If you're confused about being notified about this "new" chapter... I just rewrote the ending a little bit and it seems better to me.

Warnings: Sorry... This is the last chapter... ::cry cry::

Lifting Curses and Mending Broken Wings

Chapter 11: Curses Lifted and Broken Wings Mended

"In a sense, I WAS dead."

Duo stared at Heero incredulously. "How is that possible?" he asked, sitting in a chair next to Heero's. They were still in Heero's room, trying to sort things out.

Heero shrugged. "Well, you told me that during the night, my ghost came to you. The only thing I can think of as to how I did that was when I went into a critical state at times during the night. They told me that I wouldn't respond to anything. I remember waking up in the middle of the night. I didn't know where I was, so I got up and wandered around. I was so confused when I came to your room. I saw you and when you freaked out, I left."

"But you didn't just leave. You started bleeding. You had bandages like these-" Duo motioned to the bandage covering Heero's left forearm. "-on both arms and they came off. You backed up a little and I could hear it each time a drop of your blood hit the floor." He shivered. "When you left, I kept hearing it."

Heero nodded thoughtfully. "Well, I don't remember any bleeding, but I did leave after you reacted the way you did. I went back into the room I woke up in and didn't remember a thing after that. I woke up in the morning with people around me talking and flipping out. I told them I was fine and they left me alone." Heero stood up and looked out the window before continuing, "The same thing happened the next night. I went into a critical state and I guess you could say that I left my body." He turned back to Duo. "That's the only way I could have gotten to your cell," he concluded.

Duo sighed. "I was sure you were dead and you were trying to drive me crazy. When you came the third time and actually talked to me..." He shook his head. "Ugh, you just made me want to go jump off a cliff."

Heero winced. "Sorry, Duo. I didn't mean to. I tried to tell you that I wouldn't hurt you and that you'd be seeing me again soon, but you just weren't listening."

"I couldn't... I was busy thinking about how you would kill me." Duo grinned. "But in a way, you telling me that we'd be together again soon gave me more comfort than anything. I had begun to eat and sleep again by the time you came to me the third time." He paused and thought for a moment. "You seemed so bent on scaring the hell out of me... What were you possibly thinking when you came to see me?"

Heero shook his head. "I don't know. I guess I just missed you..." He smiled sadly. "Wanting to be with you has made me do some strange things before, if you recall."

Duo glared at him. "Don't even," he warned. "If there's one thing I want from you, it's to get your head on straight so you can think sanely again."

Heero laughed. "I think I've done that now that everything's cleared up," he insisted.

Duo rubbed his forehead. "Mm... Have you, now? I find it hard to believe that you can ever think like someone who's got any sense." He grinned. "But everything's not cleared up. Not completely."

Heero nodded. "True, but I really don't think it ever can be." He sat down in his chair and rested his chin in his palm, watching Duo.

Duo met his gaze and noticed the intense, yet dreamy look in Heero's eyes. He smiled. "What're you thinking about, Heero?" he asked quietly.

Heero smiled back. "I'm thinking about how happy I am that I'm alive." He paused. He leaned back in his chair again. "You see, I really didn't mean what I said when I was in the bathroom that day... I told you that I could kill myself if I really wanted to. You and I both knew what I meant by that, but all I really wanted was to avoid seeing you until I could get all my feeling sorted out." He held out his left hand, palm up so that his bandages showed. "I do this for relief. This is my only escape from things I don't want to face. And right then, I really didn't want to face you. I had a good mind to just slit my throat and be done with the whole thing that we like to call life. But I knew after you said that you didn't know what you would do if I killed myself that my committing suicide wouldn't help either of us." He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "I know what to avoid when I do this, Duo. I know where my veins are that would kill me if I so much as grazed them. I know how deep each one is buried beneath my skin. I am really very careful when I cut. It might just seem like a reckless action of confusion to anyone else, but it's not. I can estimate how deep I can go before I hit something, which is how I stayed alive during all those times I've done it." At this point, he reached up and peeled his bandage off, revealing one long line of small, black stitches. "When I did this one, I knew what I was doing. I avoided major veins. I did make it deep enough so that they had to use stitches for it to heal, but I lightened up when I crossed the blade over something that could be fatal." He shook his head and chuckled bitterly. "Hell, I could've cut my arm open to the bone if I really wanted to die. I wouldn't worry about the major veins and then it really would be a reckless action of confusion."

