Beyond All Doubt Part 13
From where he laid on the bed that he and Heero shared as the serum worked on numbing the pain from his wounds, Duo's eyes suddenly widened with a sharp gasp as he sat up abruptly. "We have to get Trowa!" he all but shouted. "The army needs to be moved before sunrise! Zechs knows where the encampment is. He'll have this place swarming with Treize's men!"
Both Kumi and Heero looked wide-eyed to each other. They looked back to the injured soldier and with a deep frown, Kumi told him quietly, "Duo... Trowa is missing."
Shock and fear filled the fey's eyes as they widened further. His skin paled and he breathed, "What do you mean he's missing?"
Her lips moved to speak, but she could not find her voice as she tried to calm her own fears. Coming to her rescue, Heero placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. His thumb rubbed over the tense nerves and his sister relaxed a bit as their gazes met, his filled with understanding and hers filled with gratitude.
Looking to his love, Heero shared the same deep frown as he explained, "The last time he was seen was this afternoon. One of the lookouts saw him running after someone dressed in our uniform colors that looked suspicious. Not long after that, a few soldiers ran after where they took off. There was no sign of them and Trowa never returned."
'I won't die alone. I can guarantee you that,' Zechs' words rang through Duo's mind. A chill ran up the back of his spine and the small hairs on his arms and neck stood up. "My God," he whispered to himself, his voice dripping with fear.
Sitting up further, he wrapped his arms tightly around Kumi as his eyes narrowed. As she embraced him back just as tightly, he vowed quietly, "We'll find him. I swear to you we'll find him and have him back safe."
When they pulled back, Kumi had a small smile on her face as she chuckled, "Thank you, Duo. Somehow, whenever you say things like that, I believe it." With a firm nod, she stated, "I'm all right. I'm just glad that you're back in one piece." Titling her head to the side, she examined his wounds and smirked, "Or something like it."
Heero's relieved smile in seeing that his sister was holding up well faded when he looked to his partner. At the sight of the open wounds that covered Duo's arms and chest, his cobalt eyes narrowed as he growled, "I'm going to kill Zechs the next time I see him."
Shaking his braided head, the fey replied firmly, "Zechs is mine. For any fey to strike the Blade, they are calling the Final Resort. The next that we meet, it'll be a fight to the death." His own eyes thinning further, he hissed, "And I am certain that he is responsible for Trowa's disappearance."
His friends blinked their wide eyes in shock and Kumi began, "So Zechs... is fighting for Treize?"
Duo nodded, "I had suspected as much when we were attacked not long after our return here. I was careful to make it impossible for Treize and his men to follow after us. However, Zechs has ways of tracking me down with his own powers." Running a hand through his bangs, he sighed, "We have to move this camp. At dawn, if possible."
"So soon?" Kumi asked, thinking already of the numbers of men they would have to wake to break camp within a matter of a few hours.
Heero folded his arms, thinking aloud, "It's not too soon. We shouldn't be here since Treize will be informed of where we're located." Meeting his love's eyes, he said, "Wufei has taken up Trowa's responsibilities in addition to his own. He'll be able to see that we're out of here by dawn."
Duo nodded, "Then we better hurry and alert him about this." Without another word, the three of them rose from where they sat on the bed and quickly went about waking as many of the officers as they could.
* * * * * *
Just as expected, between Wufei and Noin, the entire fleet of soldiers was up and moving within a couple hours. All on their horses as they moved through the thick forest, they pressed on for their new destination.
Riding beside each other, Heero and Duo spoke quietly amongst themselves. Just ahead, Kumi looked over her shoulder as she watched the two of them. They really did make a sweet scene, smiling at each other as they kept a quiet conversation between them.
Her head slightly lowered when she looked ahead again, Kumi was unaware that Wufei rose up beside her on his own horse. "Kumi," he began in a soft tone.
Breaking from her thoughts, the silver-haired girl forced a smile and replied, "Hello, Wufei. Trying to avoid Sette again?"
