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"Moon Dance"Written By: t-shirt Disclaimer: Gundam Wing and its characters are
copyright to Sunrise, Bandai, Sotsu Agency, and associated parties.
I make no money with this fic. Rating: NC 17 Warnings: Post war cannon/Five pretty boys save
the world! … again ^-^ Fluff, Sap, Light angst, mention of lemon,
moderate language Beta’ed by Mechante Fille *hugs* Pairings: 1x2, 3x4 Summary: Hiiro finds his feelings for Duo are
deeper than he had realized during a mission to correct a shift in
the moon's orbit. "Moon Dance " Ch 1 “Hiiro? Is anything wrong?” “No,” he replied, gazing distantly out of the shuttle window at the glowing blue and green orb known as Earth. He couldn’t blame her for her concern. Ever since he learned of their destination he had been distracted and though Relena was as incredibly busy with her duties as ever, she was, as always, acutely aware of him. He felt no remorse for the comment, though it could have been construed as not entirely true. However, there were no threats to the mission or the Vice Foreign Minister. All was well with the flight from L4 to Earth and security on the ground had everything under control for their arrival but in his heart he knew these were not the things she was asking about. “We’ll be arriving soon,” Chelsea, the aide assigned to Relena this trip smiled, coming to help the girl pack away the paperwork she had been working on and prepare for reentry. “Mr. Yui,” she added, “Captain Wilson requests that you join him in the cockpit.” “Must you?” Relena interjected. “Would you mind sitting with Miss Relena?” Hiiro asked the young woman as he rose and offered her his seat. “She dislikes reentry.” “Of course,” Chelsea agreed amiably. “Will you return before we land?” Relena asked, wrinkling her brow in disappointment as she strapped in. “I’ll see you on the ground,” Hiiro smiled, offering her a reassuring touch on the hand before retreating. “If you don’t mind my saying,” Chelsea smiled, watching him leave. “You’re very lucky; he’s quite handsome.” “Yes,” Relena nodded, biting her lip thoughtfully. “He is.” “Is there a problem?” Hiiro asked upon entering the cockpit but the grin Captain Wilson turned on him answered that quickly enough. “Of course not, my boy,” the man smiled, ushering him inside. “I just thought you might like a front row seat. Sit down.” It was a bit of a thrill to be where he could see the stars and approaching planet, to have his hands close to the controls though he had every confidence in the seasoned pilot beside him. Captain Wilson had not only flown during the war but had been Relena’s personal shuttle pilot since he had taken the job of head of her security. “Would you like to take her in?” the man smiled brightly, his excitement glimmering in his eyes. “That won’t be necessary,” Hiiro replied, ignoring the disappointment that washed though his companion. It was a difficult thing for the ageing pilot to understand but he had no need to reach back and grasp the glory of days gone by. It was the future that plagued his mind and begged him to move ever forward, even when he wasn’t sure exactly where that next step might take him. The landing was smooth, as he had expected it to be. The spaceport security force making his presence seem almost redundant as they held the media at bay and protected the Vice Foreign Minister as she and her entourage disembarked. “Miss Relena… Has there been any word from the deep sea base Gemini?” “Minister! What are your plans for correcting the deteriorating orbit of the moon?” “Are you aware of the storms already cultivating over the African coast?” Relena refrained from comment until they where outside where she paused on a landing Hiiro had indicated suitable and gave a short interview. It really was pathetic how the news hounds instantly sensationalized anything and everything they could sink their teeth into. The storms they spoke of always rolled off the African coast this time of year. It was the tides that had shifted causing mild flooding and climatic changes as yet unnoticed by the general public that told the tale and justified their involvement in the Earths current state of crisis. “It’s good to know you have the help of such people as Hiiro Yui.” “Mr. Yuy! Will you comment on the shifting of the moons orbit?” “How will you correct the problem?” “If there is a way to save Earth… Hiiro Yui will discover it!” He held his tongue, allowing Relena to smoothly step in and regain control of the interview though the thoughts in his mind brought a scowl to his eyes. How idiotic. Didn’t they realize it had been the very battle that had broken Libra into pieces and forced him to risk his life that caused the problem in the first place? He wondered how much of a hero they would consider him if they knew the alteration was due to his inability to completely destroy the debris that had threatened Earth, sending a chunk big enough to slam into the moons surface and jar its