Part Two: Ventures and Choices
Quatre greeted me that morning with a cup of coffee as he found me wandering the halls. It was early, only around 5:00. The two of us where wide-awake; he must have been getting everything in the morning ready. I leaned over to a particular piece of artwork that caught my eye as Quatre was showing me around the estate.
It was a piece that consisted of varieties of green. Around the outer edge was a deep, forest green that was portraying the deep end of the ocean. As my eyes scanned further inward, I looked to how the calm water funneled into waves of lime green. Everything ended in a ball, or rather a sphere in the center. Looking deep into the sphere, something was etched in the painting, most likely when the paint was drying. It was a phrase that caught my attention and caused me to think for a moment.
'Rat maze.'
"Are you wondering about phrase?" I nodded and he moved to point out the artist's name. "His name Ralph Indus. Like many other artists that you might have heard about, he wasn't mentally sound. He painted this piece right before he died, and those word scribbled in the center of the orb indicate how he felt about his own life."
I looked to him. "Does the orb have any other significance?"
He nodded, "I'm guessing it was the whole thing that held him together, be it metaphoric or literal, it was the thought or object, idea or possession, maybe even human, that held him together."
Then I asked another question. "How did he die?"
"Of course, given the state he was in, suicide. He ate the paint that he had left from this painting and overdosed on the fumes." I nodded in regards to the answer given. It was a rather dark way to go, but I guess if you where a painter and looking for an escape it worked.
"How old is this?"
"About 511 years old. I though it might bring color to this hall way." He said and gestured to the other painting he had as well.
"It works for that. Are the other painting's stories as interesting as this one?"
He chuckled, "Not nearly. You seemed to pick out the diamond in the rough. But what I can't think of is what was keeping him together and why he let go. In the story I heard, there was something, it just was never mentioned. Do you have any guesses, Heero?"
I shrugged my shoulder. "Sometimes it is the everyday things you rely on. I'm sure you know the age-old phrase, 'You don't miss something until it's gone,' right? This might have been the case."
"Are you implying that he lost the orb?"
I nodded. "Did you notice right here," I started, pointing to the edge of the orb, "that there is a slight reflection?"
He took a closer look and his eyes widened. "I've never noticed that before! But now that you mention it, there is a reflection!"
I took a look down the hallway and then turned back to Quatre. "Can I use your shower?"
He nodded and pointed down the hallway. "Second room to the right from here."
I thanked him and headed down the to the room he had instructed. Before I got my hand on the handle, he called back to me.
"Heero! Have you seen Duo? He wasn't in his room."
I looked back to him and shrugged. "He wouldn't be in his room. He spent the night in my room."
Quatre looked a little hesitant to what he should or was going to say. "You mean...?"
I tried to smile at him, but it might have looked like I was glaring. "Yes Quatre, be careful when waking him up."
He agreed. "I will, and Heero?"
Again, I looked back. "Yes?"
"Towels are in the second drawer."
I looked back to the door and finally opened it, walking into one of the many bathrooms in the household. Walking in, I first turned the fan on and then turned the water on. I was feeling for a bath as opposed to a shower. Baths always relaxed me. I looked to the second drawer where Quatre had said the towels were. Sure enough, I pulled out one and set it outside the tub. Stripping down, I walked to the tub and slipped it without creating a ripple in the water. I laid back and let the water surround me, closing my eyes to feel the warmth.
I turned the water off with my foot and then relaxed
completely. As I fell into the sleep I hadn't gotten last night, I watched
the colors in my vision blur. Sleep sounded good to me; that was all I
wanted for that moment...
A volley of bullets where let loose from a
machine gun and appeared to be coming towards me. I pulled my body out
of the way but that was when I realized that there was someone else weighing
me down. I looked over and saw her, Relena. I moved to let go of her arm
but I couldn't. I was not longer in charge of my actions. Was this another
of the visions that Duo had given me? It must have been, I was moving like
he was. I was protecting her, even though it was against my will.
She was older.
She must have been 22.
She most definitely looked different. Her hair
was only trailing Duo's in length and it was put up in a high ponytail.
The school uniform that I was custom to seeing her in during the war was
gone and replacing it was a dirty and torn uniform that looked to be that
of a rebel group. As I looked down it was along the line
of what I, Duo, was wearing.
As another stray bullet came, it hit its intended
target.
Piercing my arm, I felt the ripping pain shoot
through my body, but I was still moving like nothing had ever happened
to me. We moved on, running at top speed towards the truck that was lying
in our path. Jumping on it, I began to dress all of Relena's wounds before
taking one look at my own.
She glared to me. "Duo! You need to look at yours first! They're worse then mine!" I smiled and shrugged to her as I looked back to the battle we where leaving.
