As per say, I had the most votes to pull the two of them together (of which I agreed ^_^) So here's the next chapter, complete with pull together-ness A quick note to Mareimaea, I thought of the same thing. See what comes out of it.

Enjoy

Eclipse of Dusk

By: Hseru

Warnings: Shounen ai later on 1x2 3x4 5x? (poor Wuffers)

Disclaimer: I own not Gundam Wing, but I do own the world the G-boys traverse. Fear my god power

Chapter 17

Heero walked at first down the tunnel with determined strides, but as he neared the cavern, his step became more hesitant, which was unlike his usual straightforward manner. Gathering himself, he entered the cavern where the steeds were all quietly stabled.

At first he didn't see where Duo was, but a closer scan revealed him seated on the inside of his black Illian's stall like area, back against the cold stone, and his hair still wet enough to be dripping behind him. His knees were again drawn up, head resting against his arms, which were wrapped about his knees. The sleek ebony mare was close to him, as if guarding her newfound master.

She didn't voice anything as Heero approached, but the very clear look in her eyes and the tilt of her ears said one step closer and prepare for a beating.

Heero stopped just outside the small area.

"Go away..." Duo's muffled voice came without him even bothering to look up.

"No..." Was Heero's simple answer. To his surprise, his answer wrought a strangled laugh from Duo.

"You couldn't catch a clue if it hit you in the face..." The long haired youth said, now raising his head enough to allow Heero a good view of him. His eyes were dry, but still a bit red, and angled to the ground directly in front of him. A bitter smirk was on his face, one that looked so terribly wrong on the person Heero had come to know as cheerful in the past several days.

"I'm not him..." Duo suddenly said in a low voice. Heero took an automatic step forward to better hear him, stopped from taking another only by Murasaki's threatening stamping of her thunderous gray hooves.

"...What do you mean?" He asked from where he stood. He didn't immediately get an answer.

"Duo-"

"I'm not Shinigami." Duo interrupted when Heero made to repeat the question.

"I know tha-"

"No!...no, you don't." Duo again interrupted, hugging his knees tighter. Despite what he was, Heero thought he looked so terribly young and vulnerable at that moment.

"I'm not Shinigami. We are two different beings all together." Duo began, resisting the urge to heave a sob. Damn, but his life sucked now. "Given some of my memories back, I can see that clearer than anyone else." He leaned his head forward to his arms again, muffling his next words.

"When we are once more whole, I probably won't exist anymore."

Heero blinked.

"What?" He asked, dumbfounded.

"I, me, the person that is Duo Maxwell will likely cease to be when we are joined again." Duo clarified in a torn voice. "I was broken from Shinigami's own being when we were split. The me I am right now is only a place holder for the real personality. The rejoining will leave only the true spirit behind..."

This little bit of information rocked Heero. Duo would be gone.

"Are you sure of this?" He asked. Duo nodded faintly from where his head rest.

"About as certain as anything else is right now. Phenris explained everything that happened, filling in the gaps in my memory." He began, the words still muffled. "Sarkan split me from Shinigami, as the soul that was needed for him to resist being under a spell. He put me in human form, as the easiest to control, and placed this damnable collar about my throat." Here, Duo lifted a hand to the iron about his pale neck, gingerly touching the metal that constantly scorched him. "It's iron..." He murmured. "Because of it, Shinigami will not be able to take me into himself again. Because of it, I have been given a life only to have it taken away." His hand tightened about the deceptively innocent looking metal, as if to try and rip it from himself. "...Because of this, the both of us will die, effectively sealing my soul in hell were it belongs..."

Heero was speechless when Duo finished. He just couldn't think of anything to say to this. Duo's complete and utter fix of hatred on himself, coupled with the fact that his personality and mind might not live long enough to atone for what he considered his crimes gave him an all too strong conviction. Heero had the daunting task of reversing that, and he silently cursed whatever god was playing with them for his amusement.

"Duo..." He began quietly. "I..I can't tell you otherwise on this. You know better than I what the circumstances are. The only thing I can tell you is something you already know. When you and Shinigami are joined, then Sarkan's plan will be halted..." He paused for a moment before voicing the faint hope that for some reason burned small, yet brightly within him like a strong candle flame.

"There's a chance that you will still be you after the two of you are one again..."

There was silence for a moment, then Duo finally looked up at him.

"Why are you doing this?" He asked quietly. "Why are you pretending to care? I know Phenris put you up to protecting me, but I don't need it. I relieve you of that foolishness here and now."

