Eden
Disclaimer: No Own so No Sue
Fandom: Gundam Wing
Genre: Romance/Supernatural/Drama
Rating: R for disturbing content
Notes: Changes of POV aren't labelled, but hopefully it should be easy enough
to work out who is talking.
Summary: After an accident during a routine clean-up mission; many secrets come
out about Duo, his past, and who he really is...
It was meant to be a routine clean-up mission. I was supposed to go in and
dispose of mobile suits left over from the war.
No one warned me that they would fight back.
Today is just another normal, dull mission. Go into factory; destroy a bunch of
redundant mobile suits. Not too difficult, although Heero is heading over to
help. It just gets the job done quicker, I suppose. The faster all of the
mobile suits are gone, the faster we five get to live like ordinary people.
Well, as close to ordinary as you can get, being an ex-Gundam pilot.
I smirk as I land my buddy, Deathscythe Hell, down through a newly-sliced hole
in the roof of the darkened factory. This should take me no time at all. I push
a few buttons; the active cloak opening out and my beam scythe getting ready
for action.
My eyes widen as each mobile suit's visor opens and lights up. There must be at
least 40 Taurus in front of me, and probably at least that behind.
"Shit."
I begin slashing my scythe around, taking out a few suits here and there. I
know I can't take all of these on myself.
"Where the hell is Heero?!"
A suit hits me from behind, smacking Deathscythe forward and me into the screen
in front of me. I cough for a moment before vomiting up blood. I wipe my mouth
and flick off any blood from the back of my hand before sliding back into the
seat and bringing Deathscythe up again.
"Fucking mobile dolls..." I swing the scythe around Deathscythe in a
circle, hoping to hold them off long enough for Heero to turn up.
It doesn't work. A blinding, white-hot pain penetrates my skin, spiralling
through my spine, forward and out of my stomach seconds before I lose consciousness.
A perfect circle of explosions lights up the factory in the distance.
Deathscythe must already be fighting, even though he was told to wait for my
arrival. This mission was marked as high-risk, as the possibility of the mobile
dolls being live was very likely. Not that Deathscythe was told this; he hates
fighting, even after being given the position of Gundam pilot.
I command Zero to transform into its mobile suit form, and I land through the
hole I assume Deathscythe must have made in the roof. Zero's feet barely touch
the ground as I am alerted to the fact Deathscythe is down, Duo probably
unconscious or hurt.
Only a few shots with the twin-buster rifle, and I am looking over the fallen
Gundam. Deathscythe has been hit, but there doesn't appear to be too much
damage. It takes me a little over half an hour to finish off the mobile dolls,
using the beam sabre; it is too dangerous to continue using the buster rifles
on Earth. I command Zero to lean down and get hold of Deathscythe, before we
jet off to safety.
I clamber up to Deathscythe's cockpit and open it up. It is so dark inside the
hold I can barely see as I pull Duo's body out. I put a hand to Duo's chest,
confirming he is still breathing in its steady rise and fall. I carry him over
to a small room with a couple of fold-up beds made up in it, laying him down on
one of them.
Just to make sure that he isn't wounded, I strip him down to his undergarments
and check him over. I can't find a single mark on him, front or back, apart
from a slightly red mark on his forehead where he must have knocked himself
out. But from what I remember, Duo doesn't seem to bruise easily. I shrug and
pull the sheets up over him, then lie myself down on another bed and close my
eyes, the exhaustion of the day catching up to me.
I open my eyes as light begins to filter through the gaps in between the
curtains. I cast a glance over to Duo, who is sleeping peacefully, his back to
me. I stretch myself out, getting ready for the day ahead. I should check the
Gundams over; see if either need any repair work.
I drag myself out of the comfortable warmth of the bed, and pull on a pair of
jeans and a t-shirt.
The air in the hold is chilly, so I get to work quickly. I am hoisted up to
Deathscythe's cockpit, completely unprepared for the sight that greets me.
"This isn't possible..."
I step back, covering my mouth. The screens and floor in front of the seat are
covered in dried blood; the straps on his seat are broken… but the worst of it
is the seat itself; there is a large, sharp piece of metal jutting out of the
back of it, completely coated in blood, and what appears to be shards of bone.
"It's not possible..."
I turn away, jumping down from the Gundam, damaging my leg from the fall, but I
don't care. I checked Duo over yesterday. There wasn't any marks on him at all,
yet the details of his cockpit say he should be dead. I run back into the room,
to check. I have to make sure of this.
I stand at the side of his bed, his back to me as I take a couple of deep
breaths.
"Duo?" I say his name, reaching my hand out to shake him gently. He isn't a
heavy sleeper, and he begins to stir. He turns himself to face me.
"Hey, Heero..."
My eyes widen. Duo looks completely different; his eyes are narrower, his face
longer. He looks... older. Like he's aged years overnight.
