Heero walked into Duo's room and closed the door behind him. It had been two weeks since Duo's recovery from his illness, but the others still insisted that Duo be checked upon once in a while. However what Heero saw was definitely not what he was expecting. The room was empty, and the window was open.
"What the...?" He hurried over to the window, and leaned out to see if he could locate the missing American. But there were no traces of the braided boy, not even a footprint in the dirt below the window. As Heero, moved away from the window he saw the light from the window reflect off of something on the nightstand beside the bed.
"Hm?" As he walked over to the nightstand, it became apparent that the object was a CD, but it was labeled to Heero, in Duo's rather simple yet elegant manuscript. "It's from Duo." He picked it up and took it to his room, examining it as he walked.
"There's nothing really individual about it except that it's addressed to me, and nothing else." He entered his room and sat down at his desk and opened his laptop. He placed the disc in the tray of the drive and started to play it. A slow, rhythmic music started to play enticingly. Heero opened up one of the programs on his computer and started a search on where Duo could be. At that moment, A woman's voice showed up on the CD, singing.
You only see what your eyes want to see.
How can life be what you want it to be?
You're frozen when your heart's not open.
Heero stopped what he was doing immediately and looked at the drive the CD was in. "What?" Suddenly the memories started flooding his mind.
You're so consumed with how much you get
You waste your time with hate and regret
You're broken when your hearts not open
Heero walked through the ruins of the apartment building in a daze. He had unintentionally destroyed the building the previous night when he had destroyed an enemy base. The force of the explosion had caused an enemy mobile suit to fall on top of the building, destroying it and killing everyone inside. And now, he wandered through the devastated area.
Suddenly Heero stopped and looked down as he encountered the corpse of a puppy. Slowly he knelt down and picked up the puppy's body and began to walk away. The puppy had belonged to the little girl who gave him the flower yesterday afternoon, which meant he had killed an innocent child. To be more precise he had killed innocence itself. Not only that of the little girl, but whatever shreds of innocence he had in himself as well.
He would never forget that day. Ever.
Mmm-mm-mmm. If I could melt your heart
Mmm-mm-mmm... We'd never be apart
Mmm-mm-mmm... Give yourself to me
Mmm-mm-mmm... You are the key
Duo sped up a bit as he neared the city limits, he needed to get away from the other former pilots. Especially Heero. His mind racing, Duo kept going with no set destination. Duo looked around noting that he was the only person on the road.
// Maybe this time they won't find me. I hope they don't. I hope HE doesn't.//
Duo slowed his motorcycle down as he finally looked at his speedometer and realized that going as fast as he was, he could seriously injure someone else that may happen to be on the road later on.
// Heero's such an asshole. He doesn't understand. I may act like everything's okay, but sometimes. No! I don't need him! He's a cold, selfish, uncaring prick. //
Duo picked up speed again and rode down the highway and out of the city.
Now there's no point in placing the blame
And you should know I suffer the same
If I lose you my heart will be broken
Love is a bird, she needs to fly
Let all the hurt inside of you die
You're frozen, when your heart's not open
Heero awoke the night feeling like something was wrong, though he couldn't quite place it. But, when he looked across the room, at the braided boy in the other bed, he figured out what it was.
The younger boy was thrashing about in his sleep. The boy was also breathing heavily, and an anguished moan would escape his lips every so often. He was trapped in a nightmare. And from what Heero could see. It was a particularly bad one. So he ever so slowly climbed out from under his covers and padded over to the other boy's bed and gently placed his hands on the boy's shoulders to shake him awake.
Suddenly the braided boy screamed and bolted upright, awakening himself. Heero, obviously shaken by this, backed up a few steps. Slowly the Deathscythe pilot began to realize where he was, in his and Heero's room, not wherever that horrible dream had taken him. However, what he didn't realize was that Heero was awake, and watching him nervously. Duo pulled his knees up to his chest and hugged them as he lowered his head. A few moments' later soft sobs were heard coming from the boy as he started to cry.
