|
"Apres La Guerre "Written By: Waterliliylf Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing. All rights
remain with Bandai, Sotsu and associated parties. No profit being
made here. Rating: R Warnings: Duo POV, angst, sap, humor Pairings: eventual 1x2 Summary: Post War Fic, mostly Duo POV set seven
years after the end of the War and absolutely oozing angst and sap
and humour and confusiona and Duo-suffering.. Long 1x2 get together
fic "Apres La Guerre "
Chapter 92 – Recalibration:
Waiting in Florence for Trowa to come off another shuttle
flight, though, it was impossible not to draw comparisons. It wasn't
the same. Duo wasn't with him; he had a couple of guards shadowing
him, because Zechs had insisted. It was a different port in a different
country, on the other side of the world, and the world had already
changed. When Trowa finally came through the Arrivals gate, he'd
changed too. Wufei hadn't been sure what to expect; had half-imagined
Trowa to look as lost as he had that other time. Instead, he looked
the way he'd been looking in the years since the war had ended, calm
and confident and wholly in control. He was alone. They'd talked to him, of course, over
the past couple of weeks. Wufei had known he wouldn't be coming back
in chains, as a high-profile Prevnters prisoner. He'd known Quatre
wouldn't be with him. He'd still half-expected it though, and Duo
had been sure. It didn't necessarily mean anything, Wufei told himself,
as he gave Trowa a quick hug. Quatre's doctors might not have cleared
him for flight, and he probably had commitments at WEI. It didn't
have to mean anything. Trowa didn't comment as the two bodyguards fell into
step behind them, but those green eyes flicked over them, appraising. 'It's Zechs' idea,' Wufei muttered as they reached the
car. 'Quite unnecessary. I'm more than capable of taking care of myself.' 'You know that's not what it's about,' Trowa said softly,
and Wufei flushed. 'I know, yes.' 'How is he?' Wufei's mouth thinned. 'Better. There have been some
problems with his breathing, after everything. He's still having treatment
at a local hospital. It's not too bad; he's just attending as an outpatient.
Honestly, It's very good to see you,' he said, meaning it, and Trowa
smiled. 'You too. Nice being able to fly back without a posse
of Preventers after me.' 'Yes,' Wufei acknowledged. 'It was good to hear they'd
dropped all those ridiculous charges.' 'Well, in the light of my part in recent events, it
was decided that it might be best all around to ignore any…irregularities
in my conduct over the past few weeks.' Wufei grinned. He could just imagine Une saying all
that, impassive. 'How convenient for you.' 'Yeah, well. I think they also thought it would be expedient
not to arrest Quatre Winner's partner on Quatre's own colony. Not
after what's been going on.' 'Partner?' Wufei pounced, hope flaring. Quatre was….not
his favourite person by any means, but he and Trowa belonged together
and always had. He knew that of course they were having problems,
and Trowa had claimed it was over, but then he'd stayed on L4 for
nearly three weeks and it had been impossible not to imagine that
they'd somehow worked everything out. Trowa lengthened his stride, flicking his hair over
his right eye. 'Ex-partner actually. But we decided it wasn't expedient
to share that.' Wufei stood stock still, staring at him. 'You can't
just break up!' Trowa looked pained, swinging back to face him. 'Shouldn't
that be Duo's line? 'Fei, you know we broke up. Months ago. This hasn't
changed anything. I told you. Quat told Duo.' 'Yes, I know you said that, but we thought he'd fixed
it,' Wufei confessed, meaning it, because Quatre could fix anything,
if he put his mind to it. 'It's what he does.' 'Yeah, well, maybe it doesn't work on things he messed
up himself.' 'It's really over between you two?' Wufei could hear
himself sounding forlorn, like a sad little boy. 'Look.' Trowa took a deep breath. 'It's over. It would
be really helpful if you could all accept that. We're being very civilised
about it all. It's not like we want people to take sides.' 'Except that you're never going to speak to each other
again?' 'Shit.' Trowa ran one hand through his hair. 'Did Duo
write out a script for you to follow or what? Of course, we're going
to speak to each other. We're not a couple, but we're trying to stay
friends.' 'That's what Duo said, when he and Heero broke up.'
Wufei winced at the memory; Duo in that hospital bed, fighting tears
of exhaustion and pain and sorrow, and claiming that everything was
fine, and that he wanted them all to stay friends. That he didn't
want his gang to break up. Afterwards, when he'd moved in with Wufei, there'd been
those awful, stilted phone calls with Heero. 'It's not like that.' Trowa didn't specify how. 'We've
spent most of the last three weeks together, sorting stuff out.' Wufei nodded. 'When you didn't come home straightaway,
we thought maybe it meant something.' Duo had, anyway, and Wufei had
let himself be persuaded. 'It meant we had things to do,' Trowa said levelly.
'Not just the Preventers stuff. We were together for nearly eight
years. When I left the last time, I didn't take anything with me.