He sees my _expression, and looks down at himself, checking his hands.
"Oh, shit..."
Once again, memories come flooding back to me. Memories of many lives, of many
deaths, memories of blood flowing; and the memory of who I am.
I put my hands on my head, shaking side to side.
"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit..." I sense Heero putting his hand out toward me.
"It wasn't supposed to happen like this!" I cry out.
"...Duo..." I've scared him.
"I'm sorry, Heero..."
I stop shaking my head and look up at him. He is holding his hand close to his
chest, fear clearly written on his face. I suppose dealing with this wasn't
covered in his extensive training.
"I'm so, so sorry..." I look away. "I'm not Duo. Well, not anymore."
I hear him gasp. "Who...who are you, then?"
I don't want to hurt him, but there isn't exactly an easy way of saying this.
"I am Shinigami."
"Duo, please, don't joke at a time like this..."
I look up at him. "I'm not joking. I am Shinigami, and have been for many thousands
of years. Duo was just an unfortunate child to be born with me sleeping within
him. The person you knew as Duo died yesterday, in that battle. He was impaled
through the spine, nobody could have prevented it." I sigh. "I just wish that
you hadn't been there, because you shouldn't have to deal with this." My eyes
mist over. Yea, Duo claimed that boys don't cry; but I'm not a boy anymore. I
lost my innocence a long time ago.
I expect Heero is going to go, to just leave. He should just get on with his life,
his missions. Duo helped attain peace, and now he's given his life for it. I
jump a little when Heero sits on the bed next to me.
"How?" His voice sounds like that of a small child, curious, yet scared to ask.
"How what?"
"How did you become Shinigami?" I look down at my hands.
"Are you sure you want to know?"
He is silent for a moment. "...Yes, I am."
I look up at him. I can see he is frightened, yet he does truly want to know.
"It started many thousands of years ago, in my first life. I grew up in happy,
peaceful times. No one knew the pain of war, of losing all of your friends and
family. But when I grew up, I became twisted. I began to hate the people who
had given me life, everyone that I knew. I became so obsessed with my hatred
that I decided that they didn't deserve the lives that they had been given. I
killed everyone I knew with whatever I could get my hands on." I pause for a
moment, gauging his reaction. He nodded, encouraging me to go on.
"I didn't stop there. I tried to get rid of the evidence, by burning the
bodies. I became enthralled by the beauty of the flames as they danced over
their bodies, returning them to the Earth from where they came. Once I had
learnt the beauty of the dance of death, I couldn't stop. I killed more and
more people, watching their blood flow from their dying bodies, and then
watching the flames dance once more. Eventually, everyone in my village but for
me was dead. Yet the hunger, the need to kill didn't stop. I set the entire
village alight, and moved onto the next village, claiming that a freak fire had
killed all but me. They welcomed me into their village. By this time, I was in
my twenties." I stop there, looking at him. His face doesn't give anything of
what he is thinking away. He is probably horrified; he has killed, but not like
this. He was ordered to; I did it because I could. Because I wanted, needed to.
I take a new breath before continuing.
"By that time, I felt like I was God, deciding who could and could not live. I
killed many in that village, but one was my downfall. A young one, who I was
foolish enough to fall for; not that it stopped me from taking their life. I
was…I wish I could say I was merciful, but the feelings I had made me crueler.
I tortured them, prolonging their pain; I suppose I believed that the more
blood they shed before dying, the more cleansed of my curse they would be. It
was the first time I tasted another human's blood. I thought it was incredible,
how pure it tasted even after all that I had bestowed upon the body. I didn't
stop the torture, even after their spirit had left and the body was cooling. I
whipped the body, wanting to draw more and more blood. Eventually, I grew bored
with that and…" I stop speaking; I am shaking.
"…Wha…what did you do then?" Heero sounds just like a child. My eyes meet his
for a second, before I look away.
"And then, I raped him." I hear Heero gasp. "Even in death, his body was
beautiful. I took his innocence, his life, and I mutilated his body by taking
him…then, for the first time since I began killing, I cried. I cradled his body
to me and cried. It was then that I was caught. They tore him away and threw me
into a cage. They called me a demon, a curse sent from the Gods; saying that no
one could ever love nor want me. They beat my body, and I didn't care. All that
kept running through my mind is that I had killed him; destroyed the only thing
that could have saved me. I loved him, and he never had the chance to love me
in return." I wipe away a couple of stray tears. "The people eventually decided
that for my punishment, I was to die in the same fashion I had destroyed my
victims; by the flame. They built a massive fire, and threw me into it. I
remember them wanting to hear me scream, to hear me ask forgiveness from the
Gods. I never gave it to them, I died in silence. But my journey was far from
over. Once my spirit was released from my body, I was brought in front of the
Gods for further punishment. They never asked if I wished forgiveness; they
cursed me to live many lives on Earth, to experience the pains I had bestowed
upon others until I am released, with the curse that should my current form die
before the age I did in my first life, my true self will live in the body;
which causes it to age prematurely." I lift a hand up to my face.