The sobs, no matter how quiet they were, did not escape Heero's ears. So he slowly made his way back to his fellow pilot's side and gently laid his hand on the boys back, causing the violet-eyed youth to look up at him in surprise. The tears running down his face did nothing to alleviate the sense of concern, which was now growing in the pit of Heero's stomach. The boy moved and allowed Heero room to sit on the bed.
As soon as Heero sat down he instinctively wrapped his arms around the American pilot and noticed that he was shaking. // That nightmare must have been extremely horrible to scare him this badly.// Heero didn't expect what happened next, the younger pilot, turned and leaned into the embrace, burying his face into Heero's shirt, still weeping. Unsure of what to do, Heero just continued to hold the boy and calmly ran his hand over the boy's soft, sweat dampened hair.
Mmm-mm-mmm. If I could melt your heart
Mmm-mm-mmm... We'd never be apart
Mmm-mm-mmm... Give yourself to me
Mmm-mm-mmm... You are the key
Duo slowed his motorcycle to a stop as he looked out towards the horizon. He got of and took a deep breath. As always, he had ended up at the ocean. No matter where he was, nor what the problem that caused him to leave was, he somehow always ended up at the ocean. He figured it was the waters calm, tranquil attraction as well as its wild, mysterious depths.
Leaving his bike parked where it was, he slowly walked down the sand to the water's edge at looked out at the water.
You only see what your eyes want to see.
How can life be what you want it to be?
You're frozen when your heart's not open.
Heero glared at the com on his right as it started to spark at him. // K'so! The intercom! // Quickly he turned his gundam and fired on the Space Leos that had attacked him from behind, frying his com link with the other pilots. After the explosions cleared a quick scan of the screens in front of him showed that more mobile dolls were approaching fast and that his fellow pilots were just as outnumbered as he was.
He glared at the sparking intercom once more. // With the com out of commission I can't the order to retreat. // he fired on the approaching mobile dolls, watching grimly as they exploded just to be replaced by more. Suddenly he heard Duo scream as something behind him exploded. He turned his gundam to see that the explosion had been the Deathscythe, which had taken a hit for him and the Wing Zero.
He had barely managed to scream out Duo's name, unheard by the other pilots due to one sparking intercom, when Trowa's face appeared on the screen to his right. There was no audio, except maybe a bunch of static, but thankfully Heero could read lips. Trowa suggested that they retreat, followed by quick agreements from Quatre and Wu Fei.
Heero opened a path for the Shenlong pilot to grab the remains of the Deathscythe, which basically consisted of one cockpit in pretty bad condition, but still intact, before covering their escape to Earth.
Duo had nearly died that night, but luckily they had covered most of his wounds before rushing him to the hospital. The recovery process was long and slow due to the extent of the injuries but the pilots took turns watching over him and monitoring his recovery. Heero stayed with Duo the most because he was concerned for Duo, not just as another soldier, but also as something more, a friend, who had saved his life.
Mmm-mm-mmm. If I could melt your heart
Mmm-mm-mmm... We'd never be apart
Mmm-mm-mmm... Give yourself to me
Mmm-mm-mmm... You are the key
Duo walked along the water's edge towards the rocky outcrop in the distance. The cool night air nipped at the back of his neck where his braid left it exposed, causing him to shiver slightly. The sky was an inky black, speckles with tiny, dots of red, white, and a pale yellow, as well as the bone white moon.
The dark water reflected the light of the pale moon, sending shimmering rays along the expanse of the beach. Much as his mood reflected his emotions, the bright rays stabbing at his darkened expression. He was nothing but a dark shadow against the bright reflection.
As he neared the outcropping, he noticed another figure further ahead of him. But the poor light, as well as the distance between him and the other person made the individual impossible to identify. Not that identifying the person was really important to Duo, so long as he had some time to himself.
