Duo's POV

Duo's POV

The fear the nightmare had left lingered for weeks, but it never came back and eventually, I almost forgot about it. Almost, but not quite. And then…

Quatre was at the apartment again and to his and Wufei's amusement, I couldn't keep my eyes open for longer than five minutes. Eventually, I must have fallen asleep amid the gentle teasing because the next thing I knew, I was being shaken violently and Wufei was whispering urgently, "Duo! Duo, wake up!"

"Wha-?" I yawned and batted his hand away from me. "Lea'm'lone, I wanna sleep," I mumbled, already closing my eyes again.

There was an unmistakable note of panic in his voice, 'Duo! Wake up!"

My eyes flew open. Since when was Wufei *panicked*? He could be cautious and worried, but never *panicked*. No, Wufei always was able to maintain a level head in most situations…so what was going on? "Wu?" I questioned timidly, almost afraid of his answer. "What's going on."

"Nothing," he answered shortly. "We just need to get you out of the apartment!"

"Why? Wufei, answer me!" I cried loudly, even as I got to my feet. His arms wrapped around my waist, propelling me forward against my will.

"Just keep walking," he hissed in my ear.

"Wufei!" I yelped sharply. "What in God's name are you doing?"

"Getting you to safety," he answered curtly, kneeing me in the leg. "C'mon, keep moving!"

What Wufei hadn't counted on was the fact that my mind always went to the worst of things and that being blind for almost fourteen years had heightened the rest of my senses. "Wu…" The nightmare came flashing back, alongside it the horror of losing my sight all those years ago. "Wu, there's not a *fire* is there."

"No! Of course not!" His quick intake of breath and slight hesitation before answering contradicted him.

I went rock-solid, freezing in motion in the middle of the hallway. "Not a fire. I can stand anything but that. A fire destroyed my sight Wufei, did you know that?" Despite that paralyzing fear, a carefree laugh somehow managed to escape my lips. "A fire, Wufei! A fire killed my sight, left me these scars…and also, in some freakish way, led me to you! Wufei, was that fire the best thing or the worst thing to happen to me?"

"Duo!" Wufei cried in frustration. "Now's *not* the time!"

"Answer me! Was that fire good or bad?" my voice was a muffled shriek as I smelt something that smelled familiarly like smoke. Not a fire. Not again. Anything but a fire.

"If that's the reason I met you, than yes, it was the best God-damned thing that ever happened to either of us! Duo, I love you!" And then, even though there were people milling around us, trying to get out, the smell of smoke was heavy in the air, and there was a distinct crackling of flames in the distance, he kissed me.

It was the kind of kiss that stops Time and leaves you aching for more, while a strange feeling of fulfillment fills you. The type that leaves tears streaming down your cheeks and your lips in a smile. The kind that you remember forever and can always replay as vividly as the moment it was given in your mind. *That* was the way Wufei kissed me.

When his lips were parted from mine, I ran my tongue over my lips lightly, tasting the dull saltiness that coated them. I gazed at him questioningly. "Wu…are you crying?"

"Duo, I'm sorry," he whispered, and threw out his hands.

"Wufei"! I shrieked, as I lost my balanced and toppled. I was rolling down the stairs, screaming his name both as a plea for help and as a furious curse. When I hit the first landing, I jumped to my feet, angry as hell and prepared to give Wufei the biggest chewing out of his life. And than it hit me.

He knows you're too scared to move-so he made you move, knowing you'd be to angry to remember fear! I blinked stupidly for a moment and stared into the well-known darkness. Well duh! a small voice added nastily.

"Wu," I whispered helplessly, before turning around and fumbling for the railing, hoping that I wasn't headed directly into the fire.

Wufei's POV

My breathing was harried as I started down the stairs. I hadn't wanted to do that to Duo, but at the rate he was going, it was better for him to being steaming mad at me than dying because he couldn't move for fear in the fire.

The fire… The words echoed in my mind and I shook my head, still incredulous. How had a fire started? A sudden thought hit me and I stood trembling for a moment.

Duo had dreamed about a fire…"Stop!" I spoke out loud, trying to drive the feelings of overwhelming loneliness away. "Don't think anymore! Just-just *go*!" With a firm shake of my head, I started down the stairs again, taking two steps at a time.

Thank God Duo made it, I though not even fifteen minutes later when I caught sight of the familiar chestnut braid with the straggling hairs around his face. I started towards him when a horrified thought hit me.

