/////The night passed uneventfully. Heero woke up before dawn, but didn't move. Recognizing the small cabin, he relaxed a little and opened his eyes. Moving his head to the side, he saw his braided companion was lying on his side, back turned to him and facing the wall. But he was lying on his *wrong* side, the one injured. Heero sat up, and reached out for Duo.

Cold.

Fighting the inane urge to jerk his hand back, Heero gently turned Duo on his back. It might hurt, but he had to see if he was okay.

It didn't hurt. Duo's body was rigid.

He was cold. He wasn't breathing.

He was dead.

Heero's eyes widened. Duo died during the night? He died by Heero's side, and Heero didn't notice?

He died?

How?

"I *told* you gods can die, Heero. And more than once."

Heero swirled around, trembling. That voice...

"Duo..."

Standing in the middle of the room, just where he had fallen the night before, was Duo. He was wearing the same clothes as the day before; the same ones Heero cut in order to reach his wounds. He gave Heero a sad smile.

"Guess my time here was even shorter than what I had previously expected, ne?"

"But... *How*? *Why*?"

"How I died? Well, judging by the mess my body is - or was, whatever - I'd say I died of blood loss."

Heero shook his head. "Iie... You did lose a lot of blood, but it wasn't life threatening. Besides, that had happened before and you have pulled it off with a shrug... Why is this time different?"

Duo sighed and stepped closer. Heero could see Duo perfectly, but there was something amiss... perhaps a sense of solidity? Duo sat cross-legged in front of Heero, braid over one of his shoulders. "I don't know. All I know is that sometimes people who everybody *knows* is going to die don't, and people not so bad die easily. Perhaps it's a matter of will."

"And you don't want to live anymore?"

"Of course I do! I still have much to learn, and even more to do! But I have to admit, a part of me was set free with my death."

"And now you're going home and pretend nothing happened?"

"Damn you, Yuy! You still don't get it, do you? I'm DEAD, D-E-A-D. My life-force was cut from my body. It was a human body, alright, but a modified body. *My* body. Do you think when that body got old and died I would manage to make up another one, or return to my 'god' one? You're wrong! That was the only one I had! Kurama's body is still the same one he used when he lived as a human, he just made some adjustments to make it age as a youkai's one, and not a human's."

Heero remained silent. That was exactly what he was thinking; when Duo got tired of living as a human he would discard this body and take back his old one... Or something similar.

Duo blew his bangs off his eyes. "I don't know what will happen to me now. I was never told what happens to gods when they die, only knew that they *could*. I must confess I'm a little scared. If the Fates come to judge me... I'll be in serious trouble."

"None of the gods have ever died before?"

"Yeah, some of them. The very first ones, and my grandmother too. Never heard of them anymore, so I guess you'll never hear from me again, not even when you die. This is the last time I'll see any of you."

Heero averted his eyes. He will never see Duo again? Not even after his death?

Duo got up and stepped back. "I can hear someone coming... I have a favor to ask, Heero. I won't have time to see the other guys... please tell them I'll miss all of you... and even if we got somewhat distant in this last weeks, I still think you were some of the best friends I've ever had in all my life... corny as it may sound, it's true."

Heero watched silently as a black-haired girl appeared out of nowhere and bowed reverently to Duo. Nodding to her, Duo looked at Heero for the last time. "Oh, one more thing, Heero. Next time you try to lend your body heat to someone, get a bit closer!" With a wink and a small wave, both were gone.

Quatre ran down the path. Heero's message got him a bit off-balance, and he wanted to see how Duo was. Their delay was only for a night... that was a good sign, right? It meant Duo's injuries weren't too severe...

Heero looked a bit too tired... more so than usual. He was carrying a big white bundle... And where was Duo?

When Heero got close enough, Quatre realized his bundle wasn't an object... it was... wrapped in a white sheet...

"Duo!?"

Heero looked up and shook his head. Quatre paled. Both entered the house and as Heero put his bundle in one of the rooms Quatre sat on a chair. Heero soon returned, and both sat for a moment, no words between them.

Quatre was the first one to break the silence. "I was so worried... I had a strange dream last night. Duo was bleeding, but I couldn't find where the cut was. Then he said he had no cut on his body... just one in his heart. And I could see he was dying because of it..."

