// represents dream sequences/flashbacks. Heero is fairly prominent in this one. Please don't kill him before Duo gets to him! I kinda promised him the honors of doing in the son of a bitch. Duo: Damn straight! ~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~ SHATTER By Ryoko Saotome Part Seven ~All the world is sleeping like a baby tonight I wanna see you dead Laying in the muddy ground~ Fastball, "Slow Drag" "You cannot *possibly* be comfortable!" Wufei cracked open one eye and looked up at Duo, a half-smile on his lips. "And why not?" he asked, draping one arm over his boyfriend's legs. Duo blinked down at the Chinese boy as if he'd completely lost his mind. "You've got one leg thrown over the back of the couch, the other dangling off the other end, and you're half-lying on your side!" he pointed out. "If you're comfortable like that, then you must be half-cat or something!" "Mrrow." The braided teen snickered and draped his arm over the boy's slender waist. "This is what I get for loving a guy who's practically a human pretzel." "You know it," Wufei said, closing his eyes again and snuggling against the other boy. Duo grinned and brushed a stray strand of jet-black hair away from his sweetheart's face. He knew he was spoiling the other boy with his affection, but he was having fun doing so. The Chinese boy had been through a hell of a lot in his young life, and he'd been scarred deeply by a majority of them. True, Duo had had his own share of hardships; but where as he had been made stronger by the adversities he'd faced, Wufei had grown more fragile. he thought, growling mentally. "Duo?" The braided boy shook himself out of his thoughts and glanced down into wide ebony eyes. "Hmm?" "Love you," Wufei said, sitting up to press a quick kiss to the other teen's lips. Duo smiled and wrapped his arms around the boy, pulling him into a gentle embrace. "Love you, too," he said softly. They kissed again, a sweet gentle kiss that reaffirmed their love every single time, then turned back to the movie they'd been watching. Wufei wrinkled his nose. "Ugh, I *hate* slasher films! *Why* did I agree to watch SCREAM 2?" "So I would have a reason to grope you during the creepy scenes, of course." He snickered as his love smacked him lightly on the arm before cuddling up against him again. Trowa watched the whole scene from the kitchen and smiled softly. Those two were just so kawaii together.... he thought as he turned to leave. ~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~ Heero stopped the jeep nearly a mile from the safe house and parked. A slow smile crossed his face as he gazed out through the trees and watched the car drive past him. He could clearly see Quatre and Trowa in the car... and that meant that the other two were all alone in the house. he thought, slipping through the trees towards the safe house. His expression darkened as he drew his gun and clicked off the safety. With that thought in mind, he smirked and continued on his way through the woods. ~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~ Duo glanced down at Wufei and couldn't help but smile. The Chinese boy, who was a trained Gundam pilot, terrorist, martial artist, scholar, and scared to death (even if he'd never admit it) of slasher films, had fallen sound asleep at the bloodiest part of the movie. "You're gonna have nightmares about that guy in the ghost mask tonight, Fei-chan," he whispered to the sleeping teen, who muttered something about black robes before shifting and slipping into deeper sleep. His koi snickered and pulled him up into his arms to cradle him to his chest. "Kawaii," he mumbled softly, pressing a soft kiss to one caramel cheek. "You don't realize just how adorable you are sometimes, do you, babe?" Standing, he carefully shifted the boy to one arm so he could turn off the TV and VCR before heading for the stairs. he reasoned. Once Chang Wufei went to sleep, it practically took an earthquake to awaken him again. Well, an earthquake or a nightmare. But the nightmares had become less frequent since the two boys started sharing a room... and a bed. They still hadn't progressed into a sexual relationship, but it was only a matter of time before they did. Duo lay the Chinese boy down on the bed, pulling the covers up over him and giving him a soft kiss on the forehead. "Sweet dreams, Fei," he whispered, running the back of his hand along Wufei's cheek. He stood silently by the bed for a moment before turning to leave the room. " 'Night, Du-chan," came a sleepy voice from inside the room. He glanced back over his shoulder and smiled. He thought it was absolutely precious that Wufei talked in his sleep! With one last fond look at the boy, Duo closed the door quietly and headed back down to the kitchen to get a quick snack before heading to bed