orbit. It wasn’t necessarily his fault, but it had happened by his hand. “Hiiro?” Relena questioned pausing while he held the gate on the ship’s railing open for her and Chelsea. “Are you certain you’re all right?” “Fine,” he replied ushering them forward. “General Suka,” she smiled, turning to greet the commanding officer of the battle ship Recompense that was to transport them into the open ocean. Hiiro took a moment to straighten the slightly bent latch on the gate before closing it behind him. The tension inside him had grown more and more difficult to manage as they neared the end of their journey. It had been months since his short hospitalization after the Mariameia incident and though he still received regular correspondence with the other pilots, he had not seen any of them in some time. Now and then Quatre’s endeavors allowed them to cross paths where he often also found an opportunity to catch up with Trowa as well. The two had formed a partnership after the wars and worked diligently in their efforts to integrate the new governments and aide in the clean up. The blond boy was notorious for inviting him to visit, have a vacation or relaxing weekend but Hiiro had never been comfortable with such settings, leaving them to those who knew better than he how to enjoy them. The current problem with the moon’s altered orbit had inadvertently crossed their paths yet again as both Quatre and Trowa had been called in to work on the solution. Wufei, as well, was involved, as it had been he and Sally who discovered the problem during a seismic experiment in the Mediterranean Sea. The Chinese boy and his partner were currently on the moon helping to calibrate and strengthen the shields in the hope that the plan might be successful. “Duo!” Hiiro’s head snapped up at the mention of the braided American’s name to find his smiling face dominating the screen of his charge’s vid phone. “Hey Princess!” the longhaired boy smiled cheekily, giving her a two-fingered salute. “How’s it shakin? I heard they were pulling in some heavyweights on this one. Nice to see such a pretty face attached to all that power.” “How is the progress?” she asked working around the sudden color in her cheeks. “We’re on schedule,” Duo smiled. “But Wufei’s gonna have his end ready for testing before we finish unless you happened to bring along a pilot insane enough to brave the pressure with me down here.” “As a matter of fact,” she smiled stepping back to reveal the Japanese boy standing quietly behind her. Duo’s eyes lit up as if surprised though he had to have known Hiiro would accompany the Minister, then something soft washed across his face and Hiiro’s brow knit when he cocked his head and smiled, “Hey, Hiiro.” “You have need of an extra pilot?” the Japanese boy asked evenly. “You bet your sweet ass,” Duo grinned. “I was hoping you’d tag along. Quatre’s been helping out but he’s not all that comfortable in the dark and I need Trowa on the inside. It sure would step things up if you could lend a hand.” Hiiro stood for a moment staring into the face of the grinning, expectant American before nodding and turning away. “Well,” Relena smiled, stepping back in. “Now that that’s settled, may I have a word with Professor Sullivan?” Duo was quick to turn the com over to the resident scientist who spent a good deal of time filling Relena in on details she couldn’t possibly have comprehended while Hiiro prowled the deck. He ended up on the upper levels near the crow’s nest where he could see out over the open ocean for miles on end but his thoughts were not on the spectacular scenery or the task at hand. There was only one thought that dominated his mind, the same thought that had plagued him during the wars and brought a darkness to hover over him even to that day. Duo. He had never understood the crazy American but he had come to depend on his persistent presence. ”I’m not asking you to trust me, but right now, I’m the only friend you’ve got.” The words rang in his memory, it had been the first time anyone had declared themselves his friend. He thought the maniac boy with the thigh length braid must have been touched in the head back then but after awhile, through Duo’s persistence and open smile he had come to understand there was something more to life than meeting one’s own goals. There was the joy of caring for another. His thoughts were disturbed by the appearance of Relena and Chelsea walking along the deck below. General Suka was apparently giving them a tour of the ship and he smiled when the young lady turned to look up at him just as if she had known exactly where he would be. Feeling nostalgic, he raised his hand to hide his face behind his palm just as he had done in the past when the young princess tried to get a look at him. Her reaction was to brighten and laugh lightly before returning her attention to the General and resuming their walk. She was quite beautiful in the afternoon sun and reminded him of the many times during his youth he