Part II Delirio

The mud had taken the soul of the young boy into its nostrils. His mouth full of gunk, Heero woke up with a start, his mind racing like crazy. The gun shots in the distance had been swallowed up by the greenery, the fire that blazed in the houses was consuming what was left off the houses, of his home. The huge machines still roamed the city, the bodies of the dead lay in heaps by the road, their smell travelling all the way to him. the fire licked he doors of his home, licked the faces of his father and mother. Still.

The nightmares were not over.

Heero stood up, his arms swung underneath him for support, and got to his feet. The mud had caked his clothes and his tennis shoes. The wet earth now made his hair nothing more than fungus rivulets, his face dirty. He looked down at the corpse of he boy next to him, and closed his eyes. Gently, with the tip of his tennis, he drew some mud over the cadaver, burying it into the earth.

He had not been out for a long time, he could tell. The noise of the Feds was still in the distance, faint now, but sill there. He shook his head, leaning on a dead tree half buried in the mud. He wondered if the little girl had survived like he had, so far. The vision of the old woman flooded back to him. gasping, he stood up, walking away from the muddy ground, back into the forest.

The boy could no longer remember the reason for the chase, for his running. He had been running away from death, to find death, to avenge himself? It all mingled into one thought in his head, one terrible thought that did not want to leave him. Whatever the reason, his world was over. He was alone now.

The fire tongues of the houses climbed up the trees, licking up to the dome above. The cold dome of the colony that served as a cage for the people that lived here. Heero kept on walking, his feet gathering speed. Trapped like animals, the people, his father had known, had been forced to surrender to the Federations demands. His father had refused, Heero remembered, to give into such conditions. The colonies are free, not some soil that the Earth can manipulate. Heero closed his eyes. His father had paid for his believes with his life. When the boy opened his eyes again, tears ran down his cheeks. Hot a bitter.

He was alone. The fire ate everything. His home, his streets, his friends. The place where he had lived all his life. The people he had never even known. His father and mother.

Like animals, the people were forced to run away into the forest, because they had thought that in there, the Feds would not find them. They had ran away believing that if they found a way to the earth, they'd be safe, but Heero no longer knew if any of them had survived. He bit his lip. he was the only one left, he thought, his small hands clenching. All the other people were dead, he believed, eaten by the fire, or mad, like that woman. Running around the streets killing the survivors because their own families had died.

The young boy stopped. The wind had become cold, the atmosphere torn apart as well. He had no place to go now. His home was gone. He would die in some gutter around the colony, like another homeless child. Alone forever, remembering what happened today like it was part of some strange nightmare that he'd never wake from. Lost and distant.

The child gasped, his breath halting in his lungs. The sounds of footsteps had become louder. Someone was running this way again, or near him, or after him. He looked behind himself, expecting the old lady to jump out of the bushes and attack him. The foliage moved under crazed feet.

Heero stood silent as the bushes parted quickly and the same girl ran out from them. He stared at her as she ran, her feet taking her fast like a deer, her hair moving wild behind her. She turned around, her scared eyes seeing him, recognizing him as he did. They stood looking at each other silently, their breaths lost in their mouths. The two children stood near each other, their small bodies spent from so much running, their faces ugly from the mud and madness. Still, looking at each other, wondering if they were the only ones left.

"My family is dead," she whispered, her eyes glazed with tears, but cold with fear.

Heero drew closer, his small hands reaching to touch her shoulder. She did not draw away, letting him touch her in friendship. The war that had erupted around them had no end, so it seemed, and they were caught in the middle. She smiled grimly at him, her courage beginning to fade. Perhaps destiny had chosen them as companions in the road of poverty that waited for, to starve together. Heero looked at her silently, his eyes narrowing in a gesture of understanding.

She drew her arms close to her body, her shirt, now in rags, serving as no comfort. It seemed that the sound of the huge Mobile Suits still rang in her ears. It seemed that they were here now, but as Heero looked around, he saw that the machines were still in their homes. parked, it seemed. he looked at her, noticing she was shivering.