QUATRE! I LEFT HIM IN THERE! I clamped a hand over mouth to keep the scream of rage in as I turned towards the building. My stomach lurched as I viewed the towering flames and I was sick, falling to my knees and vomiting as quietly as I could in the bushes.

I stood up though, and moved slowly towards the building. The recollection of Duo's nightmare and my own fear of being too late for Quatre haunted me with each step.

I found Quatre moving down the stairway, his hands clutched to the rail. His face was twisted into a horrible expression of fear and determination as he felt cautiously for each foothold and grasp of the hand, holding his breath with each step.

"Quatre?" I called, hoping I wouldn't scare him and cause him to let go of the rail and fall or something.

"That you Wufei?" he called back, squinting as if that would help him see.

"Yeah," I answered, jumping up lightly on the step next to him and catching hold of his upper arm. "I can't believe I missed you-,"

"It's okay. I was doing just fine," he insisted.

"You were," I agreed, not feeling up to an argument about his capabilities. From experience with Duo, I knew that was touchy subject and frankly, this was *not* the time to deal with a sensitive teen.

"Thank you for coming back," he whispered suddenly, grasping my arm. "I was lying. I wasn't doing fine. I was doing horrible."

"Hush," I hissed. "You're going to jinx us!" I wasn't sure if I was joking or not and evidently neither was Quatre because he sort of half smiled at me as we made our way down.

I saw it before he was even aware of it. The fire had been eating away at a support beam and it was going to fall…

"Quatre, get out of the way!" I cried, trying to push him along with me. He turned and gave me a puzzled look.

His stopping is what saved him because I had miscalculated where the beam was going to fall.

"WUFEI!"

I couldn't decipher who was calling me, Duo or Quatre. It was all so vague…

Duo's POV

I was biting my nails the whole time the team of firefighters worked to save the building. Who cared about the building when Quatre and Wufei were in there?

"Wufei," I sobbed quietly into my hands.

Nearby, a voice I didn't recognize said kindly, "There, there, everything will be find. Almost everyone is out and they have it under control."

I whirled around and snapped at her, "ALMOST? What do you *mean* almost? Almost isn't everyone! Almost means Wufei-*my* Wufei is in there and he might be dying and you think *almost* is good enough? Get the hell out of my way, you're disgusting!"

I didn't get a chance to hear her reaction; I was pushing past her and trying to get t the building. I'd never wanted to cry, to see so badly as I did then. The tears wouldn't fall and it hurt so bad to keep them pent up inside. And worst of all, I couldn't see.

Couldn't see if Wufei or Quatre had made it out. Couldn't see if they had died. Couldn't even see if I myself was hurt! The only thing I could do was fumble through the darkness, choke back sobs that would never find release and call in a hoarse broken voice, "Wufei?"

"Duo? You're here!" A tired, and yet pleased voice called.

"Quatre?" I managed to croak out. "Where's Wufei?"

I knew what had happened before he spoke. "Is he-is he-?"

"I don't know," Quatre whispered miserably. "He was with me and I could hear something heavy fall and I screamed for him…but than there was someone else leading me out, and I didn't know what happened. Oh, Duo, I'm so sorry, but I didn't know where I was or where he was or-oh, Duo!"

I turned away from him, my mouth going dry and my blood running cold in apprehension. It couldn't be. Quatre had just lost track of Wufei that was all. Nothing to worry about. He'd be here any minute, embracing me form behind and kissing my neck. He'd be apologetic for pushing me and I'd snap at him. Everything would be all right. Everything would be all right, it would! "Wufei! I'm over here, Wufei!" I cried, pushing myself through the crowds and away from Quatre.

"Duo? Is there a Duo out here?" a foreign voice cried loudly above the blur of the people.

"Yes! Yes!" I screamed. "I'm him!"

"Do you know this man?" the voice, now I recognized it as man, called.

A bitter laugh escaped my lips. "I'm blind! I can't see him!"

"Oh…" a low murmur ran through the crowd and I heard him make his way over to me. "Come with me and see-erm-uh, yeah, see I guess, if you can identify him."

I knew who it was before I even reached his side. The moment I had heard the stranger's voice shout my name, I'd known. "Wu?" I whispered, reaching out and fumbling through thin air until someone kindly guided my hands down to touch his face. "Wu?" I repeated, sinking to my knees beside him.

