I suppose I could have gone on that way. I certainly didn't know any better. It is hard to hunger for a dish that you have never even smelled, let alone tasted. I'm glad that I found my Duo. I am incredibly glad that he taught me how to be glad, or even that he taught me that there was a 'glad'.

I remember how we met. Looking at his ruffled long hair brings me back to that time. I can remember everything, every detail and little nuance. I can relive it in my mind. In fact, I can't stop reliving it.

Heero Yuy appeared to be a handsomely intense young man with a tendency for the other sex and husband who'd recently suicided. He was the sort who made you feel edgy, and the sheer volume of his gaze upon your body made you heavy. He went through the motions of mourning, but upon a close examination of the minuscule details of his face you could not see grief in his eyes. You could not hear despair in his voice. In fact, other than the fact that he seemed to be wearing nothing but black after the funeral, he seemed to get on with his life. In fact, he started visiting clubs and was even seen dancing with a young angelic blonde man on several occasions.

Some people may have thought that it was too soon for Heero to start seeing other people, but anybody who thought that obviously didn't know the truth about Heero Yuy. Heero lived to charm others, and woo them, and make them swoon. He was the smooth talking lover with a sad history of a husband who'd died not long ago. He'd be a tentative man who's eyes never hinted at any kind of emotion. This had been his story for hundreds of years. Heero Yuy lived off of others emotions. He would target someone and make them his. Like a perverted parasite, he would unfeelingly feed his hunger with the happiness of his husband of the time. He liked the purer type, and just wouldn't take no for an answer.

Call him a psi-vampire if you will, but he was on the prowl tonight. He'd targeted the cherub Quatre, and after weeks of meeting, he would get his first taste. Feeding was just something he had to do. He didn't know why, but it was necessary. It was his life; this waltz of charm, feeding, and searching. He may not have had a soul, because he felt little or no remorse for this untimely beat that held his drum of existence.

He was in a club, The Pulse, which was a nice and small dance club that served as a hip hang-out for everyone ages 15-40, waiting for his date. The smoke that was laced with a tinge of weed furled around him, and coupled with the dim lights it was all but impossible to tell if Quatre was in the club. So he waited patiently at the table that he'd so cleverly told Quatre was 'theirs alone'.

"Heero!", called a cheerful voice as two hazy figures made their way toward the table, "I hope you don't mind, but I brought a friend."

This was certainly unexpected. Heero did some quick thinking, and decided that he could indeed still siphon some of Quatre's feeling if he was discrete, even if his friend was spending the evening with them. It would be more difficult, but he was certainly up to the challenge.

"Not at all." He said smoothly.

"Good. This is Duo Maxwell, I think I mentioned him to you a few times." Said Quatre genially. Duo smiled and held out a hand.

"At your service. I'll do just about anything but tell a lie for the right price." Duo quipped.

Heero was almost blown away by the sheer amount of life that Duo had in his lithe frame. His energy crackled around him in grey and violet swells that pulsed to an unknown rhythm. It was astounding when coupled with his naturally fae features and long hair. He looked like a surreal image from a dream, as well as like a grand feast to Heero. Heero shook his hand and tried not to let anything show. Quatre was his date, after all. It would be unbecoming to his character if he were to abandon his date.

Quatre pulled him out of his seat with a gentle tug and a light chuckle. Heero knew that Quatre wanted to go dance, so what was he to do but dance? Quatre and Heero danced chastely on the dance floor. Together, but not quite touching. Heero knew that Quatre liked a little bit of personal space on the dance floor, because he was nervous about dancing with others. Quatre had told Heero that he liked to dance, but he was shy.

Duo shook his head. He knew Quatre wasn't timid. He danced all the time. Yet, he was maintaining a distance the size of the grand canyon between himself and his partner. ~He's not over Trowa~, Duo realized belatedly.

Dancing had been Quatre and Trowa's special thing. Duo, Quatre, and Trowa had been the best of friends for as long as they could remember, so it had hardly been a surprise when Quatre and Trowa told Duo about their relationship at age 16. They were a couple for four years, and just months ago they fought and came to the conclusion that they needed to see other people. ~They were soul mates, I'm sure~

Duo's sparkling violet eyes fixed on the dancing couple that was just yards away. There was something off about this Heero guy that he couldn't put his finger on. Of course, he could have been the greatest man in the world, but anyone who wasn't Trowa just shouldn't be dancing with Quatre, in his opinion. It was then that he decided that he would tear Heero and Quatre apart. Quatre didn't care for Heero, not in his heart. Duo had know Quatre forever, and it was not love that shined on his lovely face when he looked at Heero; it was the desperate feeling of not wanting to wake up alone the next morning. And Duo knew that feeling all too well. It would just not be right if Quatre felt it too.

When Duo's lingering bought of sadness had passed he realized that Quatre and Heero were nowhere in sight. How could he let the objects of his new mission escape him? He had to find them. It was his duty as a friend! He darted around the pool tables, dance floor, bar, and tables. They were nowhere in the club. Surely they hadn't just left him there? No, Quatre would have said something for sure. He spied a man with a sable hair slicked greasily back into a ponytail and a ferocious dragon tattoo.

"Excuse me, have you seen a boy about my height with short blonde hair? He might have been with a guy who was a bit taller and dressed all in black?" Duo asked politely.

"With another guy you say? Intelligent if you ask me! Damn Women, and their Damn need to be so Damn right all the time! Injustice!" Snarled the man as he downed a shot. He'd apparently had quite a few shots before that one, too. Duo was about ready to ask someone else when the Chinese man said ," I mighta seen them heading into the bathroom over there. Don't know if they're the ones your looking for."

