Wings

Deep Within,
Our forgotten souls
Lies a heart,
Pure of Gold
It's hold is fast,
It's tale is true
As the whispers carry,
From Me to You

Upon these Wings,
He shall fly
And He shall smile,
Until the day he dies
He spreads such joy,
And bestows on us
A deathly fear,
And an everlasting blood lust

Because He's a kamikaze Angel,
He's made mistakes he'll always regret
His love is forbidden,
But never does he fret
For His Fallen Angel shall come,
One day
At what price,
I dare not say...

Deep Within

Chapter One

I closed my eyes.

Something you really shouldn't do when walking down the streets of New York, but shut them I did. The endless chatter of the people, the shouts from taxi drivers, the screeching of tires, the roar of the subway beneath my feet--it all seemed faint and far away. It was like I was sitting in the back of my mind, quiet and alone.

A quick breath passed my lips as someone rammed into me, and snapped me back into reality. "Hey, watch it buddy!" he shouted harshly, I only glanced at him for a moment--something else had caught my eye. I had been turned to the window of a small pizza place, and in it, in the back, behind the counter, I saw a boy. His long, brown braid twisted in between his fingers, his form hunched over the counter.

I stared at him for the longest time.

The year was A.C. 201, and the last time I has seen him was five years earlier, at

my wedding. Relena had invited everyone in the universe it seemed like, and Duo
of course was present. "Thank God these two finally got hitched!" was his toast.

I sighed.

When I was offered a job on Earth, I very much wanted to leave space and return to solid ground, but Relena's position held her in The Colonies. We discussed it for a few seconds and decided she would stay and I would leave (it was a very lucrative job). I didn't think that we were separated, she was still my wife, and I still her husband, only we were so far away from each other. Sometimes she just felt like a memory. A hazy spot in my mind. The whole war felt blurred, unreal.

I looked in the small restaurant, no one was there but him. So I opened
the door and stepped inside. A little bell sang out a few jagged rings. The boy stirred
slightly at the disruption, stood up straight, stretched his arms out, and let out a huge yawn.

I was mistaken...

He was a man.

He still had the sharp nose and taut jawbone, the large violet eyes and the long chestnut hair--but he was taller, and his muscles were more defined. I stepped up to the counter as he finished his yawn, I remembered it was quite dark out and was probably late. He straightened out and opened his eyes as he simultaneously said, "Hey..." his eyes grew a bit wide and his voice softened "there..."

He recognized me.

"Hi, Duo," I said nonchalant, as if we had exchanged greetings everyday for the past five years, but I hadn't spoken to him since the wedding.

"Heero?"

"Yeah, it's me Duo,"

"My God. I haven't seen you in ages," he said at length.

"I know..." my gaze fell to the floor.

"What are you doing in New York? I thought you and Relena were living in the
Colonies."

"Yes well, she still is,"

His face jerked into a frown, "Did you two, break up?"

"...I don't think so," I said looking back up to him. "I was offered a job in New York, but Relena insisted that she needed to stay..." I noticed that Duo was staring at me, those immense violet orbs looked me up and down and rested comfortably at my face.

"So I left and she stayed,"

"But you two don't plan on a divorce or anything--do you?"

"No, nothing of the sort,"

"Well that's good, you two are just so cute together," All the aspects of his face changed to show that broad grin of his. "It would be a shame to waste that. I remember your wedding day, you two looked so happy to finally be together," he laughed slightly, "I even think you were actually smiling,"

"Oh, well, I guess it always hasn't been that way."

"Wha-do-ya mean Heero?"

"Well, I guess you could just say she's not all that happy anymore, it's just... I don't want to talk of it right now,"

"Okay Heero, your call," he spoke softly with a hint of concern. He then glanced down at his watch and excused himself to the back room.

After a few moments he came back, pizza box in hand. His apron had been
discarded and his head now bore that old black cap of his. The hat was seeming the same one he had wore during the war, but the rest of his attire had changed.

He didn't look so--strange anymore. His pants weren't puffing out in the sides, they were just plain jeans, and they were faded like he had worn them for years. Instead of the out-of-place priests color and black shirt with no buttons, he wore a tight gray T-shirt that clung to him like an extra skin.

He placed the pizza on the counter and started to lock up the register after putting some of his own money in. "You want to share this with me Heero?" he offered, "It's got everything on it."

