Hey everyone!! It's the last chapter of To Fly With Broken Wings! I would like to thank all of you who have been with it since the beginning. You really kept me on my toes and pulled me out of my writers block when it struck. I tip my nonexistent hat to you all. Seeing as how this is the last chappie, I will be working diligently to finish A Taste of Midnight next. I have a lot of fresh ideas to post and I'm not posting them until I finish the two of these stories. I may however, give all of you a slight preview of the newest story in my collection in my next Taste of Midnight chappie so be looking for it! It'll be a real thriller!
Disclaimer: I don't own them so bugger off and let me dream.
Chapter 22Absolution
Kinau walked hesitantly down to the Lower Levels, ignoring the festivities around him. It was definitely a good day at Temptations. All of the people celebrating wanted drinks from the place where their Grand Ambassador had been hiding for the past four years. They were overwhelmed with business. Even the Lady was up top, gliding around her merry guests. Tom and Rai were waiting for him up top at a table near the entrance just in case his little errand ended badly. They understood what he needed to do. He needed closure. Kinau walked towards the familiar room, nervous and silent. He could sense the vampire that protected them even then. Rai had held to his end of the bargain apparently. Kinau always thought he would. This was one of only two of the white rooms that had doors on them. They were specifically for the pilot's use. They all had a terrible tendency to leave loaded guns lying around, after all. He took a deep breath to steady himself and opened the door.
It opened with a silent whoosh of air and by the time he actually stepped inside, his heart was in his throat. Two pairs of surprised eyes turned toward him. Heero sat up against the wall with Duo's head in his hand. Gentle but strong hands were running through the man's unbound hair. Kinau remembered when the sight would have made him happy and excited. Now it just made him sad. Duo's lovely lavender eyes flinched away from his. They were so different from Rai's or even Tom's. Heero seemed cautious, and obviously, their last encounter was still fresh in his mind.
"Heero Yuy." The soldier frowned at Kinau's words, "Yes, I remember you quite well now. And you too, Duo Maxwell."
The brunette sat up to look at him at last. He looked like hell. Kinau imagined his ex lover weighing him. It was the first time Duo had really seen him since he nearly died. He looked a lot different now. He was dressed nicely, even though at home he still ran around in leather or t-shirts and shorts. He looked healthier. The last time he had seen him, he had been covering three different shifts. Not only was he different on the outside, he was different on the inside too. Slowly but surely, he was coming into his new powers as the Lady's Heir. His magic used to flow within him very passively unless provoked. Now it sizzled and popped like a charged mass of electricity.
"How?" Heero asked, standing up after squeezing Duo's hand comfortingly.
Kinau watched his every move like a hawk. Or rather, like Heero was a large snake about to eat the hawk.
"The spell that Rai and Tom placed on me at my own request had a fall back built into it. They wanted me to be able to remember everything once I was ready mentally and emotionally to deal with what happened." Kinau shrugged.
Heero looked away for a moment, unable to look at the teen while he raised a tentative question.
"And what do your mate and your lover think about you being here?"
Another small shrug.
"Honestly, it was Tom's idea, as jealous as it made him." Kinau said with barely contained amusement "Rai hated it too but in the end they both agreed that this was what was best."
They watched each other for a long moment. Heero got the distinct feeling that Kinau was stalling. He was nervous. So why had he come if he was so uncomfortable? What exactly was it that the two men had decided was best for him? The suspense was clawing at the inside of his chest like a wolf trying to break its way out of his body. He didn't want this insane waiting.
"Why are you here, Kinau?" Heero asked, his voice catching in his throat.
Kinau sighed and suddenly looked small and unsure. He looked scared and every bit of his mere fifteen years old. He bit his lip punishingly, somehow managing to muster the courage he needed for somewhere. When he spoke, his voice wavered but held his meaning firm. The boy looked him straight in the face.
"I'm leaving Japan."
Heero's face broke out in the first shock that Kinau had ever seen on it. Duo's head jerked up at the somber announcement and he jumped off the bed with more life than he had had since Kinau's attempted suicide.
"You can't go!!" He cried desperately, unable to stop the misery filled tears from building and breaking free.
Heero nodded in agreement.
"You can't leave Japan, Kinau."
Kinau seemed surprised but somewhat pleased at their reactions.
"I have no choice. I'm going back to school and school is in England." He explained.
Duo's face crumbled.
"So far…?"
The teen nodded. Duo stared at him for a second longer before that old determination came back full force. Like a tank.
"I won't let you leave! You have to stay here." He looked down guiltily the next second "It's because of us, isn't it?"
Kinau shook his head. Sometimes he simply could not believe him. The things he said…
"What do you want me to say Duo? That what you did had no affect on me? Surprise!" He whispered, trying for sarcasm and failing.
Heero put a hand on the American soldier's shoulder but it was roughly shrugged off.
"I want you to say you'll stay!! I want you to say that you're happy now! I want you to say that you know that we still love you. I want you to say…that you know we fucked up bad and that you know that we are more sorry than it is possible to describe…Please don't go, Kinau. I don't care if you're a vampire! I don't care if you're a fucking zebra! Just stay!" He begged, going to his knees in front of the boy so he could look up at him.
He wanted Kinau to see how sincere and sorry he was. He was suffering for what he had done every day. He was paying penance for it and he knew that it was nothing compared to how Kinau had felt back then. Heero stepped up behind him.
"We…are so sorry, Kinau. We don't care about Tom or Rai. They deserve you more than we do. I won't say that we can't live without you because it would be a lie. I want to give you complete honesty. We can live without you. We just don't want to. We love you…"
Kinau stared down at Duo for a long time before shifting his gaze back up to Heero. He seemed to be caught in the sheer amount of emotion on the Japanese man's face. It was more than he had ever shown before and now he was showing it just for him. He sighed, turning around.
"I'm leaving Japan, Heero, Duo." Duo let out a soft, stifled groan of sadness. He could almost hear the man's heart break. "Rai and Tom are my mates. Nothing will change that ever. If one of us dies or leaves, the other two will shortly go insane and die as well. I'm leaving Japan but…I had hoped that there might still be a home for me to come back to." He whispered calmly.
Duo's gasp seemed loud and as he turned back around, he was encased in two sets of arms. Heero's tears were falling on his face and Kinau sighed in contentment.
"You will always have a home with us Kinau! Always! We missed you so much!" Duo cried with happiness, half crying from bliss, half crying from shock and relief.
Kinau let the dozens of kisses rain down on him before the door opened and Tom and Rai stepped in. The two soldiers looked unsure about what would happen.
"We don't mind if he is with you both too but remember, he's our mate. And we only share a bed with each other." Rai growled in annoyance.
Duo stuck out his tongue.
"I wouldn't get in the same bed with you for anything, coffin-breath!"
Kinau rolled his eyes and smiled. His world was evening out. Everything was falling right into place, just as it should.
END!!!!