He was engulfed in the maddening pulse and strains of music. Nothing else existed. Only the strong rhythms of voices singing loudly with pride in his native tongue. How fast the song was but tempered like a river. It sang of his blood, his kinsmen, and the pride that used to be many years ago. Honor. Pride. Things he used to live by. Now he didn't know anymore, but the voices, they urged and pushed, continuously strong without wavering or staggering. That's how he must be like, Wufei thought in daze. Strong and swift like a river but as calm as the sea.

Forever pushing forward...

steady... thump

faster...

push... thump

thump honor...

thump pride...

family... thump

thump push...

... thump

thump thump thump thump

thumpthumpthumpthumpthumpthumpthumpthump

…run...

Wufei stared up blankly at the ceiling of his dilapidated room. The wallpaper was peeling off, but he didn't notice. He only heard the voices of his ancestors and the pride swelling up within him. He knew who he was. He knew his worth. He knew many things, yet he knew nothing. Nothing.

Wufei was gently lulled into a deep sleep and never came out of his room while the sun passed overhead thrice during his dreamless rest.

***

"Wufei," yelled Duo who pounded on his door. "Wufei, open the door, buddy." All he could hear was the faint songs sung in a foreign tongue that had been playing constantly for three whole days.

After waiting for a few minutes, Duo shouted, "I don't know what's going on in there, but I'm comin' in."

Sliding some various metal objects out of his hair, Duo tweaked the lock till he heard a "click" and opened the door. The room smelled musty and stale. Wufei was sprawled on his bed, his hair loose, his eyes closed in his sleep while the music drowned out all other sound. Slowly, it began to fade and crackle as the radio lost power until it completely shut off. When it did, Wufei awoke from his dreams as if he were Sleeping Beauty waiting for his rescuer to come save him.

"Duo…" Wufei stretched his arms out, "what are you doing in my room?"

Amazed at his oblivion, Duo marched up to his window and opened the blinds. Wufei shielded his eyes from the light and twisted the sheets around his body as if the sun was a stinging poison.

"Wufei-" Duo shook his head. "Y'know you've been sleeping for three days straight, buddy. Y'know that?"

Wufei glared at Duo. "I wasn't sleeping all the time."

"Then why didn't you come out to eat anything? When Heero called, I didn't know what to say to him. Oh, Wufei's locked himself in his room for three days and I-" Duo abruptly stopped talking.

Wufei gave him a strange look. "Heero…called?"

Duo nodded. "Yeah. Looks like the folks at the Preventers Headquarters have finally found a mission for us."

Wufei groaned and tried to sit up but clutched his forehead. He felt dizzy and was about to fall back down onto his pillow when Duo reached over to steady him.

"Hey, take it easy Wufei. Though you might not have been sleepin' fer three days, you sure've slept a lot," Duo chuckled good-naturedly.

"Shut up and get out," Wufei mumbled, throwing a pillow at Duo who caught it between his hands and snuggled it to his face.

"Mmm. Smells good. I hope you've taken showers these past few days," Duo grinned mischievously.

"Get out!" Wufei yelled, standing up, the sheets giving way to his naked body. His lean figure was chiseled and defined with slight muscles from training. The rays of sunlight only warmed up the bronze tan of his skin which hid halfway between the light and the shadows with his dark hair spilling over his tense shoulders. Immediately realizing his absence of clothing, Wufei grabbed the sheets and pulled them around his waist, but not before Duo saw all that there was to see.

Blushing, Duo said, "Er…I'll be on my way out now," and stumbled out of the room with Wufei's pillow crushed in his arm.

Scurrying back into his room, he banged his head against the wall, the pillow still victim in the tightening choke of his arms. "What the hell is wrong with me? Oh God, help me." Duo slid down the wall, sinking his face into the soft, welcoming pillow, sniffing Wufei's scent. Pushing under the pillow was the bulge in his pants that he tried to will away.

Running out under the overcast, his coat buttoned up to the neck, the braided boy walked quickly down the streets, his legs stiff and sore under him. He'd been walking for a while now, paranoid of OZ or Alliance spies finding him. People quickly rushed to and forth around him, never brushing against him in the slightest way, all consumed in getting to their final destination. A city of robots.

