Title: Catholic Schoolboys Rule!
Author: Link Worshiper
Pairings: 1=2, 3=4, mentions of others
Stuff: AU, pokes at religious institution, fluff/sap, angst, lemon topping and a bit of drag XD
Disclaimer: Gundam Wing belongs to Sunrise, Bandai and a lot of other people who aren't me. +5 skill points if you guess the title reference.

Filling a request for Rainya, because she feeds my geek needs. Thanks to Zazu for the once-over. Lyrics belong to Oasis.

++++

Epilogue.

++++

It was late when Heero finally left the GH-63983 racetrack, but he didn't mind going after hours, since it meant that he could avoid the hubbub of the spectator crowd and the media types who lurked in hopes of snagging an interview with anyone even remotely famous. He'd only just started to glean some notoriety as an upcoming throttle racer since he'd first arrived at the L3 colony cluster two short years ago, but as one of the youngest and most promising new racers on the circuit, the spotlight was starting to grow a little too bright for his personal tastes. It was almost frustrating to find that the more he tried to avoid any extraneous attention, the more people craved a word with him. He supposed it couldn't be helped, but he was at least finally doing something with his life that he had chosen himself and was finding the fruits of it highly satisfying on the whole.

Coming to L3 had certainly thrown him some challenges he hadn't originally foreseen, even after he'd moved on from the Saint Magdalena phase. Or then again, perhaps it was because of the unexpected extra time he'd spent at the boarding school that he found himself oddly lonely for company. He had tried in vain to befriend some of the other throttle racers in his division, but none of them seemed to be interested in getting to know the new competition, so Heero stopped making the effort. It made him sad when he thought back to Saint Magdalena's and the people there who had come to care about him - the ones he'd come to care about in return. He supposed there was no missing something you didn't have, which probably accounted for his indifference to such relationships before Duo had entered his life.

He sighed at the thought of Duo. Sometimes, all he wanted was to be with him again, a desire he wished for with the ardour of a person who missed being home. He wondered if he was crazy for occasionally doubting his new career in throttle racing, wondering if it was a life worth living if his heart wasn't in it. It was strange, really, how something he'd been aspiring to for so long had managed to dwindle into merely being the thing he was doing at the moment and not much more. Considering how he'd chided Duo for letting his life slip through his fingers, it was ironic that he now found himself fearful of doing just that with his own, despite the fact that he was the one who had followed through on his ambitions.

The regulated weather simulations on the colony had been hard to get used to, and walking home in the eerie quiet of the night cycle sped up Heero's pace for the silence made him uncomfortable. It was the sort of warning sign that had started to chip away at him while he'd still been under the rule of his father and grandfather, and it made him wonder if his nomadic instincts would kick in before long. Maybe he was just the sort who wasn't meant to belong anywhere after all, he thought as he continued on his way. He wondered what made him so restless and why it was so hard for him to stand still.

It wasn't long before he had reached the quiet little street he lived on. His fortune and skill as a throttle racer and mechanic had helped him get quite a decent start for his new life, and he'd managed to secure himself a modest row house on a modest street that gave him a sense of modest living. The other houses and neighbours on this particular stretch of road were about as normal as anyone could hope for, and Heero was glad for their unobtrusive nature: he wasn't sure he would quite be able to explain himself if any of them had cared enough to ask where he'd come from and what he was doing there - especially since he'd started to question that very thing himself as of late. The mere thought of it was enough to lead Heero's mind back to Duo, and he found himself wondering where he was.

However, there was most certainly something different in the air tonight as Heero approached his house. He lingered on the sidewalk, sniffing the air as if it might actually suggest to him what was out of joint. It was then that he became aware of a presence nearby that he hadn't felt in a long, long time. Standing at the end of the walkway leading up to his house, he stared down at the front stoop, his breath twitching with flabbergasted awe as he realized he was hardly dreaming the longhaired figure waiting there, idly humming to the porch light.

"Sitting on my own,
Chewing on a bone
A thousand million miles from home,
When something hit me
Somewhere right between the eyes...."

All of Heero's usual grace left him as he dropped the sports bag he was carrying and stumbled over his own feet down the walkway, still overcome with amazement that Duo was actually sitting there. And yet, there was no mistaking the familiar features of Duo's face. As he drew nearer, he was further surprised to see that Duo was sitting on top of a familiar suitcase - the very one he'd left behind when he'd departed Saint Magdalena's so many years ago. Duo seemed to have nothing else with him but the clothes on his back and the smile on his face. "Sorry I'm late," he said as Heero came to stand at the end of the walkway.

Heero was almost too overcome with joy and relief and a myriad of other inexplicable emotions to even come up with a decent response. He supposed he might have looked like a class-act moron with only the capacity to stare, but the truth of it was that he was at a sever loss for words. Not for the first time, he damned his lack of eloquence at the most crucial times.

Duo stood up, wobbling as if one of his legs had fallen asleep after sitting there for a long while. "I guess it just took me a while to get things right," he said, hopping awkwardly down the two steps that separated the stoop from the walkway. He seemed unsure of Heero's reaction to his being there, and he was hesitant to even meet his eyes dead on, much less reach out to hold him. He hung his head, murmuring, "I know all I ever did was show the feelings that were wrong, but in the end, I know all I ever wanted was to be by your side."

Still unable to quite express what he felt right then, Heero could only reach out to touch Duo. His fingers were hesitant as they fell upon Duo's cheek, worried his touch would dissipate yet another frustratingly realistic dream. Yet instead of waking up to find himself still alone in his bed, there was only the warmth of Duo's skin beneath his fingertips, which then spread to the width of his palm as he cupped the side of Duo's face.

