Mel: You know what? I think a lot of you guys are trying to believe that I'm going to write the rest of this story the way Duo thinks it'll end. *laughs* You poor souls…
Tsuru: For once, I sympathize with them…
Daichi: o.O Once? Don't you always?
Tsuru: Watch it, book boy.
Mel: *snickers* It's fun when they aren't after me. *pulls out popcorn*
Daichi: "Book boy"? This coming from someone who's name means bird. More like bird brain.
Tsuru: Crane. It's crane! Now get over here so I can chop that little scholar hand of yours off!
Mel: *laughs*
Tsuru: *glares at Mel* Oh, so you think that's funny, do you? *pulls out katana*
Mel: o.o that didn't last long…. *hides*
Daichi: I'm just going to start this story before things get too out of hand…
Midii stared at the corpse in Trowa's arms. She had done what was asked of her, right? It was Quatre's own fault that he got killed. Midii had nothing to do with it. With shaking hands, Midii closed her laptop, and then bolted out the door. They had promised to let her go if she did what they asked, but Quatre was the only one who had voiced that, everyone else seemed only to agree temporarily. She had to leave quickly before they changed their minds.
Heero hesitated as he watched Midii run out of the room. She couldn't be allowed to leave, she knew too much. But he didn't want to leave Trowa. He shot an apologetic look at Trowa before finally racing out of the room. He was slightly surprised when he felt a tap on his shoulder, and whirled around in shock.
"You go around back; I'll block her path to the door. That way, she'll have no where to go." Trowa's cool, collected speech slightly unnerved Heero, but the Japanese boy shook that thought out of his head, and swiftly took his path down the rear stairs, to ambush the dangerous spy.
~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~
Nakushita opened his eyes, but saw only darkness. His mind only vaguely registered the commanding, angry voices surrounding him. He just barely managed to make out the word "corpse" before he felt something hard slam into his temple. Lights danced across his eyes, even after he had squinted them shut against the pain.
"Well, looks like he's alive after all."
"Little bastard. He should have stayed dead. Would have saved us the trouble of killing him." Nakushita opened his eyes, and saw a hazy blur of colors. His mind worked hard to make sense of the mess, but his attempts were lost when he felt a boot come in contact with his stomach. He fell over onto the floor and gasped for air. He heard the voices in the background laughing, but fading out. Hopefully they were leaving the room so Nakushita could sort through his mangled thoughts, and recover from the blows he had received.
"Nakushita, look at me." The black haired boy groaned as he was gently lifted into a sitting position. "Look at me." Himitsu ran his fingers through his koi's hair. "Open your eyes for me." Nakushita complied, and lifted his eyelids to expose his once deep ebony eyes to his lover. Himitsu's heart sank as he found that his suspicions were true. While hooked up to Ukiyo, the optics had been damaged. Now Nakushita bore the same damages as the complex machine, and his eyes were clouded and useless.
"I can't see anything." His tone was annoyed, but not worried in the least. "How am I supposed to blast out of here if I can't tell which way the door is?" Himitsu couldn't help but laugh at Nakushita's invincible spirit.
"I think that's going to have to wait for a while. We're under constant supervision, so we can't pull anything under their noses."
"Damn. You know? For once, I miss that blond bitch. She could have gotten us out of here." Nakushita laughed to himself and shook his head. "Who am I kidding? I hope she's alright. Can't be much worse off than us, can she?" Himitsu nodded in agreement, forgetting that Nakushita couldn't see his movements.
"She's alive, though I can't say much more than that." Nakushita looked puzzled for a moment.
"How do you know?"
"I just do." Himitsu looked down at the chain around Nakushita's neck. As long as the dragon's eyes didn't glow red, Midii was still alive somewhere.
~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~
Kate snuck out of her room and down the stairs. She had heard worried voices, and wanted to know what was going on. She quietly slunk down the stairs, trying not to be noticed. As she came closer to the front door, the voices grew louder. Using her small body to her advantage, she pressed her back to the wall and peered around the door frame.
Trowa stood between Midii and the only way out of the house. His gun glinted in the light of the room as he pointed it at her. Though he showed no signs of letting her through, his eyes showed a hint of conflict as he debated whether to kill the girl or not.
Midii laughed bitterly at the sad déjà vu she was having. He was being held at gunpoint by her beloved Nanashi, just like she had six years ago.
~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~
"Get up. Both of you." Himitsu darted in front of the guard before he could kick Nakushita, taking the blow for him. "Now." Himitsu didn't dare to speak as he helped Nakushita to his feet.
"They're goin' to the back. We have a firing squad ready." The guard shoved Nakushita forward when he stopped moving. The young man put his hands out in front of him and ran into a soldier.
"You trying to start something, faggot?" Nakushita narrowed his useless eyes and made a fist with his hand.
