A/N: I have to start off saying that you made me choke on my coffee when I read your review, Ima. I knew that, but didn't make the connection when I wrote it. Thank you. Bit of a sad chapter, but I hope you all enjoy it anyway.

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing, Hellsing, or Dracula. I'd like to, but I don't. So read, enjoy, and leave a nice review on your way out the door or you'll make the kitsune sad. Also, I've been told to add "That if you make the Kitsune sad... Said girlfriend will come hunt you down." And that is a direct quote from the lovely girlfriend, unaltered in any way, shape or form. I feel loved. (There are no threats intended from the author.)

"Violet Turned Red"

Chapter Ten

Ashes to Ashes

Wufei found it fitting that both the rain and the sun showed up for Duo's funeral, a double rainbow arcing over them and contrasting so strongly with their black clothes. Bernadotte did not show, and he was glad in a way. Even taller and bulkier, the man's silhouette reminded him too strongly of Duo.

He spoke first, getting his words out before his voice could break and leave him. Heero was next, by right as Duo's partner and closest friend. Trowa's parting words were as brief as Quatre's were long, the blond empath trying to bind their tattered hearts back together with memories of what had bound them so tightly together after their war's end.

The others in attendance remained silent, including the single stranger who hung back behind everyone else. Though suspicious of his intentions at first, they allowed him to remain when it was clear that he merely meant to observe. The elderly gentleman bowed low to Wufei when he came up to place his lily at the base of the podium. Wufei barely noticed, staring down at the collection of pale flowers.

He only looked up again when Une called for the seven gun salute owed to Duo as a Preventer dying in the line of duty. The shots rang out in the silence of the late morning. Sharp salutes were given by all in farewell to their fallen comrade.

Once everything was over with, Heero drove Wufei back to the apartment. Neither spoke the entire time, Wufei staring blankly out the window.

"What happened to his cross?" he asked, finally breaking the silence.

Heero thought for a moment. "I don't know. He must have been burned with it."

Wufei nodded, closing his eyes. He leaned his forehead against the chilled glass. That was fine. Duo should have his cross with him. It was so important to him. Wherever he was now, it'd certainly be a comfort."

-

Duo fingered his cross as he waited for the household to settle down and fall asleep. He'd snipped one lock of hair off and coiled it into a locket brought to him by Walter along with his own obituary from the paper. The lofty and flowery language made him suspect Quatre's influence.

There was little doubt that the old butler knew exactly what his plan was. If anyone else did, they didn't say anything.

Once he was pretty sure everyone was either asleep or at least distracted, he tucked the locket into his pocket and slipped out. His newly heightened senses made avoiding the grounds' security ever easier than it would have been with just his training alone.

Wearing a hat with his braid stuffed down his jacket, he made his walk into the city, feet automatically taking him to their apartment building. Standing on the sidewalk, he looked up, red eyes picking out their window. The cheerful orange curtains he'd put up had been replaced by heavy black drapes that didn't stir even though the window was open to the night breeze.

Taking a deep, if unnecessary, breath, he dug his fingertips into the tiny spaces between the bricks and began to climb directly up the side of the building. Once he reached their floor, the vampire slipped in through the kitchen window.

Duo just stood there for a while, smelling and listening to his home. He smiled sadly at the soft sound of breathing. Wufei...

Moving through the hall, he stopped at their open bedroom door, unable to go further. Wufei slept alone on the bed, hugging a pillow to his chest. Duo would have done anything to be that pillow right then, to be in his lover's arms. He could hear the other man's heartbeat, steady and even as his breathing in sleep.

Before he could lose his nerve, Duo crept forward silently, climbing up to kneel on the bed. A hand ghosted over Wufei's sleeping form, careful not to touch him. The vampire had lost the right to do such with his death. His beloved did not deserve to have a corpse caressing him uninvited.

He lingered longer than he should have. When the clock he'd bought when they moved into the apartment chimed and knocked him out of his trance, he almost jumped. After quickly checking that Wufei slept on, he made an indent in one of the pillows, pooling the chain of the locket in it, the pendant resting on top.

"Goodbye, Wufei," he whispered, ignoring the wetness on his face. He didn't want the distinctive red he knew he'd see if he wiped his eyes to grind in the reason he was saying farewell to the only man he had ever and would ever love. "Find a new source of joy, for me."

Before he could become caught up in watching his lover sleep and lose the ability to leave, he climbed off the bed and left the room. He was about to leave out the same window when his eyes caught on a photograph sitting on the coffee table.

It was a simple photograph, just a snapshot taken at Quatre's latest New Year's party. Relena had snuck up on them with a camera after they'd left the central activities to sit quietly together. Wufei'd been up and chasing the laughing woman a moment later of course, but the photo she sent them a month later was one of his favorites.

Hesitating, he glanced back towards their room. Swallowing, he pocketed the small frame. Even if he wanted Wufei to be able to move on, he wanted to see his lover's face when he woke up.

Wufei rolled over and opened his eyes after several more hours had passed. He looked at the pillow next to his, slowly reaching out a hand to lift the piece of jewelry that hadn't been there the night before. Opening it, he stared at the chestnut hairs coiled within.

"Duo?" he whispered, looking around. Of course, there was no one there. Curling his hand around the locket, he held it to his heart as he climbed out of bed, wrapping up tightly in a red robe, fingers automatically tracing over the batwings stitched over the breast pocket.

Someone had been there in the night, but the presence was comfortable and not intruding. His eyes were drawn to an empty spot where there should have been something. The photograph.

Waves of grief and anger crashed against each other as his fist clenched around the pendant. Who could have come in without waking him, just to leave him a gift and then steal something from him?