Characters are not mine, appreciate comments though

sands

The sun danced on the golden sand and winked on the surface of the great river. He moved to the riverbank where he saw a little boy playing with a white kitten. He remembered he was only three years old, the boy was a year younger no doubt and as he sat beside him, he looked up. And he sees his eyes, beautiful like the sunset.

He woke up and felt soft breathing on his skin.

He looked at Duo’s head that lay on his bare chest. They had just made love and his mind drifted to their conversation before.

"Ne Heero, do you love me?" Duo asked, his eyes sad, as he looked at him through the mirror, his rhythm constant as he brushed his hair.

He looked at his lover, and raised an eyebrow in response.

"Or is it just sex?" he cracked a rueful smile as he turned to face him.

Again he remained silent and looked away.

Duo got up and tackled him, pinning him to the bed.

"It’s ok, I can love enough for the both of us, until you find me again." Before he could consider what Duo’s words, his mouth found his own and he was once more trapped in Duo’s embrace. A prison he welcomed and needed.

As he began to process what his lover said, he absently ran his fingers through his lover’s hair.

He knew Duo loved him, and he knew no matter what he said he wanted his love in return. So what was stopping him? Would it hurt him to say those words Duo wanted to hear?

What was stopping him?

He was sixteen years old, a Magi for two years. Now he stood guarding the Pharaoh’s most prized possession. His concubines.

He stood there not moving, the boy facing him mirroring his own blank stare. They were lined up face to face in definite intervals between the main door of the harem and the Pharaoh’s own entrance, no one saw the face of the one beside them only the blank stare of the guard before him. They were blind to the beautiful girls and, yes, boys that passed before them. They were deaf to the words spoken between the Pharaoh’s door and the door of the harem. Everyday it was the same, the two doors and the blank stare of the boy facing you.

He hated it here, he knew it was an honor to guard the jewels of Egypt and that many would kill for his position. But in truth, he would rather be a common soldier than one of the Pharaoh’s imperial guards.

A door was slammed and angry footsteps were heard heading towards the harem’s door.

"I will die of boredom!" a voice screamed.

From the corner of his eyes, he could see the golden mesh wrapped around the boy’s torso and from the bangles that sang every time he moved it was obvious that he was a concubine. It was a boy even through the long hair it was pretty obvious. As the concubine passed before his eyes, he tilted his head to the side and Seth caught eyes, almost violet, stare into his own.

"I know." Duo muttered softly.

"Save yourself the pain. Leave him."

"And what pain would doing that save me from?"

"So you would stay a whore for him because you love him? Is that it?"

"If that is how you see us, then it must be." He smiled at the defiance in his lover’s voice.

"Wufie is only thinking about your welfare Duo, we all are. We don’t want to see you hurt when Heero decides to put an end to this liaison." Quatre’s eloquence.

"Thank you guys but to put it bluntly, it is none of your beeswax!" he heard him laugh. "We are just different, you just don’t understand." He put his hand on the doorknob ready to take Duo away from this inquisition against him. "Just different." He heard him whisper again, as if trying to convince himself.

"Duo…" he greeted the audience on the other side of the door.

"Hee-chan! Didja miss me already?" he plastered on another of his smiles and draped his arm around his shoulders. Heero took the arm and dragged him outside by his elbow, leaving the frowns left on his fellow pilots’ faces as Duo blew them kisses.

"Oi Heero! Man your cutting off the circulation!" he chuckled as he tried to pry his arm from the other’s death grip. He felt Heero’s grip slide down to his hand and settle there. His surprise stopped him in his tracks gaining him another rough tug. He smiled as he was led into the garden.

Everything he heard in that room seemed to melt away at that moment. Nothing the other pilots could say, no matter how true could take him away from the bliss of having your hand in Heero Yuy’s.

He smirked at this, what a lovesick puppy you are Maxwell, heh Wufei would shake his head and mutter injustice if he saw that goofy smile you have on.

They stopped beside the pond; Heero’s back turned to him.

"I have a mission." He stated not looking at him. Duo’s smile began to fade.

"When do we leave?" he asked hopeful.

"I leave tonight, alone."

"Oh, well thank you for thinking of giving me prior notice, not that I wanted any…" he was babbling now he knew. But it was the only way he knew how to cope with the thought of Heero being gone, and it was the only way he knew how to mask the pain in his eyes.

"Duo, what they said…"

"Oh don’t worry about it, it doesn’t affect me one bit." Heero looked at him, his expression strange.

"If you think…if you’re not happy then…" he didn’t know what to say. Duo lifted Heero’s chin to face him.

