Disclaimer: I don't own any of the G-boys etc, regardless of how much I'd
like to ___
Warnings: Yaoi, violence, language, angst, lime, a bit fluffy too, I guess
Pairings: 1x2
1 Carpe Diem
Identify. Aim. Shoot. Dodge. Identify. Aim. Shoot. Destroy. Just a series of repetitions. Exactly what he'd been trained for. Heero efficiently fought off the scores of mobile suits as they flew in on all sides. Trowa and Wufei had got through with the help of his and Duo's cover fire and had destroyed the OZ weapons research centre. Mission Complete. Trowa and Wufei were already on their way back to the safe house.
All Heero had to do now was get out with Duo.
"How you doin' their, buddy?" Duo's face appeared on Wing's monitor. He looked slightly strained but there was a manic grin on his face.
"Almost done," Heero replied in his usual monotone. "Get ready to pull out."
"Roger that." Duo replied and signed off.
Heero's hands flew over the controls. He dodged the fire of one mobile suit and sliced it in half. It exploded in a ballooning of flame and smoke.
Heero's monitor blipped. He looked up. Two large waves of OZ reinforcements were on the way. Heero grunted. Their timing must have been slightly off. Heero looked over at Deathscythe. Duo was surrounded but fighting well. Heero was sure Duo would be able to defeat them all, but Duo seemed to be so wrapped up in his conflict that he did not notice the reinforcements on their way.
Heero quickly shot three more suits to hell and went to help Deathscythe out. As he got closer Heero realised that the situation was a little more serious. Deathscythe had sustained some heavy damage.
"Duo, get out of there now," Heero ordered flatly. "There are too many and more on the way."
"Negative, pal," Duo's strained voice was heard in his cockpit. "The minute I let my guard down, they'll be on me."
"Hold on," Heero replied. "I'm almost on you."
But as Heero approached as fast as he could, two suits attacked Duo from behind. A large burst of cannon fire sent Deathscythe pitching forward whilst the second suit rammed into it. Deathscythe slumped over. Bits of the Gundam exploded in fire and smoke.
"Duo!" Heero called, with more desperation that was characteristic of him. There was no answer. Heero roared in anger and advanced on the two suits. In a matter of seconds they were so much smoking scrap metal on the ground.
Heero opened Wing's cockpit door and jumped onto Deathscythe. "Duo!" He frantically scrambled over the smouldering shoulder of the Gundam and to the cockpit. It was in a sorry state.
"Duo! Answer me!" Heero growled as he shouldered Deathscythe's cockpit door open violently. He plunged in. And froze.
"Duo." Heero's voice choked.
The control panel was splintered metal and sparking wires. The force of the impact had broken the braided boy's restraints and he'd been flung forward.onto a viciously sharp, foot-long shard of metal that had broken away from the panel and was protruding from the controls.and Duo's back. It had gone straight through the boy's stomach.
Heero unfroze himself and rushed forward. Duo's head rested on the control panel and his face was turned away. Heero scrambled to the other side. Duo's face was ghostly pale. "Duo? Duo, wake up."
The boy's violet eyes fluttered open briefly, but they seemed unable to focus. He had a sad attempt at a grin. "Hiya there, Hee-chan," Duo murmured.
Too much blood. "Duo," Heero once more felt his voice catch. "You're gonna be ok. Just hang on." Heero was trying to convince himself as much as his wounded comrade. But as he once more saw the bloodied piece of metal that was sticking through the boy's abdomen and protruding from his lower back, he knew that Duo was not going to survive. //No!// Heero thought desperately. //He'll live. He always does. He won't leave me.//
"Heero?" asked Duo weakly. Heero was alarmed to see that Duo's eyes were not focussing on him. "There's something digging into my stomach."
Heero swallowed. He reached forward and brushed Duo's bangs out of his eyes. He was trying desperately to think of a way to move his injured comrade with causing him further damage. The reinforcements would be here soon and they had to get away quickly. "Hang on, Duo. You hear me!"
Duo nodded faintly but his eyes drifted shut. "It hurts, Heero."
"You're gonna be ok," Heero stroked Duo's hair. He could feel tears brimming in his eyes.
"Heero.I've got to.to tell you." Duo's breathing was coming short and fast.
"Don't try to speak, Duo," Heero said.
