Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Ma Petite Mort ❯ Chapter 4

Ma Petite Mort - Part 4 / Naomi

0.0.0.0.0.0

Time flew by in such haste, the days and nights mixing in Heero's head until he no longer had any track of time. It didn't matter. Time was of no relevance to him. He had learned to live without it, no longer caring if it left him behind. He was willing to stay forever trapped in a day if it meant remaining as content as he was.

There was so much freedom hidden within ignorance, behind the simple act of discarding time; of giving it little importance in life as you live one moment after another. Worrying was left for later, and later never came when one lived in a moment. He wasn't due anywhere, wasn't needed anywhere. No one was expecting him to perform any duty; no one was expecting him at all. In a way, he felt almost none existent by having absolutely no strings attached. That feeling was far more intoxicating than the liquor he drank. He lost himself in it like he lost himself in Adele, though one was far more pleasurable than the other.

So used to that freedom it was hard for him to acknowledge the fact that he had to leave his cocoon, his small haven, to attend a small errand. Adele wouldn't be bothered with shopping or housework and sent him to do everything for her. It was annoying at times, and his annoyance usually lead to a useless argument in which he habitually lost. Adele would make up for it later though, when the two of them were in bed, on the carpet or in a dark lavatory booth in some bar.

Sex was her answer for everything, but he didn't mind, perhaps because he never allowed himself to think about it. Thinking required too much effort and had a bad habit of guiding him down dark, unwanted paths. He surrounded himself with as much physical stimulation or brain-numbing activities as he could to avoid thinking. Adele often teased him that he was becoming a drunk. He didn't mind. Not yet, that is.

It was early March and the streets of Brussels were painted with golden sunshine. Clear blue skies stretched above the city, replacing its gloominess with brighter, richer, colors. The roads were wet with rain - as it always rained in Europe - but glowed with the radiance of spring. Wet cobblestones reflected the soft sunshine,  shining like gold. The air was still chilly, but crisp and fresh.

Everything was beautifully vibrant in the springtime. People walked leisurely down decorated streets, dressed in colorful outfits to compliment the season. Life was renewing itself once again, filling the streets with color and laughter.

Heero walked down an ancient pedestrian-only street, making his way through a large bazaar. The makeshift stands around him were packed with a variety of goods: fruits, vegetables, pastries, clothing and more. He was carrying a large paper bag full of groceries in one hand, and a dark-red apple in the other. Content showed on his handsome face as he took a bite from the apple, enjoying its moist yet crisp texture in his mouth.

Children ran past him, laughing as they chased after another child who carried a large blue balloon. Heero smiled, somehow touched by the sound of their childish laughter. Only about three months ago there was nothing but fear in their eyes. He watched the people around him live their busy lives: smiling, arguing, talking and walking along the street without a care. The city was blossoming in the peacetime. It was a lovely sight, one he enjoyed often when he went out on errands.

He took another large bite from his apple and chewed on it contently. Living with Adele - for two months now - made him realize so much about himself. His likes and dislikes about many things, as trivial as they may seem to some, were something he was unaware of before. He never enjoyed food before, but after going to the market with Adele one day - one of the few times they went out in daylight together - Heero discovered the simple enjoyment behind fine cuisine. They walked from one food stand to another and Adele offered many different things to his lips. She showed him how to pick the sweetest, reddest apple and helped him find his favorite type of cheese. Later, when night had fallen and they returned home with bags full of goods, she taught him how food could be used for more than just eating. 

Heero smirked, the naughty memory playing in his head. Memories of that night raised a smug expression on his face, which made him look no better than an average horny teenager who'd just scored with a girl. He knew that the people who watched him at the moment saw it well on his face. He didn't give a flying fuck, as Duo used to say.

A few girls giggled somewhere next to him and he stopped, suddenly realizing that he was probably making a total fool out of himself. He looked around, searching for the source of laughter, but whoever it was, they were long gone. He sighed and cast his gaze down, berating himself for letting his mind wander so freely out in public. After he scanned the crowd once more, he continued walking.

Then he saw it. Just a few stands ahead, standing by the entrance of a tall, ancient building. It was only there for a second before it disappeared. A long, thick, chestnut braid. Heero's eyes only caught a flash of it, swinging between the crowds before vanishing behind a colorful pile of souvenir tee shirts.

Duo. He was here! He... was came back to look for him!

