Song Bird Part 9
Duo's eyes widened at the sight, his whole body shaking. He couldn't move; all he could do was watch the sight before him in slow motion.
He didn't realize what he'd done until he saw the box flying through the air. He'd thrown the box! No! It would open when it landed and then... and then...
But he couldn't move to stop it, and even if he could have stopped it from happening he doubted his body would have responded. Instead he just crouched there, watching the box fly through the air and slam into the side of Zechs' head. The blond man responded by dropping Heero and stumbling back a step as the box clattered to the ground.
As Duo had feared the box snapped open to reveal something wrapped delicately in white cloth.
Duo closed his eyes and braced himself for the pain, waiting for it to hit him like before...
But none came.
Nothing.
Nothing?
Blinking he opened his eyes and nearly jumped backward as he heard a scream rip through the room. At first he thought it was his own, from the pain, but he soon realized it wasn't.
Instead it was coming from Zechs.
The tall blond man stood there, his mouth wide and screaming. His entire body was shaking in what looked like pain and Duo watched as he wrapped his arms around his body and crumbled to the ground in a shivering heap of torture.
What in the world was going on?!
Beside Duo, Heero watched with wide eyes, looking nearly as confused.
Neither understood what was going on, but both knew better then to help the man. They just watched in terrified silence as the man's body shook on the floor and screamed.
Soon the screams stopped, cut off suddenly as Zechs' eyes gained a cold look. Silence filled the room and no one dared to move. Was he faking it? What had just happened?
Heero was the first to move. Ever so slowly and cautiously he stood up and took a few steps closer to the still man. Using his foot he gently kicked the body once, but received no response. Kneeling down he looked closer at Zechs' face and touched his hand. Carefully he turned the hand over and felt around the wrist... searching for a pulse.
There wasn't one.
"He's... dead."
Duo blinked. "Dead?"
Heero turned back to him. "Duo, what was in that box?"
Both boys glanced to the box as it seemed to move in answer to Heero's question. The white cloth moved, showing that there was something under it. Then it was thrown back to reveal a beautiful bird the color of a bright sunset. Beautiful blues, pinks and violets speckled its wings and long tail. Both boys stared in amazement as the bird flapped its wings a few times and took off in flight, flying straight at Heero.
Heero did the first thing he could think of and jumped to his feet, shielding his eyes from the angry beak and claws. Racing to the door he threw it open and batted at the bird. The bird ignored his hand at first, seemingly intent on pecking his eyes out, then it received a hard hit to the head and relented.
Giving one last loud squawk it flew out the door and out of sight into the sky.
Duo and Heero just watched after it in amazement.
What in the world...?
~*~
After that strange occurrence things moved rather swiftly. With a quick call to the hospital an ambulance arrived for Zechs, only to pronounce him dead of a heart attack. No matter how many times the medics tried they weren't able to revive him and they finally gave up, taking his body away in a black bag.
It had seemed like a stupid idea to call the police at first, but Heero had done it for their own sakes. After all, if the ambulance people had managed to revive him, all Heero had to do was tell them and the police about how Zechs had attacked them, and he had the red marks around his neck to prove it. As it was though, the questioning by the police hadn't been much and both he and Duo were soon left alone in the club once again.
Not two days later, as Duo was staying in Heero's room and they were trying to find out what to do, they received a call from an insurance company. It seemed that Zechs, being the smart business person he was, had registered the entire club and his bank accounts under Duo's name to make the bank think they were owned by a minor and thus would charge less for taxes. Which meant that Duo now had full access to the club and all the money it had made over his years of singing, which turned out to be quite a huge amount.
Certainly enough to put both him and Heero through college classes for the next decade, with spending money on the side!
Both boys ended up using the money to fix up the club, and even hired Heero's roommate as a bar tender for the place, after Duo expressed his wish to keep singing. It seemed odd at first that Duo would want to keep singing but, as he explained to Heero, he always loved it and so did many other people, so why shouldn't he? And now that Zechs wasn't forcing him to it was even more enjoyable.
So the club was reopened with a significantly cheaper door fee and Duo and Heero had themselves their own little business, not to mention an apartment in the back where they could live happily together.
