Roses Black as Death
A semi-sequel to 'Christmas Cupid'
by Moon Faery
Rated PG13
Warnings: Gundam Wing, Yaoi, WAFFy
Pairing 1x2, some 3x4

Hi, peoples. Just a few ANs, then you'll get on to the story. I UNDERSTAND that the language thing can get confusing. But, since this is so far in the future I'm assuming that the language barrier has been broken. So, yes, there IS some Japanese words used as English, but that's because in this story, they're counted as part of standard English. Just FYI.

This is kind of a sequel to my Sailor Moon story, Christmas Cupid. You don't have to read one to understand the other, but it would probably help.

I don't own any Greek Gods, Naoko Takeuchi own Sailor Moon (just a few references in this fic) and Bandai owns GW. ^^V Don't sue, please.

Aishiteru - I love you

Baka - idiot

Hai - yes

Koibito - lover/sweetheart

Ne - huh?

Zutto - forever

-chan : indicates closeness

-koi : sweetheart

~Take away love and our Earth is a tomb.~

~Robert Browning (1812-1889)~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The world spun like a top as Cupid was sent hurdling through the fabric of time and space. Everything was a blur of pink, blue and black as images, insubstantial as mist, flew past him at astounding speeds. Finally, a bright light appeared out of nowhere. It sucked him down into it, tugging him inexorably deeper into it's depths.

With a slight 'POP!' he appeared back in reality, falling three feet to the floor in the process.

"Would you PLEASE get off?" the floor said, squirming and gasping for air.

Cupid, having finally realized that he 'wasn't in Tokyo anymore', jumped up, looking frantically around. He was in a opulent office. There was a mahogany desk, matching chairs and coffee table and a silver tea service. The strong odor of chamomile and mint tea drifted throughout the room. The moon was rising through a window, which he assumed faced east.

"You must be the temp," came a gentle, cultured voice behind him. "Cupid, ne?"

The Messenger of Love turned rapidly around, to come face to face with... himself?!

It wasn't a mirror image, as his first instincts led him to believe. On closer inspection, the boy before him was wearing a light blue button down shirt and khakis, rather than the traditional toga worn by cupid. His hair was slightly different, and his eyes a lighter shade of blue. But the resemblance was such that they could have been twins.

"Hai, I'm Cupid. I take it you are..." Here the Messenger of Love smiled ironically. "Q-pid?"

The boy grinned back. "That's the name I was born with, but these days I use 'Quatre' more often." Quatre waved him to a chair. "sit down, please. We have much to discuss."

Duo faced he ceiling, hands behind his head. In the moonlight that poured through the window, white diamond tears glittered on his cheeks. The long chestnut braid that was his pride and joy trailed off the bed, falling limply to the floor. Only the sound of his rhythmic breathing and soft snores showed that he still lived.

Unseen, in the darkest corner of the room, a darker shadow moved. The blackness fell away from the watcher's shoulders like a cloak.

Heero knelt down at Duo's side, seeming to worship the beautiful Shinigami. A single hand reached forward to caress his cheek, brushing the tears away as though Duo were made of the finest glass, likely to shatter at any moment.

"Duo," Heero breathed, the pray echoing in the silence of the room.

"Heero?" the braided boy asked sleepily, moving a hand as though to touch what he was sure was a dream.

The blue depths of Heero's eyes widened, flashing in the silver moonlight that pooled in the room. Quickly, he moved from the bedside, vanishing back into the shadows and out the open window.

Duo woke up, hopeful eyes already dulled with the certainty that it had been a dream. he amethyst gems he called 'eyes' searched every shadow and corner, hoping for what he knew wasn't there.

Finally accepting the truth, Duo laid back down and wept for the second time that night, his sobs of pain drifting through an empty room.

Two figures materialized outside the bedroom, sobered by what they had seen. Quietly, they walked down the hall, both lost in their own thoughts.