wished he could just stop and talk with her. But there was never time, or he found himself unable to find the words, or he was called away. She, too, had been a source of confusion for the stoic Wing pilot. He had never quite figured out why he was unable to kill her when circumstances warranted it but he was very happy that things had turned out as they had. They were the same in so many ways yet somehow he had found himself at Relena’s side. There was a job to do of course but he knew it had a lot to do with the fact that he was comfortable with her. Many people even thought them to be romantically involved though things had not progressed to that level even after all those months in her employ. It was a quiet existence, peaceful… complacent… “Mr. Yui!” He turned to acknowledge the ship’s mate that was calling up to him. “We’ll be arriving within the hour!” Had he been up there so long? The setting of the sun on the horizon heralded a resounding affirmative. “All right,” he nodded, releasing the young man to return to his duties but as he stood he paused, spying a distant spot of motion on the water. His heart lurched at the thought that the others might have surfaced in order to come meet them but that would have been reckless. It would take hours to decompress from that depth. It had to be someone else he told himself firmly, steeling his nerves and ignoring the crumpled steel bar his hand had been on when he spotted the vessel. He was halfway to the bridge when the alarms suddenly sounded, sending him into a sprint. “Hiiro!” Relena exclaimed. “What’s wrong?” he demanded. “Nothing we can’t handle,” the General assured him. “Just some extremists.” “What do they want?” Hiiro asked, stepping up to check the data on the ship’s screens. “There is some disquiet among some of the radical factions that are concerned our efforts will bring the moon down onto Earth instead of correcting its orbit,” the man explained. “Are you equipped with mobile suits?” the Japanese boy asked, ignoring Chelsea’s gasp. “Of course,” was the reply, “But I see no need…” “Because you’re about to be assaulted by at least three Cancer,” Hiiro cut him off. “What?! How did you…?!” but it was already too late as one of the great red mecha below the waves sent a torpedo into their side. Chelsea screamed, hiding her face in Relena’s chest as the Minister turned angry eyes on the ocean outside while the General began to shout orders over the clamoring men and resounding sirens. Hiiro headed for the lower decks, quickly finding a suitably armed Pisces and heading out to meet the enemy. The opposing soldiers were ill trained and inadequately armed making it ridiculously easy for Hiiro to subdue and capture them but the boat he had seen from the crow’s nest was nowhere to be found once the battle was over. The captured men were questioned, revealing much the same information General Suka had supplied before the attack. Their organization blamed the military and Hiiro in particular for the situation and believed their further interference would bring destruction to the Earth. From the look of them and the desperation in their actions, Hiiro dismissed them as more of an annoyance than a threat but adjusted his plans to include the possibility of future attacks. Damage to the ship was minimal enough that they decided to continue and have a more suitable ship meet them at the drop site before the Recompense returned for repairs. The trip down was ominously quite. Chelsea appeared to still be stunned by the sudden attack and stayed close to Relena’s side. The Minister herself resonated ill content over the incident, brooding over the political implications while Hiiro silently gripped the railing and forced his heart rate to remain steady and calm. His efforts failed the moment the door opened. “Welcome to Gemini!” Duo cried, wiping something from his fingers with a rag as he, Quatre, Trowa and the nervous looking Professor Sullivan strode toward them. “Hiiro?” Chelsea inquired, cautiously touching the Japanese boy’s hand while Relena was greeted and introduced. Hiiro nodded, indicating she should join her superior before wrenching his hand free of the mangled handrail and following her. “….sorry there’s no calypso band or anything but these guys didn’t bring their instruments.” Hiiro felt the energy of his oldest friend vibrate inside him as he stepped from the submersible, his chest lurching uncomfortably when Duo’s eyes shifted to take him in and granted him a smile. “…hope your descent wasn’t too uncomfortable,” Quatre was saying while Trowa gave Hiiro a nod. “It was pleasant enough,” the girl replied. “Though, it might be nice to dry off.” “You’re twenty-thousand leagues under the sea, Your Highness,” Duo laughed. “Nothing down here is dry.” “However,” Quatre cut in, shooting a scolding glance at Duo’s grinning face. “We can certainly offer you something warm to drink.” “Coffee,” Chelsea breathed reverently, falling into step with the others but Hiiro