|
"Christmas Cliche "Written By: Emerald Pillow Warnings: Strangly enough, there aren't any. Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or the G-boys,
you can try to sue me, but all you'll get is my cat that looks like
Trowa, but named Duo. Oh, and I don't own Fido in this story either.
Pairings: 1x3 Rating: PG 13 Summary: Trowa is having to spend yet another
christmas alone as Heero is caught in bad weather. "Christmas Cliche "
Fido stepped into the room with a large yawn, after waking from his nap. His brown eyes landed on Trowa, who was standing next to the Christmas tree, aimlessly picking at a random branch. A phone was in the Latin's left hand, pressed against his ear. "Cathy, calm down." Trowa soothe without taking his eyes from the branch. "I can't believe he did that to you. What a prick." "He can't control Earth's weather just as we can't." "No, but it wouldn't have killed him to take a few days off to spend the holiday with you." "The holidays don't prevent bills from coming. This was time and a half for him." It would catch up the mortgage that they were a month behind in; but Catherine didn't need to know that. "Trowa, if you need money, you can ask." "You know I can't stand relying on others. We'll be fine. We always are. Please don't blame him for this." "I can't help but feel this to be horrible for you. I was right there when he promised he'd be there for you; now you're stuck all alone for Christmas again." Trowa stepped away from the tree and headed for the window. The snow was coming down harder now. Had it been large, drier flakes, Trowa wouldn't have cared, but the smaller wet ones were too close to freezing rain for him to relax. Part of him feared that he would attempt to come home in this. . .which could end up worse than spending Christmas alone. "Not too surprisingly, you forgot the fact that he's stranded at a terminal." Trowa snapped. He wasn't sure why Catherine always dwelled on the bad in him, and left out the important parts, but that seem to have been the case ever since they met. "It's not his fault the plane had to land because of the weather." "No. . .but I just wish you would have let me fly in to be with you. You've spent so many Christmas alone." Her voice took a tone of sympathy; one she obviously didn't want to share outside Trowa. Trowa walked over to the love seat, and sat down. Fido, sensing his friend's depression, took a place next to him. Trowa glanced over to him, then began to scratch behind his floppy ear. "It's another Christmas that he'll be forced to spend alone again too." "Trowa-" "I should let you go. I don't want to tie up the line, just in case he's trying to call." "Okay, but feel free to call me if you want. Time doesn't matter." "Okay." "Merry Christmas Trowa." "Yeah." That said, they hung up. Trowa sat back into the cushion, and closed his eyes. They were burning with tears, but pushed them away. Catherine was right about spending Christmas alone. The last twenty two of them were alone. This year, it was suppose to be special, and not just another day as it had been his entire life. Until now, the entire Christmas season had been nothing more than tales heard by comrades and coworkers of life that Trowa never had or experienced. Tales of family togetherness, wrapped around a warm dinner table, filled with a feast far greater than he had ever seen. Fables of loved ones singing Christmas carols and sharing fond memories of past times that he could never experience. Even while at the circus, he felt as if he was watching scenes from movies played every year to place the public in the spirit. He remembered watching the actual family events that, until then, he could only picture in his mind. It had hurt more to see what he never could have, which was why he always disentangled himself from the crowd during this time of year. Until this year, he never allowed himself to take part in the season. His eyes lifted back to the tree; his first Christmas tree. A smile pulled at his lips as he remembered the day that it was decorated. The only reason it was done correctly was because, from curiosity, Trowa had watched Manager and Catherine set up the circus' Christmas tree. Otherwise, it probably would have looked worse, for his lover had never really witness that much. Thinking of him, and the fact that he wasn't even in a comfortable hotel dampen Trowa's spirits more. As bad as it was for Trowa, it was worse for him. He was never given a chance to learn anything of Christmas. If not, for Trowa's suggestion, there wouldn't be a tree sitting in the room, as there was now. They were both trying so hard to live normal, but it seemed that something always went wrong. Earlier last month, due to being sexually harassed Trowa had been fired. With his comment to Catherine regarding bills holding true, he was forced to find a quick job so they wouldn't have to be too strained financially. Unfortunately being Christmas help caused a large wage decrease and as well as available hours which was why his partner was forced to take this business trip that he was originally going to pass on. That only made the current situation harder to bare. A whine from Fido broke through Trowa thoughts. He looked down at the beagle's pleading eyes, and knew what he wanted. Sighing, Trowa placed the phone on the charger, then stood to stretch. His emeralds shifted back to Fido. "You gotta go?" He asked and Fido's ears perked.
