Akuma
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Title : From Far
Away part 16
Archive :
-Shinigami & Wing
<http://1x2x1.org>
-Lady Tora
<http://www.geocities.com/lady_tora1x2x1/Fics/akuma/main.html>
-Ruby
Moon <http://members.nbci.com/Ruby_Moon1x2/ff/index.html>
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Feedback : yes! Please send
it to akuma2x1@yahoo.com
Pairings : 2x1
Rating : NC-17
Warning : yaoi,
sap, AU, fusion with Kanata Kara
Disclaimer : GW characters and Kanata Kara's
story are not mine. >_<From Far Away 16
"So what are you really, Heero?" Wufei
asked the boy sitting in front of him. They had all retreated into the forest
behind the ruined castle and were now sitting in a circle. Duo was sitting next
to Heero, whose upper body was covered by a blanket Quatre had given to him.
Wufei could tell the boy didn't want to answer his question.
"Tell us
about yourself, Heero." Duo squeezed the boy's arm tightly, not wanting to let
go and at the same time giving encouragement to Heero, who was still bowing his
head. Despite the protectiveness he felt towards Heero, he also wanted to know
what had caused Heero to change like that in the first place.
Heero
looked up and ran his gaze over his friends. He had let Duo pull and maneuver
him around, preferring to have Duo beside him as long as possible. He wanted to
stay silent, but he knew Duo wanted answers as well. He can't hide
anymore.
Heero studied his friends' faces one by one, not surprised to
see confusion and fear in them. His eyes fell onto Noin, who was trembling and
looking at him in disbelief. "You know what I am." Heero spoke neutrally then he
bowed his head again.
"She knows?" Duo and the others looked at Noin
questioningly.
Noin gulped and nodded. "I knew .....when I realized him
had destroyed the palace." Noin gulped again "All by himself. Alone."
Duo
and the others turned their heads toward Heero. All of them tried to process her
words when Noin added, "Only one thing can do such a thing.... One legendary
creature...."
Duo tried to remember all the stories Hilde had told him
about legendary creatures. Of all the creatures Hilde had told him, not one
could destroy a castle alone. But he knew someone had told him something about
this thing. Duo thought hard, trying to recall where he heard about this
creature.
//The rumor says that it can destroy one palace within
seconds.// Duo gasped when he remembered where he heard it. It was when he
talked to Dana and Pargan, a couple they had met before they ran into Wufei and
the others. And at that time, they were talking about Perfect Soldier. Only
Perfect Soldier could destroy one palace alone!
Duo turned to the boy
next to him, looking at him in disbelief and shock. So shocked that he missed
the tensing in the hand he held so tightly. "Perfect Soldier...... " Duo
whispered and watched as Heero kept his head bowed all the time to avoid the
gazes from his friends.Duo looked around and saw the others, having come to the
same conclusion as him, eye Heero in surprise and shock. He looked back to
Heero. "You are that Perfect Soldier..... the ultimate and strongest......" Duo
swallowed.
Heero kept bowing his head and bit his lips in anticipation of
what Duo would do next. Would Duo ask more questions, run away from him in
disgust, or act like the Shinigami supposed to and control him? He was so deep
in his thoughts that he was startled when Duo hugged him. "My koi is the Perfect
Soldier? Wow, I think I'm sooooo blessed." The braided boy laughed and hugged
him tighter.
Heero blinked in confusion at Duo. Duo didn't mind at all??
About him being the Perfect Soldier? Wait a sec, my koi? Heero blinked again and
looked around to see his other friends looking at them, jaws
dropped.
"Duo..." Hilde stammered, "He is the Perfect Soldier, you
know."
"I know." Duo grinned and kissed Heero lightly on the nose. "Isn't
it great to have a koi like him?"
Heero blinked rapidly at the cheerful
boy before him. This was not the reaction he expected to get from anyone, and
definitely not from Duo.
"Uhm.... You know about the Perfect Soldier,
don't you?" Sally asked hesitantly while looking at Heero.
Duo stopped
laughing and looked at the others seriously. " About him being the strongest in
this world? Of course."
"Uhm.. then.. why.."
Duo cut Sally's
words, "So what? What's wrong if he is the Perfect Soldier? He is still Heero
nevertheless." Duo pulled Heero into his embrace. "My Heero," the braided boy
growled possessively.
"But... Duo... he..... can change." Quatre glanced
at Heero, who was still blinking and looking at Duo as if the braided boy had
just grown another head.
