DISCLAIMER: I don't own Gundam Wing or any of its characters. There. By the way, for all the fans of Heero Yuy and Gundam Wing, I was listening to My Last Breath by Evanescence when I wrote this. That is why it is like it is. So there.

-Fanatic

THE HERO'S END
By GundamWingFanatic90
Posted: 1-28-06

"There will be no more interfering in my plans." the Mastermind, the one behind all the destruction said evilly. He held a gun up and Relena heard Heero shift his feet next to where she stood.

"Die, Relena Darlian." the Mastermind commanded, and the gunshot rang out. She felt Heero shove her out of the way, and she fell and hit her head on something. She looked back up through dimming vision and saw him reel backwards, his eyes wide, before the world went black.

Heero saw where the Mastermind was pointing the gun, and shifted his weight, readying to shove Relena out of the path of the bullet.

"Die, Relena Darlian." the Mastermind commanded, and he fired the gun. Heero jumped, hurling all of his weight against Relena's side, and he saw her fall over and hit her head before he felt a horrendous agony in the middle-right part of his torso. The breath caught in his throat and his mind raced as he reeled backwards from the force of the shot. He numbly registered the impact of the floor as he hit it, even as he pulled a small handgun from his pocket. Weakly raising his head and arm, he raised the handgun, taking careful aim through eyes that were seeing double. Finally, as the last of his strength gave out, he squeezed the trigger, sending the bullet straight into the Mastermind's forehead. Heero barely felt the gun fall out of his dropping hand to clatter on the ground beside his thigh as his vision dimmed and he gave in to the pain, withdrawing into himself as the world went black.

Duo finished off the last of the Mobile Dolls as he flew into the hangar of the Vulcanus-like weapons factory. He radioed in, confirming his location.

"Wufei, Trowa, Quatre! I'm in hangar A-3. Let's regroup and look for Heero. He's sure to have found Relena by now." he said as he landed his Virgo Mobile Suit next to where Heero's empty one was. He wasted no time in clambering out of the cockpit as the other three landed next to and behind him. The others climbed out of their cockpits and they regrouped on the floor next to the inner blast doors.

"We should probably split up. We'll rendezvous at the main control center in 5 minutes, ok?" he said, and the other three nodded. The four of them then headed through the blast doors and split up, each going down a different hall. He walked down the hall he was in, calling Heero's and Relena's names. Duo kept walking until he got to the main control center. He waited for a couple of minutes before he became impatient. Maybe I can use the monitors inside the control room to see where Heero and the others are... he thought, making up his mind. He turned around from where he had been looking out into the hallway junction and put his hand on the door's locking mechanism. He pressed the green button on the control pad and the door slid open. He gasped and ran inside. There were the bodies of people dressed in the outfits of an OZ officer laying on the floor and slumped at computer terminals everywhere. He quickly scanned the room for any sign of Heero. When Duo finally found the 16-year-old pilot, the sigh of relief that had been coming to his mouth quickly turned to a gasp of horror.

"TROWA! QUATRE! WUFEI! COME HERE, QUICK!" Duo shouted frantically as he ran over to the still form of Heero and kneeled down next to him. He was bleeding profusely from a wound in the mid-right section of his torso, and the thick, sticky blood had already started to pool around him. Tears sprang to Duo's eyes as he pulled his jacket off and pressed it to Heero's wound, trying to stop the steady flow of blood. Duo heard loud footsteps as his friends arrived at the junction at a run. Then he heard their running footsteps as they continued into the room and came to a halt behind him. He heard them take in a strong breath, and Quatre knelt next to him.

"Duo, we have to get him to the moon base! It's only a few minutes away!" he exclaimed, and, looking at him, Duo saw that there were fearful tears in his eyes, too. He looked around at Trowa and Wufei and saw that even they had tears of fear in their eyes, fear for their friend.

"Then let's get to it!" Duo exclaimed, moving to lift Heero under the shoulders before he noticed Relena lying unconscious a few feet away, a nasty cut on her forehead.