"Yes, she 'put me up to it'." Heero said staunchly after a moment. "I made a vow to her that I will not break. It includes making sure you are kept from harm."

"So you've been turned into a great bloody bodyguard." Duo sneered. "How fitting."

For some reason, a flare of anger boiled up within Heero at this obstinate creature before him. Would there be no getting though his abnormally thick skull? With that thought, he strode forward, making the ebony mare start to in a flurry of motion, tagged hooves striking sparks against the stones at the ill will she though she felt in the young man before her.

"Murasaki!" Duo yelled, getting to his feet to quiet the Illian who reared back and up, hooves pawing the air. Grabbing hold of her halter, he pulled the mare's head down and around to him to meet her dark crystalline eyes.

"Murasaki, stop it." He commanded, and the mare immediately settled. She nudged his chest in quiet apology. "He's ok." Duo whispered to the large animal. "I know I asked for you to keep everyone away from me, but I need to talk to Heero..."

A flash of understanding entered the Illian's eyes. With a gentle smile, the first of such Heero had seen from the boy, he gave her muscled neck a stroke, then moved to the other end of the cavern, and into the tunnel that led aboveground. Without hesitation, Heero followed him.

It was a silent walk upwards towards the free air, but Duo gave no sign of stopping until they reached aboveground. It gave Heero a moment to collect his thoughts, which had strayed horribly in the previous talk.

Duo might be gone. Why did that matter so much? The news had startled him, surely, but he had actually come to a point where Duo's cheerfulness was as normal to him as his own stoicism. Those few happier days back with the elves seemed so far gone, and yet the impact the braided youth had made upon Heero remained intact. Before this day, the youth had never seemed to lose his good cheer. The bitter resignation that lay there now was alien to him, so much so that Heero would have been willing to do nearly anything to get that good cheer back to Duo's soft features.

Once outside the cave-like tunnel, Duo turned to the left, and slipped into the small copse of trees that hid the opening. The sun was getting low in the sky, already almost touching the rim of the horizon. Heero followed Duo until the braided youth stopped before him some forty feet from the entrance.

"Now..." He began, turning to look Heero in the eye, the setting sun casting a reddish glow to the entire world, and painting an eerie scene for the two. "What was it you wanted to do before Murasaki got so worked up?" His voice had a no nonsense air to it, again so out of place that it was startling.

"This…" Heero strode forward, and Duo suddenly felt the sharp sting of a hard slap across his face, executed too fast for him to react to. The force of the blow turned his head to the side, and he slowly looked back with confused eyes at Heero, who stood solid with his arms crossed before him.

That suddenly broke the dam, and the flood waters were let loose with torrential force.

Duo fell to his knees, his face hidden in his hands, shoulders shaking with great racking sobs. With careful deliberation, Heero kneeled next to him, uncrossing his arms to lay one on Duo's shoulder. The youth cringed away from his touch, looking up at him with such dread written over his features that it took hold of Heero's heart, wringing the already mangled part until it lay gasping in his chest.

"..shhh…it's ok." He whispered, awkwardly laying his arm over Duo's shoulders. He wasn't very good at the comfort thing, but it seemed to be just what Duo needed, for the youth watched him for a moment from the close proximity out of red eyes, then launched himself at Heero, knocking the young man off his feet, and clutching at him from his new position in Heero's lap.

The suddenness of the move had initially taken Heero off guard, but now he hesitatingly wrapped his arms about Duo, and held the shaking, braided youth to him. The faint scent of something floral drifted up from the boy he held in his arms, and it was surprisingly fitting.

This is what Duo needed.

Acceptance.

Acceptance of everything that would eventually have to happen to him, and acceptance from at least one person who gave it freely and whole heartedly.

Heero gave his acceptance, and it was given with the full knowledge that the young man he held was a 'monster'. It was given with the knowledge that Duo might not be Duo anymore once he became what he truly was, and that the youth's time was running out.

And that time seemed suddenly all too precious to him as he cradled Duo to him until the sobbing youth fell into a numbing sleep, the tears drying in salty tracks down his checks even as the sun lay to rest below the rim of the world, bathing the sky in a myriad of fabulous colors that no one seemed to have time or want to look at anymore.

It was a sad, screwed up world they had to live in...

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EEE!! They're so Kawaii! ^_^

Ah, the get together. Tis the best part of any story, but doubly so when talking about these two. Tee hee.

Review, Review!!