Disclaimer: The fic is the only thing that's mine; characters aren't, unfortunately. All rights to these amazing ANIMEs belong to Clamp, Kodansha, Sunrise, Bandai, Sotsu Agency, yadda yadda yadda, so don't waste your time suing me! Your 'corporate bogeyman' won't get anything from me anyway, except for a bunch of lousy college grades, some leftover cookie crumbs, a Pentel point 5 standard ball pen, and some crumpled research papers.

Author's Notes: Well, this is it. *sniff* The dreaded EPILOGUE. *wipes eyes with her t-shirt* I would like to thank all of you people who have tirelessly read and reviewed this story. I LOVE YOU GUYS! Special thanks to Natsu-chan for providing me with all the helpful information. ICAN's go girl! Don't let those Goldilocks girls put you down. Here's one thought you should always keep in mind: WE ARE GODDESSESS!!! *smiles*

To everyone, thank you. It has been my greatest pleasure writing this for you. 'Til the next story!

DESTINY by rei-chan

EPILOGUE: Say Goodbye

"Systems check complete. Gundam Wing status report, 100% operationable."

"Affirmative on that, 01. Deathscythe's as fit as a fiddle."

Sighing, Duo stretched his arms over his head and watched as his friend fiddled with the controls of his Gundam through his visuals unit. "I guess this is it, ne, Yuy?" he murmured sadly, his eyes distant as he watched his friend set and reset his mecha's configuration.

Without looking up, Heero nodded sharply. "Hai."

Duo folded his arms together and rested them on Deathsythe's control panel. "We could always stay a little longer, you know." he suggested timidly, turning on his external optical sensors and watching as the whole Li clan assembled on the forest clearing to bid their goodbyes. "I'm sure Trowa and the guys will hold up fine without us for a couple more months."

"Iie. The future needs us more than they do." With that, the Wing pilot palmed a button, causing his cockpit to hiss open, then stepped out of his Gundam to descend. The Deathscythe pilot watched his comrade silently for a few more seconds, before sighing in defeat and squeezing out of his own cockpit as well.

Syaoran watched the two pilots climb down from their mobile suits numbly. Beside him, Ieran was openly weeping as she mourned for the son she had just found and was about to lose once more to the cadence of destiny. The Elders were assembled in a neat line behind the mother and son, all murmuring quietly to themselves as Heero and Duo headed over to where they were all standing.

Duo smiled bitterly as Meilin ran over to give him a hug. He chuckled dryly to himself as he watched the younger girl hesitate before throwing her arms around Heero, crying. Surprisingly, the Wing pilot hugged her back. Turning to Ieran, the braided boy said, "I guess this is goodbye, then, Ieran-san."

She smiled at him through her tears before nodding. "Take care of yourselves out there, Duo-san. And remember that you are always welcome to come back. Always." Duo smiled before leaning forward to give the woman he had learned to love a final hug goodbye. Turning to Syaoran, he whispered, "You know what you have to do, kid." Duo's voice faltered, and promptly Syaoran stepped forward into Duo's waiting arms. "Take good care of everyone, Syaoran." he murmured into the younger boy's hair, "If all of it seems too much, just remember...there's someone out there who's watching your back for you."

Numb with grief, Syaoran merely nodded. He gave Duo one last squeeze and let go.

As Duo moved to bid each of the Li household members goodbye, Heero broke away from the still-sobbing Meilin and headed over to his weeping mother. "This is for the best." he intoned gently, taking hold of both his mother's hands and trapping them in his own. "Syaoran will do a good job as the heir, you know that."

Ieran sniffled sadly as she held out her arms to embrace her son. "I know, Raiu." she sobbed. Heero wordlessly slipped inside the safety of his mother's embrace and closed his eyes, willing the tightness in his throat to go away as Ieran continually murmured his name. "I'm going to miss you, son."

"Me, too." He stepped back from her to look at her directly in the eye. "Okaasan."

She smiled a bittersweet smile at him before leaning forward for another hug.

"'Niisan."

Heero broke away from his mother when he heard Syaoran call his name. Moving to stand in front of his brother, Heero stooped forward and rested his hands on his knees, his face at level with Syaoran's. "What is it?" he asked.

His brother seemed to be struggling to speak. "Anou, uh...Stay alert out there, 'kay? Mother and I will be expecting both you and Duo-san during the New Year, and the Chinese New Year."

Heero smiled. "I will." he promised as he straightened his back and affectionately reached down to ruffle Syaoran's brown hair. Turning to the Elders, he gave them all a respectful bow before pivoting on his heel and heading back towards his Gundam. Duo was already halfway up Deathscythe.

Syaoran watched the two pilots silently, his face an expressionless mask as he struggled to contain the sadness and anger in his heart. 'This is his destiny. This is OUR destiny. This is how everything should be.' He kept on reminding himself.

But still, there was something missing.

"Matte kudasai, 'niisan!" he suddenly called out. Heero, who was about to climb up Wing, looked solemnly back at his brother, then stepped down. He began walking back to where everyone was standing. Syaoran met him halfway.