"No!" Duo was insistent. His face contorted in pain and determination. "Heero.I."
Heero bit his lip.
"Heero," Duo ploughed on. Heero had to lean forward to hear his words. "I.love you."
Tears fell from Heero's eyes. He kept his voice strong and wiped the blood off Duo's face. "Baka," Heero tried to say lightly. "Why didn't you tell me?"
Duo smiled. He was fading.
"Duo! Don't you leave me, Duo!" Heero clung to the boy's torn pilot suit. He wouldn't be able to survive without Duo. It was only now, after he heard those words and now, when it was too late, Heero realised what he hadn't understood all these years. "Ai shiteru Duo."
Duo smiled and opened his eyes to look at Heero. His gaze was strong for a second. "Get away, Heero," he croaked, "the.reinforcements."
"No, Duo," Heero insisted. "I'm not leaving you.Duo? Duo!" Heero felt his heart tear in two as the life disappeared out of his partner's eyes. All his resolve and self-control that had been iron-clad up until then melted in a wash of bitter tears. He clung to Duo's body, crying out desperately.
A distant roar intruded in on his distraught moment. He looked up out of the open cockpit. The waves of mobile suits were arriving.
Fury boiled with grief inside him. He was going to jump up and destroy them all with his bare hands.but he still couldn't bare the thought of leaving Duo here.
With wet cheeks and cringing, Heero gently pulled Duo's body off the metal shard it had been impaled upon. Duo's blood was all over the panel. The Japanese pilot searched for strength so as not to break down. He cradled his precious and surprisingly light cargo in his arms and jumped from Deathscythe's destroyed cockpit and onto Wing's shoulder. He wanted to stay and destroy every last one of the OZ forces that had killed his friend, but his soldier mind was weighing up the odds. Even the infamous Heero Yuy wouldn't survive against all those reinforcements.
He shut the cockpit and boosted his gundam's engines. They roared to life and soon the scene of destruction was far behind.
But the pain did not lessen. Heero set his gundam on auto-pilot. He pulled Duo's body into his lap and wept shamefully over it for the entire journey to the safe house. The Japanese boy felt as if something had been ripped out of him. His soldier's mind whispered to him that it did not matter. The mission had been completed, that was all that mattered. This was war. Casualties were only to be expected.
//You knew that one of you would be almost certain to die.//But Heero's military thinking was not enough to deaden the pain. He was not trained to deal with this situation. He had never expected that he would feel so strongly; that part of him had died a long time ago. But when he saw Duo's impaled body.something was torn open inside him and all the bottled up emotions had stormed out with a vengeance.
And to hear Duo say with his last breaths, "I love you." Somehow Heero had known before. But he had chosen to ignore Duo's feelings and his own. Emotions were an inefficient use of time and reduced a soldier's optimum fighting capacity. But, surprised though some might be to realise it, Heero Yuy was human. When he was cut, he bled. And now, his heart was bleeding.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Quatre had welcomed his tall lover back to the safe house with an embrace. He greeted Wufei with a big smile and a wave. He already had some hot tea ready for them. No matter what any of them said, Quatre knew that the best thing to come back to after a mission was a warm cup of tea. Quenched the thirst and warmed the body.
They had talked quietly amongst themselves over the aforesaid beverage, waiting for Heero and Duo to return. Quatre was glad to hear that the mission had gone well and Trowa and Wufei had successfully destroyed their target. Heero and Duo only had a few more suits to fight off and they'd be back shortly.
To punctuate the comment, the sound of engines could be heard roaring in the distance. Talk was suspended amongst the three pilots as the noise of the landing died down and Quatre excused himself to go and welcome Heero and Duo back.
Quatre made it into the hall as the front door began to open. "Konnichiwa, Heero," Quatre greeted brightly. "How did." Quatre's smile left his face as if it had been pulled off with a string. Heero stood in the doorway with his face grimy with tears and blood. There was blood on his clothes. In his arms he cradled Duo. The boy's head lolled on Heero's shoulder and one arm hung down lifelessly. There was blood all over the front and the back of his pilot suit that was smeared on Heero's hands, arms and face and had dripped down onto his shoes.
Quatre clasped his hands to his mouth for fear he would scream. It took him a moment to gather enough breath to speak. "Duo?"