"Sure," I said blankly, "I was on my way home, I live right around the corner, want to come up?"

He smirked again.

Duo let out a long whistle, "…Wow, Heero, this is a nice pad… Sure beats my hole-in-the-wall…" He walked into the kitchen and set the pizza as well as his hat on the counter, "Do you live here alone?"

"Yes," I said, setting down my briefcase and loosening my tie, "my company provided me with this flat, fully furnished… It's generous, but I find it to be impersonal…"

Duo had already started on his first piece and had stolen one of my beers, "What kind of work do you do…?"

"I'm a stock broker…"

"Wow, a big shot Wall Street stock broker," he grinned with all his teeth,

"You've got it made, Heero…"

I suppose to Duo I was successful and could afford a comfortable life, the truth was though I didn't feel like I was doing anything significant. Not like the old days. During the war we had been shaping the future of our universe, and I had just been following orders. Now that we were civilians we were free to live our lives as we pleased, all I did was make money.

I made my way to the white leather couches in the sitting area and let my weight fall into their cushions. "I've been thinking about getting a dog," I said, "...Or something,"

Duo just laughed as he walked towards me with another beer and slice of pizza, which he handed to me before he sat down, "It'll just bite you... Or you'll forget to feed it,"

I was slightly offended at Duo's lack of faith in my ability to nurture another being, but I know he was just being his obnoxious self, "...This place just doesn't have that 'lived in' feel,"

"I know what you mean... You don't have any color, there's too much white," he took a quick look around my apartment, looking further down the halls into the other rooms, "I could help you with that... I happen to be an artist,"

I looked up from my amber bottle to look him in the eyes, "Artist...?"

He grinned to me, knowing my surprise, "Yeah, the pizza jig just pays the bills, my real work is done in the studio. I can understand why you're surprised, I didn't know it about myself until a few years ago. When I moved here and got some friends I was thrown in the hip, New York beat nick scene. I really got into it, and once I picked up a brush for myself I realized I actually had some talent,"

To be honest, I felt envious then. Duo was pursuing a dream and doing what he loved, while I was just working for the sake of working. I realized how dissatisfied I was with my life, but everything was about to change after that night.

Slowly my eyes opened and I felt a heavy warmth on my chest. I blinked a few times, letting my eyes adjust to the light. I peered down at the chestnut mass against my chest. Duo had fallen asleep on top of me, I watched him for a few moments. He had his arms curled to his chest, and his finger tips rested gently against the skin a few undone buttons from my crisp white dress shirt had exposed.

He looked so peaceful, I didn't have the heart to wake him. So I, ever so gently, slipped from under him and rested him back onto the couch. I then headed into the bathroom and began my usual morning ritual.

I sighed and let my eyelids drop heavily. The cold water felt surprisingly wonderful cascading over my warm skin. I arched my back and let it run down my chest. Opening my eyes, I stared up at the ceiling. I didn't feel tired that morning, instead I felt well rested. Even though Duo and I had stayed up until the early morning.

After I had lathered, rinsed, and skipped the repeat, I stopped the water and secured a towel around my waist before I stepped out. I could hear the TV while I pulled on my robe. He was up, my shower must of woken him.

I turned to the mirror. Persian blue eyes stared back at me. His dark brown, choppy hair hung in his face, it had an almost greenish hue to it. I tilted my head to the side a bit. His expression was so austere.
I hated myself so much.

Why couldn't I be happy like Duo? I wondered why he was so giddy and I was so... solemn. We had both been in the same war. I'm almost certain we both had empty childhood's. How could he be so blithe? Life's a bitch--and then you die.

I stepped out of the bathroom and there he was, sitting on the end of the couch, his chest heaved up and down slowly as large breaths past his partly open lips. His eyes were wide open as they stared at the glossy screen of the television and seemed to have ashocked look in them.

My brows furrowed as I turned my gaze to the screen. It depicted
a small building (for NY anyway) smoldering in smoke, half of it was up in flames and firemen were still trying to put it out. It was chaos, there were still people screaming. A news reporter talked over the scene. The fire had been going on since late last night, 3:00 am I think she said. It was suspected to be arson.

"That..." Duo spoke flatly with a shaky voice, "That was my building..."