I had to arrange for stuff to be shipped to Earth. We needed to sort
out some legal things; we've always had power of attorney for each
other, and I had shares in WEI. There was a bloody mountain of paperwork.' Wufei tried to imagine it; to imagine unravelling two
lives that had been so tightly bound together, and then neither of
them said anything as they reached the car and got in. 'I gave the shipping company the address of the Sanque
Embassy here,' Trowa said finally, as they drove out of the airport.
'Is that OK? There's not all that much. Mostly books and some art
and a few bits of furniture.' 'No, that's fine. Of course it is. There's plenty of
space.' He took one hand off the wheel to touch Trowa's arm. 'I'm
sorry, Trowa.' Trowa shrugged. 'Shit happens.' 'You still love him.' Wufei looked, very determinedly,
over the steering wheel. 'It isn't about that. It's about trust and honesty and
we don't have that any more.' 'Everything I know about relationships I learned from
you and Quatre. Everything.' Trowa snorted. 'What, you didn't pick up anything from
Duo?' 'It's not funny!' 'No,' Trowa allowed. 'Where is he anyway? Or is he never
going to see me again?' 'Of course he is! I meant to tell you before, he's gone
to the hospital with Zechs; he gets bored there by himself.' 'He's going to be pissed as hell, isn't he?' 'Probably, yes,' Wufei said honestly. 'For a while,
anyway. He's convinced you've made up.' Trowa swore. 'Great. I told him it was over.
I know Quat did as well.' Wufei gave him a wry smile. 'This is Duo we're talking
about. You know.' 'Yeah. Listen, you and Zechs, you're going to be fine.
You're amazing together, always have been. You're both smart. And
you try.' He took a deep breath. 'I know it's hard. It's not exactly
easy for either of us, but it is what it is. 'I have something to show you.' Wufei said suddenly.
He fumbled in his pocket with one hand and gave Trowa the small box. Duo had made a joke about proposals, how he hadn't known
Wufei cared that much. Trowa regarded it gravely. 'May I?' 'Of course.' He lifted it out, placed it the centre of his palm,
didn't try to read the inscription. On the outside, it was a plain
gold band; Sanque gold. The country's mines had closed down a couple
of centuries ago, but the Royal Mint had kept some bars, which were
used only to provide jewellery for the royal family. 'It seemed fitting. He gave me a Chinese ring; I wanted
him to have something from Sanque. This was Relena's idea actually.
I just got it today.' 'It's perfect. He's going to love it.' 'Yes. Well. I wanted to thank you, for some things you
said on L4. That I needed to make him the centre of my universe. He
always has been, really, but I was …. I was sometimes scared
to show it. To admit it.' 'He'll love the ring. So, you two are staying in Florence
for a bit longer or what?' 'We're not sure. I don't want Zechs taking a transatlantic
flight just yet, and he'll be having treatment for another couple
of weeks. I don't know what Duo's planning to do either.' Trowa laughed. 'Does Duo know what Duo's planning to
do?' 'I don't think so.' 'Have to let him leave the nest sometime, you know.' 'I know. It's just that it was the two of us for so
long. Even when he moved to Florida, we saw him nearly every weekend.
I can't imagine life without him being around.' 'Try,' Trowa suggested softly. 'Might be nice to be
just you and Zechs for a bit. Now, when are you going to call him?' 'Who?' Wufei hedged. 'Zechs?' That won him a flat stare. 'Duo can pull off playing
dumb, but it's not a good look on you. You know who I mean.' 'He can call me if he wants to. He knows where I am.' 'He's scared,' Trowa said quietly. 'Scared you won't
want to talk to him.' 'I doubt that, really.' 'Pull over, will you? When you can. I need your full
attention for this.' 'What?' Wufei pulled into the next lay-by, slipped off
his seatbelt, turned to face his passenger. 'Do you have any idea how he feels about you? How much
he admires you? Just what you mean to him?' 'Not very much, I imagine,' Wufei said tightly. Trowa actually grinned. 'God. What I just said about
you being smart, I take that back. You're a moron. He worships you.
It's lucky I wasn't the jealous type. When Duo was in hospital, I
swear, every second sentence Quatre spoke had your name in it.' 'No,' Wufei denied. Of course that wasn't right. Trowa
had always been the Boyfriend, Duo the Best Friend. Heero had been
– whatever indefinable thing Heero had been, until Duo's accident.
