Gundam Wing is copyright...Sotsu, I think it is, and a few other important companies and people. I OWN SHINOBU'S SOUL! Uh, how'd that get there? -_-;;

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SATURDAY:

Shi-chan: Awful hard to make myself pull away from those lovely fanfics and work on my own!

Duo: She's addicted....

Shi-chan: *Cheerfully* I know I'm confusing the hell out of people with those last two chapters, hee hee! Onward!

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Death Becomes Him

~By Shimegami-chan

Part 28

SHOUNEN-AI...ANGST....ETC...

The usual...o.O;;

//It's confusing, isn't it?//

<<Life, death, everything.>>

//Those who have something to live for continue on, but someday they'll lose that thing that ties them down. It's just that in death, they don't notice it.//

<<But other people do, right?>>

//Exactly. Losing a loved one is enough to drive a person off the edge, obviously--most will go far enough to follow them into death.//

<<And those who don't?>>

//Those who don't are the stronger of the two.//

<<Mostly.>>

//Correct again. They are the stronger, or they are much too weak. Most people believe the latter.//

<<So if a person chooses to stay and live through a tragedy, they are stronger than if they took their own life.>>

//Not so simple. Most people are conflicted enough that this is an unconscious decision, and they hate themselves more for not being true to the one they care about.//

<<And what of those that they care about?>>

//It depends on the bond with the person; it depends on their own strength. Between life and death, they are walking a thin, blurry line. Is the stronger the one that stays true to the person they left behind? Or is the stronger the one who passes on and moves on to bigger things?//

<I don't know.>

//You're not supposed to. That's the trick of it.//

<How are we to know then?>

//There is no set pattern; it depends on who the person is. But rarely will a bond be so difficult to break that they will not cross that bridge and continue on. Those who choose to stay behind will have a fate much different than had they not...and yet, this has almost never happened. Some suspect that they are weak, and that is why they're left behind.//

<What do you believe?>

//I believe that the ones who stay behind are the stronger. But then, you already knew that, didn't you?//

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Quatre and Trowa had managed to convince Heero out of bed later in the night, despite Heero's resolution just to lie there until he wasted away. An angry Heero threw Duo's clothes down the laundry chute again before stripping off what he had been wearing the day before--Duo's too-snug blue jeans and a red short-sleeved shirt. With shaking fingers he tossed them in as well and got dressed in his customary spandex shorts and green tank top.

"Heero?" Quatre pushed the door open a crack. "Are you okay in there?"

The Japanese pilot was staring out the window at the glittering stars. "Quatre...do you know how to pray?"

"What?" The confused Arab stepped all the way into the room.

"How to pray."

Quatre fumbled for the right words. "Heero, when you pray, all you need is to sincerely believe. Your heart will say it for you."

"There's no logic in it." Heero rose and walked out the door, leaving Quatre alone.

"Yet logic seems to have abandoned us long ago..." the blonde boy whispered. "Too many beliefs are clouded by it."

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Heero nervously stepped into the church and took a curious look around. The large building seemed even bigger than it had from the outside, and his footsteps made soft echoes on the red carpet. The place was completely empty, to Heero's surprise and pleasure; he hadn't really been expecting it to be open at all this late at night.

The ceiling seemed miles high, ornate and adorned by sculpture of angels and saints. Heero had never actually seen a church from the inside before--it was breathtaking. The stained glass windows were difficult to see without any light filtering through them, but Heero's eyes inspected each one carefully. "Beautiful..."

He walked to the altar and knelt before it. "Duo believed in faith and prayer guiding people..." he said aloud. "Would you offer guidance to me too?"

Heero thought back to what Quatre had told him about prayer. "I've had my miracle already, I guess, haven't I? I don't know what I was expecting."

The church remained quiet and still.

"Yes." Heero agreed quietly. "Only silence. I am no further than I was last night listening to the devil's words." he glanced down at Duo's golden cross, its chain encircling several of his fingers. "Well, I guess it's up to me then."

The Japanese boy stood and left, the heavy doors closing behind him with a silent bang.

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Shi-chan: Yep. Would you believe that I started writing this chapter while listening to Samurai Pizza Cats and finished with Koko Wa Greenwood? That's one heck of a jump...

Duo: Hai, hai....

Shi-chan: I'm working on the next chapter already...it should be done in an hour or so...