"He's dead," Heero said flatly. Quatre's tear-filled, terror-stricken eyes looked up at Heero's face. It was flat, devoid of all emotion, as was his voice. His cobalt blue eyes were as hard and cold as marble. But Quatre could detect deep within them the heart-rending pain that flickered secretly. Quatre could also see that they were red from weeping and that his face was stained with tears.
Quatre couldn't contain himself. To see Duo like that.he burst into sobs.
Trowa and Wufei rushed into the hall to see what the matter was. Quatre flung himself into his lover's arms and cried. He screwed his eyes up tight to try and banish that vision.
Heero calmly closed the front door. Trowa and Wufei both stared at the gut- wrenching sight. Trowa hugged the distraught Quatre tight and clung on. Wufei just stood and stared. There were tears in all eyes present. Except Heero Yuy's.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
The gundam flew off as the OZ reinforcements arrived. But there was still one gundam left on the battlefield, or what was left of it. The mobile suits landed.
The captain addressed his troops via the radio. "Alright team, get in there and see if we can find anything."
Some of the troops could then be seen scrambling up the remains of the large machine. One man disappeared inside. The captain heard the private's voice. "Affirmative, sir. There's loads of blood."
"Whose is it?" asked the captain impatiently.
"I'll have to check the footage from my suit's computer sir," the private said, "but I'm pretty sure it's 02 pilot's. The state he was in when 01 dragged him out of the cockpit."
"Are you certain it was a gundam pilot that was injured?"
"Yes, sir."
The captain smiled. "Good. Get a sample and bring it back to base."
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
They all decided that it would be best to give Duo a traditional Catholic burial. They thought he should be buried in the Sanq Kingdom where he would, hopefully, be undisturbed and protected.
The congregation was impressive, consisting of the four remaining Gundam pilots, Dorothy, Hilde, Relena and all forty of the Magunacs. They had insisted on attending. And it wasn't because they wanted to stay by Master Quatre.
Tears flowed as the coffin was lowered into the ground. Some quietly, some not so quietly. Heero stood silent as always. But as the mahogany coffin was laid in the cold earth, he felt yet another part of his humanity go with it.
He stayed there a long time after everyone else had gone. It was a plain, black marble headstone with a simple inscription.
Here lies
Duo Maxwell
Much loved friend and soldier
AC180 ~ AC195
Killed in action
But to Heero it spoke so much more. If only he had known! If only he had known that his best friend was going to be taken away from him.he would have done something. Heero clenched his fists until his fingernails cut the skin. The cool breeze in the graveyard ruffled his hair and whistled soothingly in his ears.
Heero knelt by the gravestone. He laid his hand upon it. Finally there were tears in his eyes.
"I'm sorry, Duo," he whispered. "I'm sorry for when I punched you. I'm sorry for when I ignored you. I'm sorry for all the times I hurt you. And I'm sorry for not understanding sooner."
Heero looked back on the misty past. How blind had he been? Of course Duo had cared for him. With hindsight, Heero could see all the attention Duo had paid to him, all the undue kindness. Duo had always been over the moon the occasional times when Heero had complimented him or even had a conversation with him. Why had Heero been so stubborn? He had known, he had known all along that Duo.loved him. And that he loved Duo back. Why hadn't he said anything?
Heero collapsed onto the grass and cursed in bitter frustration. So many missed opportunities. What would it have been like to love Duo? How would it have felt to be loved? Heero decided he would have liked it. He would have liked to hold hands when he walked down a street. He would have liked the security of love.
What would it have been like to make love to Duo? To feel that silky hair running through his fingers, to kiss velvet skin and lips. What would it have been like to share something that precious, that glorious and that beautiful with Duo?
Now he would never know.
He pulled his hair away from his tear-filled eyes. It was beginning to get dark. Heero looked to the horizon. The sinking sun was staining the clouds with pinks and purples. Duo had always loved sunsets. Heero had always refused to share such simple joys and joy of the simple beauties.
"I'll share this one with you Duo," he whispered. He leant against the headstone and gazed out over the sky that had caught on fire. "This one and every one to come." If he had not been able to share sunsets with Duo during his life, then Heero swore he would do so during his death. He wanted to.
Unconsciously, Heero's hand rested on top of the grave, his fingers gently brushing the petals of the bouquet of white lilies. He could imagine they were Duo's fingertips.
