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Equus	By : Deb Category: Gundam Wing/AC > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 2855 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing, it belongs to Bandai, Sotsu and associated parties. I do own the equines though, please do not take them without permission. Written for pleasure not profit.

Chapter List
- 89
- 90
- 91
“Equus”
Chapter 90

The laughter and chatter began to die down as Heero stood. Taking a moment to sweep his eyes over their gathered friends, he cleared his throat and began to speak. “On behalf of Duo and myself, I'd like to thank you all for coming to our celebration today. Although we both know, as do all of you, that marriage isn't legally available to us, but this civil ceremony is; and in our eyes, we are just as legally married and committed to each other as any other wedded couple out there.”
“Hear, hear,” came several voices.
“In all truth, I don't need to have a piece of paper to say that I am married to the most wonderful man in the world. I can see it every day in his eyes, in his touch, in his voice. When I first met Duo, I couldn't believe my luck. Here was the very person of my dreams, someone who was kind, generous and loving – and more importantly, he felt the same about me. I was blessed the day he agreed to go out with me, honored that he chose me over all others and humbled that he agreed to spend the rest of his life with me. The vows we took today I do not take lightly. I fully intend to make him happy for as long as I draw breath. No doubt we will argue at times, disagree on many things, and I would be lying if I said our lives will be full of nothing but cotton candy and roses – for life isn't like that. What is important though is that we can agree to disagree sometimes, be able to put ourselves in the other person's place and see things from their perspective and despite our differences, be there for the other when they need us.
“In Duo, I have everything I ever wanted and I'm so happy he agreed to become my life partner. To be able to share this day with all of you, our closest friends, is something I will treasure.” Heero turned to look at Treize. “Thank you, Treize, for being my best man, standing beside me and helping me through today's ceremony, and thank you for your kind words earlier.” Heero gave Treize a warm smile before turning back to their guests and raising his glass. “Please, everyone, drink up and enjoy yourselves.” Heero was starting to turn a little pink in the cheeks as he brought his speech to a close and raised his glass. Public speaking had never been on his list of favorite things to do.
The guests all raised their glasses and sipped at their wine. Heero sat back down and nudged Duo who was sitting in a bit of a daze.
“Your turn,” Heero whispered.
“Did you really mean all that?” Duo said, shaking himself from his thoughts.
“Hai, I did and I do,” Heero smiled.
Duo let out a puff of air. “Way to melt a person's heart, Heero,” he muttered with a soft smile.
“Love you,” Heero said and pressed a kiss to the knuckles of Duo's hand that he'd taken hold of.
“Love you too, Heero.” Duo got to his feet feeling his knees wobbling a bit.
The guests all quieted again and looked expectantly at Duo.
“I guess there's not really a whole lot I can say that hasn't already been said. Thanks to all of you for coming today and sharing this special time with us. It means a lot to us both to know we have such sincere and wonderful friends.” Duo paused and took a breath. “These past few years have been full of ups and downs, but I only have to think back to that day when I was the vet on call at the Salsbury Agricultural Show to know that other than today, that was the best day of my life; for that was the day I met Heero. We have shared a lot over the years and many of you have been there with us during those times, but there is one thing that stands out to me more than anything...” Duo turned to look adoringly at his now life partner. “The love of my life, my soul mate has been by my side for all of it, and I wouldn't have wanted it any other way.
“I didn't think my life could get any better, that was until Heero asked me to become his life partner. Like Heero, I don't need government sanction or a piece of paper to say I'm totally and wholly committed to him for the rest of my life. He had my heart from the day we met and now he owns my soul too; I can honestly say, my life is now perfect. Trowa, I wish to thank you too, not just for being my best man today, but for all the years of friendship we've shared, the tough times and the fun times – and just remember, there's a few stories I can tell about you and the shelter too.”
Trowa suddenly looked up.
“Remember a certain penguin?”
“You wouldn't?” Trowa hissed.
