24-Dec-2000
Title: Share the Joy (A Group Holiday Effort!) Part 2/?
Author: Enigma
Written: Christmas, 2000
Rating: PG-13
Pairings: (1+2) (3+4) [5 not romantically involved with anyone]
Category: Holiday Shenanigans, Yaoi, OOC (?), Fluffy SAP!!! (Holiday Theme
for SDDI and [1x2ML])
Enigma Story Category: G-Boys High Adventure!
Archive: GW Addiction
Warnings: Holiday shenanigans, yaoi, shonen ai, cameo guest appearances by
members of the [1x2ML], [SDDI], and my other good friends! plus an unexpected
crossover! Angst (Christmas shopping, no da!), OOC-ness, sap, fluff, and
whatever else occurs to me today!
ADDITIONAL WARNING: This is being written and posted in "real time",
therefore it may be rife with typos and poor sentence construction. But, hey,
it's the thought that counts, right? (^_^)
Disclaimers: I don't own the Gundam Wing Universe but I'd like to get it for
Christmas! I certainly don't own my friends either! I'm not making any money
off this story. It's written out of holiday joy, so please don't sue me, that
would make Santa angry, so don't risk it!
NOTE: It's Christmas in the middle of the war and Duo feels sad. His dear
friend Quatre recommends they go shopping for their friends and lovers. What
will they buy and will Quatre's efforts help make Duo's Christmas merry?
//someone's thoughts//
Behind the house, another discussion was under way.
Two strikingly handsome young men were clad in only jeans and tank tops in spite of the cold as they split logs which had fallen the year before. Quatre had explained these would make superior firewood and Trowa Barton had agreed to the task eagerly in the hopes of also helping his friend, Heero Yuy.
"So?" Heero asked between falls of the ax. "Did you ask him?"
Trowa glanced at his friend, expressions masked as much as the other. No one beyond their small group would have ever recognized this for a serious discussion based on prior discussion. "No."
Heero, surprised, actually missed the log. The ax coming dangerously closed to his own leg as he glanced sharply at the boy who had been his closest friend for the last half-year. "Why not?"
"Didn't need to," Trowa shrugged, never once missing a swing and attaining a higher strike success ratio by doing so. As usual, the two could do little without it becoming a silent contest for superiority.
Annoyed, Heero set three logs beside one another and rapidly evened the score and passed it by one.
"You're cheating," Trowa remarked blandly.
"So? You didn't keep your word," Heero accused softly.
Insulted, Trowa stopped and glared at his friend. "*That* was uncalled for, Heero! Why don't you trust me?"
"You just said you didn't even bother to ask him!" Now neither was doing a bit of work, standing there simply staring at each other.
"Correction," the Heavyarms pilot smiled, returning to his task and gaining a numerical advantage. "There was no need to ask. Why do you think we are out here and those two are alone for a change?"
Realization hit the Wing pilot like a stiff breeze, "Hn. Should have known."
"Yes, you should have." Trowa remarked placidly as both returned to their tasks in silence.
Several minutes elapsed before Heero could wait no longer. "Well? Do you think he was able to find out what is wrong with Duo?"
Trowa smirked and stayed silent allowing a new voice to replace his.
"Hey, Trowa!" Duo called out as he approached the pilots turned lumberjacks. "Quatre needs you! Hey there, koi!" He grinned, grabbing Heero around the waist causing another swing to go awry.
"Baka! Be careful!" Heero growled, hiding the worry he felt. His lover had acted strangely for a few days and he had hoped Trowa could get Quatre to find out why.
While Duo grinned, Trowa handed him the ax and gathered an armful of wood to add to the stack they were assembling. As he prepared to leave he mentioned flatly, "I win."
"That is open to debate," Heero grinned as he held Duo close. "However you did chop more wood, Trowa."
Waving a hand over his shoulder, Trowa walked away, headed back to his own lover certain that a solution had already been found based on the smile on Duo's face.
"Guess what, koi!" Duo grinned ignoring the ax in his hand as Heero returned to chopping wood knowing he was about to run out of time to accomplish the task facing them.
Giving up entirely, Heero sighed and turned to his lover, "'What', Duo?"
"I'm going shopping with Quatre this afternoon!" Duo seemed to glow with excitement.
Heero let a small smile show on his lips as he hugged the boy beside him closely, he knew everything was fine now. If Duo was going shopping, then all would be well with the world and he would get a quiet afternoon. Wouldn't he?
In the house, an equally informative conversation was being held.
"So, Trowa, do you think you can help me with this?" Quatre asked, knowing full well his lover would not refuse him even if he didn't like what was requested of him.
"Well," Trowa hedged, "I'm not sure, Little One, that is a lot to ask. I would gladly help you but I can not speak for the others."
"But, Trowa," Quatre complained, "this is really important to Duo. Could you try?"
Sighing, he nodded, sealing his fate.
A little later, Quatre had a small tactical meeting of his own with Andrew and Monica, the two caregivers of the home they were using.(1)
"Now, do you need to get decorations, is that what you said?" Quatre had never celebrated the Christian holiday, secularized though it was, and felt uncertain how best to bring it all together for Duo.
"Ah, no," the lovely young woman with the faint British accent remarked with a smile, "we have a great many things in the attic! We two can get them down for you. Would you be needin' us to get a tree as well?"
"A tree?" Quatre asked, still amazed at all the details he was facing.
"Sure, a nice fir tree will work," the young man with the light brown hair pulled back into a short tail grinned at him. "You need a Christmas tree to have the full effect, Mr. Winner."
The blond smirked even though he was used to being called that. It seemed odd to hear it under the circumstances, though, he was asking them to participate in a rather sneaky game of hide and surprise and he felt it would be better to go on a first name basis and said so.
