The Harder They Fall
By Missa
Pairings: 1x2, 3x4x5 (at least to start)
Warnings: Slightly dark, well more than slightly dark when I get through with it. Oh and yaoi.
Part Prologue?
Disclaimer: Not my characters. Not that lucky.

Four men stood, each holding their own personal vigil to the grave they stood at. More importantly, the body buried beneath the cold soil. Each of them had their own reason for being there, but for each of them it boiled down to the same point. They were there now because they had not been there three years ago. This anniversary was one that none of them would forget because the harsh truth was imprinted deeply into their souls. They had not looked, they had not listened and they had taken him for granted.

Heero had pushed 'him' far too hard for far too long. Even after the war he pushed 'him' when it was not necessary. Heero had never given a thought that 'he' wasn't as strong as Heero himself was. Heero had never managed to look past the fact that 'he' was more than a Gundam Pilot. That 'he' was indeed a human being with limitations.

Wufei, he had not listened to his heart. He had known, even as he spent blissful nights holding his lover in his arms that something was wrong. Wufei had found it too difficult at the time trying to balance between the feelings he had for both of his lovers. He had not managed to look past their happiness to the depression that had subtly settled over one of his lovers.

Trowa was at fault for almost the exact reason that Wufei was, but on a deeper level. He had known 'him' the longest and should have been the one to step forward and take charge. He had known. He had seen what was slowly happening. Yet he had not been strong enough to speak up and stop it because he listened to his head instead of his heart. His head had told him that it was nothing, and his heart disagreed. But Trowa was not used to listening to his heart. Now, half his heart was gone while the other half of it remained as fragile as stained glass.

Duo if anything felt the most burdened though in reality that was not the truth. Duo was at fault for not listening. Not listening to the almost imperceptible pleas for help. Also, for not seeing the pain so carefully concealed in his friend's eyes. Duo's 'little brother', who he had come to share everything with after a time.

He had touched them all so very deeply. He had been the one holding them together. And they had not truly realized what he was to them until he was gone.

As one, four heads bent in a moment of grief and silence at the grave of Quatre Rebabera Winner.

From 20 feet away hidden almost behind a tree, a small figure watched the scene with quiet green eyes. His black hair blew silently in the frigid wind while his black duster hid a far too thin frame for someone of his height. He had known these people that he now watched. Indeed he had loved each of them dearly. While he had known of each of their strengths he had doubted his own. As it stood now, he no longer knew who he truly was. Memories that he had managed to suppress for three years burst to the surface. He fell to his knees and cried. He cried for what he had lost and also for what he had become.

A hand reached down and a white handkerchief presented itself before him. Holding his breath, Quatre looked up into onyx black eyes.

"Here," Wufei said, "Visiting such places as these always torments ones soul."

Quatre leapt to his feet, trembling. His hand reached out of its own accord towards Wufei before it snapped it back. "Places like these bring a soul more than just pain and torment," he intoned. "It also brings truth." With those words he turned and ran. Ran faster than anyone Wufei had seen since the war and even then only a Gundam Pilot had that kind of speed.

Wufei's face broke out into a look of startled recognition as his quick mind placed the pieces together, even as the figure moved beyond sight.

"Quatre?" he whispered completely stunned.