Heero gave him a funny look. Quatre lowered his eyes. "I asked him why his heart was bleeding, but he didn't answer me. Then I realized he was dying because of us... because we hurt him. He confessed his utmost secret to us and we met it with rebuff. And even then he didn't want us to know and feel guilty over his passing... Heero, what was the /causa mortis/?"

"Blood loss."

Quatre hung his head. "I see. Perhaps the dream I had last night was a kind of warning... guess we'll have to wait some time until we meet him again and apologize for everything."

Heero shook his head. "I saw him after he died. He said we'd never see him again."

"What!?"

"He said he didn't know what would happen to him, but that when gods died no one ever saw them again. He... he asked me to tell he'll miss all of us... and that he considers us some of the best friends of his life..."

Quatre shook his head and got up. "I'd better go. I... I'll see the arrangements for the funeral."

The funeral was very quick and simple. There was no reason for not being this way; after all, only the pilots knew where and who was being put to rest. Quatre filled the other two on his dream and what Heero said to him. He got no reactions, just thoughtful looks.

Night found Heero on his bed, staring at the ceiling and thinking things over. Quatre's words echoed in his head. Had they really hurt Duo? Did Duo really care about what they thought of him? Quatre seemed very impressed by his dream... and Wufei didn't really help when he said it could have had some significance.

"The ancient believed dreams exist to not only remind us of the past, but also warn us of the future... of what would happen if the 'what ifs' of life became real."

Those words kept dancing inside his head, until Heero fell into the oblivion of sleep./////

Heero opened his eyes. It was still dark, and it took him some moments to get his bearings. Where was he...? The cabin! He was in the cabin! Does that mean...

He slowly moved his head to the side. Then he saw *him*.

Duo.

He was lying on his side, back turned... to the wall. The braided boy was lying on his uninjured side, facing Heero. Hesitantly, Heero reached out and touched Duo's wrist. The skin was cold, but Heero quickly found a pulse.

He was alive.

Was that all a dream? It felt so real...

He checked the time. It had been only an hour and a half since he had laid down to sleep... and yet he dreamed the happenings of three days. Dreams really are weird things...

Duo's shivering brought Heero's attention back to the present. He was still cold. Heero remembered Duo's words in his dream: /'Next time you try to lend your body heat to someone, get a bit closer!'/

Heero shrugged. Duo's dream self had been right. He scooted closer to the other boy and settled himself to sleep once more. But he kept replaying scenes from the dream over his mind, and the last thing he remembered before sleep overtook him were Wufei's words.

/'The ancient believed dreams exist to not only remind us of the past, but also warn us of the future... of what would happen if the 'what ifs' of life became real.'/

Duo woke up feeling like a meat grinder played with him. Opening his eyes, all he could see was a patch of green. Wait a minute... green!?

He tried to back off, and ended on his back... and suddenly remembered why he was feeling that way. A small hiss escaped his lips before he could stop it. Looking at his side, he realized the green came from Heero's tank top. The boy was lying next to Duo on his mattress, Heero's own being close, but not in use.

Duo remembered Heero saying he had lost blood... and he did remember feeling cold. By their position, he assumed Heero had tried to lend some body heat... and considering the fact he woke up half on his side and half over Heero... he had appreciated it.

His thoughts were interrupted when Heero shifted. Focusing his gaze, he noticed Heero was awake and looking at him. He blinked. Heero seemed... different? But he soon dismissed that thought.

Heero quickly examined Duo again. After making sure the braided boy was alright he picked up a can of soup, heated it and brought it back to Duo. He helped him sit up and put the mug on his hands. All without a word.

Duo examined the mug in his hands for a moment, then broke the silence. "Heero... arigatou."

Heero nodded. "I already sent the data over to Quatre and informed him of your condition."

Duo sipped from his mug then gave a small snort. "Yeah, so much for all that planning. And here I thought this one would be the easiest of all our assignments."

"It wasn't your fault. You did everything according to the plans. I... I was the one at the wrong place."

Duo blinked again, this time at Heero's retreating back. What was that? Heero admitting he screwed up? If he weren't so tired, he would have made a smart remark. But not now... perhaps later. Finishing his mug, Duo put it aside and eased himself back down. And soon he was dozing off again.

The next time he woke, Heero was nowhere in sight. Felling a little better, Duo decided to clean himself. After all, dried blood isn't the best thing to have on your hair. Only after getting up he realized he had only his boxers on. Shrugging, he assumed Heero threw his torn clothes away and picked up clean ones from his bag.