"Trowa, Wufei! Get Relena and bring her with us!" he commanded, pointing to her. The two pilots in question hurried over to the unconscious girl and hoisted her between them, Trowa carrying her under her shoulders and Wufei carrying her by her legs. Duo gently lifted Heero's shoulders as Quatre lifted Heero's legs. This extracted a small moan of pain out of him, and the four of them ran out of the room, their urgency having increased tenfold. They ran down the hall Duo had taken, as it was the shortest way to the hangar. When they got to the aforementioned place, they got into their Mobile Suits, turning the artificial gravity off before hand. Duo took the responsibility of holding the bloody Heero on his lap, and Trowa held Relena on his. They launched and flew through space towards the moon. Since the weapons factory was in the moon's orbit, it didn't take them long to get to the base. They flew into the hangar there and got out of the Virgos in zero-gravity before running to where Howard and Sally were waiting for them.

"What happened?" Sally cried as the boys ran up to her and Howard.

"We don't know exactly what. Duo just found them in the main control center like they are now. But come on! Heero needs help, and fast!" Quatre explained as they all ran into the med wing of the base. They laid Heero on a bed and Sally came over to examine his wound. She hooked him up to a heart-rate monitor (the kind with the line that moves up and down and beeps with each heartbeat) and oxygen before she looked at his wound. She took Duo's jacket away from the bullet hole and immediately her shoulders slumped and she drew a shuddering breath. Slowly she turned to the four boys, Trowa and Wufei having laid Relena on a bed in another room. Her face was grim.

"He's been shot in the right lung. I can't do anything to help him." she told them. "I'm afraid all we can do is make him comfortable and give him some painkillers until..." she trailed off, unable to finish her thought aloud.

"I'm sorry, boys." she said, her sentence coming out as a sob. "Heero's dying."

Duo numbly sat down, his legs unable to support him any longer. Heero was his best friend. Duo didn't even want to think of a universe without Heero. And poor Relena... They were so close to admitting it to each other... They knew it in their hearts, and yet, now they're never going to be able to tell each other... Duo thought numbly. Even though neither of them admitted it to me, I could tell... They're in love... And now, Heero's going to die! He fought back furious tears that threatened to spill over and drew a shuddering breath around the lump in his throat, clenching his hands.

"Darn it, Heero! Why didn't you ever tell her? Now you'll never have the chance..." he murmured quietly to the still 16-year-old on the bed. His sentences came out in sobs as he lowered his face into his hands, his elbows resting on his knees. Sally laid a hand on his shoulder for a second before briefly walking away. She came back soon with some bandages and a syringe, as well as a bottle of something. She bandaged Heero's life-threatening wound (with help from Wufei) before taking the cap off of the lid. She put the needle of the syringe into the bottle and pulled back the plunger. The syringe filled with a clear liquid, and she put the bottle down.

"This will ease the pain. It might even be enough to revive him long enough to say goodbye." she quietly murmured before inserting the tip of the needle into Heero's arm and pressing down on the plunger, squirting the clear fluid into the dying teen's arm. His face was tense for a moment longer before relaxing as the medication began to take effect.

"Wufei?" Duo quietly asked after a moment. Wufei turned to Duo.

"Yes?"

"Will you please go stay with Relena? Just in case she wakes up."

Wufei looked sadly at Duo before moving out of the room to go watch over Relena.

Relena's first impression was of complete and total blackness and a pounding headache before she realized that she had her eyes closed. When she opened them, she looked around and touched a hand to her forehead. Her fingertips met with soft gauze, and she remembered what had happened in the weapons factory. She sat up, a little too quickly, and looked around, her head spinning. She saw Wufei sitting next to her bed. He was looking away from her, and seemed not to notice that she was awake.

"Wufei?" she asked, causing him to jump.

"Relena." he replied.

"Where are we? What happened?" she asked.

"We're at the moon base, and we don't know what happened."

"Where's... How's Heero doing?"

When she asked this question, Wufei's face fell, and he looked away from her. He didn't answer for a few moments. But when he finally did answer, she froze, her mind numb.

"Heero's dying." he murmured. "He's been shot through the right lung, and there's nothing we can do for him. He's been given some medicine to help ease the pain, but..."

"Where is he?" she numbly asked, speaking as if she were in a trance.

"In the E.R. down the hall. Why?" he responded without thought. He didn't get an answer, though, as Relena flung back the blankets that had been covering her and got up, walking unsteadily to the door. Wufei got up and followed her.

"Please, Relena. Don't go in there. He wouldn't want you to see him like this." he said as they got through the open door. He was surprised when she ignored him and started to flat-out run towards the end of the long hall.

"Relena! Listen to me! He wouldn't want you to see him like this!" he exclaimed, trying to get her attention while running alongside her.

