Evergreen
Part 4
by 0083
If death is so final, why do we let ourselves die a
little each day?
Wufei tensed up his legs and launched himself forward,
his daggers in hand. His target went down under him,
flailing his limbs and gave Wufei the perfect
opportunity to plunge one of his daggers between his
ribs into the heart. He checked on the others and saw
that they were managing just fine as well, even Heero.
In fact, Heero’s addition into their pack had helped
immensely as much as he hated to admit it. He was
more than a competent fighter and he seemed to possess
battle instincts that surpassed even his. If
anything, watching Heero fight had made him believe
that he was a god.
Soon, all the assassins that had been sent after them
were dead. Wufei had killed two while Trowa and
Quatre had taken care of the large and skilled
assassin they had only known as the Bear. Duo and
Heero, surprisingly, had fought well together as a
team, taking down the other three assassins with
uncanny ease.
Wufei walked over to Trowa who was busy checking out
the bodies of the dead. Even on the run, old habits
and rituals died hard.
“So, Trowa, know them or what?”
Nodding, Trowa proceeded to tell them who each and
every one of them had been in life. The Bear was an
assassin who was too big for sneaky work so he had
killed in crowded streets or in fake bar brawls. He
had been a dirty, large man and quite a hard kill for
a slender witness and the small blond assassin.
Wufei’s two were the Twins, Mika and Mera, the brother
and sister who had specialized in tracking, killing
with a deadly swiftness that nearly emulated Duo in
style. Duo and Heero’s victims were Yaska, Songstress
and the Gash, quite noteworthy assassins but still not
skilled enough to take any of them down.
“These were no beginners,” Trowa said with deep
concentration, “but real professionals. They all have
been in the job longer than us. Hell, Yaska was an
assassin before any of us were born. The guild is not
happy with us.”
Duo smirked away Trowa’s concern and continued to wipe
blood of his knife blades. He tried not to notice the
way Heero stared at him in mute concern, his eyes
roving every surface of his body in an effort to find
a wound or hurt.
“Well, if that’s the best they can send, we shouldn’t
worry so much.”
“That’s no reason to let our guard down, however.”
Quatre admonished. Duo’s smirk gave way to a sour
grimace. Of course he knew that they couldn’t slack
off. If anything, they had to intensify their guard
and be on their toes. Even though these guys had been
the first assassins they had taken care of, there
would be more. The guild would not stop until they
were dead, even if it meant they had to send everyone
in the guild after them. As Wufei would say, it was a
question of honor.
Shrugging his shoulders, Duo sauntered out of the
clearing that they had fought in, leaving his
companions and dead bodies behind him. He wasn’t
going anywhere far, but he wanted to be alone. His
life was definitely not what he had planned when he
was younger. He had wanted to make enough money as an
assassin, get out of the guild and set up a new,
peaceful life somewhere in the grassy fields. Hell,
he had even wanted horses and chickens. But now, he
was on the run, perhaps for the rest of his short and
miserable life.
“Shit. Why does my life always take the worst
possible turns?”
“Perhaps that is your destiny.”
Duo turned towards Heero. Heero was yet another part
of his life that was complicating. They had been on
good terms for the past two weeks of running, even
talking for hours like old friends. In a way, he
supposed that they were old friends.
“Destiny, you say? What is it about destiny that
pisses me off so much?”
Heero cocked his head quizzically at Duo’s bitter
tone. He had been trying his best to get to know his
beloved better, trying to get him to open up to him.
His lover had issued an ultimatum and he wasn’t going
to fail, but at moments like this when Duo seemed
introspective and cynical about life, he had no idea
what to say. So he just let him speak.
“I know all humans have destinies. I know it. We are
all supposed to fit in the lovely tapestry of the
universe and all that. But damn it, what does that
leave me? What the hell am I? A fucking puppet? Do
I even make choices or am I just walking on a path
that someone already laid out for me? Shit, Heero,
you’re a god. No one controls what you do. How does
it feel to be completely free like that?”
“I don’t know what you mean,” Heero replied, “but
being a god is no better. It’s not about who has
control. It’s about enjoyment, isn’t it? As long as
you enjoy what you have, does it matter who chose it
for you?”
Shaking his head, Duo sauntered over to Heero and
clasped his hand onto his shoulder. Heero looked
startled for Duo never voluntarily touched him. This
was the first.
“It does to me.”
