Warm. He was very warm.

Drip. Drip.

Wet. He could feel droplets of moisture rolling from his skin.

Drip.

Soothing. Someone was humming a sweet melody.

Duo’s eyes focused in and out, straining to see through the fuzzy black and gray clouding his vision. When his pupils finally became clear, he found himself looking down at his own naked legs. Untainted, warm water was encasing his frame, and encasing that water was bright white porcelain. Long strands of his loose, wet hair were brushing his sides in the steady slopping of water against the sides of the basin. The silky melody was being hummed right beside his ear. Familiar… yet strangely sad. Behind him he caught a slight splash of water, before a squishing sound was heard and a small waterfall of water cascaded over the back of his head and down his back.

Duo was so tired… so weak. His head still hung loosely out over his chest, too exhausted to raise it, eyes downcast towards his own nude torso. He watched with half-slit eyes as the liquid lapped methodically at his rigid abdominal muscles creating a hypnotizing pattern. His breathing steady yet shallow. The leaky faucet dripped in time to his inhaling and exhaling.

In. Out. In. Out.

Water slipped down his crown, clinging briefly to his long bangs before flowing down his face and across the tip of his nose, being sucked into his nostrils on the intake of breath.

Duo coughed violently.

The melody stopped.

A warm hand began running comforting circles across his back… just as soothing as the sweet song had been. Duo coughed out the last drop of the water from his system and inhaled sharply, gaining back lost breath. The hand on his back paused and left briefly before coming back to his skin with a soft sponge.

Duo found he missed the humming.

"Awake I see…" came a barely audible whisper by the ear that had been sung into. A warm puff of breath tickled the water dripping inside the shell and an involuntary shiver racked Duo’s frame.

Duo tried to say something, but coughed again instead. The hand with the sponge on his back flipped over briefly, rubbing the back of the hand against Duo’s skin a few slow, comforting circles before resuming the scrubbing of his spine.

"Ya had me worried." This time the voice was much sturdier, louder. Duo heard the sound of the sponge dropping into the water and then felt fingers running through his hair, tracing imaginary patterns.

Duo opened his mouth to say something, but opted for not interrupting the digits playing in his locks. It seemed to calm his nerves and steal away the tension in his body.

"Don’t ever do that to me again…" the voice whispered warmly right into his ear, "…Kid. Make me sit there and watch you like that… knowing there’s not a damned thing I can do."

Duo sighed.

"M’ sor---"

"No…" the male voice broke through dripping with emotion and regret, "don’t be. I’m… sorry. Wasn’t your fault, Kid."

"Solo…"

Solo brushed Duo’s bangs behind his ear.

"Yeah…?"

"M’ scared." Duo whispered, ashamed. Solo let out an audible sigh. Duo’s head still hung at his collarbone. With his eyes downcast, he watched as two gentle arms surrounded his midsection in a pleasant embrace. He felt warm lips touch his temple.

"I know, Duo… but it’s going to be ok. I promise you."

"…But…"

Solo raised his hand and placed his fingertips on Duo’s mouth.

"Nuh- uh, Kid. Don’t argue with me. You’re not too old to be bent over the knee, ya know." Solo cracked out. Beneath his fingers, Solo felt a mild, yet sincere smile roll over Duo’s lips.

"You just got worked up, that’s all. Things are going to be ok, Duo, mark my words… like---"

"A scratch in stone." Duo finished their old buddy line before Solo could. Solo smiled and laid his temple against Duo’s.

"Ah, you bet."

"Solo… I… miss you."

and you stumble on your feet when you miss somebody/

Solo exhaled deeply. One of his hands came up and rested tenderly against Duo’s cheek.

"I know, Kid. I miss you, too. But like I said, I’ll always be here for you… just like I am now."

A single crystal drop slipped from Duo’s face, becoming lost within the water rivulets on his body and mingling into the tub water. Even Duo wasn’t sure if it had been a tear… or merely water seeping from his hair.

"I wanna stay here." Even though it sounded like something you would hear from a child, the tone in which Duo presented it didn’t compare to that at all. The short statement was laced with sorrow and longing.

"I know you do, Kid, but right now, you gotta go back. There are people real worried about you right now, and as much as I love the company, I can’t prolong this visit any longer. You gotta go back now. You gotta let’ em know you’re ok."

"… But I’m not…" Duo feebly whispered.

"Physically, Kid, physically. It would be selfish of me to keep you for myself here with me, making them worry about your condition. You understand, don’t cha, Duo?"