The beagle jumped off the couch and ran from the room, tail wagging
his entire backside. Trowa glanced at the clock, it was six in the
evening, and he had yet to call again. Worried, Trowa reclaimed the
phone and dialed the voice mail, hoping he had called while Catherine
was on the line; but there were no messages. "Please don't be
out in this." Trowa whispered softly while replacing the phone.
By this time, Fido had returned to the room, excited and dancing about
Trowa in hopes of hurrying the human. "Okay. Okay. We're going."
Trowa assured and left the room. Presently, Trowa opened the back door and unlocked the screen. Fido was instantly at the door, waiting to be released. One of the reasons the dog had been returned so much was that he wouldn't listen. Three months with Heero and Trowa, and the puppy acted with years worth of obedience. "Wait." Trowa informed, and Fido sat on the floor, his tail still wagging. Trowa pushed the door open and stepped outside. He closed the door, then walked over to the gate. As suspected, the kids next door had left the gate open again. It wasn't unusual. The family to the left only had one child, but the guilt ridden mother made sure that her only child always had someone to play with. This often lead to elaborate parties, and extensive play in the back yard. It wasn't unusual that one or more the child's toys ended up in Heero and Trowa's backyard. Though for the most part, they were consistent in re-locking the gate, sometimes, it was overlooked for whatever reason. With the gate now locked, Trowa returned to the back door. He opened it, but Fido waited for permission to leave. Once given, the beagle dashed out into the snowy weather. Trowa pulled the inside door closed and leaned against the storm door. If Heero was here, he would have tormented Fido by throwing him into a snow bank, or having the beagle dig through a clump of snow for a treat that wasn't there. Trowa, on the other hand, found humor in just watching the puppy bounce like a rabbit in the knee high snow. Thinking of the snow, Trowa looked down at the walk that had been shoveled that morning before going to work. There were already a few inches gathered. Figuring there was nothing else to do; and hopefully distract his mind, Trowa entered the garage and pulled the hand shovel. There wasn't enough to bother with the blower. It did help to get his mind off of being alone. Fido's antics of attempting to catch the snow that was being aimlessly tossed also helped. Once the back was cleared, he headed for the front. Fido followed, for he normally played in the front yard while Heero shoveled snow. He was nearly done when someone appeared from the house on the right, carrying a bag of garbage to the can sitting at the side of the house. "Merry Christmas Trowa." A woman's voice found his ears in the cold weather. It was Pamela. She was a teenage girl that Trowa often teased his lover about. There was no doubt that Pamela held a crush on the Japanese man and Trowa could understand why; which was why he didn't give too much thought about it. Now, if Pamela had been a boy, it may have worried Trowa slightly. "Hey Pamela." Trowa returned, and Pamela smiled. "I thought shoveling snow was Heero's job." Trowa inwardly chuckled. No matter the season, she liked to watch Heero work; once again, Trowa couldn't blame her. "He's not home, and I figured 'why let it pile up'?" "Oh, is he working?" She placed the trash in the can, and walked over to Trowa. "No. His plane got stranded because of the snow." "Man that sucks. He has to spend Christmas in a terminal." Trowa nodded, glad that someone finally took sympathy for Heero's misfortune. Trowa looked back to note where Fido was. The beagle was sitting at the base of the gutter, licking an ice block that had formed. "You know you're welcome to come have dinner with us. Being daddy's friend, I'm sure he wouldn't want you to be alone." "It's okay, and I thank you for your kindness. I rather be home in case he calls." Or show up unexpectedly. He added silently. "Well, if you change your mind, feel free to come over." "Thanks." "I'm going to head back in 'cuz it's freezing out here." Trowa nodded and she jogged back toward the house. "And Trowa don't stay out too long. I'm sure Heero doesn't want to come home to you being sick." She smiled, waved, then disappeared into the house. Trowa couldn't help but glance at the large picture window. Their Christmas tree lights were on, and