Date: 6-Jun-2001
Warnings: Very slight lime, angst. Reference to pilot's death before start of story.
Pairings: 2x3/3x2
Disclaimer: Ah don't own this here dang Gundam Wing. Fry mah hide. And yes, I KNOW that Nanashi means "No name" and not "No one" and that it's usually not capitalized. 1) Close enough. 2) Cope.
"The Captain" is by Kasey Chambers, and has been haunting me ever since I heard it. Duo's real first name is something my of my best friends tried to name her son. Thank God they only saddled him with it as a middle name. *shudders*
Well I don't have as many friends because
I'm not as pretty as I was
From the angle he was sitting at, Trowa could only see one side of Duo's face as the other man drove the van up the dirt and gravel road. But every once in a while, Duo would turn toward him and smile, and the heavy red scar tissue covering the other side was visible for a second.
"We'll be there soon." Duo said suddenly. "Only about an hour more to go from here."
I've kicked myself at times because I've lied
So I will have to learn to stand my ground
I'll tell 'em I won't be around
I'll move on over to your town and hide
"Thank you for coming... Duo... thank you."
"You needed me. That's what friends are for." Duo patted his knee. "There's not going to be anyone else around; just the two of us. You'll like it where I live. It's so pretty; the leaves are just beginning to change. And I'm going to love having someone else around when I get snowed in this winter. It got lonely sometimes last year.
And you be the Captain
And I'll be no-one
And you can carry me away if you want to.
Two years since the war. Had it really been that long? Two years since Heero and Duo had gone to make a life together, two years since he and Quatre had tried to do the same.
One year now, since the fire that had destroyed a high-rise apartment building. Since an young man, barely eighteen, had risked his life to save four children, and died saving the fifth. Since his lover had been scarred for life in the same fire and had turned their private mountain getaway into a permanent home.
And three months since Trowa had found the letter, telling him how sorry Quatre was for doing this, but that he had met someone, a woman, and realized that what he had with Trowa was just something he had needed during the war but now he had found his soul-mate and...
And suddenly, Duo's retreat from humanity was exactly what he needed.
And you can lay low
Just like your father and if
I tread upon your feet you just say so
'Cos you're The Captain, I am no-one,
I tend to feel as though I owe one to you
It was time to start over again. Maybe Quatre had been right. Maybe what they shared had only been a fulfillment of a basic need for comfort. Not like what Heero and Duo had shared.
Why hadn't Duo gotten the scar repaired? He could have had plastic surgery, and even if it would never be gone completely it could have been improved. But the young man refused to even talk about the subject.
It's his memorial, Trowa mused. His silent tribute to Heero's sacrifice. It's not so bad when you get used to it, but... well, he wasn't one for advising someone that it was time to let go of the past.
But he was going to start. Right now he was a new man. His own man.
"We're here, Trowa." Duo pulled up to a wooden house hidden in the trees. "Home sweet home."
"Duo? Could you... not call me Trowa any more?"
Duo blinked. "Okay... what do you want to be called?"
"I don't know, honestly. But Trowa is someone else's name. I want... one that's mine."
Duo smiled. "Yeah, I can understand that. Can you keep a secret?"
Trowa glance through the car window. "Who am I going to tell, the squirrels?"
"Well, I don't know my real last name. I took my first name after my friend Solo died, partly to honor him and partly because I really hated my real first name."
"What is your real name?"
Duo made a face, and then winced as his scar pulled.
"Gaston."
Trowa snickered. "Gaston?"
"See? That's why I call myself 'Duo'. Who wants to go through life being called Gaston? I swear my parents must have hated me. I like Duo a lot better. So we need to find you a new name, but you can't get mad if I slip and call you Trowa sometimes."
"Deal."
"Hummmm." Duo studied him up and down. "I refuse to call you Nanashi."
"I was hoping you would." the young man's smile reached his eyes for the first time, and the green sparkled.
"It has to be a perfect name, though. Well? What kind of names do you like?"
"Short. Simple. To the point. Nothing fancy."
"Let's get the supplies inside. We can talk later tonight. We'll name you something great!" Duo hopped out of the car after popping the trunk.
He stood on the ledge above the lake, a rough hemp rope in his hands, gazing down at the water below. With a bellow he jumped off the ledge, letting go of the rope over the lake and splashing down butt first, laughing. The hard winter was finally over, and the sun was high and warm in the sky.
"VICTOR! SOUPS ON!!!"
He swam out of the water, shaking out it out hair like a dog, and entered the cabin. "I'm starving!"
Duo was putting plates of his famous skillet dinner on the table. "Good, because I made a ton."
They ate in silence for a minute, and then Duo pushed his plate away. "Vic... I'm going to do it."
The man who had been Triton Bloom, then Nanashi, and then Trowa Barton, only to finally became Victor, reached over and squeezed his hand. "Are you sure? Because you know it doesn't matter to me."
"I know, but it's time. He'd want me to let go and move on. I know that he's given us his blessing. But you better come with me. I need someone to hold my hand. I really hate hospitals."
"I'll be there every second." Victor promised.
So I slammed the doors they slammed at me
I found the place I'm meant to be
I figured out my destiny at last
The day would come, they both knew, when they would lock up the cabin forever and rejoin the world. That day, however, was a long way coming. It took more than a scalpel and a name change to remove scars, and for now they were content just being with each other. The world could go on without them for a while.
Tonight, they were laying together on the porch, wrapped in a blanket, staring up at the stars. One fell.
"Did you make a wish, Vic?"
"No. I didn't need to. I have everything I could wish for right here."
The stars were forgotten for a while.
Did I forget to thank you for the ride
I hadn't tried I tend to runaway and hide
'Cos you're The Captain, I am no-one,
I tend to feel as though I owe one to you
End
(:./lasha/captain)
