| Yeah, another part of Yaritori- The Letter Series has arrived. Now anyone with half a brain knows that weddings are wonderful occasions of joy and love. But anyone who�s had to participate in one knows they are also hellish nightmares of frustration and doubt. Heero and Duo are about to learn this little fact of life. That�s right, folks, it�s time for the wedding! So I hope you enjoy it, I�ve put a lot of effort into this one�� For future reference, the wedding parties are as follows: Heero�s: Best man- Trowa, Attendants- Wufei, Sally, Catherine, Dorothy (in absentia) Duo�s: Best man- Quatre, Attendants- Zechs, Noin, Une, Hilde Let the insanity BEGIN!! Title: Pre-Marital Jitters or You are NOT Getting Away! 1/? (Part of the Yaritori- The Letter Series) Author: Lady DarkAngel Ladydarkangel_1 @ yahoo.com Archive: Lady DarkAngel's Gundam Wing Fanfiction Library http://www.geocities.com/ladydarkangel_1/index.html, Darkflame�s (if she�ll take it�.) and anywhere else is fine, just ask me first Category: Yaoi, Sap, Humor Pairing(s): 1x2, 3x4 Disclaimers: Gundam Wing or Shinkidousenki Gundam Wing is copyrighted and trademarked by Sunrise, Bandai, Sotsu Agency and associated parties with all rights and privileges. The characters were used without permission for the purposes of entertainment only. This is not meant for sale of profit. Any characters not created by those listed above are mine and hereby considered the sole property and copyright of the author. Anyway, I�m just a poor college student. So can I play with them? I promise I won�t break them�...much. Rating: PG-13 Warnings: It�s a wedding. What the hell do you expect? Language, some angst, more sap and the usual good stuff. Feedback: Kami-sama, YES!!! Ladydarkangel_1 @ yahoo.com (ignore the spaces); any and all comments are welcome like the sweet ego-sustainers they are. Heart�s Paradise Universal Shrine was beautiful. Actually, with the roof over 70 feet high and the inside capable of holding 300 people comfortably, it was more like a large church then the modest little shrine the Winner family claimed it to be. Thick stone walls held priceless original stained glass windows of various pastoral and decorative scenes. Enormous gold and silver vases with bas-relief carvings held vast amounts of roses; each bouquet of 60 or more looked like a bush blossoming from the floor. Towering draperies of ebony and scarlet fell majestically from the third story balcony and terrace, weaving a pattern of light and dark all around the gold-toned building. The delicate filigree of the wrought iron benches with six-inch silk-covered padding made four rows a good 20 feet wide each. Imported hardwood floors in the aisles blended seamlessly with the multitude of colorful patterns in the thick Persian carpets. The guests marveled at the sumptuous d�cor all around them. Incense burners added a soft natural scent to the rose fragrance already in the air. Light spilled through the shrine through strategically placed skylights, illuminating the entire sanctuary. The altar was draped in a beautiful cloth of deep sherry-red. Large black kanji were scattered throughout the layout with a thick Arabic calligraphy border in bright indigo. Three tall candles graced the top of the altar: one violet, one prussian-blue and one silver with a crest craved on it. The drapery directly behind the altar also bore the same crest, a gift from the Kingdom of Sanq to the heroes who brought peace. A magnificent pair of pure white wings with a pitch-black scythe overlaid on them. The shield-like symbol bore the Japanese and English versions of its masters� names on a divided field of amethyst and cobalt. Across the top was a motto that had been attributed to the newest noble line (probably �suggested� by Quatre to Zechs) scrawled in a beautiful flowing script. �From Death and War came Love and Life.� Those standing in awe of their surroundings had to agree the saying was true. They were here to witness the ultimate proof of that, after all. The crowds milling about were chattering avidly to each other. Not much longer now. It�s almost 11 o�clock. The wedding of the century was about to take place. This was going to be a day to remember. Two of the saviors of the world were to be wed. And what a glorious ceremony it would be! What guests! What decorations! What a beautiful shrine! How much more perfect can things get? But to Heero Yuy, right now it was nothing more then a glorified prison. Locked in a back room as far from the doors and windows as possible, he prowled the room restlessly. For the last four hours, he�d been subject to the same damn windowless, unadorned walls, two chairs, one floor-length mirror and utterly annoying companion. Before then, he�d