They had, of course, gotten rid of the huge birdcage as soon as they were able to tear it apart and toss the pieces in the garbage.
~*~
"What are you reading?"
Heero glanced up from his book as Duo crawled into the bed next to him. They had replaced Zechs' bed with a new one, simply because they didn't want any traces of the man left behind in the place. Nearly all the furniture had been replaced with new pieces of their choosing and now the place really looked like a comfy home.
Heero rolled over and wrapped his arms around Duo, smiling softly. "Just a small story."
"Hmm, about what?" Duo asked with a soft smile, moving closer into Heero's arms.
"It was the book Zechs was looking for when he came down to the library reference room... a book on mythology."
Duo lifted an eyebrow and glanced at the book. "A myth?"
Heero nodded. Sitting up in the bed he picked up the book and turned back a page. Duo sat up and curled up next to him, leaning his head on Heero's shoulder to listen to him read.
"A long time ago, there was a beautiful maiden with an amazing voice. She would spend hours upon hours every day at her window singing to the world around her. She sang to the trees. She sang to the fields. She sang to the clouds and she sang to the stars.
"She always sang and her voice was so lovely that even the birds would stop and listen to her.
"One bird in particular fell in love with the girl. He would fly to her window every time he heard her voice and would sit on the ledge, listening to her sing. She always noticed him there too, and soon she began singing to him, and they would even sing together, their beautiful voices filling the night and day air.
"But things were not to stay happy, for soon the girl came down with a harsh illness. For many days she did not sing at her window and the bird became worried. On the third day he ventured to fly into her room and down the hallways of her castle.
"He found her lying in her bed, not moving. She wasn't even breathing. The girl was dead.
"The bird was so saddened by this that he landed by her side and sang one last final song. He poured his entire being into that song and made it the most beautiful thing he'd ever sung in his life. He poured his soul into that song and with his final notes prayed that the girl would sing again...
"The next morning the girl awoke as if from a deep sleep. Only to find she didn't remember anything of what had happened or who she was. But as she looked down and her eyes fell on the quiet form of the bird she knew what had happened. This beautiful bird had brought back her life... at the sacrifice of his own."
Heero stopped reading as the myth came to an end and glanced at the page in question. He blinked in confusion as he felt Duo give a small shiver.
"I remember..." the longhaired beauty murmured softly.
"Remember?"
Duo nodded but didn't open his eyes. "Scattered images, but I think they make sense now. I remember a boy with bright violet eyes who would sit at his window. In a white house... He would sit at the window and hum. I think..."
Duo paused and opened his eyes.
"I think he died."
Heero nodded. "The day that Zechs came into the library I was looking for your family members. I found a picture of a boy with violet eyes, one who looked like a younger version of you. The boy was listed as murdered. I didn't think it was you... but he looked so much like you..."
Duo frowned. "Do you think then that the story was right?"
"Maybe. I can't think of any other explanation for you. Or for that bird that... sucked the life out of Zechs."
"That's why he named me Duo..." Duo said softly. "Because I'm two beings in one body. I'm the dead boy... and the bird."
Heero merely hugged Duo close and gave him a soft kiss on the forehead.
Duo leaned against Heero and wrapped his arms around him. "So it doesn't bother you that I used to be a bird?"
Heero shook his head. "Of course not." Reaching down he tilted Duo's chin so they were facing each other. "All I care about is you, Duo. You: the boy that I love. And I'd love you even if you sprouted cat ears and a tail."
Duo blinked at that remark, smirking softly. "Me? A cat?" He laughed.
But that laugh was cut off as their lips met and Duo made no protest. Instead he let Heero's arms wrap around him and pull them close together as they kissed. The book was soon forgotten, pushed to land hard on the floor next to the bed, as both boys pulled closer to the other and kept kissing.
Myths didn't matter. Pasts didn't matter.
All that mattered was that Zechs was gone and would never be able to bother them again.
Duo would never be hurt again; Heero would make sure of that.
And Duo had never felt safer or more loved then in Heero's arms.
OWARI
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