"I’ll still be here, I’ll wait for you."

Something flickered in Heero’s eyes, but he shook it off and turned to go back into the house. Leaving Duo behind.

"I’ll wait." He whispered before following him inside.

Two eyes narrowed as Duo left the garden, hidden in the house’s upper rooms. They frowned in disapproval before leaving window’s side.

He was finishing downloading the data when he realized that Duo wasn’t trying to get into his pants or whining his ears off. He looked up from his laptop. Duo was sitting on his bed, his back to him; he had finished Heero’s packing and was staring at the now packed duffel bag.

"Duo?"

"Hmmm?"

"What’s wrong?"

He turned around to face him. "Nothing" he smiled.

Heero snapped his laptop close and walked over to his bed. He zipped up the bag and placed the laptop in its case. He fixed his new school uniform, tugging at the unfamiliar tie. Duo stood up and did the knots for him, smoothing the wrinkles on his shirt afterwards.

"Don’t forget Heero Yuy. Never forget." He whispered placing a kiss on his cheek.

"Do you remember me?"

"One would think that life in the Pharaoh’s harem would be more…glamorous." He sighed. "Look at me, talking to statues." He looked back at the main door. "I’ll see you tomorrow." He whispered before the Vizier entered.

"Concubine Ash!"

"Do you have any idea how hideous that sounds?" he snapped.

"Return to your quarters immediately! If the Pharaoh found out…"

"As you wish o grand Vizier!" he bowed leaving.

"Look at this one! I made this one of the Vizier when he forbade me from entering the Imperial Nursery." He held up a childish scrawl of the old Vizier with children in his mouth. He laughed lying on his stomach in front of the Magi. His drawings littering the grand corridor.

It had been five months since they discovered one another and everyday since then, the concubine would talk to the Magi, showing him his possessions, telling him of how he was sold because of his unusual eyes. He would never respond of course but it would not stop the poor boy from talking to him, his need of companionship finding solace in his silent listener.

"I never wanted to be the Pharaoh’s concubine, of course I am not a concubine yet, I am merely part of his collection. What about you did you want to be a Magi? Stand there all day like a statue? I think that is even worse than a concubine, at least I get to pretend I am alive!" he smiled. He stood up and gathered his drawings; he needed to get back into the harem before someone else saw them.

Seth lay awake in the barracks that night, staring into the evening sky wishing he could still see the sunsets. He left the harem late at night and arrived early in the morning and the only sunsets he saw were the ones mirrored in that boy’s eyes. And he smiled; it seems that those were superior to any he had seen in his life. And as he sat there unable to put the boy out of his thoughts, something entered his mind.

Heero sat in his Wing, smoke rising around him. It was inevitable, total destruction of the school was needed to destroy the evidence. By tonight he would be with Duo and perhaps he would tell him of his need to find something missing in him that kept him from saying those words he so wanted to hear. It was like that part made him complete and by finding that part he would then be able to give Duo all of his heart like he did him.

He walked around the ruined campus, looking for any loose ends left to tie up. He moved to the place where the library used to stand. Something caught his eye. A page ripped from an old mythology book. A picture of a man sitting on a throne, an old Egyptian god.

Osiris.

Seth’s eyes drifted to the boy that stood across from him. He saw the way his eyes strayed upon the boy. How he followed him in the corners of his eyes and how he frowned when Ash would take his hand. Did not jealousy flare in those eyes as he passed a small note to the object of the other’s desire? It was the only time he had ever tried to communicate with the boy and he knew the other Magi saw the note that fell from his hand and into Ash’s.

He wrote that note to tell the boy that his efforts were not in vain and that his loneliness was not an ailment that could not be cured. That was all he intended and now it seemed he went too far.

"The Pharaoh will not tolerate this, he will claim each of his concubines and he shall put to death he that has dared cross the line of the Magi and concubines. Until one of you confesses, all of you are in peril of death."

They formed their lines and began to march towards the harem.

"It was you." he whispered to the boy beside him.

Each day a concubine was led from the harem and taken to the Pharaoh. And they watched. They were made to stand guard as a punishment, to see the one he loved sent to where he can no longer reach.

Each day Seth dreaded that Ash would be the one led down the row of Magi, bitterness and despair warred in his heart. And in a moment of weakness he considered never to confess and let all his comrades die, in order for that boy facing him to be put to death as well.

How dare he desecrate his name? How dare he soil his love with his jealousy? How dare he take away the one thing that made his life worthwhile? He would have been satisfied with a lifetime of silence just to see his smile pass by. He would have been happy knowing he could protect him that he held above his life. For Seth had fallen for that boy with the unusual eyes. For through his monologues he had found the boy beside the river that was once his friend and so much more. In his little one-sided conversations he had seen a part of the other’s soul and silently he had shown him his.

