So Very Beautiful
-----part 1-----
Relena blushed at the gasps of onlookers as she strolled along the
beach with Heero, Quatre, and a few of her friends from school.
"I've never seen anything so beautiful in all my life," one
beachgoer praised.
"You said it," another agreed. "That is definitely proof there is a
god of some kind out there. You don't get beauty this intense from
random acts of nature."
"I wish they'd stop," Relena whispered to one of the girls who had
come along with her. "It's awfully embarrassing."
The girl scanned the beach and nearly forgot how to speak for a
moment when her eyes fell upon the shoreline.
"I don't think they're talking about you, Relena."
Relena turned and gasped.
Duo had been surfing for some time before the others had arrived and
was resting on the shoreline. His hair was out of its customary braid
and he was kneeling there, his surfboard nearby, breathing in the
ocean breeze with his face tilted up, enjoying the sunshine.
Relena's friends wondered if Duo knew just how sensual he looked in
that pose.
Relena looked over at Heero and saw the way he was gawking.
Belatedly, she put her hand in front of his eyes.
"Come along, Heero," she said, haughtily.
"I think I'll just stand here and enjoy the view." Heero told her.
"Heero, I'll let you stand there and enjoy the view if you can admit
one thing ... not just to me, but to everyone in the group." Relena
challenged.
"If you expect me to admit I'm in love with you, forget it," Heero
told her, "because I'm not."
"Actually," Relena smiled, looking over at Duo, "I want you to
admit that you're in love with him."
-----part 2-----
"You want an admission of my love for Duo?" Heero blinked. Had he
just heard Relena correctly.
"If you can tell him, in front of everyone, not just in some dark
alley where you can deny it later, that you love him," Relena told
him, "then I'll step out of the way. I promise."
Relena waved her arm to indicate the crowd. "And everyone here heard
me say that. No backing out of it for me, either."
Heero nodded. Then walked over to Duo.
Wondering eyes turned from every corner of the beach to see if the
youth in spandex had the courage to speak to the wondrous beauty.
Heero knelt in front of Duo and took the other boy's hands in his
own. Part of him kept reminding him that he shouldn't be doing this
in public; that there were still many people who did not understand
and who hated people who were gay. Heero didn't consider himself gay,
he just considered himself in love with Duo Maxwell. Gay was, in his
mind, something that had to do with sex. This wasn't sex. It was
love. Oh, there would be sex involved of course, when Duo was ready.
But it was more than just that. It's a combination of the love an older
sibling feels for a younger one, the love of two best friends, the camaraderie of two soldiers fighting side by side, the untainted
desire of two virgins each dreaming of that promised ecstasy as they
looked into each other's eyes for the first time...
It took a moment for Heero to realize that that was exactly what they
were doing. He had been working up his courage to tell Duo how he felt
and hadn't noticed that the other boy's eyes had opened.
"Yes?" Duo asked, his eyes sparkling dewily as he gazed into the
eyes of the Perfect Soldier.
"Ai shiteru, Duo-chan." Heero said, softly, as he leaned forward to
kiss Duo.
Duo leaned into the kiss, his breath trembling as his lips made
contact with Heero's for the first time.
Relena removed the shimmering white sun shawl she'd been wearing and
draped it over Duo's head like a bridal veil.
"As Queen of the World," she declared, "I unite these two in
marriage. Let no one come between them from this moment on."
Tears of joy fell from Duo's eyes. Neither boy had expected this
impromptu wedding, but neither of them objected to it.
"You make a very beautiful bride, Duo-chan." Heero whispered.
-----Owari-----