[That's where you shine
When you're sinking you swim
When you see your way out instead of in
That's where you shine]
--- Lyrics to 'Shine' Performed by Meredith Brooks
Ray of Hope Part 7
At the sound of the doorbell, Duo sighed in relief to himself at having finished all of his preparations in time for the arrivals. After quickly cleaning his hands at the kitchen sink, he made his way down the hall. Finding Heero pacing in the living room on his way to the door, the lighthouse keeper stopped to smile reassuringly, "You sure you're ready for this?"
The dark-haired sailor froze in his next step and turned to face the braided American. Clearing his throat and hiding his embarrassment in being caught, Heero nodded, "Yea." With a deep breath, he frowned deeply and admitted, "At least I think so."
"Don't worry," Duo just grinned. "If you feel at all uncomfortable, Sally and I will be around. Just stick by us if you have to." A small, relieved smile tugged the corners of Heero's lips and he nodded firmly in silent appreciation.
With that, the braided young man reached the door to open it. "How did I know that you two would be showing up early?" he smirked.
Carrying a large tray of different cheeses and crackers, the short-haired young woman on the porch smirked back, "Because you know that I've been on pins and needles waiting to be invited over to meet the stranger that's the talk of the whole island."
Under his long bangs that fell forward, the young man beside her rolled his green eyes, "And you know that she was going to drag me along with her." The short tomboy mock glared at him over his shoulder, only to be repaid with a deep chuckle.
Duo stepped aside as he laughed, "Come on in. I just finished setting up the dining room table, so we can start setting up there." As he led the way, he took the large tray from the young woman.
With a warm smile, she commented, "Ever the perfect gentleman." Heero could not help but think the same thing from where he peeked out from the living room doorway. The trio disappeared as they moved into the dinging room, the tomboy's voice carrying on a conversation until it faded away.
Taking a deep breath, the young sailor went to the large mirror over the fireplace to assess himself for the hundredth time that late afternoon. With a run of his hand through his unruly hair with his free hand, Heero muttered to the stranger staring back at him, "Can't hide away from the world forever." His resolve restored, he turned and put one foot in front of the other.
When he entered the dining room, the three friends were in the midst of setting out the food and drinks, the two guests with their back to the door. Looking up from his task of removing the plastic wrap from the large tray, Duo smiled brightly, "Hey, Heero."
Instantly, the pair of newcomers turned to meet the young man with wide eyes. "Heero," Duo began with an arm out in introduction, "These are my friends, Trowa and Hilde. Trowa and Hilde, this is Heero."
The short-haired girl was the first to get over her surprise and walked towards the stranger. Extending her hand, she greeted kindly, "It's very nice to meet you, finally." With a nervous smile and a firm nod, Heero took her hand in his for a friendly shake.
After the exchange, Trowa stepped forward for his own handshake as he said simply, "I'm sorry about your accident. If there's anything that we can do to help, don't hesitate to ask any of us."
His nerves fading at the sincere offer, Heero couldn't help but smile in kind, "Thank you." With a gesture of his head to the braided lighthouse keeper, he stated, "Duo's told me a great deal about all of you since I've come here, so I have been looking forward to meeting all of you."
With a smirk, Trowa peered over his shoulder to Hilde and remarked, "Good. Then he's warned about my girlfriend, here. She can be quite nosy, but she means well."
Duo laughed loudly at the statement while the young woman slapped her boyfriend on the arm with another mock glare. Returning to his work of setting up a variety of sodas, the tall young man chuckled deeply, "Come on, Hil. Everyone in our group knows how you've been chomping at the bit to meet him."
His eyes narrowed at her lover, Hilde threw her arms in the air and exclaimed, "I can't help it! This has been the most exciting thing to happen on this tiny rock in the ocean in ages!" She smiled sheepishly at the surprised young sailor and blushed, "Sorry, but when you're on an island with less than a thousand people, word spreads pretty quickly."
Blinking his widened cobalt eyes, Heero recovered from his startle at hearing that he was such a 'popular' person and shrugged, "I think I'm a pretty boring person, myself. I don't want to disappoint anyone with so much excitement over me."
Hilde helped Trowa set up the last bottles of soda and grinned, "Heero, keep up that modest personality, coupled with the fact that you're a nice looking guy, and you'll have all of the single girls on this island banging down your door."
As if on cue, the doorbell rang as the tomboy giggled, "See, they're already starting!" Heero couldn't help but laugh along with the others as Duo stepped out of the room to answer the door.
In his passing the young sailor, the lighthouse keeper winked and gave a firm pat on the shoulder with a whispered, "See? You're doing great." Heero nodded in appreciation as he stepped further into the dining room to sit at the table across from the young couple.
