Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing, I don't make any money off it, yadda yadda yadda. You guys all know the drill.
Please Read and Respond. I love getting input back!
Running From Love
By Mumei
Duo scuffed his heels through the gravel of the road. He was leaving. He had to.
The past month had been torture—an agonizing mix of unrecognized fears and unconfirmed suspicions. But now that all seemed to be a paradise. A few lone drops of rain splattered against his nose, his cheeks. Perfect, just perfect, he thought, life found a way to get even worse. He sighed, stopped, and turned. Duo's gaze rested on his home, well, now his ex-home. It was just a house now. Soon, the sun would be glaring in the kitchen. He could see in his mind's eye the glint of sunshine off of the table, Trowa's silhouette making breakfast, Wufei sitting at the table, Quatre would just be coming in the room now, and Heero…
Duo broke himself out of his reverie. He would not think about him.
"Love may know no bounds Heero, but I do. I can't seem to cross them, or even meet you halfway there. I just can't stand to live, or love, like this." Duo began walking again, gravel crunching beneath his feet.
He paused once more to look back towards the house. He brushed his bangs out of his eyes and took a last look, trying to memorize it and forget it all at once. "Goodbye Heero," he whispered to no one but the wind. With that he was gone.
********************************************************
"What was that all about?" Quatre asked, innocent eyes questioning the stone face of Heero. The shouting from the room down the hall from his had woken him last night. Now, Duo was gone and Quatre was worried about him. Quatre knew that he worried more than the rest of them, but he didn't care. It was his nature, his very sensitive nature.
"I don't know," Heero replied.
"You don't know?"
"He just stormed out."
"Maybe I should go after him, you know, just to make sure he's alright." Quatre looked towards the door but didn't move.
"He'll be back."
Quatre's bright blue eyes shone with uncertainty.
"He'll be fine."
Quatre stared at the firm resolve of the other pilot. He opened his mouth to speak, but a look from Trowa silenced him. Perhaps Heero was right. Duo had stalked out before, maybe he just needed some time to cool off. Maybe.
***********************************************************
Duo knew that walking to the hanger was stupid. It had stopped raining, but still…. The hanger was too far away for a comfortable walk, but he was in the mood to do stupid things right now. For awhile, he kept reminding himself of who he was—Duo, Shinigami the god of death, a Gundam pilot, an orphan. He did not need anyone, he would be fine on his own. But as the miles started to blur, Duo's resolve began to falter.
Could he do this? Could he go back to his old way of life? One filled with the loneliness of self-imposed exile? Being with the others—Wufei, Trowa, Quatre, Heero—was the first time in a long time that he felt as though he belonged. Could he leave? Did he want to?
Duo looked up from his troubled thoughts. He was at the hanger. It was now or never. He took a deep breath and steadied himself. "I am Shinigami. I don't need anyone, I never have before and I never will." And with that, he climbed on board.
************************************************************************
The day had grown dark. Heero had not moved from the window for many hours. Despite nightfall he still stared outside. Where was Duo? He should have been back by now. Heero's eyes were burning from searching the hills, watching them constantly, but he dared not blink. He might miss him.
"Heero?"
The boy said nothing in reply, but Quatre knew that he was listening.
"He's gone."
"He'll be back," Heero replied with as much certainty as he had earlier that day.
Quatre sighed, he didn't want to be the one to tell him. "He took DeathScythe. There is a transport missing from the hanger. Heero, Duo is gone."
Heero blinked.
************************************************************************
Duo closed his eyes when he reached the darkness of space. He replayed the scene that had taken place this morning on the backs of his eyelids. Heero had been acting strange for the past month. Not that Heero's behavior wasn't already strange, this had been even stranger. He had taken his silent and secretive nature to new extremes. How are you supposed to get along with a guy who never talks, never shows any emotion, never… How are you supposed to love a guy like that? Between Heero's unending silence and his continuous hours on that damn laptop, Duo begun to feel as though he didn't exist. At least not in Heero's world. And that is where he wanted to belong. In Heero's world. Damn, but he hated this. Maybe if he had just kept his mouth shut, if he had just stuck it out, ignoring the cold shoulder, ignoring what he felt… But now it was too late for maybes. What was done, was done. He just had to get past it. Somehow…
***********************************************************************
"Quatre, what are you doing?"
The blonde looked up into the face of his beloved.
"Nothing Trowa."
Trowa couldn't help but smile—Quatre was obviously doing something, and *almost* trying to be secretive about it.
"Quatre, you are choosing to lie very poorly. Which means that you want to tell me, but feel as though you shouldn't because somebody might not like it. Am I right?"
Quatre hung his head in silent agreement.
"I thought so. Is it about Duo?"
Quatre looked up sharply. "It's about him. And about Heero."
Trowa nodded. "Don't you think that they will sort this all out by themselves?"
"Do you?"
Now it was Trowa's turn to hang his head. "No."
"I just want it all to work out," said Quatre.
Silently, Trowa agreed.
**********************************************************************
Duo looked around the hanger's port and gave a low whistle. "Not bad, not bad at all…." He slowly crept up the ladder into the third transport—and by far the nicest—that he had taken since he left the others. He knew that sticking with these large transports was going to make him stick out, but there was no way that he was going to leave Death Scythe. The Gundam was all that he had left. Duo quickly quashed that thought and sauntered over to his Gundam.
"Well mate, I guess it's just you and me now. Just like it's supposed to be. The god of death and his tool of destruction. Where do you want to go? Yeah, I don't know either." Duo leaned on the railing, never quite looking at his mobile suit. He could almost feel it looking at him, disappointed. He felt the irrational need to explain things to the Gundam suit. It was his other half. A half-smirk graced his face. "I guess as long as I'm doing stuff this crazy, the least I can do is talk to you." He sighed, "D'you think this is a good idea?"
The Gundam just sat there, silent in the darkness.