Violet eyes trapped cobalt in an intense fire and for
Heero, there was nothing else but Duo’s eyes and his
voice.
“If I love you, I want it to be because I chose it.
Not destiny, not fate. I don’t want to be destined to
love you. That takes out all the things I hold dear,
doesn’t it? If I was destined to love you, I would do
it no matter what. Whether you were a total asshole
or a fucking prince charming, I would love you because
I had to. I don’t want that. It’s all about me, you
see? I want to. I choose to. Me. And that’s what I
hate about this whole fucking situation.”
“What do you mean?” Heero said, his voice no more
than a raspy whisper.
“I mean, my soul cries out for you. Something in me
is compelled to love you. Ever since I saw you, it
has been there, telling me that you are my destiny.
But I don’t want that. I don’t want to love you
because my soul in another body loved you thousands of
years ago. I don’t want to love you because the Fates
decided that I should. I want to love you because you
have beautiful eyes, a stoic sense of humor, a poetry
about you. Do you see?”
Heero nodded slightly without breaking their eye
contact. He could understand what Duo was saying. It
was admirable of his love to want to be free, to break
out from the chosen path. But at the same time, it
was frightening. What if he did escape destiny? Then
would he love him at all?
“Duo, if destiny didn’t control you, would you still
want to love me?”
“I don’t know, Heero. But I would like to see if I
could. I like you. You are a good guy, if a bit off
your rocker. And you chose to love this soul of mine
for a long time. That does mean something, whatever I
say to the contrary. But tell me, Heero, when you
think of the one you love, do you really think of the
soul?”
Heero almost blurted out yes. He had meant to, but
the answer never made it to his lips. He did love the
soul, of course. His love’s soul had been the most
beautiful thing, pulsating with warmth and life that
seemed endless. Duo had that soul in his body now,
with the same glow, the same intensity. But the more
he thought, the more he realized what he missed in his
love. He had loved those green eyes filled with joy,
the red hair that glinted like copper under the sun,
the pale skin that showed hints of blue veins beneath.
He had loved the touch, the feel, the taste of his
love as much as the brightness of the soul. He had
longed to hear his uninhibited laughter, undisguised
excitement in his voice. He had wanted to bask in the
glow that was his love’s warm and encompassing
personality.
He had loved so much more than just the soul. He had
loved the entire being.
“No answer, eh, Heero? Then try this on for size.
What do you love about me?”
“I.. I..” Heero stuttered, stunned by the question.
What could he say? He knew that he loved Duo, but was
it really only because he had been chasing his past
lover through time without knowing the full import of
love? Heero thought hard as he stared into Duo’s
inquisitive yet sensitive eyes. Then without
conscious thought, words flowed out.
“I love the way you smile when you talk to your
friends. It begins slowly at the corners, tilting
only until your teeth barely show. Your eyes light up
and you seem to glow. I love the way you talk, all
crude words and harsh language that try to hide how
deeply you think and how intelligent you are. I love
the way you challenge me, making me come up with
answers to questions I never asked myself. There is
more, too much more for me to say.”
Duo released a breath he had been holding. When Heero
wanted to, he could really knock his mind for a heady
loop. No one had ever said anything about him even
close to what Heero had just told him. Not his
parents, not his friends, not his victims begging for
their lives. It touched him to the heart, each word
embedding itself firmly into his brain. Smiling, Duo
tugged Heero towards him and then they were leaning
into each other in a tight hug, reveling in the
sensation of being held by each other for the first
time.
“Heero, I think you love me,” Duo whispered into
Heero’s neck.
Heero tightened his hold on Duo and buried his head
into the rich, brown hair. He was finally getting a
small inkling as to what love really should be.
Fifteen hundred years of pining and suffering had
taught him nothing, but the past two weeks with his
active beloved had given him a new view on love.
“I think so, too.”
And for now, that would be enough.
--
Trowa nudged Quatre lightly with his knee under the
table, eliciting a shy smile from the blond. They
were flirting with each other subtly, trying to drive
one another crazy during dinner without alerting the
others. It was hard work, trying to keep their
romance subdued during these desperate times, but it
was also adventurous and fun. They were so absorbed
in each other that they missed Wufei rolling his eyes
at them.
“Do you two mind? I’m trying to eat here.”
Wufei watched his words swim over the two love-bird’s
heads as they inched closer to each other. He could
not believe that they thought they were being subtle.