Amongst the rocks was a tall, black, basalt pillar. As he walked around the looming rock he noticed a set of footholds along its eastern side. Deciding that he would most likely be left alone up here he approached the pillar's side and tested out the first few footholds, finding them secure.
After the rather easy climb, Duo looked out over the water and noted some movement in the distance. As he watched, he realized that it was dolphins in the distance, leaping out of the water, free of worry.
"They've no inhibitions. They can just go wherever they please, when they please." He muttered to himself as he watched them fade past the horizon. He looked around once more. Noting the person in the distance hadn't moved from their spot, Duo turned his back to the water and quickly examined the cliffs that had been behind him moments ago. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, he slowly raised his arms, and closed his eyes.
Mmm-mm-mmm. If I could melt your heart
Mmm-mm-mmm... We'd never be apart
Mmm-mm-mmm... Give yourself to me
Mmm-mm-mmm... You are the key
As Wu Fei walked down the beach he spied a figure at the top of the black tower. The shadowy person looked strangely familiar. He puzzled over who the character could be as he edged closer. The wind was dead. Lucky for Duo, the dragon would have instantly recognized him had his braid been flying instead of resting lightly on his shoulder. Forever cautious as his many years of training had made him Wu Fei took slow measured steps. As his feet grazed the sand Wu Fei observed the figure beginning to sway forward.
Beginning to panic Wu Fei ran forward to attempt to reach the water before the falling shadow. The boy tumbled faster than the dragon could run and broke the black surface of the water long before Wu Fei could stop him. As Wu Fei plunged into the tide he watched the adolescent fall deep into the depths of the Peruvian blue ocean. As the solider swam closer stride after strong stride the ripples from the sea's captive ceased. All movement on the planet seemed to cease except for the endless pumping of Wu Fei's arms.
Reaching the man at last Wu Fei dove deep till his fist clenched around skin. Lifting the head above water level he heard the person gasp for air. As he felt down the strangers back for bumps and bruises his hand tightened around a long spiral object attached to the kids head. "A braid?" he muttered to the quickly approaching night. "... Yes a braid and I would appreciate it if you kept your hands off it thank you!" The arrogant 15 year old sniped. The boy was coming around obviously. "I'm sorry it just reminded me of someone I used to know... someone I haven't seen in quite some time... someone I'm a little worried about." He admitted. A look of confusion passed over Duo's face. Who could he remind his mysterious savior of?
A sudden look of recognition passed over the braided pilot's face as he realized exactly who was holding him. ".........FEI?!" he screamed in question. Wu Fei's realization that the "stranger" had been Duo all along threw him for a bit of a loop. "D-DUO?!!!!!!" he exclaimed. "What the hell are you doing here?!"
"So let me get this strait..... you stood at the top of that damned tower waiting for high tide when you spotted some porpoises?..... Then plunged into the sea. Is that correct?" Wu Fei asked sarcastically. After realizing it was Duo, Wu Fei had immediately taken him to a nearby safe house where he would be safe, warm, and dry. Tightening his grip on the bed sheets Duo nodded stiffly. "And why pray tell were you waiting for high tide?" Wu Fei interrogated. To avoid answering Duo looked towards the window. It just sounded so damn stupid now. Of course it would! Everything always sounds way different on the playback... he should have known that by now. "Look if you won't tell me then at least do me a favor and stay put all right? I'm going to go make a phone call to Heero and Quatre and tell them your ok because I think it's safe to assume they don't know your here. Correct?" Another stiff nod from the god of death was all Wu Fei needed. He got to his feet and exited the room. Leaving Duo all alone with his thoughts.
If I could melt your heart.
Duo heard the door of his room open and he listened to Heero's footsteps invading the territory, and prepared himself for one of Heero's patented lectures. Heero circled the room impatiently looking nervous. "Duo... are you... ok?" Duo prepared to defend himself against an onslaught of accusations then allowed Heero's question to sink in. "No....I don't think I am Heero." He watched curiously as Heero stiffened.