been free to roam the grounds as he saw fit but after Trowa had caught him hotwiring the speaker system in the choir loft to emit a distress signal on the Preventer�s frequency band (two squadrons responded before it was all sorted out) and Wufei had collared him sneaking out for the 16th or so time in a valiant but futile effort to escape, they decided that he needed to be placed in protective custody with an armed guard present at all times. Thus, the Perfect Soldier found himself regulated to a tiny room in the back-ass end of nowhere to go stir-crazy with a silent watcher with orders to hog-tie him with his cummerbund if he even twitched funny. And this was supposed to be the happiest day of his life. He was starting to regret proposing. Oh, he still wanted Duo. There was no doubt in his mind or soul that Duo was his future, his happiness, his life. He had no objections whatsoever about spending his life with the beautiful boy. Forever and ever with his Duo�� such a miracle. A dream come true. And all he had to do to make that dream a reality was walk down an aisle and recite some vows. Say �I do� and kiss the groom to achieve eternity. Simple enough, right? Wrong. Nobody ever mentioned the fear factor to him. It had taken him by surprise to discover that the days building up to today were laced with a faint hint of fear. It was not a big deal for him. He assumed it merely to be performance anxiety or some other inane thing like that he could handle with no problem at all. Bu today�� Today it exploded like one of Duo�s homemade shrapnel bombs, drawing blood everywhere on him. He was *terrified*. And he wasn�t sure why. An icy feeling of dread and panic has sufficed through his veins and it wasn�t going away. He was jittery, nervous and extremely skittish. The pervasive feeling of �Run! Run NOW!!� was almost too much to resist. He sensed no danger, could picture no threat yet his instincts were in high gear. It was confusing. Why was he so upset? He was going to be with his Duo. That was what he wanted most in this sorry world. He was going to be happy. More importantly, *DUO* was going to be happy. So what the hell was his problem?! He slammed his fist into the wall in frustration. All of this was too much. The feeling of being trapped and slowly suffocating to death was growing. This was intolerable! �Upset?� �Stuff it, Barton.� He resisted the urge to flip him the bird. It wasn�t worth it. No more then going over there to kick his ass. Trowa been a pain in his ass all day but there really was no point in getting the generous Quatre in a bad mood just because his lover didn�t know when to shut the hell up for his own safety. Trowa chuckled. �Feeling hostile, now are we? Do you want to talk?� �About what?� Heero growled as he resumed punching the wall. It gave him something to do other then obsess over his thoughts and listen to that twit try to �help� him. �I dunno. Maybe about why you feel the need to beat the shit out of the stone wall and are so hell-bent on bleeding all over your tux?� �No.� �Are you planning on continuing?� �Yes.� �Too bad. I sincerely doubt Duo would be happy if I sent you to the altar in bandages.� The Heavyarms pilot gently caught his friends� hand in his. �Talk to me, Heero. Tell me what�s wrong. Tell me why you�re so ready to run from the best thing that ever happened to you for no damn good reason.� �I�� I�� There is nothing wrong.� Cobalt eyes betrayed him by showing his unease. �Bullshit! You�re freaking out on me! Look at you! This is *not* how you normally act! Nothing�s wrong, my ass!� He stopped to take a good, long, measuring look at his companion and caught a whisper of fear in those eyes. �You�re afraid, aren�t you?� �Shut the hell up!� A grim smile lit his face. Bingo. �Well, well now. Who would have guessed? Never would have pictured you for a chickenshit. Stupidly brave in the face of death? Yes. Recklessly over-confident otherwise? Sure. But not a coward. Shame on you, Yuy.� Heero stiffened. �What do you want from me?� Trowa sighed. �First of all, sit down. And stop bleeding or Duo will have my ass on a silver platter. You know, this is a big step for you. For anyone, really. Maybe *too* big. Maybe you�re not ready for it yet.� �NANI?!? Damn you, Trowa, how *DARE* you say that?! I love him! How can you question that? I�d give my life for him! I gave my soul to him! I�m his and he�s mine! And that�s THAT! There�s nothing wrong with it! With us! With me! I am marrying my Duo! TODAY!!� �Then why are you so ready to go postal if there�s not a problem? What�s up with the escape attempts then?� �Bastard. Take your logic to Hell with you when I send you there!