Losing my Sight

Heero and Duo exit the cab and walk toward the entrance of the palace.



"Be on your toes, Heero," Duo said, "I want this to go smoothly.



"Hn," Heero said. 



They both entered and were announced, and they entered the ballroom. Trying to look like a normal couple, they stayed close together, and tried to keep talking to each other.



Duo looked around the ballroom for any suspicious activity, and he immediately saw Mei. "Heero, there\'s Mei, she\'s over there!" he said softly in his ear. "I\'ll keep an eye on her. 



"Don\'t make eye contact," Heero told him. Heero begins looking around for any other activity, when he eyes Ling. "Duo, there\'s Ling, go distract Mei. Go start up a girly conversation or something. Anything to keep her from moving forward, look.



Duo looked at her again, and saw that she was heading towards the front of the ballroom, towards the throne.



"Go stop her," Heero said. "Be sure to have your guns ready.



Duo left the spot where he was standing, advancing to Mei. Duo was ready for this, physically, yes, but mentally, perhaps not. He was going to be strong for Heero, he was going to do this to protect him. He kept walking towards Mei, his pace quickening with every step. \'This could be it. I could take her out, and this could be over. I should remember what Heero told me so long ago, Only the slow ones get hit, and I\'ve lived by it. If I die today, then I want my death to not have been in vain. If I die, I want it to be a sacrifice, to help Heero, not to die just to die.\' He reached Mei, and stood behind her for a few moments, realizing that Mei was a diversion. 



Mei walked up close to the throne and addressed her cousin. Duo tried to stay back until the last possible moment, wanting to look around to find a possible shooter.



Heero and Ling had seen this action and realized that they needed to find a shooter, or else, Duo would be killed.



"Ling," Heero said, "Mei is the diversion. There is a shooter somewhere. We need to find his location, let\'s split up."



"Right," Ling agreed, and he took off toward the opposite direction of Heero. 



Heero set off to search for a stairway or any way to climb up higher to find the location of the sniper, or so said gunman. His mind was racing with thoughts as he searched. \'Is Duo going to be ok? Could I be killed? I wonder if Ling has found a way up yet... I hope I can live through this so that I can tell Duo how I feel about him.\'



Meanwhile, Duo watched the conversation between Mei and Emperor Xiao. He saw Mei look up to the ceiling, and then Duo looked. He saw a gun glint in the light. He knew the shooter was about to strike, he just wished Heero had found the gunman. Duo advanced into the conversation as he heard the gun go off, trying to push Mei in the way of the fire. More than one shot was fired. He was hit. The pain traveled down his arm, sending it throughout his body. He felt the blood pour out of the wound, staining that damn rental dress. He pulled out two pistols from under his dress. There was still more gun fire. \'Heero hurry up and get down here..I need you.\'



Mei was down, with the emperor, both of them shot, but Duo was unsure if they were dead, and he wasn\'t going to bother with checking, he was under fire. The crowd quickly ran around in mayhem, and all the women were screaming. Most of the guests had found their way out, and Duo heard sirens in the distance. He saw many rebels gathering at the throne, all armed and looking extremely dangerous, his heart was pounding.



Heero saw this from above, and soon came in contact with the sniper. He needed to get that gun to help Duo, it was the only way. He grabbed the sniper by the back of the shirt and spun him around. He took the gun from the sniper\'s hands and tossed it aside. Heero punched him in the face, having the guy already startled, now getting him off guard. Heero continued his assault on the sniper, until he fell, unable to get back up. 



Duo was behind a throne, avoiding the bullets, shooting at them when he knew he had a few second window. He was timing their shots, because they all shot at once, and waited until the smoke from the exploding debris was gone. (A very terrible strategy) He kept shooting at them, hearing a few of them dropping after his shots. "Heero!!! he called out, needing him to come and rescue him.



Heero grabbed the rifle firmly in his hands, and aimed at the advancing gunmen down below. He shot them, knowing he was helping Duo more than ever.





"Heero," called out a voice that Heero recognized as Ling. He sounded like he was in pain, and then heard a gunshot behind him. Heero sharply turned around as he heard the gunshot, but it was too late, he was shot, multiple times, and couldn\'t move. It paralyzed him.



"Have a happy death, Heero Yuy. I finally was able to kill the Emperor and now, I have assassinated Heero Yuy." The shooter ran away as quickly as possible, leaving Heero in a heap on the balcony, so many stories above Duo.



