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Embrace The Night Part 2
Colony L2 199
Duo sat basking in the warmth of the sun, an action that had once eluded him, so long ago. However, he had found upon his recent awakening that the sunlight no longer had an adverse effect on him. It was then that he had remembered that his 1000th birthday had come and gone in the time he had remained oblivious to the world. As Duo opened his eyes to look up into the artificial atmosphere of the space colony, his thoughts took a meandering course of his recent past.
Many changes had been wrought upon humanity since he had gone to ground half a century ago. Upon rising from his fifty - five year rest, he had spent weeks reading newspapers and magazines from the world over in an effort to bring himself up to date. Only when he had learned enough to function in this era had he left the Sank Kingdom. He could not bring himself to stay in the home that he and Heero had built for themselves.
The year had been AC 195, and although the Sank Kingdom still spouted out its ideals of pacifism and peace, war had been shimmering on the horizon, like a distant mirage. He felt a stab of sympathy for the mortals who were so caught up in petty bickering that they missed out on the joys of living.
His first instinct had been to go home to Colony L1, but his mind refused to allow him to consider that impulse. He couldn't go to someplace that held memories of Heero. He had made a list of several possible choices and had decided that he would go to Colony L2, where there would be nothing to remind him of Heero, or of the life he had left behind so many years ago. The fact that the chosen colony also happened to the seedier of all the colonies had not been lost on him.
He had been a part of this new world for more than four years now, and he hated it. Peace had long been destroyed in the vicious battle between the Earth Sphere Alliance and a militant group known as OZ. OZ had taken control from the Alliance and had imposed itself on the people of Earth and the colonies, under the leadership of one Treize Khushrenada. Although the organization claimed it was working for the peace of all citizens, the colonies were beginning to become restless and tired of the military control.
The colony leaders had decided to take matters into their own hands and had secretly built six super weapons to combat the tyranny of OZ. They had been labeled Gundams, highly evolved versions of OZ's current mobile suits. The next step in their plan had been to find six [1] elite pilots to control the high grade machines.
Duo had wanted to be no part of the "so - called tryouts" that the mysterious Professor G had organized. The purpose had been to secretly gather the young, prime males from Colony L2 to compete for the right to pilot the Gundam he had built. However, curiosity had driven the vampire to investigate the machine that was rumored to contain incredible power.
He had shown up on the appointed day... and had fallen in love.
One look at the massive and intricately built piece of machinery that Professor G had called Deathscythe, and he knew he wanted to be the pilot. Something within the unyielding visage of the mobile suit had called to the suppressed warrior within him.
Although the mobile suit was meant to be a weapon of destruction, to obliterate those that followed and comprised OZ, Duo had felt a noble cause was the purpose. For freedom. He had felt sure that Heero would have agreed with him, had he still been alive to see the state of the present world. Fighting for freedom was a worthy call.
Besides, he was simply bored out of his mind.
Once having a goal locked in his mind, Duo had simply annihilated and completely decimated his opponents, defeating each and every one in the chosen "tests". Having proved his physical and mental superiority over the other competitors, Professor G had selected him to train to become Pilot 02, the pilot of Gundam Deathscythe.
His training had taken little time to become adjusted to. Once he had become used to the inner workings of his gundam, he had quickly mastered it until piloting the massive mobile suit became like an extension of his own body. The quickness of his mastering the gundam had impressed even the stalwart Professor G, who had reluctantly given praise for Duo's skills.
Although he had known the mushroom headed professor for more than two years now, he was still uncomfortable with the mortal man. There was just something about the man's demeanor that irked him. Although, he supposed that it could have been worse. Professor G could have been something like Dr. J, the creator of Gundam 01, Gundam Wing.
