(AN- Hey everyone. I was gone for the whole weekend so I didn't get a whole lot of time for me to work on this story! But I have somehow managed and here is the next chapter! Hehee. THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH FOR REVIEWING! COOKIES FOR YOU ALL! You have no idea how happy you make me when you review! And I love getting emails so if you're ever bored to death one night, just email me. (I think you can find my email in my profile...)Hehe. Whelp, here you go, the next chapter!)

Chapter 4

Golden Twilight

Duo's POV

My mind was blanketed over by a cloud of fog. I couldn't tell quite where I was or what I was doing. I could feel my body move but I really wasn't aware of it. Could this even be considered consciousness? I felt my mouth move but was I speaking? The light, the same light as before was still covering my senses. I felt nothing at the moment but as each second passed, I could feel something bending. Like when you start to bend a stick. You can hear each vein in the branch snap until it splits in two. I was feeling each vein snapping and bending within me. I could feel pain creeping into my nerves, ever so slowly, as if trying to find my breaking point.

I felt my body being forced into a seated position. I focused all my energy and tried to view my surroundings. My vision was blurred, but I could tell from the clues that I was in a car. I felt the engine's vibrations crawl up my lower back and I felt chilled air blow across my face. I could sense that my consciousness was returning to me, though it sure was taking the scenic route. My vision became less and less hazy and I started to hear voices.

I turned my head in the direction of the voices to find that they belonged to a car radio. I looked at the driver, expecting it to be one of my parents. To my surprise I found myself staring at a dark blue-eyed Asian.

"Heero? What the hell!" I suddenly voiced. Why the hell was I in his car? What was I doing here? Where was he taking me?

"You're awake," He stated, keeping his eyes glued to the road.

"No shit, Sherlock! What am I doing here?" I yelled, my senses suddenly rushing back at me with full force. I felt the pains inside my head grow, but I pushed it aside.

Heero didn't say anything until he turned his blinker and turned into a subdivision.

"You're going to my house."

"What? You're house? Like hell I'm going to your house!" I roared, looking at the houses, trying to figure out where I was. None of the houses or street signs seemed familiar. 'Where am I?'

Heero didn't say anything to me. He focussed pretty much all of his attention on the road, from what I could tell. He just kept taking random rights and lefts down unknown streets. I was starting to contemplate whether or not I should jump out of the car, seeing how Heero wasn't about to let me out any time soon, when I felt the car come to a halt. Heero's car had stopped right in front of a small brick apartment building. It didn't look like it could fit a lot of people, four full apartment rooms to be exact as I scanned the mailboxes. The yard was kept tidy, probably thanks to the landlord, and the building looked fairly new.

I heard Heero turn the car completely off and remove his keys from the ignition. "Let's go," he ordered, opening his door and stepping out. Now I don't know what he was expecting me to do, but the last thing I was going to do was follow him. I stayed in the car and watched as Heero started to walk towards his apartment but when he noticed that I failed to follow him, he looked back. We both stared at each other before he walked up to my door. "Duo, I'm getting you inside that building."

"And you can bet that I'm NOT going to let you. You don't just kidnap someone and expect them to just go waltzing somewhere after you!" I felt my anger rising. Was this kid that dense? Suddenly, the pain that I had been compressing in my head broke free of my barriers and seared through my brain. I screamed, which only seemed to heighten the massacre that was taking place in my head. The pain seemed to make all my nerves burn and my muscles gave out at once. The energy that I had just possessed was now draining away like rain in a gutter.

Heero tore open my car door and quickly scooped me into his arms, not even noticing my pitiful efforts to break free from him.

"Shit, I waited too long!" I heard Heero curse to himself under his breath. Waited to long? What was that supposed to mean? I was so confused at this point by all that had happened today that I had given up trying to figure everything out. No matter how hard I tried; I only ended up at one big dead end and an earsplitting headache.

"Get your fucking hands off me! I told you you're not taking me anywhere!" I yelled, twisting my body so he would lessen his grip and set me free. Even though Heero didn't look it, he was strong. I was having a hard time trying to escape as he continued to carry me bride-style up to his house. I ruled out trying to get free by force so I used the only weapon I had left, my mouth.