Moreover, they were in a public setting, trying to
blend into the dinner crowd at the small restaurant
they had deemed safe enough to eat. Unfortunately,
his friends were not trying to blend at all. With a
long suffering sigh, Wufei eyed the other pair at the
table. Unlike Trowa and Quatre who were too sweet for
words, Duo and Heero gave off waves of heat. It was
almost too intense for him, the way they would just
stare at each other without words.
When Heero had first shown up, Wufei had disliked the
idea of him following their rag tag team. Now that
Duo seemed to be warming up to him, he didn’t mind the
idea so much. He had to concede that Heero was a good
fighter and not much of a liability when it came to
defenses and running. More than that, the guy was a
god. Not only was he incapable of dying, he probably
had powers that Wufei had only dreamed about. But
all that aside, Duo seemed to genuinely enjoy Heero’s
company. They talked all the time when they were
alone, or so Duo had told him, and Wufei had sensed a
change in Duo. He didn’t glare at Heero with mistrust
in his eyes anymore. Instead, there was a soft light
in his eyes that changed his intense violet eyes to
clear amethyst. The biggest change, though, was that
they touched.
Before, Wufei had to keep Heero away from Duo in an
effort to keep the errant god from accidentally
brushing up against his best friend. It had been
Duo’s request. Then, little by little, Duo had let
Heero come closer to him until one day, Wufei had
caught them holding each other. Neither knew that he
had seen them in their intimate pose, but it had
warmed Wufei’s heart to see Duo held so tenderly. It
seemed that Duo was finally accepting the love Heero
had so arrogantly and selflessly offered.
“I wonder if they even know that it’s so obvious that
they are in love.”
Wufei started from his revelries and glanced at Duo.
He was staring at Trowa and Quatre who were still
cooing at each other with amusement glinting in his
eyes. He also had his left hand resting on Heero’s
right hand, holding onto the fingers loosely. Wufei
smirked and wondered if Duo knew how obvious it was to
others how he was beginning to feel about a certain
cobalt eyes god.
“I don’t think they care. I mean, look at them. Do
they even know we’re talking about them?” Wufei
countered.
“We hear you perfectly fine.”
Duo chuckled at Quatre’s rather annoyed retort and saw
that Heero was trying to conceal his smile. Wufei
laughed outright, not bothering with tact.
“Then stop the madness before I get sick! There’s
only so much a guy can take, you know?”
With Wufei’s gentle jab, so began the evening repartee
among the four boys and one ex-god. The other patrons
in the restaurant watched them indulgently, all of
them thinking how it was wonderful to be young and in
love.
--
Hilde watched from the shadows, her face buried deeply
into her cloak. Her table at the restaurant was in
the far corner where many could not notice her, but
with a good view of the table with five boys. Her
companion sat next to her seemingly interested in her
stew, but she was also looking at the five boys.
“Sally, you are sure that we’re only supposed to kill
the two.”
“That’s what the guildmaster told us, but how are we
supposed to kill just the two and let the other three
live? I’m sure they’ll try to defend each other.
Look how close they are.”
Hilde nodded in agreement. Their assignment had been
to kill Duo and Trowa, otherwise known in the guild by
their work names, the God of Death and the Silent
Watcher. She could not understand how they could have
failed in their assignment. They had the reputations
as the best in their guild, always succeeding even in
assignments that others had deemed utterly impossible.
But orders were orders, and the guild had offered
them a hefty sum after the previous group of assassins
had failed to return alive.
But there had been conditions, of course. She and
Sally were forbidden from killing the Angel or the
Warrior. She had no idea what their real names were,
but the that’s what they were known as in the guild.
The Angel was a green rookie from what she heard, all
blond and nice, probably their weakest link. The
Warrior, however, was almost as legendary as the God
of Death himself in combat and skill. He would not be
easy to keep alive if he chose to fight. And the
fifth guy, they had no idea who he was or what he was
like in combat. He just seemed very, very close to
Duo.
“Our best strategy,” Sally began in a low voice,
“would be to separate Trowa and Duo from the rest of
the group, but from what we have seen, it would be
nigh impossible to get blue eyes away from the God of
Death and the Angel seems attached to the Silent
Watcher.”
They had been following the group for three days now
and still they had no viable strategy. All the
constraints on not killing the Angel and the Warrior
complicated a relatively simple if not completely
dangerous assignment. And they had no idea if that
fifth guy was expendable or not. The miracle was that
the five of them had not yet recognized the fact that
they were being tailed. Hilde was good and Sally was
one of the best in tracking, but they had been
apprehensive that they would have been noticed long
before now.
