Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Without the Heart ❯ Without the Heart ( Chapter 1 )

Title: Without the Heart

Author: Vega-Lume

Disclaimer: I do not the G-Boys, I do however like to play with them and I do promise to put them back when I am done. No money made, blah, blah, blah…

Warnings: Yaoi, A/U, OOC-nes (a/u, duh.) smidge of angst and mention of citrus (if you look really, really hard)

Beta: Presser_Kun

Pairing: 1+2x1 (or however you want to put it)

A/N: This is my eighth year writing a Gundam Wing story for Halloween.

My very first was a drabble titled 'Strangers' posted in October of 2003, wow! Eight years!

This story has been rolling around in my head for quite some time, but I kept putting it off so I could focus on the other fics I am working on. Maybe getting this out of the way will help!

Title provided by Presser_Kun

by

Vel

The snow was horrendous, swirling about the car in flurries so thick that even the wipers working at full speed failed to clear the view for the driver. Visibility was near zero, and he couldn't see the road at all, much less any landmarks or signs to indicate where he was.

Duo's parents were celebrating their twentieth wedding anniversary in Rome, and though they hated leaving him alone at Thanksgiving, they promised to be back in time for Christmas. Since he had no other plans, he decided to take up an offer from Lucas, a friend from college who invited him to spend the holiday at his home in Colorado.

Duo had never been there, and the weather had progressively worsened for the past few miles. The map he purchased when he rented the car lay useless on the passenger's seat.

Lucas assured him that the road was always clear, and though he lived a bit out of the way, the house was easy to find. Now Duo had wished he hadn't turned down his friend's offer to pick him up at the airport.

Growing up in southern California did not offer up many chances to learn how to drive in the snow, and Duo's lack of experience had left him skidding a few times already. He slowed to a crawl in the hopes that if he did hit something, he wouldn't be going fast enough to cause any real damage.

The snow lightened a bit and he was able to see the road ahead, winding its way through the wooded area of Lucas's family's property. According to his friend's directions, after he took the curve up ahead, he would be able to see the mountain. Then it would be a straight shot ahead for about fifteen minutes, with the road ending practically in Lucas's driveway.

Encouraged, Duo eased around the curve and sped up a bit. The snow stopped falling and the road was now a very welcome sight. Duo gave the car a little more gas, pushing as fast as he dared.

Then a deer appeared out of nowhere, staring at the car with wide eyes, standing frozen in the middle of his path. Duo pulled a hard right, screaming off the road, the car bouncing uncontrollably down a wooded sloop. He wretched the wheel side to side in vain as he silently prayed. A large tree suddenly loomed in front of him. Then blackness.

***

It was dark and he was cold. There was smoke and a long, loud sound that made his head pound; then nothing.

***

When Duo woke again, his head was clearer. As he surveyed his car he realized the severity of his situation.

The hood was crushed against a large tree. There were faint trails of smoke wafting out of the seams. The air bag had deployed and deflated.

He struggled to force the door open and spilled out onto the hard ground that surprisingly bore very little snow. Looking up told him why. The canopy was thick, branches blocking out much of the snow and nearly all of the light. His watch was damaged in the crash and there was no real light. There was no telling how long he had been out.

Duo stood and leaned back into the car to pull his duffel from the backseat. He rummaged in the outer pocket for a moment and found his cell. A moment later he put it back in his bag with a frustrated 'humph.' No signal, and to make it worse, the battery was on its last bar.

With a sigh, Duo slipped the strap of his duffel bag over his shoulder and starting walking, following the chewed up trail of earth left by the car.

It took only a few moments from the time he lost control until he hit the tree. It should take no time at all to find the road again. However, after several long moments, the woods were still thick and dark and there was no sign of the road.

He turned to glance back the way he came. To his shock, the car could no longer be seen. A spike of fear shot up his spine. He spun slowly, looking towards where he had intended to go and stopped. He stood gaping in surprise when he could no longer see the trail the car had left.

He looked from side to side, then back towards where the car should be and back towards the road again. Everything looked the same. Nothing stood out to give him a landmark, no large rocks or oddly shaped trees.

