"Quatre?" came the cry of a small girl. "Quatre, help!"
Quatre turned towards the voice, and as he did, an object struck the ground and exploded, sending him reeling backwards.
"QUATRE!" the voice came again. "HELP!" Quatre pushed himself off the ground, trying his best to ignore the stabbing pain in his side. He couldn't see who was calling out to him, but the voice seemed so familiar. He stood up as best as he could and looked out across the field.
"Quatre!" A girl in pigtails lay on the ground a few hundred feet in front of him. "Help, I can't get up!" She reached out to him, her bright green eyes wide with fear.
"Erin!" Quatre suddenly realized who this was, and struggled to help his friend. "Erin, don't worry! Everything will be okay!" The Sandrock pilot continued on, but the pain in his chest became greater, and he collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath. As he did, another bomb dropped, striking the spot where Erin had been. A short scream met Quatre's ears, then was silenced.
"ERIN!!!!!" Quatre called out, getting up again. "ERIN!!!" There was no reply.
Quatre's eyes shot open as he scrambled up. He felt a sharp stabbing pain in his side as he got up, and fell onto his back once more.
"ERIN!!!" he shouted. Silence. Then, the faint beeping of a heart monitor reached his ears. "I-it was a dream..." he gasped, his voice trembling. "It was all a dream...but still...I lost her again."
The rhythmic beeping continued as tears streamed down the Arabian boy's face. "I can never save her...I have to lose her every time."
Outside of Quatre's window, a dark figure stood on the rooftop, quietly watching the spectacle with her cold, piercing green eyes. A pair of bat wings spread from her back, and her long dark hair was tossed across her face in the cold wind.
"So we meet again, Quatre?" she asked. "How long has it been? Six years? It has seemed much shorter to me." she paused for a moment and pulled a tarot-like card from a deck. "Well, time doesn't matter anymore. According to my cards, you'll be in eternity in just a matter of time..." With her last remark, she jumped off the roof and vanished into the night.
Quatre was up later than usual the next morning. He could not sleep for hours after his dream, and the residual pain in his side didn't help the situation either.
The Sandrock pilot sighed and stared up at the ceiling, deep in thought.
"I wonder where she would be if she were still alive....where would she be? What would she look like? Would she even remember me?"
"Mr. Winner?" a nurse peeked in, interrupting Quatre's train of thought. "There's a visitor here to see you."
Quatre's eyes lit up. "Oh, okay." he smiled. The nurse walked outside momentarily, then came back in leading a tall girl with long black hair. The nurse stopped for a moment, and then hustled outside, gently closing the door behind her.
"Hello, Quatre." she smiled, her bright eyes staring at him. Quatre took in a short breath as he looked into her eyes. It felt like they could stare right into the depths of his soul. "It's been awhile, hasn't it?"
Quatre was caught breathless. Those shining green eyes, her dark hair, that gentle smile. It could have been no one else. "Erin?" he finally found the courage to say. She nodded, tears beginning to collect at the corners of her eyes.
"You're alive?" Quatre asked. Erin nodded. She threw herself into his open arms.
"It's been so long....I finally found you..." she cried. "It took me so long...I was so alone without you..."
"It's okay..." Quatre said, beginning to cry himself. "It'll be okay now...I'm here for you...you won't be alone ever again."
As they cried together, no one seemed to notice the long black dagger that rested in a clip on the dark haired girl's belt, nor the deck of cards beside it. But that didn't seem to matter at the moment, for to them all that existed was each other.
One month later, Quatre led Erin up the long driveway of the Winner Estates. During that lat month, Quatre had seemed determined to never let Erin spend a minute without him, though he was bedridden. Erin apparently had had the same idea as well, for she stayed by his side every waking moment.
"It hasn't changed one bit." Erin noted as Quatre unlocked the door and opened it for her. She hesitated to walk inside, but Quatre insisted, so she picked up her small bag and entered.
"I haven't been home in a while." Quatre said. "With the war..."
"I understand." Erin replied.
"Q-MAN'S BACK!!!!" came a shout from somewhere inside the house. Erin jumped as Duo Maxwell came barreling down the hall towards them. "Quatre, your back!" he smiled, skittering to a halt as he reached the doorway. Heero and Trowa soon followed Duo, walking, of course.
"What are you guys doing here?" Quatre asked.
Duo paused for a moment. "Well....we wanted to greet you when you came back, so I picked the lock and we waited for you to come home."
"Oh, okay!" Quatre smiled nervously.
"We're glad you recovered." Trowa said. "We were all worried."
"Hn." Heero grunted, nodding in agreement.
Erin stood at the back of the group, watching quietly.
"How will I be able to let him die with all these people watching?" she asked herself. "Especially...HIM." She sighed and looked at Trowa. The Heavyarms pilot turned from the conversation for a moment and shot her a cold stare that sent chills down her spine.
"Oh!" Quatre suddenly looked ashamed of himself. "I'd like you all to meet my old friend, Erin." he said, standing aside. Erin looked up and smiled.
"Hello." she said weakly. Heero grunted, and Duo smiled cheekily, partly at her, partly at Quatre. Trowa still shot her the same glare. She returned the favor quickly, so the other three wouldn't notice.
"Where'd you find this one, eh, Q-man?" Duo nudged the Sandrock pilot.
"It's not what you think, Duo." Quatre said. "We were friends as kids."
"Ah..." Duo grinned and raised an eyebrow. Quatre shook his head, taking Erin by the hand. The dark haired girl blushed slightly.
"Don't mind Duo." he told her as he led her upstairs. "He's a bit rude at times, but he's just fine once you get to know him."