With a snort, the Chinese Captain rolled his eyes. "Can I ever avoid her?" he asked. Kumi laughed at that and Wufei looked back at his two friends not far back. "Have you ever noticed... you know... how Duo and Heero are towards each other?" he heard himself asking aloud, not certain if it was wise to strike up a conversation on the subject.
Kumi shrugged and smiled weakly, "Sort of. There is something there between the two of them. They've always been close, but somehow that's changed."
Unable to help himself, the Chinese Captain chuckled deeply, "I've never seen Heero seem so... at peace since they met. It's a nice change."
"That it is," Kumi agreed with a smile and a nod. Her smile faded as her head lowered, her previous thoughts only shortly diverted. A gentle hand fell on hers where it rested on the saddle.
She looked up into Wufei's dark eyes as he grinned reassuringly. "Hey, we're going to get Trowa back Kumi." he spoke gently.
Genuinely relieved at those words, Kumi smiled back and placed her free hand over his to squeeze it. "No need for any of that, Wufei," she replied. With a gesture of her head, she said, "You can go back to your rounds without worrying about me."
With a small snort, he stated, "You and Trowa are like family to me." Rolling his eyes mockingly, he commented, "And despite our bantering, I even consider Sette like a sister. Over the years, we've all become pretty inseparable."
Wufei met her eyes and spoke clearly, "You're one of the strongest people that I've ever know, but regardless of that, we're all here to look out for each other. So get used to some occasional check-ups, whether it be from me or any of the others. Got it?"
Kumi blinked in surprise at the intensity of his words, then smiled warmly with a nod and answered quietly, "Got it.... Thank you." Wufei leaned in and gently kissed her forehead tenderly. When he pulled back, he winked at her.
Looking back over her shoulder at the sound of her brother's rare laughter, Kumi couldn't help but smile to herself as she watched him and his best friend continued to converse between each other, completely unaware of the thousands of soldiers around them.
Noin rode up to the two of them as she nodded to each in greeting. "We are still about five days away from reaching the Sephron Gully. We'll have to make a temporary camp here in these woods before it gets too dark."
The Chinese Captain gave an affirmative grunt as a wide-eyed Kumi asked, "The Sephron Gully? But there is no protection from the woods for hundreds of miles there. We'll be exposed."
The armored woman nodded and explained, "The terrain is also rugged and covered with ridges and tall grass. Any army storming in will have a difficult time if they are not practiced on how to maneuver themselves." Gazing forward, she continued, "And it's as far from Shay and Prusia as we can travel before reaching the ocean."
Wufei took a deep breath before stating, "Kumi, Trowa knows that the Sephron Gully is the only location that we would move our forces. He will most likely be forced into revealing it to Treize and his men." The silver-haired girl took a deep breath of her own, frowning deeply in concern, and nodded.
"We actually have the advantage since we will have several days to adjust to the terrain before we're attacked again," he continued. "Instead of wondering constantly whether or not we'll be discovered and ambushed, we know that Treize's army will have to come to us. And this time, we'll be the ones prepared."
* * * * * *
Once word had reached him that the Shay and Prusian forces were no longer in the open field where Zechs had found them, Treize approached the heavily guarded tent near his own. Waving off the guards waiting inside, he looked to the young man sitting in the center of the tent. When they were alone, he smirked, "Welcome, Commander."
His wrists and ankles shackled and the chains nailed into the hard ground, Trowa looked up to the smug leader with narrowed eyes. Rising to his feet slowly, he was able to stand straight with nearly no resistance on his chains. Keeping their eyes locked, he growled deeply in response, "Treize."
Glancing over the prisoner briefly, Treize was pleased to see no signs that his men standing guard had decided to take out any of their frustration on him. It was a code of respect between Commanders to respect Commanders, even if there were an enemy. Other than a red hand mark across his right cheek, the young man was unscathed.
His gaze then went to the shackles firmly in place. Looking back up into the emerald eyes of his captive, Treize commented, "I see that you have been properly... subdued. I must apologize for the chains, but surely you see the need for this inconvenience, yes?"
"What are your intentions with me?" the young Commander asked curtly, continuing to glare fiercely on his captor.
Treize waved his hand in the air and shrugged nonchalantly, "Oh, not much. A chat perhaps."
