An Eternity Longer

By: CrimsonDaybreak Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing, the characters, the plot, or the keys to the Gates of Hades... I *do* own the rights to enter Hades for an eternity of my own suffering and punishment...but that's for another story. ;;^___^;;

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Une is granted one wish, and all she asks for, is an eternity... An eternity longer, that is, to dwell in the same world as Treize. But wishes such as these have their downfalls... *DEATHFIC*

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"One wish?" she whispered ever so softly, her dark eyes alight for one short moment, as if the stars danced within them. That light, though, faded as she thought of her state more thoroughly.

"Only one wish, child... Think very carefully."

"For anything?" she asked again, but inside her hope was fading. This was only a dream, or else, it was reality drawn from nightmarish childhood tales of hooded phantoms who offered services to the living from the dead. Such twisted wickedness, and yet a sin so inviting.

"Anything at all." Whether granted from the living or the dead, a wish was a wish, and the very few things she truly wanted, she could not have. This was her chance, and she gambled to take it.

She sat there silently, pondering an answer. She had been given one wish. This spectre--this entity of a dream--had offered her one wish...for anything she desired in this world or beyond. Anything at all. In a sudden outburst, her head tilted back, and she laughed a cold, raw-throated laugh. Her eyes narrowed angrily, but inside she was fighting tears. "Don't toy with me."

"I assure you, I do not."

"Then tell me who you are."

Beneath the heavy black cloak, dark as the midnight velvet sky, the spectre smiled. "Not very trusting of my kind, are you?" His silhouette was framed against the window panes, the moonlight tracing a white edge around the fringes of his long, dark cape. On the other side of the room, she reached to the top shelf of the armoire to retrieve her loaded handgun. "That will do you no good, woman," the shadowed voice stated as if daring her to question. Without a word she dropped the pistol. "You must see that I am not of your kind. any longer. Much more-oh, much more-is needed to do away with me. Remember, I can grant you any wish because I have no blood. No life."

"You are a spirit, then."

"Exactly."

She turned her head, the cocoa depths of her eyes glinting in the soft, night glow. "Tell me, why have you come to me?" Her gaze descending on the spectre, she noticed a vague transparency in his image. He was merely a shadow. Nothing more. "Have you come to mock me?"

"Mock you? For what?" the shadow asked.

"For everything this life has forsaken me!" she snapped almost violently. "For everything I've lost and will never have again!" A single tear slipped down her cheek, and her voice became soft and nearly pitiful. "For the things I long to touch yet cannot because they no longer exist where I do. I mourn the sorrows that took away my faith, my love, my life. and I cry another tear for every drop of blood shed upon my gloved hands. Though I repent, there is no respite, for I have already lost what cannot ever be replaced. Every shard of my shattered soul waits only for its grave and nothing more; each piece bears a reflection of who I once was and long to be. Yet, as if that were not enough, here you come to mock me?!"

"You've suffered, haven't you?" His voice was gentle, understanding.

She nodded her head slowly. "It is my punishment." Beneath the dark shroud, the spectre closed his eyes, preferring to read her mind rather than hear it from her lips. So much blood need not be drawn a second time. "It is my punishment...for everything I've done. Everyone I've killed, even if it was for that one war. All the hatred that caused me to become who I was. The anger. The murder. The sin." She turned away as her eyes grew dark, filling with the tears that had yet to be shed. She had not spoken those words aloud, but she felt that he had heard. Was he reading her thoughts so easily? If he could, then maybe he really did have the power to grant a wish. Any wish.

"You can choose what to believe."

A wish. He could grant her a wish... for anything she wanted. Anything she could desire... If he could, not only in this world, but in realms beyond, then maybe he could take her away to be with-the shadow impeded upon her thoughts.

"Is that what you desire?"

She whirled around, unsure of a reply. He was reading her mind. She could wish for something without even saying it aloud. But why did this make her feel so vulnerable? So uneasy? So weak?

"If that is your wish, it can be so," he repeated. "I'll ask you once again: Is this what you truly desire?"

She closed her eyes. The spectre was silent. "An eternity longer is all that I ask...all that I desire. Give me respite from this existence. Take me to him."

"This is your wish?"

"Yes."

"I understand."

She remained facing away, not daring to look into the depths of the spectre's eyes. His presence felt so familiar, so why did she feel vulnerable? This was all she wanted. And it was soon to be. But why was it that-again the shadow interrupted. "Is this what you want?" he hissed. The spectre had moved from the window, gliding silently across the plush carpet. In the space of a breath he had drawn his scythe, the tip of the blade slipping smoothly beneath her skin. "I said," he repeated in an almost tortured tone, "is this what you want?!"

She gasped, realizing her fault. "You are not just any spirit. You are Death." "It's me, child. I am who you accuse me to be." But maybe, she found herself thinking, it was not such a fault after all. "Tell me, is this truly what you want?!"

"So help me, it is," the woman whispered hoarsely. "It is." Death lowered his head, driving the blade deeper. Blood poured from the gaping wound, spilling out onto the plush carpet. A cry escaped her parched lips, but the deep red liquid seeped into her mouth, silencing her. The metallic taste of blood singed her tongue.

"I'll ask you this again, is this what you really want?!"

The pain did to her what it would to any other mortal, and her mind faded from earthly sense. "All I want is to spend an eternity with him... Wherever he is, take me to him."

"As you wish." Forcefully, he thrust the blade through her fragile body, piercing the tip through her heart from behind. As quickly as he had forced the blade from behind, he removed it, and faded back into the shadows.

"Treize," Une gasped weakly; the final thought she had was of her love, waiting for her somewhere far away in the darkness. Her body hit the floor with a soft thud; like a rag doll tossed for rubbish, and her final breath was expelled. Death stepped back from the darkness, watching as the last of her blood pooled at his feet. With a smile, he pulled back the hood of his cloak, revealing his auburn hair, and a pair of icy sapphire eyes. "I will be waiting for you, my Lady." And like a shadow, he disappeared.

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The heat was unbearable. It was like a scorching desert, was all she remembered thinking, feeling. She opened her eyes, meeting his deep sapphire gaze. "Treize," she whispered, both question and statement.

"Lady Une." She lay in the darkness, but her eyes could not adjust to the surroundings. His embrace held her, reassured her, and she welcomed his kiss, for she had waited long years to feel it again. It was then that she remembered her wish from Death, the shadowed entity who had visited her, bearing one wish for anything she desired...at any cost. And Death had taken her life. But now she was here. This was her only wish. Suddenly, his grasp grew tighter, less gentle.

"Treize? What-"

"You wished for an eternity longer?" he only asked.

"To spend with you, my lord. Only with you."

"Such a long time an eternity is... Any mortal could not begin to perceive its depths. A lifetime is nothing compared to such."

"That is of no matter to me, as long as I am here with you, my lord," Une answered softly, again pressing her lips to his.

Treize smiled slightly. "Ah, love then, makes us all do foolish things."

Her eyebrows raised; now she was confused. "By what do you mean?"

"After years alone, charred, and suffering..." he whispered softly, coldly, "Lady, my love, I welcome you into my hell."

Before another word could pass between them, the darkness became thick and suffocating. Her grasp on reality, whatever was left of it, was fading into nothing, leaving only the cold blackness in which Treize was already bound. She was falling into the void of eternal damnation. She was to share his fate. With a final breath, Une screamed, and the world around her exploded into fire.

"Welcome, my Lady, to my hell."

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Whoa. That was SO weird. Not to mention it's my only fanfic where the story itself is only a thousand words. Pretty good for one night, ne? Think I deserve to be burned at the stake for this? Yes? No?