Started: March 3, 2001 Finished: March 4, 2001 Disclaimer: *waves* The G-boys aren't mine (thought I wish they were), and I'm just babysitting them while all the other 'offical' people might be able to get a rest from their characters. ^_^ *A crash is heard in the background, as well as a few muffled curses that soon turn silent. One more crash is heard, although this time there's a moan* ...And their libido... ~_~;; 1+2/2+1. AU, TWT. Fantasy story. C & C very welcome!!! ^_^ It helps me write. Imminent Fate, part 11 Shamera sitafire@hotmail.com "I don't understand." Duo said. "What did you want me to do? Purify my soul? It's not exactly as if you can douse me in gasoline and light me up. I'm not sure that 'Holy Fire' of yours would do me any good." Diana huffed. "We're not going to burn you, you idiot! All you have to do is _step_ in the fire." Duo blinked slowly, turning the words over in his head. Comprehension was slow to dawn. "You want me to _WHAT_??!!" Diana scowled, the fire behind her playing shadows in her supposedly peaceful features. For a moment, Duo could mistake her for Quatre on Zero- system. Damn, those two looked almost identical. "Don't be stupid, Duo," Diana said, totally unlike the girl that Duo had gotten to know during the past few weeks. "You already saw this coming. You couldn't have been so stupid as to come here without knowing exactly what was coming." Duo opened his mouth to protest that he *hadn't* known anything about this, but then closed it as he realized that he had been too trusting. Tilting his head off to a side, he glared long and hard at Zechs, as if trusting the OZ pilot was his fault. "The basics are very simple." Diana continued to say, "You step in the fire and your Guardian comes. He or she must grant you a wish- unless your Guardian is a alicorn," she hesitated slightly, and Duo thought he saw her glaring heavily at Zechs, "then they'll just come here." "I don't see what this is supposed to do," Duo said flatly, lips turning down into a frown. Artemis blew the bangs of her dark hair up. "It draws the Elyian Guardians, that's what it's supposed to do. The Holy Fire is the only thing that can break barriers. Used to be that people would use the Holy Fire to try and draw wishes from the Angels, because it was so rare for someone to actually get a wish. Kind of a crib sheet, if you know what I mean." Great. A cheat to get a wish. Was something like this going to condemn him to hell or something? Oh wait. There was no hell. Only Daejin. "And you want me to *step* into it?" Duo flustered. Artemis sighed as Diana got ruffled up again. The other Delos' weren't much help, either. "I think we already covered that." she muttered. "I'm not stepping into a fire." Duo said bluntly, giving the girls before him a hard glare. "Nu uh, no way. No offense to you guys, but I'm not stepping in _any_ fires. Being burned to death is one of the most painful ways to die here." Artemis frowned at him, then reached out from where she was to touch to bright flames. Duo watched her fingers go through suspiciously, then widened his eyes as she put her entire hand in the fire and let it stay there for a few seconds. Pulling her hands out from the flames, she grinned at him. "Does that answer your question?" Duo gaped, wondering if this was because she was a Witch that she wasn't harmed, then trying to comprehend what just happened. "Don't try to make sense of it," Diana informed him. "After all you've seen in the past few weeks, and this I heard from Treize, you really shouldn't be so surprised to see a fire that doesn't harm someone." She was right, actually. Duo wasn't too surprised. As a matter of fact, it was _cold_ in the room, not hot like he thought it would be. The flames before him didn't seem to be providing any warmth at all. Taking a step foreward and seeing Selene and Demeter pull away from him and the fire, he carefully lifted a hand and brushed it along the outer flames. It was a cool touch, like touching the glass windows after it rained. Except not as solid. Realizing now that he wasn't going to get hurt, Duo waved his left hand through the center of the fire, the flames trying to crawl up his arm as he did so. It was so cold in the center... and when he pulled his hand back he saw frost glistening on his skin. It was a fucking cold fire. "This is your Holy Fire?" he nearly shrieked, but managed to control himself. "You want me to freeze?!" Leto stiffled her chuckles. "A minute ago, young man, you were worried about getting burned to death. Now you're worried about freezing?" she tilted her head, still not letting down her hood, "Do we need to get into another arguement about this?" Duo shook his head, rubbing the thin layer of frost off on his black jeans. It came off immediantly, much to his relief. "Geez, just when I thought I'd heard just about everything...." He breathed out a puff of air, raising an eyebrow at the Witches. "So you want me to step in there? Is there any guarentee on my safety?" "Is there ever?" Leto asked him. "Good point." Duo eyed the fire skeptically. He put his hand in the flames again, shivering when the fire started crawling up his arm like a living being. He didn't think that he would be able to get used to this cold. ot numbing, but definately not the ordinary cold that you feel when you go out in the snow with t-shirt and shorts. "We're ready whenever you are." Leto said. "You don't have to do any- thing other than stand there. We're going to be the ones who will call your Guardian." *Call me Guardian. Can't _I_ just call my Guardian? It's not as if I've never seen her before... but yeah... I don't really know how to call my Guardian either....