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"The end of forever."
By: Dreamer
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He took a drink of his beer and continued to wander down the streets of the L2 Colony. He came back to the Colony after the War was over. With nothing better to do he got a normal job and continued living in peace, like the rest of the Colonies and Earth.
But there was still a War going on. It was a bloody nightmare for him. He wasn't scared by any means, but it kept him up all damn night. He got maybe two hours of sleep, on a good night.
He turned the corner to head back home. On his way, a whore started flirting with him. He gave her five bucks and told her to go get herself a decent meal. She had been after him since he moved here, which was about three or four years ago. And once a week he'd end up giving her ten bucks.
He got to the door of his apartment that he shared with Heero. He turned the key and opened the door to find the lights on. Heero's laptop was on and his face was crushed against the keys of the keyboard.
Even though he wasn't a neat freak, between him and Heero they worked out a decent way of keeping the place clean without much effort involved.
He grabbed the blanket off the armchair and draped it around Heero's shoulders. Then he shuffled down the hallway and went to his room. Once he was there, he stripped down and grabbed his towel then wrapped it around his waist. He left his room and went to the bathroom. He turned on the water and checked his watch. Four am, Heero would be up in an hour. He turned off the water and eased himself into the hot water.
"Duo! Get your sorry ass out of the bathroom!" Heero yelled banging on the bathroom door.
"Shit!" Duo yelled back. "This water is fucking cold!" He jumped out of the water and wrapped the towel around him then left the bathroom for Heero.
"Duo, you have a bed for sleeping in..."
"Ya, ya... I know...." Duo snapped.
"Same old shit again?" Heero asked.
"How did yacha know?" Duo asked frozen in his tracks with his back to Heero, his hand fell from the doorknob to his room.
"Don't think that just because I'm asleep, I don't know what's going on. I heard you leave last night and I got on my laptop for a few things and passed out there. Then I heard you come in and felt the blanket you put on me."
That was a mouthful, even for Heero.
"Hey, sorry I woke ya up..." Duo said and slammed the door shut.
Duo then pulled on a zip up jacket and sweat pants and some shoes. He unbraided his hair, gave it a quick brush, then rebraided it. On the way out, he scribbled a quick note and stuck it onto Heero's laptop. So he didn't raise hell trying to find him. Heero always thought that someone or something was after them. But if hadn't heard from the others every other day, he'd freak out. Duo made it a point to leave a note so that Heero wouldn't have the cops out on his fucking ass.
Duo opened the door and shut it, then jogged down the same path he took only an hour or so ago. He stopped at the pub he went to earlier that morning and grabbed another beer. While he was drinking it, someone started a fight.
Duo knew the bartender really well, and he was too old to fight. So Duo stepped in. Duo punched the first guy who started it and continued to do so until one of his buddies grabbed him and held onto Duo. The other one punched him in the eye, lip, nose, and stomach before Duo slammed the one holding him into the wall and pulled the unconscious man and threw him to his attacker. Duo threw one guy over his shoulder, grabbed the others collar and then pushed the other one that was the cause of the fight in front of him. Duo ushered the man out the door and threw the two unconscious men onto the sidewalk. He then put signs on them that they were barred and if he ever saw them in there, he'd put them in the hospital. He told the other that he'd never wanted to see him either. Duo then dragged his tired ass home and then flopped down on the couch.
Heero came out of his room on the phone with his free hand rubbing his wet head with a towel. Heero clicked the phone off, dropping it in the process, and ran into the other room. Cabinet doors were opened and closed then the freezer was opened and closed.
"Shit, Duo, what the hell happened?" Heero questioned.
Duo swore when Heero placed the ice on his swollen eye.
"I told you some fucking idiot was after us."
Duo almost bit Heero when he touched his lip. Duo then told Heero about the barroom brawl. Heero then knew what was going on. When he was done, Duo went to his room and slept the rest of the day. Not that the sleep wasn't welcomed, but the demons were there lurking and waiting for the right minuet to attack.
When he woke up it was about nine pm and Heero was gone for work on a Sunday night. Duo left for the park with nothing more to do. He was hungry but there wasn't anything to eat in the house. When he got there, there was a girl sitting on the bench.
He sat down next to her and began eating his food. It was dark, but not dark enough. He was silently thanking the lamppost for not being bright enough so she could see his swollen eye and lip.
She just seemed content with staring at the Colony's stars, which consisted of the lights in other peoples homes. He stuck his French fries under her nose and she looked down.
"You must be hungry.... so take them... plus I feel bad about eating in front of you..."
She smiled at him and took a few.
"So what brings you here?" He asked after taking a few bites of his sandwich.
"I couldn't sleep..."
Duo snorted.
