A.N. Well, I had begun reading this after the 59th review, but then I got more! So yaya! We all win! And a single note to Mr. "Not Stupid Enough to Log In"-- and since this is a public place-- I'll only say this: Reviews are for stories, not authors. If you have a comment to an Author, well, that's what emails are for. To the rest of you, I LOVE YOU ALL! Okay, this is gonna be a short chapter, I warn ye. Oh, and it's gonna suck. I have no clue how to end this one well. Honestly, this is just another "keep the two lovers apart" story. Why do you guys like this? I'm a terrible writer! Go read something worth while!
Black Smudges and Golden Streaks
Duo stopped himself before his hand touched the doorknob. He froze his stance, his chest heaving tightly as he restrained himself from bolting right back to Japan. 'Okay Duo, think. Please, for two seconds think. You can't run off and endanger yourself on a deck of cards and speculation.' Relaxing his body, Duo slumped his shoulders and hung his head. Heero had finally begun to rub off on Duo, and he was grateful. Having been a careless, reckless teen Duo knew all to well the reality of harsh mistakes. And even more so, he knew the consequences. The thought of doing something stupid that would result in Usako's funeral, or even his own funeral sent a dark chill down his spine and through his veins. A Tarot reading wasn't worth all that. Duo would thank Heero later. Well, not in Duo's waking life anyway. He'd thank him from the grave. Or... right.
Sighing, Duo heaved his suddenly heavy body back up towards the common room. Quatre was sitting on the sofa doing some needle point. At first Duo had jested with Quatre about it, until Duo was shown its purpose. Quatre had the steadiest and most accurate hand Duo had ever come across. Quatre greeted Duo politely as he found a seat on the floor. Being quite the empath Quatre glanced at him.
"What seems to be the matter?"
Duo shook his head taking time to gather his words. "I... I'm... not doing what I want to be doing, you know how I am Quatre. Like a kid."
Quatre laughed. "No Duo, a kid would be actually doing what he wanted to do, regardless."
Duo blinked. So it was true. Leave it to Quatre to be wise, Duo always thought. If you're not good at it, leave it to someone who is! The door then sharply opened and Heero walked in gruffly. He said no hellos or salutations to anyone, as usual. Quatre immediately got up to the kitchen to make some tea. Heero looked like he had better days than today. Duo glanced around the room a few times, and then began to get up. Heero's sharp eyes darted to Duo, holding him mid exit. Duo waited. Heero eventually turned away with a smirk. Slowly Duo crept out of the room. As he passed behind Heero, he could have sworn he heard a "Dead Man Walking" pass from Heero. Cold and cruel, as always. But, would he be Heero if he was soft, warm and cuddly? Duo shuddered at the thought.
Now in Venice, Italy, Usagi inhaled deeply, ready to cry but unwilling. One last lead had appeared before her. "Stop. I could never forgive myself if I ended up taking you down to Hermes, Usako." What was Hermes? It took her a little bit, but Usagi could vaguely remember Ami telling her about a god that was very much like Mercury, but more. Hermes was a thief, a messenger, and the Ferrier to hell. So a boat. Duo had once told her that he wanted to take her to Venice once. Ferrier, Venice. To Usagi, it made sense.
Using what little money she had Usagi had found cheap motels and inns to stay in, ate scarcely, and slept little. She was beginning to feel that her trip had been utterly wasteful. Plus, her time there was running out. Soon enough Usagi would have to return to Japan to fill in where she was needed. Chibi Usa and Sammy were probably having an extremely hard time right now, as were her fellow Senshi. A pang of guilt shot through her. 'This is a very selfish trip...' Her mind began chiding. Even to her it felt odd that she was putting herself first. It just wasn't who she was. Sighing Usagi wandered onto a small little bridge over what would be a street, but instead a small river. Knowing very well enough that it was dangerous to be out at dark, Usagi couldn't help but linger under the moonlight.
'Am I doing the right thing? Is this even worth it...? I'm letting go of so much to try and grab onto a handful of water.' She thought, her heart sinking further and further as her mind reeled. As she closed her eyes the wind unraveled her odangos, and if she concentrated hard enough, she could feel Duo's hand running through her hair again. She could even hear his voice as the wind whispered by.
"Stop Usako."
Her eyes opened sharply. She could feel his breath on the curve of her neck and shoulder. He was really behind her. Slowly, as if to prepare to find nothing behind her, Usagi turned. And met the most beautiful violet eyes she had ever seen. She lunged forward and wrapped her arms tightly around him. Tears brimmed and she whimpered slightly to keep from crying and saying something stupid.