Duo snickered. “No, you're safe for now.”
The rest of the guests who had been listening intently all seemed to groan as one that they wouldn't get to hear another tale. Heero made a mental note to ask Duo more about it later.
“But seriously, thank you, Trowa, I don’t think I would have gotten through today without your help.” Duo turned his attention back to the guests once more. “I propose a toast to the two best men anyone could ask for. To Trowa and Treize.”
Everyone raised their glasses and spoke as one, “To Trowa and Treize,” they said and all took another sip of their wine.
Duo sat down and Treize took over the microphone. The caterer's moved the wedding cake to the front and center of the wedding table and faded into the background.
“Ladies and gentlemen, it is now time to cut the cake,” Treize announced. Quatre cued the music as Heero offered his hand to Duo who took it and the pair rounded the wedding table and approached the cake.
“There's no candles,” Duo joked.
“Baka,” Heero chided with a grin.
Holding his hand out, Duo said loudly, ”Scalpel.”
The guests all broke into loud laughter.
Shaking his head, Heero picked up the knife and with Duo's hand on his own, they poised the blade above the base cake of the two tier masterpiece.
“Seems like sacrilege to cut into such a wonderful creation,” Duo murmured. The caterers had added several touches to the mud cakes, including a large horseshoe with two 'grooms' standing underneath it and a spray of 'icing' roses in the same shade of blue and violet of the pairs' shirts.
“Violation or not, I'm looking forward to eating this,” Heero replied, grinning at his partner. Before Duo could think up a reply, Heero began to push down on the blade.
The knife sliced easily through the rich, chocolate icing and into the cake itself. Around the couple cameras were clicking madly and several cheers rang out. Leaving the knife embedded in the cake, the pair posed for photographs before taking their seats once again and letting the caterers remove the cake to slice it up for their guests to enjoy.
Quatre hit the music once again and people began to move around and chat with other guests. Heero and Duo also began to mingle with their friends and took advantage of the time to thank each one personally for attending their special day.
The cake was brought out on silver platters and slices offered to the guests. Duo took great delight in feeding Heero his slice, then blushed furiously as Heero insisted on feeding him in return. Once the cake was eaten, Quatre changed the music slightly, Treize spoke on the microphone once more and coaxed the couple to the dance floor to share what he called the 'life partner' dance. Still blushing to the roots of his hair, Duo allowed Heero to lead him to the makeshift dance floor. With his partner's arms wrapped securely around him and the music filling his mind, Duo forgot about the rest of the gathering and lost himself in the feel of Heero.
Had this been a traditional wedding, the best man would have joined the couple after a few moments with the chief bridesmaid or matron of honor, but it wasn't and there was no way Treize was about to take the floor with Trowa – the action reciprocated by Trowa. Instead, Treize decided to hell with it all and grabbed Zechs by the wrist, dragging the blonde onto the floor and sweeping him into his arms. Not to be outdone, Trowa stalked his own partner, Quatre doing his best to hide behind the iPod machine and failing miserably.
No one seemed to care and soon the dance floor was filled with all the couples, or those that could find themselves a partner. Howard and Otto stared at each other, Howard suddenly breaking the stare by speaking. “I'm too old to dance,” he said flatly.
“I'm too worn out,” Otto replied.
“Good, as long as we have that straight between us,” Howard said with a firm nod of his head.
Joe burst out into laughter and got a glare from the older groom for his trouble. He managed to stifle the laughter a little, but couldn't quell it completely. Just the thought of the two 'older' gentlemen trying to dance together was too funny for words. Besides, Joe thought that Otto's wife might have had something to say about it if she'd been able to attend instead of remaining at home with a touch of the 'flu.
The dance ended and another song started. This time Heero found himself dancing with Zoe while Duo had Hilde as his partner.
“It was a beautiful ceremony, Heero,” Zoe said as she danced.
“Thank you. I'm very happy with the way everything turned out,” Heero replied.
