The Perfect Soldier
Chapter 20: Family
.
The late morning light of the L2 colony sifted through the living room windows of Yokaze's apartment, setting the steel of the blades aflame. The specific way in which each blanket was folded, the persistent layer of dust that covered everything that was seldom used, the mural that stretched across the ceiling, all of these things he had never taken the time to notice before. He took his time now.
The others were waiting for him outside, he knew. He didn't care. As he had for the past week, he ignored them completely. Soon, they would all be on their separate ways. He was relieved that that time was nearly upon them.
His gaze moved over her things. He even stepped into her room and inspected her artifacts there as well. He was not concerned by his intrusion. This would be the last time he would come here. This would be the last time he would allow himself to admit to thinking of her. He wished it would be the last time he would ever think of her at all, but he knew that was impossible. Try as he might, he could not eliminate the image of her. Try as he might, he could not but feel pained that he had left her. Try as he might, he could only blame himself for allowing her to perish in the hell that was his responsibility to destroy.
Heero closed his eyes. But instead of the familiar dream, it was something different that came over him. Perhaps it was a memory. In the warm darkness behind his eyes, he thought he felt a bloodied cheek being pressed to his. He thought he felt the arms of a soldier steal around him. He thought he smelled the astringent scent of blood and sweat. He thought he was remembering the arms of Zero-one.
His eyes opened as the soft, hesitant sound of shoes scuffing against the carpet reached him. He turned, expecting to see Duo, but was greeted by Quatre instead. His expression didn't change but something turned inside of him at the unexpected visitor.
"What is it?" he rasped.
Quatre held out a single, white envelope. "It was in the mailbox. It's from the clinic."
For a moment, he didn't move. But then Heero took the envelope and simply held it, studying it. The DNA test results were inside of this. The truth.
"Heero, if I told you that being someone's sibling was only about genetics, I think you'd suspect I was lying to you."
He considered the words that replayed. He stared at the white and let his mind wander back to the single video he possessed of both he and Zero-one. He could feel the strength of her embrace, could smell the life in her blood, could see the love in her eyes.
Heero turned toward Yokaze's nightstand, on which she kept a metal plate for spare change. He reached into his jacket pocket and removed a lighter. After only a second of contemplation, he triggered the flame and touched it to the envelope.
To say Quatre was shocked was to say the least. He watched Heero with big eyes as the other young man replaced his lighter and turned away from the flaming bits of paper.
Finally, he said, "She was my sister," and then he walked out of the room.
As he left, he didn't see the figure of a young man with braided hair leaning against the wall. He didn't know that his own pain was mirrored in those violet eyes. He didn't know that he wasn't the only one who had come into the truth, only too late.
Duo closed his eyes and tried not to see Heero's reaction to that damn phone call. But it was no use; he remembered. He remembered how Heero had simply replaced the handset and then disappeared into the bath once more. He'd showered and dressed and, without so much as a glance at Duo, he'd walked out the door.
His soft sigh caught Quatre's attention.
"Duo?"
He straightened and forced a stupid grin onto the stiff mask his face had become. "The one and only."
Quatre's gaze softened as he saw through the strained expression.
"Don't say it," Duo commanded softly, his features crumpling. "Just don't say it. Please."
In silence, Quatre regarded Duo's pain. "All right," he said.
The sunlight played between them.
"The shuttle's leaving soon. We'd better get going."
"Yeah," Duo sighed and started toward the door. "Let's go."
But on the threshold, Quatre hesitated, his eyes taking in the extravagance and sparseness, the rich colors and the pale light. He wondered who this woman really was. He wondered what she had been, what she had done with her solitary life and mysterious missions. But none of the answers to his questions remained in this place. And so, in the end, he closed the door on Yokaze's apartment and sealed all of her mysteries away within it.
.
~End of Chapter 20~