"I have the same problem, but it's every night."
"You could go to a doctor about it."
"Naa, they'll just drug me until I'm stoned out of my nuts. Just take a look at my buddie and he'll tell ya that it'll fuck you up. Because he's taking it for the same reasons as me and he ends up passed out on his laptop drooling over everything."
She giggled.
"The names D..."
"Duo Maxwell," she finished for him.
He looked at her like she was nuts. He opened his mouth to speak but she silenced him.
"I can't forget your voice much less your hair," she said finding the end of his braid and began playing with the ends.
"Hilde?" He questioned then he jumped up and his food dropped to the ground. He then scooped her up into his arms giving her a big hug.
They continued their talks for another year. They would talk about everything until first light. Then they'd part for the days activities then return about midnight after about four hours of rest. But that was enough for both of them, until the weekend, then they'd sleep almost all day and meet about midnight again.
"So," Heero began one before Duo left, "what's got you to sleep so damn well? It's probably better than taking these fucking pills." He said throwing them away. "Tell me how'd ya do it?"
Duo walked up to Heero and clapped him on the back then eyed him carefully.
"Simple, my man, go and find yourself a woman... not just any 'woman,' she has to be the one who has stolen your heart, or vise versa."
Duo walked out of their house and waited for her in their usual place. After their talk, Duo invited Hilde back to his place with Heero and she said sure. When he got there, the door was locked.
"Funny," he thought, "he shouldn't be at work... much less anywhere else..."
Duo reached above the door and pulled out the spare key, incase he forgot his key, kind of like now. Duo flung open the door and let Hilde in.
"Heero?" Duo called as he checked a couple of places for Heero, who was gone. Duo went into the kitchen and found a note on the freezer.
Duo,
You inspired me to go find Relena. I remember how much she cared for me during the war. I just hope that she still feels that way about me now. I was too fucking blind not to see the love in her eyes that she had for me. Thank you for everything. I've left you money to pay a few bills and to get some food. If you need more, just look me up.
Heero
Duo noticed that Heero left his flight number, what time he was supposed to land on Earth and what hotel he'd be staying in. Duo explained in so many words that Heero left for Earth to take of something and wouldn't tell him. It was a white lie and he knew it, but he didn't want Hilde to tell Relena her surprise, it would be tragic that she find out before he gets there.
So Duo made dinner, which consisted of hotdogs, French fries or chips and a soda pop, it wasn't much but it hit the spot. Afterwards they watched movies until they fell asleep in each others arms.
Duo woke up to Hilde watching the news on TV. Then the vidphone on the wall flicked on, Quatre's pale face was on it and he looked distressed. Talking could be heard in the background.
"Q-man!" Duo cried ignoring all the signs that told him something terrible was going on.
"Duo... have you seen the news?"
He got up from the couch and wiped the sleep out of his eyes. Duo yawned a stretched out.
"No," he began after another yawn, "just woke up."
"That's good that you're sleeping..." Quatre said with a weak smile, then his face turned serious. "This is why I used the Preventer line..."
Pictures of a wreck spaceship and various things flashed a across the screen. Then Duo caught the number of the ship. Duo reached for his back pocket and pulled out the things Heero had left for him. He then matched the flight numbers.
"Fucknuts," Duo cursed, "when did this shit happen?"
Quatre winced at Duo's anger and his use of words.
"Last night."
"What the hell was his problem?" Duo questioned out loud.
"It wasn't his fault. Someone planted a bomb on the ship. All the bodies that were recovered were burned so badly beyond identification. So their resulting to dental records. They tried to pull one up on Heero and he doesn't have one along with two other people. This is really bad."
"Stupid bastard was right," Duo muttered.
"What?"
"Nothing. Thanks for telling me the story before the news fucked up the true story."
Quatre nodded and the screen went blank. Hilde walked into the room and wrapped her arms around him.
"I'm sorry to hear that your best friend is..."
"Don't say it, Hilde," Duo said softly, "Shinigami has caught up..."
"Really, Duo? You might want to count your Gundams before they attack."
Duo and Hilde turned around to come face to face with Heero. Duo stared at him like he was idiot.
"Stupid mother fucker," Duo said.
"Now that's no way to greet your bud now is it?" Heero asked. "I never got on the flight, for some damn reason, traffic was backed up. Something had happened, like a wreck, I'm not exactly sure."
"Well then, you have some shit straighten out..."
"Why?" He asked. "I think I'll pull a Zechs and stay dead, that way the world won't have another Heero Yuy."
Duo looked at him and cocked his head while Hilde just disappeared into the kitchen, checking on breakfast.