The apple fell from his hand as he clutched the grocery bag close to his chest and opened in a run. He sprinted between the masses of people, frantic as he ran. It had to be Duo. He'd recognize that braid anywhere. He was here, searching for him. It made sense. The hospital was only two blocks away. Duo probably got word of his stay in the hospital. It was him. It had to be!

He reached the souvenir stand in less than five seconds and then stopped abruptly. Panting, he looked left and right, his blue eyes wide as he searched the crowd for a hint of a chestnut braid. The sound of his own heavy breathing was loud and desperate in his ears. And then he saw it again! There! Just a few meters away. He was standing next to the cosmetic stand, talking to some girl.

Heero approached slower this time. He pressed the paper bag closer to his chest, suddenly nervous. It was stupid, but he couldn't help it. He hoped it didn't show on his face.

Duo's back was turned to him, so he couldn't see his approach. He stood behind him for a second, hesitating, before finally speaking.

“Hey.” He let out quietly and regretted not having anything better to say.

Duo turned around, slowly, until he was facing Heero. For a split second more he was certain that he had been right and was actaully happy, relieved that someone did care for him, that someone did come back for him. But it only lasted for as long as it took his brain to process the image his eyes were sending. The person standing before him was not Duo.

It was a young, teenage, girl with a long, chestnut braid and a pair of large, pretty, green eyes that were looking at him with an aloof expression. Her friend, the one she was talking to before, also turned to look at Heero and they both looked at him in disgust.

“Oh, c'est le pervert d'avant.” (= Oh, it's that pervert from before.) The braided girl spoke to her friend while she ran her eyes over him in revulsion.

The other girl snorted and glared at Heero. He had to hold himself from shying away. They were obviously the girls who giggled as they caught him grinning like a sex-crazed teen only a moment ago.

“Vous pensez réussir à nous avoir, nous aussi? Oubliez-ça!” (= Do you think you can score with us too? Forget it!) The braided girl's friend said angrily, mockingly, and Heero was speechless.

It took him a moment to find his voice again. Embarrassment was not something he was used to. “No, I... J'ai pensé que vous étiez quelqu'un d'autre.” ( = No, I... I thought you were someone else.) He mumbled as his mind whirled with humiliation. He was too accustomed to being safe and oblivious inside his timeless ignorance that he easily lost his composure when faced with an awkward situation.

“Allez vous en, espèce de pervert!” (= Go away, you pervert!) The braided girl spat angrily and turned around. Her friend followed and they walked away, muttering among themselves.

Heero watched them go, well aware of the fact that people were looking at him. He felt so stupid! Not for the mistake he'd made, but for the fact that he actually allowed himself to believe that it was Duo he was seeing. For about a minute or so there had been hope in his heart, something that was absent from the battered organ ever since he was a child. He had actually hoped to see Duo. He was happy that he came looking for him. Hope had blinded him and made a fool of him once again.

And he didn't understand why. He felt both disappointed and confused. But then again, why was he so happy in the first place?!

 

Heero decided that it would be best to ignore the unwanted sense of confusion. He had no room for it inside his bubble, inside his semi-kind-of-life. He returned to Adele's apartment with the groceries and after three shots of Brandy pretended that nothing ever happened.

They had sex, as usual, and Heero allowed himself to sink inside her, to lose himself in her depths. Duo's panting echoed loudly in the back of his head, as a reminder of that night at the dorm. He drove deeper into Adele, desperate to quiet the voice, trying to ignore it as he came closer and closer to his little death. His mind exploded when his orgasm came, shattering everything within, silencing everything else with the roar of the blast.

As he died, the world dissolved into nothing. Nothing had happened at the marketplace. Duo never brought that girl into their room. There was no peace, no war, and no ache in his heart. Everything was as it should be - sweet, blessed nothingness sparkling in ripples of white in his head.

Once again there was silence as he collapsed back on the bed, numb and unfeeling as a corpse. His eyes were wide open but unseeing, still adjusting to the blow of the orgasm. As he slowly returned to life, floating up in lukewarm waters, towards a dark, cold, surface, Heero heard Adele's soft laughter.

Her long fingers caressed the skin behind his ear, playing with the sweaty edges of his dark brown hair. She muttered something about his superb performance that night. Knowing her, he was certain that she was aware of his unstable mood. He was always rougher, fiercer, when he was troubled and she often enjoyed the result of his frustration and anger.

Heero couldn't care less. Exhausted, he hurried to sink into another oblivion, into the realm of slumber where he could hopefully rest in peace a while longer.

