Sequel to 'Have You Ever...'
He had wandered for six days before finding himself here, in the mountains of China. I suppose it was inevitable that here is where he would wind up. Here, where he had come nearly a year ago after his duel with Treize Khushrenada. Here, where nearly a year in time he would come again to say goodbye to Nataku and self-destruct Gundam 05, Atlong. Here, where, in all of earth and the colonies, he could find peace, within and without himself. Here, his own where in the world, the only place he felt he could truly be by himself.
Only, he wasn't by himself.
Hundreds of miles away from any living soul, Chang Wufei was still haunted by one. By Death. Or, rather, by the boy who called himself Death. Shinigami. Duo Maxwell.
If he was honest with himself, the boy had been haunting him for more than just weeks now. The events of a week ago had only succeeded in escalating an already dangerous situation. It was like lighting a match to gunpowder, no wick attached.
And everyone had been burned.
One Week Prior
Outside the sun glistened off fat raindrops--the only testament to last night's storm. The teakettle whistled, stirring him from his musings as he stared out the kitchen window. He was already on his third cup by the time Duo managed to crawl away from the shower.
The braided boy yawned, one arm thrown over his head as he stretched, his other hand inching the white t-shirt he'd tossed on this morning high up his torso, flashing a good stretch of what could have been a six pack--if the boy would just exercise some. Onyx eyes narrowed, drawn to that tantalizing flash of skin like a moth to a flame. He was doing it on purpose, he knew it. He had to. There was no way the other *couldn't* know the effect he had on him.
"What?" Duo asked when he realized Wufei was staring at him. "Is there a stain on my shirt or sompt'ing?" He took Wufei's ‘hmphf' as a ‘no' and went over to the fridge to rummage up some food.
Wufei closed his eyes and swallowed a groan... but it was too late. Even behind his closed lids he could see Duo's tantalizing rear end as the braided-boy bent over, the smiley-faced cloth stretching tight, molding--
"Yo, Wufei? You alright?"
Onyx eyes blinked open to see Duo waving a hand in front of his face. "I'm fine," he growled, moving away from the hands and taking another sip of tea. Off-handedly, he noted the tea didn't taste as good as he imagined Duo's fingers were. ‘Pull it together, Chang,' he scolded.
Duo shrugged and plopped down at one of the chairs, setting a bowl of--
"You're not seriously going to eat that for breakfast, are you?" Wufei frowned.
Violet eyes flew to Wufei's face, at first surprised, and then they narrowed as a smirk pulled at Duo's lips. Lifting the spoon, opening his mouth, lips closing around the spoon... "Mmmm...." Duo hummed.
~~ Damn! What he wouldn't give to be that spoon right now! Aah! No! Bad thought! Bad thought! Must stay focused! ~~
Onyx eyes snapped shut again as Wufei desperately tried to regain his compo--
~~ Do you think he'd mind if you fucked him on the kitchen table? ~~
--sure. Unfortunately, his hormones weren't cooperating.
"I wonder what's taking Heero so long," Duo's voice broke into his thoughts. "I'd thought he'd be back by now..."
And suddenly he went cold, all thoughts of a sexual interlude leaving him. Wufei licked his lips, taking another sip of tea. "He did come back," he said, softly so his voice wouldn't crack. He realized he was avoiding Duo's face and forced himself to look at the other.
"He's here? But then--"
"No," Wufei corrected, swallowing, still not sure... still not comfortable... "He *was* here." He looked away, not able to look at Duo's face any more. "He left, Duo. He came and then he left. He even took his things."
Duo stared at Wufei, his mind splitting off into two sections: one spinning around in confusion, the other racing forward with accusations. He wasn't sure which one to follow. "Wait a minute," he said, more for himself than for the Chinese boy sitting across from him. "You're tellin' me that Heero was here, and then he just left? Without saying a ‘hi, I'm home, I didn't self-destruct'?"
Wufei found that his voice would not work, so he just nodding.
"You're shitting me!" Duo pushed away from the table, the chair falling onto its side behind him. "Why the hell would he--"
Onyx eyes pierced into him, cutting off his flow of words. His chest tightened, and then compressed, squeezing the air from his lungs. His head spinning, his knees almost gave out, his ass struck the counter behind him, helping to support him.
Ohmygod. Ohmygod. Ohmygod. Ohmygod. Ohmygod.
It repeated itself like a mantra in his mind. Heero had come home. Heero had most likely gone to his room, expecting to sleep. Instead, he'd found Wufei and him in his bed, curled up all nice and cozy-like. And of course he would think--but then, they had. Well, not last night, and really only those two times, but...
Ohmygod. Ohmygod. Ohmygod. Ohmygod. Ohmygod.
And he had left... he left them... he took his things...
Duo's mind raced back to this morning, crawling out of bed, crawling into the shower, crawling out of the shower, crawling into something to wear.
Oh god, it was true! Heero had taken his things! Even his laptop! Which means, he'd had to pack his stuff while he and Wufei slept--
Violet eyes focused once more on the other boy. "And you didn't wake up? Didn't try to stop him? Where the hell was he going? Why didn't he--"
He didn't realize his legs had given out beneath him until Wufei's voice shouting his name registered--about the same time he realized he was on the floor and Wufei's arms were around him.
"Oh god. Oh god. Oh god. Oh god. Oh god." The words fell from his lips without him aware of it.
Wufei rocked him in his arms, there on the floor, warring with himself. A part of him was berating himself, screaming that he was a coward, that he should have fought harder to keep Yuy here last night, to not have let the other boy go. Another part was screaming, because he knew Yuy's leaving would hurt Duo and he had still let the other go, and now, Duo's pain was his fault. Another part was screaming, because he had left Yuy go, because he wanted Yuy gone, out of the picture, away from Duo. Because he wanted Duo.
But Duo didn't want him. Duo didn't want him.
He wanted Heero.
It was little less than an hour later when Duo left the safe house. Left it, bags in hand. Left it, and left him.
"I'm sorry to bail on you like this, Wu-man," he had said at the kitchen doorway. "I just gotta get outta here. I gotta think some things over, you know?" Wufei had just nodded, not trusting his voice. He remained there, sitting at the kitchen table, as Deathscythe's thrusters flared and the Gundam shot out of sight.
He remained there, sitting there, sitting staring at a melted bowl of ice cream across from him.
Part 3: Meditation at the Mountain
Andrea Readwolf
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