flashing. It was a four person family so the extra silhouettes probably belonged to friends or visiting relatives. "Fido." Trowa called his friend from the next yard where he was attempting to mark a bush, forgetting that he had relieved himself completely in the back yard a few moments earlier. Seeing Trowa was heading back, he followed. The Latin allowed him back inside, then replaced the shovel, and claimed a bag of salt, for Fido held the habit of wanting to eat it. Task completed, Trowa returned inside and removed his coat and shoes. He checked the phone again, and still no messages. He then attempted to call Heero, but lack of cell phone minutes just gave him voice mail. Once again, he hoped Heero wasn't out in this weather, trying to get home. . .then again, an extremely small part wanted him to attempt it. Feeling selfish for that part, Trowa headed for the kitchen. He poured himself some eggnog, and began unloading the dishwasher. He had come home, expecting to begin preparing dinner for him and Heero, but after hearing Heero's message it seemed pointless. Especially since he wasn't sure when Heero would be home. At that moment, the phone rang. The first ring had yet to die before Trowa picked up. "Hello?" "Merry Christmas Trowa." Trowa's heart sank at Wu Fei's voice. Though he enjoyed talking with his friend, now wasn't a time. "Hey Fei." "Well, that's a gloomy mood to have. Things not going well for you and Yuy?" Trowa swallowed hard, not wanting to talk about it again, but what could he do? "Not really. Heero got stranded at the terminal. They had an emergency landing due to weather." "I see. . .but you know that won't stop him." Wu Fei informed. "Even I know that. When he's determined, he can accomplish anything." "I'm not sure I want him to try." Trowa stated as he took a drink of his eggnog and turned to look out the window. "Is it really that bad?" "Let's put it this way: I just shoveled the snow, not even ten minutes ago, and it looks like I didn't even touch it." "Wow." Right now, Wu Fei was on a Colony. So if he had some snow, it was controllable. "It still won't stop him." Trowa forced his tears to stay back. "I just don't want anything to happen to him and I won't be able to get to him." "I'm sure he knows that. . .otherwise, he'd be there by now." Trowa propped himself on the counter. "So how's everything going for you?" "I finally got away from that worthless party, so it'll only get better." "How's Jetta?" Trowa was referring to Wu Fei's adopted daughter. He had come across the orphaned child during one of his Preventer missions and didn't have the heart to leave her in a foster home. "The holidays are still a little ruff for her, but she's coping. She wants to say 'hi'." Trowa waited for the switch before hearing the child's voice. "Merry Chrismas Trowa." "Merry Christmas to you too." "Is Heero awound?" "No. Not right now." "Oh. . .will you tell him I said 'Merry Chirsmis' when he gets home?" "I sure will." "Guess what?" "What?" "Wu Fei said I get to open two presents tonight." "He did?" Trowa tried to sound excited for Jetta. She was a cute little girl that adored all the ex-pilots, except for Duo, claiming the American was too loud. "Which ones are you going to pick?" "I don't know I have ta look first and see which is the biggest." Trowa could faintly hear Wu Fei reinstate that she could only have small ones tonight, and despite himself, Trowa chuckled. "Well, what are you hoping to get?" "I want a deluxe addition Mindy doll house, complete with real workin bathtub and shower, lights, kitchen, TV, elevator, and a doggie house with real barkin doggie." "Wow. . .that's a lot on a doll house." "Yeah. Alex is getting one for Chrismis, and Cera already got one for her birthday. And you know what else I want?" "What?" "I want a puppy. I want a maskets." "A masket?" "Yeah, like what Quatre has." "Oh, a mastiff. Princess, Fei's only got a little apartment. You don't really have room for a mastiff. It wouldn't be fair to him to keep him cooped up all the time." "Yeah, but you and Heero gots a big house. He can stay there and I'll visit him when I visit you. Oh, and I heard a cute song on the radio. It was about gettin a hippo for Christmas." "Now you want a hippo?" Jetta laughed happily. "No Trowa. If I can't fit a masket, then how will I fit a hippo? Our bathtub isn't that big, and we don't gots a garage." Trowa smiled as he listened to her light hearted words. "I just thought that it would be