* "Alright, fine." He pulled his arm out and once again wiped the frost off on his jeans. It was just so damned cold! That concept of a cold fire still hadn't really taken a hold on Duo's mind yet. He sent a cold glare towards Zechs, then took a deep breath. "Cold fire..." he murmured, and slumped his shoulders in resignation. This time, he didn't hold out his hand towards the fire, but stepped into it all at once. The results were immediant. Ice settled in his bones as Duo grit his teeth as hard as he could to keep from screaming. The fire roared up as soon as he stepped in, and the flames danced over his, covering his skin with a thin sheen of ice that practically glowed. His clothing remained unaffected, however, much to the boy's surprise. He could barely hear the mumbling that started up as soon as the ice cold flames hit him, but tried to concentrate on something other than the cold that settled inside his bones. A few seconds seemed like an eternity there, until finally Duo realized that if he could just concentrate on the fire then he would feel better. Duo stumbled as the flames soared up besides him, now trying to get away from the living flames. But the fire refused to let him go, and no matter how far he reached, the flames would cover him, surrounding his skin even outside of the fire. It cocooned him completely. Like liquid fire. Not able to take it anymore, even when he was thinking about the cold, he let out a scream of anger, seeing that no one around was going to help him out. Why weren't they doing anything? Luckily for him, though, the pain started to wear down. Within moments he was starting to feel better- embracing the cold and letting it flow over him. It gave him a sense of power- of control. The control that he so desperately wanted in his life, but had been lost when the events started happening a few weeks ago. *Have I ever been in control of my life before?* He mused, now feeling his hair resisting the cold, not frosting over like the rest of him. Dimmly, he realized that the tie had come off, and that his hair was slowly settling about him, giving him an odd sense of even more control. The fire was welcoming. It freed him from pain and confusion. For the first time in his life, Duo felt like he could gain control of what was happening to him. He had the power to do so. <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> Heero had been listening intently at the door, figuring out what was going on and wondering if he should interfere. He had a feeling that there was something that the Witches weren't saying. Diana was *very* distressed about the Holy Fire, as were the others. Why would they be so angry that they had to create fire like that? From what they were saying, it did people good. Duo's scream of anger from inside had been the last straw. Taking out a gun from somewhere, Heero broke down the door easily, running in to check on his partner. But it was the sight inside that shocked him. Inside were the Witches and Zechs, all backed into the corners as the fire grew bigger ang bigger. And inside the fire... was Duo. Even Heero could barely reconize the other boy. Duo was standing in the middle of the fire, his hair loose and floating about him gently, flickering and twisting like the fire. His clothes seemed even darker now that it was surrounded by the bright orange and blue of the fire. His skin was covered with a layer of ice, making it glimmer swirl in the light of the fire. But what Heero didn't reconize the most were Duo's eyes. The half- lidded violet orbs turned a few shades closer to black, and in them were emotions that Heero could swear was never there before. Out of all those emotions in the expressive eyes, Heero saw satisfation. A deep, twisted sense of peace and contentment that he knew right away was more like a drug than real peace. Upon his entry into the small shack, Duo turned his eyes from where they were looking at the others to look at him. A small smile curved at his lips, one that was mocking and serene both at the same time, making Heero wonder what had happened to his friend in the short time that he hadn't been able to hear what was going on. "Heero," Duo whispered, his voice soft and husky. "How nice of you to join us. Aren't you going to come over here?" Heero's hands went numb at the voice, nearly dropping the gun that he was holding. Thank god for training. "Something's wrong with you, Duo." Duo laughed, ignoring the other people that were there. Silently, he walked out of the fire, the flames caressing his skin and pleading for him to go back. Duo ignored that too. The longhaired boy walked up to his partner, smiling