Beautiful Stranger



Part 4 




Saturday Evening

In the Morning Room of the Palace of Sank, two figures huddled in the dim glow of a 
computer screen. The storm that now lashed in full fury over Sank had smothered any 
stray moonlight that may have come in and on its own the greenish light from the 
monitor made the ornately furnished room look nothing short of ghastly.

"Heero," a voice cut through the noise of wind-driven rain on the heavy panes of 
glass. "Heero I don't like waiting here. We should find the others and let the 
guards handle this."

Heero Yuy turned from his laptop and looked at Relena for the first time since 
arriving in the room.

"We're not going anywhere. Someone wants you dead, Relena, and given what I've 
found out about the origins of the messages I'd say that someone is very nearby. 
We're not taking chances until I unpack the rest of this code."

"You know it's him, don't you Heero. You know it but you just can't admit it to 
yourself or to me."

Heero glared at the girl next to him.

"I can't admit it because I have no proof. No evidence at all that he's tied 
into this. I don't let my imagination run away with me."

"Why are you defending him?", demanded Relena. "I'm your bride-to-be and 
my life has been threatened. He's practically put his signature on the 
messages and now you find that they both originated inside the palace, 
during times when he was here. Surely you see the implications of this 
as clearly as I do - it has to have been Duo."

Heero turned away again and Relena's frustration peaked.

"Why are you acting like this???" the girl practically screamed. "Why 
can't you see him for what he really is?? Look at what he did with Zechs 
- you were every bit as shocked by what they were doing as I was. He's 
sick.. You'd think with all the time you two have spent together that 
you'd know him better, but Heero I don't think you know him at all!!"

In sheer frustration, the Princess of Sank turned on her heels and 
marched to the doors of the room. Yanking the handle of one of them, 
she nearly lost her balance when it refused to turn under her hand. She 
stared at the offending piece of hardware in disbelief. Trying it again, 
and finding it remained locked, she backed away from it and said in a 
quavering voice, "Heero...Heero...someone's locked the door..."

**********

The passageway leading from the Library west to the Morning Room 
began as a narrow hall, barely wide enough for Zechs to move through. 
Within 10 feet of the the Library's hidden door, however, it widened 
considerably and soon the two lovers were walking side by side. The 
light was barely enough to make out the surroundings - dusty wooden 
walls, a wooden plank floor, and, every now and then, small light 
fixtures attached to the upright beams, the source of the watery yellow 
light. Their progress was agonizingly slow given the dim light and the 
raised wooden beams that ran across the passageway floor, part of the 
ceiling for the cellar below them.

"Zechs," Duo whispered, "do you know that you're still holding my 
hand?"

"Yes, Duo, " Zechs replied back in a low voice, peering ahead of them, 
not slowing down for an instant. "I am well aware of that. In fact, 
surprising as it may seem, I'm doing it deliberately. By the way, why 
are you whispering?"

"I don't know," Duo whispered back, "I mean," he repeated, in a normal 
voice this time. "I don't know. It just seemed like the kind of 
place you're supposed to whisper in."

Zechs looked over at Duo and raised an elegant platinum eyebrow. 
Duo looked back and shrugged.

"Well talk normally, you're giving me the creeps," Zechs retorted, 
nearly tripping over one of the small wooden floor beams.

As they continued moving west, they heard a faint sound. It seemed to 
come from the direction of the Library they had just left and it was 
gradually growing louder, as if something far away were coming closer 
to them.

"Uh, Zechs? I'm not sure what that is , but I have a really bad feeling 
about it."

Zechs had turned and was staring off down the passageway in the direction 
they had just come. Duo followed Zechs' gaze and saw what was happening. 
The lights in each part of the passageway were systematically being shut 
down, going out with a loud click. Each one followed the other in sequence, 
giving the impression of a person walking toward them while turning off 
the lights in each area he passed.

Zechs squeezed Duo's hand tighter and said in a low voice, "Don't let go 
of my hand, Duo. Whatever happens, don't let go."

**********

Heero scooped up his computer and moved to one of the large windows on 
the south side of the room. They, too, were locked, the heavy metal locks 
not moving an millimeter when he attempted to open one.

"Heero," cried Relena, "the passageway!" She tugged at the Japanese 
boy's arm, pulling him toward the unseen door in the room's east wall.