“I sincerely hope that you and Duo enjoy a long and happy marriage. You both deserve this and so much more. I can't think of two people more deserving of a bright future together than you two.”
Heero found himself blushing once more and wondered if his face would ever return to a normal, flesh color. “Thanks, Zoe, you have no idea how much that means to me, and to Duo too. With so many people still unable to accept love regardless of the gender for what it is, it's comforting to know we have such loyal and understanding friends.”
“You're a nice guy, Heero and a very talented rider. Michael and I wish you both nothing but happiness.”
Unable to find his voice to reply to the sincere words, Heero simply nodded and continued to dance.
Duo was gliding across the makeshift floor with Hilde in his arms, the other vet had a sappy smile on her face and gave a soft sigh. “You are so lucky, Duo,” she said softly. When her boss gave her a questioning look she elaborated. “You have a wonderful partner in Heero. I know he will take good care of you as you will of him. The love you two share should be an inspiration to everyone else regardless of whether they are straight, gay or bisexual; it's something rare and special and I'm so glad the two of you decided to get hitched.”
Duo didn't know whether to be blushing with embarrassment or mortified by Hilde's suggestion. He opted to play dumb instead. “Hitched?” he asked in amusement.
Hilde snickered. “Yeah, hitched. You do know how many hearts you've broken, how many dreams you've shattered?”
“Huh?” Duo didn't quite follow.
“All the single females that are clients on the books are gonna be so pissed when they see you're wearing a wedding ring,” she laughed.
“Ah, crap. I never thought about that.” Duo hadn't given it any thought either, but then decided to hell with it anyway. If anyone noticed his wedding ring and asked about his spouse he would simply tell them that he did not discuss his personal life with clients. Or something like that. Either way, he'd cross that bridge when he came to it
“Seriously, Duo. I'm so glad you two did decide to finally make your relationship permanent. You're good for each other and it's wonderful to see you so happy. You deserve this, Duo, you deserve everything good that life has to offer.”
“I... I...” Duo was lost for words for a moment before finally finding his voice. “Thank you,” he whispered and pulled the female vet a little closer.
After a few more dances, Duo decided he needed a break and managed to leave the floor in search of a drink. He'd had a couple of glasses of wine throughout the reception but didn't want to drink anything more that was alcoholic. He got himself a soda and sat back at the wedding table to enjoy it and recover a little from the exertions. His eyes traversed the dance floor and he couldn't help the smile when he spotted Heero dancing with June and Quatre had somehow gotten himself caught by Catherine. A body sat down in the chair next to him and Duo turned to find Geoff, June's husband sitting there.
“Doctor Maxwell, or may I call you Duo?”
“Please, call me Duo.”
“Thanks. Umm.. I never did get the chance to thank you properly for helping my wife when she went into labor with Max.”
“Ah, that's fine, Geoff, you don't have to thank me.”
“Yes, I do,” Geoff said softly. “What you and the other guy, Doctor Merquise I think June said his name was, did for June when she went into labor was above and beyond the call of duty. I hate to think what could have happened to the baby and my wife if you hadn't been there to help her while waiting for that ambulance. You may not feel that thanks are needed, but I will be forever grateful to you for looking after June. Under the circumstances, I don't think I could have been so calm and done what you did.”
“I wouldn't say we were all that calm,” Duo muttered as he thought back to the fiasco that had been the delivery of little Max
Geoff chuckled. “June did say things got a little intense there for a while.”
“Intense? I'd say it was more like being in a production of the Three Stooges,” Duo replied with a grin.
“Either way, June came through it all okay and I have a healthy son as well. There could have been a completely different ending to it all had you guys not stepped in when you did.”
“She's a great person and a wonderful mother.”
“That she is.” Geoff's eyes wandered to the dance floor and his wife who was still dancing with Heero. “June has told me a lot about you and your partner, Heero.”
“Should I be worried?” Duo quipped.