"Oh." Erin replied, at loss for any other words. Quatre smiled, turned a corner, and opened the door to a bedroom.
"You don't mind staying here, do you?" he asked. Erin shook her head.
"No, not at all." she answered.
"Great!" Quatre grinned. "I'll be right back, kay?"
"Sure." Erin replied.
Quatre left, closing the door behind him. Erin took out her bag and slowly unzipped it.
"It's going to be hard hiding this thing." she smirked, taking out her dagger and removing the case. She ran her finger very lightly along the blade, and it left a shallow cut down her finger. A deep scarlet drop of blood oozed from the wound. She muttered something under her breath and licked it away.
"Sharp enough to draw blood from a demon..." she chuckled to herself, putting the knife back into its sheath. "Think of what it could do to mortal flesh."
Downstairs, a certain unibanged pilot watched Quatre and Erin upstairs together. He glared coldly at Erin as she smiled and hugged Quatre quickly.
"Stay away from him." he muttered. "Stay away. He's mine."
Duo stopped and looked at Trowa for a moment, who continued to stare blankly upstairs.
"Are you okay, Tro?" he asked, waving his hand in front of Trowa's face. "Yoo-hoo, Trowa...."
Trowa's glance did not turn towards Duo, but none the less, expertly swatted Duo's hand out of the air.
"Are you okay?" Duo repeated.
"I'm fine." Trowa replied, walking calmly away from the braided pilot.
Duo stood there blinking for quite a length of time. "Uhm....okay..." he muttered, watching Trowa walk away slowly.
The next day, Trowa quietly tapped away at the keyboard. Duo grinned and watched the Heavyarms pilot for a few minutes.
"It's all becoming clear now..." he smirked. Trowa looked back at him.
"What do you mean?"
"You're JEALOUS, aren't you, Trowa?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about, Duo."
"I mean, you're jealous. Quatre's giving all the attention to Erin." the braided boy stopped for a minute, obviously choosing his words. "And you can tell he likes her....you're jealous. I noticed you shooting those looks at her."
"You don't understand the circumstances, do you, Duo?"
"Huh?"
"It goes deeper than jealousy." Trowa replied. Duo looked confused. "It's much more than that. Yes, it's true I love Quatre. I'd do anything for him, but this matter is deeper than petty jealousy or love."
"Whu?" Duo asked, rather speechless for once in his life.
"I mean to save Quatre from making a mistake that could cost him his life."
Duo was now thoroughly confused.
"If you don't understand, look at this." Trowa pulled a piece of paper from the printer tray. It was a printout of a death certificate.
"What's this?" Duo asked. He took it from Trowa and read it aloud. "Erin Hill. Date of birth: unknown. Deceased A.C. 189, on the L4 Colony." The braided pilot's eyes grew wide.
"Do you understand now?" Trowa asked. Duo nodded.
"Now if you excuse me..." the unibanged boy said, getting out of his chair and walking towards the door. "I have other matters to attend to."
"NO!" Quatre shouted. He turned away from Trowa and put his hands over his ears. "I don't believe it! It can't be true! It's not true!"
"Quatre..." Trowa said, finding nothing else to say. "Please don't put yourself in a fix..."
"Put myself in a fix?" Quatre asked, turning to Trowa once more, tears glistening in his eyes. It was obvious he was rather upset. "You don't understand, do you, Trowa?!?! I thought I had lost Erin in a bombing, and for six years I prayed that she would be alive. I had lost the one person who had ever cared about me, Trowa! The one person I ever dared to love! How can you tell me that she's dead if she's finally right here with me?!?!?"
Trowa looked taken aback. "Quatre, she's not at all what she seems."
Erin glanced into the room to see what all the shouting was about.
"You're right." Quatre replied acidly. "She's much more than that. She's much more than what you give her credit for being!"
"Quatre, what's wrong?" Erin asked. She walked into the room and put her hand on his shoulder.
"It's nothing." Quatre replied, taking the girl's hand and walking towards the door. "Let's go."
As she was pulled past Trowa, Erin leaned towards him. "You stay out of this." she whispered in his ear. "His life is all mine, now."
Trowa didn't say a word, but shot Erin another glare. She smirked as Quatre led her out the door, slamming it behind him.
"Please, Quatre." Trowa said quietly. "Don't do anything foolish."
"Where are we going?" Erin finally asked as Quatre led her down the street. He stopped and thought for a second.
"I'm not quite sure...." Quatre replied, a puzzled look crossing his face. Erin laughed.
"Well think fast." Erin giggled. "Or we might be there before you realize it."
"True." Quatre said, continuing on.
"Thought of anything yet?"
Quatre nodded, and took Erin's hand again. "Close your eyes." he told her. She obeyed.
"But what if-" Erin began to protest. Quatre put his finger to her lips, signaling for her to be quiet.
"Don't worry, I'll lead you." he said gently. With that, he slowly led her down the street towards their destination.
To Erin, it seemed like an eternity as Quatre guided her down the streets of the city. She clenched her eyes shut, savoring each moment she felt his hand clasped tightly around hers, knowing that these memories might be the last she had of him before she had to finally release his spirit into eternity.
"Open your eyes, now." Quatre told her. She opened them and found herself in the middle of a beautiful garden. A large umbrella tree spread its leaves far over her head, and ferns and flowers lay across her feet. Behind the couple was a waterfall, which flowed into a pond full of lilies and other water plants.
"Do you remember this place?" Quatre asked Erin. She nodded slowly.
"I remember we used to come here all the time to play, because no one else knew about this garden." she replied. "And I remember once I fell into the pond, and you jumped in and rescued me."
The Sandrock pilot smiled. "And after that you finally learned how to swim." They both laughed. Erin then turned her gaze to the tree and began to examine it's trunk.