"Relena that's not a good idea. The windows are our best chance - 
you don't know who may be in there already."

"No one could be there! Zechs and I are the only ones who know about 
this. Now come over here Heero. I think I'm a better judge of this 
than you right now - and I was the one who got us out of that last 
problem, wasn't I?"

Her words froze Heero to the spot.

"Yes. ..Yes, I guess you were, Relena..."

Effectively stunned, the former gundam pilot was easily pulled into 
the passageway by his soon-to-be-bride.

**********

When the blackness came, it was total. Zechs and Duo, having grown 
accustomed to the dim light in the passageway, were now deprived of 
any visual information, leaving both of them disoriented. Both of them 
lost their footing for a moment, and instinctively reached out to 
grip the wall with both hands, breaking the contact between them.

"Duo?" Zechs called. "Keep coming forward, I'll wait for you."

Duo felt his way along the wall for Zechs' hand, his progress painfully 
slow. He had just avoided tripping over another beam along the floor when 
he felt something come over his head and press up against his nose and mouth. 
A strange, sour smell filled his nostrils. After that, though, there was 
only blackness.

Zechs continued to inch his way along the wall, having to slow even 
further every few feet to avoid tripping on the floor beams. After 
he had gone about twenty feet, he called back to Duo. There was no answer.

The Duke raised his voice.

"Duo? Duo - answer me!!! Are you hurt?? This isn't one of your jokes 
is it, because if it is it's not at all amusing."

Silence.

"Duo!!!!!!"

Heero Yuy's head snapped up at the sound. The low, resonant voice that
had cried out his former lover's name belonged, unmistakably, to the 
Duke of Sank.

"Duo?", Heero whispered. "Zechs?"

"Zechs!" Relena screamed, peering ahead at the passageway that 
ended in complete blackness. "Where are you?"

"What have you done to him, you bastard!"

Relena turned at Heero's shrillness, just in time to see the boy 
run past her down the passageway, toward the sound of Zechs' voice.

"Heero! Wait!", she called.

But the dark-haired boy had already disappeared into the inky 
depths of the secret passage.

**********

Zechs jumped at the sound of Heero's voice. He was moving as 
quickly as he could back along the wall, the way they had come.

/Hold on my love...my dearest boy...your White Knight is coming. 
And your Black Knight, too./

He had just gotten into a slow jog when his foot hit a large beam, 
larger than any of the others, running across the walkway in a north-
south direction. Zechs fell to the floor, rolling along the length of 
the beam and off of the passages central walkway. He got up from the 
fall slowly and began to feel his along the wall in front of him.

Meanwhile, Heero had not stopped calling Duo's name. As he had left 
the illuminated portion of the hidden hallway, he had tripped several 
times on the floor beams, coming down hard on his knees, but each time had 
gotten up immediately and continued running. He had gone about one 
hundred feet from where he had left Relena when he noticed a difference 
to the feeling of the air in the passageway. He slowed, then stopped. He 
could see nothing, but from the way the air moved around him he gathered 
that he was in the widest portion of the hidden hallway between the 
rooms of Sank Palace.

/Right in the center - just in front of the main Ballroom./

His eyes were blinded suddenly by the brilliant light of a flare, tossed 
out in front of him from behind. He turned away slightly, willing his 
eyes to adjust, and when he turned back he saw Duo.

The American boy was lying in a small heap at the eastern end of the 
widened area. There was no movement from the slender body, curled in 
on itself, the long, brown braid trailing out to the side.

Heero blanched and walked towards the inert form.

"Duo," he called hoarsely. "Duo get up! Get up you damned baka!"

"I wouldn't get any closer if I were you," a strange voice echoed 
through the gloom. "Think of your Princess."

Heero spun around. Relena was standing on the other side of the open 
space, caught in the arms of a strange figure Heero couldn't make out. 
The light from the flare, near Relena's side of the room couldn't penetrate 
the hood of the captor, who held a gleaming knife at Relena's throat, 
the tip resting lightly against the skin under her left ear.

"Let her go!" Heero roared and moved towards them.

Relena gasped as the tip of the blade nicked the skin of her neck, a 
tiny trickle of blood starting. Heero stopped and stood perfectly still.