The small bathroom inside the cabin was just that - small. Still, it had a shower and an outdated generator; since the generator still worked, it suited Duo just fine. He'd have enough hot water to take a quick shower and wash away the blood. Duo removed the bandages, noting that the more superficial wounds had already started to heal, and quickly stepped into the shower, swaying a little. The warm water left his wounds stinging, but otherwise felt good. After cleaning himself he put on his boxers and pants and left the bathroom with wet hair plastered over his right shoulder. And ran straight into Heero.

"What were you doing?"

Duo rolled his eyes. "Isn't that obvious? I was taking a shower."

Heero narrowed his eyes. "You took off the bandages. And now you've started bleeding again."

Duo gave him a sheepishly smile. "Well, I had to take all that dried blood off my hair... Hey, since you're nearby, do you think you could help me with my back? I don't think I'll manage to reach behind and redo your wonderful job." He gave a small wink and walked back to the mattress, but Heero could see the slight swaying in his steps. With a small sound of acquiescence, Heero bandaged the other boy again, feeling once more the same sweet scent as the night before. 'Definitely the shampoo.'

"We'll be leaving in a few hours. Can you make it?"

Duo nodded. Taking a brush from his bag, he started untangling his hair while Heero was still kneeled behind him, seemingly frozen. After some moments Duo noticed that, and turned around. "Heero?"

Heero hastily shook his head and jumped up. Backing away, he opened his laptop. "The rendezvous point will be in one of Quatre's safehouses. He already gave me the coordinates."

Duo gave him a funny look. "I know that already, Heero. I already had the coordinates before I left." Turning his attention back to his hair, Duo shrugged. 'Weird...'

End Part 9

Author's note: I don't know if Duo's explanations in this part are true or not... Remember, it happened during Heero's dream!

They arrived at Quatre's safehouse without an incident. To Heero, Duo was unusually quiet... and to Duo, Heero was behaving way out of character...

Greeting a worried-looking Quatre, Duo headed for his room. The travel had been more tiring than expected, and he wanted to take a nap while he still had the chance. He missed the look Quatre sent in his direction and the motioning for Heero to stay behind.

After Duo left, Quatre sat down and asked Heero to do the same. Both sat for a moment, no words between them.

Quatre was the first one to break the silence. "How is he?"

Heero shrugged. "He lost blood, but he'll live. Just need some rest."

Quatre nodded. Looking down, the seemed pensive for a moment. Then, "I was worried... I've been having strange dreams ever since Duo left. I can't remember all of them, but they felt so real... In the ones I remember I always saw Duo bleeding, but I couldn't find where the cut was..."

Heero stiffened. Could it be...?

Quatre didn't seem to notice Heero's reaction. "...And I could see he was dying because of it..." He gave a soft sigh. "I can't explain, but there was *something* in those dreams that made them seem more than just ordinary ones. Trowa and Wufei agreed with me."

"Trowa? Wufei?"

"I don't know why, but I talked to them about it before they left... It seems they had one or two dreams of their own... but not as real as mine felt. Heero... have you had any dreams?"

Heero got up. "No. I didn't dream." With that, he left the room.

Quatre narrowed his eyes at Heero's retreating back. "Liar..."

It seemed the Fates wanted to play a little, Duo thought. How come they always brought together people with so much common ground? And why did they have such twisted sense of humor?

After some more rest, Duo got information that they were all supposed to stay low for a while. That suited him just fine; he wanted some time off anyway.

But keeping a low profile also led to a certain degree of boredom. And since his friends - could he still call them friends? - were still uneasy near him, Duo decided to take long periods of time to himself, walking around and sometimes making small trips to the nearby village.

When Trowa and Wufei returned and the trips to the village were banned from his plans by Heero, Duo locked himself inside his room. After much debate with himself, he gave in and started reading those folders. He began with his own; unnecessary, since he remembered all that happened in his merged-half's previous lives. He smirked when he noticed his date of death... it had been scheduled for the day after his merging. And since no one went after him during those 15 years... it meant the Fates were either unaware of his merging or letting him go according to his plans.

Reading Heero's file carefully this time, Duo couldn't help but feel sorry for him. It seemed Heero was the only one of them who hadn't had a choice on whether he would join the fight or not. Being raised like that... surely not the happy life he was supposed to have.