"Come one!" she said, tugging at Quatre's sleeve. He turned around as she ran towards the tree.
"Huh? What are you doing?"
"You'll see!" Erin smiled. She scrambled up into the tree and disappeared into the leaves. Quatre waited several minutes, but saw no sign of Erin. Then, suddenly there was a rustling in the leaves and he found her hanging upside down from a branch. Her long black hair hung in her face as she stared at Quatre, laughing. He brushed some wisps of hair away, so her green eyes shone at him more brightly than ever before.
"Come on up!" she begged Quatre. He looked up at the tall tree.
"I don't know..." he said in thought.
"Please?" she implored again. Quatre remained hesitant.
"For me?" she asked, giving it her last go. The Arabian boy smiled and shrugged.
"Why not?" he asked himself, proceeding towards the trunk of the tree.
"No, no, no..." Erin scolded.
"What?" Quatre asked. She grinned impishly.
"You can't climb a tree in that shirt." she said, motioning with a shake of her head at the shirt underneath his usual purple vest. It was the one he wore everywhere, anywhere, any place, and any time. "It'll rip." Erin noted. "And you don't want that, now do you?" The Arabian boy shot her a disapproving glare.
"It's true." she said innocently.
Quatre muttered something and began to unbutton it. Erin's impish grin turned to an admiring smirk as Quatre shrugged the shirt and vest off his shoulders, letting them drop to the ground. He then folded them neatly and set them both on a rock.
Erin stared at his bare chest and arms and nearly fell out of the tree. He was more muscular than she would have expected for the boy she could beat in arm wrestling while she was alive.
"Much better!" Erin blushed. "Don't let your emotions take over." she told herself, watching Quatre climb into the tree. "You must remember, he's going to die any way you slice it. You're only doing this to win his trust. Don't get too attached to him."
"I hope your happy." came a voice from beside her. Erin swung herself up back onto the branch and found herself looking straight into Quatre's eyes.
"Very." she replied. "I would remember you no other way."
Darkness had finally come, but still, two figures sat out in the night air, staring up at the starry sky.
"Quatre..." Erin turned and looked at him. "Quatre, there's something I have to tell you."
"Huh?"
She hesitated, looking down at the dagger on her belt. "Um, never mind." she finally said. "It can wait until later."
Later that night, Trowa quietly sat up on the roof of the Winner Estates. He looked around, as if making sure he was totally alone, then stood up. A bright white light surrounded the Heavyarms pilot. When it finally subsided, Trowa was left standing there, shining with an unearthly light. A pair of feathery wings spread from his back as he resumed sitting again.
"Thought you were alone didn't you, Trowa?" a cold voice asked. "Hmph. Angels. Such unthorough creatures." Trowa looked up to see a dark bat winged figure perched on the roof beside him.
"I knew you were here, Erin." Trowa replied coolly. "So please go and leave me in peace for a while."
Erin smirked and rose to her full height, which was quite a few inches taller than Trowa. "You can't deny it anymore, can you?" she hissed. "You know Quatre's life is all mine now. All I have to do is go down and kill him, then just like that, I win, you lose." With that, she pulled out her blade and walked to the edge of the roof.
"You wouldn't." Trowa answered. Erin smirked and stepped closer. Two shingles were knocked free by her foot and they plummeted towards the ground below.
"You bet I would, Trowa."
The guardian angel fumed. "You leave him alone, I mean it!"
"Aw, widdle Trowa's protecting his boyfriend isn't he?" Erin cooed cynically. She poised herself on the edge of the roof, ready to jump at any moment.
"Just stay away from him!" Trowa ran towards them demon. Erin sidestepped him, then whirled to face the guardian angel once more.
"You know you can't win this time..." the demon girl chided. She lunged at Trowa, who ducked and reached for the dagger, taking it by it's blade and wrenching it violently from her hand. He winced in pain as it sliced easily through his palm. Blood rushed from the wound, covering his hand and splashing onto the roof's shingles.
Erin watched silently for a moment as Trowa clasped his hand, trying to stop the bleeding. "Honestly now." Erin muttered in a disgusted tone. "You would do that to save the life of a human?"
"It's because I love Quatre." Trowa replied trying to sound calm, though the throbbing pain in his hand increased by the second. "But you wouldn't know what it means to love, so I don't know why I bother to tell you these things." He winced again and dropped the dagger, letting it clatter to the roof's surface.
Erin stopped for a moment, having nothing vicious to counter Trowa's last comment. Instead, she quietly walked towards him, picked up her dagger, and slid it back into it's clip. "I may have loved before, I may have not." she said, looking up at Trowa, her eyes for once filled with something other than hatred. "Decide for yourself after I tell you this one thing, Trowa; I will spare the life of Quatre Raberba Winner for as long as I am allowed."
The angel looked at her and nodded. Erin then turned and leapt off the roof, letting her large black wings unfold. Trowa watched as she left, then he too, disappeared.
The next day, Trowa walked downstairs with his hand in bandages. Erin stared at the injury with a slight smile of self satisfaction.
"What happened to your hand?" she suddenly righted herself as Quatre walked into the room.
"I was a little clumsy with a knife, that's all." Trowa replied as pleasantly as he could.
"Oh, Trowa..." Quatre sighed. "May I see it?" The Heavyarms pilot nodded and unwrapped his hand, revealing the deep gash Erin's dagger had left in his hand.
"What kind of knife were you using?!?!?!" Duo asked, his eyes bugging out in complete astonishment. "That thing must have been sharp!"
"It looks like a pretty deep wound." Heero added. Quatre nodded in agreement. Trowa simply shrugged.