"I told you to get OFF me! I'll scream! I'll give you to the count of three. One...Two...Thr-" I threatened. I was seriously starting to get scared. My headache was spreading down my neck and into my shoulders, making me mentally wince every time I spoke.

But before I could say the final number, Heero glared down at me. His eyes were so lifeless and unreadable that it made him look like a cold-blooded killer. He was looking at me as if daring me to finish what I had started. My heart leaped into my throat and I tasted salty water on my lips. I hadn't even realized it but I had started to cry. I hadn't cried in years, but today, that was all it seemed like I was doing. Those buried emotions leapt out of their cages and sprang forth in the form of tears. I couldn't hold back, no matter how hard I tried. My mind was working furiously to try and re-build the metal barriers but my emotions were coming out too fast. I was so scared that I couldn't hold back my fear anymore.

"...Heero...just set me down," I said, my voice threatening to crack. Couldn't he see how unstable I was? Could he not see how scared he was making me? That's what he wanted, wasn't it. He wanted to get me at my weakest moment. What was he going to do to me?

"Duo, I have to get you inside," he said, as if finalizing the decision for the both of us. He must have finally noted the terrorized look on my face because his eyes softened. "I'll explain everything...but first I need to get you inside."

I didn't say anything for I had nothing to say at the moment. The vocal threats didn't seem to be doing anything and I had given up trying to physically free myself. In what seemed like seconds, Heero was opening his apartment door, room number 01. The door gave a soft 'clunk' as it rebounded off of the wall. Heero quickly used his elbow to turn on the lights, illuminating the room. From what I could see, it was fairly neat but dull. The walls were all bare and there was no evidence that a teenage boy actually lived there. With me still in his arms, Heero walked across the room and laid me down on his bed. He walked away from me, leaving me alone on the bed.

I immediately tensed up and searched the room for Heero. I found him with his back turned towards me, facing a bookcase. I tried to sit up but found that my head weighed a ton. My vision blurred over once again before I gave up on the whole sitting thing.

"...Hee...ro?" I found that my throat was starting to close. All the symptoms that I was experiencing in the health room were all coming back. I needed to get to the doctors! I felt my body grow uncomfortably warm as I shifted in the bed.

Heero was still facing away from me. Did he even hear me? I tried to focus on him but my head sneered in pain and protest. I groaned.

After what seemed like hours, the blue-eyed Asian finally turned around. Walking with book in hand, he came towards me. "Duo?"

"...Ya?" God, it hurt to talk.

"...I know what's wrong with you," He said, still standing next to the bed.

"Wha?" I know what's wrong with me too, I'm sick!

"I...did something. I need you to swear on your life that you won't tell anyone, or...I will kill you," Heero said, glaring daggers at me.

"I swear," I answered quickly. "I never lie." Which was true, I had never lied in my life, and I wasn't about to start now.

He sighed and then glanced at the floor as if he were almost nervous to tell me. That's right, the so-called 'unemotional' new kid was actually starting to sweat under the pressure. If I hadn't been feeling like I was about to throw up my lungs, I would have been amused by the situation but now it just made me even more nervous than I already was.

"You see..." He sighed and shifted once more. "I'm...not human." He finished quietly.

"Not...human?" I lay there, dumbfounded. Was I talking to a fucking alien?

"No, that's not true. I am human but...I have a gift. It's a healing power that has been passed down from generation to generation through my family. I have the ability to heal my own wounds...as well as others through a sort of ritual," He said this all hesitantly. "Like in the hallway..."

The hallway...where Heero cut his hand! I glanced down at his palm to find it total devoid of any wound what so ever. I also glanced at mine, once again finding nothing there.

'No...this is one big dream. A human...having healing powers? That's not possible! Is this some kind of joke?'

Heero looked at me as if he where reading a book. "Don't believe me, do you?"

I almost laughed, but I could see seriousness in Heero's eyes that told me he wasn't joking around.

