Part 9

            "Go away." Wufei spat out the words through clenched teeth. His body language clearly indicated his desire to stay alone right now.

            Duo pretended he had no understand of the message and sat down beside him on the floor.

            Wufei moved away from Duo when he felt the other boy snuggling closer.

            "Fei, I am sorry if you are upset, but that bastard's intention was written all over his face. He wants you for a lover. We have to protect you!" Duo sighed.

            "Do you think I am weak?" Wufei turned and stared intently at Duo.

            "What? Where does that question come from?"

            "I am weak. I am stupid. I am WRONG!" Wufei stated and turned his head away, "I am sorry. I released a monster. I didn't know!” The last phrase came out a between a hiss and a groan.

            "Wufei, nobody is blaming you or saying you are weak. Of course you are none of those things."

"But people will be suffering because of me. I brought back relentless wars and death! I always make people suffer. L5 wouldn't have explored if I have been stronger."

            Wufei's ability to link unrelated happenings together amazed Duo.

            "Fei, none of this is your fault. Did you purposely resurrect that bastard? I think not. People have been suffering as long as history can be traced. You are strong. You made it through so many disasters that would have broken others."

            "You really think so?" Wufei sounded unsure.

            "Hey, I don't lie, remember? You are strong and smart. You are great at strategy, you are unbeatable when it comes to hand in hand combat. You are intelligent; you are a scholar and a mighty warrior. Did I mention you are cute, and your ass…"

            "You talk too much..." Wufei said teasingly, and captured Duo's rapid moving lips with his.

            When they released each other, Wufei was flushing under the gentle light while Duo panted a little. Before he began his relationship with Wufei, if anyone told him a single kiss could bring one close to the brink of orgasm, he would definitely recommend Viagara for the person.  But, whew~ **That was sooooooo good.**

            "Duo...make love to me..."Wufei mumbled something and laid his head on Duo's chest.

            "What did you say?” Duo love the feeling of the exotic boy cuddling close, but had no clue what he was saying. 

            "make love to me..."Wufei mumbled again, slightly louder.

            "Baby, what did you say?"

            This time Wufei gave up talking. Instead, he moved Duo's hand lower and rested it on a certain private part of his, which was very HARD.

            "Oh!" A small grin slowly spread on Duo's face. "Oh THAT!" Then his expression softened. "Are you sure, Fei? It had been eventful the past few days. I don't want you to do anything that you might regret."

            Wufei nodded. His breaths intake increased dramatically when Duo's hands went to his waist and scoped him into his arms.

            "I love you." Duo said before laying him on the bed, and moved to undo Wufei's forever-tight pigtail. 

            The rubber band gave with a loud snap. Wufei's hair poured down, half covering the exotic boy's face. Duo raised his right hand and ran his fingers through it. **Silky**. It felt as soft as he had imagined. His free hand traveled beneath Wufei's clothing and started fondling his nipples.

            "Hm... Duo... " Wufei moaned as he leaned into Duo's caress. Taking that as a signal, Duo proceeded to unbutton Wufei’s pants.

            Flash~ // “A great warrior like XiangYu would never be able to live knowing that his lover was tainted by another man.” //

            Duo's hand stopped abruptly.

            "Hm... What's wrong?" Wufei opened his eyes slightly, wondering why the other boy had stopped. He thought it had been going well.

            "Err... Wufei. There's something I have to tell you before we continued. I.." Duo looked deadly serious and uncomfortable.

            **Please don't tell me I did something wrong.** Wufei sat up on the bed awkwardly, trying to cover the prominent "budge" with a pillow.

            Duo opened his mouth but before he could say anything, there was a slight knock on the door.

            "Come in." Duo called out. **Might as well wait for another time to get this out.**

            Quatre poked his head inside timidly, "Sorry guys. But Heero said it's time to move our location, and get ready to attack." He smiled a knowing smile when Wufei looked at anywhere but at him. Duo? Duo acted like nothing was going on. "Sure. Thanks Quatre."

##       

            Lost. They lost.

            They had never tasted such bitter defeat. But then again they had never fought the army of the dead before.

            They were tired, dirty and exhausted when they came back to the safehouse.

            “10 days left." Trowa confirmed with Heero. 10 more days left to destroy the person that started this war.