He began to hyperventilate, his breath rising before him in misty puffs, and only then did he realize how cold it really was. The trees were quite thick, blocking the snow and the wind leaving him in an eerie frozen silence.

He walked slowly in what he hoped was the right direction, frozen leaves and twigs crunching under his feet. He began to think he was going the wrong way as it seemed to get darker and darker. A violent shiver overtook him—whether from cold or fear he didn't know—and he supposed at this point it didn't really matter.

It felt as if he had been walking for hours in the dimness when the trees suddenly thinned and a dark shape appeared before him. He stopped and blinked into the darkness at the shape. It seemed to grow closer, though he had not moved for several moments.

As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he realized the shape was the face of a rocky cliff. He approached it cautiously. He touched an icy hand to the stone, mostly to reassure himself that it was actually there.

He jerked his hand back in surprise, for the stone felt almost scalding hot to his frozen hands.

Tentatively touching it again, he allowed the warmth to seep into his hands, then pressed his body to it, soaking up as much warmth as he could. He moved slowly, warming his chest, then shifting to warm his back and nearly falling to the ground when he slipped into a narrow crevasse. It was pitch black inside. He held his breath, waiting to hear a creature breathing somewhere in the depths.

As with the strange woods, he heard nothing but he felt the air stir and the crevasse was warmly inviting.

After several moments his eyes adjusted to the darkness, and to his surprise, he noticed a faint light at the far end. He tripped over unseen things and squeezed through a tight spot once or twice before reaching the other end of the crevasse. He nearly crowed with joy when a clear star-filled sky greeted him.

He was in an empty clearing, the rocky wall to his back. There was no sign of life, no lights or sounds to indicate where the road might be, just a comforting stirring of warm air that made him suddenly realize how tired he was.

There was no cover over the clearing, just a large darkness in the distance that might mean more trees, or perhaps another rocky cliff. He was too tired to face the unknown, so he turned back to the crevasse. It was wide enough where it met the clearing for him to curl up inside with his duffel and rest until morning.

He crawled six feet back into the crevasse before sitting and taking off his coat. He set it aside then pulled his duffle into his lap and opened it. He checked his phone and mentally kicked himself for not taking the time to charge it when he was still at the car, or at least shutting it down to save what little battery life it had left. He stuffed the phone back into the bag and removed a pair of pajamas. He pulled them on over his clothes, draped his coat around him, and snuggled his face against the rough fabric of his bag. He was asleep in mere moments.

The sound of birds woke him the next morning and he stretched comfortably, but when he opened his eyes he sat up in shock. He was tucked into a narrow bed in what looked to be a small one-room cottage.

The smell of cooking greeted him and his stomach protested loudly, reminding him that he hadn't eaten for more than twenty-four hours.

The door opened without warning and a young man walked in, his arms full of firewood. When he saw that Duo was watching him, he smiled warmly and hurried to relieve himself of his load. The young stranger moved to the large fireplace and ladled something into a bowl, then turned to offer it to his guest.

Duo accepted the small wooden bowl with a grateful smile. His companion smiled in return then turned back to the fireplace to lift the lid from another pan. He piled something else into a second dish and brought that to Duo as well before turning to sit at a narrow table and taking a sip from a steaming cup waiting there.

“Thank you,” Duo said as he shifted to rest the plate on his knee. He took a bite of the creamy porridge in the bowl and closed his eyes, savoring the surprisingly good flavor of grains cooked in cream.

He took a few more bites before he realized that his host was watching him with a pleased smile on his face. Duo studied the young man and noted that he was quite attractive. His pale skin seemed radiant in the bright sun. His hair was dark brown with copper highlights and his eyes… though the sun was behind him and cast them in shadow, Duo was certain they were blue.

“Where am I?” Duo asked, moving his spoon to his plate so he could sample fluffy scrambled eggs.

The boy flashed him another smile, then rose to refill his cup from the kettle sitting near the fire. He took a few more swallows, before he topped it off again then brought it to his guest. Duo had just taken another bite when it dawned on him that he was probably using the only set of dishes this young man owned.

“Have you eaten yet? I'm sorry to make you wait.”