Heero turned around and exited the room, leaving me alone, only to come back moments later with a kitchen knife. He looked at me to make sure I was watching him as he brought the knife up to his arm. My eyes stayed locked on him. I didn't even try to look away. I was so mesmerized by what he was about to do that I couldn't look away even if I wanted to.

Heero brought the blade and kissed it against his forearm. He made a quick movement with the knife and removed it from his skin. I watched as the wound he just made quickly overflowed with blood. The escaping blood trickled down his arm, making a small pool on the floor.

I felt myself gasp at the scene as I watched the wound start to slowly close. The blood stopped flowing and in a matter of seconds, new skin cells started to multiply by the millions, quickly covering the cut. It was as if Heero hadn't even cut himself to begin with.

I looked up into Heero's eyes. Behind all the bitterness, I could see his eyes swarm with sadness.

"This is my gift, Duo," I said, whipped the blood off with his sleeve. "...and my curse...I was too late when I tried to heal your hand injuries. The flask...it wasn't cleaned well last time. When it broke, some of the chemicals were on the glass and got into your blood. I took the pieces out too late. Duo, I need to do another spell on you." He concluded, looking me directly in the eyes.

'I'm talking to a mental case!' I thought as I tried to hide my smile of pure insanity.

"Heero..." my face grew serious. "Don't you fucking touch me!" No way was I going to have this loser do...spells or whatever the hell he was calling them. I admit the arm thing was a cool trick but nothing any other person couldn't do.

"You're sick." Heero stated.

"So what! I'll get better!"

"No you won't," he looked back down at the floor again.

"Why the hell won't I!"

"...You're dying," He said softly but the words still hit me like a charging train.

'I was...dying?' But how...? I didn't understand, not that anything really made sense during these past few hours. My eyes still locked with Heero's; I tried to search his face for answers.

"Let me do the spell, Duo. My blood...some of it's in your body right now and if I don't activate it soon, you're body will start shutting down," He knelt down and became eye level with me. "Let me do this. Trust me."

My mind was screaming no. I couldn't trust this stranger. This psycho was clearly not mentally right if he thought he had some type of healing power. But it did make sense. The way my hand showed no signs of ever being harmed and when I experienced the light and warmth after he spoke those words to me. Could he have healing powers after all? It didn't seem possible but...nothing was impossible, I suppose.

I felt my head nod before my mind could stop it. Heero gave a sigh of relief and stood back up, leaning over me. Quickly reading over the notes in the book, he shut it and set it on the floor.

He placed his hands on either side of my cheeks and bowed his head. "COM este beijo eu abro o bônus dos nossos corpos e mentes. Possa a corrida curadora de poder dentro de seu sangue e o mantenha nas mãos seguras de Deus."

He spoke those words almost song-like. I felt relaxed as I listened to him recite the foreign language. His hands felt cool on my burning face. For the third time now, the light returned to me. The light was becoming my addictive. I craved the feeling of being set free of all the pain and hurt. It felt wonderful not having to worry about everything. To be given freedom; it was like being born. When you just enter the world, you have no emotions to base anything off. You don't have a schoolyard bully that makes you feel shameful about yourself. You don't have a nurturing mother that fills your soul with love. You have nothing. You are free.

I watched him through glazed eyes. His eyes were closed and his brow was frowned in concentration. Slowly, his head started to move in towards mine. I expected him to kiss my forehead again, like he had in the hallway. 'Sealing the spell' or whatever the hell he was talking about. But instead of his lips touching my forehead, they brushed against my own partly opened lips.

I was too shocked to react. Heero's thin lips held fast to my own. I could feel his fingers trembling against my face until he broke the simple kiss. The moment his lips parted with mine, all the pain I had been feeling, vanished. The white that had been fogging my vision started to disintegrate. The warmth from his hands and lips still lingered on my skin. My body felt foreign to me. I could feel the rush of blood in my veins. It was as though I was reborn.

"Duo?" I heard Heero call to me. I opened my eyes and saw him standing over me.

"Hey Heero," I answered back, finding my sore throat to be gone.

"How are you feeling?" He didn't look like he was concerned with my health at all. He was back to Mr. Unemotional stone…figures.