Giving a bitter snort, Trowa replied, "A chat. You wouldn't have come to use any of your precious time to chat with me."
At that, the sophisticated Commander's smirk returned and he answered, "We are civilized men- what else would we do but chat?" His deep voice chuckled, "Fight?"
Taking one determined step towards him, his chains rattling as he moved, Trowa gave a deep growl. Knowing not to attempt another step before his chains held him down, he hissed, "Then get on with it. What do you want to talk about?"
Calmly taking a seat on the only chair in the room, Treize watched the boy and folded his hands over his lap. "Do you really think you will win this war?" he inquired, raising an eyebrow.
"Even if Shay was to fall to your army, I'd still fight," the young man told him firmly. "The same goes for all the men in the Shay army."
Rubbing the bottom of his chin with the long fingers of his hand, Treize nodded, "To be expected, of course. And they will fight along with you, yes... It is... appropriate." He lowered his hand, still meeting the heated stare of his prisoner and said in a quiet, icy tone, "You will fail."
His own eyebrow raising now, Trowa retorted, "You lost to us once. Despite the growth of your army with the thanks of Rashon, I have faith that you will lose again and good will prevail."
Treize's smile was notably sour as he spoke in a bitter tone, "Good." There was a brief pause before he continued, "Good. You mean your fey?"
Quickly, Trowa managed to force himself not to react in any way to the comment. His green eyes narrowed further, his frame stiff and he asked, "What are you talking about?"
Ever so slowly, a dark smirk crept on the tall man's lips as he replied, "Indeed. You know who I mean, I'm sure, Commander Barton."
"You're a little old to believe in fairy creatures," the young Commander snorted.
Treize laughed loudly, "Ah yes, I must be seeing things in my old age. White feathers on the ground, flying creatures. He was even wearing your signet, I believe. Or maybe that was bad eyesight on my part, too."
His eyes narrowed on his captive. The humor in his voice was nonexistent as he questioned, "Tell me, Commander, do you take me for a fool? Your fey cannot help you."
At that, Trowa smirked, "You're the one in here trying to intimidate me. I think that explains a lot. If you came here to discuss fabled beings, you're only wasting both of our time."
A guard from outside stepped into the tent, saluting quickly to his superior and announcing, "Sir, Zechs has arrived along with the other trackers. He said to let you know that all is as you expected. The Shay and Prusian armies are no longer stationed in the same battlefield."
Trowa's eyes widened at the name of the fey that he came to know as the one Duo had been searching for when he came into this world. Managing to refrain his reaction again, he listened as Treize rose to his feet and told the officer, "Very well. That was to be expected, considering. Tell our good spy that I will meet with him, later. Now leave us."
With a quick final salute, the guard stepped out again. Glaring back to his prisoner, Treize took his seat and his eyes opened fully again. "Well, now, we will play this your way. Once we have them spotted, I will just have to question some other members of your party in regards to this fey. I am determined to have him. And you will be the one to tell me where they moved."
Before Trowa could protest, Treize added quickly with a raised hand, "I'll be sure that they would not be treated with the same... respect as you've received." When they were almost nose-to-nose, he sneered, "Oh, but ladies are fragile, aren't they?"
Not seeing that one coming, Trowa gasped sharply as his eyes widened. Frozen stiff, he paled a ghastly white and his captor chuckled deeply, "No, your ladies, I heard they're strong." An eyebrow raising, he smirked, "Stand guard, do they?"
Trowa lashed forward, held back a hair short of punching his enemy as he panted and growled fiercely. He screamed, "If anything happens to them, I swear-"
Interrupting him with a fit of laughter, Treize calmed himself quickly. A stern frown on his face, he asked in a determined voice, "Where is your unit moving? Every army has an alternative location to roost to prepare themselves to strike."
Glaring blazingly at the tall man, Trowa snapped, "If you really want to know anything about your fairy tale fey," he finished with a smirk, "I am sure that your trusted spy, Zechs would be the person you need to speak with. From the sounds of it, little gets past him."
With a deep intake of air, Treize adjusted the dark red suit jacket he wore, never moving his eyes from those glaring at him. "Very well then," he said evenly.
