Author: Aaeth Payne
Warnings: Yaoi, Angst, Swearing, Alcohol abuse, Language, Lemon!!
Pairings: 1x2/2x1, 3x4
Rating: NC-17
Disclaimers: I do not own Gundam Wing! *curls up into the fetal position crying* But I can play with them right?
Keys: ~......~ denotes thought, //......// denotes a flashback, {......} denotes a song playing, ~*~*~ denotes a change of person
Shinigami's Song Part 1
Track 1
You can call me Shinigami I'm just a joker who's lost his mask You can call me Shinigami Are you content in your ivory tower You can call me Shinigami Yeah through it all, I'm loving you still
You're always my hero, and I love you still
-Duo Maxwell A.C. 204Shinigami
A single touch could heal my soul
And your kiss would make my psyche whole
But you left me for another
Now death is my only lover
If you'd ever care to call me
But I doubt you ever will
You tore my beating heart out
The day that you walked out
But through it all, I'm loving you still
The stark truth has left me bare
For my forgiveness you'll never ask
But it's yours anyway. I just don't care.
If you'd ever care to call me
But I doubt you ever will
You tore my beating heart out
The day that you walked out
But through it all, I'm loving you still
With all the things money can buy
You sacrificed us to please another
Leaving me behind to cry
These tears in my eyes, can you see them?
They're for a love that's strong, fierce, and true
But I know in my heart I've been beaten
In the war that was fought over you
If you'd ever care to call me
But I doubt you ever will
You tore my beating heart out
The day that you walked out
But through it all, I'm loving you still
Duo shuffled into his small bathroom and squeezed two drops of Visene into his bloodshot eyes. He tossed the well-used bottle back onto the counter and walked back into his bedroom. As he stepped into an old pair of black silk boxers, Duo wondered if he should back out of the interview. His fame hadn't spread far beyond L2, and he'd wanted to keep it that way. Somehow, his manager, Vinny, had gotten him to agree.
So here he was, miserable and hung-over, and getting ready for the interview that was to be aired live on all the colonies and earth. With an irritated sigh, Duo looked at his reflection, he was dressed in tight black leather pants, a silk shirt of the deepest red, and his hair was in its comfortable braid.
"I must be crazy." Duo laughed and put on a pair of dark sunglasses before leaving.
~*~
Duo sprawled languidly across from Kiki, the reporter sent by channel 10. She was bubbly and flirty before the cameras went on, and Duo was in no way prepared for her insightful questions. Her first question was like an unexpected punch to his gut.
"So, who is your hero?"
Five simple words, and Duo almost choked on his small sip of water. "What?!"
~*~
Relena thumbed through an old copy of 'People' with her picture on the cover. She sighed and threw it on the empty seat beside her. She looked out the window of her pink limousine and sighed again. Her position as Minister of Peace wouldn't be so bad... if it were not for the long boring car rides.
"Heero..." Relena closed her eyes and pictured the pilot of Wing Gundam. She could still remember the day he'd conceded to her request, the day he came to work on her staff as head of security. She swallowed hard against the lump that rose in her throat and the tears that stung her eyes. To look back now, she could see how silly her infatuation had been... but back then...
Relena went over those months in her mind, how she had chased him, and how he always avoided her until that fateful night. //"Why don't you love me, Heero? I can give you everything!" She waited with her heart in her throat. "My heart cannot be commanded. Not by you. Not by me. Your love is a child's fascination." His cold blue eyes stared lifelessly at her.
"I'm a child?! Fine! I don't need you anymore! Go find your friend DUO and live like a monk!" She threw his paycheck in his face. For a moment Heero seemed lost as he caught the piece of paper from the breeze. "I don't even know where he is." And with that he turned and walked into the darkness.//
Relena shook her head. Heero had been right about the depth of her emotion for him.
