23-Oct-2000
I apologize for taking so long with this. I'm also sorry for the crossposting. This is going to be at least 10 parts (if everything goes right, I'm still not sure) Anyway, enjoy!
Author: Tigress Pern
Archived at: GW Addiction
Warning: AU, some OOC.
Disclaimer: GW isn't mine. None of the lyrics to
songs are mine either. They belong to Matchbox 20.
The room was silent as they entered. No one spoke as Quatre once more set up the ouija board. Sitting on the floor the four placed their hands on the planchette.
"Are we ready?" Quatre asked. Three heads nodded.
"Will this work?" asked Meiran.
"It worked last time." Wufei told her. Meiran raised one ebony eyebrow.
"You didn't tell me that."
"Some things are best kept secret." Trowa told her with a wink. Meiran chuckled.
"I'll forgive you boys, this time."
"Hush." Quatre snapped. "We need to concentrate." All talking ceased as Quatre called out to the spiritual world. Trowa waited with anticipation. He hadn't had any contact with Duo since Sunday night, when he'd written Heero's grandfather's name on the computer. Please let him be all right.
Meiran visibly shivered as a slight breeze blew through the room.
"Spirit are you here?" Quatre inquired. The planchette moved to YES. Trowa smiled. "Who are you?" D-U-O it spelled out.
"We have the right spirit." Wufei told Meiran. She nodded. Quatre gave him a dirty look. The Chinese boy clamped his mouth shut. Quatre began asking questions, which Duo gave answers to, as best he could. When they noticed that his spelling was beginning to deteriorate, Trowa told Quatre to sign off, as he didn't want to exhaust the spirit's energy. Quatre agreed. Just as he was about to move the planchette to GOOD-BYE, it flew to the letter H. This was followed by an I, an R, and an O.
"Hiro?" Meiran asked.
"Not Hiro," Trowa realized. "Heero. Heero is coming!" They quickly signed off and just as they were folding up the board and stuffing it into Quatre's backpack, Heero Yuy opened the door. He eyed the four still sitting on the floor.
"I've fixed the kitchen faucet." He announced, then turned slowly to leave. Once the door was shut, Trowa let out the breath he was holding.
"What's up with him?" Meiran asked. "He had such a sour expression."
"That's Hiroshi Yuy's grandson. He knew Duo when he was alive. The man didn't like Duo and has told Heero that the he is a bad spirit and must be exorcised." Trowa practically snarled. "I don't want him knowing that we're communicating with Duo."
"Oh. Five's a crowd, ne?" she said.
"At least when the fifth is him." Trowa replied.
Laying in his bed, Trowa stared up at the ceiling. He couldn't sleep. The séance had gone so well, Duo had lasted an entire fifty-two minutes before he had grown tired. Maybe he was getting stronger. Trowa wondered when the last time someone had tried to talk to Duo. It must have been years.
Turning over, he reminded himself that the important question about Hiroshi Yuy hadn't been answered. When Quatre had asked him, the spirit had hesitated a full five minutes before spelling out he wouldn't say why Hiroshi hated him. He did stress that he wasn't a bad person. I don't lie; he'd spelt out. Trowa wanted to believe him, but as long as the Hiroshi question remained unanswered, he was having a hard time.
Closing his eyes, he tried to envision what Duo looked like, but he couldn't. Had he been short? Tall? He did now know that his eyes had been blue-violet and his hair chestnut, Duo had spelt so that afternoon. As he began to drift off to sleep, Trowa envisioned a pair of blue-violet eyes watching him. They stared at him for a moment then moved toward his bookshelf. They scanned it looking for something. Trowa's eyes snapped open.
"Get away from the bookshelf." He growled. In the dark he could almost see a figure jerk in surprise, yet he was the only person in the room.
"Gomenasai." A voice apologized. "I finished the other book and wanted something new." Trowa's jaw dropped. "It's been so long since I've had anything to read." He'd heard that voice only once, but once was enough to commit it to memory. Duo was speaking. Trowa prayed he wasn't dreaming.
"Duo?" Trowa tried to keep the excited waiver out of his voice. There was a pause.
"You can understand me?" The words were said in an unsure tone.
"Yes." Trowa thought he heard a happy squeak. "I can't believe you can understand me!" Duo exclaimed. Trowa felt a breeze twirl about in an excited fervor.
"Does this mean you have more energy?" he asked cautiously.
"Must be." Duo replied. "I haven't had anyone hear anything more than a word or two since I first died. I had a lot of energy then, but over time it has faded. I've always been able to speak; it's just hard to get the words out. This is great!"
"Keep your voice down. I don't want to wake Catherine or Heero." There was a long moment of silence. "Duo?"