"It's just 'Quatre', okay, Andrew? Monica?" He smiled warmly at the pair who seemed to be enjoying themselves more than what could have been anticipated of people working on a holiday.
"Right," Andrew grinned, "so what do you want us to do about the tree, Quatre?"
"We'll let my friends get one for us when they are done shopping, it will mean more to Duo if Heero cuts it for him." Quatre was never slow to pick up on the importance of the personal touches for his friends and his instincts said this was the perfect time for one. "But do you mind getting everything else ready? A special meal would probably be nice, too."
"No worries," the young woman smiled then urged him to get going. "Stop worrying so much and be off with ya' now! We'll handle the arrangements!"
"Thanks you two," Quatre grinned as he walked for the doorway, "you guys are real angels to help out on such short notice!"
"Really?" Monica smiled turning towards Andrew with a wink. "Who ever would have thought it?"
"Monica..." Andrew pretended to warn as he walked towards the kitchen to start cooking, grinning at the wonderful assignment the pair had been given this year to help five young men, tired from war, find some joy and peace for the holiday!
Trowa found himself wishing for the relative safety of his lions at the circus instead of the crowd he now faced. Quatre had forwarded the latest request to Trowa who mentioned it to Heero prior to the current discussion, but he held back on telling Wufei who seemed unhappy with the entire situation.
Wufei scowled, displeased with being unable to rest in the first place and insulted at the very idea of spending his afternoon walking among regular citizens and doing something he hated---shopping!
Heero, however, seemed lost in thought and only slightly annoyed. The fact that he was not threatening to kill anyone gave Trowa some hope for survival after all. An angry ShenLong pilot he could handle, a furious Wing Zero pilot he could not.
"What is wrong, Heero?" He asked, truly curious at the apparent ease with which the task was being accomplished.
"Hn." Heero simply frowned even more. "I have no idea what we are supposed to be getting. But if that baka has something in mind, do you think Quatre can get that information to us?"
"Why not?" Trowa shrugged. "He will be carrying his comm unit and so will I. All we need to do is make sure Duo doesn't know and we are safe."
"Is this truly necessary?" Wufei demanded. "There is no need for us to gain material possessions we don't have time or space for. This is wasteful."
Heero glanced at his friend with a knowing look in his eyes. He, too, once felt the same way, but when he and Duo had become more than partners in the war he had discovered many things about the braided pilot, one of them was that when he was miserable it tended to spread throughout the group.
"Wufei, he has been depressed for days now. If this will cheer him up don't you think it is worth it?" Heero remarked expecting the return comment.
"Hmph. 'Cheering up' is not something a warrior should require!" He answered smugly.
"True." Trowa interjected smoothly, hoping to keep things brief, they had a cab to catch. "However, do you recall how Duo reacted when Heero was missing for a few weeks earlier this year? *Before* they were a couple even?"
Dark lines of worry crossed the Chinese boy's face, that had been a very unpleasant time for all of them, "Yes, and?"
"He's been like that again." Trowa remarked emotionlessly. "Do you really think we should ignore that?"
Shaking his head "no", Wufei indicated he was beginning to understand, but he didn't have the whole picture. "But isn't that a bit extreme over a simple holiday?"
Heero took over the explanation knowing Trowa would stall expecting him to handle this anyway. "Wufei, this is *not* a 'simple holiday' to him. This is something connected in his mind to his childhood at Maxwell Orphanage. Do you know about what happened a week ago with that OZ base with a daycare on the premises?"
"Yes," Wufei's frown deepened. The incident had been regrettable, but an honest mistake on Duo's part. None of the intelligence forwarded to them had indicated children were present there and when Deathscythe had destroyed it Duo had inadvertently killed over 50 small children. This was something which the American could not begin to forgive himself for even after Heero proved it was deliberate misinformation from Dr. J that had caused it.
"If he can get passed that by focusing on this, then we need to go ahead with Quatre's plan." Heero looked him in the eyes and saw agreement there before he added, "Besides, it's only an afternoon and Quatre's covering it, we don't really have to have fun or anything, just accomplish the goals and return here. Beyond that, it is not such a terrible inconvenience is it?"
"No, Yuy, you are right, it is not so bad." Wufei straightened his shoulders as if he was about to undertake a dangerous assignment inside enemy territory. "I shall endeavor to assist as needed."
"Fine," Trowa stated flatly. "If this is settled, let me tell Quatre and we can get this over with. We need to get back here before them to get the other things done, too."
"*What* 'other things', Barton?" Wufei asked suspiciously.
Trowa smirked, "Nothing we three can't handle, *Chang*! Cutting down an evergreen tree is easily within our abilities as is managing the fire Quatre had asked for. Don't argue about the fire, either! If Heero can do this for Duo, then I dare say I can do that for Quatre! And you can help or sleep, I don't care."
Glaring at further useless activities, Wufei held his tongue and checked for his own comm unit. He suddenly felt a need to be able to do a little "checking" with Quatre of his own. If he was going to do a job, he was going to do it right which meant gifts for all four of his friends, something he would need guidance for he was certain!
"By the way," Heero growled over his shoulder as they walked out of the den where their conference had been held, "it wouldn't kill you to call everyone by their first names today, would it, *Wufei*?"
Smirking at the levity hidden behind the gruff voice, he responded, "No, I guess not. It fulfills the objectives of our 'mission', therefore I will try, *Heero*."
Smiling to himself, Trowa led the way towards the front of the house wondering as he went whether even his own temper might be on trial before the day was over. He hated shopping just as much as the other two did.
End Part 2
Author's Note:
(1) YES! Monica and Andrew dropped in from "Touched by an Angel" !!!! I never
planned on a crossover, but that is what happens with a "real time" fic!
Enigma
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