Duo frowned. Heero's date of death was scheduled for his 20th birthday... But there was something wrong. There was no /causa mortis/ in the file, and the date didn't have Reikai's seal of approval beside it. It meant the date could still change...

Reaching out for Wufei's file, Duo felt a cold sensation travel down his spine. He thought he could hear the Fates, laughing at him. Truth be told, the Fates were the only omnipotent beings in the worlds, but they were also flawed. A twisted sense of humor being one of those flaws, their unfeeling hearts another. He almost feared what he could possibly read in that file.

At first, nothing out of the ordinary. Wufei had always been a strong- willed and somewhat stubborn person. A great sense of honor, eager to learn... All in all, quite a normal soul. Until Duo reached the second half of the file.

The sense of familiarity hit him like a brick. He had read that file before. And not just out of curiosity; he had to work on that case... Trembling, Duo read the information about Wufei's previous incarnation... but he already knew all about it. Then he read about his actual one... and immediately put the file away.

'Wufei, I'm so sorry... I thought I was doing the right thing when I cut off part of your sentence... but if I had sentenced you as otousan wanted me to, you'd never be here right now, grieving over a loved one and fighting in this war... You'd probably incarnate only after the war finished... and... damn! It's all my fault...'

He gave up reading the rest of the files. No one could tell what the Fates had reserved for them... and he didn't want to know right now.

A small talk among the other four pilots was taking place while Duo was immersed in his reading. Or at least what could possibly pass as a talk among them. While Quatre was the only one admitting being concerned about Duo's now reserved behavior, even Heero had to admit Duo had changed a lot ever since the day he left their safehouse in the middle of the night.

All boys admitted, albeit reluctantly, they had been treating Duo differently since they learned the truth about him. And they had no reason to do it, since never once did Duo do anything different from usual. In fact, if they could forget the morning those youkai came, everything would be like before. Duo's near miss in the last mission proved that he was as weak and fragile as any of them.

And then Quatre blew up the last of their resistance when he said that an emotionally distressed Duo would be no good to the missions. Neither would they, if they let what they learned about Duo interfere with their work as a team. The best thing to do would be pretend nothing happened and go on with their objectives.

The boys nodded. It would be difficult to forget such thing, but they would try to at least ignore it. By the time Duo decided to show up they had already exhaustibly examined what their reactions to Duo had been before and after their discovery, and how to turn back to old patterns of behavior.

They noticed when Duo sat down that he couldn't look Wufei in the eyes. Quatre cleared his throat and addressed him: "Duo, we've been talking... and we agreed that since you told us about yourself things had been a bit different among us..."

Duo didn't say anything, but nodded. Quatre continued, "Well, it came as a surprise to all of us... but now that we've had time to sort things out... I think we can accept it. After all, it's not like you've done any miraculous thing around us, is it? And... we thought it would be a good idea if we simply forgot all about it and continued as before... What do you think?"

Duo gave them a suspicious look. "You know you'll never manage to truly forget about it, Quatre... every now and then you'll wonder if I wouldn't be able to do something, of if I know something you don't..." After a pause, Duo gave them a soft smile. "But I'm truly glad you decided to try it, anyway. But... before you try to brainwash yourselves into forgetting everything... is there anything you'd like to ask me about? Trowa?"

The green-eyed boy shook his head. "I did want to ask you something, but I know you won't answer me. Besides... I think I'll have my answer when the right time comes."

Duo nodded. "Quatre? ...Wufei?"

Quatre shook his head. Wufei seemed pensive for a moment, then: "Will we be able to meet the ones who left us?"

Duo looked sad for a moment. "The Fates are weird beings... they usually place souls with common ground together, but I can't guarantee it."

Wufei nodded. Duo turned to Heero and gave him a pointed look. Heero stared back and after a moment's hesitation simply shook his head. Duo smiled at his friends. "Thanks, guys. And so that you know, I'll burn those folders... I think it wouldn't be right if I kept them with me."

After each of his friends left for the night, Duo went in search of Heero. The Japanese boy pretended to ignore him, and Duo rolled his eyes. So much for getting back to old patterns.

Duo sat on Heero's bed, and cleared his throat. No response. Sighing, he started. "Heero, can I talk to you for a moment? It's really important."

Again, no response. Duo gave up. "I think I should let you know that... about your death... well... you see... Ah, what the heck! Heero, you can't trust the file about the date of your death, ok?"