Geoff snorted. “No, not at all. She's always raving on about how good Heero is with her horse and how he's educated him so much. She loves that horse, Duo, and has ambitions to ride for her country in the future. I know she's eager to get back in the saddle and start riding and competing again and she's hoping that Heero will take her on as a pupil. Do you think he would?”
“Geoff, I'm sure Heero would love to have June as a pupil. He's told me many times that he thinks Orion has the ability to become a top A grade jumper. I don't know a lot when it comes to that side of horses, I'm more into the ailments, anatomy and fixing up the problems side, but for what it's worth, June is very similar to Heero in her riding and I truly believe that with Heero as her instructor, the pair of them will achieve that goal of representing their country.”
“Thanks, Duo. I appreciate you being honest with me. I didn't want to see her go through all that trouble and effort if either she or the horse doesn't have what it takes to go to the top. Knowing that you both think she has a damn good chance makes me even more determined to help and support her in achieving that goal.”
“You're a good man, Geoff,” Duo smiled.
The music came to an end once more and this time Heero and June both decided they'd had enough dancing. Geoff wished Duo all the best and shook the vet's hand before moving back to check on Max and talk with his wife. Heero flopped down in his seat next to Duo and swiped his partner's soda.
“Hey! That was my soda,” Duo protested.
“And it was very nice too,” Heero replied with a smirk.
“Just because we're married doesn't give you the right to pinch my soda,” Duo mock scowled.
Heero leaned in close and stole his partner's lips in a tender kiss. “Maybe not the soda but it does give me the right to kiss you whenever I want,” he whispered against Duo's lips.
“Mmm, I suppose I can let you get away with it this time.” Duo gave his love a warm smile.
“Are you ready to blow this party?” Heero asked with a glance at his watch.
The small knot of fear in Duo's stomach began to tighten and he forced it down. “Yeah, I guess we really should be making a move if we want to get to the cabin before it gets too dark out.” The drive to the cabin would take them a couple of hours at least – depending on the traffic – and Duo really didn't want Heero or himself to be driving during dusk or the early evening as there would be the added risk of hitting a kangaroo and Henrietta didn't have a 'roo bar fitted.
“I'll let Treize know we're ready to leave.” Heero got up to find Treize and let him know of their intentions to leave the reception.
“And bring me back another soda!” Duo called after him.
* * *
Duo waved out the window of Henrietta to their friends as Heero drove them both out of the stable yard and onto the road. Once they were on the main road and headed for the chalets, Duo finally began to relax and settled into his seat. The radio played soft music, the breeze came in through the partially open window and Duo sighed softly in content.
“Okay?” Heero asked.
“Yeah.” Duo gave his partner a warm smile.
“It was really nice of Treize, Zechs, Trowa and Quatre to see to the dismantling of everything,” Heero said.
“We have some very good friends,” Duo replied, “and not just for their involvement in the wedding arrangements, but also looking after everything else for us.”
“That we do.” Heero had arranged with Treize, Zechs, Trowa and Quatre for the four to arrange the packing up of the marquee, tables and chairs ready for the hire company to collect on the Monday. The caterers would take care of all their things, Zechs had offered to place all the remaining drinks inside the cottage for Heero to sort out when they returned. June and Carl were looking after the horses so Heero wasn’t at all worried about them as he knew from experience that June and Carl would do an excellent job. Hilde and Catherine had taken Smokey home with them to ‘cat sit’ and Duo had reworked the roster to split the practice hours as fairly as he could between Zechs and Hilde.
“I think it would be nice if we bought them all a little something to say thank you.”
“I agree,” Heero replied. “If I remember correctly, there's a small village not far from the cabins. We could take a ride in there one day and see what the local shops have to offer in the gift range of things.”
“That sounds like a wonderful idea to me, Heero.”
They drove on for a while simply enjoying the silence and the ride. Although Duo had seen it all before on their last trip to the cabins, he still couldn't help but admire the natural beauty of the bush as it rolled past the window. “Want to try fishing again, Heero?” Duo asked with a cheeky grin.