Duo hesitated. He knew Solo was right, but damn the real world. He wanted Solo to be selfish. He wanted him to make him stay. He didn’t want to face that "other" world again. Not now…

… Perhaps not ever again.

"I understand."

Solo smiled and kissed his temple again.

"Good boy." He lifted Duo’s chin to look him in the eyes, the first time since the beginning of this encounter.

Duo’s eyes jumped briefly at the onslaught of the crisp white walls of the bathroom. The clean, pristine tiling surrounding basin. The porcelain toilet and sink were sparkling in the light; the silver metal of the handles offset against the pureness. In the background, a window with its shutters open wide was revealing a small stained glass[1] scene to the sun. The bright oranges and reds were reflecting down into a beam upon Solo, dancing along his skin. This window, the light, and Duo and Solo’s own bodies were the only objects in the white room reflecting color.

Duo’s vision snapped back to Solo as he rested his forehead against Duo’s softly.

"I’ll be around, Kid."

Duo shut his eyes tight. Memorizing and filing every angle and curve of Solo’s face, how the light played upon his features creating an angelic halo. Duo stored this memory along with all the others he kept dear in his heart.

walking down the street when you miss somebody/

Solo started humming again, lovely as ever, and Duo remembered the song from when they were young. From the times when Solo would carry him to the bathroom before "lights out" and carefully bathe him in the Maxwell Church’s clean, white tub. It was one of his favorite memories. He could recall always trying to splash Solo, trying to get him just as wet as Duo was sitting in the water. Duo especially remembered the small stained glass window that so hypnotized him as a child. A window that would reveal a new story of light to his imagination every morning when the artificial sun would peek out just beyond the horizon. But the thing Duo loved most about that time every night before bedtime, was that Solo was so gentle with him. He made Duo feel special, feel unique, feel…

…Loved.

The song slowly faded out of Duo’s hearing…

And with his eyes shut tight, Duo could see a dazzling, green bird[2] flying out of sight, each flap of its wings shooting out bright streaks of color, lighting the path it flew with oranges, reds, and yellows… marking the true darkness with its own brand of shining light…

… Like a stained glass window…

a hundred thousand times/

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

**********

Drip.

Drip. Drip.

Duo slowly cracked an eye open, waiting to be bombarded with the piercing whiteness of his dream…

But was subjected blearily to the dreariness of dark walls and ragged floors. In the distance, he could hear water dropping from a tap. He slowly opened his other eye, moving his head towards the brightest beam of light in the room. He traveled the foggy, gray beam from where it hit the blanket on his legs, across the dingy floor, up the crumbling wall, to a tall window.

Duo absently frowned.

The window was old and dim. The dirt and grime covered its once clear surface, discoloring the light shooting through into the room. A solitary crack ran down the glass until it hit the center, shooting in many directions like a crystal spider web. Duo flinched as a shutter slapped against the glass, rattling the frame and pelting the glass. His eyes traced one tiny shard of glass as it slipped from the web of cracks, and fell with a tiny ping onto the musty, hardwood floor.

Duo quickly looked away, and somewhere in his mind, he could see a once bright bird falling out of the sky…

to wave goodbye, wave goodbye/

Drip. Drip.

Duo’s eyes traveled again and traced the wall until it broke into a doorway, his ears honing in on the pattering sound of water. Through the open entrance, Duo could see a dirty faucet gathering water at its mouth.

Drip.

Only to collect into a drop and fall into the sink.

Funny, he didn’t remember his and Heero’s room having an adjoining bathroom.

And with a start, Duo realized he was in someone else’s bed…

***

Heero was in someone else’s bed.

He couldn’t figure it out, what possessed him to do this… every night for the past three days. This sensation of longing was new to him. He wasn’t even sure what it was he was longing for. But ever since Duo had had another "episode", he had woken up in this new sleeping arrangement.

Three days… Duo had been unconscious for three days, seven hours, and twenty-four minutes. However, more importantly Heero had been sleeping in Duo’s bed every night for that stretch of time. The painful pang of longing that swelled deep in his chest had started at that very time, when Duo had been moved out of his room. It was then, that first time of spending a lonely night in their shared bedroom that Heero had indulged in some sort of satisfaction. Sure, Heero had roomed by himself many times before; however, it had never… bothered him this much. Sleeping in Duo’s bed was just a brief escape from the knife still wedged deep into his chest. It would only quench the pain for a short time, and in the morning when it was time to wake up he would find his chest heaving with the tightness of the day before.

when you miss somebody/

Three days…

The horrendous storm had long since past, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake. The weather was warm and breezy once again, as most areas near the coast tended to be. However, Heero found he just couldn’t rejoice in the newfound weather changes. Contrary to the bright intensity of the warm morning, Heero found only fog, heavy and thick, coursing through his veins. Every morning he awoke hoping the dense sorrow floating around him would have dissipated. Every morning he found himself disappointed.