"Duo?"

"I'm here," I whispered, caressing his face in a trembling motion. It was horrible, there was ash and dirt, and maybe…it was! There was blood trickling down his face. "Oh Wufei, my Wufei, I-,"

"I'm going to die Duo."

"Don't! Don't say that! You're going to be all right, I'm gonna take care of you and we're going to be together forever! You know that, right Wufei?" I cried, reaching for his hands and clasping them. "We're going to be all right, you hear me Wufei?" I demanded, kissing his hands and wrists gently.

A feeble laugh. "You'll be fine Duo. You're stronger, braver than you know."

"Wufei," I whispered, dropping my pretense of stupidity. There was no hiding it. Wufei wasn't going to hang on much longer. "You're the reason I'm strong…"

"I love you, do you know that?"

"I do. Oh, Wufei, I love you, you got to know how much!"

His hands returned the pressure on mine, "Remember how you said the darkness can't last?" his voice was soft, sleepy-like. "'Member?"

"I do!" The tears wouldn't come, they were burning, boiling, and yet they couldn't, wouldn't fall.

"You were right. One day, Duo, the sun will shine for you." Soft voice, soft pressure, soft breathing. Too much softness, too quiet for someone so passionate as Wufei.

"Wufei…" the words wouldn't come.

"Duo, promise me something."

"Anything," I whispered, dropping one hand to smooth the hair back out of his face. "Anything you want."

"Quatre…he loves you. Promise that one day you'll give him a chance."

"No! You and only you!" I cried, bowing my head to touch his hands. "I only want you! Only love you!"

"But one day…"

"No, Wufei, you're going to be fine!" My voice rose and I clutched at him. "You can't-its not fair! Wufei!"

"…the sun…its going to shine, Duo…"

"Wufei!"

"...and I'm so tired, Duo, let me sleep…"

"No, no, Wufei, hold on!"

"…so tired, Duo, so tired…"

"Wufei," I shrieked, and dropped his hands, pounded his chest with my feeble fists. The howls of a wounded animal escaped my lips and I screamed in place of the tears that would never find release. I screamed for Wufei, I screamed for Quatre, I screamed for me. I screamed for the life Wufei and I should of have and for the love Quatre should have found elsewhere. I screamed because I wanted to scream. I screamed because it was the only way to let go of the pain, the only way for me to claw through the darkness and find the light.

They tore me away from Wufei, pushed me back to be swallowed by the mob of well-wishers. Their condolences disgusted me; I threw them off and spat at them. I didn't want them! I wanted Wufei, only Wufei, he was the one, and he was gone!

"Gone!" I cried, letting the reality sink in. "He's gone!"

"Duo?" I heard Quatre's voice and I stood still, trembling all over. "Oh, Duo!" that was all he said and I broke again.

"Gone! He's gone"! I cried, turning to Quatre and pounding at his chest. "Damn you for living! Damn you!" I cried, waiting for the tears to spill down over my face. "How could it be alright for him to go? How could he leave me? The sun won't shine! It won't because I'm alone! Because he's gone! Gooonnne…" the word became a moan and my voice cracked on it.

Quatre seemed to know exactly what to do, letting me pound my hands on him, scream at him until I began to sob inwardly clasping my hands over my face and whimpering pitifully. Only then, did he dare embrace me. I stood there, in the circle of his arms for the longest time, even after the inward sobs had stopped.

…he loves you. Promise…give him a chance… I pushed Quatre away and kept him away. "No! Go away! I want to be alone!"

"Duo…its getting cold-and late, we should-,"

"Go away!" I cried, backing away from him, feeling like a cornered wild animal. "Get away from me!" He loves me; I don't care! I want Wufei!

A soft sigh escaped his lips as he stepped away from me. I turned away from him and stood silently in the open yard, my senses ringing with the odor of smoke and ash and the aching realization Wufei was gone.

The wind stirred and brushed along my face, as gentle as the lips that used to brush kisses along my face. Wind caressed my body like a pair of hands used too. I closed my eyes. Wufei is in the wind, I thought, my head aching. He's everywhere…

Wufei had told me the darkness couldn't last. He'd reminded me of my own words. No, no, the darkness wouldn't last. Wufei was everywhere; he was going to help me find the light.

No, the darkness can't last.

I smiled.

::END::