Duo leaned into Heero's curved hand, reaching up to hold Heero's wrist in place as he continued to hum, filling the moment with a certain kind of poignancy as their eyes met at last.

"I want to talk tonight,
Until the morning light,
'Bout how you saved my life.
You and me see how we are."

Duo then turned and lifted Heero's hand to his lips and kissed his fingertips with almost uncharacteristic chastity. He smiled softly and then leaned forward so their foreheads were touching, but Heero cast his eyes downwards to stare at the tops of his sneakers, which were an odd, puke shade of yellow. With a hint of uncertainty, Heero asked quietly, "Duo, why are you here?"

Duo's smile wavered at the question, but he knew Heero had every right to ask it, so he answered it as honestly as he could. "For the past two years, ever since you left, all I could do was dream about you an all the things you said," he began slowly, lifting Heero's chin so they could see each other directly once more. "It didn't take me long to figure out that I didn't want anybody else - that I only had room in my heart for you. So I decided I'd take a gamble - that I'd bet it all just to come out here and... you know... check."

Heero quirked an eyebrow. He had despondently been telling himself that Duo would move on to someone new for years, and though he probably shouldn't have been, he nevertheless found himself surprised to hear that Duo had still been thinking about him for all that time.

"Every step I was taking wasn't getting me anywhere but further from myself," Duo went on, suddenly grabbing Heero by the shoulders and holding him with a wide-eyed, earnest stare. "It might sound funny, but it's true! You really did save my life, Heero! It would have been an idle waste if it weren't for you! You taught me what it means to be alive - how to fly!"

"Duo, it was only you who could have taught yourself how to do that," Heero began slowly, lifting his hands to rest atop the other man's. "I did nothing but break your heart."

But Duo wasn't listening. He jerked Heero towards him, pressing his mouth desperately against Heero's as a pair of tears sparkled at the corners of his squinted eyes. Startled, Heero's own eyes widened in surprise not at the action, but at the way the world around them suddenly seemed to lose its monotone hue, how each sound became acute and unique in his ear like he was hearing each one for the first time. And yet, even with such a sensory assault, Heero could only allow the world to fizzle out around him as he let his eyes slide closed, their kiss becoming deeper and more impassioned.

When they parted, Heero was panting heavily. He pressed the tops of his knuckles to his mouth and stared over his hand at Duo. "You know you can't just come barreling into my life out of nowhere and expect me to... to...." He trailed off, finding that he was lost in Duo's bright blue eyes.

Duo smirked a little: "Yes, I can, Heero," he murmured, closing the space between then again. This time he merely wrapped his arms around Heero's torso and held him close, burying his nose into Heero's thick, messy hair. They were quiet for a few moments, just reveling in the embrace, before Duo whispered, "Hey, what would you say if I stayed?"

Heero pulled back again, eyeing Duo carefully again. "I'd ask you why you'd want to," he said plainly, unsure of exactly where this was going.

Duo turned his head, glancing away as a somewhat private smile encroached upon his face. "You'll laugh, but do you want to know what woke me up?" he started, a hand on each hip as his eyes darted back towards Heero. "It was right before graduation," he continued without waiting for a further prompt from Heero. "There was a big liturgy and Relena read some homely she'd made you write back before you'd left. And even though it was her speaking in your stead, I could tell it was you speaking directly to me. Listening to that, I realized how caught up I was in the bitterness of one who's been left alone."

But Heero had stopped listening, realizing all too quickly that his pride was no match for the comfort he felt in Duo's arms and the soothing feeling of listening to his voice rumble in his chest as he spoke. He looked into Duo's eyes again, a tiny smile pulling at his lips, which was enough to stop Duo's rambling entreaty to regain Heero's favour. "What are you telling me, Duo?" he asked simply, afraid only of being let down once again.

In that moment, Duo knew that the answer had always been in his heart and that there was no sense in beating around the bush any longer. He sighed and made sure that he was able to meet Heero's even stare before he spoke. "I want to tell you the things I should have said two years ago," he said in as direct and sincere a tone as he could muster. "We live in a world where truth seems like fiction half the time, and sometimes I wonder how it could be that I chose you, and yet, here I am, desperately lonely without you - lonely for you. Desperately in love with you."

Heero felt as if the universe had ground to a halt and was turning only for the pair of them in that moment. He had heard these words from Duo before, but this time, he felt as if he'd been utterly disarmed by the sound of them. He felt weightless, bare and even a little scared at what might come of this, terrified he'd say the wrong thing and lose Duo for real this time. And yet, he wished he knew how to tell Duo that he would still be willing to break the back of love for him if he had to. Part of him still wanted to pound Duo for leaving him in this limbo for so long, and yet, it now seemed as if the past had moved aside and hardly mattered anymore. In his heart, he knew all he truly desired was to fly into Duo's waiting arms and never fall away from that embrace again. Wrapping his arms around Duo as tightly as he could, he leaned his head upon his shoulder and whispered, "I'd have waited my whole lifetime for you."

Stumbling back a few steps as he caught Heero in his arms, Duo pulled him close and pressed their cheeks together. He stroked the back of Heero's head and nuzzled the crook of his neck, reveling in just the scent of Heero, which was something he hadn't even realized he'd even missed until that moment. "Somehow, I knew that," Duo murmured back.

And somehow, they both knew they were blessed.

++++

OWARU

++++

Thanks so much to everybody who stuck with this story through thick and thin!!

++++

[last]