The boy frowned, looking at the half-full plate Duo held out to him. He shook his head and smiled, lightly pushing the plate back before offering the cup again. Duo took a sip and was greeted by a lightly sweetened minty tea.

“Thank you,” he said again, and was surprised when the boy suddenly turned away and left the cottage.

After a few more bites, Duo realized that he wasn't hungry anymore, even though the delicious food warranted indulgence.

He rose from the bed and noticed that he was still dressed in layers, though his boots, coat, and duffle were waiting near the door. He placed the dishes on the small table, retrieved his duffle, and pulled off his pajamas, stuffing them inside. He pulled out his phone and charger and looked around for an outlet, but found none.

Frowning, he put the phone back, trading it for his hairbrush. He pulled the tie off and picked out his lustrous chestnut braid, then brushed his hair. He dropped the brush into his bag and re-braided his hair with the ease born from many years of practice and twisted the tie on the end again. He slipped into his boots, and went in search of his host, hoping for answers to the many questions that plagued him.

He found the odd young man rounding the house with a large basket in his hands. He seemed startled to see Duo up and about, but after a moment of hesitation he smiled brightly.

“Where am I?” Duo asked again. The boy looked as him quizzically. His smile faltered slightly. It was then that Duo realized that his host might not understand him.

“Do you understand English?” Duo repeated the word `English,' and the mysterious youth's smile became a frown of concentration. After a moment it lifted again, this time seeming apologetic.

“Lovely…” Duo mumbled under his breath. /Well, this works in the movies…/ he thought, then spoke aloud, touching a hand to his chest. “My name is Duo.” The boy's head cocked slightly to the right, but he said nothing. Duo sighed and tried again, then a third time. He was about to try a fourth when the boy suddenly said “Due” and touched Duo's shoulder.

“Yes! Yes, I'm Duo,” he replied excitedly, then touched his host's shoulder.

“Heero,” he said simply, shifting his basket, which Duo noticed was full of vegetables.

Duo tried asking Heero where they were and how to get back to the road, but Heero seemed unable to comprehend what Duo was asking of him. Figuring that getting to Lucas's house in time for Thanksgiving was a loss, he decided to help Heero out as thanks and wait until Heero understood what he was asking or someone else showed up—whichever came first.

By the end of the first day Duo realized that Heero had been alone for some time. All the food he prepared was either grown in the patch behind the house or gathered from the surrounding land. Water came from the falls that flowed over the cliff that he had squirmed his way through the night before.

Meals were cooked over the fire in the fireplace, and all hot water was heated there as well.

That night he slept alone in Heero's bed again and dreamed of his car alone in the woods. He felt guilty because Heero had to move the table and lay a blanket on the floor to sleep on.

In the morning Duo woke to an empty room, hot porridge, and minty tea. The spot where Heero had slept was cleared away and the tiny table was again in its proper place. Duo rose and ate the offered breakfast quickly, then went in search of his host. There was no sign of him around the house or in the garden.

That left three options: the small wooded patch on the far end of the clearing, the waterfall, or Heero had gone to see someone. Excited that there might someone else around, Duo started towards the wooded patch. If anyone lived nearby, then it must be there, because that was the only place that couldn't be clearly seen from where he stood.

He had managed only a few yards when a sound behind him drew his attention. He turned to see Heero climbing the small hill that sloped down from the house towards the waterfall. He was carrying a heavy bucket in each hand.

Duo jogged to the other boy and took one of the buckets. He received a grateful smile in return.

“Ya know,” he began conversationally for the quiet of this place felt uncomfortably heavy, “I'm here now, at least for a while. I can help with chores and stuff.”

For the first time Heero seemed to understand. He offered the second bucket to Duo and pointed back towards the water. Though it was quite a distance away, Duo could see that there were several items lying near the falls.

Understanding what Heero wanted, he took the water to the house while Heero turned back to the waterfall.

They moved somewhat stiffly around each other at first. Duo could tell that Heero wasn't used to having someone else about, though he seemed to welcome Duo easily into his home. Before retiring on the second night Duo was shocked to find that another bed had been added. Though it had obviously been constructed quickly, it was sturdy and even more comfortable than the first.