"It's not that bad considering all the other things that have happened to me." he replied, keeping his cool composure.
"You might want to see a doctor." Quatre urged. "It looks like it might need stitches."
"No, really, it'll heal by itself." Trowa said, waving Quatre off. "As I said, I've been through worse."
"At least let me redress it for you" Quatre insisted. Trowa looked at Quatre in disbelief.
"Okay." he finally agreed, getting up and following the Sandrock pilot to the bathroom. Quatre sighed and closed the door slowly behind him.
"I feel bad for what I said yesterday, Trowa." he said, opening a cabinet and pulling out bandages and some disinfectant. "I shouldn't have gotten so upset. You were only looking out for me."
"No, I understand." Trowa replied. "You were only protecting her."
"Still." Quatre continued, opening the bottle of medication and dabbing it gently onto Trowa's injury. The Heavyarms pilot flinched slightly. "I overreacted. Nothing should come between friends they say." He then proceeded to wrap a fresh bandage around Trowa's hand, then looked up at him. "Is that okay? Or is it too tight?"
Trowa stared at his hand blankly for a while. "It's just fine" he said, smiling gently at the blonde boy.
"Good." Quatre replied, standing up and opening the door. "Hope it gets better."
"It will now." Trowa said, quietly walking out the door.
Later that day, Erin sat on her bed, a disgusted look on her face.
"I did not expect him to still trust that angel." she hissed to herself, angrily pulling a card from her deck and looking at it.
"Quatre again." she muttered, throwing the card aside. "I suppose it truly is his destiny to die. Which means I must kill him. Tonight."
She drew out her knife and wiped the dried blood off on her jacket, admiring the deadly glint of the light off of the black metal. "I can't stall any longer. I'm sorry...."
"Erin?" Quatre peered into the room. "Are you busy?"
Erin looked up in surprise and quickly sat on the knife and cards. "Not at all. Why?"
Quatre smiled slightly mischievously. "The stars are coming out about now. Would you like to come outside with me and watch them?" Erin blushed.
"Sure." she replied, taking his hand and walking out the door. The Sandrock pilot led her out to the garden, where the stars were just beginning to show in the night sky.
"I always loved coming out here when I was a kid." Quatre sighed, staring up. "It was sort of an escape from life."
"I can see why." Erin noted, looking upwards as well. "The stars are so beautiful. So unchanging. They kinda leave you with a calm feeling in your soul."
Quatre nodded slowly in agreement. "You know." he said. "I believe you and I are a lot like a star."
"How come?" Erin asked, looking at Quatre with a puzzled expression.
"Because..." Quatre began. "There are stars in the universe known as double stars. For their entire lives, they are together, bound together by their gravity. They were meant to be together forever. You and I, Erin. We're like a double star. We're bound together by love, meant to be together out entire lives. That's why, Erin, I want to ask you....will you marry me?" He delicately pressed a ring into her hand.
"Quatre, I-I..." Erin stopped for a minute, looking at the ring. "I don't know what to say....it's too sudden."
"But what about while I was in the hospital. You were by my side every day, and you loved it. You did not have to do that, Erin. I know we're meant to be."
"I still don't know what to say." she stammered. "But I promise I will give you an answer by tomorrow."
In the dark of the midnight hour, the demon girl crept out of the darkness and stole down the hall towards Quatre's room. Once there she put her back to the wall and drew out her cards again.
"These cards tell me who is to die." she said quietly, tracing out the golden pentagram on the back of the deck with her finger. "If I were to draw another mortal out of this deck, it would mean Quatre lives. If Quatre's picture is drawn again, he must die." She closed her eyes, reached down, and pulled a card. She held it in her hand for a moment, then turned it over. The card revealed the same picture of Quatre, as the others had. Erin sighed.
"Then it cannot be prevented." she decided, pulling out her dagger and reaching for the doorknob.
"He must die tonight?" came the familiar voice of Trowa. Erin turned her head and looked straight at him.
"My cards don't lie." she said.
"Leaving destiny to a stack of cards." Trowa snorted. "How like you. No mind of our own. You leave everything to the will of a pathetic deck of cards. You and the rest of your kind."
"If I had my choice, I would let him live!" Erin hissed, raising her voice slightly. "Is that what you wanted out of me this whole time?!?!?" Trowa stood and nodded. Tears began to form at the corners of her eyes.
"I never wanted this position in the first place, you know." Erin said, hiding her tears from Trowa. "If it could have been helped at all, I would have chose to live out the rest of my days with Quatre. I did not expect to be killed. I did not expect anything that happened to me. All I wanted was to spend the rest of my life with him."
"I don't quite understand." Trowa replied.
"The truth is, I'm not like most other demons." Erin said, her entire body beginning to shake. "In the sense that, I'm not a fallen angel. I was a human once. And as a human child, I befriended a young Quatre Winner. We were inseparable. We went everywhere together, did everything together, agreed on nearly everything. We loved each other more deeply than anyone ever has or ever will....and then..."
"Then what?" Trowa asked, showing slight signs of curiosity.
"Then there came that day. We were out playing in a park when it happened." Erin sighed. "The bombing I mean. I remember getting knocked to the ground once. I couldn't get up. Quatre tried to help me, but he was hurt and couldn't reach me in time. I was killed when another bomb struck. The last thing I saw was his panicked face. The tears in his eyes. His outstretched hand, trying to help me up."
"I'm sorry to hear that." Trowa said. Erin shook her head, and then continued.
"After I was killed, I was presented with a choice." Erin stopped for a moment. "Turns out Quatre was mortally wounded in the attack. It was said he wouldn't survive another two days. Either I accept that and let my soul go on....or let him live, and become what I am today....and you can clearly see the choice I made."