"Yeah?" Trowa knew what he needed to ask. A question that had been hounding him since he first encountered the ghostly presence.
"Why don't you move on?"
"I can't. I have unfinished business."
"With Hiroshi Yuy?" There was a pause.
"Yes and other things."
"He's dead." Trowa told him. Silence once more filled the room. The breeze that had been blowing about stilled. Trowa hoped he hadn't scared Duo away.
"I think I knew that." Duo said slowly, his voice was barely above a whisper. "Somehow he moved on and I didn't."
"But you died long before he did."
"I know. I can tell time changes by the clothes and attitudes of the new owners. How long has it been?" Trowa detected a slight waiver in the spirit's voice.
"You've been dead fifty years." Trowa said.
"Fifty years." Duo repeated. Trowa shivered and pulled the blankets up around him more. "You must be cold. I'll just leave. My energy is weakening anyway." Trowa was about to protest, but understood. He didn't want Duo to vanish like he had the first time they'd spoken. He heard a snort. "It's funny, I've been dead so long, I don't even remember what cold feels like."
"Duo..." Trowa whispered, but the spirit was gone.
The next couple days flew by. Trowa could hardly keep his attention on what his teachers were trying to convey to him. He was just too excited about the fact that he'd spoken and held an actual conversation with a ghost. Duo had turned become, in Trowa's mind, his secret friend. Someone who understood loss. A boy who was his own age, plus fifty years, and knew what loneliness was. He wasn't like Quatre and Wufei, who still had their parents and family. All Trowa had was Catherine and she was gone for most of the day. Heero didn't talk much and Trowa was weary about him anyway. This left the ghost as his only comrade in the house. He hoped that Duo considered him a friend as well.
On Friday he came home as usual to find Heero sitting on the front steps. Curious, Trowa approached him.
"Is there something wrong?"
"I forgot my keys this morning." Heero said. Trowa dug into his coat pocket and pulled out his house keys. Opening the door, he motioned Heero in. Once inside, Heero headed for his room. Trowa watched him head down a set of stairs into what had once been a huge cellar, but had been converted into a bedroom and a laundry room. One of the other more recent owners had also tried to make the house into a Bed and Breakfast, but had been scared off by Duo. More likely like they were scared of his presence, Trowa thought. As he wandered to his own bedroom, Trowa wondered what would happen if Heero ever ran into Duo. Not that anyone could see him, but if he continued to grow stronger, perhaps he could eventually show his form to people. For some reason, that thought filled Trowa's body with a warmth that he couldn't comprehend. To see Duo's actual human form, not just a ball of light would truly be something special.
Suddenly Trowa's mind froze. Oh God. I'm doing it again. I'm thinking of men in that way. It nearly cost me my friendship with Quatre; I won't do something like that again. Get those thoughts out of your head Trowa. Besides, he's dead. You can't get any action out of a corpse. Trowa couldn't believe his mind had jumped the gap between G-rated and X-rated. Quatre was the only one who knew Trowa's little secret. Catherine suspected, he knew, but Trowa was reluctant to say anything. It was deeply personal and he didn't feel right talking about it. Yet another reason he felt alone.
Sitting on his bed, Trowa glanced over at his bookshelf. On the top sat his old stuffed lion that his mother had bought him before he was born. It was his most treasured possession. It was a faithful old friend that had seen him through the best and worst of times. He got up and retrieved the lion. Holding it in his hands, he messaged his fingers into its fur. Despite the years of use, it was still in decent condition. Only a few stains garnished its tan hide. The fur was still soft to the touch except in a few spots that had worn thin. Too much cuddling, petting and loving, Trowa thought. It has given me comfort when there was no one around, yet it can't replace human contact. It's simply a reminder of love. Mother and Father's love.
He could feel his throat tighten as he thought of them. His caring parents. His wonderful, caring, accepting parents who were dead. Death, it was so final. There was no room for negotiations that was it. He wondered if his parents ever thought of him or Catherine from where ever they were. Maybe he could contact them like he did Duo. No, they probably couldn't be reached because they had moved on. There was nothing to hold them like Duo was held. Except their children. But their children were doing well and were going to make their dream come true. Trowa replaced the lion and smiled. He changed clothes and headed off to find Heero. They had work to do if they were going to get the place fixed up by spring.
"God, this room is a mess." Heero growled as he and Trowa stood in one of the bedrooms on the second floor.
"I'd say it was hardly used." Trowa replied dropping the vacuum cleaner on carpet. Most of the house had hard wood floors, but several of the bedrooms and the living room didn't. At least this meant that they wouldn't have to replace too much carpeting. Hard wood floors were easier to keep clean anyway.