Duo quit hearing the gunshots. He quickly moved from behind the throne, shooting a melee of bullets for his cover, until his cartridges were empty. He looked around and didn\'t see Heero, nothing of him, he knew he might be trying to find his way down. Just then the police and ambulances arrived. Duo saw Sally too. He was never happier to see that woman in his entire life.



"Where\'s Heero?" she heard Sally call out.



"He\'s up there, he will be coming down here soon, I hope," Duo replied, and then he saw the shooter trying to escape. He aimed his pistol at him and fired. "Die, you son of a bitch!"



Sally had made it there to Duo, "I sent the paramedics upstairs to look for any injured survivors. We need to be on the lookout for anything now."



"I\'m going to try calling Heero, and see where he\'s at," Duo said, taking out his cell phone, and he dialed Heero\'s number. The phone rang once, then again, and again, and again. Heero didn\'t answer. "Sally, something is not right, Heero didn\'t answer his phone! Sally we gotta find him!" Duo began to cry, he knew something was wrong now, he could feel it. His partner of ten years was gone, Heero had failed to answer his phone on his call. Heero always answered his phone when he called, no matter what he was doing.



"Duo, follow the paramedics up the stairs, and keep calling him, they might be able to find him if they hear his phone ringing," Sally suggested, but Duo was already gone. He was already in search of his love. He knew if he was hurt, he wouldn\'t be able to go on. Then, he felt the pain again from his gunshot wound in his arm. He ripped a long strip from the bottom of that damn rental dress and tied it tight around the wound. Even though the paramedics were there, he wouldn\'t be treated, until he found Heero and made sure that he was still alive. Even then, he wouldn\'t leave his side. He would stay with him until he recovered. He continued running until he heard the ringing echoing off the walls. He was on the balcony, he could make out a body lying there, not moving at all. As he ran closer his heart sank, it was Heero. When he got to his body, he cradled him in his arms. He was still breathing. He was alive. His worry lightened up just a little bit.



"Duo," Heero said softly, choking out the words, "I love you."



He began to cry when he heard this, \'I love you.\' Heero began coughing, but this time, it wasn\' t just coughing, he was coughing up blood.



Duo screamed when he saw this, "Heero listen to me, don\'t talk, just listen to me ok? You\'re going to make it through this, ok?" He begins crying fiercely, his tears falling on Heero\'s face.



"Duo," Heero said again, "Don\'t cry I\'m fine, it\'s only a flesh wound. Sit me up, I want to see your face."



"Heero," he cried, "You\'re bleeding badly, I can\'t stop it." He sat him up, and his nose began to bleed. The more blood he saw the more he cried. "Somebody Help!!! Please somebody help him, please!!!??" He screamed, knowing the paramedics were on their way, but he ran far ahead of them. He had wanted to find Heero. He felt Heero\'s breathing become harder and harder, and this made him scared. He was shaking. 



Heero smiled at him, "I wish I could\'ve told you I loved you when I first realized it. I regret

it now," he said, putting his bloody hand on Duo\'s face.



"Don\'t say that," Duo said, "Heero, we can be together, you will make it through this." In his mind, he knew that Heero wasn\'t going to live. He told him that to reassure Heero and himself. 



"Duo, I want you to know that I will keep you in my heart forever," he choked out, and with that, he began coughing again, and his body went limp. He was dead.



"No!!" Duo screamed. "Heero, wake up!" Duo pulled his body close, holding him, holding like he was never able to. He shook Heero. "Wake up, please, wake up! I love you, Heero. I love you so much! Please wake up!?" Duo cried like he never cried before. Tears streamed from his eyes like a waterfall. His Heero was gone and he was never coming back. 



The paramedics finally arrived, but it was too late, Heero was dead. His only love was dead. He felt a part of him die inside, and he would never be the same again. 



That night Heero was pronounced dead. That was the night Duo was said to have lost his sight to the world. He stayed inside all day and night, never leaving. A close friend, Quatre, came to take care of him, but he never spoke again. He never showed an emotion, until one day.



Looking out the window one day, observing the world, he thought he saw Heero walking down his street, it was a ghost, but Duo thought it was real. Duo took off after him, and he was never seen again. But, everyone knows he took off to heaven with his love. Quatre still remains in that house, and every year on that same day, you can see them walking down that street, hand in hand.