"Here," he said quietly as he took off his shirt and gave it to her.

The girl looked at him quietly, her hands taking the torn shirt and drawing it over her body. She smiled, her mouth twisting softly, fearful of the tears. he ran a hand over his muddy hair, drawing the filth out slowly. One of his yellow tennis shoes was missing, he noticed. His black shorts were the colour of mud. What would his mother say if...?

The young boy felt his throat begin to hurt, but gasped in amazement as the girl caught his hand. She looked into his eyes, her soft irises shinning. Heero watched as she combed her hair with her fingers, drawing the weeds out. She looked strange to him in his green shirt. She looked at him, her childlike eyes starting to relax for a while at least. he felt his throat long to speak, to ask her name, but he had no chance.

"There you are!"

Heero screamed as the old woman jumped out of the bushes, her hands red with blood and her soul mad, even more, he believed, that before. She ran up to them, her hands reaching to grab the young girl. Heero felt his legs collapse as the girl drew away, running from the old woman. She tugged at Hire's hand, begging him to come with her. The young boy followed, his eyes wildly locked on the old woman. The woman was crazy, her eyes were distorted in their sockets. Hot blood ran down her face, into her lips. "Come back!" She yelled, running after them, her arms reaching to grab them. Her body moved with speed over the uneven soil, and the children grew scared as the road became narrow, the trees slowing them down. The old lady cackled, her deranged mind taking over and reached to hold on to the girl's long hair. Yanking it backwards, she pulled the girl towards her.

Heero screamed as he saw the old woman hold his friend. He smashed his fists at the old lady, his small hands hardly any help, but never stopping. The old lady screamed, dragging the girl by the hair. The child wailed horribly, clawing at the woman's hands, but did not let go of Heero's hand. The boy pulled her, trying to make the old woman release her. The girl cried out, her head in great pain.

"Let go!" Heero yelled, his eyes feral, his voice croaking.

The old woman kicked him, her hands gripping the boy's face. Her nails dug into his skin, breaking it. he yelled in pain, and kicked at her harder. The girl swung her legs at the woman's belly, but she was possessed by madness, her grief too powerful.

"You'll pay for my daughter, you evil witch!" she yelled.

The girl sobbed loudly, struggling to let go. Heero's cries grew louder, his hands frantic, as he saw the old woman reach for her knife, drawing it close to the girl. He screamed, clawing at the old lady, yanking her hair. She swung at him, catching his arms, but he did not release her.

"You killed my daughter, witch!"

Heero cursed, his child boy smashing into the woman. The girl screamed as the old lady cut her hands with the knife, her blood spilling into their bodies. She cried out, her eyes pleading for help, searching those of Heero, whose hands were bleeding, yet, never letting go.

"I did not kill your daughter," the girl pleaded. "It was the Feds!"

"Liar!" the old woman yelled, smashing the girl into a tree. "Liar!"

Heero felt his mind die as she hit the tree, his soul aching as she yelled. He tried to release her, but he could do nothing. He was so small, so helpless. He was useless to anyone. The old lady smashed the girl harder, her hands reddened with the child's blood. Heero screamed, his tears blinding him, and pulled the girl to him, in a desperate attempt. He felt the girl's body swing half unconscious, half dead.

"Let go of her, you crazy woman!" he yelled, his small voice shrill in the forest. "The Fed killed her, like they killed everyone else!"

Heero screamed as he saw the old woman raise her knife and swing down o the girl's head, her eyes red with anger, wet with tears. The young boy heard himself screaming like an animal, as he pulled the girl closer to his own body, and felt the knife pierce his skin, his blood spraying over the old woman.

He was falling then. Falling into the darkness. His screams would not stop.

The children fell to the floor, their tortured bodies collapsing into each other in sad pieces. The old woman's scream pierced their souls as their bodies lay on the ground gasping for breath. Loud gun shots rang, hitting the woman on her chest, her eyes widening horribly, like some monster. Her screams became a loud gurgle as blood erupted from her mouth and into the wet soil. Heero felt his soul banging at the sides of his body, madly, trying to get away from such horrors, as the old woman's body fell next to them, dead. Her knife fell a few steps away, making no sound in the wet mud.