They gathered water each the morning. Heero taught him which plants in the garden were foods and which were weeds, how to fish, and where he had placed his snares for birds and rabbits.

One day when Duo was chopping wood he realized how warm he was. He was startled, for the first time he noticed that it was always warm here. He had not seen one flake of snow or drop of rain. He was in the Colorado Rockies in November, yet the weather felt like southern California in June. He lowered his ax and looked around. It was pleasantly warm, the sky beautiful and clear with no clouds or birds to break the endless expanse of blue.

“Due?” Heero called, still not quite able to pronounce that last syllable. “Fuood.” Duo smiled at Heero's accent, raised the ax and lowered it quickly, embedding the edge in a stump as Heero had shown him. He gathered the freshly chopped wood and returned to the house.

And so they lived, day by day, Duo helping around the place, cleaning, teaching Heero English, learning to cook. The world seemed to stop as they lived on in a perfect oasis.

“Duo?” Heero asked one day as the two young men lay in the tall grass, enjoying sun and sweet, fragrant air as a warm breeze blew around them.

“Hmm,” was his sleepy reply.

Rolling onto his belly, Heero scooted closer so he could peer into the other man's face. Cracking an eye at the sudden shadow, Duo smiled and lifted his head slightly, planting a quick kiss on Heero's tempting lips. And thus began a new aspect of their life together.

Days, weeks, months could have gone by, but Duo never noticed. Each waking moment was filled with bliss and warm contentment. He was in a euphoric haze and splendidly in love with his quiet companion.

“I have caught a rabbit in a snare, how would you like to eat it?” Heero asked, laying the wrapped animal in the small table, which could remain in place now that they shared one bed.

“A stew sounds nice. We can use some of carrots that are ready in the garden.”

Heero nodded, and began to un-wrap the animal. “I'll start cleaning it. Could you please bring in some vegetables?”

“Of course,” Duo replied, and laid the blanket he was mending aside. When he returned Heero was adding the meat to a large stew pot.

“Would you like to go swimming after I set the pot to stew?” Heero asked, handing Duo a knife so he could start cutting vegetables.

“That sounds nice. I need to do a little washing, too,” he said, pointing at their blanket with a knowing smile. Heero blushed lightly and busied himself with stirring the pot. After adding the chopped vegetables and some water, Heero moved the pot to a hook to allow it to cook for quite a while without burning.

“I need to finish mending this blanket; could you take the other things down and start them? I should be finished here soon.”

Heero simply smiled and gathered the washing in his arms. “Please check the stew before you come. I don't want it to burn while we are away,” Heero said as he walked out of the door.

Duo didn't reply, but turned back to the blanket, intending to mend it quickly. Once the tear was sewn, he threw the blanket on the bed then gave the stew a quick stir. It seemed a bit too hot, so he poked a log deeper into the fireplace, away from the pot. He returned the poker to its proper place and retrieved the blanket. A flash of red under the bed caught his eye. He knelt to pull it out.

Duo stared at the strange item in his hand. It was made of vivid red fabric, almost two feet in length.

Something deep in the back if his mind screamed at him to wake up.

The thing was familiar, yet he couldn't place it, like a name on the tip of his tongue. Turing it over in his hands made something shift, and it opened. Strange items spilled onto the floor.

Cloth… some sort of clothing, yet quite different from what he wore; a small leather item; and a long black cord with a strange lump on one end.

He lifted the black cord and smoothed his fingers down its length, studying the lump on the end, touching the prongs and puzzling over what it could be. He shook his head and set it down, then lifted the small leather object. As he held it by one corner he noticed that it opened. He found several things inside.

He poked at a pocket inside it and pulled out a thin rectangular thing that had writing on it he couldn't decipher. Setting it aside, he found two more like it and placed them with the first. In another pocket he found another little rectangle, this one with a picture of a person in place of writing.

The tiny face in the photo had eyes the color as the flowers Heero favored—“Duo's Eyes,” as he called them. Then as if he had been struck by lightning everything came flooding back.

Duo sat on the floor gasping as he stared into a tiny image of his own face, his green flannel pajamas, cell phone charger, and red duffle bag lying beside him.