"I'd feel worse if I didn't get to tell him... I love him." she replied, coming to a halting stop outside the door at the end of the hall. She opened it and walked inside, Wufei numbly following her. Quatre, Trowa, and Duo were already there, and Duo had his face buried in his hands. Quatre had his hand on Duo's shoulder, trying to lend the American some strength, but Relena could see that Quatre, too, was on the verge of breaking down and crying. And Trowa was standing off to the side, a hand to his mouth and his eyes closed. But what made her go completely numb was the sight of Heero laying on the bed with his eyes closed. His breathing was ragged, and the heart-rate monitor next to him showed that his pulse was slowing slightly. Relena shook her head slightly and stepped into the room. Two pairs of eyes looked up at her as she entered. Two pairs of tear-filled eyes that belied the truth. The truth that Wufei had told her, but she hadn't wanted to believe. She hadn't wanted to believe that Heero was dying.

"Trowa... Quatre... Wufei..." she murmured, her eyes filling with tears as she listed the former Gundam pilots that were there. "...Duo... and... Heero..." she said the last name as she released a breath she'd been holding, and she walked up to the bed where Heero lay. Hesitating slightly, she took his limp hand in hers, not even blushing when she saw that he had his shirt off. She knelt down next to the bed, next to his ears, and whispered four words to him.

"Heero... I love you." she whispered, tears streaking the sides of her face as she continued. "I don't know if you can hear me right now, but I just want you to know that I love you, and I'm not afraid to admit it. I just wish I could speak with you one more time..." she broke off as her shoulders shook and she cried for the man she loved. A couple of her large, pearly tears fell onto Heero's limp hand. Then she looked up, her crying ceasing, as she felt his hand tighten around hers. He weakly opened his eyes and turned his head to weakly look around at them all.

"Heero?" she asked, and he looked over at her. "Did you hear what I said?"

"Yes, Relena..." he whispered. His breath smelled like blood, and his face was pale. "I heard what you said."

She smiled a little through her tears.

"Please... Don't cry." his voice was weak and hoarse. "Just know that... I love you, too." he whispered, and then he looked at the rest of them. Quatre, Trowa, and Wufei were smiling a little through their own tears- they knew what had been said in the little conversation. They had been waiting for Relena and Heero to admit it for forever, and they were relieved that the three words had finally been said.

"Thank you... All of you..." he said as loud as he could. Duo looked up. He locked eyes with Heero for a moment.

"Heero..." Duo's eyes filled with tears as he looked into Heero's clouded ones.

"Duo... Please don't be sad, any of you." he said, his eyes briefly closing in pain as the medication wore off. "I'm not afraid to die. You shouldn't be either. Especially if you die protecting the ones you love. It just hurts a little-" he broke off as blood streaked the side of his chin and he closed his eyes tightly against the horrendous pain. Relena's hand tightened on Heero's, trying to keep him there. He was holding his breath against the pain. Quatre put his hand on Relena's shoulder and she turned to him.

"Relena..." Heero choked out. "Please leave... I don't want you to see me go..." He choked on more blood, and let go of her hand. "Go!"

Quatre helped her up and, putting his hands on her shoulders, guided her towards the door. Duo took her place at Heero's bedside and took his hand, trying to lend him strength. Heero's face relaxed as he released the breath he had been holding. The somewhat steady BEEP... BEEP... of the heart monitor slowed. Then, the repetitive Beeping noise that they had started to tune out became a single, steady note as Heero's heart stopped beating. His chest no longer rose and fell, and his head turned, limp, away from all of the others as he released the final breath he'd been holding. Relena and Quatre, who were now at the doorway, stopped as they heard the flat-line note. Relena turned around, afraid of what she would see, and looked at Heero's completely still form. Her legs would not carry her away from him anymore. They wouldn't work, going in that direction, and she jogged back to him, Quatre trying, through his tears, to hold her back. She laid a hand on Heero's cold arm and shook him a little, calling his name. He didn't respond in the slightest. His spirit had already left his young body. Tears welled up in her violet eyes when he didn't respond. Usually he would've at least grunted a 'let me sleep', but no sound came. Nearly blinded by tears, Trowa and Wufei pulled the sheet over Heero's face so that no one could see him. Heero didn't stir in the slightest as Relena was made to let go of his arm. His chest no longer rose and fell. His heart no longer beat. Heero Yuy, one of the heroes who had stopped Libra, was dead at 16 years of age.