“I could put a sleeping potion in their drinks and we
can just kill the two while they are all asleep, but
they don’t ever drink out of the same cup twice or the
same pitcher. They know all our tricks. And since
the God of Death knows you and the Warrior knows me,
we can’t just saunter up to them like girls looking
for a good time either.”
Hilde nodded and pondered the situation. If they
didn’t kill the two soon, it would be they who would
have to run. The possibility did not sit well in her
stomach – she hated running.
“So what do we do?”
“Watch and wait. That’s all we can do for now.”
So they sat in their dark corner, sipping their wine
and eating their stews, waiting for someone in the
group to make a mistake.
--
Relena sighed as she felt her lovely leather boots
sink into the mud and soak into her silk stockings.
The town was a miserable, little place filled with
vermin and other unpleasant bugs, but she had to warn
Heero. She had to tell him that her sisters were
plotting against him and his lover. She imagined her
sisters would not be happy with this course of action
either, but after everything that had happened, it did
not matter. She could not stand idly by as her
sisters once again ruined Heero’s life.
Walking delicately through the mud, she looked up at
the door. The lacquered wood was chipping at the
corners and showing signs of age, the hinges rusted by
many a rainstorm. Why Heero had chosen to come this
way, she did not know, but she had never understood
some of his idiosyncrasies. She looked at the door in
distaste. The letters saying ‘Mishia Restaurant’ were
almost all scraped off, the red paint practically
bleeding in the incessant humidity. Breathing out
through her mouth to avoid the stench of the mud and
whatever else was mixed into it, she opened the door
with one delicate hand and stepped into the
restaurant.
At first glance, she did not see Heero because the
lighting was dim. There were random lanterns and a
fireplace in the middle with a pig rotating on it, but
they did not help with the lighting. When her eyes
adjusted, she saw Heero at one of the tables near the
spit, his hand wrapped in another’s. He looked
reserved, but she could sense that his pain was
considerably less than the last time they had spoken.
He had not sensed her presence, but he was a mortal
now, so it was to be expected. Gathering her courage
and her skirts, she walked over to the table where
Heero was, her steps measured and careful. When she
was close enough to the table to reach out and touch
Heero, he suddenly turned his head and saw her. She
saw his eyes widen in surprise and she began to smile
warmly. There was no trace of malice or the previous
pain in those blue eyes, but a long missed look of
quiet contentment.
“Heero, I have some news for-”
Relena never finished her sentence for as soon as she
had opened her mouth, the one holding Heero’s hand had
bolted from his seat and grasped her by her upper arm.
One of the others at the table had also stood with a
disbelieving and wary look in his one green eye
uncovered by his long brown hair while the other two
merely stared at her like she was a ghost. Heero was
watching with confused interest, not quite knowing why
Duo and his friends were acting so strangely.
“You!”
It was a hissed whisper filled with venom and Relena
flinched from the sheer force of anger behind the
word. The grip on her arm tightened and she tried to
shake her arm out of the bruising hand, but it was
firmly grasped. She was about to use the last resort
to pull out of the situation when Heero stood and
separated her from her assaulter.
“What is the matter with you?” Relena spat out from
the relative safety provided by Heero’s shielding
body. “You can’t just grab a lady like that!”
“Fuck you! You hear me? Fuck you. You fucking dead
woman! You are the reason why we are like this!
So..”
Heero saw what Duo intended to do, but he could not
stop it. His love was a professional assassin and
moved faster than he did, especially now that he was a
mortal. He watched as Duo reached around him to yank
Relena out from his protection and bury a blade
between her eyes. The restaurant patrons watched in
horror, much like his companions at the table as the
apparent murder of a lady took place. Heero did not
notice the two darkly garbed figures at the corner of
the restaurant make a hasty exit. He only saw Duo
with rage blazing from his eyes digging the blade deep
into Relena’s startled face.
Suddenly, everything seemed to move faster. While the
restaurant goers still gawked and gaped, Trowa and
Wufei grabbed Duo by his arms and dragged him out as
quickly as possible while Quatre gathered their
belongings. Heero picked up Relena’s body and
followed them, ignoring the stuttering crowd behind
him.
There would be a whole lot of explaining to do by both
Heero and Duo when Relena came back to life once again.
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