"They do this every night?" Cupid finally asked, breaking the growing silence.

Quatre nodded solemnly. "They visit each other at least once a night, but neither realizes that the other visits THEM." He sighed, annoyed by the hopelessness of the situation. "You see my problem?"

Cupid nodded. "Persephone and Hades; Heero and Duo." He rolled his midnight blue eyes. "I'll never understand how the God of Death gets himself into these positions."

Quatre blew his bangs out of his face. "Well, it's not like we had much choice in taking human form, you know," he said, defensively. "Duo's just lucky that his memory block is still holding. He doesn't have two full time jobs like I do."

Cupid grinned. "Calm down, Q-man, I'm not against you." He winked. "It's not your fault you have to leave tomorrow."

Quatre grimaced. "Damned Destiny, she couldn't wait a week. NOOO, they had to be together on the 15th of February, in three days." He glared at nothing in particular as they reached the end of the hall. Together, he and Cupid drifted through the wall and into his office.

"And you have to leave tomorrow?"

Quatre sank down into a chair. "Hai, V-day in two days here, and I have to work. The others think I'm on a mission." He grinned suddenly, amused by the irony of the situation. "And I am on a mission, in a way."

Cupid grinned back, but his eyes held a glint of worry. *How in Tartarus am I going to pull this one off?*

"Sayonara, Q-man!" Duo yelled, bouncing up and down as the car pulled out of the drive. Beside him, Heero nodded in good-bye and snaked a hand out to pull Duo's braid, yanking the braided boy down on his butt.

Trowa and Wufei waved silently, ignoring the usual spectacle.

"What'dya do that for?!" Duo demanded, looking up at Heero with large violet eyes.

"Hn. Baka," was Heero's only reply.

Quatre's head popped out of the jeep. "I FORGOT!" He yelled, cupping his hands around his mouth in an attempt to project his voice over the wind. "HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!"

Duo, still on the cement, blinked. *Valentines Day? I almost forgot it!* He glanced sidelong at Heero, mentally measuring his chances. *When IS it, anyway? Today?*

*No, baka. It'd the day after tomorrow, so you'd better get crackin'!*

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
GHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"Maxwell, what is it now?" Wufei asked, eyebrow raised in disgust at Duo's screams.

"I- It- We..." Who whimpered. "I'm going to go take a nap." With slightly shaky legs, Duo stood and entered the Winner Mansion.

The remaining three boys met each others eyes and shrugged.

Sitting up in a tree with his borrowed Cloak of Invisibility (he had to remember to thank the Musae for the loan), Cupid crossed his arms and pouted.

*Mental note: Shinigami isn't as used to voices in his head a Endymion.* Suddenly, Cupid's head jerked up as realization hit him. *That doesn't shed a pretty light on the Prince, does it?* with a nervous twitch in his cheek, he phased out.

After a LONG nap in his room (during which time, Duo managed to convince himself that it had just been a daydream), Duo went on a LONG walk through the garden. (AN: Anyone seeing a pattern?) Idylly, he wandered through the rose bushes of the maze. Sometimes he wondered if Quatre was related to Treize, the boy had so many roses. But whenever anyone asked, he just shrugged and said something about it being a family thing, and his mother would never forgive him if he got rid of them. That, of course, made Duo wonder even more, since Q-man's mother was DEAD.

Sighing sadly, he climbed a cherry tree, just beginning to bud, and sat in the fork of his branches. From this point of view, he could see Heero working on some machinery on the lawn.

*Maybe it's just a crush,* Duo told himself, looking down at the ground so far below. *Maybe I'll get over him.*

Suddenly, a warm tingle ran through his chest as he looked up at Heero again. The sunlight played off of Heero's shoulders and chest as his tank top clung to the assassin's lithe body. Duo found himself staring, unable to look away from the unearthly sight. Heero stretched his arms over his head, agile as any cat. Duo, caught up in the sight, leaned forward.