fun if you and Heero could come here and we could go to the zoo. That would be a neat Chrismis gift too. By the way, is Heero back yet?" Jetta asked suddenly. "I wanna talk to him." "No. He's not." "Well, when will he be back?" "I don't know princess." She was quiet a moment before asking what was on her mind. "He is coming home, isn't he? . .I mean, he can right?" "Of course he can. It's just that we have a lot of snow here, and it's slowing down." "You have a lot of snow? Can I come play in it? We don't have any snow here. I haven't played in snow in so long." "I think by time you get here, it'll be melted and gone." "Oh. . .well, Wu Fei wants you back, so I better let him talk. Bye Trowa." "Bye Jetta, I'll tell Heero what you said." "Okay. Bye." "Hey." Wu Fei's voice came across the connection. "She sounds happy." "I try. . .but I can still see that she's hurting so much." "With you there, she'll do fine. You're good for her Fei. I remember when you first adopted her, she wouldn't even look at people, let alone talk. It'll take time." "Don't make it sound like it was just me. You helped her a great deal too. She still misses you a lot." Trowa bit his bottom lip, not sure what to say to that. "I'll let you go, she's starting to rummage through the gifts." "Are you calling tomorrow?" "Jetta will probably want to thank you and Yuy for the gifts." Trowa held the phone closer. Part of him wanted to stay on the line with Wu Fei. He wasn't sure why, but the Chinese man made him feel almost as at ease as Heero did. "Tell Yuy that if he ends up making you cry this Christmas, I will kick his ass. . .good night Trowa." "Goodnight." Trowa hung up and took another drink of his eggnog. Despite the bad blood flowing between Wu Fei and Heero, the Preventer held more faith in the Latin's lover than Catherine. Trowa couldn't help but feel the reason behind that was that Catherine had always been against Heero. Then again, Catherine hated when Trowa and Wu Fei broke off their relationship; despite the fact that it had been a mutual agreement. It's been exactly one year, a month, and two weeks since the breakup. Though thinking about it sometimes made Trowa a little sad, he was happier with Heero. He connected well with Wu Fei, but Trowa felt that Heero was more than a lover. . .closer to being a part of him that had been missing for so long. Despite the mutual agreement, Wu Fei seemed to carry deep affections for the Latin. They kept in touch, though now their phone calls were fewer than just after the breakup. Then there was Jetta. Though she wasn't either of their daughter, they both cared for her as such. Trowa placed a lot more effort into keeping in touch with her via emails and chatting online. Their visits were harder, due to the space between them, but everytime Wu Fei had a mission on Earth, she was permitted to stay with Heero and Trowa for the duration of his stay. Pushing the pass from his mind, he slid from the counter, to put away clean dishes. When he finished, he polished off the eggnog, then poured another glass before heading back to the spare room. He reclaimed his spot on the love seat and reached for the remote. It was nearing nine, and he was slightly bothered by the fact that Heero had yet to call. He channel surfed for the next few minutes, but only came across timelessly classic Christmas movies; or shows of newer sitcoms and series. Boring, he turned off the television and turned to the radio. Much like it's visual counterpart, it was filled with Christmas related topics and songs. Giving in, he left it on his and Heero's favorite station. Sighing, he looked over at the Christmas tree. With a press of the button, it came to life in brilliant colors. The small train at the base began circling on its tracks, catching Fido's attention. The puppy jumped from its previous position of laying next to a portion of the tracks. It let out a startled bark, and nipped at the passing train, knocking it off track. "Fido." Trowa's tone was enough of a scolding as he backed away from the wreck. Trowa slid from the love seat and returned the train. Fido stepped next to him and sat at his side. Just as Trowa sat back from his work, the beagle stole a quick kiss from the Latin. Trowa's gaze shifted to his companion. As long as Fido was around, he wasn't really alone. Trowa hugged the dog close, wishing it was really Heero. Fido licked the side of his face in a loving manner, but it didn't stop Trowa's tears from falling.
