Kiss of Fate
by Tanith
Part 7
Duo lay on his bed, his hair now unbraided and spread out around and underneath him, his hands folded over his chest, rising and falling with each deep breath. His eyelid flickered now and then as he dreamed, a contented smile fixed on his lips as it had been since Wufei had found him -- curled into an almost fetal position by the lake, one arm flung wide it's hand splayed revealing a finger still seeping crimson blood. Quatre sighed, wishing those violet eyes would open as he backed out of the room, closing the door softly behind him.
He made his way to the small parlor, his eyes immediately finding Trowa where the taller boy stood, arms crossed in the back of the room. Wufei sat on the chaise, stroking Nataku's back reassuringly trying to rid her of the guilty light darkening her amber eyes. "We have to find him," Quatre muttered. The others looked up at Quatre, startled by the sudden break in silence.
"*She* must have done something to Heero," Nataku stated in her quietly musical voice. "Otherwise, he would have met with Duo. If we are to find Heero, we have to find *her* first."
Quatre nodded, "And Relena will either be still in the obvious place -- Heero's home -- or the harder to find castle she has tucked away somewhere that we all know and love," this dryly. They had all lived in Relena's castle for the better part of their lives, except for Nataku. It had been a school Sorcery Relena's father had founded. When he had died nearly a century before he had willed it to his daughter, and she -- never acknowledging the other students' presence -- had turned it into a hellhole. But it was still used as a majick school, Relena adopting the role of teacher in her father's place. "And knowing Relena--"
"--They're at Heero's palace, still," Trowa finished for him with a roll of his eye.
***
"Are you enjoying yourself yet, Heero-sama?" Relena purred, making her way gracefully to where the boy laid unmoving on her bed. His cobalt eyes flashed hotly and he opened his mouth to speak before his face clenched in agony and his teeth snapped shut with an audible click. Relena tsked, shaking her head as she came to stand before the immobile boy. "Mou, I really wish I could remove that silly little spell, Heero-sama. But you'd have to promise to be quiet by yourself. Or at least stop threatening to kill me. It really detracts from the mood, ne?"
Heero contented himself to glare death at the blonde girl as her fingers tapped lightly at the black leather of his boot. Relena just smiled down at him, completely unfazed. "At least you enjoyed my little present!" she beamed then laughed a little as Heero's eyes closed tightly to cover up the pain threatening to shine through. He could still see the vision of Duo -- crumbling to the ground, looking for all the world as if the small boy was dead -- replaying itself continuously on the back of his eyelids. "Well, maybe you didn't enjoy it, but I sure did," Relena cackled in a very unbecoming way, climbing up onto the bed beside Heero.
One perfectly manicured finger traced the neckline of his tunic and Heero's eyes snapped open, only to find Relena's own an alarmingly close distance away. "I still don't know what you saw in him, Heero-sama. I mean... he was a *boy*..." she whispered, her lips brushing against Heero's with every word. Heero's muscled bunched, fighting against the spell the blonde witch had put on him to keep him from moving. He wanted to kill her. :: Iie. Kill is too nice. :: He wanted to slaughter her, with some serious and gratuitous mutilation as an added treat. "A boy can't do half the things I could do for you," she continued, blissfully unaware of his thoughts as he hands went downward to the belt cinching his tunic at his waist.
***
"They are in the tower room," Nataku stretched out a slender hand, motioning to the tower she spoke of. No one questioned her; they knew better. This was only one of the simpler things that she knew; most of the others no one else could comprehend her having knowledge of, much less try to fathom them themselves. She was a creature of majick, that much they understood. How she and Wufei had met and fell in love was still a mystery. In fact, Quatre and Trowa didn't know much about her at all. They had often joked that she must be a Goddess to do half the things she was capable of. :: They would not be far off. :: she thought sadly, lowering her hand.
Quatre nodded and walked confidently to the main gates of the palace and stepped through. Wufei and Trowa looked at each other and shrugged, then followed, Nataku shortly behind them. :: When Quatre set his mind to something... :: When they caught up with him he was standing in the center of the square before the palace, every person around him was drooping against something, resting peacefully, soft snores filling the air. Trowa stopped and raised an eyebrow when the blond boy turned to face him. Quatre just shrugged. "It seemed fitting."
***
Relena undid Heero's belt, tossing it aside impatiently, her hands moving under the front of his shirt to run over the smooth flesh of his abdomen. "If I remove the freezing spell, will you promise to behave and not try to strangle me?" Heero glared up at her like she was insane for even asking; fighting back the urge to vomit. "I'll take that as a no," she sighed petulantly. "Pity. It's not as fun when you don't get touched too."