In death, the old woman seemed thankful that she could now join her family, released from the pain.

The boy closed his eyes, as the little girl beside him sobbed softly, her hand gripping his hand still. He struggled to get up, helping her, but she drew her head to the ground, her eyes closed, her tears falling to the mud.

"I did not kill her daughter," she sobbed. "The Feds killed her thinking it was me."

Heero touched her hair, combing it back softly. She drew closer to him, burying her head in his chest, giving out all her pain, trusting him. Even if this was the first time they met, in this night of horrors and pain, when both of them lost everything and everyone.

A soft chuckle broke the silence. It sounded old and strangely amused.

"Look what I found here."

Heero gasped as he looked up, his small eyes weary of evil. He looked silently at the old man that came closer, walking slowly, his legs hindered by the iron clamps that were wrapped around them. The old man made his way to the children, his body leaning heavily on a metal cane that buried itself i the mud. Heero found himself mute, staring into the eyes of the old man. Eyes that were not eyes, but two revolving metallic disks. The old man chuckled again, sensing the boy's awe, and drew his hand up. Strange, metallic fingers, crooked and thin, clanked in glee as the old man bent close to look at the children.

"Go away," Heero said, drawing the girl closer to his body defensively.

The old man smiled, his long, white beard shaking. The girl lifted her head in Heero's chest and stared at his silently. Her eyes widened slightly, her hands reaching out towards him. The young boy gasped as she got up from his side and ran into the old man's arms.

"Ojisama!"

Heero struggled to his feet, watching the old man enfold his granddaughter lovingly, his soul aching for his child.

"My dear Anochecer," he said, holding her. "The nightmares are over, for now."

The old man's disk eyes rolled sadly, a soft expression on his face. He smiled as the girl buried her sobbing face in his chest, but never stopped looking at Heero. The young boy felt his insides break, the only friend he believed left, had no reason to stay with an orphan.

"Ah, " the old man said. "Heero Yui."

The young child gasped, his eyes narrowing untrustworthy. He drew back from the old man a his metallic hand reached out to hold him. The old man laughed grimly, understanding the boy's retreat. The little girl smiled sadly, leaving the old man's side. She looked at Heero, her eyes full of soft tears, and drew closer. The boy held his breath as she held him, enfolding him with her arms, her dark hair flying around him. She smiled sadly, looking at his face. He looked deep into her eyes, his mouth twisted in pain, trying not to sob.

"A strong soul, and such kind eyes," the old man said. "Just like the president."

The young boy looked at the old man silently, drawing closer, feeling a soft energy flow from him that seemed to pull him towards him. The girl was looking at him silently, her tears gone, running a hand over her dirty face. Heero caught a glance of the gun in the old man's coat, hidden and quiet.

"President...?"

The old man chuckled, leaning on his cane, his eyes revolving softly, making a soft noise. Heero listened to that noise, his tired body wanting to collapse.

"I, like your father," the old man said slowly, "remember when the shot Heero Yui, the president of the colonies."

Heero let himself collapse as the old man reached for him, enfolding him in his arms. The young boy looked up at the old man's eyes, his own fool of tears. Everything was almost gone: the houses, the trees, the town square, the people. Those who had survived had run away to other homes, hoping others had survived. Those who had lived would never return to this place, save in dreams. In dreams they would never leave this Hell, or stop running from it. The sounds of yelling had now gone totally silent. The Mobile Suits had left their homes.

Heero felt his head fall into the old man's chest, his eyes closing tiredly. He felt the old man put his metal hand over his body, holding him like the father he knew until this night. Now forever gone into the fire and darkness. The young boy tightened his eyes, feeling the girl hold on to her grandfather lovingly, her hand enveloping him as well, glad that she had been given a chance to fight again. The young boy looked silently at the old man as he drew away slowly.

"Come, Heero," he said. "Let's go home."