Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing.
Warning:
Mindless Babble: Even re-reading and cringing at how awful these are, I still like this chapter.
Duo stood in the middle of Maxwell Church. He knew something was wrong with this picture, but he couldn't put his finger on it. He heard a woman's laughter and turned to look for the source. He found nothing but shadows.
"Who's there?" His voice sounded strange to him, hollow.
"Duo Maxwell," the voice whispered, not bothering to answer his question. It sounded familiar to the boy.
"Sister Helen?"
"Sometimes," the voice replied.
A woman stepped out from the shadows. A black dress started at her throat and flowed down the hourglass curves to touch the floor but left the arms bare. Raven colored hair framed a pale face with dark eyes and lips the color of pomegranate juice. A crow sat on her left shoulder, eying the braided boy like a piece of meat. In her right hand, the woman held a scythe.
"Sometimes I am Father Maxwell and other times I am a little boy named Solo. I am all who came before you and will be all that come after you." The woman paused and tilted her head to the side, looking curiously at Duo. "But I will never be you."
Duo seemed to understand some of the riddle. "Death."
The woman smiled. "Yes. Do you like to dance?"
She leaned her scythe against the wall and the crow flew down to stand next to it. Death walked up to Duo and together they began to waltz. The walls of the church disappeared to reveal a vast sea of stars. They danced upon nothing to music that only they could hear.
"I didn't understand what you said about how you would never be me," asked Duo.
Death laughed, a sound like water rushing over stones. "How could I be, my Lord?"
Duo grinned with understanding. He swept his partner into a series of dance steps that took them all over our solar system. Death cried out in delight. They began to dance slower and drew closer to each other until Deaths' head rested on Duos' chest. They stayed like this for some time, not moving; just holding on to each other, enjoying the moment.
The cawing of the crow broke that moment. Death stepped away from the embrace and turned to regard the bird.
"My brother says it's time."
"Your brother?"
Death held her arm out and the crow flew up to land on it. "This is my brother, Sleep. He will take you back, my Lord."
Duo looked into the woman's eyes and said, "I don't want to go back."
Death seemed surprised at that statement. She picked up her scythe as Sleep hopped onto her shoulder. "What about your friends?'
"I'll see them again. Besides, I doubt that they'll miss me."
"I disagree." With that Death swung her blade across the stars, tearing the very fabric of space. Through the tear, Duo could see his friends in what seemed like a bizarre collage.
Wufei was in his room at the Winner mansion running through every Kata that he could remember with a fierceness that contradicted the purpose of the exercise. Almost, as if he were inside the Chinese boys' brain, Duo could hear his thoughts, 'If only I had trained harder and been faster, that braided fool wouldn't be laying in that hospital, dieing.'
Quatre sat on his bed holding his pillow and looking out the window. Tears streamed down his face. 'Duo I'm so sorry. I wish I could do something to help you. Please get better so I can at least thank you for saving my life and for all the times you've made me smile.' His thoughts were also clear in Duos' head.
Trowa sat in a tree playing his flute. The music was as beautiful as it was sad. Words didn't need to be spoken as Duo recognized the song as "Taps".
Heero was sitting in a chair with his head on a bed, fast asleep. He was holding someone's hand. It took Duo a few moments to realize the hand Heero was holding was his.
"He's been like that for some time now," Death said from his side. "He hardly ever leaves your side. The others have to come and drag him away to eat and rest."
"I... I didn't know," stammered Duo, utterly shocked.
Death physically turned the pilot to face her. "Do you still want to stay?"
Duo shook his head.
The lady smiled sadly. She kissed him on the cheek and whispered into his ear, "We will meet again, my Lord Shini-Gami. Until then, I will miss you."
Death walked away, disappearing into the shadows. Sleep flew back from those shadows to land on Duos' shoulder. He leaned back to stretch out his wings once more before settling down.
"Ready to go, Kid?"
Duo nodded and in an instant he found himself on a much bigger Sleeps' back, passing through dark clouds that lit up with lighting. Soon those clouds became white and puffy. At last he found himself looking down on his own body. Sleep perched on his shoulder.
"This will hurt a lot, recovering, that is. Are you sure you want to do this?" asked the bird.
Duo looked at the brown haired boy asleep in chair next to the bed and said, "Yes. I'm sure."
Sleep ruffled his feathers. "You won't remember my sister and I. But I know she won't forget you."
Duo looked at the bird, "Until we speak again "
The crow disappeared as Duo reached out to touch the hand that Heero was holding.
Heero woke to a choking noise. Instantly he was awake and shouting for a doctor. The closest one happened to be Sally.
She rushed into the room and grinned. "It's okay, Heero! Duo has started to breath on his own! He's waking up!"