He remembered his whole life: growing up, his parent's faces, going to school. He remembered Lucas's invitation to spend the holidays with him and the car crash. He remembered the strange woods, the crevasse, and finding the valley. But everything after that seemed like a hazy dream, as though he had been asleep and only just wakened.

He looked around the cottage. It seemed so familiar, yet so foreign. The smell of cooking, the small table, the bed where they slept and made love… Heero!

Jumping up, bag and contents forgotten, Duo ran from the cottage and down the hill to the waterfall.

Heero sat near the water's edge, rinsing one of the soft cotton homespun shirts that they shared. At the sound of Duo's arrival he looked up and smiled, but his smile faltered when he noticed the flustered look on his lover's face.

“What's the matter?” Heero asked, rising to meet him.

“There's something crazy going on. We have to get out of here,” Duo said quickly. He grasped Heero's wrist and dragged him back to the cottage.

“Duo, please tell me what's wrong,” Heero pleaded as he was pulled up the hill. Once they reached the cottage, Duo led him to sit on one of the stools and handed him his shoes.

“Put your boots on,” Duo insisted while stuffing his things back into his duffle. “We're getting out of here. This place is cursed or bewitched or something. I have a whole life: family, friends, and school that I have somehow forgotten while I've been here.”

“Duo I don't under—” Heero tried to say while putting his boots on.

“We need to get out of this valley and back to the real world. My family must be worried sick.”

Heero finished with his boots and knelt next to Duo, who pulled out his cell phone, hoping that there was just enough power saved to tell him the date. It was completely dead.

“Why do we need to rush? Surely we can plan this out before…”

“Here, wear this,” Duo said, cutting him off. He pulled the green flannel top over the boy's head. “It might be cold, so we'll need the blanket, too, and maybe some food.” Duo continued almost to himself. “If we don't leave now, I might forget again,” he added quickly as an answer to Heero's question.

He found his coat in the bag and pulled it on, then threw the strap over his shoulder. He stuffed the blanket through so it lay across the bag, then grabbed Heero's hand.

He ran to the cliff, pulling Heero behind him. He had to find the crevasse again. He knew that if he didn't find it right then, then whatever spell this strange place had over him would cloud his memory and he would forget himself again.

As they neared the wall, the sky became darker and darker, filling with thick, murky clouds. Huge drops of icy rain fell, soaking them to the skin in seconds. The wind picked up as if trying to blow them away from their goal.

“What's happening?” Heero cried out over the howling wind, struggling to keep up with his determined lover.

“I don't know. It feels like something is trying to stop us,” Duo called back, not daring to turn his eyes away from his target. He remembered what had happened when he crashed: the car, then his path had both vanished the moment he looked away. Something had forced him to find this strange place, and now it was trying to make him stay.

A distance that should have taken only a few minutes to cross took nearly a half an hour as pea-sized hail joined the wind and rain, peppering them with tiny pebbles that stung.

Duo didn't breathe until they reached the wall. Somehow he found the crevasse moments later. Panting, they sat side by side in the same place Duo had slept the night of his crash. The air inside was cold and damp with a rancid musty smell. It was nothing like the warm, inviting place it had seemed before.

Waiting only long enough to catch breath, Duo moved on, again holding Heero's hand tightly. As they neared the other side, Duo knew something was different. Where before it had been frigid and dry, it was now covered in a flurry of heavy snow, so wet and thick that their already wet clothes had no chance against it.

Duo pulled Heero close. He wrapped his arm around him and threw the blanket over them both.

“We should find a road or another person soon, as long as we keep the cliff behind us and we don't look back,” Duo said, tucking a corner of the blanket into his waistband in an effort to keep it tight around them. Heero nodded, trusting Duo wholeheartedly.

They stepped out of the crevasse and were slammed back by the awesome power of wind and snow. Heads down, they pushed into it, determined to break free.

They trudged for what seemed hours, and though it looked as though they hadn't managed to go anywhere, Duo didn't dare look back to see how far behind them the cliff was. Somehow he knew all would be lost if he did.

Suddenly Heero cried out in pain. His knees buckled under him.