Trowa stood there silently, letting what Erin had just said slowly sink in. "If you let him live then, why not let him live now?" he asked.
"It's my job!" Erin exclaimed. "You must realize, I am not the same person I was the day I died."
"But he LOVES you. And you love him back." Trowa persisted. "Not even a demon would be so heartless as to kill the one they love."
Erin swallowed the lump that had accumulated in her throat, and reached into her pocket, pulling out the ring. She let it lay in her palm as she watched the single diamond glisten. Then, in one swift motion, the demon girl walked over to Trowa and put the ring in his hand.
"Then it's been decided." she said. "I will leave, and spare the life of Quatre Winner until it is the proper time for him to die."
"And when is that?" Trowa asked.
"When he can no longer remember the friend and lover he has lost." Erin replied. "Just promise to give him this." She handed Trowa a small note.
"I will." Trowa promised.
"And do one more thing for me. Please take care of him. You're his guardian angel after all."
And with those final words, she opened the window and jumped outside. Trowa watched as she dropped lightly to the ground and disappeared into the night.
"I will keep my word as a messenger of God." he muttered to himself, walking into Quatre's room and placing the note and the ring on the table.
The next morning, Quatre did not come downstairs. His bedroom door was locked, as Heero soon discovered when he attempted to bring him some breakfast (as instructed by Duo). It remained that way as the day continued on, and it soon became clear to Trowa, Duo, and Heero that the Arabian boy had no intention of showing his face that day.
"I've never seen him like this." Duo noted. Heero grunted in agreement while Trowa quietly proceeded upstairs.
Within his room, Quatre read the note over and over again while clutching the ring tightly in his right hand.
Quatre my love, the letter began.
Words cannot express the regret in my heart as I write this, but it is clear to me now that to reject your proposal is how I can show you my true love. It is not because of anything you have done, nor because of the person you are, inside and out. It is because of me. I have to reveal the truth to you one day, and I suppose today is that day. Trowa was correct in everything he said about me, and I am glad you don't hold anything against him. I am dead. Beyond being dead, I am a demon. No more, and no less. Why or how isn't important. You can feel free to ask Trowa about those matters later. The only reason I was here in the first place was because it was your time to die as well, Quatre. My job in death is to finish off those who are ready to die. After your injuries aboard Libra, you qualified for this. But I could not kill you, Quatre, because even a demon is not so heartless that she would kill the one she loves.
Trust in your heart, though that you will see me again, though it will probably be when you can no longer remember my face, or the sound of my voice. But for now, farewell. I will miss you.
Love,
Erin
"She left..." Quatre sniffed. A tear trickled down his cheek and splashed onto the paper, smudging several words in the process.
"It was for the best, Quatre."
"Trowa?" Quatre turned and wiped the tears from his eyes. "How did you get in?"
"It's not important now." Trowa replied, quietly reading the letter. "She meant every word she said, you know."
"I have no doubt about that." he sniffed. "It's just that....just that..."
"I know." Trowa said soothingly. "But you have to remember who she is, and who you are. You could never be together."
Quatre nodded slowly.
"It'll be okay." he said, taking Quatre in his arms and kissing him lightly. "Everything will be fine..."
"Trowa..." Quatre closed his eyes and for a moment he felt soft, feathery wings surrounding him.
"I'm here for you, Quatre..."
end
Quatre turned towards the voice, and as he did, an object struck the ground and exploded, sending him reeling backwards.
"QUATRE!" the voice came again. "HELP!" Quatre pushed himself off the ground, trying his best to ignore the stabbing pain in his side. He couldn't see who was calling out to him, but the voice seemed so familiar. He stood up as best as he could and looked out across the field.
"Quatre!" A girl in pigtails lay on the ground a few hundred feet in front of him. "Help, I can't get up!" She reached out to him, her bright green eyes wide with fear.
"Erin!" Quatre suddenly realized who this was, and struggled to help his friend. "Erin, don't worry! Everything will be okay!" The Sandrock pilot continued on, but the pain in his chest became greater, and he collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath. As he did, another bomb dropped, striking the spot where Erin had been. A short scream met Quatre's ears, then was silenced.
"ERIN!!!!!" Quatre called out, getting up again. "ERIN!!!" There was no reply.
Quatre's eyes shot open as he scrambled up. He felt a sharp stabbing pain in his side as he got up, and fell onto his back once more.
"ERIN!!!" he shouted. Silence. Then, the faint beeping of a heart monitor reached his ears. "I-it was a dream..." he gasped, his voice trembling. "It was all a dream...but still...I lost her again."
The rhythmic beeping continued as tears streamed down the Arabian boy's face. "I can never save her...I have to lose her every time."
Outside of Quatre's window, a dark figure stood on the rooftop, quietly watching the spectacle with her cold, piercing green eyes. A pair of bat wings spread from her back, and her long dark hair was tossed across her face in the cold wind.
"So we meet again, Quatre?" she asked. "How long has it been? Six years? It has seemed much shorter to me." she paused for a moment and pulled a tarot-like card from a deck. "Well, time doesn't matter anymore. According to my cards, you'll be in eternity in just a matter of time..." With her last remark, she jumped off the roof and vanished into the night.
Quatre was up later than usual the next morning. He could not sleep for hours after his dream, and the residual pain in his side didn't help the situation either.
The Sandrock pilot sighed and stared up at the ceiling, deep in thought.
"I wonder where she would be if she were still alive....where would she be? What would she look like? Would she even remember me?"
"Mr. Winner?" a nurse peeked in, interrupting Quatre's train of thought. "There's a visitor here to see you."