But Wufei had been a project, someone to be socialised and civilised. Wufei said nothing, just started the car again, noting
the guards following. Neither of them said anything at all until they
reached the embassy. 'I never actually asked; it's OK if I stay here for
a couple of weeks? I can go to a hotel if it's not.' 'Don't be an idiot. Of course you're staying here, for
as long as you're like.' 'Yeah. Won't be that long, I don't think. I've been
thinking, the past couple of weeks. About what I want to do, what
kind of things I like doing. Something with animals, I thought.' Wufei grinned; it wasn't remotely surprising. He could
still remember Trowa at the circus, showing him around. He'd adored
the animals. 'So you're going to train to be a vet? A zoologist?' 'One day, maybe. I was thinking some kind of conservation
work to start. There're a lot of places in Africa and India that take
volunteers. You know, tracking wild populations and helping injured
animals, and rehabilitating ones that were in captivity.' 'I think that would be perfect for you,' Wufei said,
meaning it. Trowa, the consummate chameleon, had fit into WEI perfectly
too, but he'd done it for Quatre. 'You're right. It's time you found
something that you enjoy.' 'Yeah.' Trowa ducked his head. 'Think Duo will see it
like that?' 'He'll be glad you're happy.' Wufei pulled up the car,
and took a deep breath. 'I'm glad you're back.' 'Me too.' He flicked his hair back, and Wufei had both
of those stunning green eyes looking at him. 'I always hated L4, you
know. From the first. Weird to think I won't be going back there though.' 'Not ever?' 'Nope. That's something we talked about. If Quat wants
to see me, he can come wherever I am.' 'That's fair.' Wufei left the housekeeper to show Trowa to his room,
and ran upstairs to his own, wondering if Zechs would be back. He was. 'What did the doctor say?' Zechs rolled his eyes. 'Exactly what he's said every
day for the past two weeks. I had a traumatic accident; a long space
flight didn't help and then getting shot didn't exactly help; I'm
getting better. How's Trowa?' 'All right, I think. He says he and Quatre are over.' 'You knew that, sweetheart.' Zechs' blue eyes, on him,
were very soft, and then he pulled him into a long kiss. 'I'm sorry.
Dinner's not for an hour. How about I try to distract you a little?' Wufei looked up at him. God, this man, his love. Utter
shining perfection. And nothing in the world would ever break them
up. 'I'd love that, but I need to make a phone call. Can
we postpone it, just a little?' 'Charming. I hope this isn't a taste of what married
life is going to be like for us. You're ordering me out so you can
call other men.' 'It's Quat, Mil.' 'Ah.' Zechs bent down and kissed him again. 'About time,
love. I'll be in the garden. Call your friend and come and find me.' Your friend. Wufei sighed. Quatre was his friend, really; one of
his closest friends, even if he didn't like him very much right now. He dialled the number, waited for an answer. Quatre didn't say anything at first, but Wufei could
hear him breathing. Then, 'Wufei?' and another long pause. 'Is there
anything in the world I can do to start making up for all of this?' 'I think you've done enough already.' There was a sharp intake of breath on the 'phone. 'I
know. I'm so very sorry about everything. All I wanted to do was to
keep you – all of you – out of it. I didn't want to drag
you into my stupid mess.' 'That didn't exactly work out.' Wufei sat on the bed.
'Quatre, you're an idiot.' 'Oh, yes, I think that's pretty much a universally acknowledged
fact at the moment.' 'It should be,' Wufei said tightly. Quatre was the first person he'd spoken to about being
gay; the person who's spent hours – on the phone and in person
– persuading him that having a relationship with Zechs was something
that he could do, if he wanted it badly enough. Quat had encouraged
him to go to university, and taken him to a sex shop, and always been
there. His friend. He'd shouted at Duo, before, asking how the hell he
still wanted to have Quat in his life, and Duo, and Duo had just looked
at him, and said he couldn't remotely imagine his life, minus Quatre.
After everything Quatre had done for him. 'You're really just going to let him walk away?' 'It's what he says he wants.' 'Do you believe him?' Quatre said, very carefully, 'I believe, more than anything,
he needs some time, some space to himself, right now. He has plans,
things he's been wanting to do for years. I think that will be good
for him. I think it's what he wants, right now. I don't know, about
the future. I've told him I'll wait. And I can visit him, if he wants,
wherever he is.' He paused. 'I would like to see you, very much.' 'No offence, but I have no desire ever to go near L4
in my life again. But you could come and visit us?' There was another long pause, just the sound of laboured
breathing. 'I may be coming to Earth next month. I have conferences.
I could come to Italy. If you wanted. If you're still there, obviously.
Wherever you are, really. I don't know your plans.' 'Nor do we, actually. Just let me know your dates.' 'Absolutely, I'd love that,' Quatre said in a rush.
'Wufei, I'm so glad you called. I was scared you'd never want to talk
to me again.' 'I didn't, for a long time,' Wufei said honestly. 'No, of course not. How is Zechs?' Wufei sighed. 'Physically, getting better. He's a terrible
patient. He keeps pushing himself too hard. The doctors say he's improving
though. I just want to take him home at this stage.' 'Well, of course you do.' 'Right.' He tried to think of something else to say,
couldn't. 'Quatre. I'm going to hang up. I haven't really got to talk
to Zechs yet about his last appointment, what the doctors said. Can
I call you in a couple of days?' 'Oh, please,' Quatre said in a rush. 'I would like that
very much. 'Fei, thank you for calling. And please, look after him
for me.' 'I will, of course.' He did hang up then, and took out the little box from
his pocket. He wasn't sure if it was an engagement ring or a wedding
ring or both, but it didn't really matter. He lifted it from the box,
from the little scrap of blue velvet, and then went to give it to
his life's love. ~ * ~ |