Duo knew that there were five other gundam pilots, although he had never met or seen the other young men. Each scientist had kept their chosen pilots ensconced in secrecy and shadows, refusing to allow any contact with the outside world. Their very identities were to remain a mystery until Operation M launched. However, Duo had managed to be able to get good looks at the other scientists, mostly during their infrequent conferences between one another. The others were pretty normal looking older men, except for Dr. J. That one gave Duo goosebumps. The scientist was more machine that man it seemed, and from what Duo had managed to overhear, his training method of pilot 01 had been brutal but efficient.
As Duo tilted his face up to the fading sunlight, he thought about the small piece of information that Professor G had unloaded on him last night. Operation M was to commence in less than one month, the other pilots having finally completed their individual training. Professor G had revealed that the pilots would be paired up and would complete their missions in teams of two. There would be three groups: pilots 01 and 02, pilots 03 and 04, and finally pilots 05 and 06.
A partner. A young mortal man who he would have to spend all his time with. Someone to fill the empty void in his life, even if fighting and war were the reasons they were brought together.
Duo reached up with his hand and pulled a slender silver chain from underneath his shirt. Dangling from the end of the chain were two rings, a matched set. The waning sunlight glinted off of the thin gold bands as he slowly twirled them in his hands. He didn't need to focus on the inside of the bands to remember what he had had inscribed on each.
H&D, love for eternity
Together for eternity... yet he was alone.
Heero had been dead for more than half a century, yet Duo felt his loss as keenly as if he had passed away only the day before.
Heero. If he had ever regretted his decision to spend his life with Duo, he had never admitted it.
As the years had begun to take their toll, Duo had begged him to accept the Dark Gift, but he had steadfastly refused. He had watched his lover grow old, watched his hair turn gray and his blue eyes grow dim while he stayed forever young. And yet, Duo had loved him till the day he had died, loved him wholly and completely. Toward the end, when he knew Heero had only hours left, Duo had begged him to pray for him, to ask whatever deity he believed in to be merciful to him.
They had shared 54 years together before he had died in Duo's arms. Even then, Heero's last thought had been for him. Remembering how alone Duo had been when he first came to him in the orphanage, Heero had implored Duo to forgive him for leaving him behind, had urged Duo to find someone else to love.
Duo had buried his lover in a serene spot behind the manor, in the coffin he had never used. And because Duo could not bear to leave him there, alone in the darkness, because he could not bear to face the world without his mate, Duo had taken care of his financial affairs, sold all his property save the manor, and then burrowed into the ground beside the casket that held his remains. Duo had slept there for over fifty years, sleeping away the years in the hope that the pain of his loss would have lessened when he emerged again.
It had been a futile hope. Duo had risen to a changed world, but his grief had remained the same.
He had been tempted to end his existence, to walk into the sunlight, if it meant he could have rejoined his beloved in the afterlife, in heaven. But he knew that nothing good awaited him when his existence finally ended. The best he could hope for was eternal darkness; his worst fear was that he would meet Hilde in the bowels of an endless, fiery, unforgiving hell. And then he had learned that sunlight no longer affected him. Duo found he didn't have the courage to strike his own breast with a wooden stake. So the only choice left was to go on living, with only half a soul.
Upon rising from the earth, he had spent a month in the manor house, but the emptiness, the loneliness, the knowledge that Heero was forever gone, had weighed heavily upon him. The torment had been unbearable as he walked through rooms that had once been brightened with Heero's laughter, knowing that he would never return. He had arranged with a lawyer to handle his financial affairs as needed, and closed the manor down, fleeing to a new home.
He had spent his last night on Earth kneeling at Heero's gravesite, bidding him a last farewell as he relived the precious memories of their first meeting. And then he had fled. Fled from the loneliness and from the grief.
Everywhere he had gone, he had been subjected to the changing times and ideals. Empires had crumbled, civilizations had disappeared, new colonies had been created, allies had become enemies and enemies had become allies. There had been much to learn, and for a time he had managed to bury his grief. But the emptiness still remained.
Duo shook his head to clear it from his morbid thoughts. He noticed that the sun had finally gone down and evening had approached. The old, familiar hunger had begun to gnaw at his insides.
