Disclaimers: Don't own GW.
Warnings: Yaoi
Shinigami Chapter 2: Summerland
Duo smiled faintly at his old friend, but confusion showed plainly in his eyes. Quatre was wearing a robe much like Shinigami's but without the long sleeves to cover his hands and without the hood. It was a gentle lavender color with blue designs on it and a gold cord-like rope around his middle.
Quatre noticed Duo looking at his unusual attire and smiled. Duo turned his eyes back to Quatre's and stepped forward timidly. "What are you doing here?" he asked.
Quatre sighed. "Is it not obvious? I came to retrieve you." On seeing the confused look cross the braided boy's face he added, "When someone decides to stay on earth, they can really only stay for a short time until they accept that they have died and allow one of us to come and take you on."
Duo blinked. "On?" he repeated. "On where? Where's Heero? Who's 'we'? And why didn't I move 'on' earlier? I know I'm dead and I'm happy!"
"You're going to Summerland, I have no idea where Heero is, we as in the... well, I guess you could call us 'agents' of Summerland. And as for you staying here when you know you're dead is a mystery to me." Quatre tilted his head. "Why did you ask me where Heero is? I thought he'd have stayed here, with you."
"He was... for about a year, but Shinigami took him. Just before you came. Was that just coincidence?" he asked.
Quatre shrugged. "I guess so... But how could Heero have gone to Shinigami?"
Duo shook his head. "I don't know, he said that he deals with all deaths."
Quatre quirked an eyebrow. "He did? He was lying... He is the keeper of the... lesser Summerland. But he just likes to call it hell, even though there is no such place. There is no heaven or hell, just Summerland." Duo gazed at him blankly, so he continued, "Everyone goes to a level of Summerland when they die. There are five different levels. The top level is where people will go when they want to be reborn. The next one down is the actual Summerland itself, where people have accepted that they have died and live happily for as long as they please until they choose to be reborn. The third level down is where people know they have died, but still choose to do the things they did when they were alive, such as exercising, going to work, eating, things like that that they think they still need." He paused. "Are you getting all of this?"
Duo nodded slowly. "Yeah, I think so."
Quatre nodded. "Ok, so the fourth level down is where people don't really realize that they have died, so they go on to live the lives they did when they were alive. They aren't exactly happy there, of course because of all the problems in the world. But most who go there first eventually become aware of the change in the world around them and are helped to the next level up. And the last level is just the opposite of Summerland. People there are negative and pessimistic and they refuse to believe that they have passed on. It is a dark place where no light can reach and the air is thick with depression." He stopped and shook his head sadly.
Duo's eyes widened. "But if Shinigami is the keeper there, then Heero's there too?" he cried.
Quatre nodded again. "Yes, but Heero has led a fine life up until his death... So Shinigami must have had his own reasons for taking him there. Shinigami is not a cruel person in the least, but he has his off days and will do something odd every once in a while. He wouldn't put Heero in that level of Summerland for no reason."
Duo's expression hid nothing. He was desperate, and Quatre knew it. "Can you get him back? If he doesn't deserve to be there, and he's accepted his death, then you should be able to, right?"
Quatre stayed silent for a time before answering. "Duo," he said quietly. "I don't know if we could get him back or not. It isn't up to me who should go where, but we could try. Shinigami does come up to the other levels once in a while, I'll talk to him next time he comes up."
Duo looked down and nodded sadly.
Quatre tilted his head in pity for the braided boy. He sighed. "Come on, Duo," he said quietly. He stood next to Duo with an arm around his shoulders. He raised his hand slowly and they both disappeared in a white cloud.
Duo closed his eyes as he felt wind on his face. He felt like he was sitting on the wing of a plane or something, but it only lasted for a moment. He opened his eyes when he felt that they had stopped.
His eyes grew wide at the sight before him. Gently rolling hills stretched for miles on end before meeting with the mountains in the distance. Duo glanced to his right. There he saw a huge river and a waterfall that dropped down off of a hidden cliff.
Duo squinted. There was a house settled on a bit of land in the center of the river. He turned back to Quatre. "Is that yours?" he asked, motioning to the house.
Quatre smiled and shook his head. "No, actually it's yours. This has been here since you died," he said, walking around Duo and gazing at the house. "You were just never here to claim it."
Duo gave Quatre a confused look. "How could you know that if I died before you did?"
