Warnings: Yaoi, 5x2, 3x4. Don't read if it will upset you. I do not own Gundam Wing, or anything having to do with it.
Notes: Duo has a strange dream.
Counting Stars
Part 2: Reality
Duo dreamed of the other pilots. They all stood in a circle around him. Quatre and Trowa were holding hands, Heero was looking at the floor, and Wufei was standing slightly back from the others.
Quatre looked at him, then away, "We have to go," he said, brushing his hair from his face, "We only stay with real people."
"Yes," Trowa said, smiling down at Quatre, "You're just a figment of Quatre's overactive imagination."
Quatre smiled, "But you saw them too, right? So it wasn't just me?"
"I never saw them, Quatre," Trowa said, leading his love away.
They faded away. Only Wufei and Heero were left.
Heero looked at Duo, then Wufei, "I am real; at least more so than you, Duo. I can't see you; I can't even kill you," he didn't even start to walk away, like Quatre and Trowa had. He just faded where he stood.
Duo looked at the remaining pilot. Wufei was staring at the sky, seemingly enthralled.
"Just you and me, Wufei," Duo tried to see what Wufei was looking at, but saw nothing.
"I can see the stars; can't you see them, Duo?" Wufei asked. His voice came from far away.
Duo looked again. Still nothing.
"Too many to count," Wufei sighed, then looked down, "I can't talk to you until you see them, Duo. You should know that. You can't become real until you do, and I can't until I don't," he laughed, bitterly, "But this is only a dream, and you'll never see."
Duo tried again, but there was only empty blackness above them, "See what, Wufei?"
"The others left us behind, Maxwell. We have to find our own way out," Wufei ignored the question. He stepped forward and placed his hands on Duo's shoulders.
For one strange second Duo thought Wufei was going to kiss him. Instead, he stepped back and said, "Anyway, it's time for you to wake up now."
Duo sat up in his bed, noticeably out of breath. He knew, suddenly, that the others must be gone. He got up and ran into the kitchen.
Wufei was sitting alone, sipping some tea. He looked up as Duo entered.
"Where are the others?" Duo asked, breathlessly.
"They're gone," Wufei said, turning back to his book.
"What?!"
Wufei looked up again, annoyed now, "They left on a mission. While you were sleeping."
That made sense, "But they just left us? We weren't needed?"
"Obviously," Wufei said, even more aggravated.
Duo tried to question him some more, but Wufei got up and left; he hadn't even finished his tea. Duo ate alone.
That night, Duo had an old dream. In a way, it was comforting. He knew and understood his old nightmares.
But even though he understood it, the dream still woke him up long before the sun showed itself. Used to waking up this early, he decided to go check on his Gundam so that he could calm down and sleep again. He usually watched television, but this place didn't have one.
Duo was surprised to see Wufei's door slightly ajar. He usually locked it at night. That probably meant Wufei was awake, and since Duo didn't really feel like being alone. . .
He opened the door silently. Wufei was awake, but he didn't notice Duo quietly slip into the room.
Wufei was leaning, silhouetted by a quiet stream of moonlight, through the open window. His head was slightly raised and his hands and stomach were pressed heavily against the windowsill. Duo stood in the doorway watching him for over a minute, and still Wufei didn't notice.
This sight was oddly calming for Duo, and all thoughts of the dream that had brought him here left. He remembered Wufei from that other, more confusing dream of the previous night. Duo decided to break the silence.
"Do you see the stars, Wufei?" Duo asked, watching the other stiffen, and turn. I'm going to regret this, he thought vaguely, "Can you count them?"
Duo met Wufei's eyes, expecting to see anger. He was not disappointed. Behind that rage, though, he saw an emotion which surprised him. Fear.
He watched as Wufei glanced over towards his sword lying next to the bed. Duo wondered if he would still be alive now if Wufei had been standing closer to that weapon.
"Get out, Duo," Wufei said, rage controlled just below the surface. But it was false rage, Duo could tell. Wufei was just as much of a fake as he was.
"Why? What did I say?" Duo asked, keeping his tone pleasant. If Wufei hid behind anger, Duo would stay behind his own false emotions.
"Get out," Wufei growled. He walked over to his sword and picked it up, "Now."
"It was just a simple question, Wu-man," Duo kept his position. He felt like he was in a dream.
"There are no simple questions, Maxwell. Now leave," the blade of the sword screamed downward, and Duo jumped out of the way, out the door, "and we can pretend this never happened," Wufei slammed the door in Duo's face.
Duo wondered again if this was a dream, but he knew it wasn't. He heard the sound of the door locking, and smiled darkly. No locked door could keep him out when he was determined. He had a feeling that this was not going to be the last time Wufei forced him out of that room on the edge of a sword.
Pretend it never happened? Sure, Duo could manage that. Until next time, of course.