"Just be quiet and do what they say." Himitsu grabbed Nakushita's hand and hissed the order into his ear. The soldier, seeming dissatisfied, waved his hand for the two to follow. Himitsu silently guided Nakushita through the halls, trying to keep him from getting into any more trouble.
They stopped in a small, artificial meadow, with a platform in the center. The soldier walked ahead, and gave a signal for the executioner to enter.
"What's going on?" Nakushita strained his hearing to try to understand what was happening, but it was no use.
"They're bringing in a firing squad. They're going to execute us."
"Funny. It smells like flowers, not gunpowder." Himitsu nodded at the observation, and tried not to think about what else this small room was used for. "Then again, you always smelled like flowers, too." Himitsu laughed sadly, and guided Nakushita up to the platform, where they awaited death.
"She never promised, did she?"
"Hmm?"
"Midii. Before she left, I asked her to promise she wouldn't get killed."
"You're right. She didn't promise. But at this rate, it doesn't matter. She's going to outlive us anyway." Himitsu nodded in agreement and held his koi's hand as they listened to the commander read the list of their violations.
~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~
"I bet you regret not having killed me last time you had the chance." Trowa remained silent. To Midii, the answer seemed obvious. How could he not? She had killed the one he loved. She didn't deserve to live. But that didn't change the fact that she was scared as hell of death.
Trowa's grip tightened on the gun as he fought with himself. He didn't want to kill her. One death was more than enough for one day. But the part of him trained to be a soldier knew that it would be suicide to let her leave. She knew far too much about the five… four of them. Trowa glared at Midii, hatred reborn as he thought of what she had done to Duo.
"Go ahead. Be done with it." Midii dropped her laptop on the ground. The top snapped off, leaving a smell of burning wires lingering in the air. "Kill me."
Trowa nodded, but did not fire his gun. Midii closed her eyes and braced herself for the shot, but it didn't come. She didn't notice as Heero approached her from behind, a small syringe in his hand.
"Goodbye Midii." Trowa lowered his gun as he watched Heero press the syringe into the girl's arm, injecting her with the lethal medicine. Midii's eyes widened with surprise at the unexpected prick. Her face quickly softened, and she fell forward. By reflex, Trowa caught her and lowered her to the ground.
"I… still… love… you…" Midii forced a sad smile, and then relaxed. Her eyes remained open, staring at the ceiling. Heero kneeled down and closed her eyes with his hand, then turned to leave. Only then did he notice the bright green eyes, staring at him with hatred.
"You killed her." Kate stepped away from the doorway, and further into the room. "Quatre promised she could leave, but you killed her?" A small tear slid down her cheek. Trowa took a step forward to comfort the child, but she backed away. "No. Don't come near me. You're just like those men that killed my dad. You're just like them!"
"Kate," Trowa started to talk, but Kate let out a cry of anguish and lunged a him, hitting him like a mad man. Trowa did the only thing he could think of, and wrapped his arms around her. Kate began to sob, and her wild attack slowed to almost nothing.
"Why? Why? Why did they have to die?" Kate's sobs finally died out, and she fell asleep in Trowa's arms. The tall boy lifted her up, and gently set her down on the couch, where she could sleep undisturbed.
~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~
Nakushita tightened his grip on his lover's hand as the accusation came to a close. Though he couldn't see, he could feel bloodthirsty eyes boring into him. They wanted to kill to prove their allegiance to the cause. Cowards.
"Is there anything you have to say in your defense?"
"Nothing we have to say would change your minds." Nakushita made the statement with venom in his voice. He wanted nothing more than to lunge at the commander and beat him to a pulp in front of his soldiers. He probably would, too, if it weren't for his impaired sight.
The commander found Nakushita's statement amusing, and laughed slightly before replying. "No, I suppose not. Ready your guns men!"
Himitsu took a quick glance at Nakushita. It was enough to notice that his dragon necklace was glowing. "Looks like we'll be joining Midii soon."
"Poor kid. I was sure she'd make out better than us."
"Aim!"
"Goodbye, love."
"FIRE!"
~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~
Duo stared at Quatre waiting for something, anything to prove he wasn't dead. His pale skin and white hair weren't helping his illusion either.
"Damn it!" Duo flopped back against the bed, cursing his stupidity. "I told him not to try it! I told him to leave me alone! Why didn't he listen to me!" He tied to sit up, but his braid was stuck under him, and snapped his head backwards. "KUSO!" Duo snatched his braid in his hand, then leaped out of the bed. His legs were slightly numb from lack of use, and weren't ready to support his weight. From his new position on the floor, Duo proceeded to go on a cursing spree. In the midst of his river of foul language, he decided to crawl over to his desk and use it to steady himself as he tried to get up. His hand landed on top of his braid, and as he tried to move forward, his head was twisted painfully to the side. "AAAAAAH!" Duo yanked open the drawer to the desk and pulled out his box cutter. As he pushed up on the blade, Heero ran into the room, but Duo didn't notice.