"Yeah I know, Relena. But if I get to yours first you won't bitch to me about them later."
I winked to her and she slapped me on the shoulder. "Duo! That attitude is going to get you killed!"
I finished looking at her wounds. "Yeah, maybe I will. But I wouldn't have died in vain."
Her face fell in a downcast shadow, "Duo, I don't want to think about what would happen if you where to die. Don't think about that!"
I chuckled, "Don't worry! I'm not gonna die that easy, baka!"
Her face did not change, "Duo I never thought that Heero would have died either. We can't assume what would have worked out in a happily ever after story. This is reality. It won't work that way." She looked up, battling the tears that where forming.
"Relena! You're not going to cry now, we made it out of their with our asses intact and if you don't believe it you can kiss mine!"
Relena then smiled. "You're never going to be serious are you?"
"When other people are so dark I have to make up for it. Good and bad make up reality and I don't want to think about what reality will turn into if only the bad is left."
She nodded, "I guess your theory is correct, what do you say we work on your injuries now?" I looked to her with that bullet pain in my stomach. "Fine, but you're not gonna like what you see.
Relena put both of her hands on my shoulder. "Duo no baka! Now I'm going to have to worry about you!"
I slapped a hand on my forehead. "Ahh! So no matter what, I get to listen to your bitching, huh?"
"Yes you do!"
I woke up and found myself looking to the ceiling, I looked to my right and Duo was sitting next to me. "Did you just give me another visions?"
He shook his head. "No I didn't. It must have been another one left over from last night that I was holding back but got loose anyway. What was in it?"
I thought for a moment. "It was you and Relena running from someone and you got shot in the arm. It was after I died and Relena was talking about how she didn't want you to die."
He looked at me oddly. "Which time? That happens a lot!"
I though for something that I could have said in more specific terms. "We made it out of their with our asses intact and if you don't believe it you can kiss mine."
Duo grinned. "Promise?"
"That was what you said."
"Oh, I thought you where being nice. But I think I might know what you where talking about. Well, you saw the queen in the future. Is she really different now?"
"Yes, but she acts about the same."
"I have to admire her proud nature. She reminds me of you a lot."
I glared to him and changed my position in the bathtub. "You're nice."
He smiled, "I wasn't being mean."
I shook my head. "Could you hand me the towel that you're sitting on?"
He nodded and got off of it, standing as I stood up. I reached my hand out to grab the towel but he backed away. He shook my head. "I'm not going to fight you for one of Quatre's towels." He shook his head. "Just come and get it." He stepped back to the door. I got out of the tub after pulling the plug out of the drain and advanced towards him.
"Can I have it back now?"
He though for a moment and then threw it up in the air. As it was coming back down his fingers danced up and down my sides. I looked to him, about to ask him what he was doing but then he stopped and I grabbed the towel, backing away.
"You never smile anymore. You rarely did before, I thought I could get you to smile."
His smile was drowning into a frown.
I though for a second. "Were you... tickling me?" He nodded and I felt myself beginning to do something I hadn't in a long while. I smiled.
"Why would you tickle me if you were getting me to smile? You should know that I'm not ticklish!"
He smiled. "Perfect."
I gave him a sideways glance. "What do you mean?"
He started up again "When ever I used to tickle you, you would give me the most serious face and then laugh at how pathetic I was. It was somewhat of the reaction I was hoping for here. I think it worked."
It had worked. I was smiling. I hadn't smiled in a long time, sincerely.
"Mission accomplished." He breathed and then I dried my hair with the towel. "How long have you been there?"
He looked to his wristwatch. "Umm, it has been about five minutes. You're so cute when you sleep Heero." I began to dry my body. "And I suppose the fact that I was in the bath has nothing to do with anything, right?"
He smirked. "Well, I'm not going to deny anything."
I shook my head. "We should be going." I dressed quickly into the clothes I had stripped out of and looked to Duo, whose hand was on the door handle.
"Yeah, I need to talk to you guys and get caught up to date about how you won the war so I can take it back with me."
"No."
He turned around. "What was that?"
I brought myself between him and the door. "No." I said again.
He looked confused. "What do you mean, no?"
I crossed my arms and repeated it once again. "No, you are not going to get the information."
He was now questioning. "Why not?"
I kissed him on the lips, pulling away I stated the reason. "Because you're not going to need it. You're not going back."
He was mad now. No longer confused or questioning, he was mad. "What do you mean? I though we said that last night-"
"I didn't say or promise to anything; you're staying. I'm not going to let you go."
"No, you're wrong here. I am going! I need to go back and win that war!"