"I don't care what he looks like, he is still
Heero." Duo looked sharply at Quatre. "He is still the Heero you all know. Even
if he changes he won't do anything that'll harm us. I believe in him." Quatre
quickly averted his eyes and bowed his head, feeling guilty. Duo's words had hit
them all, destroying their previous images about Perfect Soldier. The words were
true. The monster they had seen in the middle of castle didn't do anything
except for trying to reach for Duo. That creature didn't even fight back when
they attacked it.
Satisfied with his friends' reactions, Duo turned his
attentions to Heero. "But I admit, I'm curious about the changing, too. Why did
you change like that, Heero?"
Heero blinked again. He still couldn't
believe Duo didn't care about him being the Perfect Soldier. Moreover Duo said
'my koi' ...... Duo considered him as his koi? Heero found his mind in complete
disarray and in confusion by Duo's statement, leaving him with many questions he
needed answers to. Duo's statement contradicted with what he saw and heard
yesterday. Then he heard Duo asking him something. It was a question he could
answer, so Heero decided to set all his questions aside and answered Duo's
question first. "I needed more Power."
"More Power? What for? You are
already strong." Duo frowned.
"Not strong enough to protect and save
you." Heero answered. He kept his eyes on Duo, not aware of the others hearing
their conversation.
Duo was surprised. So Heero changed so he could have
more Power to save him? Then Duo remembered all the times Heero changed when he
was in danger. First from the attacking giant bird and recently from becoming a
sacrifice. "You changed to save me?" Duo held Heero's cheek and stared at the
boy he loved. "Baka, what if you couldn't change back?"
"I didn't care."
Heero answered. "I'll do it again if I need to."
Duo felt so overwhelmed.
He could tell the depth of Heero's love for him by the words he just heard.
Wufei and the others seemed to realize this, too. Heero was willing to stay in
his other form if that could save Duo. "Baka.... " Duo hugged Heero tighter. He
was very grateful Heero had changed back to normal. Heero didn't deserve to be
in that form forever.
"So... if he is the Perfect Soldier..." Relena
finally found her voice and looked at Duo, " Shinigami is....."
Duo's
mind snapped at the word Shinigami. Shinigami! The one who controlled the
Perfect Soldier! The one who controlled his Heero. A wave of anger quickly
coursed through him. No one would control *his* Heero. "Shinigami? Who is he???"
Duo growled, but quickly blinked when he saw all eyes were on him, including
Heero's.
"Me?" Duo choked out. "I'm Shinigami?" He looked at Heero and
found no denial there.
"You're Shinigami. You control me." Somehow,
Heero's resigned tone made Duo angry.
"Hell no!!! I don't control you! No
one controls you!" Duo growled. "Tell me when I ever controlled
you."
Heero stared dumbly at Duo. He opened his mouth to answer but
nothing came out. When did Duo ever controlled him? He traced his memories one
by one, but he couldn't find any. He was the one who chose to protect Duo. He
was the one who chose not to kill Duo. And he was the one who chose to let Duo
claim him. To let Duo take him. Heero blinked, feeling a thick fog has just been
cleared from his mind. Yes, Duo asked him not to leave, Duo asked him to stay,
but all decisions were his to decide. Duo never forced him to do anything. It
was him who decided to follow Duo. Because he loved Duo.... Not because Duo was
Shinigami.
Duo smiled when he saw realization hit Heero. "You're a free
man, just like the rest of us, Heero."
"But Duo... you changed him back
from the monster.... " Noin stopped when Duo glared at her.
"No, I
didn't! The only thing I did was hug him. I don't care if it was his true form
or not. All I wanted was for him not to leave me. It was Heero himself who
decided to change, not me." Duo growled and looked at Heero, asking the boy to
clarify his words.
Heero blinked again. Duo was right. It was him. It was
him all this time. "Aaa.... You're right...... It was me. I was the one who
wanted to use my Power. I was the one who allowed myself to change." Heero
looked up at Duo. "When you hugged me, I felt warmed and loved. I felt like
going back to what I used to be and let go. That was when I changed back. You
helped me change back, but you didn't control me."
"Right!" Duo smiled,
happy that Heero didn't have such a low self-esteem anymore.
"But the
prophecy said ......" Noin again was cut off by Duo's angry voice.
"Fuck
the prophecy. The prophecy can't decide someone's fate. It is us who decide our
own fates." Duo spat but then frowned. "Come to think of it, what does the
prophecy say, anyway?"