Every morning he found Duo still gone.

Wufei had been the one to find Duo, naked, babbling, and shaking on the bedroom floor. Heero had been in the room down the hall trying to feign sleep, since Duo had asked, no, told him to leave their room. When Wufei had discovered Duo in that state of no where, he had carried him to his own room and placed him into his own bed, Wufei opting for the musty old chair across from the bed to keep a watchful eye. Almost instantly, Duo had "fallen asleep" when coming into contact with the crisp, cool sheets… and hadn’t woken up since.

Heero knew the story, Wufei had explained it to them all in the morning when the storm had finally passed.

It was the decision of the group not to move Duo, for fear of what it might do. So Heero was sure Duo was still there lying… sleeping, hugging the covers of someone else’s bed. Exposing his bare skin to the linen of someone else’s sleeping quarters.

Heero felt a slight twist in the knife embedded in his heart.

Why…?

Heero rolled over and buried his head into the pillows, deeply inhaling the scent that wafted up from the cotton. It smelled of rain and the ocean mixed intricately with a tinge of something strangely exotic. It smelled of Duo…

Heero pulled the thin sheet up over his bare shoulders, hoping to warm the slight cold that had suddenly over swept his body. He closed his eyes tightly and tried to remember…

Remember how the room had used to shine just a little brighter in the morning.

when you miss somebody/

***

Duo was in the process of eyeing his new quarters in contempt when he began to hear footsteps trailing up the hallway. He immediately sat up straight, scooting his bare back into contact with the headboard and grasping the covers with his torso to shield his nudity. At first, his heart beat wildly, acutely aware of the compromising position he was in. Naked, in a room not his own, not even quite fully aware how he had got to the room and come into his state of undress.

Then, his heart slowed back to its normal rhythm. This was nothing he couldn’t handle. He had been in far worse compromising situations, and no reason to get excited until he had all the details of his new… arrangements.

Duo crossed his arms over his bare chest and plastered on his usual wry smile as the footsteps halted just outside the door. Duo’s eyes focused in on the doorknob as the rusty old piece of metal creaked out its own style of song.

In the doorway, stood Chang Wufei, with a slight look of something Duo would catalog as surprise. Duo cocked his head to one side and narrowed his eyes slightly, his smile broadening into a grin of teeth.

"Something wrong, Wufei?" He asked slyly with his head still slightly tilted, giving him an air of something mischievous.

Wufei blinked, his startled expression replaced by something a little cooler.

"You’re awake." He stated matter of factly.

"Uh-huh." Duo said, dragging out the last bit as is a prompt for more.

Wufei stepped into the room, shutting the door behind him with an audible groan of wood and soft click of metal. His hands remained behind his back, gripping the ancient doorknob.

"Would you like anything?" Wufei asked casually, as if offering an entering guest a cup of tea.

Duo straightened his neck, using one of his crossed arms to absently tweak a lock of hair that had fallen over his collarbone. Duo spoke through a wider smile.

"An explanation would be perfect."

Duo watched as Wufei plucked a newspaper he hadn’t noticed out from under his own arm and placed it on the top of an old bureau with a cracked mirror. Leisurely, Wufei crossed the room to sit in the chair angled beside the bed Duo was resting in. He leaned far back into it, crossing one leg over the other at the knees. It had all the lazy grace of a leopard.

"This is my room." He said as if it weren’t already obvious.

Duo opened his mouth, no doubt to blurt out something impossibly too smart aleck, and Wufei held up his index finger straight in the air. Like a child, Duo clamped his mouth shut tight.

"I found you in a state of… stupor," Wufei breathed with a smile as he watched Duos eyes tighten. Duo obviously did not enjoy the usage of that word, "in your bedroom the night of the storm. I brought you to my room and placed you in the bed you lie in now." Wufei motioned casually with his hand towards the bed, " You fell into some sort of sleep immediately. I have been monitoring you for the past three days."

