CHAPTER 2

The november rain was cold as it lightly misted the world. Small light snowflakes fluttered sparsingly through the raindrops. Neither of which were of consideration to Duo on this chilled afternoon. The braided youth sat on the safe house roof, his thoughts wandered forcing his body to endure the elements clad in only a simple pair or ligh blue jeans and a wine colored T-shirt. Though not a single chill inflicted by the weather ran down his pale flesh.

:"Hey, Remember me? I was once in you. I was kind of like the blood inside your veins":

Duo's arm rested casualy on his right knee, hand and wrist hanging limp off the edge. His fingers twitched with the painful memories of people once known, places once visited, all flashed dimly across his dream like state.

Solo.

Duo's heart lurched. All of his senses and memories seemed to explode at once. Temperatures, textures, tears. And blood.

:"Violet, like my love like my blood. Violet, still racing through my veins":

Solo and I crouched behind an abandoned market stand that sat quietly in an alleyway that lead into the market place. We could see the vendors shouffling storrage boxes and the colony town's people fluttering throughout the stands. Whlie we lie hidden in the shadows, with barely enough room to move I could almost feel Solo's heart beating inside mine. It wasn't that we hadn't lifted food before. There was just a certain life that solo and I created together when we embarked on our embezzlement missions. it wasn't that we were theves, but that we were hungry. at least, that's what I always thought.

Today, Solo and I had only one target.

Fruit.

But I was also a little bit nervous. Not because what we were about to do was difficult, or because I was worried about getting caught, but because I could hear Solo's breathing. I nearly leaped out of my skin when his hand brushed over mine. He must have noticed the hitch in my breath because he looked at me and smiled. My eyes were wide and my heart fluttered. He laughed quietly.

I'd never felt so embarrassed and ashamed of myself. I think he knew that too. Maybe even used it against me.

I was glad when he whispered the next phase of the plan bringing my attention back to our mission. Heaven knows he could probably read me like a book.

"He hasn't unpacked the melons yet. I'll need you to distract him while I get behind the counter."

As Solo spoke I watched the man. he seemed to be taking a break to suck on his pipe.

"Get him to help you pick out something ripe," He smiled and his eyes sparkled in a curious way. "Use your eyes."

My eyes had always been an easy tool for me to exploit due their abnormal color. The town's priest always told me he thought they were the color of God. I'd be a fool to

believe him.

I nodded in acknowledgement, and began to crawl out of the termite plagued wood. Solo's hand stopped me by grabbing my ankle. My heart stopped. "Good luck."

"Yeah." I didn't need it. This was just another necissary part of life. luck wasn't involved.and besides, I could see a ripe mango with my name all over it. At least it would if I had a name.

Standing up I brushed as much dirt off of my clothes as I could. upon approaching the grizzly man I ran my fringers through my hair that reached my hips. making sure to stay in the sunlight, I used it blinking until my eyes started to water, giving them a glistening effect. This man didn't look very bright, and I knew I was androgenous enough to fool him. And even if I wasn't, the people around here didn't exactly

"Sir?" No one can resist the charm fained politeness contains.

He looked up from his pipe, and ran his eyes up and down my figure. probably trying to decide what gender I was.

"Aah?" his voice was rough. It matched his bear-like build. shaking the hair from my face I revealed my eyes, catching them in the sunlight and began a string on nonsense and bullshit, somehow pertaining to his stand and that i wanted his help. His gaze handn't left my eyes and i knew he wasn't listening. hook, line, and sinker.

"Becuase you see, I don't really know how to check if it's okay to eat yet or not.."

He stood up from his chair and I realized he must be a good two or three feet taller than I was. Not that that was hard to accomplish. I was only a few inches above three feet.

He placed his hand around my shoulder and guided me to the display of oranges and bananas explaining in detail how and where each was grown and that it was crucial to pick them and just the right moment. He of course was a master at this. through the noise of the streets I could hear Solo's steps aproaching from the hidden alleyway. When a forien elderly woman presented herself and took the man away from me, trying desperately to comminicate with him,

I siezed the oppertunity to stash my mango, an apple, and a few other fruits down my undershirt. Poor bastard. He'll never know they're gone.

I was just about to take my leave when three loud thuds errupted from behind the stand. The vendor whisked around from his attempted conversation with the woman. I had to take action now, lest Solo be next week's special on the butcher's block. I swiped at a few apples

jutting out from the rest causing them to fall to the ground, bouncing as they hit the dust.

I gasped and held my face in my hands. "Gomen nasai! I was pushed from behind and knocked them to the ground!" I bowed deeply and descretly slipped one into my sleeve. "please forgive me!" From the corner of my eye I could see Solo running down the alley behind the fruit stand. "My apologies!" that was my que to join him.

I pivoted on my heel and dashed towards the next street exit on the left, hoping to meet up with him on the way to our hide out, but I tripped as one of the apples fell from my shirt, and I landed with my face in the dirt. 'shit.'

When I tried to pull my self up and run again i already knew it was too late. But my doom was confirmed when I felt his grasp on the back of my shirt. I cried out and struggled to get free but i was healplessly weaker than he was. I felt a sharp pain in the back of my head just before I blacked out.

When I opened my eyes again I was lying on the ground in an unfamilier alley with the vendor was standing above me with a dagger. It hurt to focus, and I tried to roll out of the way as he brought down the knife, but not with enough time to save my stash. or my shirt. The produce spilled forward and tumbled away. I wasn't sure if it angered him more, or excited him to witness the rest of the hidden fruit roll away.

