TENSHI

The sound of silence settled across the battlefield. Spirals of smoke began to rise up from the debris scattered across the desolate ground. In the midst of the twisted metal wreck lay a violet eyed boy, his heart shaped face contorted in pain, his body drenched in his own blood and his long chestnut hair matted. He could not move, and every painful breath he took was slowing. He was going to die. He was just a child, thrown into the midst of war and now his short life was ending for the sake of his home. He watched the dust dancing in the air, his vision blurring, his body in such pain that his mind was overwhelmed and did not even register it any longer. The cries of the battle rang in his ears vividly, the screams of his comrades, their blood spilling to the ground, tainting any purity the earth had retained in the war-torn ways of humanity. They had lost....emotionally as well as physically...the deaths a total waste.

His only thought was of the one he would leave behind, the only creature he had ever cared for and loved. He tried to call out for him, his voice nothing more than a weak whisper, his words nothing more than a prayer. Tears of despair rolled slowly down his young features, at the realisation of what was to come. He had called himself the God of Death, yet death was what he feared the most, and he did not want to reach that dark dwelling called Hell where he was sure to reside. He was not ready for his dance with Satan yet.....not yet, not now, not when peace had been just out of reach.....The world was fading, the call of darkness was drawing him nearer and the boy could no longer resist hell inviting him to join their realm of eternal torture. The clawed gnarled hands of the Devil beckoned to him, pulled him closer, dragging him towards his destiny....

A white beam of light smothered the boy suddenly and without warning. It drowned Satan in its purity, the Hell Master's mutating screams of agony dying out slowly as he was swallowed up by the brightness.

The boy found himself suspended by an invisible source, with nothing around him except soft shafts of light. It was so calm, he could no longer feel any pain, nor smell the stench of death. A single beam of light, bright and glowing, suddenly surrounded him, blinding yet not harsh as to hurt his eyes. A gentle melody, softer than any mortal instrument, dwindled through the air and faded as the brightness died out to reveal a beautiful creature floating in front of him.

Feathered wings spread from the creature's back, the delicate white down dusted with silver, shimmering in the barely illuminated atmosphere. Light blonde, almost white fine hair, hung loosely from the creatures face, shading his closed eyes. Strands of translucent silk wrapped around the beings small form and pale skin, the ends hanging from its arms and swaying gently in the ghostly breeze the atmosphere contained. The creature could not have been human.... Slowly opening its eyes, its gaze locked with the mortal boy, revealing endless blue depths, losing the boy deep within the creatures soul.

An Angel.....

The gaze was suddenly broken and the boy closed his eyes, suddenly feeling himself falling. Dropping towards darkness, he felt all the pain returning. Hell was calling him again, trying to drag him back. Fiery heat smothered him, burning his body and scorching his soul. A wordless scream pierced the air, the boy not realising the cry had come from his own lips. He kept falling, faster and faster, the agony increasing, the chant of Hell ringing in his ears, the ground closer and closer, bracing himself for the impact....

"Don't let it take you!"

.....and he stopped....

For a few moments, nothing happened. Stillness settled, there was complete nothingness. Heaven and Hell stood still.

Slowly, something dwindled within the boy, the quiet passing like sand being tossed across a desert. His human senses returned and he opened his eyes, finding himself being suspended once more, this time gazing into the deep blue eyes of the Angel. The Heaven-sent messenger was holding him, his arms wrapped loosely around the boys waist, holding him up above the fiery wastelands of Hell.

"Don't succumb to the darkness..."

The voice echoed through the air, little more than a musical whisper. The Angel was speaking to him.... It never moved, its lips not forming the words, but his mind.

"No...you are not worthy of Heaven! You must continue your worthless life here! It is your fault that so many lives were lost, repent for your sins!"

The malignant roar that crashed into the boy's mind could only have been Satan. The boy fought against the force that threatened to drown him in torture, tears running freely down his innocent young face. The Angel held the boy closer to him, protecting him. The darkness kept pulling at him but the Angel only brought him back again, Heaven and Hell playing a tug of war game with the boy's life. He sobbed into the fray, praying for forgiveness. Hell was slowly taking him over, causing guilt within him, and he began spiralling into the darkness. His body once again racked with agony, he lost all hope.....

Soft feathers broke his fall as the Angel wrapped his wings around him, drawing him closer. Its lips pressed against his and they were joined, their life force becoming one. Together they soared into the emptiness, both returning to the light. The boy felt all his life returning, pure energy flowing through every nerve. The soft down of the Angel's wings tightened their hold on the boy and he was enveloped in light, suddenly ascending into a bright tunnel.

"It is not your time yet, so I will send you back with the gift of my life..."

The Boy did not understand the words, but knew that he was safe. Colours flashed all around him, gentle beams surrounding. Something was returning to him....something parallel to the world he was about to leave. The colours began to fade into the other dimension he was about to enter...red, gold, blue, silver, violet...

And endless black.....

*****************

Duo Maxwell awoke to find he was not, as he assumed, in Heaven. The harsh light and sterile surroundings could not have been the Afterlife. Finding himself lying flat on itchy white sheets atop an uncomfortable simple bed, he knew he was in a military hospital, a far cry from the comfort of Heaven. He was in agony, his entire body burned and breathing was difficult, making his inhalations irregular and laboured. But he was alive.....

"So you're awake then?"

Duo tried to sit up to see who the voice belonged to but received nothing but a sharp stabbing pain in his chest and he was forced to lay still. The speaker chuckled softly.

"I wouldn't try getting up. You'll be flat on your back for a while yet." Footsteps approached the side of the bed and a boy with messy dark hair peered over into Duo's vison.

"Heero! God, it's nice to see your face again." Duo managed a grin for his partner in his weakened state. "What happened?"

"I was going to ask you the same question." Heero replied gravely. "All we found out there was the remains of a massacre. The only survivors we found were you two, although we weren't sure you were coming back to us. How are you feeling anyway? You've been out for about a month, your ribs should be healing well by now, the rest of your bones will take a while though...."

"You two?" Duo interrupted, speaking becoming difficult.

"Yeah. You and the kid we found beside you. He's over there." Heero pointed to the bed beside Duo, where a small figure lay. "His injuries are complicated, we can't figure out what happened. It's like he had most of his life force literally drained out of him."

Duo turned his head as much as he could, despite the pain it caused, to look at the figure.

'No.....it couldn't be....'

The white-blonde hair.....the pale skin....the endless blue depths were watching him.

"Duo? Do you know who he is?" Heero asked, concerned.

"Yes.....he's my Angel...."

END