"Thanks man!" Duo called as he went to the bathroom. It didn't occur to him until he was at the restroom door that mayhaps he wouldn't want to see what they were doing in there. He pushed aside the thought; it would look silly if he just walked up to the bathroom door, put his hand on it, and walked away. So he braced himself and entered.

The first thing that hit him as the door closed behind him with an ominous thud was a feeling of agony and bliss at the same time. It seared his spine and made his mouth form a soundless howl of pain. The tingling static that clung in the air was almost tangible, and he grasped the wall in order to go further into the bathroom.

~What on earth is going on?~ Duo thought. The bathroom appeared to be empty. The green tiles looked dingy and wet, the stalls were graffitied, and the mirror was cracked into three parts. It formed a fan of reflection, and in that fan Duo saw that a stall door was left open. He clutched his sides to keep that rapturously carnivorous feeling from making him lose his lunch as he stepped towards that door. Closer..... Closer. Instinctively, he knew that something terrible was going on; something that was heinous and wrong. He brushed those feelings aside and thought, ~The worst I'll come upon is Heero and Quatre making out.~ Which, he supposed, would be good, because he'd probably startle them into stopping. The less intimate they got, the better the chance that Quatre and Trowa would have a future.

He swung open the door and was met with the scene he'd thought would greet him. Quatre was pressed up against the green tiles and Heero was ravaging his mouth as though it were his only thing keeping him alive. Duo clutched at his chest, at his heart. There was a yearning agony that burned there. It was horrible. Pain that was caressing in the strangest, most violating way made him drop to his knees at Heero's feet. Heero and Quatre didn't even notice.

Suddenly, a coherent thought squeezed into Duo's mind. ~Is this what Quatre is feeling? Oh, god, what is Heero doing?~ Duo's hands clutched convulsively at the cloth around Heero's knees, trying to shake him away from Quatre. It wasn't working. Duo looked up at Quatre. Quatre looked like a frozen rabbit caught in a trap. He looked frightened, faint, and hurt. The look of helplessness on his best friend's face gave Duo the will to press his feet against the stall door, and, with a cry of anguish, push into Heero's legs so that he toppled.

Heero landed in sitting position on the toilet and Quatre, who couldn't support himself, slid bonelessly down the wall his head hit the floor with a resounding thunk. Duo just laid face down on the slimy floor for a minute, enjoying the unhurt feeling in his chest and breathing heavily. Heero glared down at him with a stare like a basilisk.

"What are you doing here?" He asked with a voice that was pure ice.

"Me? What were you doing to Quatre?!" He wheezed at he attempted to bring himself into a sitting position.

"What did it look like I was doing?" He retorted in the same monotonous chill.

"You were hurting him." Duo said angrily.

"Hurting him?" Heero asked.

"Yes! I felt it! You took.... something. Something painful." Duo said.

A look of incredulity passed over Heero's chiseled features. How could this boy know what he was doing? How could he feel what his victim was feeling? It was puzzling, but the young man had obviously known that Heero was doing something sinister.

"It is not any concern of yours." Heero said.

Duo looked up with an expression of determination on his face. "I won't let you hurt Quatre." Duo braced his exhausted self against the door and attempted to stand. This puzzled Heero even more. Why should Duo care about what happened to his prey? They weren't lovers.

"You can't stop me." Heero said devoidly.

"I'll try." Duo said as he spared a glance for Quatre, who wasn't conscious.

"You won't suceed." Heero said, almost matter-of-factly. Duo looked like a bucket of ice water had just been dumped over his head. It a terrible look of 'lost' followed by a resignation. Heero thought that he had won.

"Take me instead." Duo croaked, "Just leave Quatre alone. He's been there for me though everything. Trowa needs him, just leave him alone!"

Heero considered. Duo was much more lively, and had more emotion to feed off from. It would be a better bargain that Quatre. Quatre had almost been completely drained from just that little session alone.

Heero stepped towards Duo, and surprizingly, Duo stepped into his arms and initiated a passionate and sorrowfull kiss. Duo had expected pain, and Heero had expected a satisfied langour to fill him. Niether of them got what they expected.

It was a merging, a union, so sweet and poweful that they could almost hear a heavenly voice whisper their names. It was joy, pure glory and happiness, that sparked between them and deepened the kiss. It was magical sweet caramel that they tasted, and it made them want more. Duo found himself up against the wall, with this feeling of perfect rapture written across his face, and revibrating down to his knees, which gave way beneath the sheer weight of the bliss. It was awe inspiring and wonderful, it was the feeling of one soul becoming two. It was knowing that they'd never be alone again. As Heero supported Duo, their tounges entwining to share this feeling, Duo supported Heero by using the wall to anchor them both.

It turns out that such an act of defiance and self-sacrifice gave Heero humanity. It gave him a soul, to be shared with a soul mate. Suddenly Heero knew that he'd been wrong. Wrong to make all those people sucumb to him and steal their lives until they could no longer bear to live. Duo felt his pain, Duo felt his joy. They were one.

I look down at my Duo. That is how it happened. I was so confused, because I felt things. Before, my only goal had been to get my next meal, and suddenly I had nothing. I didn't know how to react. We took Quatre to the hospital, and as soon as Trowa found out where Quatre was he was there holding Quatre's hand. They made up and now live together. Turns out that Trowa is a fairly nice guy. I never found out what they fought over.

Duo gave me life, and then taught me how to live. He says it makes his life more complete. I pet his hair and whisper, "Duo, my love, my soul, you make my life complete." And I suddenly want to taste some caramel.