"I…I will be dead once more by sundown; and this body will turn to dust. There
will be no body for each life's loved ones to mourn… just the way my victims
suffered."
I look back at Heero. "I…I'm sorry."
Heero stands up. "I need some time to process this…to get my head around it."
"Fair enough. But…" He looks down at me. Although Duo has died, he will live
within me until I am bestowed a new life. I can sense how he is feeling. "Tell
the others that Duo is sorry."
"…Okay." He walks out of the room, and I feel a massive wave of guilt flow over
me for hurting Duo, and Heero. Although I sleep within a human until the day
they die, I can still watch over them. I have grown fond of the part of me that
became Duo, and every time my curse took away his loved ones... I know that for
the suffering I bestowed upon others, I deserve the pain of infinite lives and
infinite deaths...but when I see the faces of each life's loved ones, innocents
that should never have been involved in my punishment...
Sitting on the cold, hard foot of Zero, I think about things. The past, the
war, the future...
He...Duo...he'll be gone forever...I'll never see him again...
I slam my fist down. "It's wrong!" I cry out.
My body shakes as I open out my fist, caressing the metal of my Gundam.
"One day, even you will be gone..." I hear the noise of the door
opening and look towards it. Shinigami is standing in the doorway.
"...Heero..."
I jump from the foot of Zero and run to him. I stop in front of him, and take
the advice offered to me when I was still a child; I follow my emotions. I put
my arms around him, leaning my head into the base of his neck.
"I wish you could stay alive, stay with me... whatever you did in the
past... even if the Gods couldn't forgive you... I can..." Heero tightened
his grip a little. "I have...because I love you..." A whimper
emitted from his open lips. "...Duo..."
Shinigami moved to put his arms around Heero, stopping halfway as his body
began to glow. He began to rise up, Heero's arms slipping from around him;
Heero falling to the floor. The glow around Shinigami's body began to grow
stronger, licking over the skin like flames.
"No..." Heero reached up to him. "Please, don't leave me!"
Shinigami's body bent forward as a beautiful pair of black wings grew out from
his back, scattering feathers about and tearing his shirt to shreds. His body
bent back again, his arms and legs stretched out, his long hair flailing around
his thin form as the glow centered on his bare chest.
Heero pulled himself to his feet, straining to see the forming marks.
"The value of loving and being loved in return is a very powerful lesson
to learn. Now this lesson has been learnt, forgiveness has been awarded."
Heero's eyes widened as the years that the body before him had gained overnight
were stripped away, returning to the age it was the moment Duo died. The glow
faded, and Shinigami lowered to the floor.
"Duo...Shinigami..." Heero crouched down next to the fallen boy,
lifting his head into his lap and gently stroking the boy's cheek. His eyelids
flicked for a moment, before lifting.
"Hey, Heero..." I smile a little and reach my hand up to clasp his.
"Shini...?"
"You freed him, Heero...you broke the curse..." I hold his hand to my
lips, placing a tender kiss on his knuckles. "You released him, and
revived me."
Heero looks a little confused. "What...what happened to him?"
"See for yourself." I motion behind him, and he turns. Shinigami is
standing there, a faint smile on his face.
"Thank you, Heero." He mouths as another shape steps from the shadows.
It is a young boy, with beautiful green eyes and messy brown hair. Shinigami
turns, extending a hand to the young boy.
Heero looks at me, still confused.
"He can't talk on this level anymore."
"Who is..?"
"That's the one he loves. That boy has waited for him, since the day he
was killed."
"Ah." Heero turns to look at them again, a small smile on his lips.
Heero and I watch as Shinigami takes the boy into his arms, stroking his hair
and whispering loving words. The boy looks at us, mouthing 'Thankyou...for
sending him back. Goodbye...'. He nuzzles back into Shinigami, and the pair
fade away.
"I'm really gonna miss him."
Heero turns back toward me. "I mean, he's been part of me for my entire
life...and even before that." I smile a little. "But he has his
happiness now."
"Oh..." Heero shifts a little to stand up. I keep hold of his hand,
using it to pull myself up and keep him crouched down so our lips meet for the
first time. The kiss is short, and as I try to pull away, he tries to follow. I
press a finger to his lips, silencing any protest.
"He has his happiness, and we can have ours. I love you, Heero."
And
certainly, no one told me it would change my life.
{kizutsuita kuroi tsubasa tsuki no akari ni
terasarete utsukushiku maiagare
shinkou no kuchidzuke ga ima kokoro no oku ni
nagare komu soshite yume no naka e ...}
[Injured black wings glimmer beautifully
As they soar in the light of the moon
Now, the crimson kiss has founds its way into my heart,
And will soon flow into my dream...]