I shook my head to let him know that there was no way I was going to let him go back to that place while I was still alive. "Heero! I will go back! I will and when I do I will win that war! There is no place for me here!"
"There is no place for you there either. Your place is here, it is where you were born and this is where you will stay. I'll say it again, I'll say it as many time as you like- I'm not going to let you go now that I have found you."
He looked to move to the door but my hand intervened with his. "Duo, you can't go back."
"You can't keep me here."
"Yes I can. Even if you're stronger than me now, I will find a way. If you go back I'm going to follow you."
Duo took a deep breath. "Can we talk about this later?"
I nodded, "I think that would be best." We both exited the bathroom and headed for the main room where we would be addressing the others once again.
"Heero? Have you come to your decision?" Wufei asked me as I walked into the room and looked to the others as well as Duo.
"My decision is simple. I think it's fine that we tell him, but he's not going to need it."
Quatre, as well as the other two gave me a questioning glance. "What are you saying, Yuy?" Wufei was the first one to speak up in response to my statement.
"I mean that he won't need it. He is going to stay here."
The rest looked over to Duo. "Is that true?"
"In his mind it might be, but in reality it isn't. I'm going and he has agreed to it so all you have to do now is tell me about what happen here. I need to know as soon as possible so I can go back."
The others nodded and we took our seats, Duo across from me, sitting with Wufei. Trowa and Quatre where both sitting together; I was sitting alone. As they told Duo of the events after he had disappeared. Their voices faded from my mind and I looked to Duo. Only Duo, he was the only one that I wanted to look at.
He nodded in understanding, looking to Quatre. I wasn't going to let him go. I wasn't. He didn't understand how much I was really going to be holding him back when he tried to leave. For a moment, my eyes wandered over to the clock on the wall. It had been a couple hours since we had started our little meeting and I was feeling tired from all this. It might have been because I was not participating in any of the discussion, but I was getting tired nonetheless.
Quatre noted that as he looked to me. "Should I cook us something to eat for an early lunch?" He offered and everyone nodded. Trowa got up to help him and Wufei left momentary, saying something about leaving something in his room. I looked back up to Duo who had just drawn in a deep breath. He stood up and walked up to me, sitting down besides me he waited me to do something. I sat there, and it might not have been the best thing for him to work with. I then looked over and he was about to say something.
"Did you get the information that you where looking for?"
He nodded. "More or less. I just wish that Deathscythe was still intact here. That would be really, really, really, helpful." I looked to the clock again. A few moments passed before anything else was said or done. "Great, you're giving me the silent treatment." Duo said, a little agitated.
I shook my head this time. "No, I just couldn't think of anything to say."
Duo looked down to the couch cushions, "Heero, how can I show you that I really need to go back?"
I turned back to him. "Just give me the worse vision you have in your mind. Show me the worst thing that happened."
Duo shook his head. "No, I'm not going to show you the worst thing."
I looked to him sideways. "Why?"
He simply said, "You're looking at it; I'm also reliving it. I can't relive that one. It will hurt too much."
I nodded. "Could you just tell me what it was?"
Duo took in a deep breath. "Heero, Oz doesn't just kill people. You can be abused many more ways then just with physical pain. Some have been trained at other things. Raping is one."
I looked to him and his eyes where full of hate and resentment. Could they...?
And this was the word that he wanted to go back to. "I'm sorry. I didn't know..."
Duo looked back to me. "Just don't worry about it. I'll show you the reason that I want to go back so bad, okay?"
I nodded and then he kissed me once again. The same sensation over came me and then I saw blue, the blue of a sky...
"Duo, you look sad today, why is that?" I looked to my right and Relena was sitting there. So this was the only thing Duo wanted to go back to...?
I suddenly felt.... jealous.
I didn't want to; she was special to him. He would go back to a world filled with war, hate, no hope, and grief just for her sake and no other. That was why I felt jealous. I wanted him to do that for me. But he wasted those feeling on her. No, I shouldn't say wasted, he must really care about her. With my body I turned to her and smiled. She was in something different, it must have been what she wore when the fighting was minimal or at a break, and she still was the daughter of a rich family; or it could have been something she salvaged.
She was wearing a pink sun dress with white daises sprinkled all around, and a pair of black sunglasses. We where laying in a meadow covered in green, green grass. "Relena-sama, it's nice to get away like this once in a while, neh? Bet Heero would never take you some place like this, neh?"
She nodded. "Oh, heavens no! He would take me to some moldy old safe house! It's nice here, thanks Duo."
I smiled to her and laid back in the grass. She also did and closed her eyes.
"When I see places like this I can't imagine that there is a war going on and that Heero is..."
"Shh, don't say it. We can relax for a little bit. Don't drudge up old memories, okay?"
