Duo dropped his eyes and
swallowed hard. Heero was offering to make the lonliness go away. Heero offered
to make something go away that had been a part of him for so long that he didn't
know what he would do without it. The forming tears pricked the corners of his
eyes and he curled himself into a fetal position, head to his knees as he sat on
the sand.
A tear left the corner of
his eye quickly followed by one from the other eye. His nose started to fill as
he drew in a shuddering breath.
Heero watched Duo retreat
in on himself. He didn't know what to do. "Duo?"
Duo rocked back and forth
slightly, ignoring him.
Heero heard a sniff and
the ragged breathing. Then it hit him. Duo was crying. He never cried.
"Duo? Daijoubu?"
Duo let out an audible
sob and lifted his now tear stained face. "How can you ask that?"
"I care about you
Duo. And because I care and because I don't want to lose you, I ask."
Duo sniffed and wiped
furiously at the tears on his face. "I'm not ok. I haven't been ok. I'm not
going to be ok."
"Why not?"
"Because!"
"Because why? Duo, I
already told you that I love you." Heero prompted.
"And thats
why!" Duo snapped back, the tears starting again. "Heero, I can't be
happy for you. I can't tell you that everything is going to be fine. I've been
so lonely and I don't know how to make it stop..."
Heero blinked. Something
clicked inside him and he moved closer to Duo and wrapped his arms around him.
Duo fought him. Heero struggled to corral his arms. He pinned Duo's hands to his
sides and held them there until Duo stilled in his arms. When he was sure Duo
wasn't going to try and escape he released his hands and just held him.
Duo stiffened in Heero's
arms, then sagged sobbing.
"I'm sorry
Duo..." Heero whispered. "I never understood. Now I do. Let me stay.
Let me love you."
Duo continued to sob into
Heero's shirt. Slowly he wound his arms around Heero, accepting what was
offered. He felt Heero kiss the top of his head, never once easing the arms
around him. The kiss on his head broke something inside and he cried even
harder.
Heero shifted slightly on
the sand and changed his sitting position, allowing Duo to fold onto him. He
didn't understand why Duo cried even harder now but he knew it was good.
Duo slowly mastered
himself as the moon began to rise over the ocean. The dark sky absorbed the
color from everything. Heero's arms relaxed around him as he sat up.
"Better?"
Duo nodded.
"Good." Heero
smiled. It wasn't much of a smile but it was a smile none the less.
Duo blinked in surprise.
"You're smiling."
"Hai. You gave me
your smile for safe keeping. I hope you don't mind if I give it back."
Heero answered.
"How-"
Heero silenced him with a
kiss. Duo's eyes widened in surprise and then realized that it was the
loneliness that broke inside. Heero broke the sweet kiss with a twitching half
smile-smirk on his lips.
Duo
smiled.