Wonderful

 

Based on the lyrics and song “Wonderful” by Everclear.

*…* -- song lyrics

/…/ -- flashbacks

 

Hiiro and Duo sit in their current safehouse.  Hiiro works diligently away on his laptop in the kitchen while Duo sits in the living room window seat, staring out at the rainy day.

 

*I close my eyes when it gets too sad

I think thoughts that I know are bad*

 

Hiiro, who has been cleaning out the hard drive of his laptop, suddenly comes across an electronic news clipping about an attack on a base that also destroyed a nearby apartment complex.  Hiiro closes his eyes, forcing himself not to remember…

 

*Close my eyes and count to ten

Hope it’s over when I open them*

 

His hand trembles a bit, hovering over the delete button.  Finally, his hand falls, blasting the file to oblivion.  He opens his eyes, relieved to see the clipping gone.

 

*I want the things that I had before

Like a Star Wars poster on my bedroom door*

 

Even though the file is gone, the memories associated with it keep bringing themselves up.  A single flower, a little white dog, a bloody corpse, Dr. J beginning his re-training…

 

*I wish I could count to ten

Make everything be wonderful again*

 

Hiiro looks over to where his partner is sitting, totally oblivious to the world, and briefly wonders if he could ever feel the same happiness that Duo feels.

 

*Hope my Mom and I hope my Dad

Will figure out why they get so mad*

 

/Young Hiiro stands strapped to a wall.  He’s getting the third degree for Dr. J… still./

 

*I hear them scream, I hear them fight

They say bad words and make me want to cry*

 

/Dr. J, still ranting, strikes Young Hiiro across the face because he has stopped paying attention.  He rants for a while longer, then steps back and introduces Young Hiiro to his new trainers…/

 

*Close my eyes when I go to bed and I

Dream of adventures that make me smile*

 

/Young Hiiro silently curls into a ball on the floor as his ‘trainers’ leave him for the night.  He shivers, then gently pulls a crushed flower from somewhere in his clothes.  He holds it very delicately, even though it still crumbles in his hands.  He smiles, promising himself he’d never forget./

 

*I feel better when I hear them say

Everything will be wonderful someday*

 

Duo finally notices Hiiro looking at him and smiles.

 

*Promises mean everything

When you’re little and the world is so big*

 

/“Are you lost, niisan?”/

 

*I just don’t understand how

You can smile with all those tears in your eyes*

 

/“I’ve been lost my entire life.”/

 

*Tell me everything is wonderful now*

 

“Daijoubu kiito ok, Hiiro-chan,” Duo says when he sees Hiiro’s brooding look.

 

*Please don’t tell me everything is wonderful now*

 

Hiiro turns back to his computer.

“Hn.  Baka.”

Duo sighs, shrugs and looks back out the window, somewhat hurt by Hiiro’s rejection.

 

*I go to school and I run and play

I tell the kids that it’s all okay*

 

/Young Duo runs across the schoolyard, being chased by some Earth Sphere Alliance brats.  He has a bloody lip and a bruise on his cheek, not to mention the condition his school uniform is in now.  But the boys following him seem to be in worse shape than he.  He flashes them his soon-to-be-famous cocky smile before leaving them in the dust./

 

*I laugh the loudest so my friends won’t know*

 

Duo stands with a bunch of kids at their current school, laughing over some stupid joke someone cracked about the Gundam pilot terrorists.  No one notices the deep hurt in his eyes, except Hiiro, who's watching him from the other side of class.

 

*That when the bell rings

I just don’t wanna go home*

 

/Young Duo now sits in front of a very stern Father Maxwell.  He stares at his dangling feet while he listens to the Father tell him how violence isn't the answer to life's problems.  Young Duo tries to defend his actions, but Father Maxwell won't listen.  Dejectedly, Young Duo hangs his head and scuffles out, only to be confronted next by Sister Helen.  She takes his hand with a warm smile and helps get him cleaned up./

 

*Got to my room and I close my eyes

I make-believe I have a new life*

 

Hiiro walks into their dorm room and finds Duo sprawled out on his bed.  Even in the darkness, he can tell Duo has been crying.  Judging by the way Duo is lying, he's been having another Nightmare.

 

*I don’t believe you when you say

Everything will be wonderful someday*

 

/Young Duo glances around the crowded street, then grabs two apples from the cart in front of him before dashing off down the street.  He slips into an abandoned building in one of the ghettos and is met with six pairs of hungry eyes.  He tosses one apple to the group and then heads to the back where one member of the gang is lying on a pile of rags.  Solo opens his fevered eyes and smiles.  He asks Young Duo why he keeps coming back to him.  Young Duo promptly tells Solo to shut up and conserve his strength.  He then carefully takes a bite out of the apple, chews is for a while, then feeds it to Solo./

 

*Promises mean everything

When you’re little and the world is so big (so big)*

 

/Solo gently takes Young Duo's hand in his, the later now crying freely.