� The uni-banged pilot plopped down into his seat wearily. �Hope Quatre�s having better luck��� he mumbled as he dropped his head in his hands. �What was that?� The Wing Zero pilot�s ears perked. �Nothing.� �What did you say about Quatre? Trouble?� �Kami, I hope not. It�s just that he�s been locked with Duo all day and��� �WHAT?! WHY?!� �Huh?� �Don�t play stupid with me! Did something happen?! Kitto, no shit it did. Why else would he be there? What happened?! Is Duo OK?!� Heero�s panic had found a new purpose. �Nothing happened.� The emerald-eyed boy grimaced, realizing that statement wasn�t exactly correct and it could cost him later. �Well, nothing bad anyways�� They�re safe. I would have told you otherwise. Just forget I said anything.� �Tell me or omae o korosu! I fucking *mean* it! I am NOT in a good mood so don�t test me!� �Little high-strung, ne?� �A cummerbund can be used as a garrote as well as a restraint.� Oh, he *so* did not like that gleam in his eyes�� �Heero��� �Quatre is staying with Duo. There is a reason for that. It had better be a damn good one. And I want to know what it is. TELL ME!!� �Shit. Why not? Actually, I lied. Something IS happening. He�s flipping out like you are. And he started earlier then you, too; been at it all morning. We were worried that Duo might try something he�ll regret later so Quatre agreed to keep watch on him and I got stuck with you. Happy now?� The Wing Zero pilot stilled. �Duo is afraid? He�s panicking?� �Oh yeah. Big time.� �But�� But that�s not possible��� �Why not?� Trowa was mildly curious. �Why can�t he lose his nerve if you can and currently are?� He was met with a silence and a sad look that stole across Heero�s face. �Because he�s stronger then I am��� was the quiet reply. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ On the other side of the shrine, Quatre was trying to stop Duo from pulling his hair out or something equally damaging. The blonde sighed as he watched his friend nearly climb the walls in pure frustration. They�d finished getting him ready an hour ago. His hair was immaculately coiffed, a crown of roses circling his head and trailing down the loose braid. Delicate curled wisps framed his face as he glared at the mirror and muttered to himself frantically. His tux was laid out on the chair because Quatre was afraid the expensive hand-tailored garment would get ripped to shreds the way Duo was tearing at his button-down shirt and jeans like a drowning man trying to get to air. The Sandrock pilot grimaced. His friend was literally radiating angst, worry and pain even a non-empath could feel. Violet eyes were wild and spooked, barely managing to look sane. The lithe boy prowled the room like a caged panther. It was starting to hurt his head to watch. He had a vague idea what was causing all this. Duo�s long-held fear of Death�s supposed hold on him had once again reared its ugly head. No offense or anything, but it was starting to get old REALLY fast. No matter how much they talked to him, no matter how long they�d stayed with him without harm, he still feared they�d be hurt or taken away from him. Even the fact that the wars had ended with them all alive meant little consolation. Any commitment, however tacit, was akin to plastering an 8x10 picture on Death�s Most Wanted List. And now the ultimate commitment was only one hour and twenty-one minutes away. <See Duo panic. Panic, Duo, panic!> Quatre�s mind offered the irreverent quip as he wearily eyed his friend try once more to pick the lock on the door. It normally would have been very funny. Hell, it was funny when it first started at 5 AM in the morning when he found him try to eat the liquid hot chocolate mix straight out of the can because he was so distracted. Duo is so adorable when he�s confused and flustered. He�s mildly annoying when he�s anxious and nervous. He�s hell on your nerves when he reaches full-blown hysteria. Unfortunately, that�s happened some time ago. �Duo.� The Deathscythe pilot pounced on the door, futilely trying to rip the doorknob out. Professional lockpicker or not, there�s only such much you can do without tools and Quatre had removed them all when fixing the braid and wisely hidden them all somewhere safe. But that didn�t stop Duo at all. He tried to get the other boy�s attention, hoping to preserve the lock�s integrity. So far it was hanging in there by the thinnest of threads after repeated attacks by the skilled braided menace. It was lucky to have made it this far, to be honest. It would not survive another assault, specially designed, state-of-the-art or not. And he doubted that he had the strength or willpower to chase after a Shinigami in flight mode. �Duo, stop picking on the door. It never did anything to you.� �Damnit! Stupid lock! DIE!!