“Heero!” Duo shouted over the howling wind, tightening his arm so he could hold Heero up. “Get up! Walk!” he cried, trying to get Heero's legs to hold him.

“I can't…” he gasped. “I can't walk anymore.”

“You have too,” Duo yelled, hoisting Heero up again. “We can't stop now.” Heero managed a few more faltering steps before collapsing against Duo.

“I'm sorry,” he said, his voice sounding like a whisper in the roaring wind.

Frantic to keep them going, Duo did the only thing he could think of. He scooped Heero into his arms and kept walking.

The snow and wind seemed worse now, a blizzard trying to push then back as they fought against nature. The snow was deep, and pulled at Duo's feet and legs as he slogged through the heavy wetness. His eyes drooped as exhaustion filled him. He glanced down at Heero and was shocked to see how ill he looked. His face was a chalky grey, with dark circles like bruises surrounding sunken eyes.

/Why does he look so ill? He was fine this morning… it was this morning, wasn't it? How long have we been walking? Is it still today? It's so dark here. Could it be tomorrow already?/

Duo's left knee buckled, and he barely managed to stay on his feet. He felt lightheaded and dizzy, but he continued on.

He struggled for several more steps then his knee buckled again and he went down, falling to his side. Heero fell from his grasp, rolling away from him. They lay there for some time weary with defeat before Duo noticed how quiet it was. Blinking, he sat up and found that they were in some sort of clearing free of snow and wind.

It was cold, and so dark that he couldn't see more than five feet in any direction. He crawled to Heero and turned him over, He nearly cried at how bad Heero looked now. Duo knew that if he didn't get help soon, Heero would die.

He pulled Heero close, rocked him, and prayed that they would be all right. He paused his rocking when a twig snapped behind him.

“Duo Maxwell” called an oddly melodic and decidedly feminine voice.

Duo shifted to glance over his shoulder and found a lovely young woman with long white blonde hair standing just inside the ring of darkness that surrounded them.

“Duo Maxwell,” she repeated, “you must return the heart to the body.”

“I don't understand.”

“You must return the heart.”

“What heart? I've taken no heart!”

“You have,” she insisted. “Heero.” His name on her lips carried like a long sweet note from a bamboo flute.

“Heero?” He questioned, looking down at the boy who lay in his lap.

“Yes,” she whispered drawing, out the `s.' “He is the heart. You must return the heart to the body.”

“Why can't we go? I want to go home.”

“You can go,” she breathed. “Heero cannot.”

“I want him with me. He wants to leave, too,” Duo insisted. The strange woman stepped closer.

“Heero cannot,” she repeated, kneeling to reach him. “Without the heart, the body will die. Without the body, the heart will die.”

“You mean…”

“Yes,” she whisper-hissed. “Our world. This place is magic, old magic. We have always been here; so has he. Without him this will all die.”

“I love him,” Duo said softly.

“I know,” she replied, her voice sad yet warm.

“I want to go home. My parents?”

The strange woman looked sad again, then fixed him with her colorless eyes.

“The life you knew is no more, for you have been away for nearly fifty of your human years.”

“What?!” He shouted.

“Where the heart rests is sacred. Nothing changes, nothing ages. In that place, time itself ceases to exist. Memory is forgotten, as both past and future hold no value in a world that remains in the present.”

Hands trembling, Duo pulled Heero closer to himself and closed his eyes.

“If…” he began at length, “if I take him back, will he get well? And if I stay with him, will I forget everything again?”

“Yes,” she whisper-hissed again. “He will be well and your grief will fade. You both will be warm and contented,” she promised.

“Okay,” he said. He stood, cradling Heero in his arms again, suddenly finding the strength he lacked before.

“Come,” she beckoned. “I will guide you.”

It took mere moments for the woman to return them to the crevasse where they could pass back into Heero's valley.

“You must continue on your own. I can go no farther.”

Duo nodded and stepped into the crevasse. A warm teasing breeze caressed his face as he focused on the splendid pinpoint of light that lay ahead.

Owari

Note: I had thought to add a bit more to this story, telling of them getting back to the valley and perhaps touching on what happened in Duo's world when he vanished, but as I re-read, I felt that this was the best place to stop.

Much love,

Vega