Duo tried to scowl, but found he simply couldn't. It was already taking everything he had to not embrace her. He was here to tell her to drop off and leave him. He had noticed her following him since he saw her odango's in a market in Switzerland. The girl had determination. How she found him here, Duo couldn't begin to fathom. Inhaling deeply, he gently pushed her away.
"Usagi, stop. Go home. You're a child, you should be back home taking care of your family and going to school. Not wandering the world." As soon as the last sentence left his mouth a harsh force slammed across his cheek. And there stood a firm Usako, anger flaring around her with tears running down her face. Part of Duo wanted to run vary fast. The other part wouldn't cower to a girl.
"Wha--"
"Shut up! Duo, how could you just leave like that? Why? What did I do?"
Duo took a step back. Usagi was sniveling, trying to keep her tears in, to only be angry. What ever it was, it was much deeper than him. The girl looked like she had been hit by a truck called life.
Usagi didn't mean to get angry, but she wasn't going to be weak and cry again. Anger was the only thing left.
"Usagi... what happened?" His voice was soft. The anger slowly ebbed away from her eyes as she stood in front of him. He reached out and took her hand.
Now sitting in an all night café, Usagi unfolded her recent life. Duo fell silent. He sure did pick a bad time to up and leave. A bad time, not a wrong time. All the alarms in Duo's head were going off. This girl had hiked across the globe to find him—it sounded very much like a stalker—normally this kind of gal would have Duo running for a different purpose than to protect her. It was so strange to him—despite all these warnings, Duo sat and felt calm, ignoring them. He let Usagi cry despite herself and ordered a nice strong coffee for the both of them. When she was finished and sitting quietly Duo smiled at her.
"Y'know, you're quite the stalker. Even better than me."
She looked up at him, shocked, then sat staring at him. Just as Duo was beginning to think he had pulled a joke at the most wrong time, she laughed quietly. The big knot that had tied Duo's throat shut eased up and he smiled again.
"Duo you always—wait, what do you mean by "better than me?"" Her eyes suddenly lost their laughter and sat curious. The knot reformed itself. He looked away for a second, and when he looked back his eyes were closed off.
"Usagi, did you think I just up and left for fun? Let's drag a poor girl around this countryside for shits and giggles today?" He leaned in closer and lowered his voice. "Usagi, I didn't know it at the time, but I was hired to kill you. I'm an assassin. Sounds cliché, but you have to take me seriously. I left because I won't kill you, and I've been in hiding from my employer. Look at my eyes Usako—am I lying?"
Usagi simply sat dumbfounded. 'Okay Usa... think... is an assassin really so farfetched? An assassin isn't anything compared to a Sailor Senshi. A moon goddess, for crying out loud.' She thought. Then, lifting her gaze from her coffee, she met Duo's eyes. He wasn't lying.
"Why me?" She asked quietly. Duo tried to smile.
"Well, Sailor Moon really." At this her eyes went wide. He laughed this time. "Usako, I really don't know about the general population of the Earth, but I for one could not miss that hairstyle."
"No, I mean, you believe in Sailor Moon? And all that stuff?" She asked quietly. Duo shrugged.
"They have a Sailor V in London."
A bell over the door rang as a customer walked in. Duo lifted his eyes and smiled. "Usako, this is Quatre, a friend of mine—hey Quatre!" Duo stood up and greeted him. Quatre had made a straight line right to them. The blonde seated him self by Usagi and gave a small, quiet, and polite smile.
"Quatre, this is Usagi, Usagi, this is Quatre."
"So you're Usagi then?" Quatre said with a polite smile. Usagi smiled back and opened her mouth to greet him. As she did, Quatre smiled at the empty café. His men had apprehended the register worker and other random employees. The floor was his now. As her mouth opened, Quatre filled it with his precious gun.
Duo jumped up, knocking the table and chair back. "What the fu—" Quatre stood up with Usagi and interrupted him.
"No need for explicates Duo, really. I'm almost sorry to do this Duo, but I gave you a chance. Miss, you really should have been a good girl and stayed in Japan. It wouldn't have had to end like this. Even with you following him, I tried. But Duo, you had to ruin it. You had to tell her everything. I gave you a choice, and instead you told her everything. You've made your choice Duo."
Duo stood dumbfounded. "YOU'RE BIG BOSS!"
"Yes Duo, I am." Quatre then turned the safety off on his gun. Usagi, biding for time jerked her head back.
"Wait! As a last request, please, just tell me why me?"
Quatre smiled lightly. "I wasn't told why. See, there's always someone higher—" A shot rang out. Duo stood, holding his gun out with a wavering grip. Quatre let go of Usagi and dropped to on knee. Blood rushed out of his thigh and his eyes widened and pupils shrank. There was an insane, wild look in his eyes. Usagi ducked behind the over turned table.