At last, Heero Yuy and Duo Maxwell experienced their first sunset together, hand in hand.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
"Goddamn it Doctor, I will ask again," the captain said threateningly. "Is he goddamn ready yet?"
"Sir, it really is not as simple as that," the doctor looked through the one-way glass into the small room where a boy lay on a hospital bed, perfectly formed. A first-class result, if he did say so himself. The doctor allowed himself a small smile of pride.
"His body is complete and functional," the doctor said proudly, "but his brain still needs to accept and hold all the memories, personality traits, characteristics and a billion other things that go up to make this individual."
The captain humphed in annoyance. "Does he really need all those things? All we want is for him to be able to fight."
The doctor rolled his eyes slightly. Ignorant soldiers. "He needs his memories and experiences so that he knows how to fight as well as he did. Everyone learns from their memories. If he awoke with none, his training would have to start from scratch. Besides the time that would be wasted in this enterprise, we don't know what sort of training he had that made him as good as he was. It is better for him to remember his own training."
The captain ground his teeth in his head. Ignorant scientists. "When will he be goddamn ready then," the captain asked angrily. "Goddamn," he added for good measure. "It's taken seven goddamn months to build his body and whatever crap you pencil necks have to do to get him right. I want to know when I can start planning my strategies around him."
It was the doctor's turn to grind his teeth in his head. He looked through the glass again at the boy on the bed. He no longer needed tubes to breathe for him. He was functioning perfectly. Eyelashes rested peacefully on his cheeks and his chest rose and fell in his steady breathing. There was a wire attached to his forehead that was fed into a large machine next to the bed. It blinked and hummed ominously.
"His memories are being secured as we speak," the doctor informed the captain. "He should be ready in a week. I will need to perform some tests to ensure that everything went right and of course some initial."
The captain wasn't listening to the doctor's drivel. He smiled evilly. At last, they had a fighting chance against those colonial brats that fought them so goddamn well. Now they had one of their own. The captain tilted his head and watched the innocent-seeming boy sleep. They would have to cut his hair. No soldier in his goddamn military was going to ponce around wearing his hair in a braid.
Author's note: more to come very soon. Should have another chapter up soon. For all the new readers, how do you like it so far?
Warnings: Yaoi, violence, language, angst, lime, a bit fluffy too, I guess
Pairings: 1x2
1 Carpe Diem
Identify. Aim. Shoot. Dodge. Identify. Aim. Shoot. Destroy. Just a series of repetitions. Exactly what he'd been trained for. Heero efficiently fought off the scores of mobile suits as they flew in on all sides. Trowa and Wufei had got through with the help of his and Duo's cover fire and had destroyed the OZ weapons research centre. Mission Complete. Trowa and Wufei were already on their way back to the safe house.
All Heero had to do now was get out with Duo.
"How you doin' their, buddy?" Duo's face appeared on Wing's monitor. He looked slightly strained but there was a manic grin on his face.
"Almost done," Heero replied in his usual monotone. "Get ready to pull out."
"Roger that." Duo replied and signed off.
Heero's hands flew over the controls. He dodged the fire of one mobile suit and sliced it in half. It exploded in a ballooning of flame and smoke.
Heero's monitor blipped. He looked up. Two large waves of OZ reinforcements were on the way. Heero grunted. Their timing must have been slightly off. Heero looked over at Deathscythe. Duo was surrounded but fighting well. Heero was sure Duo would be able to defeat them all, but Duo seemed to be so wrapped up in his conflict that he did not notice the reinforcements on their way.
Heero quickly shot three more suits to hell and went to help Deathscythe out. As he got closer Heero realised that the situation was a little more serious. Deathscythe had sustained some heavy damage.
"Duo, get out of there now," Heero ordered flatly. "There are too many and more on the way."
"Negative, pal," Duo's strained voice was heard in his cockpit. "The minute I let my guard down, they'll be on me."
"Hold on," Heero replied. "I'm almost on you."
But as Heero approached as fast as he could, two suits attacked Duo from behind. A large burst of cannon fire sent Deathscythe pitching forward whilst the second suit rammed into it. Deathscythe slumped over. Bits of the Gundam exploded in fire and smoke.
"Duo!" Heero called, with more desperation that was characteristic of him. There was no answer. Heero roared in anger and advanced on the two suits. In a matter of seconds they were so much smoking scrap metal on the ground.