himself. ~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~ The Japanese boy watched as the light in the living room went off, followed by the one in the kitchen. He smiled darkly and quickly headed towards the house. he thought. ~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~ //He awoke with a strange feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach. With a low groan, he opened his eyes... And froze as he realized *Heero* was peering down at him, eyes dark with lust. he thought, eyes widening with fright. "You belong to me," the Japanese teen growled, running his fingertips lightly over his captive's cheek. "And this time, I'm not letting *anyone* take you away from me, Wufei." "No," the Chinese teen whimpered, jerking his head to one side. It was at this point that he realized there was a collar around his neck, with a chain running from it to the headboard. Wufei realized, tugging experimentally at the chain. Fingers gripped his chin tightly and pulled his head around to lock eyes with the cobalt-eyed teen. "Yes," he hissed. "You are my toy, and I will *not* let anyone else have you!" "Let him go, you son of a bitch." "Duo!" Heero turned and glared at the braided boy. "Maxwell," he said, venom dripping from his voice. "Get out. This doesn't concern you." "Like hell it doesn't concern me!" the violet-eyed boy snapped. "I love him!" "Then you're a fool," came the caustic reply. "He's just a little slut to be used by whoever grabs him first. And he's *MINE*!" Without any further warning, Heero turned and lunged at Duo. The braided youth was caught by surprise, but quickly began to fight back. The two fought violently, hitting and kicking at one another while Wufei watched in silence, tugging at the chain and fervently hoping that he would wake up soon. A sharp cry from Duo caused him to snap his head up again, and his eyes widened in horror. The Japanese boy had the American pinned to the floor, a gun pressed to his temple. Heero glanced over at the Chinese boy and grinned. It was a chilling expression, and Wufei felt his blood freeze. "Baka," Heero said cruelly. "Looks like your precious Duo can't help you after all, can he?" His smile darkened as he added, "And he'll be completely useless once I've broken him." The Japanese teen ripped away the braided youth's clothing, never removing the gun from his temple. Duo remained frozen, casting his frightened gaze towards Wufei. The ebony-haired teen yanked harder at the chain, trying to free himself so that he could end this.... He squeezed his eyes shut to block out the sight of Heero violating Duo's body, tugging on the chain with all of his strength, sobbing as he heard his love's keening cries of pain as he was violently taken by the Japanese teen. The sound of the hammer clicking on the gun drew his attention, and he snapped his eyes open. Three things happened in rapid succession. Duo turned pain-filled eyes to Wufei and whispered softly, "I'm sorry, Fei-chan." The chain broke free from the headboard, sending the Chinese boy tumbling to the floor. And Heero pulled the trigger.// ~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~ A scream from upstairs caused Duo to snap his head around quickly. The braided youth frowned; that had to be one hell of a nightmare to make his boyfriend scream like that. the teen thought with a frown. Just as he headed for the stairs, he heard the living room door creak open. Duo froze in place, mind racing frantically. He quickly made a decision, and moved quietly back to the living room. The braided teen pressed himself close to the wall and peered around the wall. The door was open a bit, but he could see no one in the room. he thought with a frown as he slowly reached around the corner to flick on the lightswitch. A strong hand closed around his wrist and yanked him around the corner. Duo cried out sharply as he was flung against the wall and pinned. Cracking open one eye, he felt his anger and fear build up even more than it had before. "Heero," he growled. "What are you doing here, you bastard?" The Japanese teen gripped the other boy's hair and pulled him away from the wall, throwing him to the floor violently. The grin he offered up was dark and malicious. "Taking back what's mine," he said coolly. "And you aren't stopping me." Duo sat up shakily; his head had hit the floor pretty hard, and the room seemed to be spinning. "I'm not letting you hurt him again." "He's *mine*. I'll do whatever I damned well please to him." Heero raised his gun and trained it on the braided youth. After a moment, a feral grin crossed his features. "It's funny, really." Duo glared. "What the fuck are you talking about?" he demanded, wishing that his head would stop pounding for a minute so he could strangle Heero. "If I hadn't already had one lover, I