"What about Relena? I mean, I thought you were... ya know..." Duo said eyeing the kitchen and nodding his head in that direction, he didn't know if Heero wanted Hilde to know.
"Don't worry about that, I've gotten that taken care of... I've gone back to my birth name," Heero said as matter of factly. "The funeral will be a place of death for my old self during the war. This is a time for peace... and I'm going to change for the sake of peace."
Duo was shocked at this...
"What's your birth name?"
"Allen Talco... I am the third heir to the Duke and Duchess of Japan."
"Who's your brothers?"
"Trowa and Cathrine."
Duo fell into the nearest chair and it about came out from under him. Hilde came out with breakfast and gave everyone a plate. They eat in silence.
Two days later, since they couldn't find Heero Yuy, Relena heartbrokenly did a funeral for him. It was on top of a hill and overlooked the nearby lake. Relena, Quatre, and Cathrine were the only one's crying. Vera, Cloud, Wufei, Trowa, and Duo were being strong for everyone else who felt effected with Heero's "death."
Hilde and Allen were in the back watching everything. They were posing as Preventers who seriously looked up to him. When it was their turn to throw some dirt on the empty casket, Hilde went before Allen. He threw the dirt on and said:
"Goodbye to my old life."
Allen parted with Hilde, then followed Relena and the others back to her place, he came and went unnoticed. That was his plan, until he wanted to make his announcement that Allen Talco still lived, but Heero Yuy had died three days ago.
When everyone made their selves at home on Relena's back porch, the butler came out with refreshments and some tissues for the crying people.
Allen observed them. Quatre was still crying, but really bad, he was holding onto his wife's hand. Vera sat there patting his back and carrying on a soft conversation with Cloud. Trowa distanced himself from everyone else, even though he was sitting nest to his wife, Cloud. Cathrine and Relena sat next to each other crying on one another's shoulder. Allen knew no one could comfort their sorrow until he made his appearance. Duo sat next to Hilde, a scowl was on his face. Hilde could feel Duo's tension as they waited for Allen to make his scene. Wufei didn't say anything, he had other things on his mind... Sally was somewhere off in deep space with his kid and couldn't help but wonder if she would face the same fate as Heero Yuy.
Then a butler came out again, whispering something into Relena's ear. She released herself from the friendly embrace she and Cathrine shared.
"Tell them to go away..." Her eyes turned a stone cold color. "I don't want any visitors."
"That's what I told them, Miss Relena, but he insisted on coming in and seeing you..."
"Relena," the man began from the behind the butler, "we need to talk."
Relena gently pushed the butler out of her way and saw who was behind him. A sad smile appeared on her lips as ran up to him and threw her arms around him.
"Oh, Heero, I just knew you were alive!" She whispered.
"That's what we have to talk about."
Allen then explained in so many words that he let his old self die and be buried in the ground. Then he told her about his birth name and she was just overjoyed to see him alive. Then he got the third degree from Relena and Cathrine, about how much he worried them both.
During that time Hilde and Duo escaped into the garden, admiring its beauty. Hilde walked up to Duo and grabbed his arm.
"You miss him, don't you?" Hilde asked remembering that flower that Duo was looking at.
Duo had told her about that rose and what it meant to him. During the start of the war, Duo lived in the Maxwell Church with Father Maxwell and Sister Helen. Well, Sister Helen kept a garden behind the Church. One day Father Maxwell found Duo staring at the rose bed. He had asked Duo if he knew what the rose meant. Duo said he didn't know. Father Maxwell told him that it meant remember. So every time Duo looked at a rose, he remembered Sister Helen and Father Maxwell.
"Yes, I miss him very much." He replied.
"To me it means love... and Duo I love you..."
He pressed a finger to her lips and gave her a kiss that she has never had before. He then pulls away, regret in his eyes.
"I love you too, but I can't stay with you..."
Hilde felt crushed, but she knew deep down in her heart what he meant. Shinigami was just around the corner and could jump out at any moment.
"I'll always love you Hilde. But I can't put you in danger. There's one thing you can count on, I'll always be there for you and be there in your dreams."
He then left her there. As he walked away, he wanted to kill himself. He knew that he hurt Hilde, because he was hurt too. But he hoped that she understood why. He'd only put her in more danger by staying with her. It was the only way. To him it was the end of forever.
Dreamer: What did you think? You thought I'd killed Heero right? Well, Aonir's boyfriend would have killed me if I did. Are you happy too, I hope you are Sirjerry. "Spiderman," and "Rose Red," gave me the idea to write this fic. The ending to "Spiderman," is really what started it. But when Duo was looking at the flower, the ending from "Rose Red," just popped up into my mind. I haven't the book for "Rose Red," much less seen the whole movie. I hoped you enjoyed the story!