Warnings: Yaoi/Shonen-ai, spoilers for EW, a little fantasy-type stuff, Hilde instead of Duo as pilot 02, Death, and sort-of, suicide. Anyway, read
it and find out what I mean, decide if you hate it afterwards!
In love with Death.
(Just before the Eve Wars begin in Endless Waltz.)
Heero lay in bed and stared at the ceiling of the small room which was his, for the time being, in the latest safehouse he was sharing with his fellow Gundam pilots, Wufei, Quatre, Hilde and Trowa. Everything was silent at this time of night and Heero felt as though he were the only person awake in the whole world. It was times like these he hated. If he fell asleep he would have one of the nightmares that plagued him, but if he stayed awake he would only end up thinking about the war past, and the one to come. He had had the uneasy feeling for a while now that trouble was brewing and it depressed him. It hadn't even been a year yet since peace had finally been achieved but Heero knew it wouldn't last. He was so tired of all the killing, all the blood and pain... For a while after Treize had died he had dared to believe that finally the world was at peace, but he had come to the realization that if people truly believed that peace had graced the Earth at last, why were the Preventers needed?
Heero sighed and tried to relax, deciding that even his regular nightmares were better than thinking about the fragile peace that had come at the expense of the lives of countless soldiers, civilians, and his own innocence. He forced his breathing to slow down into the regular rhythm of sleep and let his tense muscles relax, quickly being swallowed up by sleep.
Heero opened his eyes and stood up, finding himself in the horribly familiar darkness of his dreams. Everything was silent and still, too dark to see anything, and he walked forwards blindly. He didn't even bother to check the back waistband of his spandex shorts, he knew his gun wouldn't be there; it never was. A noise began it the darkness, a slithering, wet noise that reminded him of a thousand slimy eels wriggling over each other. Gradually it got louder and louder, rising until Heero had to clamp his hands over his ears to try and drown out the deafening noise. Then, suddenly, everything became deathly silent once more. Heero looked up, removing his hands from his ears, still unable to see anything in the pitch blackness. This was new, usually by now some creature would have leapt from the darkness and attacked him, then he would wake up just as he began to feel the life draining from him. But this silence... this had never happened before.
Just as Heero was wondering what would happen next, a single match flared into light a few meters from him, startling him. He blinked a few times to adjust to the sudden light and noticed that there seemed to be a figure holding up the match. Before the Wing pilot had a chance to speak, a cheerful voice echoed out from the figure.
"Hey, is this place dark enough for you? Sheesh!" The figure came forward a little but Heero was still unable to make out any details, other than the fact that it was male, judging by the husky tones of its voice.
"Who are you?" Heero growled, slightly unnerved by the fact that he wasn't being attacked, as per usual.
"Mind if I light this place up a bit, Hee-chan? It's depressing as hell here!" Before Heero even had a chance to answer, the darkness was gone and he found himself standing in a sunlit field of lush, green grass. A tall apple tree stood nearby, providing some shade from the golden sunshine that covered everything like melted butter. After a few moments for his eyes to adjust to going from match-lit darkness to sunlit brightness, Heero noticed the figure stood beneath the apple tree, leaning against the twisted bark of the trunk. He stared at the boy, his eyes wide. This was certainly not what he'd expected to dream about. The boy was the same age as him, lithe and slim, with sparkling violet eyes and long, chestnut hair that fell in a braid down his black-clad back. He was grinning, and he was the most beautiful creature Heero had ever seen. Then something struck him.
"How... how do you know my name?" He demanded, scowling at the boy.
"I know everyone's name! But I like yours the best, Hee-chan." The boy laughed, reaching up to pluck a shining, red apple from the tree. He leant back again, looking at it and grinning at his reflection in the shiny surface.
"Who are you?" Heero asked, still scowling. He hadn't moved since the boy had first appeared, still standing, tense as a coiled spring. The boy looked up at him and laughed.
"Relax, will you? It isn't like I'm going to attack you or anything! I," he gestured to himself, "am Duo Maxwell. Nice t' meet you!" He sat down at the foot of the tree, taking a bite out of his apple.
"You want one? They're really good!" He asked Heero, who sat down where he was, his arms around his knees.
"What are you doing in my dream? Are you just my imagination?" Heero asked, his scowl lessening as he continued to stare at Duo. It was hard to be angry or suspicious around this cheerful, happy boy.
"You think I'm just a dream? Nah. I'm real, honest! I'm here because I didn't want to watch you get attacked by those things in your dreams again. Wouldn't you rather be here talking to me?" Duo grinned another of his happy grins at the perfect soldier and went back to munching on his apple.
Heero took a moment to process the information Duo had just given him.
"You've been watching my dreams?" He asked. Duo nodded. Heero narrowed his eyes warily.
"If you're not a dream, what are you?" He demanded, glaring at Duo, who sighed.