She took a deep breath and brought herself back to the present. Glancing at her watch Relena rolled her eyes in a very unladylike manner. ~Still three hours to go!~ She looked around for something other than memories to occupy her time. She grabbed the remote for the small television and turned it on... and she was confronted with another memory. There on the screen was the older, but still recognizable face of Duo Maxwell.
Relena's brows furrowed. ~What is he on television for?~ She quickly turned up the volume.
"... this is Kiki sitting here with the singing sensation, Duo Maxwell!" The camera focused on Duo's grinning face as he waved at the audience and cameras. "So what do you say we get this thing started, Duo?" The perky blonde took out a small stack of index cards.
"Go right ahead Kiki."
Relena was extremely interested in this. She couldn't remember Duo ever singing... or doing much of anything really besides annoying Heero and piloting his Gundam. She found she was really keen on finding out about the ex-pilot. Kiki's first question stunned her almost as much as it did Duo.
"So who is your hero?"
~*~
The girl sitting across from him didn't seem to realize the significance of the question... or maybe she did?
"In your title song, 'Shinigami', you refer to a lost love, but no name is given. Your song says 'you'll always be my hero.' So everyone wants to know..." She leaned forward and paused for dramatic effect. "who is it?"
For the thousandth time today Duo wished he'd never agreed to this interview. He also made a mental note to get a new agent. "Now, Kiki, you've heard the song. It doesn't end too well. I'm not going to broadcast my hero's..." He choked a little on the last word. "name just to fulfill some idle curiosity."
Kiki sat back and pouted. "Darn." Then she brightened and looked at a new index card. "Now, about your other song, 'Ya Gotta'..."
Duo sighed. This was going to be a very long interview.
~*~
"Now about your other song, 'Ya Gotta'..."
Relena blocked out the rest of the interview and considered what she'd just witnessed. A nagging suspicion tugged at her. Finally Relena held down the intercom button. "Driver! Change of plans... we're going to the mall!"
"Ms. Peacecraft?"
"Just do it!" She reclined against the supple leather seat. ~I feel the need to buy a CD.~
~*~
Kiki frowned as Duo practically ran out after the interview. ~Sorry kid, I had to do it.~
She flipped open her cell phone and called the number as she'd been instructed. It rang twice before being picked up.
~*~
"Mr. Winner?"
Quatre relaxed into the big chair. "Speaking... did you do as I asked?"
"Yes Mr. Winner..." There was a pause on the line. "He seemed so upset! Will he be ok?"
Quatre felt a hand on his shoulder, and he looked up into his love's eyes. Quatre put his hand over Trowa's and squeezed it gently. "Trust me, if my plan works this will be the best thing that's ever happened to him." Quatre beamed up into Trowa's solemn face.
"Thank you for your help!" He grinned and hung up the phone before she could ask any more questions.
~*~
Relena pushed the power button for the CD player, and blinked in surprise that Duo's breakthrough song... was a slow ballad. The single piano complemented Duo's husky alto perfectly. It took her until the bridge before Relena realized just whom Duo was singing about.
{Are you content in your ivory tower
With all the things money can buy
You sacrificed us to please another
Leaving me behind to cry
These tears in my eyes, can you see them?
They're for a love that's strong, fierce, and true
But I know in my heart I've been beaten
In the war that was fought over you}
Relena clapped her hand over her mouth the moment she realized the truth. "Masaka..." But then everything made sense, and the last line truly drove it home to her.
{You're always my hero, and I love you still}
"Heero." In that instant Relena realized just how much of a fool she'd been. She pressed repeat on the machine and the song began again. With her new insight she saw just how much emotion was put into this song... and just how much it revealed about its writer. Relena couldn't help but think of the last time she'd seen Heero... and how her offhand remark must have hurt him.
//"Go find your friend, Duo, and live like a monk!"
"I don't even know where he is."//
For the first time, the absolute hopelessness of that statement struck Relena full force, and she was able to hold back her tears. Ten years after the war an older, wiser Relena Peacecraft cried for the two people she'd inadvertently destroyed.
TBC...
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