� �That�s right. Damn the lock all you want; just don�t hurt it anymore. It doesn�t deserve the death you have planned for it.� �How can you stay so damn calm?!� �If I told you I had my tea laced with Valium this morning, would you believe me? And maybe have some?� A snort echoed through the room. �Not likely. Try again.� �Ch�. I�m not upset, Duo, because it�s not my wedding. Simple as that, genius. Your ass on the line, not mine. So what do I have to worry about?� Violet eyes gazed incredulously at him. �Little rude today, aren�t we Blondie? What *is* in that tea of yours?� �Nope, not rude at all. And I told you what was in the tea, you just don�t want to believe me. And it�s all your fault I�m acting this way. You�re being so damn agitated that it�s bleeding over to me. You�re making me edgy. And when I get edgy, I get abrasive. You know that.� �Sorry.� �No, you�re not.� �You�re right, I�m not.� �At least you�re honest with me.� The pacing resumed as he pushed himself away from the door. Duo started tugging vigorously at his collar and muttering under his breath. �A disaster. A fucking disaster. That�s what this is. It�s been hell for WEEKS and it�s not getting any better. Just one mess after another and for variety we have a crisis thrown in every few days! I mean, what are the odds of us BOTH getting missions the week before and Hee-chan ending up with a black eye?! Fuckin� lucky it faded or that guy�s ass would have been grass! And the caterer making thirty pounds of that shrimp scampi shit �Fei�s allergic to and making him taste-test it to see if it was Ok?! Half the wedding party getting stranded in Sanq, Une nearly getting herself arrested by punching out that steward and Noin and Sally getting dead drunk on these cheap little wine-bottles on board?! And all the rest of the nonsense that�s been going on?! I really think I�m jinxed. No, I *KNOW* I�m jinxed!! This is a mistake. A *big* one. I can�t let this continue. Somebody�s gonna get hurt if things go on like this�� I need to get out of here. Yeah, just forget about it. Hee-koi�ll understand�� I think. It�s not like I *MEAN* to hurt him or anything; I just fear for my life and sanity. But where to go? Can�t go to L2; they�ll look for me there first thing. L1? Maybe�� He�s told me about some nice places�� I could steal a shuttle��� A delicate cough interrupted his musings. �Duo, don�t plot out loud. It doesn�t help if I know what�s going on. Wufei�s outside, you know. You won�t get far. And no, Heero wouldn�t understand. You break his heart and he�d probably break your neck. Besides, it�s all in your head.� �My head?! My HEAD?! How in the hell did you come to THAT brilliant conclusion?!� �Come on, Duo. It can�t be that bad. You�re about to marry someone you utterly adore, someone you often describe as a sex god on Earth. You�re about to finally have the family you�ve always wanted, witnessed by your God in a place of hope and acceptance. You�re finally going to get to publicly announce and confirm your love for Heero in front of friends and allies who wish you nothing but well-deserved peace, happiness and goodwill.� He stopped to take a breath. �And there is no such thing as a wedding without problems. If there is, it�s probably been cursed from the start.(1) There have been no *major* disasters. Nothing we couldn�t handle, anyways. Ok, so Wufei had that anaphylactic attack and wants to slice the wedding cake with his family�s ceremonial katana. And so Trowa had to convince Cathy to leave the pets behind��� �PETS?! You call those man-eaters PETS?!� �No, Trowa does. And so Mariemaia misplaced the rings. We found them, they were just being used as handcuffs for her Barbies. And so Hilde accidentally dyed the bridesmaids� dresses peach. She was trying to help and it *is* a traditional color. She�s very sorry and *swears* she didn�t mean it. She did manage to fix it, you know. They�re the same shades of black and red we ordered them as.(2) *And* we managed to get all the invitations out to where they needed to go on time. Never thought I�d say this but Allah in his infinite mercy bless Dorothy and peace forever been upon her. She�ll need all she can get having to watch Relena from now on.� �Yeah. Remind me to send her some cake or something for this��� �Did ya one better. Since she and Pargan worked so hard to fix the mess that blonde bitch made of the database, I figured we owed her big time. Especially since this means her newfound babysitting duties rules her out of her bridesmaid�s position. I mean, she repaired every list, retrieved and fixed all the lost addresses, corrected the mistaken orders, got us back on schedule *AND* she found time to bitch-slap Relena silly. I broke the �no-camera� rule just for her. Heero already knows and agrees not to smash it since it�s a direct feed straight to the Palace. Nobody but Dorothy, Pargan and Relena will see it.