"Hey," Syaoran called to his brother. Once he was face to face with Heero, he didn't know what to say. He sighed, then tried to look his brother in the eye and failing. He settled for looking at the ground, fists clenched. "I don't usually do this, and I'm not really sure if you're gonna accept it. But since you're the only brother I have and I'm not gonna see you for a long time, I guess I might as well."

With that said, he wrapped his wiry arms around Heero's waist and buried his dark head into his stomach. Suddenly his eyes were stinging. He closed his eyes and held on tighter, and was surprised when he felt arms snaking around and hugging him back. A gentle squeeze, and Heero pushed him back, holding him by the shoulders. Heero stooped down, face level with Syaoran's.

"I don't usually talk this much, but--" he smirked at his brother, whose eyes he noticed were watering. "--since you're the only brother I have, and I'm not gonna see you for a long time, I might as well say it." Heero gave the younger boy's shoulders a gentle squeeze. "I'm gonna miss you very much."

Overcome, Syaoran closed his eyes, trying to stem the flow of tears. When he opened them, Heero was gone from his side, and Wing's cockpit was sliding shut.

"You can open up the portal now. We're ready." Heero's voice echoed from the external speakers as Wing hovered over the ground. Pai Kwa nodded, and soon the air was filled with voices as the Elders combined their magic to defy time once more.

As the wind picked up speed and the sky darkened as lightning rippled across its expanse, the time portal opened.

Syaoran watched the two mechas fly back to where they came from.

'Take care, 'niisan. And don't get yourself killed. I'll still need you back here someday.'

~ 0 ~

AC 196, NEW YEAR'S EVE, one year after the time portal opened...

"Duo."

Duo Maxwell looked up from his glass of wine when he heard someone call his name. "Hai?" he asked cheerfully, motioning towards the three empty seats at his table. "Have a seat, you guys."

Quatre Winner, Trowa Barton, and Chang Wufei all complied to his invitation silently.

The Shinigami pilot smiled at his comrades before speaking, "What can I do for you?"

Wufei got right down to the point. "Where's Heero?" the Shenlong pilot inquired stiffly as Quatre nodded in agreement. "We haven't seen him since Relena made her speech, and if there's---"

"Do you guys believe in destiny?" Duo interrupted him as he absently started twirling a piece of sushi with his chopsticks. He looked at all their blank faces. "You don't? I do. I mean, I didn't use to, but now that we've won the war, now that we've achieved the one thing we have all been clamoring for ever since we learned how to talk, I realized that everything that we went through was all part of it." He told them solemnly.

Trowa and Quatre exchanged confused glances at each other while Wufei merely stared at their braided co-pilot. The Arabian pilot opened his mouth to talk but Duo beat him to it.

"It also just dawned on me. Many people believe that one's destiny can only be walked through by choosing which path to take. But in reality, it just doesn't happen that way. Destiny chooses US, at the same time that we choose it. That's how everything works."

"Okay, who are you and what have you done to Duo Maxwell?" Quatre joked, although there was an underlying note of seriousness in his humor.

Wufei snorted.

"No, I'm serious! I just never thought about it this way before."

Wufei held up one hand. "I'm glad you finally decided to see things in a normal point of view, but you didn't answer our question. Where's Yuy?"

Trowa nodded solemnly.

"D'you guys really wanna know?"

"If we didn't, would we have asked?" Quatre's voice.

"Alright." Duo stood up and walked a few paces away, eyes distant. He looked like he was thinking of something very amusing. After a few seconds, he looked back to where the others were sitting. "It's simple, really." he laughed, confusing all of them. "Hee-chan made a promise, and he kept it!"

"What did he promise?" Wufei inquired, getting curious.

"He promised someone he'd return for New Year, y'know, spend the holidays with them."

Quatre was getting impatient. "With whom? Duo, you're hedging."

"You guys remember the time when we disappeared? Both of us?" Duo demanded.

"Yeah...what about it?"

"Well...okay. Let's just put it this way. When we were gone, Heero found something he'd been looking for all his life. Now, he's returned to it. And he's never been happier, I'm sure of it."

"Duo, what are you yabbering about? Where's Heero, damnit?"

A satisfied sigh.

"He went home."



==owari==

A little teaser for you to ponder on: What happens when your best friend falls in love with YOUR girlfriend? And to make things worse, you find out that you are actually IN LOVE with HIS girlfriend? "My Best Friend's Girlfriend" (written by ME of course!), coming soon, guys! ^-^


Oh, and yeeees! Due to the insistent demands (mostly from my friend Shinrai and my sister, but I'm hoping more will asking for it *hint* *hint*) I will be writing a sequel to this. I won't promise that it'll come out any time soon. School's fast approaching and I have LOTS to do, so I probably won't have much time, but I WILL make a sequel. Death's Honor! For those who want to receive email notifications whenever I update, feel free to email me at rei_chan22@hotmail.com and I'll tell you right away if I've uploaded. I hope I get more reviews for this one! In the meantime, check out my other works! Most are one-shots, but, hell, writing a LONG one is HARD!

Like it? Hate it? Let me know!