as he saw that Heero's eyes had hardened. Placing a finger close to Heero's throat, Duo smiled wider when he saw that Heero had grabbed his wrist. What he didn't expect was for the boy's eyes to soften so. "Duo, snap out of it. Whatever happened to you in the fire..." "Nothing happened to me," Duo cooed. "The fire didn't do anything to me other than give me the control that I've always wanted." he slipped his wrist out of Heero's grasp, and his smile widened into a grin as he saw that Heero hadn't moved his hand from the position where he had grabbed Duo's wrist. He circled the pilot of Wing, running a hand over Heero's arms. Heero could feel goosebumps raise up where Duo had touched him. The smaller boy's fingers were cold, freezing. There was no mercy for Heero as Duo stopped behind the other boy, and leaned close, breathing into Heero's ear. "Didn't you ever want control of your life, Heero?" he whispered, touching his lips onto Heero's neck. The other boy was still frozen, not even moving his eyes to watch Duo. "Isn't that why you act so cold towards others? You wanted control of your life, your emotions. But you've never had control. That's why you crave and long for it so badly that you would push whoever that could take control of your life away." Duo touched his cold forehead onto the side of Heero's cheek, and kissed under the chin. The was still smiling as he felt a shiver go up the other boy, whether it be the cold that Duo eminated or the closeness, he didn't care. The other boy was so warm. Here was also something else that he had wanted to take control of for a long time. His love life sucked. "I could give you control, Heero," Duo purred. He circled his arms around the boy's waist and was disappointed when Heero didn't react. His violet eyes flickered for just a moment to the Witches and Zechs, but quickly dismissed them when he realized that they weren't even paying attention. Those silly Witches were working on a spell. Well, no spell could make him loose his control. He was more powerful than they were now. Duo let out a contented sigh as he rested his head on Heero's shoulder. "I know you like me, and I like you too. Maybe even love." He chuckled. "Love. It's a bitch, isn't it? If feels like you're loosing control... when in reality, you're only giving that control to the person you trust most with it. You still have your control. Oh, yes, it's still control. I could give you that control Heero. If you want it." He could feel Heero tense, and slowly, warms hands were placed over his own, taking them apart. Duo let go, watching Heero curiously under the curtain of his hair. Feeling the cold hands under his, Heero winced slightly as he turned to face the boy that had been haunting his dreams for so long. Duo was watching him, violet eyes dark and half-lidded with desire. Holding Duo's hands in front of him, Heero let himself admire the creature before him for a moment. The frost on Duo's skin had melted some- what, making his skin sparkle under the cold water. His hair fell in a dark curtain around him, cloaking the dark clothes that were starting to stick to his skin as the water soaked it through. In his current state, Duo looked ethereal. But looking into Duo's eyes reminded Heero that something was wrong. Relaxing his posture slightly, Heero prayed that he would be able to do this right. He pressed his forehead against Duo's, shivering slightly as he felt the cold and clammy skin against his. Still holding Duo's hands, Heero whispered quietly, "I want it, Duo. I want you to hold my control. But not like this." he was painfully aware that this private moment held several guests in the room, but tried not to let that get to him. "Suki da, Duo. Maybe even more." With that, Heero swiftly caught Duo's mouth under his, feeling the cold skin under him with clarity and silently willing his warmth to seep through. He could feel Duo leaning into the kiss, pressing his hands against Heero's. Heero ran his tongue over Duo's lower lip, feeling the sweet mouth under his and was rewarded when Duo opened his mouth for him. With that, Heero let go of Duo's hands and desperately gathered the other boy into his arms, running his hands through that long and silken hair. Their tongues touched tentatively, and Heero pulled the cold body against his own as tightly as he could manage without hurting Duo. *Please, Duo. You don't have to always be in control. You taught me that. It's okay to let go.* With that thought, Heero felt Duo tense up and scream. End part 11. *hums* Wow! Writing scenes like that are harder than I thought! Oh, and about the comment about Duo's hair being 'silky'? I've heard complaints that it's been overused. Well, shit on this (I'm on PMS, can you tell?) - My hair is a real bitch to take care of. *tugs on own braid* Right now, it's only below my shoulders (I cut off about two feet last year) and it's really, really soft. That's a good thing? No. Take the Winter Formal. My best friend's mom spent an hour and a half plus half a bottle of mousse on my hair before she got it to curl. Ten minutes later, it's back to normal. *yanks hair* I love my hair, but this certainly sucks!!