Wufei and the others looked at the braided boy as
if he just grew another head. "You don't know?" Wufei asked in
disbelief.
"I just hear summaries of it from the people I met." Duo
shrugged.
Wufei rolled his eyes and asked Heero, "Is he really Shinigami?
It's hard to believe a baka like him is our savior."
"Heyyyyy!!!" Duo
shouted in protest while the others, minus Heero, laughed. Somehow it lightened
the mood and erased the stress all around them. Heero couldn't help but quirk
his lips a little when he heard Wufei's words. It was his exact same thoughts
when he first found Duo.
When the laughter finally subsided, Trowa told
Duo the prophecy. "Out of the starlight, when the world is on the edge of
destruction, the Shinigami shall step into this world and claim his Perfect
Soldier, whose Power can destroy an entire kingdom within seconds. The Power has
both a dark and a light side. Shall he choose to use the light side, together
they will banish the evil and darkness enslaving peoples, opening a brave new
world, with peace and contentment. But shall he choose to use the dark side,
...... "
"Just that?" Duo blinked when Trowa stopped in the middle of the
sentence.
"Yeah, that's all we know. There's more to the prophecy, but
there's only one great prophet who could predict it and for some reason, he
keeps it to himself." Quatre answered for Trowa.
Duo nodded absently. //
Starlight my ass.... It was an explosion alright... // "Okay, about the
starlight, it might be true. I'm not from this world, and the starlight did
bring me to this world. Now is this world on the edge of destruction?" Duo asked
the others.
"You can say that. As I've already told you, we are at war
right now, between my kingdom and kingdom of OZ." Relena answered dolefully. "If
the war keeps going as it is, half of this world may perish."
"Okay,
check that. So Shinigami will step into this world .... Just because I've
arrived during this time of crisis, it doesn't necessarily mean Shinigami is
me." Duo spoke out.
"Our prophets and prophetesses could predict the
Shinigami's arrival and the place where he would show up, that's why we made
this journey." Wufei snorted.
Duo groaned. "Don't tell me that this place
is the Golden Forest."
"It is." Trowa spoke up.
Duo held up his
hands in surrender. "Okay, okay, so I'm Shinigami. I stepped into this world and
claimed my....." Duo looked at Heero, who quickly bowed his head. "Heero...
you.... So all this time, you thought ....." The braided boy narrowed his eyes
and growled, pulling Heero's chin so the boy looked up at him. "We'll talk about
this later."
Heero could only nod weakly and bowed his head again as Duo
released his chin. The others watched them in curiosity, except for Hilde, who
looked guiltily and regretfully at Heero. Duo growled again. "Okay, the prophecy
is right, I did claim Heero as mine. And according to it, Heero has the Power to
destroy... " Duo frowned and looked at Heero. "You only destroyed a castle, not
a kingdom. How great is your Power, Heero?"
Heero shook his head,
indicating he too didn't know or have any ideas as to how great his Power
was.
Relena spoke up, "Let's assume Heero can destroy an entire kingdom,
then the Prophecy is true. And Duo will decide the future of this world by
choosing which side the Power..."
"Hey, hey wait a sec." Duo cut in. "Who
said it was me who will decide? Was that why all of you thought I controlled
Heero?"
Quatre answered patiently. "It's stated in the Prophecy, you will
choose ..."
"Not me. *He* will choose the dark or light side." Duo
repeated the prophecy. "There are two *he* in the prophecy. Me and Heero. You've
all thought the Perfect Soldier was an *it* because of the Power, didn't you?
Heero is a *he* too. It's more appropriate if he is the one who chooses which
side of Power he will use it for since he is the one who owns the Power, not
me."
At these observations, all eyes blinked in realization. Duo
continued, " According to this prophecy, both of us will help this world if
Heero chooses the light side of his Power, but we don't know what will happen if
he chooses the dark side." Duo bit his lower lip, trying to process the prophecy
further. "I know you all thought something bad will happen if Heero chooses the
dark side, but I have a feeling it is more than just 'bad' ......."
"What
do you mean, Duo?" Hilde asked curiously.
"Just look what the Prophecy
did to you all. You've all thought the Shinigami is this great person, while in
fact, I'm just an ordinary boy. You've also thought the Perfect Soldier was an
*it*, while in truth, the Perfect Soldier is just like the rest of us, except
for his Power. Prophecies are guides to the future, but they're also riddles and
puzzles, and they're left for people to interpret and fulfill, with time showing
the meaning and truth within them. Unfortunately you all have interpreted it
wrong."
