[That fire t'was led me on
and shone more bright than of the midday sun
To where he waited still
it was a place where no one else could come]
      --- Lyrics to 'The Dark Night of My Soul' performed by Loreena McKennitt

Ray of Hope Part 9

Sally sighed deeply as she fell back in her chair. Rubbing her tired eyes, she moaned quietly in frustration. A glance to the clock on the living room wall announced that it was three minutes past eleven that evening. Her eyes widened at finding how time had crept up on her in her work. Reluctantly, she closed her research files on her computer and turned the machine off for the evening.

Entering the room with a steaming cup of green tea, Wufei commented, "Finally decided to call it a night after five hours, I see." As he sat beside the braided young woman at the long work desk, he carefully handed over the cup.

With a small, grateful smile, Sally took a tentative sip from the steaming water. Her smile fading, she sighed, "I just can't seem to find enough on global amnesia to assist Heero any more than I have."

The young doctor shook her head and gestured to the dark screen, stating, "Everything that I've been able to find for the last few weeks are nothing more than scientific guesses. There have been patients that suffered from it that never get their memories back, some that get only a few pieces of their past back and those who make a full recovery from the memory loss."

Running a hand over her blonde head, Sally frowned deeply, "And there is not a damned thing that can be done to help ensure those full recoveries. There are too many possibilities of what could happen to give a fair assessment to whether his amnesia will be permanent or not at this point."

After a few long sips of her green tea, the braided young woman lowered the cup onto a round coaster and smirk, "I have to say that I am proud of you, though."

To the black eyebrow that was raised in silent question she received, she chuckled deeply, "As naturally suspicious as you can be, you have been quite civil towards Heero over these last couple of weeks ever since you met him. I know that it's taking a great effort on your part whenever we meet up with him and Duo."

Wufei shrugged, "I suppose that he is harmless, considering his condition." Folding his arms behind his head, he added, "Though the fact that you mentioned great stress, in addition to the blow to the head that he suffered in his accident, most likely led to his amnesia still has me on edge. Along with that, who travels to a lone island like this without any identification on them?

"It all just seems to make it look as though he was running from something and didn't want to be found. And if I'm right, what if that something comes here and causes everyone trouble? Amnesia or not, Heero could very well be someone to worry about if his presence brings any possible danger here."

There was a long pause as Sally swallowed hard in contemplating her lover's words. Lowering her head, she admitted, "I never looked at it that way." Quickly, she raised her head and stated, "But I still don't believe that we should be so quick to judge when it's very likely that there is nothing to worry about."

"And I agree with you," Wufei smiled as he nodded reassuringly. "Until there is any proof that there is something to worry about, I will keep an open mind and remain civil. Given my line of work, however, I can't help but have some reserve of concern."

Giving a smile of relief, Sally replied, "I can live with that." With a yawn, she collected the small stack of pages that she had printed in her readings. "I was able to find one bit of consistency in all of my hard work tonight," she announced quietly.

Wufei tilted his head, the interest clear on his face in anticipation. Holding up the stack of papers, the braided nurse stated, "Most research shows that if the person suffering from global amnesia experiences dreams or flashes of feelings, locations or people that elicit strong feelings within them, chances are good that eventually they will recover fully. There is just no way if knowing when-or if- those flashes will ever come about."

Silently mulling over the notion for a moment, Wufei shrugged, "Well, you have an appointment with Heero tomorrow. You could always ask him if he ever experienced anything like what you're describing."

Nodding, Sally yawned, "That's the plan." Against her will, eye lids began to droop the slightest bit as she began to sink deeper in her chair, the exhaustion that she had been fighting off finally catching up.

His head shaking in amusement, Wufei aided his lover to her feet. Chuckling deeply as he wrapped an arm around the young woman's waist to assist her, he said quietly, "And now, my dear, you are past due for bed." Sally hummed her affirmative with a smile, her head resting on his shoulder as they walked out of the living room.

As they walked past the windows on the other side of the large space, Wufei took note of the rain beating against the glass. The streetlights provided a better visual to how heavy the thick beads were falling. With a deep frown, he said to himself, "Looks like Duo's going to have himself a long night keeping watch."

*   *   *   *   *   *

The following morning, Duo was awake long after sunrise. Sitting up quickly in his bed within the watch room of the lighthouse and peered through the large windows around him. With a deep sigh, he rubbed his red-rimmed violet eyes. The prior night had been a long one, what with the storm that went through, but he did not like sleeping in too late. He enjoyed having as much of the day to enjoy as he could, while he could.

Rising from the bed, the braided lighthouse keeper threw on the pale green, long-sleeved shirt waiting beside the bed and readjusted his gray sweatpants. With his brown sneakers slipped onto his already-socked feet, he made a quick assessment of the wicks and gears before rising to the lantern room to douse the large lamp.