“Why not?” Heero replied. “It will give me a chance to even the score,” he teased.
“Yeah, right,” Duo snorted. “There's no way you will catch a bigger fish than me, Heero.”
“Awfully cocky, aren't we?”
“Yup. This time I'm gonna catch me a whale.”
“Duo, I don't think whales live in the lake.”
“Oh yeah, they don't. Okay, I'll have to settle for Nessie then.”
“Nessie is in Scotland, not the Blue Mountains of Australia.”
“Minor point.”
“Besides, they still don't know if Nessie is a myth or real.”
“Then I'll just have to catch a Bunyip, which in case you don't know, is kind of the Aussie version of Nessie and prove the myth of both creatures is real.” [1]
Heero rolled his eyes. “All I can say is good luck.”
Duo snickered and returned to his watching of the landscape.
“By the way, what you said to Trowa about the penguin; care to elaborate on that?” Heero's curiosity had gotten the better of him and now that Duo had mentioned it, he wanted to know the story behind it.
“You sure you want to know?”
“Hai, I do.”
Duo settled himself deeper into his seat and began the tale. “I'd known Trowa for about six months when he called me about a penguin he'd had brought into the shelter. Someone had found it on the beach and it didn't look at all well. They gave Trowa a call and took it to him. I went around to the shelter and gave it a thorough check up for him. There wasn't a whole lot wrong with it, fortunately. It seemed to be mostly exhausted and underweight. We'd had a rather nasty storm front come through a few days before and I think he must have gotten caught up in it and ended up lost. There were a couple of minor lacerations to his feet, but other than that all he really needed was lots of rest and food.
“Trowa kept him at the shelter for a couple of weeks and took good care of him. I went back to check the little fellow and he'd put on a lot of weight, his feet were fine and he seemed to be in perfect health. Before we released him back into the wild though, I needed to be sure he would be able to swim properly and thus catch his own fish and survive. To do that we needed a relatively large body of water. Neither of us had anything at all remotely deep or big enough for us to check the penguin's swimming ability in, then Trowa had this great idea to take the penguin to the local swimming pool and see how he went.
“Being the middle of winter, the pool was closed to the public, but we called up the local council and explained what we needed and they were most accommodating. They arranged for the pool manager to meet us there so off we went. The smaller pool – the twenty five meter one – is a salt water pool so we took the penguin to that one and let him go in the water.” Duo paused to take a drink from the can of soda he had.
“What happened?” Heero prompted.
“Well, Percy, that's what we'd called the penguin, took one look at the water, waddled out of the carrier cage and dove in. He was off like a flash, swimming up and down, diving and surfacing, darting around all over the place. Nothing wrong with his swimming ability at all, pity I couldn't say the same about Trowa.”
“Huh?”
“We established that Percy was more than capable of swimming well enough to be released back into the wild, but now we had another problem. We had to try and catch him and get him back into the carrier.”
“Ah.” Heero snickered. “I take it Percy didn't want to cooperate?”
“Got it in one. There was no way that a penguin was about to just come to heel when you called it. Trowa ended up having to strip off and dive into the pool to try and catch him.” Duo couldn't help the chuckles that were escaping him with his memory of Trowa in the pool desperately trying to grab hold of a slippery penguin who was equally as determined not to be caught.
“He must have been in that pool for almost an hour and had only managed to touch the penguin once. His lips were turning blue from the cold and he was shivering that much that I was seriously beginning to wonder if his teeth were going to fall out with the chattering they were doing. For a moment there I thought I was going to have to strip to my boxers and jump in to help him! Not a pleasant thought when it's the middle of winter and damn freezing cold. Anyway, the pool manager kinda took pity on us in the end and went to fetch a net, the kind you use to scoop the bits of leaf and stuff out of the pool with. My guess is he saw me about to start stripping off and didn't fancy the idea of having two people with hypothermia to deal with, not to mention the bad press that would cause. Damn me if he hadn't got that penguin in the net within seconds.”
