He cut a lonely figure, walking the length of the beach, following the line of the tide where the sand changed from a hard, water-rippled surface to something softer, leaving footprints a good two inches deep in his stead. He should turn back; the sun had set a while ago and the sky was almost totally pitch apart from a thin line of a twilight blue along the horizon. The wind blew again and instead he shuddered and turned to face it, breathing it in and rejoicing in the way it stung his nostrils and seemed to steal his breath away.

This was the difference between earth and the colonies. Wind and weather could be recreated, they could even make it snow if they wanted to, but they could never add that crisp, briney quality to the air, or the way it made his face feel almost covered, as though if he stood there for long enough he would become encased in salt.

A statue on the cusp of a wave.

"You're leaving?" He wasn't sure if the words had carried but the approaching shadow had stopped for a second before continuing on a little faster.

"Aye," Duo's voice carried over the distance, gaining volume as he came closer. "The war's over, no point in staying."

Heero nodded, his attention captured by the sight of Venus, so much larger and brighter than the stars in the sky, low down close to the horizon.

"It's over." He shivered and pulled his jacket in a little closer to his torso. It didn't make him feel any warmer but it helped in that he was doing something, however small, to fend off the wind. "You're going," he repeated. "Do you know where?"

He felt Duo's shrug through the space and the darkness between them. He could hear it in his voice as he replied; "Going where the wind takes me, I guess."

It sounded lucrative. It sounded wonderful; to just open his arms and let the wind carry him where it would, no more war, no more peace, no more Heero Yuy, just him.

"Keep in touch."

Duo didn't reply at first but the faint crunching of the sand underfoot told Heero that he'd taken a step closer. "Yeah... I will. About that, Heero...."

He hadn't heard him move this time and Heero shuddered as Duo's hands closed over his biceps, warming his skin even through the thick denim material. Duo's voice was still a whisper although Heero fancied he could feel the heat of Duo's breath against his ear. "It's one for one Heero, a two way road."

Heero chuckled, "I thought you were going by air." He leaned back against Duo's torso and let the warmth at his back combat the chill from the wind. "I never thought you wouldn't come," he said, breathing in deeply. The inquiring rumble he felt more than heard through their contact edged him into expanding. "When Relena was kidnapped. I came to get you, you could have said no, but I never thought you would."

He didn't know whether to be thankful or apologetic for that but Duo's arms only squeezed a little tighter before letting him go. He'd thought it was dark before but when he turned to look at Duo he felt the lack of even the faint line of light. Duo's face was a shadow with just the glint of the horizon Heero was no longer facing reflecting in his eyes.

It was hard to read a face he couldn't even see and Heero's hand was moving before he'd even realised, cupping Duo's jaw, his thumb smoothing along Duo's cheek. The slight tickle on the back of his hand came from the strands of hair that had pulled loose from Duo's braid by the force of the wind and he smiled, feeling Duo's jaw tense as he opened his mouth.

"I thought even a blind man could see it."

Even standing so close, Heero had to strain to hear Duo's words. "But you're not blind, Heero, you're anything but. You see, you know everything, even the possibility of everything... except what's staring you in the face."

Heero had never claimed to understand the meaning of life. He'd been a man with a duty, a mission to fulfill, and now...

...well, now he was not.

"You're a good friend, Duo, one of the best."

Duo's reply was a ragged whisper but he caught it. "You're looking with closed eyes, Heero." Then Duo's mouth slammed against his own, stealing not only the words he was going to reply with, but also the sheer memory of them. Heero stumbled back a half step but Duo's hands were there, steadying him and making him reel with the contact. Heero's fingers slid back into Duo's hair, searching for balance, and that was all Duo seemed to be waiting for as he deepened the kiss, making it hotter, harder, deeper, as he slid his tongue into Heero's mouth and tilted his head to the side.

When he eventually pulled back even the sound of the ocean had faded into the background below the blood rushing through Heero's ears and he had to take a breath or two before the world righted itself, although it still felt tilted on its axis, or perhaps that was just him.

The horizon in Duo's eyes was gone and Heero could think of only one thing to say.

"You're leaving..."

"Yes." Heero's hand had moved back to Duo's cheek, he realised belatedly as he felt Duo nod. Somehow it didn't feel like an invasion, and even less so when Duo's hand came up to cover it. "I came to get you."

"What if I say no?"

The answer came during another kiss and Heero didn't need the words to know they were true.

"You won't."