Even as his heart stopped beating and he released his final breath, Heero sat up. He saw Relena and Quatre stop at the door and turn around, and Relena jogged over to the bed. He felt her hand on his arm, and she called his name frantically.

"Relena? What's wrong?" he asked, but she acted as if she couldn't hear him, gripping his arm as tears welled up in her violet eyes. "Relena? Can't you see me? I'm alive! I'm sitting up, even!" he frantically said. Wufei and Trowa walked over and took hold of the sheet that was on Heero's lap. As he looked down at their hands, he saw that he was wearing his favorite green tank top and he wasn't bleeding. He didn't even have a wound anymore. The only thing was that he was slightly transparent. Trowa and Wufei didn't seem to see that Heero was sitting up, either, and pulled the sheet up towards the head of the bed. He gasped. The sheet had gone straight through his stomach without any resistance at all. He gasped again when he looked at where their hands were going. He was laying there, blood down the side of his chin, with his head turned to the side and his eyes closed, as if he were asleep. The only thing was that his chest didn't rise and fall at all. The Heero on the bed didn't move in the slightest. Heero looked down at his hands and pressed them to his chest. It seemed firm enough to be real, and yet, the bed sheet had passed straight through it with no problem at all. He was definitely confused, now. Wait a minute. Since when did he start openly feeling emotions? Something was definitely wrong. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and got up, looking around. He didn't feel the floor under his feet, so he looked around beneath himself. He was standing on the floor, but at the same time, he wasn't. He walked over to where Duo was sitting next to the bed.

"Hey, Duo? What's going on?" Heero asked. Duo didn't respond, his shoulders shaking. He's... crying... Heero thought, and tried to put a hand on his best friend's shoulder. However, his hand went straight through Duo's shoulder. Suddenly Heero heard a voice in his head. It was nasal and brassy.

"Concentrate. Concentrate on being visible and solid." it said. "Then they'll be able to see and touch you, in a sense." He looked around. There weren't any other beings in the room besides himself and the others, who couldn't see, hear, or feel him. He shrugged. May as well give it a try... he thought. Then he removed his hand from Duo's shoulder, closed his eyes, and imagined himself standing in the doorway. When he reopened his eyes, he was, indeed, standing in the doorway. That's freaky... he thought.

"That's what happens when you're dead." the voice said, and Heero thought he caught a brief glimpse of a stout blue man in black robes that had a symbol on the front of them. The blue man was wearing a black cap of some sort, and he had antennae that twitched every few seconds. His robes actually ended with gold trimming at the shoulders and continued on in red sleeves. Heero shook his head to push the image to the back of his mind so he could concentrate. He closed his eyes as he imagined himself becoming visible and solid, and soon he felt the floor under his feet. When he opened his eyes again, he saw that his flesh was solid, and he looked as if he hadn't died at all. The others were all facing away from him, so they hadn't seen him yet. Just for a test, he touched the wall of the doorway. The steel was cold under his fingertips, and he saw that around his hand was a faint golden aura, and his skin had its own luminescence. He allowed himself a small smile. He had done it. He was solid and visible. He looked at the others. Relena was crying as she sat on a chair, and Quatre had his arm around her shoulders. He himself was crying. Heero looked to Trowa and Wufei. They had silent streams of tears running down their stone like faces. Heero took a deep breath and stepped into the room, his footfalls silent.

"See? What'd I tell you?" the mysterious voice asked him.

"What's happening to me? Who are you?" Heero asked in his head.

"I am King Kai, and you are dead. You are now a spirit, of sorts." the voice, King Kai, replied. "You'll be visible and solid until you decide to fade again or you run out of energy."

"Ok... I think I understand..." Heero thought-murmured. "So I'm dead... and I'm a ghost..."

"Yep. Hey, do you want to hear a joke?"

"Um... No thank you. Maybe later." he thought, and he again pushed King Kai's voice out of his mind. He walked over to where Duo was sitting, and put a hand on his left shoulder.

"Why are you crying, Duo?"

Duo's sobs were just starting to die down when he felt a hand on left shoulder.