would have taken you." The implications in that statement were not lost on Duo, and the fear quickly began to overtake the anger he was feeling. He scrambled backwards, desperately wishing he had a gun or a knife or even a large blunt object to throw at the Japanese youth that was slowly advancing upon him. ~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~ Unseen by the two teenagers, a third person watched from the shadows at the top of the stairs, frozen with fear and helpless rage. One slender hand fluttered up to his neck, and his feeling of helplessness faded somewhat. ~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~ Duo managed to get to his feet despite his pounding headache and darted for the open door. Unfortunately, Heero was just a little bit faster than he was. The Japanese teen slammed into him from behind and bore him to the floor, loosening his grip on the handgun in the process. The braided teen saw this as an opportunity and grabbed for the weapon. Heero cried out sharply as the violet-eyed youth dug his knee into his stomach, causing him to double over in pain. Duo gripped the dark-haired boy's wrist and slammed it into the floor, making him drop the gun, then kicked the weapon out of reach. He scrambled to his feet again and rushed over to the stairs. A hand on his ankle brought him down again, and he barely got his arms up in time to keep from slamming into the table. The other boy's weight was suddenly on his back, and he began to struggle. "Gods damn it, you're worse than Wufei," Heero hissed, grabbing the struggling teen's hands and pinning them to the floor. He ran his tongue along the curve of his captive's ear, smirking as the boy shuddered. "I can break you, Maxwell. I can break you, and then you won't ever take Wufei away from me again." "Guess again, you sick son of a bitch." Heero began to turn just as Wufei slammed a very big, very expensive vase down onto his head. The glass shards dug into the Japanese boy's skin and were caught in his hair; the other boy hissed in pain as a few shards became imbedded in his hands. Attention now fully drawn from Duo, the cobalt-eyed boy lunged for his ex-lover, fully intent on making him pay for striking out at him. Wufei had a bit of a head start and managed to dodge when Heero leapt at him. He brought his arm down onto the other teen's back as he was going by, knocking the wind out of him for a moment, and turned back to go help Duo. "Du-chan? Are you--" he began, only to be cut off as his legs were swept out from underneath him. He hit the floor with a cry, and was instantly pinned down by Heero. The Japanese teen wrapped his hands around Wufei's throat, cutting off his air, and applied pressure to his neck. "I wasn't going to kill you," he growled as he tightened his grip; the Chinese boy beneath him grabbed weakly at his wrists as he gasped for air. "You shouldn't have attacked me, Wufei. Now you'll die." A gunshot rang out and pain ripped through his body. Heero drew back, bringing one hand up to his side. His fingertips came away wet with blood, and he realized that he hadn't felt the bullet hit him. He looked up and across the room at Duo, who was crouched next to the couch, gun raised and eyes wide with horror. A thin ribbon of smoke curled up from the barrel. "You shot me," he said in a stunned half-whisper. "You were gonna kill Fei," the other teen replied, voice shaking as he dropped the gun. Heero blinked, trying to process the information. "He was mine," he managed to say, confusion evident in his voice. "You took him from me." "He left you of his own free will, Heero. You had no right to hurt him. Ever." Cobalt eyes widened, and the Japanese boy slumped to the floor. He turned his head slightly to regard Wufei, who had managed to sit up and was gulping in air. Callused fingers closed lightly over the Chinese boy's slender wrist, and he turned his gaze to Heero, still breathing hard. Confused cobalt eyes locked with frightened black. "I hurt you?" Wufei, unable to speak and still struggling to breathe, simply nodded his head. "Gomen. I never should have... forgive--" Heero's hand fell away and his eyes slid closed forever. Duo stood shakily, walked over to his boyfriend, and dropped down beside the other teen. He wrapped his arms protectively around Wufei and drew him back into a gentle embrace. The Chinese teen blinked back tears and placed his hands over Duo's. They sat that way for a long time, both seeking and receiving comfort from the other. Those words echoed in both of their minds, and hours later, they came to a shared answer. It took more energy to hold onto hatred for a dead man. They would forgive. But they would never truly forget. ~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~ Epilogue ~With your love Show me how to live 