"What do you want," Heero said softly.

"I want someone's life," came the calm response. "And I want you to 
decide whose life that will be. Of course I'll let your princess go. 
You can have her, and I'll take the charming little prince at your 
feet. How is that for a deal?"

Heero felt the blood draining from his head, leaving him dizzy and 
feeling strangely unwell. "What are you saying?" he managed to get 
out over the huge lump in his chest.

"I'm saying that you get to choose. You choose one for yourself, and 
I will take the other. You've chosen the princess, a wise move, I 
believe, a sensible move. Now move away from the boy and leave him to 
me. When you're far enough out of reach, I'll let her go."

"Who are you?", Heero demanded.

"Why, haven't you guessed? Hmm, why don't you think of me as Death. 
The final arbiter - the Reaper of Men's Souls. Am I such a stranger 
to you? Why, I thought we were quite old and intimate friends. Now move 
away from the boy."

Heero moved closer to Duo. "Let her go!!!", the Japanese boy shouted to 
the hooded figure. Relena's eyes widened.

"Make your choice!", hissed Death.

"Hee-Heero?", Relena spoke slowly, fearing the knife. "Please, I know 
you and Duo were friends...but Heero, I'm your fiancee."

"Relena, don't say anything! Just be quiet!" Heero pleaded.

Relena couldn't or wouldn't comply. "Heero - I'm the one you're spending 
the rest of your life with - the one you love most of all, so much you 
came back to me after all that time!"

"Shut up, Relena!" Heero screamed.

"Let him go, Heero! I don't want to die. Please? Please?"

"Noooooo!!!!" Heero pressed his hands to his temples and bent over, 
looking as if he might drop to the floor. Struggling to get his thoughts 
under control, the dark-haired boy straightened and looked back at Duo, 
still unconscious on the floor. He looked at Relena, her eyes pleading, 
full of faith. A moment went by and the expression in his eyes became 
resolute. He turned to Death and spread his arms out to the side.

"Take me."

"What?" Death asked.

"Heero!" Relena cried out. "Heero, no! You don't need to do that! We 
can both get out of this alive. He's giving you a way!"

"Well?" Heero addressed the hooded figure. "What about it? Let them 
both go - take me instead."

"And why would you do this?" Death wondered out loud. "It's simple, 
really. All you have to do is choose."

"I can't choose; it's impossible. Relena is...means the world to me. 
Without her I wouldn't be alive. And a lot of other people wouldn't 
either. I can't willingly let her die."

Relena's eyes shimmered. "Oh, Heero! I love you, too! You see, the 
choice isn't that hard after all."

Heero looked at his would-be bride for a long moment. The he slowly 
turned back and knelt by the slim boy on the floor. He shook violently 
as he stroked Duo's hair and took the heavy braid into both of his hands. 
Though he spoke to Relena, he didn't take his eyes off of Shinigami's 
former pilot.

"I don't love you, Relena. I respect you. I honor what you represent. I 
am forever in your debt for what you've done for me. But I don't love you, 
Relena, not the way you want me to... I love Duo that way."

The small amount of color left in Relena's face drained slowly away.

"No, Heero," she said softly. "That can't be true. You love me. Remember?"

Hands gripped the silky mass of hair. "Relena, I've never felt that way 
about you. But you're too important to me for me to let anything happen 
to you. And I...I owe you too much, don't I? "

He tried hard, so hard, to look up at Relena, but couldn't.

"I meant it when I said this would be an impossible choice for me. I'd 
rather give up my own life than allow you or Duo to die. I'm ready for 
that now -"

"Ah, thank God, you're all safe!," Zechs stumbled into the open space, 
his clothes dusty, one sleeve of his shirt torn. He glanced at Relena 
then his eye was caught by the sight of Heero holding Duo's braid...and Duo 
not moving.

Several things happened at once, then.

Heero spun around to warn Zechs off, fearing his appearance would jeopardize 
what small bit of safety Relena had at the moment. Zechs himself seemed to 
blanch at the sight of Duo's limp body and moved forward to where he boy lay 
on the dusty floor.

"Stay where you are, Zechs!", Heero shouted, his hands meeting the tall 
blond's chest and trying to push him back. Zechs was staring over Heero's 
shoulder at the figure of his young lover. He struggled with Heero to 
get nearer to the boy.