"I expect you're thinking that maybe I'm human and I somehow have this weird power to enter your dreams, huh? Nope. Do you really want the truth? I doubt you'll like it." Duo told Heero, finishing his apple and throwing the core away over his shoulder.
"Tell me!" Heero growled.
"Ok, ok, calm down! The truth is... I'm Shinigami. Death." Duo said, looking down as though the fact upset him.
Heero seemed to relax at that, and stopped scowling. He just raised an eyebrow at Duo and asked the obvious question that entered his mind.
"So I'm dead? Or dying?" He asked. He wasn't afraid of death, which was why he'd let his guard down a little when Duo told him who he was. It seemed strange, since Death was what most people feared, but Death had been with Heero so long he thought of it almost as a friend.
"No!" Duo gasped, seemingly horrified at the idea. His reaction shocked Heero, and, somewhere deep inside, he couldn't help feeling a little disappointed that death wasn't here to take him. That meant he had to wake up sooner or later from this dream, from Duo, and he had to go back to the fighting and killing.
"Why are you in here, then, if I'm not going to die yet?"
Duo looked sheepish and blushed slightly, making Heero's eyes widen as Shinigami looked down.
"Er... I-I've kinda been watching you for a while... It was hard not to, since you cheat me so often, but you send a lot of business my way, so it doesn't bother me too much anymore. It used to really tick me off, though, but the more I watched, the more I began to hope you wouldn't get killed. I'm not supposed to appear to mortals, but I couldn't just watch you have those nightmares every night, not when you go through all the pain of fighting and killing in the daytime as well. I guess it just struck me as unfair. I just thought you might like to hang out with me instead of getting mauled by monsters. You'd be surprised how lonely it gets, being the reaper and all. You don't have to, though, I can send you back, or I can just make it so you don't dream anymore if you like," Duo said, looking up at Heero, who stood up. He walked over to the tree and picked an apple, sitting down beside Duo.
"What if I don't believe you? What If I still think you're just a figment of my imagination? Can you prove you're really Death?" He asked, taking a bite from his apple. By now Heero had decided to relax. Either he was going to die or he was going to wake up, there wasn't really much he could do about it either way so he decided to play along. He didn't quite believe what the braided boy had told him, he was the kind of person who needed proof. Duo seemed to be thinking hard, and suddenly he snapped his fingers and leapt up.
"Yes! I can prove it! You want something that will still be with you when you wake up, right?" Duo asked, giving a slightly evil grin at the way Heero's eyes were traveling up his slender body. Heero tried not to drool at the beautiful Shinigami standing right over him and nodded. He gulped slightly as Duo dropped to crouch down over him, his face only a few inches from the perfect soldier's.
"Uh, D-Duo? What are you- Mmmph!" Heero was cut off as Duo darted forward and kissed him, his warm lips covering Heero's. The Wing pilot froze for a second, then found himself melting into the kiss, his eyes sliding closed and lips parting as he surrendered to Shinigami. Heero had no idea how this would help prove that Duo was who he said, but at that moment he didn't care. It felt so good, he never wanted it to end and he gave a soft moan of disappointment when Duo's lips left his own. The moan was replaced by a gasp, however, when he felt the hot lips begin to kiss their way down his chin to his throat. There was a twinge of pain for a moment as Duo sucked hard, marking Heero's smooth skin, then Duo's tongue darted out to trace the bruise and a tingle of pleasure ran through Heero's body. It was like torture when Duo stopped, sitting back a little and grinning. Heero opened his eyes and stared at the braided boy, panting a little.
"Now you have a mark," Duo explained, reaching out to gently touch the small bruise on Heero's neck. Heero winced, making Duo frown in concern.
"Does it hurt? I'm sorry; I didn't mean to be so rough. It was either that or give you a black eye, and I think that way was much more fun," Duo gave another wicked grin.
"It doesn't hurt." Heero said numbly, still slightly in shock from being kissed by Duo. The braided boy stood up and Heero followed suit, trying to force his pulse to slow down. Who would have thought that being kissed by Death himself could make Heero want him so much? He could still feel the kiss tingling on his lips and he longed for more, but Duo seemed to have other ideas.
"It's time for you to wake up now. If you feel like hanging out again tonight..." Duo looked at Heero, who nodded. This was better than the nightmares, MUCH better.
"See you tonight then, Hee-chan!" Duo grinned, waving as Heero felt himself begin to wake up. The sunlit field and Duo melted away into darkness and he opened his eyes, seeing the familiar gray walls of his tiny room surrounding him once again. He rolled over in bed and groaned, consciousness rushing in on him cruelly. The he remembered something and sat up, touching his neck. He felt a slight pain, but he couldn't be sure there was anything there. He needed to see it.
If there were something there, though... He scrambled up and over to the mirror, tilting his head to the side to get a better look at his throat. His eyes widened as his fingers brushed over the purple bruise lightly, trembling. He'd really spoken with Death, Shinigami... He'd been kissed by him. He would see him again tonight...
Heero couldn't wait.
TBC