Title: Fall to Pieces

Author: Gaia

Pairing: 1x2

Rating: R (violence and language)

Warnings: yaoi, Duo abuse, evil monkey!Relena, slightly OOC, coughs angst, um…blood (I'm sorry…if you don't want to see blood, then do not, I repeat, DO NOT read this…. Death?

Disclaimers: I, unfortunately, don't own the Gundam Boys… but I wish I did! I own absolutely nothing…

Notes: I really only meant for this to be a two part story… but I just couldn't leave Duo hanging between life and death. That just didn't seem right. sighs I really am trying to work on the other fics, I promise, but this one bit my ass and has refused to let go until I wrote more. It's still there. looks at her butt It's getting a little uncomfortable too. Does anyone know a good remedy for biting stories? When this one lets go, I'm going to have to punish it…walks off to look up remedies

Broken

Duo stood in a meadow, surrounded by violet, blue, yellow, and white flowers, in patches of color against a green backdrop. He looked around and tried to remember how he had gotten to such a beautiful place. He wracked his memories, but couldn't remember anything other than rain and walking home from work.

He sighed and sat down, the wind ruffling his bangs slightly. He had no idea where he was. He didn't know any meadow this nice, so he decided to enjoy the view for a little while. Wufei was probably worried about him. Duo shrugged and relaxed in the grass.

Duo closed his eyes and laid back, the scent of the grass and flowers putting him to sleep.

Duo, come on, baby. Please, don't leave me…

Duo sat up straight, jolted out of his doze by the hysteria and sadness in the familiar voice. A shadow fell across him and he looked up, shocked to see a young girl with long red hair standing over him.

"Hello, Duo." Her voice was so soft, Duo could barely hear her.

"Did… you just call me baby?"

"No, but someone who loves you did." She sat down next to him.

"What do you mean, someone who loves me? No one loves me." Duo pulled his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them.

"People do love you. Do you want to see them?" She looked at him, the question hanging between them.

"You can show me?" Duo asked quietly.

"Yes. Come with me." She stood, holding out her hand to Duo.

He grasped it and she pulled him up with more strength than he thought possible for her small frame. Once he was up, she turned and started walking.

"So, who are you and where are we?" Duo asked as he followed her.

"You can call me Kumi. (1) and here…well, here is what I like to call the in-between." She kept walking.

"The in-between?" Duo stopped. "What do you mean by that?"

"It's kind of that place… between life and death."

Duo ran up to her and grabbed her arm. "Death? What do you mean? This can't be death. It's too… pretty."

"You really don't remember the last hour of your life, do you?" She gazed at him steadily, with eyes that Duo thought too intelligent for a girl her age.

"I'm dead?" He squeaked.

"Not quite yet… but you will be if you don't do something about it." She pointed to a lake that Duo hadn't noticed before. "Look there."

Duo watched as the water shimmered and his reflection was swallowed by the image of a white room. Duo gasped as the image cleared and he saw himself on a bed, white bandages wrapped from both of his wrists to his elbows. Tubes were protruding from the tops of his hands where he could barely make out the needles stuck into him. Machinery beeped around him, but that was not what held Duo transfixed.

Heero sat beside the bed, his face covered in tears.

"Duo, please… you can't leave me. I need you." Heero reached out and gently grasped Duo's free fingers.

Duo shoved himself back from the lake. "No. Heero isn't anywhere near me. He can't be by my bedside. This is all a lie."

He spun around and sped away, trying to run from the image of Heero, but it seemed to be burned into his mind.

Duo ran for ages, stumbling over unseen rocks and other obstacles. Tears were flowing down his cheeks as he stumbled one last time and fell onto the ground.

"No… it's not true. That was a lie." Duo mumbled to himself. He was face down in the grass, unaware of the storm clouds gathering above his head.

"Duo, please. I can't show you lies; I can only show you the truth. Heero is truly there, by your side." Kumi glanced up at the sky when the first raindrop fell on her face. "We don't have much time. You have to choose. Go back to Heero, or leave him behind."

Duo pushed off the ground, anger radiating off his form. "No! You can't make me choose this. He already did! He made his choice, I made mine. I've already chosen." Duo ripped back his sleeves and showed her his scars.

She refused to give into him and, reaching up, she grabbed his chin and pulled his face down to her level.

"You chose to believe Relena instead of Heero. You were blinded by your jealousy and you gave up on him. He never gave up on you. You just gave up too easily." Tears mixed with the rain on Kumi's cheeks and fell to the already damp ground as she waited for her words to sink in.

Duo stared at her in shock. What if Heero was by his side? What if Heero still loved him? What if…?

"You need to go back to him if you want the answers to those questions. Duo, please make the right choice." She smiled sadly at Duo.

Duo hesitated and then, "How do I get back?" forced its way through his tight throat.

"You sleep, here, in the middle of the meadow, and dream of the ones you love." Kumi began walking away.

"Wait! Will I ever meet you? I mean, out of this place?" Duo asked anxiously.

"When you're ready, I'll find you. Goodbye, Duo." She waved and then faded away, a gentle smile on her lips.

Duo waved back, even after she was gone, and then looked around him. It seemed so simple to get back. He sighed, trying not to let hope fill his heart and lay down in the grass. He closed his eyes and drifted off, thoughts of Heero filling his dreams.

End part 3

AN: I'M SORRY AGAIN! I only meant for this to be two parts, but its taking on a life of its own. I'll try to post more soon. I'm also sorry that this one was so short…but it had what it needed. Please let me know what you thought! Feedback is our friend.

1. Kumi is a Japanese name that means braid or drawing together.