"Three days?!" That was surely impossible. Wufei’s eyebrow rose.

"If you don’t believe me, check the newspaper I brought in."

Duo took a deep breath, his head hanging defeated at his chest, "I believe you."

"We thought it best not to move you."

"Aa." Duo’s voice held more than just a drop of something akin to a melancholy timbre. Wufei sighed, not caring that it had escaped loudly. He uncrossed his legs and stood, walking over the retrieve the newspaper he had abandoned earlier.

"Would you like anything?" He asked as if Duo hadn’t heard him the first time. Duo, not particularly caring about his nudity, swung his legs over the side of the bed and out from under the covers. This new position put his bare back in the line of Wufei’s view. Had Duo been facing the other direction, he wouldn’t have missed the expression of surprise that again Wufei carried. Duo spoke in hushed tones.

"A bath would be nice. I’ll use yours, if you don’t mind." He raked his hand through his bangs.

"Aa. I’ll bring up some clothes from the laundry room." Duo merely nodded his head a tiny bit in agreement. Duo stood, his loose, flowing hair only partially covering the curve of his bare butt. As Wufei dropped his head and began to exit the room, he was almost positive he heard some word of gratitude escape Duo’s constricted throat.

***

"Arigatou."

Duo stood eerily still until he heard the clicking of the door finding home. Then he wrapped his arms tightly around himself, squeezing slightly, his head resting upon his own shoulder with ease. He inhaled and exhaled deeply. Duo began to move his hands up and down his arms with speed, bringing back the warmth of flowing blood.

Quietly, Duo made his way into the adjoining bathroom, eyes a strange fog of violet as he did.

everything will be alright/

***

After leaving a change of blue jeans. boxers, and a snug black shirt on the bed for Duo to change into after his bath, Wufei returned to the downstairs. He made his way into the kitchen, noticing the three other pilots all participating in making themselves some sort of morning breakfast. Quatre was reaching into the fridge, pulling out what resembled a carton of orange juice. Trowa was standing beside Quatre, eating a slice of bread and muttering something Wufei couldn’t quite make out from across the room. But it was Heero that caught the Shenlong pilot’s eye. He was tightly gripping a mug of coffee in both hands, the steam dancing above the rim, his elbows resting on top of the table he was sitting at. There was a section of the newspaper Wufei had been planning to read before stretched out in front of him.

As Wufei’s eyes met Heero’s, Wufei swore he saw a flicker of something malicious in the pools of blue before they dripped into their usual color of disdain.

"He’s awake." Wufei announced to the room, causing all three boys to stop and look at him. This time, Wufei was positive he saw a light behind Heero’s eyes.

Only this time… a softer shade.

***

Duo slipped down into the water until it was touching the tip of his bottom lip. All around him, his free hair was tickling his senses. The water was so hot, there was a march of steam moving into the air. Duo exhaled a breath of released tension and unknotted muscles. He brought one hand up and slicked his dripping bangs away from his forehead. He had submerged his entire head at first, making sure he would get his hair completely wet.

From Wufei’s bed when he had woken this morning, he had seen the unsanitary state the faucet had been subjected to. Duo was pleased to find that the tub was in far better condition. Obviously, Wufei had been using it. There was a stack of towels behind the cabinets and there was soap and hair washing products lining the rim of the basin.

Duo closed his eyes, trying to attain a higher state of relaxation.

In the background, an old radio Wufei had put in the bathroom was playing soft American words through the speakers [3].

I’m on a mission now…"

Duo knitted his brows in concentration. Mission. A melodic chuckle filled with no mirth at all rose from Duo’s chest. How ironic. Mission.

His mind began to focus in and out on the picture of Heero Yuy in his head. It began to waver until it dripped into nothing but a cobalt blue slate. Funny how everything always lead back to Heero. Funny, indeed.

Duo yawned, stretching his weary bones and arching his back like a porch cat. His mouth tasted like cotton and something awfully sour. He decided to brush his teeth directly after the shower.

He stood cautiously, making sure not to slip. While still standing in the water, Duo shook his head, letting his wet bangs fall back into place. He reached down and gathered his long hair, twisting it fiercely in both hands. Small splashes echoed through the bathroom as the water was forced from his hair back into the basin. Duo stepped out onto the bath mat. As he was reaching for his towel, he noticed a small window adjacent from the tub. It was one of the first clean windows he had seen in the old house.

Duo eyed it suspiciously.

