21-Mar-2000
Standard Gundam Wing fan fic disclaimers apply. C&C welcomed. Subject matter relates to M/M relationships. If that freaks you out, go away.
Sequel to 'Tangled Webs'
The night sky was rampant with the facade of life - stars twinkling brightly across the dark canvas of space, beacons of light in the darkness...
A facade, that was all it was. Heero had seen past that facade... he knew it for what it truly was. There was so much empty space out there., utterly devoid of life... The stars were beacons of light that led nowhere...
If I can reach the stars,
Pull one down for you,
Shine it on my heart
So you could see the truth:
It had been so long... so very long since he'd seen him...
He had done everything in his power to drive the memories from his life, and he was surprised that he could still remember what it felt like to hold Duo in his arms... could remember what it felt like to be alive. Content. Happy.
The stars out there... the endless, lifeless space between the pinprinks of light reminded him of the emptiness somewhere deep inside... It had been empty before - seemed like it had always been empty - only he'd never noticed. Never noticed until the braided boy entered his life and filled that emptiness...
Only to leave again... to leave him empty, and worse yet, aware of the gaping hole in his life...
Can anyone be emptier than empty, Heero wondered as he looked out of the cockpit of Wing. The stars seemed so close... near enough to touch... yet impossibly far away...
Like Duo, who was the light in his darkness... who had seemed so close, yet was impossibly far away...
That this love I have inside
Is everything it seems.
It wasn't about Trowa, and it wasn't about Wufei. Granted that they had done their part towards tearing him and Duo apart - he could never forgive them for what they had done - but finally, the decision was still his. And Duo's. It was about trust. And love.
Love.
You never told him, that soft voice in his head that sounded so much like Duo's told him gently yet accusingly.
There was nothing to tell - he had declared it with his whole life... had given his body to Duo. What more could words ever hope to say? How could Duo not have known that... not have understood that?!
Still, Duo had chosen to walk away...
But for now I find
It's only in my dreams.
The brightly shining stars were a tangible reminder of the hollow, aching sense of loss deep within...
The reminder that his love had not been enough to hold things together...
He landed his Gundam on the lands of Quatre's vast estate and made sure it was stashed securely under cover before making his way to the country manor. Walking down the familiar corridors - had it really been three months since he last saw any of his friends - he paused briefly outside Duo's bedroom door.
The internal debate seemed to rage on forever, and finally, his heart outscreamed his mind, and Heero placed his hand on the door knob, quietly turning it then pushing the door soundlessly open.
Stealth had been utterly unnecessary. The room was in its usual haphazard state of controlled chaos that he had come to identify with Duo, but the bed was empty - did not appear to have been slept in any time recently.
Was Duo away? On a mission?
Perhaps...
His fingers lingered on the hair brush on the bedside table, remembering the last time he had held it, had run it through the long chestnut hair. Combing the tangles out of Duo's hair had always been just an excuse. Duo's hair was too soft, too silky to tangle despite the excessive length of it.
So many memories... all of them painful, mocking reminders of what he had lost when he had walked away from Duo... and when Duo had walked away from him...
Heero's face was an impassive mask when he strode out of Duo's empty room and headed to his own. It was over. Time to move on. Time to forget that he had ever fallen in love with...
The ethereal, beautiful creature asleep on -his- bed...
Heero blinked. Surely he was not seeing things... The soft glow of moonlight pooling on the bed... on Duo who slept peacefully, wearing nothing but his silver cross and a serene smile. His long hair was loose, flowing down the slender lines of his body like a blanket, spread out across the white sheets like a silken fan.
It seemed unreal... like something out of a dream... Heero reached out slowly, tentatively, almost as if he expected the image before him to vanish like a mirage if he ever got close enough to touch it.
Instead, his questing fingers touched soft, warm skin.
Just like he remembered...
His hands traveled lightly over Duo, gently caressing the length of Duo's back, along the curve of his spine, over the supple curve of his back... the spot that just seemed to beg for kisses...
The long-haired pilot sighed softly in his sleep, unconsciously leaning into the touch. The sweet lips moved, shaping a single whispered word that was part-sigh, part-prayer, "Heero..."
His one-time lover... the one he still loved... asleep in his bed...
A flicker of something that might almost have been hope came alive in the perfect soldier...
And I can change the world,
I will be the sunlight in your universe.
You would think my love was really something good,
Baby if I could change the world...
He undressed silently, then climbed into his bed, spooning up against Duo's back. It took only a moment for Duo to respond in his sleep, instinctively turning to curl against Heero, snuggling up to him with the boneless grace of a cat.
Heero stared into Duo's angelic face - the lovely violet eyes closed in slumber. Was this it? Was this his second chance to prove that his love could be... -was- strong enough to hold this fey creature to his side?
He breathed a kiss into Duo's cool forehead, cobalt blue eyes strangely gentle... A second chance... to change Duo's world, and to change his own...
End Part 1
(:./danyale/paths1)
