By KatiKat
"Okay, Heero, lets see if I
got it right, ´kay?"
Duo, the only son of Lord
Maxwell, was waving his arms nervously as he paced around the sleeping chamber
of his best friend Odin Lowe jr. whom everybody called Heero because of his
incredible similarity to the ancient hero of Sanq.
"Your dear lord father
summoned you to the capital city, right?"
Heero, who was silently sitting
in the comfortable armchair, nodded. He was watching his childhood friend pace
around - four steps from the window to the door, turn, four steps from the door
to the window and again - and was starting to get dizzy.
"And he ordered you to bring
your bride with - the one you have told him about - what, four months
ago?"
Heero nodded again.
"And of course you *don’t*
have said bride ´cause you were lying through your teeth when you have told him
about her, right?"
Another nod.
"And now you need somebody
who would play the part of the bride so that you could fool your father to
leave you alone with all his marriage plans, right?"
Heero fidgeted in the chair but
nodded.
"And now you want ME to play
the part of your bride!"
"Well... yeah," Heero
answered. Listening to Duo summarizing his plan... well, he had to admit that
it sounded crazy.
Duo stopped facing Heero, leaned
a little bit forward and put his hands on his hips. "Are you NUTS?!"
"Uhh, you know..."
Duo interrupted Heero. "If
you haven’t noticed that I’m a GUY after *17* years then there is something
really wrong with you!"
"Uhh, I know you are a guy,
Duo, but..."
"But WHAT?" Duo shouted
in annoyance. "This plan is crazy. But if you really want to do it -
although I don’t think you will be able to fool your father - then find some
GIRL who would be willing to do it!"
"Yeah? Like whom?"
Heero looked at Duo with curiosity in his eyes.
Duo looked at the ceiling and
thought about it for a couple of seconds. "For example Hilde!" he
said with triumph in his voice.
Heero lifted his eyebrows.
"Hilde? Don’t get me wrong Duo, I really like your sister. But only the
thought about kissing her gives me the creeps."
Well, Duo had to admit that he
couldn’t imagine Heero kissing Hilde either. Okay, he couldn’t imagine anybody
kissing Hilde. She was such a tomboy.
Duo sighed. "Okay, not
Hilde. But why ME?" he whined.
"You are my best friend,
Duo. I can tell you everything and I know you can keep secrets for yourself. I
know I can count on you." Heero really meant it. He knew Duo, his whole
life and couldn’t even imagine being without him.
"Yeah, I’m your best friend.
And that’s how you are paying me back - with sticking me in WOMEN´s
clothes!" His voice was dripping with sarcasm.
This time it was Heero who
sighed. He leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees. "Look, if I
don’t appear with a potential wife in the tow, my father won’t wait a minute to
couple me with that Peacecraft Blondie who’s been after me since we were
5."
"But it would be a great
political move!"
Heero stood abruptly. "I
don’t want for my marriage to be a political move. I want to marry someone out
of love!"
Duo sighed and moving over to the
window he leant against the window frame. "You could marry her and still
go ´out´. Look at King Trieze and Count Milliardo. Trieze is married to Une,
Milliardo to Noin and they are still lovers - and everybody knows it. The worst
kept secret in the kingdom!"
Heero frowned. "But I don’t
want that. I want to be faithful to my wife."
They were both silent for a
couple of minutes. It was Duo who broke the silence. There was resignation in
his voice.
"Okay, should I do it - and
there IS a big IF - don’t you think your father would like you to marry
immediately?"
Hope spread over Heero’s suddenly
brightened features. "No, no. He won’t be there that long. He has to move
with the army to the North. I’m sure he just wants to see my future wife!"
"And how do you want to
explain my sudden disappearance should you find your one and only?"
Heero came closer and caught
Duo’s hand in his. "I will think of something should the time come. I just
want to wait till the Peacecraft harpy is married off." Seeing Duo’s
hesitance he continued. "Would you do it for me? Please, Duo. I’m really
desperate here!"
Yeah, THAT was obvious. Duo
couldn’t remember the last time when Heero was begging - hell, asking for
something! He felt something melt inside him. He really didn’t want to see his
best friend married to that girl. He wouldn’t be happy with her. He didn’t know
how he knew it, but he was convinced of that.
"Okay, okay, okay. I will do
it," he gave in. "But should you get me in trouble..."
The smile that lit up Heero’s
face threatened to split his face in two. "No trouble, I promise."
"Famous last words,"
Duo mumbled.
He didn’t know how right he was.