When he awoke the next morning, after a thankfully peaceful slumber, the bed was empty. It was unusual for Adele to be up before he was. An empty bed suited him just fine. He didn't want to be bothered by anyone, not even her. It didn't matter where she was, she often left him alone and went about her business, whatever that may be. He didn't care enough to ask if she was purchasing drugs or selling her body to more men. It wasn't his business.

Just when he was about to fall asleep again, the front door creaked open. He looked up and was surprised to see Adele stand at the doorway; dressed in the un-trashiest outfit he'd ever seen her wear: a pair of tight blue jeans a large, loose shirt with a collar that revealed both her shoulders. Her red/green hair was tied back and under a blue bandanna, along with a pair of sunshades over her head.

“Get dressed.” She said with a barely hidden smile and walked towards the kitchen.

Heero watched her put a kettle on the stove and frowned. “Well, that's new...” He muttered and sat up. “Are we going somewhere?”

“Just get dressed, will ya? As gorgeous as you are, I don't think it's appropriate for you to walk outside naked.”

“We're not going to a club, are we?” He asked in annoyance and glanced at the clock. From his experience, if Adele was offering they go out, it was usually to some shady club. “It's only ten AM.”

“No, it's not a club.” She answered calmly, smearing jam on a piece of old toast. She turned around to face him, leaning on the kitchen counter, and took a bite from her toast. “Now get dressed, handsome.”

Sighing heavily, Heero dragged himself out of bed and grabbed a pair of boxers from the floor. He wasn't sure if it was his or hers, but it didn't really matter to him. After a quick shower he dressed in a pair of simple clothes he bought at some cheap department store. Adele served him breakfast - dried toast with jam and coffee. As he ate, Adele packed a few groceries in a bag. She would not tell him where they were going.

It all became clear when they stepped outside the apartment building where a small, red convertible was waiting for them. He turned to look at Adele, who rattled the keys in her hand, grinning.

“Ah, don't worry. It's a rental. It won't cost you more than 40 credits a day.” She assured him and jumped into the driver's seat. She put the food she'd packed in the back.

“Are you taking me out on a picnic?” He asked, still standing outside the car.

“I thought we might try something different for a change.” She said, adjusting her sunglasses while looking in the rearview mirror.

“You're joking.”

She turned to him, frowning. “Why would I? You're feeling down, right? It's all part of the service.” She grinned maniacally, “not bad for a fifty dollar whore, huh?”

Heero sighed and shook his head, not even bothering to comment on that. He entered the car and settled in the passenger seat. It felt nice taking the passenger position for a change. He'd been behind the controls for too long.

Adele smiled and started the car. The radio came to life along with it, playing a cheery tune. He opened a bag of tortilla chips Adele had brought for him and leaned back into his seat. Munching on his snack Heero kicked back and relaxed, his peace of mind slowly returning.

He watched the city pass them by, the wind caressing his body as they drove up the main highway. The road led them out of the city center, past the suburbs and into the country. Houses and shops were replaced by green hills and a clear blue sky. The greenery stretched into the horizon where it kissed the sky in a beautiful contrast of rich green and heavenly blue.

Fluffy white clouds floated above like a herd of sheep. Far off into the horizon two mountains met, the slopes sliding down to meet at the bottom. The clouds accumulated between them, flowing down like a waterfall to create an ominous gray mass inside the infinite blue.

Cows pastured in vast green meadows, where winding mountain streams splashed happily about. The water flowed along the road, racing against their car in splattering white currents. Once in a while he could spot a small house on a hill, surrounded by limitless farmlands. Lush green pine trees huddled in groups to create a forest, climbing up the mountain's steep in a gravity-defying way.

Everything was so beautiful. He never stopped to appreciate nature before. Earth was something he'd always taken for granted. It was something he needed to protect. No one ever bothered to give him a reason why. No one ever showed him, ever told him, about green prairies, forests, rivers and hills. About the breathtaking sight of the green earth below the vivid blue sky. It just went on and on, further from where the eye could see. It was so much more than just a blue sphere orbiting in the blackness of space. There was just so much in it. So much life. So much nature. It was too much to take in.

“What are you thinking about, handsome?” Adele's voice interrupted him softly.

A bird flew past the car and then soared higher into the sky. He watched it disappear into the sun.

“Earth is beautiful.” He whispered in a quiet, awed, voice.

“Yes, it is.” she agreed, smiling, “Can you believe that people wanted to destroy all of this?”