held his ground, watching Duo as he too, remained. “Heard you had a little excitement topside,” the braided boy smiled once they were alone. “Hardly,” Hiiro snorted. “Not like the old days,” Duo sighed nostalgically. “At least back then there were enough of them to break a sweat.” “For you maybe.” Duo laughed out loud at the bold comment, coming to wrap an arm around Hiiro’s shoulders just as if they hadn’t spent the last few months barely speaking to one another. “You’re gonna like it down here,” he told him, leading him toward where the others hand gone. “It’s dark… and cold… and you get to slap death up side the head on a daily basis.” “Like you’d hold still long enough,” Hiiro quipped, taking great delight in the way Duo suddenly stopped to marvel at him. He had worked very diligently on breaking down some of the walls he had built around himself over the past few months and relished the moment of seeing the results sparkling brightly in his friend’s huge, violet eyes. It felt… good. “Maybe the world has come to an end,” Duo chuckled as they started moving again. “Why?” Hiiro inquired, still smiling at his own audacity. “You just cracked a joke,” the braided boy smirked, ducking away when Hiiro tried to pinch him in the side. “…With this technique, we can steer DNA or other biomolecules for transport in three dimensions and also separate them according to size and their isoelectric point,” Professor Sullivan was explaining to his blank faced guests. “Yo, Chester!” Duo interrupted, taking his arm from around Hiiro’s shoulders as they joined them. “They’re diplomats not rocket scientists. Go easy on’em.” The Professor, a tall, balding man with thick, wire rimmed glasses and a habit of forgetting to comb his hair, looked dubiously perplexed for a moment as he stared confusedly into Duo’s grinning eyes, then nodded once and amended, “We’re going to grab her by the…gonads,” he stuttered uncertainly flashing the sniggering Duo a glance, “And lay her back on course.” Relena was hiding her smile behind her hand but Duo looked fit to burst with unabashed pride as he strolled over and slapped the blushing man on the back. “Well said, my man,” he smiled. “Only we need a gentler touch,” he added to the snickering ladies. “If we don’t turn down the heat all we’re gonna manage to do is rip’em…” “The energy levels must be altered so that the beam doesn’t destroy the target instead of gripping it,” Quatre cut in tactfully. “This base was created as a military presence,” Relena commented. “Yes,” the blond boy nodded. “The beam cannon is a weapon but with Professor Sullivan’s help, the alterations to change it into a workable tractor beam are already well under way.” “However,” the Professor interjected. “A single point of force would only push the mass chaotically. It will be necessary to have an additional beam to synchronize and control movement in order to successfully correct the moon’s orbit.” He paused here to glance uncertainly at Duo, who gave him a cheeky smile of approval. “You’re doing great,” the longhaired boy praised, bringing a relieved smile to the man’s lips. “She’s not an idiot either,” he smiled, winking at the girl when her cheeks pinked. Hiiro shrugged his shoulders, fending off the cold that had settled there at the absence of Duo’s arm and refused to allow his brow to wrinkle sulkily at the flirtatious exchange between his charge and his friend. “Where is the second beam?” Relena asked. “Lagrange point two,” the man informed her and her eyes snapped instantly to Duo’s smiling face. “We’ll use the isoelectric booster engines on L2 for the second force,” the braided boy explained. “But nothing works on that colony,” Chelsea gasped. “We’ll have to repair them,” Quatre piped in. “L2 is the only solar object in the right location to accomplish the task.” “Its position directly behind the moon makes it the only choice,” Professor Sullivan confirmed. “There are crews working on repairing the engines now,” the blond boy went on. “But they’re having trouble getting them operational.” “Because they’re decrepit,” Chelsea sighed. “That colony was built with substandard materials in the first place. I doubt years of neglect have improved things.” “You seem very familiar with it,” Duo commented, narrowing an eye on her. “I should be,” she snipped defensively. “I was born there.” “Perhaps she could aide you when you return,” the Professor suggested but Duo only smiled and gazed at the suddenly guarded young woman. “When did you leave?” he asked the girl in full confidence that his assumption was correct. “AC 186,” she replied. “During the plague evacuation with everyone else.” “Everyone who could afford it,” Relena interjected gently but Chelsea’s expression hardened defiantly. “Father got out everyone that was safely declared clean of the sickness.” “Save those who were never considered,” Hiiro interjected. “Leave her alone,” Duo sighed. “Are you insinuating my Father purposely left people on that…” “Duo is a survivor of