For once no one disagreed with Duo. The braided boy had opened
their eyes. Duo turned to Quatre. "I need to know the missing part of the
prophecy before drawing any further conclusions. You said there is only one
great prophet who knows about it. Who is he?"
"His name is Quinze
Kushrenada, younger brother of Treize Kushrenada. He is the most precise prophet
in this world."
"And who is this Treize?" Duo raised an
eyebrow.
"Treize Kushrenada, the leader of OZ."
At Trowa's answer,
Duo frowned. "That means we have to go to the capital of OZ in order to ask
him."
"I'm afraid so, Duo." Quatre answered apologetically.
"Uh
huh.... Life is never easy.... " Duo sighed and looked at the others. "Well, I
think we part here, guys." At the sounds of protest, Duo held up his hand.
"Listen to me first. As much as I want to be with you all, there are some things
we have to do separately. Your kingdom is at war and you're all needed there to
help Relena to defend it. As for me and Heero, we need to know more about the
prophecy, so we have to part."
"But OZ is a dangerous territory!" Quatre
protested. "You two could die!"
Duo couldn't help but smile. "Quatre,
don't worry about our safety. After all, I'm the Shinigami and Heero is the
Perfect Soldier, ne? We'll be okay together."
Wufei nodded. "So, I guess
it's time to part then." the raven haired boy stood up, followed by the
others.
"I still have something I have to discuss with Heero. You guys
can go ahead first." Duo spoke up, still holding Heero's hand and ignoring
Heero's raised eyebrow.
Trowa nodded. "Very well, I will leave horses at
the edge of the forest for you then."
"Arigato, Trowa." Duo smiled at the
banged boy.
Relena looked at the others, asking to speak for them all and
then turned to Duo and Heero after the others nodded their consents. "I'll speak
on everyone's behalf. Duo. And you too, Heero. We're your friends. If you need
help, just come to us. I don't give a damn about you being the Shinigami and the
Perfect Soldier."
"Thank you, guys." Duo smiled at the
others.
Relena smiled too and then looked at the bowing boy whose hand
was held by Duo. "Heero. I'm sorry that we attacked you before. Will you forgive
us?"
Heero looked up in surprise.
"I want to make a personal
apology to you, Heero. It was wrong of me to have wanted to use you to win this
war. Please forgive me." Relena looked at Heero, making the boy speechless. He
opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out, so he nodded his head
instead.
"It's okay, ojo-chan. We hold no grudges against you. We are
friends, remember?" Duo moved forward and hugged Relena with one arm since his
other one was occupied holding Heero's hand.
"Till we meet again,
Maxwell, Yuy." Wufei nodded to them and then held Relena's hand, walking out of
the forest
As the others walked away, Duo smiled and hugged some of them.
Heero just nodded to them until his eyes fell on the last person, Hilde. That
was when all the questions and other thoughts he had set aside decided to come
back. Hilde.... The girl Duo loved..... He wanted to step back as Hilde
approached him, but Duo's grip held him in place.
"Heero, I'm sorry."
Heero blinked as the girl whispered near him and then walked away. Heero watched
her and the others walk away, leaving them. What was that? Sorry? What did Hilde
mean by that?
Heero didn't think any further as Duo tugged his hand,
asking him silently to follow him. Duo brought him to a big tree and sat down
near it, leaning against the tree and pulling Heero down with him. He grabbed
Heero's waist and positioned Heero to straddle his lap, facing him. He then
putted his arms around Heero's waist, locking Heero in his
embrace.
"Duo?" Heero looked at the braided boy in confusion.
"Now
you can't get away, we can talk." Duo spoke up and looked at Heero seriously.
"Tell me everything, Heero."
Heero blinked, "Tell you what."
Duo
growled and pulled Heero closer to him. "Tell me what makes you think I don't
love you? What makes you think I loved Hilde instead?"
"Don't you?" Heero
answered bitterly.
"No, I love you." Duo growled.
"But I heard you
......" Heero looked confused and surprised.
"Heard me?" Duo raised an
eyebrow. "I think you have to start and tell me from the beginning, Heero." The
braided boy took Heero's chin with his hand, forcing Heero to look at him.
"Everything."
Heero looked at Duo unblinkingly, feeling those violet orbs
wanting nothing but the truth, so he opened his mouth and started talking,
giving the longest speech he has ever given in his life.
TBC...
If
you have gotten this far in reading this fic, you know the drill ^_^ *waffs for
comments*
Akuma
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Pairing
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