"Did you get what you wanted for Christmas Trowa?" "No." The Latin answered, trying to keep his tears from affecting his voice. "Why? Were you bad?" Trowa stepped back into the spare room, and kneeled before the tree. He closed his eyes, wanting nothing more than for Heero to be there. "Maybe I was princess." He whispered softly, while wiping his silent tears. "Well, at least Heero got you somethin'." "Yeah." "What'd he get you?" "I don't know." Trowa stared at one of the few gifts under the tree. . .the one from Heero. "Didn't you open it?" "No. . .I didn't." "Why not?" Trowa bowed his head in grief as he listened to Jetta's innocent questions that tore at his heart. "Trowa, are you okay?" "I'm fine Jetta." He assured while lying to himself for her sake. "Since you got a lot of gifts, you must have been really good." "Yeah. I was good all this year. The only thing I didn't get was to see you." "I'm sorry princess. . .maybe next year." "That's all I want for next year then. . .to spend Christmas with you, Wu Fei, and Heero." "We'll see what we can do about that." "Trowa, Wu Fei wants to talk to you." Trowa swallowed hard his tears; not wanting to really talk to the Chinese man. "Are you okay?" Wu Fei asked softly in concern. "Yeah." "Did Yuy show up?" Trowa didn't respond. He never could lie to Wu Fei, just like he couldn't even phantom lying to Heero. "Trowa-" "It's okay. . .he just couldn't make it." "I'm sorry." "Why are you sorry? There's nothing that could have been done about it." He couldn't see any reason to hold back. His first few words cracked, telling Wu Fei that he had been crying. "It's bad enough you spent last year crying because of me; this year it's over Yuy. I hope this doesn't start a new tradition for you." "I just wanted him to be here so badly Fei." "I know. .and I'm sure he gave it his all. . .or at least, he better have." "I wanna talk! I wanna talk!" Trowa could hear Jetta's anxious voice in the background. "Give me a second before letting her talk." "You sure?" "Yeah. I just don't want to dampen her spirits. Besides, she sounds so determined." "About what she said for next year. . .I think it's a pretty good ideal." "It's too far away to make plans. You can give the phone back." "Okay." "Trowa, I just realized that last night, I didn't tell you 'I love you' before we hung up." "It's okay." The next twenty minutes was at a more light hearted tone, until Jetta asked again for Heero. In turn, Trowa refused to lie to the little girl. "Why didn't he come home?" "The snow was too bad." "So you're all alone?" "Not all alone. I got Fido here." At the mention of his name, Trowa looked around for the beagle. Surprisingly, he wasn't in the room. Since he just woke, Trowa had expected his pet to be sitting at his side, pleading with large puppy eyes to be taken out. "Oh yeah. That's right! Fido's with you. I forgot you had a dog. He's a real good friend." "Yeah. He makes me laugh." "When you come next Christmas, will you bring Fido?" "You know Fei's allergic to dog hair." "Oh yeah. So what will you do with him?" "Probably ask the girl next door to watch him." Trowa glanced at the clock. They already spent half an hour on the phone. "Princess, I should probably let you go." "Do you have to?" "If I don't, Fei will be broke from this call. I'll be online later. We can talk more then." "Okay." She huffed reluctantly. "I love you Trowa." "I love you too Jetta." "Bye." "See you later, and take care of Fei for me." "I will." Trowa hung up and wiped his tears. He stood to replace the phone. "Fido." Trowa called out, and waited for the dog to come bounding up to him. However, that didn't happen. Confused, Trowa stepped into the living room. "Fido?" It was then that he heard a ball bounce in the kitchen. Trowa's immediate thought was that the beagle was entertaining himself again with a tennis ball. "Fido, you gotta go-" Trowa stopped in his tracks as a pair of cobalt lifted to his own. "Merry Christmas baby." Heero grinned mischievously. Trowa's eyes misted as he beheld his lover leaning against the counter; a steaming mug in one hand, and Fido's ball in the other. No words spoken, Trowa flung himself against Heero's chest, burying his eyes in the warm fleece material. Releasing the tennis ball, and sitting the mug on the counter, Heero wrapped his arms around his partner. "Sorry I couldn't get here last night." Still unable to speak, Trowa held him closer. "And don't worry about Fido, I already took him out." At hearing this, Trowa pulled from the hug, with only one question plaguing his features. "How long have you been home?" Heero looked down at his wrist watch. "Twenty minutes." "And you didn't say anything to me?" "You were on the phone with Jetta. . .I didn't
want to interrupt." Heero chuckled as he quickly brushed Trowa's
lips. "By any chance, were you going to ask if Fido had to 'potty'?
Cuz' you know, I'd never let you live it down if you did."
|
