Title: Take These Wings
Author: Wufei no Kaze
Part: 1/1
Pairings: 1x3, 4x3, 5x2/2x5 minor
Rating: R
Warnings: Um...yaoi (duh), probably some language, death, heavy lime scene, AU
Archive: DS, Ryoko, others w/ permission.
Disclamer: Don't own 'em, but sure am having fun with 'em! ^_~

~*lyrics*~ Denotes lyrics
*thoughts* Denotes thoughts
< words > Denotes flashbacks of Heero’s last words to Trowa.

Important notes: This is kinda weird...different style. The story kinda begins and ends with a flashback. I want to try it out, hope it's not too confusing. Of course, I know my writing style tends to be slightly bizzare in the first place...^_~

~*I found a sparrow lying on the ground
Her life I knew would soon be at an end
I knelt before her as she made a sound
Listened as she said,
My friend~ *~
AD 195

“Heero!” Trowa screamed as he saw Wing Zero crash to earth. His voice died to a whisper, “Heero...no...you were supposed to survive the final battle...”
It was his self-destruction all over agin. Heero, lying there, with such a pale face, with a blank look in his eyes. He jammed his hand down on the button to open Heavyarms’ cockpit, and jumped down, without waiting for the rope that would set him gently down.
“Heero...” Trowa whispered, lifting Heero’s body to his lap and working on the wounds. Heero’s eyes blinked suddenly, Heero fighting the blackness of unconscious, the blank look in his eyes retreating.
“Koi...” came Heero’s voice, scratchy and hoarse, fighting for air.
Trowa began wrapping Heero’s wounds.
“Koi, listen to me...I have to say something to you...”
Trowa ignored him, continuing to work feverishly on the wounds.
“Dammit, Trowa, listen to me,” Heero gasped suddenly, fisting a handful of Trowa’s shirt in his hand.
“Hee-”
Heero placed his hand against Trowa’s mouth. “I want you to listen, and listen good, or I swear I will come back as a ghost and act more loud and annoying as Duo.”
Trowa didn’t smile. “Dammit, Heero, why’d you have to go and save the world?”
“Ninmu kanryou.”[1]
“Fuck, Heero, is that the only thing that ever matters to you? The mission?”
“Aishiteru, Trowa.”
Trowa froze. He had said it...he had said it...! “Heero, I love-”
“_Listen_, Trowa. I know you can do it. You do it all the time.”
“OK. I’m listening...”
“There are a few things I want you to do for me...”

~*Take these wings (take these wings)
And learn to fly (and learn to fly)
To the highest mountain in the sky

< Learn to do all the things we wanted to try after the war. Learn to be normal, learn to love, learn to follow your emotions. >

AD 196

Trowa sat silently on the couch, face buried in his hands. *Why? Why? Why did he have to die? What is this...pain I’m feeling?*
He felt someone sit down next to him. "Trowa..." came Quatre's soft tenor, laden heavy with concern. "Are you gonna be...all right?" "Quatre..." he said, his tearstained face looking up at his best friend. "I don't understand what I'm feeling. What is this pain? I feel like I'm baing ripped apart."
Quatre somehow managed to gather the taller boy into his arms, like a little boy. "It's natrual...you loved Heero, and he was killed. Emotion can often be painful, Trowa...but it's how humans know we're alive."
"Quatre...I want to learn about emotion...everything I can."
Quatre smiled. "I'll be happy to teach you...so will Duo, even though I think he's training Wufei to stop acting like he has a stick up his ass."
"We're all here for you."
Take these eyes and learn to see
All the things so dear to me

< Remember what I loved to do. I can’t do it anymore. You have to do it for me. Remember that I loved to love you most of all. Be kind to yourself, Trowa. >

Trowa ran through the park with a kite, Quatre and Duo right behind him, a grumbling Wufei on a nearby bench. Who knew that kite flying was something Heero had always wanted to try? Only Trowa, apparently. Over the next few weeks, Trowa, with the help of Quatre, and sometimes Duo (sometimes even a grumbling Wufei) got to learn to swim, ski, and many other things that he and Heero had discussed doing after the war.