'Cause you are made of me And I am made of you With your life Show me how to give You are made of me And I am made of you~ Ricky Martin, "I Am Made Of You" "I still can't believe it's all over." Duo looked across the room and grinned at Wufei, curled up in the window seat. "Believe it, baby. The war is over!" "Thank Kami-sama," Relena breathed from her seat at the table, head resting on her arms and eyes closed. "If I never have to see a Gundam again, it'll be too soon." "Don't be that way, Relena," Dorothy said, placing a hand on her friend's arm. "You know you're going to miss piloting Wing." "Only reason I did it anyway was because my brother was injured," she said in reply, shooting a mock-glare at the other blonde girl. The other four teens in the room shook their heads. It had been a complete shock to the four pilots when Milliardo Peacecraft had been injured; it had been even more surprising when he requested that Relena take his place as the pilot of Wing 0. Duo had practically gone into shock when the girl agreed. // "Relena Peacecraft, head of the Peacecraft family and a total pacifist, is *piloting* a Gundam?! Oh my God, it's the end of the world! Fei, baby, we're all gonna die!" Wufei rolled his eyes in reply. "Granted, it's not what I would have expected either," he said in an even tone, "but I don't think this constitutes as a sign of the apocalypse." Duo poked out his tongue. "You're no fun, babe."// Quatre shook his head and smiled. "It will be nice to be able to lead a normal life," he offered, glancing over at Trowa. They had become even closer over the course of the war, and the blonde Arab was looking forward to finding out how much peace would change the other boy. he thought with a mental snicker. Anything was possible, after all. He would never have thought that Wufei would stay with Duo as long as he had; but their relationship was now going into its third year. "Normal life with Duo?" the Chinese boy quipped from his perch in the window. "Not bloody likely." "Hey!" Duo protested, bouncing across the room and dropping down next to his love. "What's that supposed to mean?" Wufei smiled and replied, "Why, it means you'll always keep me guessing, Du-chan." Duo grinned and drew the other teen into an embrace. "You got *that* right, Fei," he said cheerfully, shooting a quick glance at the other four teens in the room. Being privy to what was going on in the braided boy's head, the other four fell completely silent. "Hmm?" Wufei glanced up at the sudden silence and frowned thoughtfully as he turned his gaze back to Duo... who now had his hands hidden behind his back and a small smile on his face. "What are you up to now, Maxwell?" "Keeping you guessing," was the reply, and the braided boy drew his hands from behind his back to reveal a small black box. Wufei blinked, wondering what the hell his American love was up to now. The last time he'd seen Duo whip out a box like this, it had contained the boy's gold cross. The cross which now hung around Wufei's neck, and had for the past two and a half years, a sign to all that the relationship had become very, *very* serious in the eyes of the American pilot. "Go on, take it," Duo said, grinning like an idiot. "It's not going to bite you." The Chinese boy took the proffered box and turned it over in his hands for a moment before opening the lid. One hand flew to his mouth and he stared wide-eyed at the diamond solitaire ring nestled in the box. The ring itself was white gold, and the stone wasn't big or flashy, but it was still enough to strike Wufei speechless. He glanced back up at Duo, eyes still wide and one hand still clamped over his mouth. Duo snickered softly and took the box from his boyfriend, slipping the ring out of it in the process. "I'm hoping that's a good reaction," he said softly as he picked up Wufei's left hand. "Wufei, you know I love you. I've told you that gods only know how many times in the past three years. Will you marry me?" Silence hung over the room for several minutes. Wufei blinked, moving his hand away from his mouth, but still not speaking. Finally, still unwilling to trust his voice, the Chinese boy nodded. "Honto?!" Duo said, violet eyes shimmering. Wufei nodded again, finally trusting his voice enough to softly say, "Hai, Duo." Relena, Dorothy, Quatre, and Trowa applauded as Duo slipped the ring onto Wufei's hand and drew him into a tender, passionate kiss. Neither one of them took note of that fact; the only ones in the world for the moment were the two of them. And they had all the time in the world to spend together. ~^~OWARI~^~ ~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~ It's done, it's done, it's finally done! Comments? I'm thinking of doing an illustration to go along with the epilogue. Let me know if you think I should, onegai.