Wipe Away My Tears | By : shini0angel Category: Gundam Wing/AC > General Views: 541 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0 |
Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing/AC, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story. |
Duo Maxwell
bowed his head. The priest presiding
over the funeral droned on and on. He
kept his hands clenched at his sides knowing that it would not look good to
have one of the former Gundam Pilots knocking out a little old priest but he
couldn’t help himself. He didn’t believe
in God and he knew that Heero hadn’t either but Relena had insisted on having a
funeral complete with a priest.
He wore
complete black, his hair in a braid. He
stood a little ways away from the others.
He didn’t want any pity or ‘comfort’ during the ceremony.
Wufei was
there wearing traditional Chinese garbs for mourning. His face was impassive and
polite as he listened to the priest. Quatre stood in between the Chinese man and
Trowa. He wore a fancy dark business
suit, his gold hair blowing in the slight breeze that came up from time to
time. His eyes were sad and his face
pinched but he did not cry. Trowa stood
silently by the blond Arabians side. His
face was unreadable as he stared at the empty casket.
Relena
stood on the opposite side of the casket next to her brother. She wore all black with a black hat and black
veil that covered most of her face. She
was crying and dabbing her eyes with a little lace hankie and Duo wanted to
point out that the hankie wasn’t doing her much good. Zechs stood next to his sister wearing an
elegant military uniform. He looked
regretfully at the casket, an arm near his sister but not quite touching her.
‘This is a
joke,’ Duo shook his head. ‘So Heero
didn’t return when he said he would. So
it’s been over a year since he was supposed to return. That doesn’t mean he’s dead.’
He looked
at the few media people there. They
snapped the occasional photo but they were discreet and respectful, for the
time being. He bet that the funeral
party would make for a good front page cover photo. The thought sickened him.
Won’t you wipe away my
tears?
As the casket stands
before us
People dressed all in
black
And I wander off to
grieve
Won’t you come to me
and wipe away my tears.
Finally the
funeral was finished and the Pilots went their own way. Wufei broke off from the others, giving some
lame excuse of needing fresh air even though they’d been standing outside for
the past three hours.
“I hope he’ll
be all right,” Quatre said, voice wavering.
“I’ll go
and check on him,” Duo offered with a smile.
He took off
after the Chinese man before Trowa or Quatre could call him back. The American found Wufei in an overgrown part
of the grounds on Quatre’s earth estate where the funeral rites had been
held. It seemed that no one had wanted
to be there for the digging of the grave.
He crept up
on Wufei and the Chinese man seemed to not notice his presence. Then Wufei was on his knees, raising his head
in a silent scream as he tore loose his hair from the ponytail.
Duo was
there beside him. He took Wufei in his
arms, rocking him gently.
“Shhhh, it’s
ok Wufei,” Duo murmured. “I’ve got you.”
Wufei
buried his face in Duo’s shoulder, tears soaking the braided man’s black
jacket. Duo didn’t care about that
though, Wufei was his friend.
After
several long minutes of Duo rubbing small soothing circles on his friends back
and murmuring comforting phrases Wufei pulled back from Duo’s shoulder and
blinked, clearing his eyes of tears. He
sucked in a deep breath and looked at Duo.
“You’re
much stronger than I am Maxwell,” Wufei said solemnly. “I sit here and cry like a child and you do
not.”
Duo shook
his head sadly, “You have the strength to cry and I can’t shed one tear.”
And it was
the truth, he could not cry. He helped
Wufei to stand and guided the Chinese man back into Quatre’s house. He kept a steadying hand on Wufei the entire
time, knowing that the other appreciated the contact even if he said
nothing. He ushered Wufei into the room
with the other Pilots and Zechs. Relena
was noticeably absent and Duo frowned.
You see I’m missing
from the group
You come to check up
on me
And you can see I’m
upset
So you hold me close
to comfort me
I cry and wet your
jacket
I slobber in your
handkerchief
Won’t you wipe away my
tears?
“Where’s Lena?”
He asked the group.
“She’s
taking a moment to compose herself,” Zechs replied looking at the floor. “She’s in the library.”
Duo nodded
and left the room. He put a forced smile
on his face as he politely rapped on the library door before entering.
“Just a
moment,” Relena sniffled and looked up to see Duo Maxwell slip into the room.
The braided
American crossed the room and enveloped her in a strong hug.
“I know you
love him,” The American told her. “He
felt something for you too. I don’t
think he knew exactly what but there was something there.”
Relena’s
tears began anew and Duo wiped them away with his black handkerchief. After several minutes Relena was left with
red-rimmed eyes and a red runny nose.
“Blow your
nose Lena,” Duo ordered gently holding the handkerchief
to her nose.
Obediently
like a small child she blew her nose and Duo folded the cloth over.
“I’m sorry,”
Relena apologized. “I’ve never done
anything for you and you’re the only one who came. I’m sorry about the handkerchief too.”
“Don’t be
sorry Lena,” Duo chided with a tiny smile. “The handkerchief can be washed and you’ve
always invited us Pilots over for Christmas or parties.”
“But I’m
not even your friend,” Relena began to wail again.
“Hush
Relena,” Duo told her. “You can be my
friend now if you want.”
He wiped
her tears away with his thumbs and gave her a feather light kiss on her forehead. He stepped back, still keeping Relena in the loose
circle of his arms. He saw the sadness
in her eyes and it mirrored what he felt but could not show. He gave her another tight squeeze.
“No worries
Lena,” Duo whispered in her hair. “Now go splash some cold water on your pretty
face and rejoin the others. I’ll see you
later ok?”