"I'm great!" I smiled, sitting up in the bed. "Um...thanks, Heero." I blushed remembering the ritual. "Whatever you did...it worked."

"Hn." Heero knelt down and picked up the book off of the floor. "Sorry if it made you uncomfortable. Stupid spells can never be anything easy..." As he was saying this, I saw the Asian's face tint red.

"Awww, is Heero here embarrassed?" I laughed. 'Heero's blushing? Another flaw in your mask, Mr. Perfect'

Heero glared at me before turning around and putting the book away. I took this chance to check the room out more in detail. The bed I was currently sitting in was placed in the far left-hand corner. There was a window next to the bed but its shades were drawn. Across from the bed was a small desk with a lamp and a notebook on it. There were no scattered papers, no clothes on the ground...it just wasn't normal.

"Wow Heero, you're parents must be really strict," I said, trying to break the uneasy silence that had fallen between us.

"Why do you say that?" I asked, turning around to face me once more.

"Well just look around! This place is so clean you could eat off the floor...Where are your parents anyway?" I asked swinging my legs so that they dangled off the side of the bed.

I saw Heero catch his breath before he suddenly became fascinated with the floor. "They...aren't here right now." He whispered. He glanced at me before walking over and placing his hand on my forehead. "The spell seems to have gone ok. Your temperature is back to normal. There shouldn't be anymore complications concerning your health." He informed, removing his hand.

"So wait...I have healing powers now?" I asked, feeling myself grow excited.

He nodded and I smiled. "But Duo, you have to listen to me. You can't let anyone find out. Not your mom or your dad or any of your friends. No one!" He said, getting defensive about the situation. "My whole childhood..."

He stopped in mid sentence and left it lingering in the air. "What about your childhood?" I asked curiously.

"Nothing," He said quickly.

I looked at Heero questionably. 'His childhood?'

"Just...don't say anything to anyone," He demanded. "Promise me!"

"Ok, ok. I promise. Just relax!" I said with a serious face. "Besides, I wouldn't want to be locked up in a research facility the rest of my life anyway…" I cringed at the thought.

Heero settled down but he was still very up tight. "Are you thirsty?" He asked, trying to be more hospitable.

"Actually, I could use some water," I answered.

He nodded and exited the room. I sighed and looked down at my hands. 'So...I can't be hurt? Is this real?' I glanced at the knife that Heero had brought into the room earlier. I reached for it and picked it up. It felt light in my hands as I brought it up to arm. I felt my throat swell up as I tried to swallow. I closed my eyes and dug the knife into my skin. When I felt a string of pain, I let the knife drop to the ground and I stared at my slightly bleeding cut. I watched as the two halves of the cut came together and healed itself in a matter of seconds.

"So it's working." Heero stated more than asked from the doorway, glass of water in hand. I jumped upon hearing his voice so close to me.

"Um..." I looked down at my arm to see no traces of me ever cutting myself with the knife. I only saw a little escaped blood trickle down my arm. I blushed on the fact that I was caught during my own little experiment. I took the inside of my shirt and wiped the excess blood off my arm. "Yea, apparently..."

"Good."

Not meaning to be rude, I glanced down at my hand watch. The digital numbers read 5:35 P.M. "Shit!" I cursed out loud as I jumped off the bed. "Sorry Heero but I really gotta go! Listen, thanks for everything, really. I can't tell you how thankful I am but I really, really have to go. If there's anything I can do to make it up to you, just tell me, ok? I'll see you at school tomorrow! And no, I won't tell anyone," I said, seeing Heero start to open his mouth.

He shut it and nodded. I smiled at him and ran towards the door. "Thanks again!" I called back before I started on my jog home.

"Hn, he talks too much," Heero said before shutting the door and returning inside.

(AN- Ok, translation is: "With this kiss I open the bond of our bodies and minds. May the healing power run within your blood and keep you in the safe hands of God." And thus ends another chapter. Duo doesn't quite understand his powers yet but we'll save that fun for later. Lol. Review please! How about I give out DOVE chocolate this time! Cause...well...chocolate is just so good. Lol. Ta ta! )