� �Good. I felt bad about them not being able to be here but someone had to watch the freak so she won�t do even more damage. Marvelous service they provide, and one hell of a wedding gift to have the ceremony guaranteed psycho-free. Poor them, though.� �Aa. But as I was saying�� Other then *that*, things have been going remarkably well. Nobody necessary is dead, dying, maimed, bleeding, insane or MIA. All guests have passed the security checks and are waiting in the main hall, devoid of weaponry, electronics, cell phones and various other possible disruptions. The weather�s great, the gifts are here, the caterer�s all set and the bar is nice and wet. We are good to go. So why are you so worried?� �Because!� Quatre growled at him. �Duo Maxwell. I have been to 17 very LONG, COMPLICATED and EMOTIONALLY DRAINING weddings in my life and have many, many cases of pre-marital jitters. I�ve had to smack some sense into all 6 of my brother-in-laws personally. I prided myself on my ability to handle this sort of bullshit. But you! YOU are starting to get on my nerves! If you�re so damned worried about Heero not being in one piece, then why the hell don�t you just go check on him?!� Duo froze. �Can I do that? Isn�t that bad luck or something?� �That�s for a bride. I doubt it applies. But even if it does, it�s not like you�ve never lived with bad luck before. Besides��� he continued thoughtfully. �Maybe it would calm Heero down a bit, too��� �What are you talking about?� A casual shrug was carelessly tossed Duo�s way. �Heero�s having a freak out. I hear it�s a good one.� �WHAT?! You�re shitting me! Why would Heero be flipping out?!� �Same reason as you, I�d expect.� A strange look graced Duo�s face. �That can�t be it. Not possible. There�s no way Heero�s afraid��� �And why�s that?� �He�s HEERO, that�s why! Damnit, Q, he�s fucking Perfect! Why would he be scared?� �And you�re Shinigami. You�re tough, too. Same logic applies.� �That�s what I�m afraid of��� came a tiny whisper. Quatre got up and pushed him towards the door. �Go. Go see him. Look for yourself and see he�s unharmed. Just promise me you won�t run.� �I��� �Promise me, Duo. Promise me that you won�t try to leave unless you�re sure. Promise me you won�t run until you�ve seen him and understand exactly what it is you�re planning on doing.� ��� Hai. I promise.� �Yosh�. Now go. But be quiet about it, will ya? If Wufei finds you out, he�s liable to think you�re escaping after incapacitating me and might do something drastic Heero�d have to kill him for.� A nod and a swirl of a braid and he was gone. Quatre sighed. �Ganbate, Duo-chan. For both your sakes.� (TBC��) Damn, but that was long! More soon, I promise! (1) This is what I firmly believe. If your wedding goes off without a hitch, you are DOOMED, baby. And nothing will save you. I�ve seen proof. (2) I was flipping through a bridal magazine (stupid religion project) and saw these really cool, classy-looking, semi-goth dresses with a red bodice and black floor length skirt with crisscrossing black straps on the chest. Just the right balance of dark and light colors to make it a dress Shinigami would want on his bridesmaids. Lady DarkAngel ---------- �Neesan to Misuzu and A-chan Lady Protector of POVs in Hentai Onna-Gumi Chibi Duo's Babysitter Moderator of Duo's Sugar Intake Keeper of Duo's Nice Rear-end Co-Keeper of Shinigami's Wings (with Meela) Keeper of Heero's Homicidal Intentions Keeper of Quatre's Teacup Keeper of Trowa's Mask Keeper of Wufei's Sense of Honor Co-Keeper of Duo's Chatter (with Tomanaiya) Co-Keeper of Heero's "Hn" (with Tomanaiya) Co-Writer of Wufei's Rants (with Tomanaiya) Leader of the Inspirationally-challenged Muses: Alisande, Rynvi, and Kiagara Co-Keeper of real-life hamsters named Heero Yuy (Hee-chan) and Shinigami Eagle Vision (Shini E)(with Tomanaiya) Keeper of the Hit List Proud Owner of two sets of chibis: Chibi Angel Duo and Heero in leather (twins of Tomanaiya's) and Chibi Angel Duo and Heero in black flight gear with stripes from the final GW episodes Acting GOD in Charge of The Anime Muse Adoption Center and WSCT of the AMAC Proud member of SDDI, the Society of Defending Duo's Intelligence Member of the Society Against the Complete Bastardization of Heero Yuy Occupant of the Happy Hentai House Master Hacker of the Shinigami Organization Assistant Mob Psychologist for the Shinigami Organization Founding Member of Saa-EEP!!! Happy to be a member of the DuoML Member of 1x2, 2x1 Fan Club and ML Many more MLs but you don't want to know... Lady DarkAngel's Gundam Wing Fanfiction Library www.geocities.com/ladydarkangel_1/index.html |