Night Wind

Part I – See the Sunlight Fading... Fading...

Chapter Nine: Unexplained

He can see it coming. It’s there in his eyes. The truth.

Duo tries to force his gaze away from the bastard mix of regret and resignation in Heero’s eyes. Tries... and fails. His own thoughts are oddly silent as he stands here, staring at Heero. He is barely capable of swallowing let alone speaking. There is only one word he desperately wants to say but it gets tangled in his vocal cords: Don’t.

And then it’s too late; Heero speaks first.

“Duo...”

Duo’s entire body tenses, sensing the resulting verdict from Heero’s weeks of introspection rushing toward him like the inescapable discharge from a Buster Rifle.

Heero draws in a deep breath and tells him in a carefully modulated tone, “I owe you an explanation.”

“No, you don’t,” Duo hears himself say in a wooden voice. The response is automatic, slipping past the tension in his throat with mysterious ease. He is struck by the surreal quality of this moment. He can’t quite process the sight of Heero in the slightly wrinkled, unfastened shirt that Duo had made with his own hands to accompany the rest of Heero’s costume. If he looks closely enough, he can even see the slight unevenness of the seam over Heero’s left shoulder...

“I promised you one.”

But Duo doesn’t want to hear it. For a moment, he’s nauseated by his own cowardice. How is this more difficult than setting explosives in the dark? How is this testing him in ways that his pilot training never did? What power does this unnamable fear have over him?

“About what happened... before the mission...”

Why Heero’s words further unsettle him, Duo doesn’t know. He’s known ever since he’d received Heero’s letter that this moment – this conversation – had been inevitable. What he doesn’t understand is how he can simply stand here – brain numb and breath held - while Heero tells him...

“You were the closest friend I’ve ever had–”

Were...

It’s just a word. Just one word, Duo tells himself. Just a single, stupid word. It shouldn’t have the power to destroy a man.

But it does.

Duo almost gasps at the sudden implosion taking place in his chest. Only his earliest instincts keep him eerily silent. Beyond the rush of his own pulse, he is aware of Heero’s voice. It is deceptively soft. Oddly soothing. For all that it is informing him that their friendship is over.

And with that thought, Duo feels himself overwhelmed. He raises a hand and beseeches, “Stop. Just... just stop.”

The silence rings in his ears when Heero does. Gathering his strength – his mask – for one last grand performance, Duo crosses his arms and turns back to the beautiful countryside and the manicured grounds below. It doesn’t seem nearly so perfect and peaceful now.

Duo feels a bright smile curving his mouth and hears himself say, “We were under a lot of stress during that mission, you know?” He barks out a laugh. “Hell, I’d almost bit the big one the night before!” Duo shakes his head, easing even further as the words roll out of him. “Don’t worry about it, man. Seriously. It’s already been forgotten. I think it’s just better for both of us if we just move on, you know?”

For a moment, there’s no response and before Duo can stop himself, he turns to see if Heero really is still standing next to him. He doesn’t have enough time to do more than confirm Heero’s presence before a soft, pained gasp is sucked into Heero’s lungs. For an instant, Duo wonders what had caused it, but the answer echoes up at them from below.

Duo switches his attention to the courtyard and comprehends what Heero must have witnessed a mere second ago. Yokaze had taken a hit. And a pretty nasty one by the way she’d crumpled to her knees, arms wrapped around herself as if she’s trying to keep her guts from spilling out onto the ground.

“Shit! We’d better get down there...” Duo says, pausing only when he realizes he’s suddenly talking to thin air.

...

She’s never seen Trowa Barton this angry before.

Never.

Taki watches the former acrobat wrap his long arms around his pale and gasping lover as his cold gaze settles on Wufei. But he says nothing as he eases Yokaze to the ground and places his hands over her stomach. Taki doesn’t see what he does with his fingers but a moment later, Yokaze is finally managing more substantial breaths.

“Explain yourself, Wufei.”

Standing beside her husband, Taki shivers in the warm breeze. Taki watches Wufei force himself to take a deep breath before he admits, “I honestly don’t know. We were fine and then suddenly...”

Taki glances helplessly at her friend but Yokaze’s concentration is still focused solely on re-inflating her lungs. As she watches, Taki can’t help but wonder how the hell this had happened. Yokaze is an accomplished fighter. Taki has seen her take punches – and more – before and yet this is the first time she’s seen Yokaze this winded. Damn it, she just knew she should have climbed down from the terrace for a better view!

Once again, Trowa’s ghastly quiet, hard voice snags Taki’s attention, “If she suffers any aftereffects of your carelessness...”

Even as oblivious as Taki is at times, she hears the threat in Trowa’s icy tone easily.

For a moment, the only sounds are Yokaze’s slightly rasping breaths. But then she reaches for Trowa and manages a soft, pained grunt. The way she grasps the fabric of his shirt and nods in the direction of the villa articulates her meaning clearly. Trowa easily lifts her into his arms.

Stunned by the entire episode, Taki watches him climb the terrace stairs and disappear inside the house with Yokaze nestled against his chest.

“I don’t get it,” she mutters to Wufei. Still staring after Trowa’s departing form, she wonders aloud, “What exactly did he mean by ‘aftereffects’?”

Wufei shakes his head. Taki frowns at the odd transition of expressions she sees. His puzzlement morphs into surprise before transforming into something akin to sorrow. But he only shakes his head at Taki’s question.

He suddenly turns toward her and gives his wife an appraising look. Arcing a brow, Wufei inquires gently, “Are you feeling all right this morning?”

Taki blinks. “Huh?”

“I’m just wondering why you haven’t demanded that I carry you across the threshold yet,” he replies in a droll tone.

Taki bristles. “I pride myself on being a tad bit more original than some established cliché.”

“Uh huh.” He doesn’t bother to sound convinced. “That would be why I removed a black garter from your thigh with my teeth in the presence of our closest friends last night.”

Taki’s grin is quite feral as she vividly remembers that portion of the previous evening. “Yup.”

...

Heero leans heavily against his bedroom door until it snaps shut in its frame. Feeling vaguely nauseous, he slumps against the hand carved pine. His hands fist against his stomach and he forces himself to breathe deeply and evenly.

For the first time in his recollection, he is genuinely happy that Yokaze has someone else to lean on, someone else to make sure she’s all right, someone else to tell her to rest. Heero winces at the very thought of having to go down the stairs into that courtyard right now and check on her. As he ought to.

Each breath burns a little less than the last but it’s a long time before he pushes himself away from the door. Stunned and aching, Heero stumbles toward the bed and pulls his still-packed duffel from beneath it. The cheerful morning sunlight pours into the room and over his back but its warmth is of little comfort.

Clutching the duffel’s strap in his fist, Heero kneels on the carpet and feels his bewilderment increase as the pain starts to subside. Still gulping down air in silence, he wonders with uncharacteristic frantic confusion why Duo’s announcement would leave him feeling like he’d just taken a very palpable punch to the gut.

~End of Chapter Nine~