That, at least, had not changed.
~~~
Duo walked back from his nightly exploitations and grinned to himself satisfactorily. If there was one good thing about colony L2, it was the hordes of homeless people living off of the streets, as well as the seedier members of humanity. All were men and women who would never be missed. *Kind of like a human buffet, ne?* he mused with a wry grin. Had he been so inclined, he could have killed and feasted every night without fear of reprisal.
As he entered his small apartment, Duo looked down at his "uniform" to ensure himself that he had not gotten any stains on the cloth, not that stains would really show on the black fabric. A few weeks ago, Professor G had shown up with a veritable smorgasbord of clothing articles, all varieties of color and fabrics. Professor G had ignored Duo's protests and insisted that he pick an item of clothing that could pass as his "uniform".
Duo had resigned himself and had pawed through the selection, rejecting everything. All the clothing had been in bright, cheerful colors that didn't sit well with Duo's preference for black. Fortunately, there had been one outfit that had been mostly black. The downside to the outfit was that it slightly resembled the clothing vestments a priest might wear. The irony was not lost on Duo.
Duo threw himself on his couch, his head buried in one of the cushions. His long braid snaked down his back and fell towards the floor. A sudden knocking on his apartment door dragged his head from the cushion towards the front end of his domicile. Duo sighed and pushed his body off of the couch.
Before he opened the door, Duo carefully ran his tongue over his teeth, lightly brushing against the overly sensitive canines. Feeling them retract further, he pasted his traditional smiling facade over his face and pulled the mahogany door open.
"Oi! What can I do for you?" he asked cheerfully, before he got a good look at his visitors.
Professor G's familiar mushroom shaped head filled his doorway, nearly blocking the sight of the two shadowed figures behind him. Professor G looked at Duo and asked in his nasal voice, "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"
Duo shook his head in the negative and said, "Nope! Not a thing. What can I do for you, Professor G? Oi, kind of late to be giving me a social call, isn't it?"
Professor G looked at Duo squarely and said, "This isn't a social call. Can we come in?"
Duo noticed for the first time the two figures behind Professor G, although their features were hidden. Duo shrugged and turned around, heading for his small kitchen, leaving his impromptu guests to enter.
Duo called over his shoulder, "Ya want anything to drink?"
Professor G answered him with, "No. The two of us won't be staying long. We just came here to deliver your partner."
Duo stopped in mid stride, his back rigid with surprise. He repeated dully, "My partner?"
Professor G cleared his throat and said, "Yes. Pilot 02, meet your partner, Pilot 01."
Duo closed his violet eyes briefly, his back still turned to his guests. He swallowed hard, preparing to meet the mortal man that he would be spending the next several months with. He slowly turned around, his eyes firmly fixed on the floor.
His eyes carefully ran over the two scientists' identical black dress shoes, dismissing their presence. Then his vision zeroed in on the pair of sneakers belonging to his new partner. Slowly his eyes traveled upwards, taking in the well defined and formed pair of muscular legs. They slightly paused in their travel to ponder over an intriguing and snug set of black, spandex shorts.
*Oh my, those leave 'nothing' to the imagination,* he thought with a smirk.
He continued to inspections, taking in the young man's brief green tank top, that was stretched over a well defined chest, leaving the strong looking arms bare. Finally, Duo's gaze rose to meet the gaze of his new partner... and his jaw nearly dropped with shock.
A heartachingly familiar unruly mop of dark brown hair flopped over the man's forehead, falling slightly into his eyes. The face that stared back at him was strong, but handsome; features that repeatedly haunted Duo in his dreams.
There, giving him a non committal look from impassive Prussian blue eyes, was Heero.
TBC...
[1] I know, I know, there are only five *real* Gundam pilots, but this is my universe, remember? Besides, in the series Zechs is considered to be Gundam pilot #6 since he does pilot both the Tallgeese and the Epyon.
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