Quatre's eyes lit up. "Oh, okay." he smiled. The nurse walked outside momentarily, then came back in leading a tall girl with long black hair. The nurse stopped for a moment, and then hustled outside, gently closing the door behind her.
"Hello, Quatre." she smiled, her bright eyes staring at him. Quatre took in a short breath as he looked into her eyes. It felt like they could stare right into the depths of his soul. "It's been awhile, hasn't it?"
Quatre was caught breathless. Those shining green eyes, her dark hair, that gentle smile. It could have been no one else. "Erin?" he finally found the courage to say. She nodded, tears beginning to collect at the corners of her eyes.
"You're alive?" Quatre asked. Erin nodded. She threw herself into his open arms.
"It's been so long....I finally found you..." she cried. "It took me so long...I was so alone without you..."
"It's okay..." Quatre said, beginning to cry himself. "It'll be okay now...I'm here for you...you won't be alone ever again."
As they cried together, no one seemed to notice the long black dagger that rested in a clip on the dark haired girl's belt, nor the deck of cards beside it. But that didn't seem to matter at the moment, for to them all that existed was each other.
One month later, Quatre led Erin up the long driveway of the Winner Estates. During that lat month, Quatre had seemed determined to never let Erin spend a minute without him, though he was bedridden. Erin apparently had had the same idea as well, for she stayed by his side every waking moment.
"It hasn't changed one bit." Erin noted as Quatre unlocked the door and opened it for her. She hesitated to walk inside, but Quatre insisted, so she picked up her small bag and entered.
"I haven't been home in a while." Quatre said. "With the war..."
"I understand." Erin replied.
"Q-MAN'S BACK!!!!" came a shout from somewhere inside the house. Erin jumped as Duo Maxwell came barreling down the hall towards them. "Quatre, your back!" he smiled, skittering to a halt as he reached the doorway. Heero and Trowa soon followed Duo, walking, of course.
"What are you guys doing here?" Quatre asked.
Duo paused for a moment. "Well....we wanted to greet you when you came back, so I picked the lock and we waited for you to come home."
"Oh, okay!" Quatre smiled nervously.
"We're glad you recovered." Trowa said. "We were all worried."
"Hn." Heero grunted, nodding in agreement.
Erin stood at the back of the group, watching quietly.
"How will I be able to let him die with all these people watching?" she asked herself. "Especially...HIM." She sighed and looked at Trowa. The Heavyarms pilot turned from the conversation for a moment and shot her a cold stare that sent chills down her spine.
"Oh!" Quatre suddenly looked ashamed of himself. "I'd like you all to meet my old friend, Erin." he said, standing aside. Erin looked up and smiled.
"Hello." she said weakly. Heero grunted, and Duo smiled cheekily, partly at her, partly at Quatre. Trowa still shot her the same glare. She returned the favor quickly, so the other three wouldn't notice.
"Where'd you find this one, eh, Q-man?" Duo nudged the Sandrock pilot.
"It's not what you think, Duo." Quatre said. "We were friends as kids."
"Ah..." Duo grinned and raised an eyebrow. Quatre shook his head, taking Erin by the hand. The dark haired girl blushed slightly.
"Don't mind Duo." he told her as he led her upstairs. "He's a bit rude at times, but he's just fine once you get to know him."
"Oh." Erin replied, at loss for any other words. Quatre smiled, turned a corner, and opened the door to a bedroom.
"You don't mind staying here, do you?" he asked. Erin shook her head.
"No, not at all." she answered.
"Great!" Quatre grinned. "I'll be right back, kay?"
"Sure." Erin replied.
Quatre left, closing the door behind him. Erin took out her bag and slowly unzipped it.
"It's going to be hard hiding this thing." she smirked, taking out her dagger and removing the case. She ran her finger very lightly along the blade, and it left a shallow cut down her finger. A deep scarlet drop of blood oozed from the wound. She muttered something under her breath and licked it away.
"Sharp enough to draw blood from a demon..." she chuckled to herself, putting the knife back into its sheath. "Think of what it could do to mortal flesh."
Downstairs, a certain unibanged pilot watched Quatre and Erin upstairs together. He glared coldly at Erin as she smiled and hugged Quatre quickly.
"Stay away from him." he muttered. "Stay away. He's mine."
Duo stopped and looked at Trowa for a moment, who continued to stare blankly upstairs.
"Are you okay, Tro?" he asked, waving his hand in front of Trowa's face. "Yoo-hoo, Trowa...."
Trowa's glance did not turn towards Duo, but none the less, expertly swatted Duo's hand out of the air.
"Are you okay?" Duo repeated.
"I'm fine." Trowa replied, walking calmly away from the braided pilot.
Duo stood there blinking for quite a length of time. "Uhm....okay..." he muttered, watching Trowa walk away slowly.
The next day, Trowa quietly tapped away at the keyboard. Duo grinned and watched the Heavyarms pilot for a few minutes.
"It's all becoming clear now..." he smirked. Trowa looked back at him.
"What do you mean?"
"You're JEALOUS, aren't you, Trowa?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about, Duo."
"I mean, you're jealous. Quatre's giving all the attention to Erin." the braided boy stopped for a minute, obviously choosing his words. "And you can tell he likes her....you're jealous. I noticed you shooting those looks at her."
"You don't understand the circumstances, do you, Duo?"
"Huh?"
"It goes deeper than jealousy." Trowa replied. Duo looked confused. "It's much more than that. Yes, it's true I love Quatre. I'd do anything for him, but this matter is deeper than petty jealousy or love."
"Whu?" Duo asked, rather speechless for once in his life.
"I mean to save Quatre from making a mistake that could cost him his life."
Duo was now thoroughly confused.