His weight over balanced, and the braided Shinigami fell face first to the lawn below.

Cupid wiped his forehead in relief, then shrugged his quiver over his shoulder. The boy had started to have second thoughts, which was NOT a GOOD thing, all things considered. Luckily, he'd managed to hit him with an Arrow just in time.

*Why me? Something had BETTER give SOON.*

Five minutes after his... er, fall, Duo finally realized that he had better move before he drowned in his own drool.

*I've GOT to do SOMETHING, I can't TAKE this anymore!* He told himself as he neared the center of the maze. *And I've got to be quick, too, I want to do this for V-day.*

Walking blindly to the bench that resided in the very center of the maze, Duo laid down on the bench. He didn't see the rose bush until it scratched him as he leaned against it. The slight pain made Duo look up, coming face to face with a blood red rose. The thorn just above it was stained red, and a single ruby drop of his blood decorated the petals, the color matching so perfectly that it could have been a dew drop. Beside the crimson rose, a pure black rose shimmered in the sunlight, seeming to glow with a amethyst incandescence.

Duo's eyes widened as an idea hit him. Reaching forward, he plucked the black rose, heedless of the thorns which scratched his hands.

Running a bloodstained finger over a single perfect petal, Duo smiled. "That's IT."

Cupid collapsed in the shade of the hedge maze, his hands and toga dirt-stained from uprooting and replanting the black rose bush.

*I'm starting to miss Endymion. At least I never got dirty, working with him.*

Heero frowned at his laptop screen, seated comfortably in his office. Nothing quite seemed right, and he couldn't pinpoint what it as that bothered him. He was the Perfect soldier, and not knowing was inexcusable. Trowa was walking around with a smirk (and ANY expression on Pilot 03's face was a bad sign). Wufei seemed unsettled, and frowned even more than usual whenever Duo came into the room, which was rare these days. Heero had barely caught a glimpse of Duo since Quatre left, precisely 61 hours, 43 minutes and 26 seconds ago. (AN: Translation: Roughly three days)

Ah, there lay the source of his problems. It seemed as though Duo was avoiding him consciously. He seemed too busy even to annoy Heero, and that was just wrong, in Heero's view of the world. Even though he couldn't bring himself to confess his feelings to Duo, the thought of not being able to see that beautiful smile scared him to death. Yes, something scared HIM, Heero Yuy, the Perfect Soldier. The man with no weaknesses suddenly had one, and it scared the hell out of him.

*Could Duo have found out?* he wondered suddenly, a cold chill going down his spine. *Can it be that he knows, and hates me for it?*

Shaking his head, Heero finished his report, making a footnote that he was unable to trace pilot number 04, but assumed him still alive. Cutting all connections, he shut down the computer and stretched in his chair. Standing, he went through the connecting door to his bedroom suite, and came to a dead halt, the door swings shut behind him with a click.

On the bed lay two dozen roses, black as a moon less night sky. In the center of the bouquet lay a single rose, scarlet silk against the black velvet of the others. Rose petals also fell form the ceiling, drifting down like scraps of shadow and silk.

Taking an unconscious step forward through the gentle rain of petals, Heero reached out to caress a single midnight petal with a trembling finger. He brushed them against the card before hesitantly before pulling it out and opening it.

'Turn around.'

Heero turned to see Duo, dressed in casual black jeans and his usual priest's shirt. He was leaning against the wall, arms crossed with a cocky grin on his face. But behind that certain smile and assured pose, Heero could see a tinge of doubt. He wondered, irrationally, how Duo had gotten into his room without him noticing it.

"Do you like them?" Duo asked, standing up straight. "I hope they're not too much..." His eyes and voice betrayed his worry.

Heero tried to say something, but his throat refused to cooperate. Trying again, he managed to croak out, "Why?"

Duo's smile softened, and he tuned his face to study a wall. "I thought you might like them, it being Valentines Day and all." He looked back at Heero, and their eyes locked over the bouquet.