He didn't answer. His gaze was fixed at the sky, up where some of the clouds hovered lower than the rest, their shadow passing over the greenery. Gazing up at all the different layers of clouds, scattered above him in different shapes and heights, an enormous sensation filled his heart. Something too big for him to identify. He was overwhelmed with nature, with the tremendous magnitude of it. For the first time he realized where he had been piloting Wing. He had actually been up there, among the clouds and beyond. He felt sorry for not appreciating that beauty earlier.

“I wonder what if feels like,” Adele spoke up again and Heero turned to her. She smiled at him. “To save the world.”

He frowned at the bizarre question. He did not anticipate that kind of question, even from her. It was just too... philosophical. And it hit too close to home. He never hinted about his past as a Gundam pilot and it was odd that she was bringing up such a question.

“What kind of question is that?” He finally managed to say.

Adele shrugged casually, as if there was nothing unusual about asking such a question.

“I'm just wondering,” she gestured at the green landscape., “What does it feel like to know that you saved all of this.”

Heero turned to the skies again, silent and thoughtful. He studied the clouds quietly, trying to name the great feeling in his heart.

“I suppose that it feels much like watching the sky,” he said thoughtfully, his gaze somewhere between heaven and earth. “It's too big to grasp.”

“Must be.” She agreed, laughing.

 

Two and a half hours out of Brussels Adele took a turn off the highway and into a dirt road. A rather bumpy ride led them through the mountain ridge and into a forest. The engine hummed loudly as she sped up the mountain and then somewhat down until finally arriving at a small valley within the ridge. There was a forest clearing in the middle of the small valley, where a narrow river flowed across a green field. The small meadow was littered with large black boulders. The black rocks seemed a bit out of place in the pastoral picture, but still allowed it to remain breathtaking.

“My favorite picnic spot.” Adele said, watching Heero's astonished face. “Beautiful, isn't it?”

“You do this kind of thing often?” He asked, finding it hard to believe.

Adele shrugged and began driving down the slope, towards the valley. “No, but if I would have it would have been my favorite.” She chuckled bitterly and adjusted her sunglasses. “Actually, I can't remember the last time I was here.”

She sounded grim, a tone of voice Heero rarely heard from her. Usually she would smoke hash or drink before she became that bitter. He didn't ask any further, as a part of their unspoken agreement. She didn't ask about the nightmares he sometimes had and he never asked why she sometimes cried when they had sex. A glass of liquor usually made all of their worries go away. At least for a while.

As they approached the clearing Heero realized that the black rocks he saw from above were no ordinary rocks. In fact, they weren't rocks at all.

“What the hell?!” Adele called angrily and stopped the car. “What is this shit doing here?!”

Heero didn't answer. He couldn't. He simply gazed at the green meadow, where the deep blue river splashed mellowly and large, scorched hunks of metal soiled the land. Mobile suite parts.

“I thought that all the battles took place in Brussels.” Adele said in disappointment, her gaze pained as she looked upon the metal graveyard.

“They did.” Heero said quietly and stepped out of the car. “This is... something else.” He whispered, his gaze fixed on a large metal rod that lay like a bridge over the river, a long, round blade in its edge. A scythe.

Cobalt eyes narrowed in both pain and sorrow at the sight. He could hear Adele step out of the car and slam the door, cursing in her colorful language.

“This sucks!” She cried angrily, kicking a small piece of broken, half molten metal. “Who the fuck dumps a mobile suit in a place like this!?”

“These aren't regular mobile suit,” Heero said quietly, as if in some sort of trance, “they're Gundams.”

“Say what?!”

Again he avoided answering and began to slowly walk towards the wreckage. He scanned the scattered remains of once great and fearsome comabt suites. He could recognize some of the parts. Sandrock, Heavyarms and Deathscythe lay in rusting pieces over the lush green land, silent, scorched and dead. Dead. As if they've ever been alive.

Heero's features were blank as he walked among the debris, his movements awkward and stiff, entranced.

Behind him Adele followed silently, as if she too was paying her respects to the sacred ground. Or perhaps she was just being tactful with him; giving him his much needed space.

He ran his hands over the parched metal, the soot blackening his fingers. The metal was warm from the sun, rough and unyielding under his palm. So much power used to flow through these now useless pieces of metal. So much hope they had carried. Those now worthless machines were responsible for the future of so many. Now they lay to rot under the sun, to be swallowed by nature and buried in the ground. As they should. There was no more room for them in a world of peace. Quatre, Trowa and Duo knew that when they self-detonated their suits.

Duo...