Heero walked the length of the room while Trowa searched for an electrical outlet. He made note of every inch and determined that the ghost was no where about. He nearly sighed with regret. Confronting the ghost was the first step in ridding the house of it. Heero tried not to think of the spirit as anything other than an "it". It no longer deserved the title of "he". His grandfather had said so. In a sudden wave of grief, Heero remembered the last words his grandfather had spoken to him about Duo's ghost. Don't let him near you. He will bend you to his will if you aren't strong enough. I believe in you Heero, you will put an end to what I started. You are my grandson.
"Heero? Heero?" Trowa's voice broke through the memory. Heero turned around. Trowa was staring at him with cool green eyes. "Do you want to start washing the walls or would you rather start vacuuming the floor?"
Scrub brush the two boys tackled the walls, which hadn't been cleaned in years. They worked in silence until finally Trowa grew tired of it.
"Would you like to listen to some music? I can turn on the radio in the kitchen."
"I suppose." Heero shrugged. Trowa took that as a good sign and slipped downstairs. He turned on the radio, set it to his favorite station, then slipped back upstairs. The DJ was blabbering on about traffic, but it was at least noise. Upon reentering the room, Trowa picked up the scrub brush and began working again. They continued on without a word to one another.
"How did you end up in Juvie?" Trowa asked suddenly. The question took Heero by surprise and he nearly dropped his brush.
"Nani?"
"I asked you how you ended up in Juvie?" Trowa repeated. Heero stared at him dumbfounded. It took him a moment to process the question and to decide what to say. No one ever asked him how or why. They just judged him and went on with life. Trowa wanted to know though.
"It's a long story and I really don't want to talk about it." Heero said at last.
"Sally said it was shoplifting." Heero grunted. That woman could be so damn nosey, but she was still likable.
"Yeah. It was my first time. A couple of tough guys that I'd been hanging out with me thought it was time I joined their little club. They had all done it. I was stupid. I got caught. The judge threw the book at me and the rest you know." Trowa stared at him for a long time. Heero waited for the judgement to come. It always did, whether they new he was a delinquent or not. Everyone judged him.
"Are you going to do it again?" Trowa asked.
"I seriously doubt it. It's not all what the movies or people make it out to be. It's stupid." Heero replied truthfully. Trowa nodded in agreement. They went back to work. Heero was just beginning to hum along with a song that was playing when he heard the radio station jump. He frowned and was about to get up when Trowa yelled.
"Turn it back!" The station returned to its original place. "Thank you!" Turning to stare directly at Trowa, Heero noticed that the sudden change of stations hadn't bothered him. It didn't make sense. Shouldn't he be terrified that there was a ghost in the house? Shouldn't he want to get rid of it? Didn't he think it was better for everyone's safety if Duo Maxwell's ghost was exorcised? Heero didn't understand at all.
Sitting at his desk in his history class, Trowa looked over his notes. The teacher had promised a pop quiz today and he didn't want to be caught off guard. He was so intent on his studies that he didn't notice Quatre until the blond dropped something on his notes. Startled he looked up into blue-green eyes that were shimmering with excitement.
"Trowa, guess what my grandmother dropped off last night?" Trowa glanced down at the thick book in front of him.
"Is that her yearbook?" Quatre nodded. He pulled a desk over and sat on it. "Is there a picture of him in it?" Again Quatre nodded. He smiled broadly. "Well, are you going to tell what page or do I have to flip through the entire thing?"
"Page 14. It's hard to believe this kid lived in the forties. Wait till you see his picture. You'll see what I mean." Trowa was rapidly flipping to page 14. "My grandmother said he was a nice enough guy, from what she could recall. Always seemed to be smiling, would laugh at a good joke and wasn't afraid to be sensitive. He was popular with the girls, I was told. He probably had them lined up at the door, ne? Trowa? Trowa? Yoo-hoo." Quatre waved his hand in front of Trowa's eyes. "Earth to Trowa."
Trowa's mouth had gone dry. So this is what Duo Maxwell looked like. This is the person Hiroshi Yuy hated, but seemed so nice to Trowa. His palms were sweating badly.
"Trowa, breathe." Quatre hissed. Trowa let out the breath he didn't realize he was holding.
"God, Quatre." Trowa's voice sounded hoarse. Quatre wondered what was wrong. He looked down at the black and white picture of a sixteen year old boy with large eyes, a heart-shaped face, and a wide smile that gave him a warm friendly look. The most unusual thing about the picture was the fact that his hair was immensely long and confined to a braid, which hung over his shoulder. Now a day, Quatre wouldn't have thought twice about the hair, but in 1950, it must have been a daring statement. He'd probably been growing it for years, Quatre thought. "He was gorgeous." Trowa whispered.
End Chapter 5
Tigress Pern