Quatre, his whole body shaking with pain and rage, looked up, right into Duo's soul it seemed.
"Duo? You would shoot me?" His voice was almost calm, shaking slightly. Then like a pencil snapping, his voice did. "AFTER ALL I'VE DONE FOR YOU DUO, YOU WOULD SHOOT ME!"
"Run!" Was all Usagi heard before the air filled with gun fire. Without thinking, her legs up and bolted her into the bathroom. She had, of course, no intention of leaving Duo. As soon as the bathroom door shut she transformed into sailor moon. Immediately she headed right back for the door but Duo burst in sooner than she could leave. With out saying a word he shot open the window, grabbed Usagi's wrist and took them through it and out into the alley. He didn't waste time; Duo didn't quite know what hew as dealing with, so he knew exactly how much danger they were in. As soon as they hit the ground they were running again. Soon they were back at the bridge again. Duo stopped, regaining his breath.
Duo did know Quatre to some extent. He knew Quatre never ran after his prey. It was so ... undignified. Quatre would simply track them and get them after they were exhausted.
Usagi glanced over him and her stomach tightened with her chest. He had been shot a number of times—she couldn't tell where—and looked like he would collapse. He made quick work of his shortly thought out plan. He jammed his thumb into a bullet wound on his arm, causing more blood to flow out. As it dripped on the ground he glanced up at her and tore away a piece of her glove.
"Duo, what are you doing?"
"Leave it to me—I'll finish up here, take care of the high ups, and I'll come for you, I promise—"
"No way Duo, I AM Sailor Moon after all, I'll take care of my battles from here—"
"Usako—" Duo kissed her briefly, "Hold your breath, stay out of sight and don't make a sound." With that he shoved her over the edge of the bridge. He heard a splash and let himself fall to the ground. He also knew Quatre had one major flaw: He was compassionate to the point of gullibility. Or so he hoped was still the truth.
When Quatre slowly stalked onto the bridge he found Duo weeping on the ground, bleeding and shaking. Quatre knelt down to Duo, his eyes scanning.
"Quatre, st- stop... I've taken care of it." Duo inhaled deeply—his left lung had collapsed—"You're right... I... I can't turn my back on you..." Again he inhaled deeply, choking a pathetic sobs. He prayed that Quatre hadn't been acting his good heart all along. Duo held out the piece of her clothing. Quatre glanced around once more. There was no sign of real struggle, but no sign of escape or further fleeing. He picked up Duo's gun and opened the barrel. He should have had one bullet left, but the barrel was empty. Plenty of blood. He stood up, his eyes now on Duo. Duo looked up and felt a wave of dread wash over him. Quatre's eyes looked sharper than a blade. Slowly Duo's vision began to fade...
Usagi coughed and sputtered as she pulled her soaked body up and onto ground. She had no idea how long or how far she had let her body flow downstream. Tears blinded her vision. In the distance she heard wailing sirens. Her body shivered as she coughed up water. She suddenly shook herself and picked herself up. Usagi had no idea where this sudden strength came from, but she wouldn't let Duo's sacrifice be in vein. Crawling through alleys and back ways Usagi made it back to her inn room. As she stepped through the door into the warmth that stung her eyes, she felt vacant. Her body then took over, undressed her and stepped her into a steaming hot shower. The water scalded her skin, turning her back arms and legs a glowing pink. She stood under the water until it ran cold, and then stepped out, leaving the water on. Stuffing herself into a bathrobe she dropped onto the bed and turned on the news. Almost every channel talked about he shooting, and how no bodies were recovered. There was no blood or DNA discovered, nothing but a busted up café. The café owners weren't talking either. Usagi wasn't sure they even knew anything. And then it began to sink in. No bodies. No blood. No evidence. No Proof. No Duo.
She fell onto her side on the bed and curled up. Tears escaped her blue eyes and before she realized it, she was wailing and sobbing. As she allowed herself to momentarily drown in grief and misery, Usagi vowed she would see this all to its fitting end where she would be in Japan with Duo. He promised. Duo never breaks his promises...
Duo slowly opened his eyes. White light, a very sterile scent. His body ached everywhere and his breathing was labored. As his eyes became adjusted to the bright lighting, to turquoise eyes and chestnut hair. A familiar, gentle and quiet voice spoke to him, though he couldn't discern anything.
"Is that you Trowa...?"
END
A.N. : Okay folks, a bad ending to a bad story. I realized, wow, my story isn't worth a ten point ending, so I decided to wrap this shit up. Flame away. I won't blame you. By the way, I like writing "bad endings". More to say, not happy endings. They seem so much more... realistic. But then again, who the hell can say the word realistic when you mesh gundam wing and sailor moon together and keep a straight face? I sure as hell can't!