Finally, he arrived at his destination. The only place he could call a sanctuary in the whole city. His church.

He walked down past the pews in the middle of the aisle, his fingers ghosting across the smooth, wooden edges of each row, remembering all the times he used to play hide-and-seek with his friends in and out of the never ending field of brown. Hearing his shoes tapping on the marble floor, he smiled at the familiar sound and knelt down before the mounted statue of the crucified Jesus and brought out his own cross, praying to God. The whole atmosphere, the airiness and tranquility of the church, his church, held him with so much emotion he felt he was brought nearly to tears. Then, he stood, wiped his eyes, and entered a confession booth.

He sat down, all too familiar with the process though it seemed so distant to him. Glancing through the grid, he looked at the priest's profile, a stranger in a guise. No, he'd never see his Father again…

"Bless me Father, for I have sinned…" he began.

"How long has it been since your last confession?"

"Too long to remember, Father. Perhaps years." Duo said, idly touching the cross hanging around his neck.

"And what are your sins?" The unfamiliar, muted voice queried.

"I've had inappropriate thoughts about a friend of mine who is also a man…" Duo said solemnly. "I don't want to think I'm homosexual or 'nything, but they trouble me."

"Do they occur frequently?"

"No, they've just started, and I want them to stop."

"God loves all his children; if you inhibit yourself from acting upon these thoughts, the Lord shall guide you from sin. Pray to the rosary.

"Through the Lord Jesus Christ, I absolve you of your sins, go forth and sin no more."

"Thank you, Father," Duo mumbled and exited the booth. He went down the nearest pew and pulled a cushion down which was resting alongside the back of the seat in front of him. Kneeling upon it, he took out his chaplet and made a cross, saying, "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen."

He felt the air waft around him, the piles of candles burning brightly from their wicks, the calm it brought to the torrent in his heart, and how it seemed he was the only one there, the only one truly important out of millions of others beyond his small refuge.

Mumbling, he closed his eyes and whispered, "I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe…" holy words stored in his heart.

He finished his prayer with a diminishing "Amen" before opening his eyes again. Blinking, he felt somewhat out of place, his mind floating out into space. Walking numbly to the shelf where unused candles stood bare and cold, he fished out a few bills to put in the donation box and took two candles. Lighting them into life, his face basked in their warmth and the shared warmth of hundreds of candles, melting and burning brightly in the dimly-lit church. He watched the flame flicker and devour the wick, the first beads of wax pooling and slowly dripping down the sides. Clasping his hands together in prayer, he thought back to Father Maxwell and Sister Helen, the only two people he ever considered to be his parents; the only people who cared for him and about his - other than, that is…Solo...

Solo.

Alas, he prayed for the selfless, solitary boy who was his mentor, brother, and friend to him. All three people, three holes in his heart, all taken away from him to hopefully be saved by God. He could only hope the God his dear Father and Sister so truly believed in was listening, was hearing their prayers and taking action. But even today, children were starving on the streets, stealing food, and whoring for money. What God would let this happen?

'Of course, one must keep faith,' Duo thought to himself in an attempt to extinguish all doubt in his faith. 'How can the very being Father Maxwell and Sister Helen believed in so strongly, not exist? No, He must exist!' Duo grimaced and wiped at his swelling eyes. 'He will guide me from my sins, right?'

Duo stood up and walked briskly to the exit where the doors arched high in an imitation of the ancient cathedrals still standing on Earth. Forming a cross with the holy water again, he stepped out and the weather was warm; the air was dry. He could see the sun from behind the synthesized clouds that floated almost leisurely in the artificial sky.

Staring about him, he watched people walk by as they paid no heed to him; the cars drive by without stopping; the ever constant movement of the clock never stopping and he whispered:

"God, I'm lonely."

***

AN: I've edited this story up to this chapter, making Duo and Wufei Preventers. It's just easier for me that way (if you've read any parts that say otherwise, please tell me so I can change it immediately). I'm currently working on the next chapter, but seeing how homework takes priority (yeah right) it'll be a bit longer before I update this fic. The next chapter will take a new turn, I promise.