"I can't help it, this is the type of day I would want to spend with him, all I can do is imagine that he's sitting here with us, next to me here in the sun, seeing this beautiful day-"
"Relena I don't want to say this, but shut up! The more you talk about it the more you're going to think about it. I'm here and I'm now Heero, okay. Think that I'm Heero. That might make you feeling better, okay." I embraced her petite body and I felt a tear slide down my bare skin. "Hey, don't do that. Be happy Relena, tears don't suit you."
She nodded. "Someone told me that once, I can't remember who. It was such a long time ago."
"I know, now just sleep, it's a good day to do so and I don't see a sweeter opportunity. Go for it." She nodded and shut here eyes, still curled up against my chest. I knew that I was jealous. I was raging jealous and now I was going to say it. Relena could be with him like this so naturally but if I even tried to touch him someone would raise an eyebrow.
That was why I was jealous.
As I came to I noticed that everyone around me was staring at us. Duo blushed smiled to everyone. He didn't seem to want to tell them that it was the way of giving visions. He would let them think what they wanted and I would as well. I only told him to give me a vision was because I wanted to kiss him and nothing else. I didn't want a vision, I just wanted to kiss him. We were still close and I looked into his eyes again. I didn't care if everyone was still watching; I leaned forward and kissed him again.
He was slightly surprised; but it slipped his mind that the others where still there. He kissed me back passionately, knocking me over onto my back on the couch. He was on top of me and kissed me again trailing his tongue from my mouth to my neck. I heard the others leaving and Wufei muttering about "Can't they control themselves?"
Duo then stopped as soon as they left and then sat up. "Good idea."
I questioned what he had said. "What do you mean?"
"When you started to kiss me, you did it so they would leave and we could finish up talking. It was a good idea."
I nodded sadly. He really didn't get it how much I loved him. "So do you see now, I need to go back for her."
My voice came back, low but I needed to say it.
"Do you love her?"
"What? I couldn't hear you."
"Do you love her?"
He looked a little startled and then shrugged, "I have never though about that. I might, but I'm not sure if I do. I would have to think about it." He was so flippant about the subject. He didn't realize how much I loved him at all, what was I to him? He must have noticed my downcast face. "What is it Heero?" He really didn't know...
After a moment of silence the others had come back in, ignoring what had happened earlier. I stood up just as Quatre sat down. He had made a lunch and I was turning to walk away. "Quatre, I'll talk to you all later, I'm just going to be in my room if anyone needs to talk to me." He nodded and I began to walk down the hall. Turing left in the first on and then left in the second one I saw that same painting from before. I looked to the reflection to see if I could make it out. It was of a human face, a girl. So his love for this girl was what he lost.
I walked back, down one last hall way and turned right into my room. I sat down on the bed and didn't notice the foot prints that had followed me. It was Quatre's little terrier that wandered around the house not knowing which way was up. I believe his name was Jackie. He hopped up onto the bed with me and let out a little yelp. I raised my hand to pet him and he licked it before I could touch him. I wasn't sure why he liked me. He had peed on Wufei leg, so he didn't seem to like the Chinese boy.
He barked and then jumped to my lap, waging his tail diligently. He started to lick my face and I struggled from his assault. He cocked his head to look at me and then barked, almost to ask how I was doing.
"Why don't you just lay down? I'm thinking about getting some sleep myself." Jackie's head bobbed up and down and curled up into a ball along side of me. I lowered myself to the bed and continued to pet the dog as he fell asleep. Once in a while, he would kick around slightly or growled, probably from a nightmare.
"So you too get nightmares, Jackie? Must be everyone in this world." I closed my eyes and tired to fall asleep, listening to the dogs little heart speedily beat next to my chest. Kicking again, he yelp a little louder this time and I opened my eyes again.
He was growling to the figure in the doorway. It was Wufei.
"How did you get that little beast to like you, Yuy?"
I looked to him, "Jackie's a nice dog. He just doesn't like you. I don't blame him."
"You've never peed on my leg."
"I don't plan to either. What do you want, Chang?"
"Here I was, trying to be nice and see how you where doing." Wufei eyed Jackie as he trotted up to him and looked to his baggy pants. He looked to the baggy pants to Wufei, and then from Wufei to the baggy pants. Doing that a couple more time, Jackie took a mouthful of fabric and began to rip the Chinese boys pants off. "What the hell- Yuy! Get him off!" Wufei kicked his foot around and Jackie re-gripped his position, this time biting Wufei's leg. Wufei took of running down the hall, dog and all. I walked back to my door and shut it, and then went back to laying on my bed. For once, I got to sleep.
Now I just didn't want to wake up.
End of part 2...
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