Duo settled into his saddle and took up the reins. He could feel the whole company brace

behind him for his command. Keeping his back and heart strong, he did not turn around to

look on the man he loved, even though it may be the last time he would ever lay eyes on

him. Heero had chosen his path and Duo would not be weak and let it dominate him.

He dug his spurs into the flanks of his horse; she gave a shrill whinny and leapt forward

into a loping gallop. Presently the thundering of the rest of the company's horses was close

behind him and they galloped out of the town and up into the hills where the sounds of

battle and the smell of blood hung in the air.

//Do you ever think of me?//

Heero sat in his chamber, being gnawed at on the inside by an unwanted but a very

present fear. In his fingers he was holding a purple ribbon as tightly as if his life were

dependent on it. He no longer felt like the king he was, but like a sorrowful young man

who was losing something he genuinely cared for.

His cold blue eyes were soft and fighting back tears as he once more felt the warmth of

forbidden memories envelop him.

Duo…light-eyed, ever-smiling, beautiful Duo. Heero didn't know why he'd fallen for the

guardsman so hard, he just knew that he had. He remembered those violet eyes, nearly

shut as they drifted to sleep, and the feathery breathing of secret words on his face.

//And get lost in the memory?//

Duo's company stormed down the hill into the valley where the battle was in full thrall. The

enemy had been severely depleted, but so had King Heero's own forces. In fact, the latter

were nearly defeated. But this last wave of troops was fuelled with anger and desperation

and they fell upon the enemy as those who are not afraid to die.

Duo's horse ploughed its way through the chaos and his sword cut through the enemy. His

eyes were full of tears and he could not see. He knew this was the time when he could just

give himself over to his selfish sorrow and let it loose on people he hated.

He was knocked from his horse and the impact with the ground winded him. He brought

his sword up just in time to block a vicious blow from one of the enemy who had

descended on him. He pushed the man back with a grimace and scrambled to his feet, just

in time to ward off another blow. The noise was so loud and thick it seemed to strike

physical blows in his ears.

The enemy opponent was strong, but Duo was agile. Even in his sorry state of mind, his

battle-honed senses were enough to keep him out of harm as he tried to defeat the

enemy. Suddenly, though, his opponent drew back.

Duo felt an impact like he had been thumped in the back by someone's fist. His breath

caught in his throat. He was then overwhelmed with the agony and blood spilled from his

lips. An attacker behind him pulled his sword out of Duo's back with a sharp, viscous

motion. Duo fell to the ground, his sword thumping into the grass beside him. There were

a few seconds of unbearable agony and the taste of bitter blood in his mouth and then all

was black.



"My Lord King," Heero did not look up as Relena approached him. "You do not seem quite

yourself today. Is it the battle which ails you?"

Heero looked up at her. She was nothing special. Pretty? Yes. Young? Yes. Rich? Yes.

Annoying? Hell yes. Did he love her? Of course not. He sat and looked at her for a while as

she gazed at him in dumb bemusement. What had made him part with his Duo to be with

her? Of course there were the obvious answers………she was a princess, their kingdoms

were now joined because of their wedlock. But why was he always to act for the kingdom's

well-being? Why couldn't he have acted for his own? If he had, Duo wouldn't be fighting.

He'd be standing before him now.

Maybe Duo would be trying to reassure him that the troops would soon defeat the enemy

and that peace would come once more. Duo always had had away of getting through to

him in ways other people couldn't. Heero was not looking at Relena anymore, even though

his eyes were on her. The softest hint of a smile touched his lips as he once more started

to recall what it had been like to forget he was a king for a while and just to believe he

was a normal man in love with and being loved by the most special person in his life.

//When you do,//

//I hope you smile//

//And hold the memory,//

//A while………//

The battle was over, the enemy was defeated. But the cheers that went up from King

Heero's soldiers were weak and half-hearted. There were too many dead around to hear

their cheers. Bodies were loaded onto stretchers to be carried back to the town for burial.

It had started to rain.

Two of the able-bodied soldiers mournfully bent down and lifted the body of their

commander, Duo Maxwell, onto a stretcher. They shut his eyes in which life had once

glittered so brightly and was now conspicuous in its absence.

Life was cruel.



Heero stormed out of his chamber. The soldiers were returning from battle and had been

victorious. He wasn't sure what the force was that drove him to hurry outside but he just

obeyed it.

He emerged into the rain, unperturbed by the cold, wet drops, and started to rush along

the battlements to get to the vantage point above the front gate. But he halted in his

tracks. Spread out before him was the courtyard in which the tired and battered soldiers

were being welcomed back.

//You looked into my eyes,//

There were stretchers being carried in on which lay the bodies of the dead and dying.

Heero felt an icy fist clutch at his heart as he recognised one of the bodies.

//You had me hypnotised and//

Everything kingly disappeared from him. He forgot his crown, forgot his wife, forgot his

duty. He ran down the stone steps, slick with rain, two at a time, skipping the last four all

together.

His feet skidded in the mud as he ran across the courtyard and flung himself down next to

a stretcher that had just been lowered to the floor. He bent over the body of Duo, blood

covering his chest and leaking from his lips, his eyes shut forever. King Heero wept

unashamedly.

//I can still remember you………//

He gathered the body into his lap and pressed it against him, cradling the lolling head

against his shoulder. He wiped at the blood uselessly with his fingers, trying to make it

disappear.

//Those moments spent together,//

//Promising forever and//

The rain caressed them both as King Heero knelt in the mud, weeping, clutching to him the

body of his dead guardsman and destroyed love.

Relena stared out of the chamber window and out onto the courtyard. Her face was as

grim as stone. Fury boiled in her eyes. In her fingers she clutched a purple ribbon.

//I can still remember you………//

Relena turned away from the window and cast the ribbon into the fire in the hearth. The

flames devoured it.

//Still remember you………//

//Still remember you………//

//Still remember you………//

//Still remember you………//

//Still remember you………//

Owari