Duo stared in disbelief at Heero as he fell silent. "I don't think I've ever heard you talk so much at one time, Heero." He shook his head. "But all that you just told me makes sense."

Heero waited for him to continue, but when he didn't, he said, "You really shouldn't get me talking about something I feel passionately about. You'll never get me to shut up."

Duo laughed. "Oh yea? Well that's something that I thought I'd never hear from you, Heero." He shook his head. "But you didn't tell me that they had to use stitches so it would heal..." He stared at the stiff little thread-like spines poking out of Heero's arm. He shivered. "Nasty..."

Heero quirked an eyebrow. "Haven't you ever had stitches before?" Duo shook his head quickly. "I thought so... Do you have some kind of phobia of getting stitches?" he asked with a grin.

Duo glared at him. "No! I just don't want to get them..." He wrinkled his nose at Heero's arm. His expression turned serious. "Did it hurt?"

"What, when I cut?" Duo nodded. "I don't know. I guess it does at first, but the pain kinda subsides after a while. It's just some sick fascination with cutters. Seeing our own blood gives us comfort. It's relieving. When I first started cutting, I would keep my blood in a little jar that I kept hidden away. When the jar got full, I stopped gathering it."

"Eew! Don't do that! That's disgusting! You actually kept it?!" Duo cried. He shuddered.

Heero nodded casually. "I really don't think of it as such a big deal as everyone makes it out to be. They should just be thankful I haven't done anything worse."

Duo held up a finger. "Ah, but it's knowing that you CAN do something worse that makes it a big deal," he pointed out. "As far as we know, you could just start hating everything and decide you were done with it all and find you dead the next morning."

"But the real point is," Heero began, holding up a finger as well, "I wouldn't do anything worse because there are some really important people in my life that I wouldn't want to leave behind feeling like it was their fault that I committed suicide." He smiled gently. "Like you. That's another reason why I didn't kill myself in the bathroom that night. I was all messed up because of you, and if I had died, you might've blamed yourself. I would hate the thought of you living in agony for the rest of your life thinking that you could've done something about it."

Duo nodded solemnly. "Yea, that definitely would've happened... So many times that night and up until now, I have wished that I had never told you how much you meant to me. That I love you. But now I can see that life has a way of repaying you for your sacrifices. I guess that doesn't happen all the time, but I believe that that's what happened in our case." He smiled. "I never thought that loving you would be easy, but this was just ridiculous."

Heero laughed. "Yes Duo, you're right. I know it wasn't easy loving me, but I suppose it just takes a lot to earn my trust enough for me to love you in return. But you never gave up. You weren't ashamed of yourself or anything. You were so open with me that I really had to fight to not love you back." He smiled. "But I guess you won the war after all."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Another month went by. Duo and Heero took therapy and cooperated better than they had ever before. It was easy to see that both were so much happier, even though Duo still had to sleep in a cell and Heero stayed in the hospital wing. Heero got his stitches removed after two weeks and was kept under strict supervision 24/7 for the remainder of his stay.

Duo had asked to be moved back into his old room with Heero for the last week and since they had both been on such good behavior, they were allowed to do so. He had also requested that he be released on the same day as Heero. But that wasn't bad either as they were supposed to be released within two days of each other.

So during Quiet Time the day before they were supposed to leave, Heero and Duo were packing their things for home.

"What're you gonna do once you get out of here?" Duo asked Heero as he finished packing away the rest of his extra clothes.

Heero shrugged. "I'm not sure. It's summer vacation now, so I can't go back to school. That's probably a good thing, though," he added.

Duo nodded. "Yea, same here. School got out for me at the end of last month. I guess I'll just laze around for the rest of the summer. Unless my parents decide I need summer school, too." He sighed.

Heero laughed. "Don't worry, I've been here longer than you have. I'll probably be the one needing summer school." He sat down on his bed and smiled at Duo.