She threw one leg over Heero's hips, straddling him as she pushed his loosened tunic up, Heero's torso lifting against his will to aid her. He glared at her when she leaned over him, his cobalt eyes all but spitting fire in his inability to do anything else. "Sooner or later you'll learn to love me Heero," Relena cooed, running her fingers lightly over his chest. "I have no doubt."
***
Quatre raced up the tower stairs. The palace was full of sleeping people, but that could not be helped. He would not be stopped; he needed to help Duo. The staircase was entirely too long, he was sure Relena did that on purpose, to punish any poor unsuspecting person who deigned to visit her. Finally reaching the door, he growled in irritation when it failed to respond to his attempts to open it.
"Of *course* she would just *have* to develop a *brain* for *once* and actually *spell* the damn thing *shut*," he growled and turned to Trowa who was now directly behind him. "Can you open it?" he asked, his aquamarine eyes flashing irritably. Before Trowa could even shake his head Nataku stepped forward, her lips curving upward slightly.
"Allow me," she said softly and reached out, brushing her hand over the knob before turning it and opening the door silently. Quatre nodded his thanks and stepped through the portal.
"I have no doubt," the blonde witch whispered, leaning over the angrily glaring boy who Quatre guessed was Heero. She leaned down, her tongue flicking over Heero's lower lip, making Quatre want to cringe just watching it. :: Gods, imagine what he must be going through. :: She pulled up, hands toying with a few strands of messy brown hair. Then she froze.
***
Suddenly, the locked feel to Heero's joints was released. He was in motion immediately, flipping himself so that Relena was under him, his forearm pressed into her windpipe, hard enough to leave her gasping, but not enough to completely block her air flow. The blonde's bright blue eyes widened as Heero smiled viciously and leaned down so his face was only centimeters from her own. "Give me one reason why I should not kill you now," he growled. Her mouth opened and shut a few times, making her look like a gaping carp, before she actually tried to form words. Then her features spasmed and she swallowed convulsively, an agonized pain filling her eyes. :: She's under the same spell I was moments before. ::
Heero pressed his arm harder against the girl's throat, nearly crushing the delicate bone beneath. Her eyes opened wide as she fought for breath, pleading with him silently. Heero snorted in disgust but got off the bed, unwilling to touch Relena one second more. He grabbed his tunic up from where Relena tossed it and threw it on before turning to the three boys now standing in the room. "Who are you?" he asked, his gaze moving to the girl still standing in the corridor behind the boys. :: She looks oddly familiar... ::
The blond one spoke up first, "I'm Quatre. Trowa; Wufei; Nataku," he motioned to each in turn. "We need your help with Duo."
Heero frowned, his eyes darkened in pain, remembering Relena's "gift". "But Duo is d--"
"Sleeping," the girl cut in, stepping into the room. "And we need you to wake him up."
Heero blinked at the girl and nodded. "Where is he?"
***
They had finally made it to the cottage after waking one of the guards to secure a spot in the dungeon for Relena, with the promise of a personal torture session with Heero himself. And now Heero stood motionless and alone in the doorway to Duo's bedroom, watching the deep rise and fall of the boy's chest to pacify himself that he was, indeed, living. He moved forward, falling to his knees beside the bed, unmindful of the hard wood beneath him.
He leaned in, taking one soft hand into his own before brushing his lips over Duo's. No response. Heero squeezed the hand in his, fighting the urge to cry as he rested his forehead against Duo's brushing another kiss across those pink lips before whispering almost desperately, "Please wake up."
***
:: So warm... ::
Strong arms enfolding him. He felt secure.
:: Protected... ::
Truly loved. Unlike anything he had ever felt before.
:: Needed... ::
Lips smiling softly. A hand reaching up, curling around his own, lifting him.
:: Heero... ::
Dark blue eyes gazing into his own, a secret promise lighting their depths.
:: Love you... ::
Lips brushing against his own. Firm and warm, softly covering his mouth.
"Wake up."
:: No! ::
Waking meant a world without Heero. It was better here. He was happy here. But--
"Wake up."
:: That voice... ::
Familiar... Beloved.
:: Heero... ::
Violet eyes blinked open slowly, squinting against the sudden light, endless cobalt filling their view. A warm hand was gripping his own and it tightened, the blue eyes brightening considerably. "You came back to me," Duo said, his voice husky with sleep.
Heero sat back, gathering the longhaired boy in his arms. "I never left you," he murmured, burying his free hand in the silken chestnut hair before he lowered his head, kissing a smiling Duo deeply.
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