            "Men, I was fighting Genghis Khan's army." Duo collapsed into a chair nearby. "It was the worst fight in my life. That guy was a genius in strategy. And his army, whew~ And don’t forget all the sand and wind he brought!"

            "Do you think fighting Julius Caesar is any easier?" Quatre complained. “I was surprised I made it back.”

            "Zech, who are you fighting?" Duo asked. The formal white fang leader had been quiet the whole time.
            "Treize Khushunada."

            "Oh~" The boys were quiet.

            Zech smiled bitterly. "He didn't recognize me."

            "Of course he doesn't. He is not the man you knew." May mentioned, "He was nothing but a weapon for Emperor Shi."

            "We couldn't find the hiding place of Emperor Shi." Heero reported, looking tired.

"How can we destroy him if we can't even get to him?" Duo sighed in defeat.

"We need a plan. We need to think of a way..." Quatre started pacing around the small sitting room.

            "Let me know when you got one." Duo was way too tired. He dropped his head onto the table and within 2 seconds he was asleep.

            "I am going to hack into the net some more." Heero informed everyone and locked onto his computer.

            "Trowa, Zech, I think you two should at least rest for a few hours. I will keep watch." May suggested.

            The two exhausted pilots agreed silently and went to get some sleep.

Unknown to all of them, Wufei heard everything hiding behind his door. He made a difficult decision.

            Some point at midnight, Duo woke up. Something was not right. Someone was missing.

            "Hey, where is Wufei?" suddenly he jumped up from his chair.

            "Hm?" Quatre came out of his room, blinking sleep out of his blue eyes. "Isn't he in the room? I didn't hear him going out."

            Duo rushed into their shared room, and his instinct was accurate. Nobody was in the room. All he found was a piece of paper.

Dear Duo,

            When you see this letter, I am gone.

            I know you all want to protect me, but this is the only way. He wants me. Only I can get to him. As simple as 1+1=2.

            I started this, I am responsible to end this.

            I love you. Now and forever. If I don't come back, remember my love for you and live on.

                                                                                                Love,  

                                                                                                     Wufei.

            "SHIT! He went after that bastard ALONE! I have to go after him." Duo rushed to the doors, only being blocked by Heero and Trowa.

            "No. Duo. He is right. He will be the only one able to get to Emperor Shi."

            "HEERO! I can't believe you just say that. He is ALONE! He ... he...." the words were stuck in Duo's throat.

            "He knows what he is doing." Trowa assured, "He might be our only hope."

            "WHAT? How is he going to defeat an immortal? ALONE?! " Duo yelled until his throat hurt, and he didn't even realize it.

            “By becoming the emperor’s lover! He will have the chance to capture Emperor Shi in his mortal form!” May snapped, but the others notice tears in her eyes.

            The days dragged by. No matter how slow it seemed, time passed second by second. They had no news of Wufei as they continued their up heel struggles against the army of Emperor Shi.

"Well, today is the 49^th day.” Heero murmured as they watched the sunset. “We failed."

From far away, sound of cheers broke out.

            "What is... that?" Quatre asked in surprise.

            Heero pressed the remote and switched on the news.

            A newsman was reporting with excitement, "The strange army appearing out of nowhere over the last 49 days had suddenly disappeared. Into the thin air! Just like that! Pooh~ Now you see it, now you don't. ... " That's certainly not a very professional way of reporting news, but nobody could blame him after witnessing dead soldiers commanded by historical war hero, and magical stuff like a head bounced back to bit your finger when it was separated from the body.

            "He was successful." For the first time, May's face seemed relaxed, and there was pride in her ancient eyes. She knew that Chang and her descendent had once again defeated Emperor Shi.

            "But will the emperor ever be resurrect again?" Worry for the future seemed to be Quatre's second nature.

            "No. He will be completely destroyed this time, body and soul. There's no coming back for him. No 'Mummy Returns'. " She actually smiled.

            "Hey, you watched that movie too, huh?" Quatre smiled back, then realizing Duo had not spoken one word since the news report.

            "Duo, Emperor Shi was defeated. Aren’t you happy?"

            "I will be, when he comes back."

            But he didn't come back.

Author's note: **Thinking** Should I let Wufei die or not?! J