Here is the final chapter! Thank you to IThoughtMY JokesWereBad for being the most faithful reviewer. Also, thank you to dootadoot, Cyn Finnegan, salimaran08, crystal-gundam, and picimadar for their reviews. But thank you, to all of the readers out there, and to those who have put this story on story alerts and their favorite lists. I love to hear any comments/critiques.
Chapter Sixteen
The barren refrigerator shelf said it all. All was left was a stick of butter. He was out of groceries, and the musician muttered a few curses under his breath. His bowl of frosted flakes sat on the table, tempting him. "Just terrific." Not only he was out of coffee, now he was out of milk. This morning didn't start out right. His stare moved towards the used couch, and someone recently had slept there, but the culprit was nowhere in sight. "First the food, and now he doesn't make his own bed!"
He looked over towards the clock, and he knew he was running late. "Ugh." He felt like an idiot at this point, but he was going to give it a try anyhow. He grabbed his keys from the table and walked towards the door, still wearing his black t-shirt and boxer shorts. He needed to get breakfast, which was his current mission.
His hand knocked on the door twice, and he was hoping that someone was home. Earlier in the week, he heard commotion coming from across the hall, and figured someone was moving in finally.
A small yelp came across the wooden barrier, and the sound of clicks was heard. "Stay away, Zeus."
Duo sheepishly stood there in his pajamas, as he waited.
"Can I help you?" A pair of cornflower eyes peered across the small gap.
"Could I borrow some coffee and milk?" He quickly ran his hand over his hair. This was extremely awkward for him. "I live right across from you and my roommate didn't restock supplies." He let out a small grin, hoping to charm her.
"Just give me a second," the door closed in front of his face, as he heard the light claws scratching against the door, along with a low growl.
"Zeus, down boy," she whistled at him, and the dog scampered to some other part of the small apartment. "Sorry about that, my Pomeranian is a little protective of me at the moment."
"That fuzz ball," he laughed a little. He reached out to grab the cups from her, "much appreciated."
"Don't worry, it happens," she smiled back at him. Their fingers gently brushed against each other. "See you around, I guess."
"Ditto." Before he could say anything else, the door was shut in his face again. He shuffled back to his apartment and placed the cups on the countertop. He had to remind himself to return the items back to his new neighbor. He doused his frosted flakes with the milk, and tossed the cup of coffee beans into his coffee maker. A piece of blue paper caught his eye among the rich dark stash. He unraveled the sheet, and saw that she had written her name and number. A small smile escaped from him, and maybe his luck was changing after all. He made a mental note to keep this charade up a few more times, and somehow persuade that meddling dog of hers.
…
Relena looked down at her cup of coffee, as she watched the cream swirl about in the maroon liquid. She could feel her brother's eyes on her, as she steadied herself for more of their interesting conversation. Over the past hour, she listened intently as how he came to be.
"Your secret is safe with me," she took a sip from the piping hot liquid. "Even if I did tell mom and dad, they would probably send me to the mental unit by now." She laughed a little, wondering how they felt about her imaginary friend back in day especially seeing her mother being mortified as she acted out in public. It was normal for kids to have pretend play and imaginary friends, it's one of their milestones growing up.
"I figured it would be," he crossed his arms. His steel eyes looked around the room, as they drank in the environment. He truly missed home, but he knew he couldn't stay long. "And onward to business." Relena inwardly took a deep breath in, hoping that it was some form of good news. "I don't know where to start," he let out.
"Start anywhere."
He shifted in his seat, and for a brief moment, he tried to find the right words, but there were none. "He's alive."
She could feel a wave of relief going through her. How many times did he really save her? She lost count by now, but he managed to always to help her through, no matter what she was doing. He was her best friend all through this time. "Where is he?"
"That's the problem." He took a sip of his cup, "we're not sure."
"What do you mean "we're not sure" part?" her blue eyes narrowed.
"There are several of us looking for him at this point. He somehow managed to leave against medical advice, and checked himself out of the hospital."
"That sounds like Heero alright," she let out a small laugh, but soon enough, worried settled in on her delicate features.
"He'll turn up eventually."
"True," she wrapped her hands around the warm cup, but she pondered on his last statement. Would it be days, months, or years again before she saw him again? In truth, she was getting used to him disappearing, but how much could she really take it.
"Well, I think our time is up," he looked at his watch. "We have a train to catch." He looked over at Noin, who was sitting at another booth. She didn't want to intrude on their conversation.
"Do you really have to leave so soon?" Her cerulean eyes pleaded against his very own eyes. "I think we still have lots of things to go over."
He smiled back at her, "Hn," and got up from his chair. "Some things are better left unsaid." He paused briefly, "I will see you around."
"Alright," she smiled back. "I'll hold you against it." Her eyes followed the pair as they left the coffee shop, and soon enough, they disappeared in the crowd.
And now, she was left alone again. She sat in her seat for a few more minutes, wondering what she was going to do today. She pondered the endless possibilities, but her thoughts ran back to Heero. It was plain and simple.
They always said one never forgets their first love, no matter what. She sighed and with resolve, she slipped out the door. She walked with the crowd, as she saw aimless faces pass by her. Whenever she saw someone walk with jeans and black jacket, images of Heero would surface. Get a grip of yourself, Lena.