He turned around, his eyes drawn to a large, bulky piece of black metal. It was larger than the rest and raised about two heads above him. It still reeked of smoke and burnt rubber. There was an opening at the top, facing the sky. A cockpit.

“What are you doing?” Adele asked when she saw him climb up the mass of burnt metal, his hands searching for something to grab onto as his feet sought a proper footing.

Heero didn't answer and swiftly pulled himself up to the top. There was little room to stand for the cockpit's entrance was wide open and took most of the space on that side of the structure.

Inside he could see the pilot's chair. The cushioning was all gone and all that remained was the metal skeleton, molten like a steel waterfall, but still in the vague shape of a chair. He hopped in.

“Hey!” Adele called behind him but he ignored her. He settled in the chair, which required him to lie down and prop his legs up on what should have been the cockpit's floor. He had a direct view of the sky, where clouds still trailed across the heavens like sheep after a shepherd. He reached a hand to the control stick above him - where the front cockpit, if it was facing the right way, should be. He closed his fist around the decaying metal rod, a familiar sensation washing over him. He closed his eyes, allowing the power, the pain and remorse flow through him.

“Are you okay in there?” Adele's voice broke his trance and he opened his eyes to see her peering down the cockpit's entrance.

“What, you had dreams of becoming a mobile suit pilot? Too bad for you kid, the war is over.”

Heero ignored her. He wanted to know in which cockpit he was sitting in. He could not determine by simply looking around, everything had been destroyed beyond recognition.

He reached for the small storage compartments scattered in various corners around the cockpit. It was where he and the other pilots usually kept their personal belongings, from fake IDs and a toothbrush to a change of underwear. Most of the compartments were empty, giving him no clues. He could feel Adele eyeing him strangely as he continued to raid the cockpit.

“Are you insane?! What are you looking for in there? You ain't gonna find a corpse.”

“I know that.” He muttered and reached up behind him, towards a small compartment above the broken monitors. Small pieces of glass cracked loudly as he opened it slowly and reached a hand inside. It was where the pilots usually kept their pistols - because it was forbidden to pilot while having a pistol at your waistband, for safety reasons. But Heero knew one pilot who used that slot for a different purpose.

His fingers searched inside until something rattled when he touched it. The sound was pleasantly familiar. A smile touched his lips. He retrieved a small, wrinkled bag of tortilla chips. Barbeque flavored, of course.

Adele's eyes widened. “Don't tell me that this is yours!”

“No, it's not.” He answered quietly, looking at the bag in his hand. Like he had suspected, he was sitting inside Deathscythe's cockpit. Duo's cockpit.

“So you... you know the dude who died here?”

“He's not dead.” Heero answered without looking at her.

Adele frowned and shook her head. “Okay. Whatever.” She looked at him lengthily as he stared at the snack and then sighed. “Ya know what? I'll be in the car.”

Heero merely grunted in response and felt the cockpit shake a bit as she climbed off. Then there was silence and he was left alone with an old bag of tortillas and his grim thoughts.

Closing his eyes, he focused on the warmth of the sun touching his skin and the quiet sounds of the forest. So peaceful, a suitable resting place to machines that have seen so much death and destruction.

Heero smiled and opened his eyes. He was humanizing them again. Like the other pilots did. He never considered Wing as anything more than a tool. Now he could understand the other pilots' attachment. The Gundams were their lives. It must have been hard to leave them here and move on.

He opened the snack. It was old, tasteless and too spongy to be any good. He ate it anyway and leaned his head back to gaze at the skies.

Duo. The last time he saw him was when he had punched him in the gut and made him fall unconscious so he wouldn't be in the way. He used him for a chance to save the world but that was not an excuse. He could have gone about it differently, shown a bit more concern. He hadn't been fair to him. Not ever. It was no wonder Duo didn't wait for him at the end of the war. It made sense now.

The only reason he had been there at the end of the first war - after Libra - was because they were all there. All of the pilots. It was circumstantial, nothing more. They lived together for a year but he never took the time to get to know Duo better. He was always busy keeping track on world affairs, waiting knowingly for the outburst of another battle. And when that was over, where did that leave him? Alone. Completely, utterly, alone. No matter how many times he joined Adele in her bed, the two of them were always alone.

 

That night he had no desire for Adele's games. He was not in the mood for any of it. He didn't want to be touched or even looked at. He lay on the bed, brooding. Adele sat on the beanbag and smoked. She sat in silence, without even turning the stereo on - to make it clear to him that she was bored. Heero ignored her and stared at the ceiling, a harsh, hardened expression on his face.

