------------------------------------------------------------------------ Death And The Soldier by Joyce K Wakabayashi ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Death smiled to see all the souls rise out of the bodies of the people who died in the explosion. He wasn't happy that they died, but was merely amused that they were so scared by him. After all, he wasn't so bad looking with his long braid and smiling face. OK, the bat wings were a little imposing as were the scythe, but all he was there for was to help people go to where they were supposed to, whether it was hell, heaven or once again become part of the world through rebirth. He cut the threads that tied them to their bodies and waved goodbye to them. Then he sighed, I'm alone again, aren't I? In his line of work, nobody stayed long, which was too bad because he liked to chat. The others who had the same job as he did were too busy with their job to really socialize. Then out of a corner of his eye, he saw a little boy watching the base on fire. The boy had dark, wild hair with intense blue eyes. There was a gun hidden under his jacket along with a few clips. In his hand was a explosive trigger, the one that had turned the base into rubble. Death thought to himself, This kid is going to grow up to be quite amazing looking though I don't think he's going to survive long doing stuff like this. Looks like I'll be seeing him real soon. He sighed. Poor kid. Then the kid turned and looked right at him. "Who are you?" Death frowned and touched his head. His cap of invisibility was still there. How could he see me? he thought. He put his scythe behind his back and said, "I . . .am someone you'll see again one day." "Are you going to take me with you now?" the boy said. The voice was childish, but the tone was not. "I know who you are." Death could see that the boy knew what he was saying. He was about to reply when he heard a voice say, "Heero, get over here!" Heero smiled a little rueful smile, then ran off. Death thought, There's something special about someone who can see Death and isn't scared in the least. He sat down for a second and thought, I know I'll see him in the future, but it'll just be for a moment. Everybody always leaves, nobody stays. They always fly off to be reunited with the one they love in the afterlife. He was sent to an assignment to the L2 colony. A lot of colonists were dying from plague. After walking throughout the colony, setting free thousands of souls, he saw two young boys, both with the plague and about to die. He took a good look at one. Hmmm, one of them looks a lot like me. A devious thought entered his head. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Years later "You're mine." Duo whispered in Heero's ear coyly, then he said with a quiet intensity. "You're mine, forever." Frowning at the sudden shift from his usual playful tone, Heero turned to him and said, "Duo?" "I'm just playing," he said, closing his eyes, keeping his tone light. But when Heero went back to sleep in his arms, he opened his eyes, and the look in them was quite serious. THE END ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Please visit Joyce's "Gundam Wing on Acid" website at: http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Gulf/7463/gundam.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------