"Why are you crying, Duo?" asked a voice. Duo looked around at his left shoulder and saw a hand there. It was glowing slightly, and seemed to have a golden aura around it. I must be hallucinating. If I ignore it, maybe it'll go away. he thought, and looked over at Quatre and Relena. They were staring at Duo, their eyes wide. No, they were staring at a spot about two feet above where his head was right now. He shook his head slightly, but their gaze remained fixed. He looked over at Trowa and Wufei. They, too, were staring at a spot two feet above Duo's head. His brow creased in confusion. Am I hallucinating...? he thought. Oh, well. If I am, then they are, too, so I guess it can't hurt to look... He slowly looked upwards to his left. His eyes grew wide as he saw who the hand belonged to.

"Heero...?" he asked, and Heero, or whatever it was, nodded.

"Yes, it's me." he replied. "I just wanted to say a couple things." His voice echoed slightly as he spoke. "I don't have long, though, so I have to make it kind of fast."

"Yeah? What is it?" Duo asked, rubbing his eyes with his sleeve to get rid of the tears, smiling a little.

"Number one: Don't cry." Heero replied, looking around at all of them. "Crying only wears you out, and what's the use of it if the person who died doesn't want to see his friends sad?"

"Not much use at all, I guess." Wufei replied as he and Trowa walked over. Heero smiled a little.

"Right. Number two: If you need me, I'll always be there watching over you all. Don't think you'll never see me again." When he said this, his gaze briefly rested on Relena before moving to the others again. Duo laughed a little.

"Ha! And here I was thinking I'd be rid of you for a while." he joked. Everyone smiled a little. Heero did, too, but it was brief and tired. Exhaustion was beginning to show on his face and in his eyes.

"That's about it. Except, I'm going to miss all of you. I'm sorry, but... I have to leave, now..." he said, and he began to fade. They watched him go for a few seconds until Relena got up. She had tears streaming down the sides of her face.

"Heero!" she said, her cry half sob, half a desperate shout. Heero's after image flickered for a second, as if he was trying to resist death's pull on him, then he began to grow solid and visible again. However, the concentration apparently took a lot out of him, because a look of extreme pain and exhaustion began to show on his face. Relena crossed the room in two bounds and wrapped her arms around his middle even before he had finished becoming fully visible and solid. He looked surprised for a moment, then he hesitantly put his arms around her. She cried for a second more before he withdrew his arm from around her and touched both her eyes, his hand slightly transparent. His fingers went through her eyes, much to the disgust of the onlookers. He looked surprised for a moment before frowning.

"I have to leave. I can't stay any longer. I'm sorry." he whispered to her, and she looked up at him. He was only a few centimeters taller than she was herself. He was a ghost, but that didn't stop her from kissing him. He looked very shocked at this, then he closed his eyes and enjoyed the moment while it lasted. In a second he had to release her, and he gave her one last squeeze before he let go of her. He had the slightest hint of tears in his transparent eyes as he disappeared completely, waving goodbye to them all and smiling a little. When he was gone, Relena sank to her knees on the floor, her hands on her arms, trying to recapture the feeling of his arms around her, even if he was a ghost. After a moment she stood up, tears falling to the floor. She kept her head down for a moment before looking up, her back to everyone. When she slowly turned around, she found the other four softly smiling at her.

"Finally! We thought you'd never kiss him!" Duo teased, and Relena blushed scarlet. Everyone laughed a little, and then looked a little to Relena's left and they were all certain that there was a red tinge to the white walls. A red tinge and a grin. A grin of pure joy and happiness. A grin of freedom.

After he faded, Heero kissed Relena again before looking upwards. A portal had opened in the ceiling, and a pure, white light shone through it, bathing him in its radiance. He looked back down as he heard Duo start to talk.

"Finally! We thought you'd never kiss him!" he was saying to Relena, who blushed scarlet. Heero blushed, too, and grinned, using the last of his mental strength to allow them to become briefly visible. He faded the blush and grin again and looked back upwards into the light. He closed his eyes and felt himself being lifted into the air. Then he opened his eyes and laughed, a pure, joyful laugh, as he was lifted into a place where no living mortal may walk. As he was lifted into freedom.

)))))- OWARI -(((((

Like it? Hate it? Really crappy, I know. I wrote it about 2 years ago, even before I became a FF.N author. Ah, well. Feel free to flame, and sorry if the characters were OOC (And I know they were, so don't go postal on my pathetic arse.). Mind, flames will be fed to Maito Gai and Rock Lee of Konoha to feed their PASSIONATELY BURNING FLAMES OF YOUTH! (dramatic music) Oh, and congrats to anyone who managed to find the very slight mentions of DBZ in there. Okay, hope to hear from y'all soon. Review, ne?

-Fanatic