Another burst of phantom laughter sounded behind me, and a ghostly echo followed in its wake. "Hey, love, it's all right," whispered the memory of a voice. "We have a fight coming tomorrow, and you're going to leave bruises if you don't let me go. Loosen up a bit, koi. I'm not going anywhere, I promise..."
The blurry image of a familiar form wavered into existence for a moment, leaning over Heero to touch his hair tenderly, but a sudden gust of hot wind tore the apparition into nothingness. Memories... instinctively, I backed away; somehow I was intruding on something too powerful and too private. Kind of ridiculous, really; invading someone else's mind in the first place is about as violating as it can get, but I wasn't exactly doing it on purpose.
I heard a sound behind me, almost like a footstep, and for the third time I turned around in startled response. I wasn't expecting there to be anyone behind me; I certainly wasn't expecting to see a child.
The kid was only about seven years old, and incredibly grubby, but there was no mistaking his identity. Not with that hair, the braid already a foot and a half long. Not with those eyes, huge pools of violet fixed on me with a mixture of fear and hope.
"Are you an angel?" Duo whispered. His tongue darted out to lick his lips, and his hand twisted nervously at his braid. "Sister Helen said that when we die, an angel comes to take us to heaven. But I haven't seen any angels, just a lot of soldiers, and the kids from the street..." He shuddered, and his eyes darted over my form and back to my face. "You haven't tried to hurt me yet. You have to be an angel."
Cautiously, I took a step towards him, trying to act as non-threatening as possible. His eyes widened, and he took a pace back again. I tried speech. "No, Duo, I'm afraid I'm not an angel, but I won't hurt you..."
His face fell. "I knew you couldn't be," he muttered, wrapping his thin arms around himself. "Angels only come for good kids. I'm not a good kid. I did something bad, I must have, I must have done something..."
"Duo?" I tried to take another step forward; like before, I didn't actually seem to move. Before my eyes, the image of the child Duo had been was shifting, blurring, twisting into something taller and leaner. Older. He ignored me now; he didn't even seem to know I was there any longer.
Re: Torn 6
Date: 2006-02-21 11:32 am (UTC)Another burst of phantom laughter sounded behind me, and a ghostly echo followed in its wake. "Hey, love, it's all right," whispered the memory of a voice. "We have a fight coming tomorrow, and you're going to leave bruises if you don't let me go. Loosen up a bit, koi. I'm not going anywhere, I promise..."
The blurry image of a familiar form wavered into existence for a moment, leaning over Heero to touch his hair tenderly, but a sudden gust of hot wind tore the apparition into nothingness. Memories... instinctively, I backed away; somehow I was intruding on something too powerful and too private. Kind of ridiculous, really; invading someone else's mind in the first place is about as violating as it can get, but I wasn't exactly doing it on purpose.
I heard a sound behind me, almost like a footstep, and for the third time I turned around in startled response. I wasn't expecting there to be anyone behind me; I certainly wasn't expecting to see a child.
The kid was only about seven years old, and incredibly grubby, but there was no mistaking his identity. Not with that hair, the braid already a foot and a half long. Not with those eyes, huge pools of violet fixed on me with a mixture of fear and hope.
"Are you an angel?" Duo whispered. His tongue darted out to lick his lips, and his hand twisted nervously at his braid. "Sister Helen said that when we die, an angel comes to take us to heaven. But I haven't seen any angels, just a lot of soldiers, and the kids from the street..." He shuddered, and his eyes darted over my form and back to my face. "You haven't tried to hurt me yet. You have to be an angel."
Cautiously, I took a step towards him, trying to act as non-threatening as possible. His eyes widened, and he took a pace back again. I tried speech. "No, Duo, I'm afraid I'm not an angel, but I won't hurt you..."
His face fell. "I knew you couldn't be," he muttered, wrapping his thin arms around himself. "Angels only come for good kids. I'm not a good kid. I did something bad, I must have, I must have done something..."
"Duo?" I tried to take another step forward; like before, I didn't actually seem to move. Before my eyes, the image of the child Duo had been was shifting, blurring, twisting into something taller and leaner. Older. He ignored me now; he didn't even seem to know I was there any longer.