"If you don't understand, look at this." Trowa pulled a piece of paper from the printer tray. It was a printout of a death certificate.
"What's this?" Duo asked. He took it from Trowa and read it aloud. "Erin Hill. Date of birth: unknown. Deceased A.C. 189, on the L4 Colony." The braided pilot's eyes grew wide.
"Do you understand now?" Trowa asked. Duo nodded.
"Now if you excuse me..." the unibanged boy said, getting out of his chair and walking towards the door. "I have other matters to attend to."
"NO!" Quatre shouted. He turned away from Trowa and put his hands over his ears. "I don't believe it! It can't be true! It's not true!"
"Quatre..." Trowa said, finding nothing else to say. "Please don't put yourself in a fix..."
"Put myself in a fix?" Quatre asked, turning to Trowa once more, tears glistening in his eyes. It was obvious he was rather upset. "You don't understand, do you, Trowa?!?! I thought I had lost Erin in a bombing, and for six years I prayed that she would be alive. I had lost the one person who had ever cared about me, Trowa! The one person I ever dared to love! How can you tell me that she's dead if she's finally right here with me?!?!?"
Trowa looked taken aback. "Quatre, she's not at all what she seems."
Erin glanced into the room to see what all the shouting was about.
"You're right." Quatre replied acidly. "She's much more than that. She's much more than what you give her credit for being!"
"Quatre, what's wrong?" Erin asked. She walked into the room and put her hand on his shoulder.
"It's nothing." Quatre replied, taking the girl's hand and walking towards the door. "Let's go."
As she was pulled past Trowa, Erin leaned towards him. "You stay out of this." she whispered in his ear. "His life is all mine, now."
Trowa didn't say a word, but shot Erin another glare. She smirked as Quatre led her out the door, slamming it behind him.
"Please, Quatre." Trowa said quietly. "Don't do anything foolish."
"Where are we going?" Erin finally asked as Quatre led her down the street. He stopped and thought for a second.
"I'm not quite sure...." Quatre replied, a puzzled look crossing his face. Erin laughed.
"Well think fast." Erin giggled. "Or we might be there before you realize it."
"True." Quatre said, continuing on.
"Thought of anything yet?"
Quatre nodded, and took Erin's hand again. "Close your eyes." he told her. She obeyed.
"But what if-" Erin began to protest. Quatre put his finger to her lips, signaling for her to be quiet.
"Don't worry, I'll lead you." he said gently. With that, he slowly led her down the street towards their destination.
To Erin, it seemed like an eternity as Quatre guided her down the streets of the city. She clenched her eyes shut, savoring each moment she felt his hand clasped tightly around hers, knowing that these memories might be the last she had of him before she had to finally release his spirit into eternity.
"Open your eyes, now." Quatre told her. She opened them and found herself in the middle of a beautiful garden. A large umbrella tree spread its leaves far over her head, and ferns and flowers lay across her feet. Behind the couple was a waterfall, which flowed into a pond full of lilies and other water plants.
"Do you remember this place?" Quatre asked Erin. She nodded slowly.
"I remember we used to come here all the time to play, because no one else knew about this garden." she replied. "And I remember once I fell into the pond, and you jumped in and rescued me."
The Sandrock pilot smiled. "And after that you finally learned how to swim." They both laughed. Erin then turned her gaze to the tree and began to examine it's trunk.
"Come one!" she said, tugging at Quatre's sleeve. He turned around as she ran towards the tree.
"Huh? What are you doing?"
"You'll see!" Erin smiled. She scrambled up into the tree and disappeared into the leaves. Quatre waited several minutes, but saw no sign of Erin. Then, suddenly there was a rustling in the leaves and he found her hanging upside down from a branch. Her long black hair hung in her face as she stared at Quatre, laughing. He brushed some wisps of hair away, so her green eyes shone at him more brightly than ever before.
"Come on up!" she begged Quatre. He looked up at the tall tree.
"I don't know..." he said in thought.
"Please?" she implored again. Quatre remained hesitant.
"For me?" she asked, giving it her last go. The Arabian boy smiled and shrugged.
"Why not?" he asked himself, proceeding towards the trunk of the tree.
"No, no, no..." Erin scolded.
"What?" Quatre asked. She grinned impishly.
"You can't climb a tree in that shirt." she said, motioning with a shake of her head at the shirt underneath his usual purple vest. It was the one he wore everywhere, anywhere, any place, and any time. "It'll rip." Erin noted. "And you don't want that, now do you?" The Arabian boy shot her a disapproving glare.
"It's true." she said innocently.
Quatre muttered something and began to unbutton it. Erin's impish grin turned to an admiring smirk as Quatre shrugged the shirt and vest off his shoulders, letting them drop to the ground. He then folded them neatly and set them both on a rock.
Erin stared at his bare chest and arms and nearly fell out of the tree. He was more muscular than she would have expected for the boy she could beat in arm wrestling while she was alive.
"Much better!" Erin blushed. "Don't let your emotions take over." she told herself, watching Quatre climb into the tree. "You must remember, he's going to die any way you slice it. You're only doing this to win his trust. Don't get too attached to him."
"I hope your happy." came a voice from beside her. Erin swung herself up back onto the branch and found herself looking straight into Quatre's eyes.
"Very." she replied. "I would remember you no other way."
Darkness had finally come, but still, two figures sat out in the night air, staring up at the starry sky.
"Quatre..." Erin turned and looked at him. "Quatre, there's something I have to tell you."
"Huh?"
She hesitated, looking down at the dagger on her belt. "Um, never mind." she finally said. "It can wait until later."