And in a moment he considered destroying him that was the cause of his misery. For a moment he wanted to kill him that took away that which he had taken a lifetime to find. And no matter how much his heart screamed, he knew he could not do it, for he would not let innocent men die. His pain and his spite would end with him, all he could do was hope that the other Magi would find forgiveness for what he had done and in his heart he had forgiven him as well. He would not let him tarnish the last moments he had to witness those sunsets, for needed to see Ash one last time before he dies.

Today would be the day that he would be led down the corridor between the harem and the Pharaoh. He was the last one. And Seth’s heart bled. Could he suffer seeing his sunset die?

He stood there his face like stone, his eyes empty. Today he would confess and he would be put to death for he would rather die before the sun sets than live each day knowing that someone else had claimed those sunsets in his eyes. And his heart bled his own Nile.

The doors opened and he heard his bangles clang as Ash is led down the aisle to his death, for tomorrow he would belong to the Pharaoh, his body his soul his heart.

As he passed before his blank stare, he turned his head, as he did that first time he saw him again. And he smiled, a farewell.

He neared the giant doors.

And he stepped out of line.

"Wait!" he pleaded. The Vizier looked back at him.

"It was YOU captain!?"

"Seth!" Ash called as he ran into the Magi’s waiting arms.

"I would rather that you die in my arms than be soiled by a man that cares naught for you." He whispered.

"I would too." Ash smiled. He took him by his hand and ran out of the hall, glancing once toward the boy that stood facing him.

It seemed that Ash had spent his ten years learning every secret the palace contained and they had nearly reached the outer wall before they were spotted. And he felt Ash go limp in his arms. A spear had found its mark and now his wish had come true. For he lay dying in his arms, red spilling from his mouth.

"Go." He said simply.

"No." He said simply.

Ash traced his lips with his long fingers his eyes memorizing each line. "Go and find me again." He whispered.

"I can’t…"

"I will wait, till you find me again." He whispered, finality in his voice. "I love you," he said softly as his lips found Seth’s.

He drove as if the devil himself were after him. Nothing could keep him, not the pain in his side nor the river of blood pooling at his feet for he found what he was missing. And now it all made sense.

He reached the safe house tearing into the front door, ignoring the startled looks on his fellow pilots’ faces.

"Heero wha…" Quatre dropped his tray and a myriad of porcelain littered the floor.

He was not in their room.

"He’s outside." Trowa said as he emerged in the common room once more.

"Yuy if you…" but Wufei was cut short as his jaw molded with Heero’s fist. The anger in the Japanese boy’s face made him stay on the floor where he suddenly found himself.

"This is the last time you interfere in mine and Duo’s affairs!" he almost screamed. "He chose me long ago." He spat leaving the stunned pilots behind.

Seth stood beyond the palace’s walls. The darkness enveloping him. He could still hear the Pharaoh’s wail as Ash’s body was shown to him.

He turned his back on the palace and disappeared into the silent desert.

It was so obvious why had he not seen it before?

How could he have forgotten? How could he have forgotten?

All his life he had dreams of dying suns in a boy’s eyes. How many nights has he awakened reaching for something that he could never seemed to find? A something that would complete him, a something that would end this longing that engulfed him.

And he was in front of his eyes all the time. How could he not know how truly precious the boy he held in his arms so many times truly was? How could he have been so blind? How could his heart pretend that it did not care for that idiot when it was him that was his whole world? How could his soul not know its other half?

He saw him beneath a tree playing with a litter of kittens, his hair liberated from its usual braid. Little strands enveloping him in his own cocoon. His long fingers playing on the kittens’ necks. His mind shifts to that moment thousands of years ago when he had decided that this boy would be the one that completed him. And his heart stopped.

His hand falls on his shoulders drawing him toward his unbelieving self.

"I’ve found you." he whispered, his soul finally, finally complete.

Duo turned to face him. And smiled.

"Well it took you long enough."

~end~

notes:

I just saw the mummy returns and didn’t like it so I went and made a fanfic in my frustration

the hieroglyphics are actually my translation of Heero and Duo I don’t know if it is correct, Egyptology is complicated!

I got their names from ancient Egyptian gods, when I was searching for a name for Duo I wanted it to start from an A so I saw the name Ash and it stuck. He was the god of the Sahara desert and he was identified with the god Seth, and that sorta sounded Heeroish so I looked it up and he was the god of war, wrath and all things evil…. perfect!