Heero couldn't hold the laughter that the thought of a blue Trowa in the pool and the defiant penguin sprang to his mind.
We shoved that penguin back in the carrier and high tailed it out to the coast where we released it back into the ocean near a colony of other penguins. The last I saw of it, it disappeared into the surf and flipped his flipper at us – kinda like flipping us the bird I thought.”
Heero completely lost it then. The laughter rolled up from deep in his belly.
Duo grinned. “Three days later Trowa was in bed with a really nasty cold. Took him a good couple of weeks to get over it. He's never taken in another penguin since, sends them all direct to the wildlife people.”
“What sort of penguin was it?” Heero had visions of the large, Emperor penguin as they were the most common penguins one saw in the zoos and things and were the normal penguin that sprang to mind when thinking of the species.
“It was a Fairy penguin.” [2]
It was all Heero could do to keep the car on the road. His laughter rang in the car interior for several minutes and he tried desperately to wipe the tears from his eyes. “No wonder he didn't want you to tell everyone,” he finally managed to get out.
They lapsed into silence once more, the miles being eaten up by Henrietta until an hour or so off dusk, the landscape began to change again slightly and the fresh tang of the mountain air began to infiltrate the car. Fifteen minutes later they were pulling into the parking lot of the Blue Ridge Chalets.
As he had before, Heero left Duo in the car while he went to check them in and get their cabin key. Danny Wilson, the proprietor, welcomed Heero back and exchanged a few words with the young man while Heero filled out the paperwork and handed over the credit card. With a smile and a wave, Heero went back to the car and his new husband, the cabin key firmly in his grasp. This time they were in cabin two.
Parking the car out front of the cabin, Heero cut the engine and turned to his partner. “We're here,” he said, stating the obvious.
Duo couldn't help the rush of fear that raced down his spine, but he did his best to keep the emotions from showing on his face and plastered on a big smile. “Guess we should get unpacked then,” he said in a bit of a rush and got out before Heero could call him on it.
Frowning slightly, Heero followed Duo's example and they grabbed their luggage from Henrietta.
With the bags dropped to the floor and the food stuffs sitting in their box on the kitchen counter, Heero walked in and closed the door behind them. Duo dropped the bag with the linens in it to the couch and simply stood in the middle of the room, arms wrapped around himself.
Having a fair idea of what must be going through his husband's mind, Heero walked up behind the vet and gently enfolded him in his arms. Nuzzling Duo's neck, he couldn't help but feel the slight tremble pass through the vet's frame.
Duo turned in Heero's arms and wrapped his own around the hard body pressed against him. Closing his eyes he rested his head against Heero's shoulder and whispered, “I don't know if I can do this.”
~ * ~

to be concluded...
[1] Bunyip: The Bunyip is a mythological Australian Aboriginal creature and is said to live in the swamps, billabongs, creeks, waterholes and river beds of Australia. For further information on this creature go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bunyip
[2] Fairy Penguin: The Fairy Penguin, sometimes called the Blue Penguin, is the smallest of all the penguin species and is native to Australia and New Zealand. These little fellows only grow to around 40cm and are just so cute! For more information on the Fairy Penguin try here: http://creationwiki.org/Fairy_penguin
For those of who are unsure what a 'roo bar is, it's sometimes called a 'bull bar' and is a metal bar that is fitted to the front of a vehicle to protect the vehicle from damage should one be unfortunate enough to connect with a kangaroo whilst driving. Trust me, coming around a bend in the road and meeting a six foot tall red kangaroo is guaranteed to scare the beejesus out of you! (I know, been there, done that) If you connect with one and don't have a roo bar the damage to the vehicle can, and often is, extensive. It's not uncommon for humans to suffer injuries and even death when colliding with a kangaroo. The kangaroo doesn't come out of it looking too good either. If you want to see what one looks like or are curious to know more, try here: http://en.wikipedia.Org/wiki/Roo_bar
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Equus