Adele watched him for a long minute and sighed heavily.

“Are you okay?” She asked with concern.

Heero's gaze remained fixed on the ceiling. He didn't answer.

“Tu te comportes comme un petit garçon têtu.” (= You're behaving like a stubborn little boy.) She muttered in annoyance before inhaling from the narghile.

First a horny teenager and now a stubborn child. It was amazing how wide the scale of emotion was. Apparently there was more to life than just remaining content inside a single moment. His bubble had been burst and it threw his entire world off its axis. Why? He had been so comfortable with his ignorance!

Duo. It was all because of him. It always came down to him. But why? They were hardly friends. They slept in the same dorm room a couple of times, saved each other's asses a time or two, even fired at one another on a few occasions. But never beyond that. It was never beyond the mission.

When he thought about it, he hardly knew Duo at all. He never paid much attention. Or did he? He knew what Duo would have to say on just about anything. Why was that? He hardly ever listened to his constant chatter. Duo talked so much, even when there was no one to listen.

How could he know so much? When did he take the time to notice? And why was he thinking about him so much? Why did Duo bring that girl into their room anyway?! He thought about that the most. There were a million other places for them to be that night. Why their room? Why when Duo knew that he wasn't sleeping! How could he sleep under such circumstances!? Duo had done that on purpose. He let him listen as he fucked that girl. It was cruel. It was humiliating. It hurt.

Now Heero realized how much it had hurt. Duo had hurt his feelings. No one had ever done that before. No one came so close to touching his heart like that ever since... a very long time ago.

A few clanks were heard as Adele picked up a bottle of liqur and a glass. Heero turned away from the celing and watched her pour the booze into the glass. She gestured to him with the glass, her movement making the golden liqour dance from side to side.

“Want some?” She asked with a softer tone than before.

Heero sighed and looked away. “No.”

“You're refusing a drink! This is serious!” She laughed.

Heero rolled over to lie on his side, turning his back to her. He cradled his head in one arm, trying to hide from the world, from the troubling thoughts that returned so suddenly, so unexpectedly, into his world.

“I thought you couldn't last a day without a drink.”

“I'm not an alcoholic.” He muttered in annoyance.

Adele snorted. “Not yet, you mean.”

“Shut up.” He snapped and brought a hand up to hide his face. She was right, and it aggravated him even more. He depended too much on liquor to quiet his mind and now he could no longer do it himself. He just kept thinking and thinking and thinking! His head hurt. Or was it his heart?

“I bet you can't make it through the week without drinking at least one shot.” Adele teased and gulped down the liquor. “It's what keeps you going.”

“I'll wager you on that.” He retorted in a streak of sudden determination, a shadow of his old self.

“You're on.” She said, chuckling, and poured herself another shot. “The winner gets a bottle of Brandy. Not the cheap stuff.”

“Whatever.” He muttered as an agreement and closed his eyes. Perhaps sleep will help to ease his mind.

“Well, if you dun wanna drink, do you want me to suck your dick?” she asked as if she was offering candy, “That might help you feel better.”

Unlike many times before, her offer repulsed him.

“No.” He growled, pulling further away, to the other edge of the bed.

“What, are you sick of me already?” She rasied a green eyebrow in disbelief.

“Yeah.” He breathed, although he wasn't sure if it was true.

Adele laughed at his answer. “As blunt as usual. I like that about you.”

Heero didn't answer. He stared down at the sheets, recalling all of the times he had poured his sweat into them, basking in the pleasure she gave him. Escape. It was all for escape. Why couldn't he return to that?

“This lifestyle doesn't suit you,” Adele said softly, as if reading his thoughts, “I knew it from day one.”

He sighed heavily and contemplated over her words. “I had to find out for myself.” He finally answered, feeling a strong sense of finality in his heart. Perhaps it was time?

“Do you regret staying with me?” She asked, her eyes serious.

Slowly, he turned to face her. “No.”

She smiled gently. “Is this goodbye then?”

He turned back to look at the ceiling, lost in thought. “I don't know yet.”

Adele sighed heavily. She turned to watch the window, a forlorn gaze in her eyes as she raised the narghile pipe to her mouth. She remained silent for the rest of the night.

Heero fell asleep, and dreamt about Duo.

0.0.0.0.0.0

To be continued...

Thank u so much for all the people who reviewed so far! You give me strength to keep writing! Thank you so much! *hugs*

Naomi.