By: Karasu
http://enchantingmuse.com/
Fandom: GW
Rating: G
Content: shonen-ai/yaoi implication (13+6/6+13), angstish?, songfic
Song: Nelly Furtado - I'm Like A Bird
Reg disclaimers apply.
Finished February 14, 2002
This was started looooonnnnggg time ago, erm, okay so like in April 2001, but that's still long ago. I can't believe I didn't finish it then. So, I got a short thing to share!
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You're beautiful, that's for sure
You'll never ever fade
Ice blue eyes studied the quiet, sleeping form of the ginger-haired OZ leader. In the earlier hours just before dawn, everything was still, silent, and oh-so-perfect. It was a beautiful time and something that ought never disappear.
You're lovely, but it's not for sure
That I won't ever change
Although the moment might not ever fade, and although the beauty that both of them wore would remain... He, Zechs Merquise, knew he could change. At times his duty as a Peacecraft fought with him and he would fight the urge to stop his struggle and to settle with a peaceful path. Then again he could turn cruel and brutal if a battle so called for it... He was subject to change. If only the world would change, if only the relationship between the colonies and earth would change for the better.
And though my love is rare
Though my love is true
Treize was beginning to stir and Zechs straightened, backing away from the bed. He hadn't chanced sitting down, having been leaning against the bedpost, but he was sure if he made any noise the other man would awaken fully and discover him. Zechs loved the other, yes, and that was rare indeed for the Lighting Count to have emotions as such... But...
I'm like a bird, I'll only fly away
I don't know where my soul is
I don't know where my home is
And baby all I need for you to know is
He wasn't one to stay in a single place. Zechs couldn't remain trapped in any sort of cage. He needed freedom - to fly, to move about as he pleased. In OZ, around Treize, he didn't have the amount of freedom he needed. Staying would only endanger those around him, for he would feel trapped and start reacting with dire consequences. He had no home and no goal beyond the revenge he had already taken. His life hardly had meaning any longer, but he knew he had to see the Earth and colonies at peace before he passed on. He had to ensure that things would turn out alright.
I'm like a bird, I'll only fly away
I don't know where my soul is
I don't know where my home is
All I need for you to know is
Zechs was nearly to the door of the balcony, almost ready to flee. He glanced briefly at the bedside table where he had placed an envelope and a single flower. 'A white rose. Will you understand what I mean, Treize? Have you ever really understood me?' As the ginger-haired man stirred, Zechs turned and left the room, not risking closing the door before he... 'I'm fleeing,' he admitted to himself. 'I'm running away from him.'
Your faith in me brings me to tears
Even after all these years
Treize fully opened his eyes and gazed across the room, lying silently and waiting... for something unknown to him. Yet it remained quiet and he slowly sat up, stretching away the soreness in his neck. He caught a glimpse of new items on his bedside table immediately and reached out, heartbeat slightly increased.
Fingering the white rose, so fully in bloom that it would soon dry out and die, Treize gazed at the envelope in his other hand. 'Mirialdo...' he thought, noting the unique script. He bowed his head, wishing that the faith he'd been placing in the other would help return his friend. But Zechs was insistent about moving away and abandoning him. 'Leaving after so many years, my friend?'
And it pains me so much to tell
That you don't know me that well
And though my love is rare
Though my love is true
He set the flower down, running through the various meanings symbolized with the rose and its color, and opened the envelope, pulling out the letter. He began reading the words scrawled out, interpreting the internal battle raging in the pale haired man. There was so much that Zechs wouldn't come out and state, that had to be read in to...
"But why do you accuse me to not knowing you, Mirialdo?" Treize stood, taking his gaze from the letter when he came across a line that was painful, reminding him of a love that had briefly started. He moved towards the open balcony door and stared out, wishing that his friend was not so silent - that a noise had been made so that he would have awakened and spoken with Zechs before he disappeared again.
I'm like a bird, I'll only fly away
I don't know where my soul is
I don't know where my home is
And baby all I need for you to know is
"A bird." An elegant, exotic bird that flew on silent wings and drew longing gazes to itself. A bird that flew from place to place; one with no home and no goals other than to continue to live. It was the best way to describe the blonde-haired man.
"I apologize for caging you," Treize spoke aloud, gazing into the dawn sky. He continued holding the letter in hand, waiting to continue reading. "If only you would speak to me, as you used to."
I'm like a bird, I'll only fly away
I don't know where my soul is
I don't know where my home is
All I need for you to know is
Vanishing into the gardens, Zechs hid himself in grouped hedges. It was rough travel, roaming on hands and knees through the shrubbery, but he didn't have any desire to be seen. Resisting the urge to curse a few times, he continued on. He noticed a change in leaves and before he realized what he had crawled into, his hand stung with pain and he winced. He backed up, withdrawing from the rose bushes. Softly he sighed, wondering if a bird with wounded wings could still fly.
He found an exit from the bushes and rolled out onto the grass, slowly picking himself up and picking leaves from his hair and clothes. Dirt stained his skin and clothes but that didn't matter to him. He risked a glance back and through branches of low trees he picked out Treize's form, standing upon the balcony with a piece of paper in hand. He'd gotten the letter.
It's not that I wanna say goodbye
It's just that every time you try
To tell me, me that you love me
Each and every single day I know
I'm going to have to eventually give you away
"I'm sorry..." Zechs found himself whispering. But he didn't want to be the one that was left behind. He wanted to withdraw before anything progressed too far...Before he had to be hurt, again. "I don't want you to be hurt."
'And I don't want to loose what we have...I don't want to loose myself, either.'
And though my love is rare
And though my love is true, yeah
Hey I'm just scared
That we may fall through
Yeah, yeah yeah, yeah
Treize finished the letter and held it between his fingers, sad eyes taking in the landscape before him. It seemed that their relationship had been weaker than he had thought, and he blamed himself for not being able to make Zechs feel sure enough.
How much more would the pale-haired man suffer? How much more would he suffer?
Although Zechs was frightened of their relationship falling apart on its own, Treize had confidence in the love they shared and knew it could have made it through everything. He wasn't sure what was to come, but he knew that together or not, their challenges would be difficult and more heartache would be there now that they were apart and unable to support each other. Perhaps after those trials they would rejoin and share time that both deserved.
'I long for your company *now*.'
I'm like a bird, I'll only fly away
I don't know where my soul is
I don't know where my home is
And baby all I need for you to know is
Quietly Treize turned back towards his room and prepared to enter. Zechs cut off his gaze and moved forward in a crouch, making his way from the house. He soon stood up and began to jog out of sight, not looking back.
Instinct told Treize to turn, and the OZ leader found the pale blonde hair moving with the wind. His mouth opened on its own as he called, "Mirialdo!" The other never stopped running, but Treize was sure he heard. Long after Zechs had disappeared from his vision, the ginger-haired man stood at the line of gardens that blocked him from dashing forward to catch his departing lover.
I'm like a bird, I'll only fly away
I don't know where my soul is
I don't know where my home is
All I need for you to know is
Unwillingly Treize schooled his features as he said a silent farewell, letting his adored beauty take flight on his own path.
[to fade]
~ * ~ OWARI ~ * ~