Heero opened Wing's cockpit door and jumped onto Deathscythe. "Duo!" He frantically scrambled over the smouldering shoulder of the Gundam and to the cockpit. It was in a sorry state.
"Duo! Answer me!" Heero growled as he shouldered Deathscythe's cockpit door open violently. He plunged in. And froze.
"Duo." Heero's voice choked.
The control panel was splintered metal and sparking wires. The force of the impact had broken the braided boy's restraints and he'd been flung forward.onto a viciously sharp, foot-long shard of metal that had broken away from the panel and was protruding from the controls.and Duo's back. It had gone straight through the boy's stomach.
Heero unfroze himself and rushed forward. Duo's head rested on the control panel and his face was turned away. Heero scrambled to the other side. Duo's face was ghostly pale. "Duo? Duo, wake up."
The boy's violet eyes fluttered open briefly, but they seemed unable to focus. He had a sad attempt at a grin. "Hiya there, Hee-chan," Duo murmured.
Too much blood. "Duo," Heero once more felt his voice catch. "You're gonna be ok. Just hang on." Heero was trying to convince himself as much as his wounded comrade. But as he once more saw the bloodied piece of metal that was sticking through the boy's abdomen and protruding from his lower back, he knew that Duo was not going to survive. //No!// Heero thought desperately. //He'll live. He always does. He won't leave me.//
"Heero?" asked Duo weakly. Heero was alarmed to see that Duo's eyes were not focussing on him. "There's something digging into my stomach."
Heero swallowed. He reached forward and brushed Duo's bangs out of his eyes. He was trying desperately to think of a way to move his injured comrade with causing him further damage. The reinforcements would be here soon and they had to get away quickly. "Hang on, Duo. You hear me!"
Duo nodded faintly but his eyes drifted shut. "It hurts, Heero."
"You're gonna be ok," Heero stroked Duo's hair. He could feel tears brimming in his eyes.
"Heero.I've got to.to tell you." Duo's breathing was coming short and fast.
"Don't try to speak, Duo," Heero said.
"No!" Duo was insistent. His face contorted in pain and determination. "Heero.I."
Heero bit his lip.
"Heero," Duo ploughed on. Heero had to lean forward to hear his words. "I.love you."
Tears fell from Heero's eyes. He kept his voice strong and wiped the blood off Duo's face. "Baka," Heero tried to say lightly. "Why didn't you tell me?"
Duo smiled. He was fading.
"Duo! Don't you leave me, Duo!" Heero clung to the boy's torn pilot suit. He wouldn't be able to survive without Duo. It was only now, after he heard those words and now, when it was too late, Heero realised what he hadn't understood all these years. "Ai shiteru Duo."
Duo smiled and opened his eyes to look at Heero. His gaze was strong for a second. "Get away, Heero," he croaked, "the.reinforcements."
"No, Duo," Heero insisted. "I'm not leaving you.Duo? Duo!" Heero felt his heart tear in two as the life disappeared out of his partner's eyes. All his resolve and self-control that had been iron-clad up until then melted in a wash of bitter tears. He clung to Duo's body, crying out desperately.
A distant roar intruded in on his distraught moment. He looked up out of the open cockpit. The waves of mobile suits were arriving.
Fury boiled with grief inside him. He was going to jump up and destroy them all with his bare hands.but he still couldn't bare the thought of leaving Duo here.
With wet cheeks and cringing, Heero gently pulled Duo's body off the metal shard it had been impaled upon. Duo's blood was all over the panel. The Japanese pilot searched for strength so as not to break down. He cradled his precious and surprisingly light cargo in his arms and jumped from Deathscythe's destroyed cockpit and onto Wing's shoulder. He wanted to stay and destroy every last one of the OZ forces that had killed his friend, but his soldier mind was weighing up the odds. Even the infamous Heero Yuy wouldn't survive against all those reinforcements.
He shut the cockpit and boosted his gundam's engines. They roared to life and soon the scene of destruction was far behind.
But the pain did not lessen. Heero set his gundam on auto-pilot. He pulled Duo's body into his lap and wept shamefully over it for the entire journey to the safe house. The Japanese boy felt as if something had been ripped out of him. His soldier's mind whispered to him that it did not matter. The mission had been completed, that was all that mattered. This was war. Casualties were only to be expected.