When he finally entered the log cabin after a long descent from the tower, Duo's nose was filled with the pleasant smells of breakfast cooking. Making his way into the kitchen, he smiled at the back of the young man standing by the oven as he managed to flip pancakes with one good arm. "Morning," the American greeted in a cheery voice.

Looking over his shoulder, Heero grinned, "Morning." Appraising the red-eyed and disheveled lighthouse keeper, he frowned, "Did you get any sleep at all?"

"Enough to function," Duo yawned as he walked over to the stove. "Luckily, the storm passed long enough for the last of the cargo ships coming in to bank safely." His smile faded a bit when he reached his guest's side and commented, "You really don't have to go out of your way to make breakfast every morning, you know."

With a shrug, Heero met his gaze and said honestly, "I don't mind, gives me something to do." Turning back to the frying pan, he added, "Besides, I figured that you would have a rough night with the front that went through."

At that, Duo smiled sincerely, "Thank, Heero."

In silence, the two companions worked together with the last of the preparations. Once they were sitting across from each other at the small kitchen table, Duo gestured to his friend's right arm cast and smirked, "Big day today."

Filling his plate with eggs and breakfast meats, the young sailor sighed deeply in relief, "And not a day too soon. If I had to live with this thing on for much longer, I would have found a way to get it off myself." Duo chuckled deeply as he chewed on mouthful of pancake.

With a smile on his own face, Heero took a forkful of food. Now that the gash at the right side of his head was healed into a thin scar, the only physical evidence of the crash he lived through was the piece of plaster that covered his right arm. He looked forward to feeling like a normal person again when that was finally removed.

The pair ate in companionable silence for a time, as they usually did. As they were about to finish their meal, Heero regarded his friend. There were still so many mysteries surrounding the American enigma that he had come to find an appreciation for. After coming to the conclusion that he wanted to understand the lighthouse keeper more, the Japanese young man decided that it was time to start making the effort.

Swallowing hard, Heero asked, "Duo, is it all right if I ask a personal question?"

As he finished the last bit of his breakfast, Duo nodded, "Sure." His disarming smile returned as he shrugged, "We are friends, after all, right?"

Unable to help himself, Heero returned the smile. While he did finally consider the lighthouse keeper a friend, it was good to hear that Duo saw them as friends as well. His grin faded at the unease of the question he was about to ask. Clearing his throat and pushing aside his plate, he met the violet eyes watching him and finally inquired, "How did you know that you were..." He gestured vaguely, unable to say the words.

Instead of finding discomfort or anger from the other young man, the sailor was surprised when Duo's smile grew as he finished for him, "Gay?" Blinking his widened cobalt eyes, Heero nodded. The braided American sat back in his seat in quiet thought. The Japanese young man remained still as he allowed his friend time to sort his answer out.

Looking off through the large window overlooking the back enclosed porch, Duo's violet eyes lost their focus and he shrugged, "Back in high school, I realized that I was more attracted to boys than girls and it scared the shit out of me. I waited until after I graduated to try dating girls in hopes that maybe I could teach myself to be drawn to them more. Sally and I had been childhood friends, so I thought that she would be the perfect person to ask out."

With a deep sigh, Duo continued, "We went out to the movies and out to dinner a few times and did no more than peck each other on the lips a few times. Then I started getting the feeling that maybe Sally might want more than just that. With that realization, I started to panic when I realized that I didn't want that with her, or any other woman."

His violet eyes regaining their focus, the lighthouse owner turned to his friend and grinned, "Luckily for me, Sally's a great gal, and she understood and supported me when I confided in her. She helped me come to terms with who I am and accepted me without any reserve, so she'll always be very special to me."

Heero swallowed hard and could only manage to nod his appreciation for the answer to his question. Rising from his seat, Duo smiled, "Well, I'll clean up since you made breakfast." With that, he began gathering the plates and utensils from the table.

As he remained at the table, Heero remained lost in his own thoughts and his eyes drifted closed. The feeling of a hand on his shoulder almost made him jump and when he looked up, he gazed into a pair of blue eyes surrounded by a fog. "Can we at least hold hands this time?" a young woman's voice asked. His cobalt eyes widening, the young sailor stiffened in fear.

The hand on his shoulder tightened as Duo's voice broke through the haze, calling, "Heero!" Where the blue eyes had been watching him, violet remained as the lighthouse keeper's concerned face filled his vision. "You alright there, man?" the American asked. "You just seemed to phase out for a few minutes there."

Calming his breathing after his startle, Heero ran a hand through his hair and nodded, "Yea. Just got lost in my thinking, is all." To his surprise, he found that the table was completely cleared and the dishes washed. Time lost to him, he gazed to the clock to see that he had been out of sorts for almost ten minutes with that strange haze.

When he looked to the clock, himself, Duo grinned, "Well, we better get ready for your appointment. No sense in keeping that cast on a minute longer than needed." That said, he stepped from the kitchen. His legs trembling at rising onto his feet, Heero followed closely behind.

TBC...

 

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