Heero shook his head, glancing down at the flowers before looking at Duo again. "WHY?" he repeated, trying to make Duo understand.

*Please...* They prayed together, silently. *Please.*

Duo stepped closer, until they were only feet from each other. "Heero, I..." He stooped, taking a breath and looking at his feet. All signs of his previous mask of assurance was gone as his amethyst orbs met Heero's cobalt ones. Heero could see straight into Duo's soul, and he was shocked by what he saw. Pain, joy, sorrow; they were all embedded into the very being of this boy who called himself Shinigami. The memory of everyone to ever die by his hand echoed in Duo's eyes behind the forming tears. "I... I love you."

Heero was shocked to silence. He had never even dared to dream of this happening to him. He was the Perfect Soldier, untouchable and distant. He had never thought that someone could even THINK about loving him, and here was the boy he had pined over since they had met, declaring his love.

Duo stared at his shoes, a single tear streaming down his cheek as he listened to Heero's silence. *He hates me now,* he thought, despairing. *He hates me, and he'll never want to see-* his thoughts were cut off by a gentle hand wiping the tear from his cheek.

Heero firmly made Duo look him in the eye. Then, for the first time in his life, the Perfect Soldier let down his walls, showing Duo everything that had never been in his eyes before, all the emotions that he had never let himself acknowledge, much less show to the world.

"Duo-koi," Heero said firmly in Japanese, his voice caressing the word. "Aishiteru, zutto." He leaned closer and kissed HIS braided baka on the lips.

Duo stopped breathing for a whole second as Heero wrapped his strong arms firmly around his waist and kissed him. Once the shock wore off, he responded eagerly, wrapping his arms around Heero's neck. Eventually, they had to break apart.

*If this is a dream, I never want to wake up,* they thought together, gasping for air.

"Duo-koi?"

"Hai, Hee-chan?"

"Why black and red?"

Duo grinned an leaned forward, his lips brushing Heero's ear as he whispered, "Well, koibito, the red rose is a reminder of all the blood we've spilt for each other, and for peace."

"And the black ones?"

Duo deftly caught a falling black petal, pressing it into Heero's hand. "It's for three things. Black is the color of space, beautiful, free and pure, just like my love for you. It also means eternity, which is how long I want to be with you. Finally, it's also death, which is something we've danced with all our lives, but which can never keep us apart. The blood stands out from all of these things, but it can never stain or mar them."

Heero looked into Duo's eyes, seeing the complete sincerity with which he spoke those words. With a smile, he answered the only way a wise man could.

Cupid collapsed over a couch, looking a the clock that had just passed midnight. Somehow he had some it. He had beaten the deadline.

"Thank you, Zeus!"

Just as he finished saying that, pink mist spun around the room as a figure appeared. She was in a uniform, her rather thin, mousy brown hair hanging down and a pair of glasses setting on her nose.

"Destiny," Cupid groaned, throwing an arm over his eyes melodramatically. "Don't tell me you have ANOTHER assignment for me!"

Destiny frowned and crossed her arms. "How many times have I told you to call me Lady Une?" she asked with a smirk. "And, yes, I DO have a job for you. It's the price of immortality, and you're the only God of Love for several universes over that has time free." With a grin, Une raised a hand, ready to send Cupid on his way.

"WAIT!"

"What?" She lowered her hand slightly.

"Why ME?! I have my OWN universe to take care of, you know!"

Une sighed. "I told you, you're the only one who ISN'T swamped, so I'm using you as a fill in." she started to gustier again.

"WAIT!"

"NOW WHAT?!"

"Where am I going?"

Une glared at him through her glasses. "You WERE going to the Cardcaptors universe, but since you seem to be so bothersome..." She made a quick hand movement. The last thing Cupid heard before the world dissolved into pink blur was Lady Une yelling, "It's the Ranma-verse for you, young man!"

Cupid's scream of horror echoed throughout the time-space continuum.

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