//You knew that one of you would be almost certain to die.//But Heero's military thinking was not enough to deaden the pain. He was not trained to deal with this situation. He had never expected that he would feel so strongly; that part of him had died a long time ago. But when he saw Duo's impaled body.something was torn open inside him and all the bottled up emotions had stormed out with a vengeance.
And to hear Duo say with his last breaths, "I love you." Somehow Heero had known before. But he had chosen to ignore Duo's feelings and his own. Emotions were an inefficient use of time and reduced a soldier's optimum fighting capacity. But, surprised though some might be to realise it, Heero Yuy was human. When he was cut, he bled. And now, his heart was bleeding.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Quatre had welcomed his tall lover back to the safe house with an embrace. He greeted Wufei with a big smile and a wave. He already had some hot tea ready for them. No matter what any of them said, Quatre knew that the best thing to come back to after a mission was a warm cup of tea. Quenched the thirst and warmed the body.
They had talked quietly amongst themselves over the aforesaid beverage, waiting for Heero and Duo to return. Quatre was glad to hear that the mission had gone well and Trowa and Wufei had successfully destroyed their target. Heero and Duo only had a few more suits to fight off and they'd be back shortly.
To punctuate the comment, the sound of engines could be heard roaring in the distance. Talk was suspended amongst the three pilots as the noise of the landing died down and Quatre excused himself to go and welcome Heero and Duo back.
Quatre made it into the hall as the front door began to open. "Konnichiwa, Heero," Quatre greeted brightly. "How did." Quatre's smile left his face as if it had been pulled off with a string. Heero stood in the doorway with his face grimy with tears and blood. There was blood on his clothes. In his arms he cradled Duo. The boy's head lolled on Heero's shoulder and one arm hung down lifelessly. There was blood all over the front and the back of his pilot suit that was smeared on Heero's hands, arms and face and had dripped down onto his shoes.
Quatre clasped his hands to his mouth for fear he would scream. It took him a moment to gather enough breath to speak. "Duo?"
"He's dead," Heero said flatly. Quatre's tear-filled, terror-stricken eyes looked up at Heero's face. It was flat, devoid of all emotion, as was his voice. His cobalt blue eyes were as hard and cold as marble. But Quatre could detect deep within them the heart-rending pain that flickered secretly. Quatre could also see that they were red from weeping and that his face was stained with tears.
Quatre couldn't contain himself. To see Duo like that.he burst into sobs.
Trowa and Wufei rushed into the hall to see what the matter was. Quatre flung himself into his lover's arms and cried. He screwed his eyes up tight to try and banish that vision.
Heero calmly closed the front door. Trowa and Wufei both stared at the gut- wrenching sight. Trowa hugged the distraught Quatre tight and clung on. Wufei just stood and stared. There were tears in all eyes present. Except Heero Yuy's.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
The gundam flew off as the OZ reinforcements arrived. But there was still one gundam left on the battlefield, or what was left of it. The mobile suits landed.
The captain addressed his troops via the radio. "Alright team, get in there and see if we can find anything."
Some of the troops could then be seen scrambling up the remains of the large machine. One man disappeared inside. The captain heard the private's voice. "Affirmative, sir. There's loads of blood."
"Whose is it?" asked the captain impatiently.
"I'll have to check the footage from my suit's computer sir," the private said, "but I'm pretty sure it's 02 pilot's. The state he was in when 01 dragged him out of the cockpit."
"Are you certain it was a gundam pilot that was injured?"
"Yes, sir."
The captain smiled. "Good. Get a sample and bring it back to base."
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
They all decided that it would be best to give Duo a traditional Catholic burial. They thought he should be buried in the Sanq Kingdom where he would, hopefully, be undisturbed and protected.
The congregation was impressive, consisting of the four remaining Gundam pilots, Dorothy, Hilde, Relena and all forty of the Magunacs. They had insisted on attending. And it wasn't because they wanted to stay by Master Quatre.
Tears flowed as the coffin was lowered into the ground. Some quietly, some not so quietly. Heero stood silent as always. But as the mahogany coffin was laid in the cold earth, he felt yet another part of his humanity go with it.
He stayed there a long time after everyone else had gone. It was a plain, black marble headstone with a simple inscription.