"But you're also smarter than me," Duo pointed out. He crossed the room to stand in front of Heero. He quirked an eyebrow. Heero put his hands on Duo's hips and pulled a little.

Duo gladly placed one knee on either side of him and sat on his legs. Heero pulled him close and Duo wrapped his arms around his neck. He laughed a little nervously. "We're not on a surveillance camera or anything, are we?" he asked, fiddling with the back of Heero's shirt.

Heero shook his head. "I really doubt it, but I couldn't care less if we were," he breathed and kissed Duo. He slipped his hand up under Duo's shirt and pulled a little harder, pressing against his back. Duo slid forward a little more, closing the space between their bodies.

Heero pulled back and broke their kiss. He looked into Duo's eyes, full of love and desire. He smiled. Duo grinned in return and rested his chin on Heero's shoulder. After a moment of silence, he said, "Hey, Heero, guess what? I don't see things anymore." He hugged Heero tightly.

"Are you sure about that?" Heero asked and right in front of Duo's eyes, long, white feathers suddenly appeared. Duo gasped and pulled back, but Heero's hands on his lower back prevented him from getting up. He looked at Heero's face, then back at his wings. He looked down at them and was confused when they continued on past where they were previously broken and torn. They were whole!

"Heero! Your wings! They're... They're..." Duo stammered in bewilderment.

"I know, Duo. They're not broken anymore." He received a confused stare from Duo. "Yes Duo, I know my wings are whole. You were right, they're not a hallucination. They're real, Duo," he whispered.

Duo licked his lips uncertainly. "How can you have wings?"

Heero shrugged, making his wings lift a little. "I don't know, but you have them too." He took his hands out from under Duo's shirt and touched his shoulderblades. "Here," he said, and Duo could feel him touching around something.

"But... Where did they come from, Heero? How could I have had them without knowing I did?" he asked, not quite daring to glance around to see if Heero was telling the truth.

Heero chuckled. "I can't answer that, Duo. I don't know. You're the only one who has been able to see my wings. I knew they were there since I was little. But nobody else noticed." He took his hands off of Duo's back and watched him stand and back up. He also stood and looked over his shoulder.

Duo watched in awe as Heero stretched his wings out to their full extent, which was nearly the length of the room. They quivered and were folded back down to Heero's back. "You see? I know they're there."

Duo finally glanced back over his shoulder to see his own wings which Heero claimed he had. He was surprised to see that his feathers were black. He reached around to touch one and felt how wonderfully soft they were. He looked back up at Heero. "Why are mine black? Is something wrong with me?"

Heero laughed. Duo obviously didn't think it was funny. "Oh, lighten up, Duo. The color isn't something you can control. Your wings have always been black."

"How do you know?"

"Because feathers don't change colors. Even these." His right wing curled around him so he could brush the tips over his palm.

Duo curled his left wing around him in the same way. "Does everyone have wings?" he asked.

Heero shrugged again. "I don't know, Duo. Yours and mine are the only ones I've ever seen. But you know how people sometimes roll their shoulders for no apparent reason? I think that's when they're doing something with their wings, whether they realize it or not." Duo nodded thoughtfully. "I think that everyone has their own pair of wings that they can see and feel. Maybe there's only one other person in the world who can see and feel someone elses wings. Nobody else can see them. Only those two people."

Duo smiled. "Y'know what? I think you're right," he said quietly, crossing the room again to embrace Heero. "I'm glad I can see your wings. And I'm glad that you can see mine." Duo's wings then circled around him to brush lightly against Heero's.

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Owari.

Arigato:

Thank you guys so much for helping me along and encouraging me throughout this story! I want you all to know how much finishing this story meant to me. I feel like this is the best work I have ever done, but without all of you, I wouldn't have had the confidence to finish it. I thank you now from the bottom of my heart. I'm so proud of this! I'm sorry it couldn't have gone on longer than it did, but I had a feeling that it wouldn't work out. I hope to see you all reading my next GW fanfiction. Although it might be a good story, I don't think anything I write after this will make me nearly as proud! I love this story and I hope you read it many more times without getting sick of it.

Doumo arigato gozaimashita, minna-san! Sayonara!