"Well, Heero," Trowa grinned as he wrapped an arm around his lover, "You've accomplished something than none of us have with Duo."
Raising his eyebrow, the Japanese young man laughed nervously, "Really? And what would that be?"
Hilde began pouring herself a plastic cup of soda as she answered, "You've managed to get him away from his lighthouse after sunset. And not just for one night, but for two. Catherine about fell out of her seat the night he brought you to the hospital. And now this party tonight." Raising her filled cup, she toasted, "To great miracles, however they come about." With that, she took a long sip.
Before Heero could respond, a blonde young man entered the room with a large, covered pot. "Quatre," Trowa smirked. "You're fashionably early for a change."
The young man smiled, "This is a special occasion, so I closed down early to make my famous beef stew." Behind him, a rare familiar face for Heero entered. Catherine- the nurse who assisted Sally with the sailor's care- smiled warmly at him. Quatre nodded with the same grin and nodded, "You must be Heero."
Rising from his seat, the dark-hared young man extended his hand for a firm shake and replied, "You're Duo's oldest friend."
His smile growing, the blonde young man replied, "So he has told you about all of us." Placing a hand on the redheaded nurse's shoulder the love in his eyes was evident when he faced her and announced, "And you already know Catherine."
There was something in the way that the young lover looked at each other that almost made Heero envious. Being so open with their emotions as they were, with how much they obviously cared for each other, made him wonder if he ever had that once.
Forcing the dark thoughts away, Heero smiled and moved around the table. Placing a soft kiss on the young woman's cheek, he said quietly, "It's good to see you again, Catherine. I never had a chance to thank you for looking after me while I was at the hospital."
Her eyes widening at the expected gesture and the kind words, Catherine beamed, "My pleasure, Heero. It's great to see that you're doing so well."
"Yes it is," a familiar voice commented from the hallway. When everyone turned to the entrance, Sally entered alone with a dark-haired young man. Lowering the large, covered trays that they brought in, the pair approached the sailor.
With a relieved smile in seeing another familiar face, Heero pecked the braided doctor's cheek as she retuned the gesture. "You're certainly coming a long way compared to how you were when I first met you."
His cobalt eyes lighting along with his grin, the Japanese stranger commented, "Thanks to you." Turning to the dark eyes watching him, Heero couldn't help but feel as though he were being scrutinized. "You must be Wufei," he said as he extended his hand. "You're a very lucky man to have found such a remarkable woman." With a chuckled giggle, Sally blushed.
Those words in introduction seemed to disarm the Chinese officer as he shook hands firmly and smirked, "That I am. Welcome to Cape Windsor, Heero." While there was a fair amount of sincerity in that welcome, Heero couldn't help but feel something cold in Wufei's gaze as it watched him.
Ever his hero, Duo entered at just the right time as he announced, "I am starving! I have a good hour before I have to at least turn the lighthouse lamp on, so let's start digging in." As he turned towards the kitchen, he announced, "The turkey and stuffing I've been cooking should be just about finished, so get started on the stew." With that, he disappeared.
"I'll help you bring the food out," Heero quickly called after him as he followed the braided American. Even with his back to the Chinese police officer, he could feel those dark eyes following him.
As he rounded the table and the band of friends took their places, there was a great deal of friendly banter. But underneath the friendly reunion, Heero's eared picked up on Quatre's concerned whisper directed to one of his comrades, "So have you heard?"
Hilde's voice whispered back as the rest of their group talked amongst themselves, "Yea, He only has a bout a month left. As sick as he has been for the last couple of years, it hasn't come as a complete surprise. Just looking at him, you would never know. He's already started looking for someone to carry on his work once he's gone."
His cobalt eyes widening, Heero stopped just outside the doorway and strained his ears to hear for the rest of the conversation. Quatre's soft voice sighed deeply, "For Duo's sake, we can't show any signs that we're upset. He'd want it this way."
"He told me a long time ago that when this time came, that this is how he wanted us to handle it," Sally's emotional voice breathed in response to what she managed to get from the discussion. "I just couldn't imagine what it would be like to be in his shows right now."
Biting his lip, Heero moved away from his perch and made his way to assist Duo, his head replaying the conversation and his concern building. Duo was sick? He never mentioned anything about it. But then again, Hilde had mentioned that he did not want it made into a big focal point in their group.
For whatever reason, the thought of losing the lighthouse keeper was almost unbearable. But who was he to be so distraught over Duo's impending passing? Heero hardly knew the young man, after all, even if he had rescued him that stormy night.
...But that was just it. Duo had saved Heero's life and there was nothing that Heero could do to save him in return. The braided young man had opened his home, and more, to him when he had nowhere else to turn and Heero had nothing to open to him in return.
Just when his life seemed to be coming back together, cruel fate had taken another turn to take all of that away once more.
TBC...
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