Heero was frozen to the spot as he watched the braided boy expose the blade he was holding. "Duo!" The boy's head whipped around, and violet eyes blazing with rage bore into the Japanese boy.
"Leave me alone." He lifted the blade to his neck, and gathered his hair with his free hand. In an instant, Heero had him pinned to the wall with the blade held above his head.
"Are you crazy? What do you think you're doing?"
"I'm gonna get rid of this thing! That's what I'm gonna do!" Duo fought his restraints viciously, nearly cutting Heero with the open blade.
"Put the box cutter away. Nothing you can do can bring Quatre back, especially not with that knife."
"Just get the fuck off of me so I can finish this!"
"Duo,"
"Let go of me before I cut you off!" Heero pressed his lips against Duo's, and felt the boy relax. The knife fell with a quiet clank to the floor, and a tear made its way down the American's curving cheek.
Trowa watched from the doorway with a sad memory tugging at his mind.
"Quatre and I always thought you two would make a cute couple…"
~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~
Six months later:
Trowa skillfully fought towards his goal, and into the heart of the enemy. In doing so, he was surrounding himself, and separating himself from his allies.
"Trowa! What the hell do you think you're doing? Hurry up and get back here so I can cover you!" Duo's worried voice echoed through the radio. Trowa continued toward his goal, ignoring his friend completely. "Hey! Are you even listening to me? Get that metal ass back here right now! We're outnumbered, you're almost out of ammo, and this whole mission was a hoax! We shouldn't even—" Trowa turned the receiver off, cutting Duo's sentence short. The boy had been correct about everything but one aspect: Trowa was currently out of ammo, and fighting his way to the base with his backup knife.
The air in the cockpit was stale, and Trowa was quickly fatiguing. He could see the base in front of him, and cut a path for it. All he had to do was blow it up now. Before he could let lose the missiles he had been saving, he was hit hard from the back. Heavyarms rocked dangerously from the impact, and was hit again before Trowa could regain his balance. Now lying on the ground, there was nothing Trowa could do to defend himself. A mobile suit charged up its cannon, and fired. Then everything went white.
~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~
Wufei's eyes widened as he saw a ball of fire shoot up from his far left.
"Trowa! No!" Duo cursed under his breath and let out a shuddering sigh. Wufei changed his course and began to fight his way toward the explosion.
"Prepare for retreat."
"No, Yuy. You can go if you want, but I'm not ready." Wufei fought harder into the midst of the carnage, with an echoing voice haunting him.
'You must do all you can to protect those you love, even if it means you become evil yourself.' Wufei fought with the knowledge that he would return to their base with Trowa, or die trying. Besides, Kate would have his head if he returned without him.
"Just a little further. Barton, you fool. Why didn't you pull back?"
~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~
Trowa looked around his new surroundings curiously. The only thing he could see was white. There didn't seem to be a floor, ceiling or walls of any type. He was afraid to move because he might not have anything to stand on.
"Trowa" The boy jumped at his name. He turned his head left and right, looking for what had called his name. He heard a soft musical laugh behind him and turned to face it, but there was nothing there. "Don't be afraid." Trowa felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see a beautiful figure.
"Quatre…" Trowa was mesmerized by the small teenager in front of him. He wore only a pair of black, baggy pants. His beautiful blond hair had grown down to his shoulder blades, and his crystal eyes seemed to radiate with affection. But the most stunning thing of all were a pair of black, feathery wings, like an angel's. Quatre folded the wings behind him, and wrapped his arms around Trowa. "I've missed you so much…"
"I know. I've missed you too." Trowa buried his face in Quatre's soft, silky hair. There was nothing he could have wanted more than to have Quatre in his arms again.
"Quatre?" Trowa started his question slowly, hesitant to ask. "Am I dead?"
"No, Tro-koi. You're not." Trowa looked over his love's shoulder, and noticed that one of his wings had folded at an odd angle. He curiously touched it, then regretted doing so. Quatre winced in pain, and grabbed Trowa's arm, pulling it away from the crippled wing.
"What happened?"
"It's broken, that's all. It'll heal up in a week or two." Trowa's eyes narrowed, and he forcefully turned Quatre around so he could examine his back. Cuts and burns covered his creamy skin, crisscrossing with the scars from fighting in the war. "Trowa…"
"How did this happen? Who hurt you?" Quatre sighed and looked down at his bare feet.
"I tried to protect you. I didn't want you to get hurt in that blast. I saved your life, but it wasn't quite enough…" Trowa stared at his dead lover, not understanding. "Trowa, you're in a coma right now. Heero doesn't think you're going to live through it."
"What should I do?"
"You have to wake up. You have to let go of me." Trowa shook his head.
