Of Heroes, Liars and Rogues.
Pairing: none. absolutely gen.
Warning: odd? well... very odd. Takes place a week or so after Endless Waltz, not that it matters.
Note: For the gw jeopardy lj community, category Post EW / 500.
New Year's Eve, on a hilltop, midnight. AC197.
Five boys, five men trembled in fear.
And Heero, the first hero, said, "I'm tired of killing. Let me breathe the peace that I have earned. Let me... let me find it. I want to know what it's like to live in... peace. I want to know what it is."
It might have seemed selfish, but it was true. They all wanted it, and badly. They wanted it more than anything. They would die for it.
They had, in essence, died for it.
Killed for it.
Their souls were damned. They only wanted peace for a little while, true harmony for just a year, just a month, just a week, just a day, just a minute, just a second, before their eternal torment in the afterlife.
They were all going to hell.
Duo, the first rogue, nodded in agreement, though it was a sad little nod. He didn't bother grinning. He didn't even bother smiling. He just sighed slowly and shrugged with his nod, a confused, desperate gesture. "I'm tired of killing too, and I want to know what it's like to settle down for a while. I think... I think I could do it. I think..." The first rogue, frightened to the death with the very idea, could not finish.
Trowa, the second rogue, just shivered. It was cold on the hilltop, despite his heavy sweater. He hated being cold, hated being stranded, hated being...
Before he could fall into oblivion, Trowa shook the thoughts away. With a last shudder, he said, "I want true peace. Not the peace of space, not the silence... but true peace. I want life."
The four other men looked at him--not sympathetically, not with understanding, just a look. A simple, though highly unorthodox look. Each gave him their own version of acknowledgement, two sighing in the effort.
The liar--Quatre, was his name--spoke up with a soft smile caressing his lips. It was lie on all its own, but he couldn't help it. It would never go away, never fade. He was born with such smiles.
"I'm going back to WEI, like my father wanted," he said. Without missing a beat, he added cruelly, his voice milk chocolate, "...I'll be happy there."
Fortunately for the liar (and all of them, perhaps), the second hero never allowed such an injustice. He was a stubborn young fool, and he didn't like losing his fair share. He wanted what he had fought for. He wanted what he had killed for.
He had gone into the war on a path of revenge, and now that he got it, he wanted his peace. Be that death or a life of prosperity, he didn't care.
He just wanted to move on.
"You're all fools," he muttered softly, his ebony eyes condemned to judgment. "...Take what you want. Don't ask for it."
The liar snorted bitterly. He was the only of the five that could not 'take' what he wanted. Freedom. "And what do you want, Wufei?" His voice, though silk, was laced in sadness. "Where are you going from here?"
The second hero sighed, his pride slung low, tired. He said, "I want to go home."
"So do I," the liar said in agreement, "...but I don't know where my home is anymore."
The second rogue narrowed his eyes, and countered the liar with his legendary reason. "None of us know, Quatre. That is the point of peace. To find it."
The first rogue hummed softly, liking the idea very much, and the first hero ran a hand through his hair--an odd gesture that had never fit him before. But it was entirely Heero now. The peaceful Heero.
And the first hero said with a note of finality, "...Then let's find it."
The four other boys, now grim with determination, nodded slowly, carefully.
One way or another, they decided... they would find it. For a moment.
And they each, in turn, stepped down from the hilltop.
--Fini