Take this song (take this song)
And learn to sing (and learn to sing)
Fill your voice with all the joys of spring

< Take joy in all the things around us. Enjoy all the beautiful things about the earth and the colonies that we fought so hard to protect. >

Trowa had discovered that he loved to paint, and he sat in a field of wildflowers, painting what he saw. *Earth is so beautiful...how could I never see it before? And how could Zechs try to destroy it?*

Take this heart and set it free
Let it fly (let it fly, let it fly)
Beyond the sea

< Let me rest in peace. Let my memory rest in peace. And learn to love again. >

Trowa had done most of what Heero had asked him to, and was now puzzling over what he meant. "Heero, what did you mean? Let my memory rest in peace?"
"I think," Duo said, entering the room behind Trowa, "That he meant that you shouldn't not develop a new relationship because you felt it would be betraying his memory."
"But...Heero just _died_ less than three months ago! I can't just move on to someone else and leave him behind like trash!"
Duo sighed. "See, this is exactly what he meant. I understand you're still in mourning, and that it may take a while to get over Heero's death. But when you do...Trowa, Quatre loves you very much. Heero knew it. He would have wanted you and Quatre to be together. And he knew that Quatre would be able to take care of you always, the way that he couldn't."
Trowa froze. Quatre- cared for him? Of course- how could he not see before! Quatre loved him! And all this time he hadn't noticed! He must have been ripping Quatre's heart out, little by little. How could he have done that to the gentle Quatre? He...loved Quatre too.
"Duo," Trowa said, as Duo was on his way out of the room, "When did you become so wise?"
"You learn, dealing with Wufei. He's really sensitive, under that thick skin of his. He's really easily hurt, even though he doesn't show it."
"Duo?"
"Yeah?"
Trowa got up and hugged Duo. The out of character move had Duo gaping at him. "Thank you."
Quatre entered the bedroom he and Trowa shared a few minutes later. Darn Duo and Wufei, they share a room, and he was stuck with Trowa! So painful!
Trowa looked up when he heard someone enter the room. What to say, what to say..."Quatre, I'm sorry!" he blurted out.
"Sorry?" Quatre said curiously. "What for?"
"For being so blind. For not realizing...that I..." his voice dropped to a whisper. "that I love you."
Quatre's face was a mask of suprise for a moment. Then, suddenly, he jumped on Trowa and began layering kisses all over Trowa's face, and finally on his lips, engaging in a deep kiss.

I found another sparrow on the sand
A tiny bird whose life had just begun
I picked him up and held him in my hand

Quatre's hands slowly began to roam over Trowa's back, tracing his shoulderblades and spine, trying to memorize every inch of his lover's thin, lithe, muscular back. It seemed to Quatre that Trowa had to be a dream, couldn't really be here, making love to him, and that he'd better memorize every inch of the vision before it disappeared.
"Qua~!" Trowa choked as Quatre's hands slipped under his shirt, trying to get closer to that heated flesh, trying to melt right into his koi.
Quatre broke the kiss and turned to giving Trowa little nips along his jawline, grabbing Trowa's hips and grinding them against his own. Trowa retaliated by grabbing Quatre's own hips and pulling him down to the bed on top of him....[2]

Smiled at him and said,
My son~

"Aishiteru, Trowa," came a whisper from the dark.
"I love you too, Quatre. Thank you for loving me, though I've been so blind."

Take these wings (take these wings)
And learn to fly (and learn to fly)
To the highest mountain in the sky
Take these eyes and learn to see
All the things so dear to me

Take this song (take this song)
And learn to sing (and learn to sing)
Fill your voice with all the joy of spring
Take this heart and set it free
Let it fly (let it fly, let it fly)
Beyond the sea

AD 195

"Trowa, I called an ambulance," Quatre said, running up to him where he sat on the ground, cradling his lover's body.
Trowa looked up, shook his head sadly, and then bent to place a tender kiss on the cooling lips of Heero. He wanted to cry; his eyes burned and his jaw ached...but he didn't know how. He wanted to cry, but he didn't know how.
"Trowa..." Quatre said, touching his shoulder.
Trowa stood up, gently laying Heero's body on the ground. Duo limped up, supporting Wufei, who was crying into his shoulder.
"Trowa, man, I..." he seemed at a loss for words for once. "Sorry. Let's get you to Quatre's house," he offered, extending his other arm as an offer to support Trowa.
"You go on, I'll be there in a minute," he said.
"Trowa...don't do anything stupid."
"He won't," Wufei spoke up softly.
The other three left him with Heero for a minute, before the ambulance squealed up for Heero's body.
Trowa turned away, walking into the sunset after his friends, turning around only once to look at Heero's body being loaded into the ambulance under Relena's supervision. Knowing that she would take care of his body, he whispered, "Aishiteru, Heero," before walking away from Heero forever.

[1] Did I get that right?
[2] *giggle* Say it with me now, "Wufei no Kaze is a dicktease...!"