Here lies
Duo Maxwell
Much loved friend and soldier
AC180 ~ AC195
Killed in action
But to Heero it spoke so much more. If only he had known! If only he had known that his best friend was going to be taken away from him.he would have done something. Heero clenched his fists until his fingernails cut the skin. The cool breeze in the graveyard ruffled his hair and whistled soothingly in his ears.
Heero knelt by the gravestone. He laid his hand upon it. Finally there were tears in his eyes.
"I'm sorry, Duo," he whispered. "I'm sorry for when I punched you. I'm sorry for when I ignored you. I'm sorry for all the times I hurt you. And I'm sorry for not understanding sooner."
Heero looked back on the misty past. How blind had he been? Of course Duo had cared for him. With hindsight, Heero could see all the attention Duo had paid to him, all the undue kindness. Duo had always been over the moon the occasional times when Heero had complimented him or even had a conversation with him. Why had Heero been so stubborn? He had known, he had known all along that Duo.loved him. And that he loved Duo back. Why hadn't he said anything?
Heero collapsed onto the grass and cursed in bitter frustration. So many missed opportunities. What would it have been like to love Duo? How would it have felt to be loved? Heero decided he would have liked it. He would have liked to hold hands when he walked down a street. He would have liked the security of love.
What would it have been like to make love to Duo? To feel that silky hair running through his fingers, to kiss velvet skin and lips. What would it have been like to share something that precious, that glorious and that beautiful with Duo?
Now he would never know.
He pulled his hair away from his tear-filled eyes. It was beginning to get dark. Heero looked to the horizon. The sinking sun was staining the clouds with pinks and purples. Duo had always loved sunsets. Heero had always refused to share such simple joys and joy of the simple beauties.
"I'll share this one with you Duo," he whispered. He leant against the headstone and gazed out over the sky that had caught on fire. "This one and every one to come." If he had not been able to share sunsets with Duo during his life, then Heero swore he would do so during his death. He wanted to.
Unconsciously, Heero's hand rested on top of the grave, his fingers gently brushing the petals of the bouquet of white lilies. He could imagine they were Duo's fingertips.
At last, Heero Yuy and Duo Maxwell experienced their first sunset together, hand in hand.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
"Goddamn it Doctor, I will ask again," the captain said threateningly. "Is he goddamn ready yet?"
"Sir, it really is not as simple as that," the doctor looked through the one-way glass into the small room where a boy lay on a hospital bed, perfectly formed. A first-class result, if he did say so himself. The doctor allowed himself a small smile of pride.
"His body is complete and functional," the doctor said proudly, "but his brain still needs to accept and hold all the memories, personality traits, characteristics and a billion other things that go up to make this individual."
The captain humphed in annoyance. "Does he really need all those things? All we want is for him to be able to fight."
The doctor rolled his eyes slightly. Ignorant soldiers. "He needs his memories and experiences so that he knows how to fight as well as he did. Everyone learns from their memories. If he awoke with none, his training would have to start from scratch. Besides the time that would be wasted in this enterprise, we don't know what sort of training he had that made him as good as he was. It is better for him to remember his own training."
The captain ground his teeth in his head. Ignorant scientists. "When will he be goddamn ready then," the captain asked angrily. "Goddamn," he added for good measure. "It's taken seven goddamn months to build his body and whatever crap you pencil necks have to do to get him right. I want to know when I can start planning my strategies around him."
It was the doctor's turn to grind his teeth in his head. He looked through the glass again at the boy on the bed. He no longer needed tubes to breathe for him. He was functioning perfectly. Eyelashes rested peacefully on his cheeks and his chest rose and fell in his steady breathing. There was a wire attached to his forehead that was fed into a large machine next to the bed. It blinked and hummed ominously.
"His memories are being secured as we speak," the doctor informed the captain. "He should be ready in a week. I will need to perform some tests to ensure that everything went right and of course some initial."
The captain wasn't listening to the doctor's drivel. He smiled evilly. At last, they had a fighting chance against those colonial brats that fought them so goddamn well. Now they had one of their own. The captain tilted his head and watched the innocent-seeming boy sleep. They would have to cut his hair. No soldier in his goddamn military was going to ponce around wearing his hair in a braid.
Author's note: more to come very soon. Should have another chapter up soon. For all the new readers, how do you like it so far?