the plague,” Relena cut her off, ignoring the way her jaw drooped and her eyes bugged out when she turned them on the longhaired boy. “You… were healed?” she gasped softly. “Never got sick,” Duo shrugged, widening her eyes further. “But then… why were you left?” she asked nobody in particular. “Because,” Relena smiled gently, “Sometimes all we can do is save the ones we can. You’re father did the best he could.” “Sometimes circumstances suck,” Duo, added nonchalantly but Hiiro felt himself being drawn closer to him as the old pain flickered in the depths of his eyes. “Best we can do is find a way to change them.” “Which is exactly what we should be doing,” Quatre sighed, expertly blowing away the dense fog of tension that had crept over the room. “You wanna see the sand scutters?” Duo asked Hiiro, who cocked a brow at him. “Professor Chester’s idea of deep water utility bots,” the longhaired boy chuckled, leading his scowling companion away. The one-man robots Duo was referring to didn’t exactly impress the ex-Wing pilot but they proved to be adequate to the task at hand. There were two of them, each capable of handling the pressure at this depth while offering the necessary mobility to perform outside mechanics. The fact that Duo seemed overly delighted that they resembled huge arachnids went a long way to endearing them to Hiiro’s heart. As always, the nutty American could turn even the gravest of situations in to a wondrous trek of discovery. “Hachi Toes here is the one I usually use,” Duo explained, opening the top hatch of the bot in question. “Eight Toes?” Hiiro chuckled, peering down into the other. The bay wasn’t all that large but adequately built to accommodate the two robots and the access pool that glimmered softly nearby. “Well,” Duo shrugged, “They needed proper names didn’t they? That ones Scutter Butt by the way,” he grinned and Hiiro laughed out loud. He dropped down into the tiny, transparent cockpit, letting his head stick out the hatch while he poked around at the console to familiarize himself with the controls. “You gave it a Japanese name,” he commented. “Guess so,” Duo replied distractedly as he worked in the control center of his own bot. Hiiro felt the darkness of the shadow that had loomed over his world since his separation from his friend after the wars thicken and gather about him as he asked, “Why?” “I dunno,” Duo shrugged. “Seemed appropriate since they were built in Japan.” Hiiro dropped down into the machine hiding the reddening embarrassment on his cheeks though he couldn’t figure out why he was embarrassed anymore than why he had asked in the first place. He cursed his lack of control balling up a fist to smack the console but held back forcing his mind to calm and remember that it was ok to feel these things. The war was over; addressing his feelings was no longer irrelevant. He just wished he could identify and manage them more readily. “Jealous?” Duo grinned and Hiiro jumped at having his head pop into the hatch above without warning. “No,” he snapped irritably. “Ok,” the longhaired boy shrugged, laying his length along the curved hull of the bot so that his braid fell heavily into Hiiro’s lap. “I just thought you might like it better if it had been in honor of you.” “I need no such egotistical bolstering,” Hiiro grumbled, pushing the thick length of chestnut hair out of his way. “No,” Duo grinned, rolling back over to peer down at him. “Your ego is fully inflated as is,” he laughed, pulling back before Hiiro could smack him in the head but barked a painful, “OW!” when he instantly felt himself jerked forward where his jaw bounced off the steel frame of the hatch, leaving him groaning in pain and rubbing the injury while he retrieved his braid from Hiiro’s firm grip. “I told you your vanity would cost you someday,” Hiiro smirked, emerging from the bot. “I don’t keep the braid ‘cause it’s pretty,” Duo groused, still adjusting his battered jaw. “No, I imagine its unique beauty would have nothing to do with your determination to retain it,” Hiiro chuckled. Duo’s brow knit while he tended the minor injury and considered his friend as he slid off the bot onto the deck. “You think it’s beautiful?” he asked, slipping down to land lightly beside him but Hiiro was suddenly looking somewhere else. “What is the duration of their energy levels?” “Three hours tops.” “Then you’re doing the alterations in segments?” “Two hours outside at the most ‘cause these things move like their stuck in a web.” The pair spent the rest of the evening updating Hiiro on the status and particulars of the job and even though he knew he should simply enjoy the companionship Duo was offering, he just couldn’t shake the shadow that had embedded itself in his heart. He had missed his friend a great deal, more than he was willing to admit, but there was something more, something he couldn’t quite figure out and it held him back, building a thin wall between them he wasn’t really willing to tolerate.
~ * ~ tbc... |