Quatre shrugged. "I learned." He smiled. "Just as you will."
Duo nodded and turned to look at the house again. He tilted his head. "How are you supposed to get to it?"
"Like this," Quatre said and blurred. From the house, Quatre waved to Duo. Duo's jaw dropped.
"How did you do that?" he asked as Quatre came back.
"It's easy, you can do it too. Just imagine it happening. That's how everything works here; if you can see it in your mind's eye, it will happen for you," he said with a smile.
Duo walked up to the edge of the river. "Can I walk across?" he asked, kneeling next to it and feeling the water slowly passing through his parted fingers.
Quatre tilted his head. "I suppose so..." He smiled and stepped out onto the water flowing slowly beneath him. He shrugged and started to walk toward the house.
Duo timidly put his right foot on the surface of the water. "It feels like glass!" he called to Quatre happily. Duo took a few steps out onto the water and stood there with his arms spread out as though he thought he was going to slip and fall. He grinned nervously and started walking. He bent down and touched the water again. He could still feel it even though it felt like he was walking on solid ground.
Quatre turned around to make sure Duo was doing ok and laughed. Duo didn't even realize that he was sinking. Duo looked up at him and his eyes widened as the water reached his middle.
He shrieked and sank to the bottom like a rock. He blinked. "Quatre? Am I going to drown?" he asked, air bubbles forming in the water. He looked around at the bottom of the river in fascination. The bed was a soft sand from which sprouted all kinds of different, colorful plant life. All around him, schools of fish of all sizes swam together. They glittered in the clear water and their scales flashed every color imaginable.
Quatre kneeled above Duo. He smiled and shook his head. "Duo, you're hopeless!" he called down with a laugh. "You can't drown, you're already dead!"
"But how do I get back up?" he asked as a huge fish as long as his legs came to investigate. He waved his arm and it swam away.
"The same way you do everything here, imagine it in your mind's eye and it will happen." Quatre stood up and sighed as he watched Duo trying to grab a small fish.
Duo grinned as that fish also swam away. He looked up and imagined himself floating back up to the top of the water. "Quatre! It's not working!" he said.
Quatre rolled his eyes. "Then just come along from down there!" he replied.
Duo shrugged and began walking. He started to rise up to the top again the farther he walked. "It's like stairs!" He grinned up at Quatre who nodded.
When he finally did make it to the top, his eyes was the only part of him above water as he peered around. He grinned and jumped on the surface. He looked down at himself and at his backside. "I'm not wet!" he cried excitedly.
Quatre nodded again and led Duo up to the house.
Duo looked around the small isle. It was completely covered in plant life. Huge flowers in full bloom speckled the green picture with vibrant colors. Duo's eyes sparkled at the sight. He turned to follow Quatre with a wide smile dancing on his lips. "Hey, Quatre?"
Quatre turned.
Duo's smile vanished. "How often does Shinigami come here?" he asked softly. He sighed. "I wish Heero was here too..." He looked down at the dirt path sadly.
Quatre sighed. "I could send for him... I doubt he will come unless I go myself." He shuddered. "But I do not dare go into the fifth level unless forced."
"Isn't there some other way around? Like a path that leads directly to him?" Duo asked.
Quatre shook his head. "He roams around the fifth level freely, watching over his land."
Duo swallowed hard. "Would it be possible for me to go?" he asked quietly.
"Why would you want to? He'll come back on his own and we can talk to him then!" Quatre said.
Duo shook his head. "I want to know that Heero is safe. I want him here, with me." He looked back up at Quatre. "You can't understand how I feel since Trowa is here with you, not in some hellish place where he doesn't deserve to be!" Duo cried.
Quatre looked down, but then back up. "I never said I understood how you felt, Duo. I was just giving you some friendly advice," he said sternly.
"But you think that waiting for Shinigami to come will be all right! It's not! I can't stand it when I don't know where Heero is!" Tears began to well in Duo's eyes. He lowered his voice to a more menacing tone. "What if Heero isn't ok? What if Shinigami did something bad to him? How would we know? And what if Shinigami doesn't come back? What if he waits another eternity to return here?"
Quatre sighed. "It doesn't do any good to ask ourselves the 'what if's, that will just make you worry more. And if you feel that strongly about finding Heero, then I will take you to the fifth level."