"I don't want to loose you again." Quatre sighed, and walked up to Trowa.
"I want you here as much as you want to stay, but the others need you, Kate especially. You know she looks up to you as an older brother." Trowa turned his head to the side and closed his eyes.
"I don't know what to do."
"I'm sorry I have to do this to you." Quatre took a step back, and opened his wings, wincing as he did. Then, he looked up, and began to fade away.
"No, wait! Where are you going?"
"Wake up Trowa. There's nothing here for you now. Go back to them." Trowa took a step forward, and reached out, but his hand passed through Quatre's smiling face, and he fell.
~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~
Kate hugged Heero tightly, fighting the tears that refused to stay back. The four of them sat around Trowa's bed, waiting to see some sign of life, or lack of life. None of them knew what to say, even Duo was speechless as he stared at the still form on the bed.
"I think… I think we should go get some rest." Wufei looked over at Duo, noting the dark rings under his violet eyes. "Maxwell's not going to last much longer."
"Sally said he could wake up at any time. I'm not leaving." Duo shifted in his chair, trying to get comfortable.
"He may not last the night. The wounds he sustained are too severe." Duo whipped his head around to glare at Wufei.
"Fine. You go to bed. I'll see this through to the end, whatever it is."
"Maxwell, you're acting like a child."
"I'm not giving up on him!" A small groan cut the argument short, and the two looked over at Trowa. Kate was immediately at his side, hovering over him like a vulture.
"Kate, back up. Give him some room." The girl reluctantly obeyed Heero's gentle order, and backed up only a few inches.
"Hnnn…" Trowa's eyes fluttered open, and he looked over at Kate. "Q-quatre?" Kate smiled and shook her head.
"Did you see Quatre?" Trowa tried to sit up, but his broken arm prevented him from doing so. He looked down at the makeshift cast curiously, then back up at Kate.
"Kate? What happened?"
"You went in there by yourself and got your ass kicked, that's what happened!" Duo leaned over Trowa on the opposite side of the bed as Kate. "Why the hell don't any of you listen to me when I tell you not to do something?" Wufei snorted at the last statement. "Ok, Wu-man. You give me an example of a time I told you not to do something, and I wasn't right?"
"How about the time you told me not to put toast in the toaster because aliens would abduct me?" Duo sputtered, then glared at Wufei.
"That was a joke!" Kate laughed and grabbed the two bickering boys by the hand and pulled them out of the room.
"I don't mind you arguing, but go do it somewhere else. You're too noisy!" Trowa laughed as the three left the room.
"Heero, I have a question." The Japanese boy nodded, and sat down in the chair closest to the bed. "Duo asked me once, 'Why don't you and Heero care if you die?' He fainted before I had a chance to think about what he had said." Trowa shook his head, then looked back at Heero. "Why is it that we take orders to self destruct without a second thought? Why is death just part of the mission?" Heero sighed, and ran a hand through his hair.
"I don't know. I never thought about it."
"What would you do…" Trowa carefully planned out his question in his head. "What would you do if Duo took a suicide mission without telling you? What would you do if he didn't come back?" Heero thought for a minute, then shook his head.
"I'd hack into his computer, find out who sent him the mission, then go blast their head off." Trowa laughed.
"I think we should get out of this war as soon as possible. Find a way to make it end, so we can try living a normal life. You, and me, we grew up learning how to fight. Kate and Duo were sucked into it on accident. It's not fair for them to have to die." Heero nodded, and looked down at his feet. "I think I know why Quatre did what he did now. He wanted to help Duo live a normal life." Trowa sighed and closed his eyes, suddenly feeling very tired. "I want to make sure Kate lives to see a world without war." Heero smiled, and shook his head.
"Quatre once said to me that you're quiet because you only speak when you have something important to say." He waited for a response, but didn't get one. Trowa had fallen asleep, and wouldn't wake up until the next morning. Heero stood up, and walked out of the room.
'Soldiers don't die because they're trained to, they die so the ones they love won't have to.'
Owari.
Mel: *big grin* Hah! Some of you didn't believe I was capable of finishing a story! Well poo-on-you! ^______^
Tsuru: My god, I think she's flipped…
Daichi: I didn't think she could do it…
Tsuru: o.O
Daichi: O.o
Mel: Well, that was my conclusion to my amazing story with a crappy title, and more plot-twists than Tsuru has mood swings!
Tsuru: *glares at Mel* Watch it.
Mel: ^_^() Anyway, I'm still looking for a decent title for this thing. Now that you've reached it's end, maybe you can help me a little here. Also, let me know if there's anything you're confused on. I'm going to be editing my chapters and reposting them, so I'd like to know if I have any holes. *grins* A special thanks to Kattie, and Emily Hatou erm, gomen. I don't know how to spell your last name. ^_^() for encouraging me to write this last chapter.