made quite an impact on him that he would feel compelled to tell me about it." A watery smile spread on his mouth and he breathed, "You really do love me, don't you?"
"Of course," Heero nodded with a small grin of relief at having not upset his partner. "I meant every word that I said." Gently cupping the side of the lighthouse keeper's face, he leaned in to seal his conviction with a gentle kiss.
Slowly, the kiss deepened and heated. Hands roamed beneath clothes for the first time while moans and whimpers left the melding pair. Somehow, feet moved on their own accord to move them down to the observation room and before long, they sank into the bed. Desire that had been a controlled thing finally broke free.
Everything around them had been forgotten as clothes pooled onto the floor. Caresses and kisses only grew more urgent in their dance. And at long last, they found release in their growing passion. Their strength gone, they stretched out on the bed and held each other close with their hearts racing and lungs gasping for air.
Duo's urgency to keep his post was all but forgotten as he fought his violet eyes from closing, his head resting on the sailor's shoulder. He smiled when his lover leaned his head to kiss his forehead tenderly, a hand brushing through his sweat-soaked bangs.
"I'll keep watch tonight," Heero whispered reassuringly. At that, Duo sighed deeply and allowed his eyes to drift closed to fall into a deep slumber soon after. Smiling to himself as he watched his sleeping partner, the Japanese sailor continued to lightly run his fingers over the arm wrapped tightly around his waist.
Lulled by the soft pattering of the rain outside, he finally joined the lighthouse keeper into peaceful slumber. Even in his sleep, Heero dreamed of waking to the new possibilities that he had to look forward to, finally looking forward to tomorrow.
TBC...
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