“Ok,” She
answered softly.
Duo dropped
his arms and left the library to spot Trowa heading off down the hallway. On instinct Duo followed. He knew that this group would not cry with
witnesses, at least most of them wouldn’t.
Duo slipped
down the hallway after Trowa, making sure to keep silent. He didn’t want to startle or scare his friend
into putting on a strong front. All of
them needed to cry their tears. He could
not cry but they could and he could wipe away their tears, it was the least he
could do.
I walk quietly down
the halls and you follow silently
I play a haunting tune
and you know what it means
You let me have my
dignity
You enter when it’s
fallen silent
And you hold me
Please wipe away my
tears.
Trowa
entered the music room as Duo knew he would after coming this far down the
hallway. Duo waited outside the door and
he heard the sad haunting melody that Trowa began to play on the flute. Duo gave a bitter smile; the tune reminded
him of how he felt. He waited longer
until the notes began to waver and shake and then he entered silently into the
room.
The lights
were out, the only light coming from the nearly closed curtains. Duo came up behind Trowa and moved to the
side of him, carefully removing the flute from the man’s loose grip. Duo pulled Trowa into a hug. The other stiffened and then began to shake.
Trowa shook
and cried silent tears, no sobs or noise, just shaking and tears. Duo held him and brushed a soothing hand
along the nape of his neck.
“It’s all
right now Trowa,” Duo told his friend. “You’re
not alone. I’ve got you buddy.”
After
several minutes that left Duo’s shoulder damp from Wufei, his chest soggy from
Relena and now his collar wet from Trowa the Heavyarms Pilot back away
slightly.
“Thank you,”
Trowa said.
“You’re
Welcome,” Duo returned just as quietly.
They stood
feet apart from each other while Trowa studied the ground. The Heavyarms Pilot looked up with his forest
green eyes and locked eyes with Duo, giving him a nod and then leaving the
room.
Duo waited
and moment and followed. He went back to
the parlor and saw Quatre’s eyes beginning to mist. The American entered and sat on the arm of
the blond Arabian’s chair. He put an arm
around Quatre’s shoulder and pulled the blond to his side.
In front of all you
wrap an arm about my shoulders
You tell me it’s all
right
And I cry out my tears
You comfort me so
tenderly as you wipe away my tears.
“Just let
it out Q-man,” Duo encouraged him. “No
one will think any less of you for it.”
Quatre
threw his arms around Duo’s middle and pressed his face into the side of the American. Duo ran a hand through Quatre’s gold locks in
a tender motion. Quatre gave off little
sobs from time to time. Wufei looked
away and Zechs pretended not to notice as he continued his study of the
floor. Finally Relena’s brother excused
himself to get a drink. Eventually
Quatre’s sobs subsided and he pulled back from Duo who still kept a loose arm
about his shoulders.
“Fell
better Quat?” Duo asked sincerely.
The Arabian
nodded, “Yes. Thank you Duo. I’m sorry for getting your jacket wet.”
“No
problem,” Duo said easily. “It’s not the
first time it’s happened.”
The
American excused himself and left the room just as Trowa and Relena
returned. He wandered the halls until he
heard piano music coming from the ballroom.
He slipped into the giant room and saw Zechs seated at the piano,
playing a slow sad song with a quarter empty bottle of brandy.
You watch me leave
them for solitude
Yet you seek me out so
I’m not alone
You rub my back to
reassure
And tell me that it
will do some good to remember
And you wipe away my
tears
Duo walked
across the ballroom and up behind the piano bench. He placed his hands on Zechs’ shoulders and
began to massage them lightly, not hard enough to affect the man’s
playing. The piano continued on and
finally came to a stop. Zechs hands
began trembling and a few tears trickled down his chiseled face.
“I didn’t think
losing a rival would leave me like this,” He whispered to the room.
“Often it
is our enemies who we miss the most when they’re gone,” Duo said quietly, not
stopping in his massage. “And you and
Heero had a great amount of mutual respect for each other. You two understood each other in a way the
rest of us don’t connect. It hurts to
lose connections.”
Zechs
nodded. Duo stopped massaging and held a
fresh black handkerchief over the man’s shoulder. Zechs took it and wiped his eyes without
comment.
“Keep it,”
Duo told the man. “And remember that not
all tears are weak. And not all rivals
are to be beaten.”
The braided
American left the room without a backward glance and the piano started back up
again.
The
American smiled to himself when he left the room. It was a bitter and sad smile. He walked down the halls, laughing to
himself.
“I can’t
cry,” He whispered with a resentful smile.
“But I can wipe away all their tears.”
‘And what’s
the point?’ He continued on silently to himself. ‘It’s not like any of them would ever return
the favor. They only call around Christmas
or to invite me to those political parties.’
He looked
around Quatre’s mansion and felt out of place.
He spotted Abdul, a Maguanac coming towards him. Duo put on another false smile, the kind that
never failed him.
“Abdul,
tell Quatre I’m leaving early,” The American said, the smile easing off his
face. “I have things to do. Tell them I’ll see them at Christmas.”
Before
Abdul could respond Duo was walking briskly away.
‘I’m just a
bitter shell,’ He told himself as he sped off on his motorcycle. ‘And I doubt any of them will notice I didn’t
stick around either. My job’s done.’
But who will be there
when you cry?
Who will come to you?
Who will check up on
you to see that things are ok?
Who will follow and
wait until the time is right?
Who will be there in
front of the others to block you’re face?
Who will seek you out?
Who will wipe away
your tears?
Owari.
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