"I promise you, Duo… You'll never be alone…"/

 

*I just don’t understand how

You can smile with all those tears in your eyes*

 

/Young Duo kneels down next to the dying form of Sister Helen, fighting back his tears.  She painfully reaches up and cups his face in her hands, smiling.

"God bless you… my son…"/

 

*When you tell me everything is wonderful now*

 

/Duo reaches out and touches the dark, glossy surface of Deathscythe.  A tingle runs through his body and hesitantly, he leans forward and rests his head against the cool gundanium; he can almost hear the mechanical heartbeat.  Duo closes his tear-stained eyes and relaxes in the presence of his new partner… his new savior.

"I take it you approve?" Professor G asks, a smile tweaking his thin lips.

"Yeah… I approve…"/

 

*No, no, I don’t wanna hear you tell me

Everything is wonderful now*

 

Duo looks up as Hiiro's laptop suddenly trills, signaling a new mission update.  Duo jumps up and cracks his knuckles while Hiiro checks the details.

 

*No, no, I don’t wanna hear you tell me

Everything is wonderful now*

 

Simultaneously, Wing Zero and Deathscythe Hell take off on their mission, both pilots ready to take on the hordes of OZ soldiers they're about to face.  Halfway there, Duo tells Hiiro he'll provide cover while the other completes the mission.  After thinking it over, Hiiro agrees.

 

*I don't wanna hear you say

That I will understand someday

(No, no, no, no, no, no, no)*

 

Duo's eyes flare with a dark fire as he takes out five more enemy suites.  Suddenly, he realizes that there's no possible way to fend off all of them.  He reminds himself, though, that Hiiro needs him to cover his back.  Blinking blood from his eyes, Duo charges forward once more.

 

*I don't wanna hear you say

We both have grown in a different way

(No, no, no, no, no, no)*

 

Hiiro cuts swiftly through the meager defense left to guard the target.  He knows that this base was heavily guarded, which means Duo is taking all the heat.  A quiver of anxiety goes down his spine when the communication link goes dead between the two pilots.  Briefly, Hiiro toys with the idea of going back and helping Duo, but squashes it when he realizes that completing the mission would be more helpful in the end.

 

*I don't want to meet your friend

And I don't want to start over again*

 

The base and the surrounding area suddenly goes up in flames.

 

*I just want my life to be the same

Just like it use to be*

 

Hiiro begins scanning the area, looking and not finding a certain braided pilot.  The memory of the flower comes back stronger than ever, making his search ever more frantic…  Finding a clear spot, he sets Wing Zero down and begins his search on foot.

 

*Someday when I hate everything

And I hate everything

And everyone and everything*

 

Duo jump/falls from the open cockpit of his Gundam, not too worse for wear.  He looks at the carnage that surrounds him and remembers returning to the church after stealing a mobile suite for some rebels.  What tugs at his heart more is the fact that he can't locate Hiiro.  With a slight sway, he begins trying to find his way out.

 

*Please don't tell me everything is wonderful now*

 

Hiiro scrupulously scans each area from the top of a wreaked OZ Leo.  He sees bits of scrapped black gundanium, but nothing else.

 

*No, please don't tell me everything is wonderful now*

 

Sorely misjudging his step, Duo takes a nasty tumble off the unidentifiable mound he'd been standing on.  He still can't find Hiiro, and has a sinking feeling that Hiiro is nowhere to be found at all.

 

*Please don't tell me everything is wonderful now*

 

Hiiro stops on the edge of a small clearing, trying to catch his breath.  The endless mountains of slagged mobile suites and the smoke from the numerous fires are seriously trying his training.  Still, he refuses to leave without Duo.

 

*I don't want to hear you tell me

Everything is wonderful now*

 

Duo staggers uncertainly onto the clearing, wiping the blood and smoke-caused tears away with the back of his hand.  Then he squints at the figure across the way instantly recognizing the dark green tanktop and biking shorts.  After swaying unsteadily on his feet for a moment, Duo doggedly pushes forward.

 

*No, please don't tell me everything is wonderful now*

 

Hiiro looks up sharply, watching a black shadow hurry across the ground toward him.  It takes a moment for him to recognize the shadow is actually Duo.  Automatically, he starts running towards the other boy, reaching him just in time to catch him when he trips over a loose piece of earth.

 

*Oh yeah, yeah, everything is wonderful now*

 

Duo collapses into Hiiro's arms, crying.  Hiiro just holds Duo closer, close to tears himself.

 

*Oh yeah, everything is wonderful now*

 

Still hanging on to each other, Hiiro and Duo slowly walk away in the sunset.

 

~*~ OWARI ~*~

~TK’00