It was an octagonal shape, the glass framed in shiny black metal. In the center of the window, was a smaller octagon, also outlined in black metal. The morning sun was beaming through, kissing Duo’s wet body. A water rivulet fell down Duo’s nose, tickling him, and absently he wiggled his nose in the midst of his scrutiny.

Duo shook his head somewhat sadly.

It was pretty… but no stained glass window.

is lay down and die/

The colors were all gone, absent. It was all wrong. Some where in Duo’s head, he was comparing his life now to those two windows. The glass of the past and the glass of the now. He found himself unfortunately a part of the clear, colorless octagonal window.

Without color.

I’m on a mission now…"

Angrily, Duo flipped off the radio, grabbed his towel, and strode into the bedroom to change. He’d brush his teeth when he was more calm.

Mission.[4]

/how long I’ve waited for an answer or a sign/

***

Heero sat silently out on the porch swing, rocking mildly with the push of the breeze. He needed time to think. But the problem was, it seemed he couldn’t think of anything but Duo.

Wufei had said that Duo had appeared well enough, maybe a little stranger than usual, but in perfectly fit health. So Heero should be able to quit worrying about his safety now, correct?

to wave goodbye/

Then why on Earth couldn’t he?

There was nothing logical about it. Nothing he could connect it to. Heero had thought that this unbearable longing would quiet when Duo awoke healthy and normal. But it was still there, churning his stomach and making him sick at his head. His recently pained heart was being tortured unmercilessly by the plunging of the icy cold steel knife. Surely there was some way to stop this… hunger?

Heero rose from the porch swing and strode purposefully into the house.

Duo would know what was wrong.

***

Wufei entered his quarters to find the clothes taken off the bed and an used towel hanging over the back of a wooden chair in the corner. Running water and brushing could be heard from his bathroom. Shrugging mindlessly and leaving his door open, Wufei walked over to the chair to retrieve the wet towel Duo had used to dry off with. Picking it up, he heard Duo enter the bedroom.

Duo’s bangs were hanging limply over his forehead and shadowing a good portion of his eyes. Behind him, the long locks remained unbraided and wet, long enough to swipe at the back of Duo’s knees. Duo had a more serious expression on his face than usual. One shoulder was hanging down lower than the other, and the opposite hand was wiping gently at his mouth to rid away the water droplets. The hand resting at his side was absently patting the toothbrush against his pant leg. A nervous gesture. Wufei turned to square his body off to Duo’s.

"Wufei, I need to talk to you."

It was only then Duo’s mouth spread into a smile.

***

Heero climbed the stairs faster than his usual pace, intent on achieving his goal quickly. With each step he made closer to where Duo was, the pain in his chest intensified a notch. As he made his way up the hallway, he could see that Wufei’s door was wide open. When Heero got closer, he could hear two people moving inside.

Heero stopped beside the doorway, out of view for anyone inside the room. He was about to turn the corner to go inside when he heard Duo’s voice clearly from inside.

"Wufei, I need to talk to you."

Heero raised an eyebrow but did not move.

/so now you start to recognize that every single path you see/

***

The patting of the toothbrush against Duo’s thigh mesmerized Wufei.

Pat.

Shaking his head clear, Wufei looked Duo in the eyes and saw something there that was pleading with him. Wufei softened his expression when he saw the worry lines in Duo’s face show through his grin. He could still hear the nervous tapping.

Pat.

"Hai?" Wufei hung the towel over his shoulder and took a step closer to Duo.

Pat.

Duo inhaled deeply, his smile flitting from his face but the begging eyes never flickering. The patting stopped.

"I want to sleep with you tonight."

***

Outside, Heero clutched his chest… his heart suddenly sucking all ability to breathe from his body.

/leads to a tear in your eye/

In his ears, he swore he could hear something that strangely resembled a ripping sound.[5]

wave goodbye/

1. Wow, I really tried to relate this particular chapter to the title of the series. I hope it came across as well as I would have liked it to.

2. Um, if you don’t get this part, I was trying to make a similarity between the story and the title of the melody "Greenbird".

3. If you can identify this song, you get a cookie. If you really want to know what it is, email me and I’ll let you in on it’s greatness. In other words, tell you its name and artist.

4. I thought this song was very fitting for Duo to hear over the radio because of it’s extensive use of the word "mission". Although Heero is the one usually stereotyped into being all about the mission, I thought this song would show that Duo himself, even if he doesn’t realize it yet, is on a mission of his own. Can you follow the words and figure out what that mission is?