"I guess we've not much to discuss. I will have to continue this discussion with one of those lovely lookouts once we have them, if they survive." He turned to leave, taking a few steps away from the captive; he paused.
Slowly, Treize turned to face the boy again, a sinister smirk as he said deeply, "That silver-haired one..." At that, Trowa's eyes widened in terror. "I remember her coming to visit you when you were guarding my cell in Gragon. She is a pretty woman, yes?"
Trowa's eyes darkened as they narrowed thinly. "Lay one hand on her," he hissed in a quiet, chilling tone, "and you'll wish to hell the Devil himself would take your soul away."
Unstirred by his threat, Treize remained adamant. "Where is your unit heading?"
And with that, the realization of his situation hitting him, Trowa's eyes filled with a hint of sadness. He'd gladly sacrifice his own life in protecting his men and their cause. But to be responsible for the horrendous actions that would fall upon the only person that he loved if he did not comply....
Lowering his head, he answered quietly, "The Sephron Gully."
With a victorious grin, the taller man rubbed his chin and replied with an amused, "Really? I applaud your men for moving out that far without setting up a proper camp." Folding his hands behind his back, he gave a firm nod before concluding, "Thank you for your help, Commander Barton. It had been a pleasure."
He turned on his heels and exited the tent without another word, his heels clicking on the hard ground. Once alone, Trowa sank to his knees, slowly bringing his hands up to cover his face as the uncertain future continued to grow bleak.
As expected, Treize found Zechs waiting outside of the tent. Walking to him with determined steps, he glared at the blonde spy. In a hushed tone, he growled deeply, "Zechs, that young man in there seems to think that you are hiding a great deal from me in regards to that fey. Now why is that?"
Chuckling deeply, the fey shrugged and answered, "Sir, I reassure you that you have nothing to fear when it comes to putting your trust in me. That boy will do anything to fill your head with doubt and concern towards your own men. It is a clever maneuver on his part, but one that you must not give into."
Treize rolled his shoulders back with a deep breath. While his voice lost the same harshness, it was not any less intimidating as he commented, "Very well, but for your sake, you had better not be hiding anything from me. I need not remind you of my... remedies for those who keep secrets."
Looking to the West, he ordered, "Spread the word to the officers that we leave at dawn for the Sephron Gully. Everything must be packed and ready to move by then." With a salute and an affirmative response, his spy ran off.
The corner of the Commander's mouth tugged up as he said to himself, "Once we wipe our the soldiers stationed there, we can concentrate our efforts in cleaning out those fading oppositions in the East. Shay will fall and Prusia soon after."
He looked to the sky as the sun began to set in the distance and smirked darkly, "Fifteen years of waiting, plotting... Victory and revenge are just within my grasp. I can taste it."
* * * * * *
After nearly traveling for a week with little sleep and rough terrain to cross, the weary unit made of Shay and Prusian soldiers finally broke through the thick cover of trees. It was mid-afternoon when Noin shielded her eyes from the bright sunlight. Overlooking the wide open range of hills, patches of tall grass, high cliffs that seemed to rise from nowhere, she smiled to herself, "Sephron. We made it."
Sette and Quatre, along with their friends, gazed over the area as the tomboy whispered, "Oh my..." Her fiancé nodded, his own eyes filled with the same awe at the immense landscape.
Wufei rode ahead of the army and shouted to them, his voice echoing off the tall rocks around them, "Begin setting camp. Spread yourselves across as much of the area as you can. Once all is in order, those lookouts who are more rested will take the first watch."
His eyes continued to scan the soldiers before him as he continued, "Those not on watch and do not have other duties to attend to, make yourselves used to the terrain. We want the upper-hand when Treize and Rashon's men attack. We hold our ground here."
At that, the soldiers dispersed and went about finding flat enough ground to begin setting up their tents. Duo remained still on his horse as he looked to the gully with a heavy heart. Beside him, Heero frowned in concern at the deadness in his partner's eyes. "Duo?" he asked quietly when there was no one else near them.
Breaking from his spell, the braided fey shook his head and looked over to the Japanese youth. A sad frown on his face, he said quietly, "It's my fault that we had to leave our original station. It's my fault Trowa was captured."
