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" Truth O'er Beauty "Written By: Presser Pairings : 1+2 (Heero POV) Disclaimer : Gundam Wing characters aren't mine Rating : PG Warnings : High flown language (!), AU, very OOC Heero, Duo Spoilers: None Feedback : Yes, please, both praise and crits
- it's how I learn
Truth O'er Beauty
I watched him walk by as I leaned against sun-warmed brick. He called himself Shinigami, the god of death. His laughter was silvery plashes in the air, his anger terrible to behold. He guarded his soul fiercely, surrounded it with thistles to keep its tenderness at bay. But I saw. I knew. No lies proceeded from Shinigami, yet he spread gaudy garments to hide the truth. Bright feathers, puffed up, distanced his admirers. But I saw. I knew. Walking past me one day, I asked Shinigami: "Do you know love?" He stopped, turned the death-god's glare upon me. My eyes were held, examined, released. "Tonight," he said. "At my club. I will talk to /you/." In the dimness, light. But not from incandescence. Shinigami himself illuminated all gathered around him, rewarding the clever with smiles. My eyes and his, connected across the room. All were dismissed as I was summoned. At his table I sat alone. "You spoke of love," he said. "How dare you speak to me of love?" "I see love in you," I spoke boldly. "You cannot hide the terrible truth with all your finery." Eyes softened. "No one ever saw before. No one ever --" "You cannot hide the truth; not even your honesty suffices." "My honesty?" His eyes questioned me. "You bedeck yourself in gorgeous apparel, yet your soul speaks plainly. Even that simple beauty cannot hide the truth." "What truth?" he whispered. "Your love. Once you were hurt." "So many have tried," Shinigami spoke. "So many have failed." "Each supplicant thought simple honesty was your truth. You stood behind it, fearfully hoping." "For one to see beyond it," Shinigami said. "Yes, for one to see beyond it." "And you think you do?" "I am here because I do," I said. "/Your/ soul; what truth hides there?" I faltered, hoped, despaired. Would these words bridge our hearts? Gathering courage, I spoke: "My truth," I said, "is love for you." The last thistle removed, Shinigami's torn heart trembled, naked before me. My breath stopped. His eyes. His heart. His hand, my touch. I watched him walk by as I leaned against sun-warmed brick: the god of death. Bright feathers ornamented gray thistles, gaudy finery a feeble defense against his tattered heart. Twice he looked away with brittle eyes. "Shinigami," I said. "Please speak; my heart listens for your word." His silence trembled on the pinnacle of decision. "Your heart, it is your undoing. You do not know what you ask of me." "If you will but let me, I will love you," I said. "You know I speak the truth." "Beyond my honesty no one has come, save you." I waited, breathless. "And still you wish to stay?" Beside me Shinigami walked, together we faced the setting sun. The coming night but little heed we paid, for truth had won o'er beauty; hand in hand, in unison we advanced. ~Owari~ |
