Author: Merula
Pairings: 1x2
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Yaoi, Magic...
Disclaimer: Gundam Wing is not mine.
Water and Earth
He was gone again.
Duo punched the pillow under his head and frowned. He knew he didn't have the right to say anything. He knew he didn't have the right to ask. They weren't anything more than two soldiers fighting on the same side who occasionally shared a bed. They weren't friends, they weren't lovers...
That was harsh. It's not that Heero treated him coldly- quite the contrary- but there was just something... it was as if the two of them stood on opposite sides of a chasm- and tried to pretend the space between them wasn't there.
Duo had tried to bridge that space, had tried to get as close to Heero as he dared- but there were some things he couldn't share with Heero even as he supposed there were some things Heero couldn't share with him.
Like whatever he was doing now. This wasn't the first time Duo had woken up alone after falling asleep with Heero beside him. He didn't know where Heero vanished off to- only knew that he'd come sneaking back in right before dawn and slide back into bed beside Duo. It wasn't every night- and there was no pattern Duo could see.
Not that he spent enough time with Heero to see a pattern. The war kept them separated more often than not.
Was it another lover? Or something as simple as working on Wing?
He turned over, pulling fretfully at his t-shirt. He'd gotten cold when Heero left, had groped next to the bed before finding his pajamas and pulling them back on. Now they were too warm. He considered taking them off again before Heero returned- would they give the game away?
Because Duo had always pretended to be asleep when Heero came back. He hadn't quite dared to call Heero on his disappearances- what if Heero took offense and decided to end his whateverthiswas with Duo?
He punched the pillow again. They were fighting a war. Hoping for more was just silly and sentimental... he needed to face realities. Just because Heero had become important to him did not mean he was important to Heero...
Sighing, he got to his feet and went to the window. Opening it, he let the chill night air cool his heated skin before he leaned out the window and scanned the darkened campus.
He wasn't looking for Heero, he told himself. Just doing some recon. Always a good idea. And since his roommate wasn't here...
Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath and scanned the night with his other senses- the ones he usually kept muted when surrounded by others.
His eyes snapped open.
Someone else out there was using magic. Not his kind- but very similar.
Duo looked at his bed for a brief moment before he pulled on his shoes and jumped lightly out of the window. Hopefully he'd beat Heero back...
The magic was hard to track. Whoever it was had hidden themselves very well if Duo had been a little farther away, he'd have never caught it.
But Duo was patient. He followed the traces, hunted the source carefully into the woods beside the school. Whoever it was knew what they were doing- so it wasn't some crackpot student playing around.
The Oz base wasn't far away. G had said he wasn't sure if Oz was using magicians but he doubted they'd ignore such a potential source of power if they had discovered it was real. It was possible that Oz had magicians working for them.
Duo frowned as he got closer to the source, one hand going to the place he usually kept his gun. He should've grabbed it before he left- a physical attack was usually the best thing to try on a magician- especially if you were another magician. They always expected you to use magic. Duo sighed. He was going to have to do this the hard way...
Closer still. Now when he focused he could see a golden glow in the trees ahead.
Gold. He shivered. It could've been worse... could've been blue. And of course there was no point in wishing for red...
Still, he'd never fought a magician of that element before... though he'd heard horrible stories...
He called his power up and surrounded himself with swirling shades of green. Now the other should know he was coming... he felt an answering surge of power and swallowed hard. Challenge made and accepted.
Any moment now... he pushed branches out of the way as he moved closer still...
It was with a profound sense of relief to discover Heero standing in the middle of a grove, golden walls around him.
"Duo?" Heero's shields wavered. "Are you challenging me?"
"Hell no." Duo dimmed his energies. "I didn't know it was you! You didn't tell me you were going off to perform a ritual!"
"Well, of course not!" Heero stopped and shook his head. "How could I? I never even guessed that you were... like me."
"You hid yourself pretty well too. I thought you were sneaking out to meet someone or something like that- I never thought of this!"
Heero smiled a little and reached out a hand to Duo. "So we both surprised each other." Duo took the offered hand and Heero pulled him close. "I'm glad though- I didn't like hiding this from you."
Duo put his chin on Heero's shoulder. "Me either."
They held on to each other, and for once, Duo didn't feel that sense of space between them. He hoped that it stayed away, hoped that now they could stop hiding...
He heard Heero chuckle faintly. "I should've guessed."
"Why?" Duo pulled back a little and raised an eyebrow. "What are you implying?"
Heero kissed his cheek. "Nothing. It's something from the basic lessons. Water nourishes Earth, remember?"
Duo blinked and then smiled, tugging Heero close again. "So it does."
OWARI
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