His violet eyes narrowed as he growled deeply, gripping the leather reigns in his hands. "I was a damned fool and fell right into one of Zechs' traps again. It was so obvious what he was doing, but I didn't see it."
At that, Heero placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it gently. "Hey," he began. When his love met his calm gaze, he spoke reassuringly, "You can't blame yourself for what's happened, Duo. None of this is your fault. We'll be fine stationed here and we'll have Trowa back."
"You don't understand, Heero," Duo retorted as he shook his head. "As the Blade, I never made mistakes like I have since coming here. Zechs said it himself when I went to meet with him. I've strayed from my duties. He was standing right in front of me, speaking to me, and I would have been able to take him easily. But I didn't because... because..."
Heero frowned deeply, his eyes filled with realization as he said, "Because of your feelings for me."
Duo bit his lip and nodded, looking away from those cobalt depths. "And the thing is, I don't even give a damn if my duty is compromised. I don't want to lose this... strange emotion that I never got to experience."
He looked back up to the other boy with tears in his eyes as he stated, "I don't want to lose... us. I can't." With a tug on his arm, he was pulled into a tight embrace as Heero kissed the top of his head tenderly.
There was a long pause between then before Heero said in a quiet voice, "For what it's worth... As much as it would kill me, I would understand if you wanted to put an end to... this. if it would be easier on you-"
"It wouldn't be easier on me to put an end to the best thing that has ever happened to me," Duo interrupted in a firm voice. He pulled back to meet the human's eyes as he stated, "Please don't suggest that I run away from this again. Despite the challenges that we have ahead, I could not deal with knowing that I had not taken every measure possible to making this work."
Blinking the shock from his eyes, Heero smiled warmly after another silence between them. "I do not know what I ever did to deserve you, Duo, but I'll be eternally grateful for having shared this time with you, however long it may be."
Tears began to fill the fey's eyes again as he smiled lovingly up at him, whispering, "As will I, Heero." They embraced tightly, just holding each other for a long moment. When they pulled back, Duo wiped the few tears that fell past his defenses.
Looking to the gully for a moment, he turned back and grinned, "Well, best get settled in." At that, he rode just ahead the other soldier to join the others, his sadness and guilt long forgotten. Heero chuckled deeply to himself, shaking his head, as he followed.
* * * * * *
When nightfall came, the raising of the encampment was complete as the soldiers were finally able to get settled in. After a dinner by their small fire, the circle of friends broke for the evening and made their ways to their own tents.
Heero was quietly concerned that Duo decided to turn in before any of the others, having gone to their tent nearly an hour ago, insisting that Heero stay with the others until they were ready to go to sleep. Perhaps Duo's guilt was starting to catch up again, he frowned deeply to himself. Making his way through the tall grass to their tent, he was surprised when the braided fey stepped out to greet him with a bright smile.
A relieved smile tugging at his own lips, Heero greeted him with a nod and commented, "When you left earlier, I was worried that something was wrong."
Shaking his head, Duo grinned, "No, I was just up to something. I have a surprise for you." When Heero paused just before him with a raised eyebrow, he laughed, "But you have to close your eyes."
With a small snort, Heero complied, "All right." His eyes closed as requested and he felt one of Duo's hands take his own as he led him into the tent.
Gazing around their surroundings for a moment, pleased with how everything worked out, the fey's smile grew as he turned back to the Japanese boy. "Open your eyes," he said quietly.
When Heero's cobalt eyes did open, they widened instantly in disbelief. His mouth falling open, he looked all around, not finding the inside of their small tent, but the inside of his own bedroom back at the cottage. Everything was just as he left it, his bed still neatly made, the small fireplace in the far corner, the lit candles spread throughout the space for light, the fur rugs, everything. It even smelled like his room. He mad a complete turn where he stood, peering on the familiar space that he never thought he would miss so much.
Duo bit his lip as he watched his love gaze on his room in pure wonder and shock. When the boy turned completely to meet his eyes again, he smiled lovingly and said warmly, "Welcome home, Heero."
TBC...
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