"Duo! Duo! Wake up!"

In an instant the lightning count had shaken off Heero's powerful grip 
and was at the small pilot's side. Heero's face twisted with deep but 
unspoken jealousy.

/No...No...NO!!! He's mine! We don't need you - don't want you here./

"Get away from him, Zechs," Heero's voice was cold with anger.

"What happened here?," Zechs demanded of Heero, his azure blue eyes boring 
into the Japanese boy, the look in them almost an accusation.

"Heero?" a small voice from across the room said. "Heero he's gone."

Both Zechs and Heero looked over at Relena. She was standing with her hands 
on either side of her neck. The hooded man behind her had disappeared.

"Relena -" Heero began to cross the room towards the girl, but stopped 
and looked back down at Zechs and Duo.

/Who do I go to? I just offered my life in exchange for them and yet 
I've never felt farther away from either of them than I do now...

The decision, as it turned out, was made for him.

"Hmmmmmm...", Duo stirred. He was having the most interesting dream. Strong 
arms were around him and he felt safe. He opened his eyes slowly, and looked 
up into the faces of Heero and Zechs./

**********

I looked into your face
My heart was dancing all over the place
I'd like to change my point of view
If I could just forget about you


"Zechs? Heero?" he said, a sleepy smile on his face. "What are you tw-"

Before he could finish, Zechs leaned down and gave him a passionate 
kiss. Without even thinking about it, Duo sighed and wrapped his arms 
around the nobleman's neck, his body arching upwards.

Heero tried to move towards them, but tripped and stumbled, landing 
on his knees several feet from the kissing couple.

"Duo?" he croaked. "Duo?"

The kiss ended with Zechs and Duo still locked in an embrace. Zechs' 
long blond hair had fallen over his shoulders and made a curtain between 
them and the other two in the room.

"Are you alright?" Zechs breathed, his voice tickling Duo's ear. "I was 
so worried about you."

To know you is to love you
You're everywhere I go
And everybody knows...

Zechs helped the boy to stand. Duo was unsteady and Zechs had to hold 
onto him at first. He brushed the long bangs out of Duo's eyes and smiled 
down as Duo struggled for control of his legs.

"'Course I'm alright," Duo said confidently, adding in a low mutter, 
"just wish the room would cooperate..."

"I'm going to take Relena back to the Library," Zechs said to Duo. "I 
need to see that the guards are still in place and whether they've caught 
that man."

He offered his hand to his sister. Slowly, an obviously disoriented 
Relena walked across the space, still lit eerily by the light of the 
flare. "Come, Relena," murmured Zechs, "let's get you back to safety. 
I'll come back for you, Duo," he called over his shoulder.

"That won't be necessary!" Heero shouted after them.

For the first time in almost a month, Heero and Duo were alone together. 
They stood several feet and seeming lightyears apart, staring at each other.

"Duo," Heero said softly but with anger and hurt obvious in his voice, 
"You let him kiss you."

Duo turned away, "I think we have a few more urgent matters that need our 
attention, Heero. Besides, that's hardly your concern anymore, is it?" Duo 
walked over to the flare and picked it up. "C'mon, let's catch up to 
Zechs and Relena; we need to make sure that intruder isn't waiting somewhere 
for her."

"You're not going anywhere until you tell me what's going on between you 
and Zechs," Heero's voice was now little more than a low-level growl.

Duo had had enough. In the aftermath of the knockout drops he was feeling 
wobbly and somewhat nauseated. The last thing he needed was Heero's stubbornness. 
He turned on the dark-haired boy in exasperation.

"Fine! Fine, Heero! You want to know about Zechs and me? I'll tell you everything. 
I ran into him at the airport last night and he gave me a ride to this place. I 
had a lot to drink and then got you and Relena's little punch. I felt worthless 
like the shit you must think I am, and I had sex with him in the garden. Just 
something to make the evening's events go away for awhile. And guess what, 
Heero? It worked. He gave everything he had to me, nothing held back. And he 
wanted it all from me, too. And I gave it to him. God that felt good. Not having to 
worry that I was being too loving, too passionate, too much of something you 
could never stand. Have you worked that out with Relena? Does she know she 
can't hold you too long, or want you too badly? Or maybe that whole part 
of your life doesn't apply to her - is that why you're marrying her?"