"filthy theif," He ground out. But there was a grin spread over his lips. Before i could get up again he had me pinned with the full of his wheight tossing the dagger a short

distance to the side. "I'm going to show you what happens to little boys who pretend to be little girls."

Lying beneath his monsterous wheight it was becomming more and more difficult to breathe. My eyes burned and threatened to spill over with tears. My belt was ripped from my waist, and my pants torn from me and tossed aside. I was naked and welling up with fear and hatred.

"Lie still and take it boy, you won't live long enough afterwards to make it worth it."

I cried when he penetrated me. Searing pain shot through all of my nerves. I cried seven shamefull tears for every one of his disgusting violations of my body. Eventulaly I did stop struggling, and I began to understand what Hell was like. Hell is when you can't see the otrocities being preformed on your body. Only a blinding nothing. Hell is When you begin to feel your chest caving in, when can't get the smell of your asailant out of your nose, and when you can taste the metalic flavor of your oun blood.

Just when I was beginning to belive I would be trapped like this forever, I heard him screaming, and the sound of Solo crying for me to run. For a moment I couldn't understand what was happening. The world was spinning. I could see the man was reaching for his back as blood ran down his body and pooled in the dirt. That spurred me to notice the dagger was missing from where it had been lying just feet away from me.

Before I could give Solo a quizzical glance he was pulling me off the ground and shouving my pants into my hands, forcing me to run with him. We ran like Hell which must have been miles. My limbs felt like they could barely move. The simple act of moving my legs made me gasp and wail in pain. But solo wouldn't let me stop. In retrospect I probably owed my miserable life to him. Funny how things work out that way.

When we finally made it back to our hide out-which was really a run-down storrage shed, I felt like I could pass out and sleep for years. But of course, that'd be too easy. God has a way of making sure life stays difficult. The moment I stumbled through our back entrance I promised myself I wouldn't alow anymore tears roll down my face. It wasn't long before that promise was broken.

Solo lead me to the thread-bare blankets on the floor where we slept, and tried to comfort me. He stroaked my back and pulled me close to him. I hated him then too, becuase I was embarrassed that I had allowed myself to fall into such a situation. I had too much pride to be comforted this way. It seemed that with every gesture of kindness from him, more tears fell and I became weaker. For a moment I wished that I had that dagger, so I could spear Him the same way he stabbed the vendor from the market. But that only resulted in more tears, and more shaking convulsions, and sobs.

I can honestly say that when Solo's lips touched my cheeks I was shocked. He kissed the tears rolling down my face as his hands glided down my arms and around my lower back. It was so unexpected that my body and my heart became paralized. I didn't dare breathe. He lifted his hands to my neck and gently wove his fingers in the hair at my nape below the braid.

"I'm sorry I didn't notice your absence earlier. I should have been there to help you sooner."

More tears.

"I can never undo what that man forced upon you, but I don't whant you to keep living witha fear or hatred of the act." His hands were in my hair again and his voice was low and velvety. I could feel him gently lowering me to the floor but i lacked the strength to protest. I'm not sure if I quite understood where that had been leading at the time.

"That's why I'm going to show you that it's a statement of love. Not of violence and pain."

My breath hitched when he pressed his lips to mine, and my cheeks flushed with embarrassment. i could feel my trousers being gently pulled down and exposing my flesh to the cool air. I shivered and Solo wrapped his arms around my shoulders and kissed my neck.

My whole body quivered and abandoned it's resolve to struggle. Until I could feel warmth between my legs. I jumped and probably shrieked. "Solo! Iyada!"

He raised his face to look at me with clear cobalt eyes and replied with a simple "why?"Just then my brain froze and I couldn't for the life of me come up with a reason why I thought he should stop. All I could think about was the intense heat of his mouth wrapped around my- I flushed and fell back on an entirely b.s.-ed answer.

"Because it's disgusting! you'r a guy!" When he answered with a nonchelant "So?" I felt baffled and cornered. I couldn't formulate a comeback on that one. He grinned and my heart burst.

"Now stop finding embarrassing excusses. I know your gay." I blinked and felt dumbfounded. He said it so bluntly. And after I tried so hard to run away from that fact and deny it when aparantly Solo had known it all along.

I could feel his mouth around me again and I groaned. I briefly thought about relaliating, but what was the use? Besides I'd always sort of thought Solo was cute anyway.

I clutched at the bedding and wrythed. I'd never felt anything quite like this before. I'd never even touched myself before this. I cried out his name as I felt myself come into the hot cavern of his mouth. He swallowed and chuckled. I tried to pout defyantly. But he only laughed at me. I couldn't help but find this whole situation extreamly embarrassing. Especially because Solo seemed to be enjoying it so much. And at my expense. I hated the way he could kindly mock me.

I forgot about all of that when he kissed my neck again though. My whole body melted into the floor as his lips fluttered down my neck. My stomache butterflies soared to my throat. I sighed heavily and he smiled warmly at me. I couldn't help but smile back. We kissed and the world around us melded together.

:When I held you in my arms, I thought this feeling was just ours...:

Suddenly reality flooded into Duo's body, his heart felt squeazed with rage and betrayal.

"Damnit!"

Taking his cigarette, Duo shouved the lit end into the tender innerflesh of his forearm, allowing his flesh to burn. He hissed in pain and squeazed his eyes shut, as hot tears rolled down his cheeks. Cold raind drops falling heavily around him, one extinguishing the cinders reavealing singed flesh.