She continued to walk on the sidewalk. You don't even know where he is. She conjured up the old memories of them growing up, from his afternoons, where he waited patiently for her from school to their ice cream conversations. And eventually her memories of waking up next to him, locked in his arms.
She remembered stealing a glance at him while he was sleeping. The morning light etched shadows on his worn out face, and eventually she felt its warmth on her backside, as she watched the shadows engulf his chest. She watched his slow rhythmic breathing as his chest rose up and down, against her cheek. One of his arms was snaked around her waist, and it protested when she tried shifting. Even in his sleep, he was protective of her. And that's when the idea came to her; she had to go back there.
…
His hands wound itself around the bark, as he vaguely remembered a blurred image of someone. He was supposed to be with someone, but whom? Weeks prior he found himself hooked up to an IV machine, and the constant beep drove him to the brink of insanity. His head ached as he tried to reorient himself with the ground. Nurses came to his side, as he triggered the bed alarm. They warned him about returning to his bed, but he refused and left against their advice.
Automatically he went back to Duo's apartment, as if nothing had change in his previous routine. He pulled out his laptop and the blue screen of death was plastered across the screen, and he tossed the useless object in the trashcan, after removing the hard-drive.
"Hn." He shook his head and focused on the current situation. He felt he was spinning in circles still, as he held out his hands against the trunk. His eyes furrowed, as he came across the deep gash in the trunk. The bark slowly had healed over time, but the gash was still there. Images of an old lady and her rocking chair came to, and a story she told. He shook his head in confusion, as he tried to fight it. And the image of honey blond female crept in his mind.
"You should stop fighting it," a soft voice came from behind him.
He leaned against the cool bark, "Who are you?"
"It's me."
He looked at the petite blond, but didn't recognize her. "I don't know you," his voice was cold and distant.
She took a few steps forward, trying not to alarm him. "It's me, Heero. It's Relena." She bit her lower lip, wondering how she was going to get him back to his former self. The accident must've caused him to lose his memories. No wonder no one could find him. She wasn't going to lose him again. She was this close, and she knew it then deep down in her, she had to cross one more boundary. It was her turn.
His hands continued to linger on the jagged bark, as a flurry of images came across his mind. They were jumbled and none of it made sense. Random faces of children that he helped. Eventually, his mind focused on a little girl at a birthday party wearing a lilac dress and his mind drifted towards the teddy bear.
She could see that he was calming down, and she made her move, it was now or never. If she had only one moment, this was it. She made her way towards him and her lips graced over his, as she kissed him. Her hands were wrapped around his neck. "Please come back to me," she whispered into his ear. "I know you can find your way."
Floodgates of images crashed through his mind once more, as they focused on her. His Prussian eyes flickered as he was going through his memories of her. The way he had waited for her at her favorite bakery shop, and then to the fountain, where he found her laying on the ground, gasping for air.
He took a few deep breaths, as a mental cloud lifted from him. "Relena," he whispered.
"Welcome back," she smiled up at her former imaginary friend.
It was starting to come back to him. He remembered the night of the accident, as the incoming truck made its way towards them. He had unbuckled his seatbelt, and instinctively wrapped his arms around her, hoping to deflect some of the impact. Soon after, everything went dark.
"How did you know I was here?" He looked down on her.
"I really didn't," she hugged him closer. "I just knew you really hate sweet things, and that you loved being out in the open."
"Hn…true." He kissed the top of her head, and drunk in her scent of vanilla. "I'm not going anywhere."
Her cerulean eyes looked up at him, "Well then…where do we go from here?"
"I have an idea."
…
The blindfold was tight around her eyes, as she stumbled in her heels. "Where are you taking me, Heero?"
"We're almost there," as he led her by her hand.
"I consider this cruel and unusual punishment." Her right foot snagged against a crack in the sidewalk, "You do realize I'm a klutz."
"Never really noticed," he laughed. "We're going to be climbing some stairs."
"What?" Her voice strained at the near thought of it. She didn't want to end up falling and spraining her ankle. Chasing two toddlers at home would be a challenge enough with crutches or even a boot to wear. "Heero." He felt his arms around her waist, as he lifted her off the ground, "How kind of you."
"Hn."
"Are we there yet?"
"Almost," he continued to go up the stairs. He could feel his arms getting heavier. "I might need a massage later from you."
"The last few times we did that, we ended up with two little miracles."
He nodded in response, "True."
She continued to hold him around his neck, as he carried her, "Well if you let me take off this blindfold and let me walk like a normal person, you wouldn't be in this predicament in the first place."
He continued to climb as he listened to his wife rant a little. She had a hard day at work, filled with acute visits and nonsense scattered between patients. "We're here," as he made the final step. "You can take off the blindfold now."
Her hands quickly flew to the side of the knot. Her eyes adjusted and underneath the starry sky, a table was laid out with an ice cream sundae covered in whipped cream and drizzled with chocolate sauce. "I thought you hated sweets."
"I can make exceptions," he kissed her on her lips. "Happy Anniversary."
"To you, too," she continued to look at him, as her eyes traced an image of him.
"You better eat before it melts," he eyed the sugary concoction on the table.
She continued to caress him around his neck as a distraction, "I don't care, and I think I'll start with this."