"Stop it, Duo!" Heero cried hoarsely. The two boys looked at each other, the 
pull undeniable, the differences between them almost unbearable. Duo turned 
away first, rubbing one of his brown boots along the dusty floor. 
When he spoke his voice was low.

"Really, Heero, wasn't there an even more humiliating way to tell me that you 
didn't want me anymore? Something more public, maybe? 'Cause I don't think you 
really tried your hardest..."

"I didn't know Relena had invited you, Duo. I had nothing to do with that." 
Heero's voice was cold and impassive again.

"Cut the crap, Heero!" Duo yelled suddenly. "You two are getting married and 
you didn't have a clue that she was planning that little scene? That's a little 
hard to believe."

"It's the truth. And she only invited you because she thought you'd want to 
celebrate with us."

Duo's mouth opened in disbelief. He honestly didn't know what to say to that 
last statement. After struggling several times, he finally succeeded.

"She came to my house on L2, Heero. She followed you there and she saw us 
there together. She's known about our relationship for quite a while, never 
mind what she tells you. You're being a sucker for her, like I've never 
seen you be for anyone. She's got you following her around like a pet! What's 
happened to you? "

"Don't talk about her like that," Heero retorted. "I owe her everything. You 
don't realize...what I...what she...you don't understand, Duo."

"No, I think I finally do understand. But I gotta tell you - as far as I'm 
concerned you're marrying a smug, self-centered bitch who wants you because 
she saw you first and because you look good on her arm. Maybe those 
death threats have scared some sense into her head, but frankly I'm not holdin' 
my breath."

Heero took a step towards his best friend, agony in his deep blue eyes.

"Duo, don't tell me all this today was your doing. It's obvious how much you 
resent Relena, but you didn't really threaten her, did you. Tell me you didn't."

Duo's words, when they came, were hoarse, full of pain and sorrow and loss.

"I've always dreamed of doing something like this to her. So often during the 
past year, and every night since you left me, thinking of how to get her away 
from you. You might marry her, Heero. You might multiply like rabbits and fill 
the world with Peacecrafts. But I won't ever believe that you're with her 
because you love her."

His voice faltered a bit and he turned away from Heero.

"Maybe...maybe she has something over you, something she's convinced you is 
enough to make you stay with her. But if she really loved you Heero, she would 
never have used that on you. If she really loved you she would feel like 
dying but she would let you go - because she'd realize that's what you really 
needed to be happy. And that's what I've done, Heero. I've let you go. You've 
made it so obvious that I'm not the one you need."

Heero shook his head and reached his arm out towards the braided boy. "Duo, 
you don't know what just happened here -"

"Maybe I do hate her. Maybe I hate the way she'll get to spend her life 
with you and not have to pretend she isn't in love with you. Maybe I hate 
the way you've come back to her so many times, even when you knew what it 
did to me...

Duo turned back slowly and faced the boy he had spent the better part of 
two years chasing.

"Yeah, Heero, maybe I do hate Relena. But I wouldn't send her death threats. 
What would be the point? You've made your choice. Harassing her won't make 
you choose something different."

Heero's face looked strangely lovely in the light of the dying flare in 
Duo's hands. The Japanese boy was staring straight into the American's violet 
eyes, locked onto them with his own. His voice was a ragged whisper.

"And so you've chosen Zechs?"

Duo fought with himself to keep eye contact with Heero. A part of him could 
not believe what he had to say next to the darkly handsome boy standing 
before him.

"Yes, Heero. I've chosen Zechs. I want - no I need to know what it's like 
to be with him...to be his."

Heero's face didn't change expression. But the Terrific Soldier was suddenly 
unsteady on his feet, reaching out a trembling hand to brace himself against 
the wooden wall. As Duo watched him, Heero's entire body began to shake 
uncontrollably.

Concern for his former lover overpowered Duo's reluctance to get too close. 
He moved forward and caught Heero's right arm, putting it over his shoulders. 
With his free arm, Duo encircled Heero's waist and began guiding the 
shaken boy back up the passageway to the Library. He barely noticed that the 
tiny wall lights along the passage were glowing again.

to Part 5

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