Heero turned around on his chair, and gave Duo a somewhat surprised look. "What do you mean?"

Duo sighed again. "What I mean is, you can't go around pulling suicidal stunts thinking you're safe until the date mentioned in the file. That was an estimative, and hasn't been confirmed... that means depending on how you take care of yourself, you can either die tomorrow or live until you die of old age."

Heero arched an eyebrow. "And when and who confirms when I'm going to die? Your father?"

Duo shook his head. "No. To be blunt honest, the Gods don't decide anything... Almost everything happens according to the Fate's will. *They* decide how long humans live, Heero. And as for *when* they'll decide about you... We'll only find out when they do."

Standing up, Duo gave his friend a wink. "Your destiny isn't decided yet, Heero... I hope you can make the best out of it!" With that, he left the room.

Heero gave the closed door a lingering look, then resumed his current task.

The following weeks went on as if nothing had ever happened. Well, almost. Trowa and Heero returned to their routine of Duo-ignoring. Quatre still made Duo uncomfortable, but it was bearable. The good thing out of it was that Wufei's opinion about Duo improved a slight bit. Now the Chinese boy actually listened and carefully considered Duo's intake on things, unlike before.

And so everything went back to normal in the Gundam pilots' lives (or at least as normal as their lives could be). Until one day, exactly four weeks after that fateful almost-gone-wrong mission.

Duo woke up more energetic than usual, screaming to the four winds it was his birthday. As it had been almost twenty years since the last time he properly celebrated the occasion, he did everything possible to have his friends' collaboration. Meaning he pestered them until they at least accepted doing something together.

Duo wanted to go party somewhere and get some fun, but the others refused. After much discussion, they settled for a quick trip to the village's ice-cream parlor... and just that. Duo felt disappointed for some seconds, but soon forgot about it. Better than nothing, anyway.

For at least a couple of hours, there were no gods or warriors in their group. Just some cheerful and some not-so-cheerful teenagers. And although some of them would never admit it, all of them had enjoyed themselves in those couple of hours.

When they reached the safehouse, something was not right. Opening the door, they found out there was someone inside, seated with its back turned to them. Heero immediately pulled out a gun. "Dare ka?"

The person rose at the sound of Heero's voice, and slowly turned around. The boys gaped at the young woman in front of them. Long blue hair was pulled up in an intricate hairstyle that had some loose wisps framing a delicate face, complemented by the most intriguing pink eyes they had ever seen. A light gray formal kimono enveloped her frame, giving her an aura of maturity and seriousness that the ones who truly knew her agreed didn't match her personality.

Heero was the only one not mesmerized by the young woman. Gun still trailed on her head, he waited for any suspecting move. But the move came from Duo, who stretched an arm in front of Heero's chest to stop him, then walked forward.

The four boys stood there and watched as Duo stopped in front of the woman and bowed reverently to her. She simply looked at him for a second, then slapped him across the face with all her strength, rocking him back. Before anyone could even blink, she caught Duo in a strong embrace, a single tear making its way down her face.

Duo disentangled himself from the woman, and tenderly kissed her forehead. "Please forgive me." was his quiet whisper. She gave him a soft smile, then nodded. "I forgive you, but please never do this again. I've been worried sick about you."

Duo smiled back. "I know. And I'm sorry." Following her gaze above his shoulder, he realized she was looking at his friends, and they were staring back. Turning around and putting a loving arm around her waist, Duo simply said, "Guys... I'd like you to meet someone very special... this is my okaasan, Botan."

The End

Author's Notes::

I have to admit it... I took the slapping scene from one of Kenshin's movies, when Kaoru slaps Yahiko for disappearing during a whole night, then hugs him for finding out he was alright... Just made Botan's slap a bit stronger... After all, her son disappeared for almost twenty years, ne? ^_^

So, what did you guys think? I know it ended up quite abruptly, but remember... this was part of a much larger story... one that I probably won't write anymore... That's why I was rewriting it. I did the possible to put in what the problem with the boys' files was, but only Heero's and Wufei's fit...

But I *do* think about the possibilities of a sequel... Just not for a while. I still want to make at least Heero meet Koenma, or better yet, Yuusuke... I think Yuusuke's cocky attitude would match Duo's well, don't you?

Would anyone be interested in said sequel? Please tell me your opinion, and if you have it, any suggestions are welcome!

• Email Author
• Back to the fic page