Later that night, Trowa quietly sat up on the roof of the Winner Estates. He looked around, as if making sure he was totally alone, then stood up. A bright white light surrounded the Heavyarms pilot. When it finally subsided, Trowa was left standing there, shining with an unearthly light. A pair of feathery wings spread from his back as he resumed sitting again.
"Thought you were alone didn't you, Trowa?" a cold voice asked. "Hmph. Angels. Such unthorough creatures." Trowa looked up to see a dark bat winged figure perched on the roof beside him.
"I knew you were here, Erin." Trowa replied coolly. "So please go and leave me in peace for a while."
Erin smirked and rose to her full height, which was quite a few inches taller than Trowa. "You can't deny it anymore, can you?" she hissed. "You know Quatre's life is all mine now. All I have to do is go down and kill him, then just like that, I win, you lose." With that, she pulled out her blade and walked to the edge of the roof.
"You wouldn't." Trowa answered. Erin smirked and stepped closer. Two shingles were knocked free by her foot and they plummeted towards the ground below.
"You bet I would, Trowa."
The guardian angel fumed. "You leave him alone, I mean it!"
"Aw, widdle Trowa's protecting his boyfriend isn't he?" Erin cooed cynically. She poised herself on the edge of the roof, ready to jump at any moment.
"Just stay away from him!" Trowa ran towards them demon. Erin sidestepped him, then whirled to face the guardian angel once more.
"You know you can't win this time..." the demon girl chided. She lunged at Trowa, who ducked and reached for the dagger, taking it by it's blade and wrenching it violently from her hand. He winced in pain as it sliced easily through his palm. Blood rushed from the wound, covering his hand and splashing onto the roof's shingles.
Erin watched silently for a moment as Trowa clasped his hand, trying to stop the bleeding. "Honestly now." Erin muttered in a disgusted tone. "You would do that to save the life of a human?"
"It's because I love Quatre." Trowa replied trying to sound calm, though the throbbing pain in his hand increased by the second. "But you wouldn't know what it means to love, so I don't know why I bother to tell you these things." He winced again and dropped the dagger, letting it clatter to the roof's surface.
Erin stopped for a moment, having nothing vicious to counter Trowa's last comment. Instead, she quietly walked towards him, picked up her dagger, and slid it back into it's clip. "I may have loved before, I may have not." she said, looking up at Trowa, her eyes for once filled with something other than hatred. "Decide for yourself after I tell you this one thing, Trowa; I will spare the life of Quatre Raberba Winner for as long as I am allowed."
The angel looked at her and nodded. Erin then turned and leapt off the roof, letting her large black wings unfold. Trowa watched as she left, then he too, disappeared.
The next day, Trowa walked downstairs with his hand in bandages. Erin stared at the injury with a slight smile of self satisfaction.
"What happened to your hand?" she suddenly righted herself as Quatre walked into the room.
"I was a little clumsy with a knife, that's all." Trowa replied as pleasantly as he could.
"Oh, Trowa..." Quatre sighed. "May I see it?" The Heavyarms pilot nodded and unwrapped his hand, revealing the deep gash Erin's dagger had left in his hand.
"What kind of knife were you using?!?!?!" Duo asked, his eyes bugging out in complete astonishment. "That thing must have been sharp!"
"It looks like a pretty deep wound." Heero added. Quatre nodded in agreement. Trowa simply shrugged.
"It's not that bad considering all the other things that have happened to me." he replied, keeping his cool composure.
"You might want to see a doctor." Quatre urged. "It looks like it might need stitches."
"No, really, it'll heal by itself." Trowa said, waving Quatre off. "As I said, I've been through worse."
"At least let me redress it for you" Quatre insisted. Trowa looked at Quatre in disbelief.
"Okay." he finally agreed, getting up and following the Sandrock pilot to the bathroom. Quatre sighed and closed the door slowly behind him.
"I feel bad for what I said yesterday, Trowa." he said, opening a cabinet and pulling out bandages and some disinfectant. "I shouldn't have gotten so upset. You were only looking out for me."
"No, I understand." Trowa replied. "You were only protecting her."
"Still." Quatre continued, opening the bottle of medication and dabbing it gently onto Trowa's injury. The Heavyarms pilot flinched slightly. "I overreacted. Nothing should come between friends they say." He then proceeded to wrap a fresh bandage around Trowa's hand, then looked up at him. "Is that okay? Or is it too tight?"
Trowa stared at his hand blankly for a while. "It's just fine" he said, smiling gently at the blonde boy.
"Good." Quatre replied, standing up and opening the door. "Hope it gets better."
"It will now." Trowa said, quietly walking out the door.
Later that day, Erin sat on her bed, a disgusted look on her face.
"I did not expect him to still trust that angel." she hissed to herself, angrily pulling a card from her deck and looking at it.
"Quatre again." she muttered, throwing the card aside. "I suppose it truly is his destiny to die. Which means I must kill him. Tonight."
She drew out her knife and wiped the dried blood off on her jacket, admiring the deadly glint of the light off of the black metal. "I can't stall any longer. I'm sorry...."
"Erin?" Quatre peered into the room. "Are you busy?"
Erin looked up in surprise and quickly sat on the knife and cards. "Not at all. Why?"
Quatre smiled slightly mischievously. "The stars are coming out about now. Would you like to come outside with me and watch them?" Erin blushed.
"Sure." she replied, taking his hand and walking out the door. The Sandrock pilot led her out to the garden, where the stars were just beginning to show in the night sky.
"I always loved coming out here when I was a kid." Quatre sighed, staring up. "It was sort of an escape from life."
"I can see why." Erin noted, looking upwards as well. "The stars are so beautiful. So unchanging. They kinda leave you with a calm feeling in your soul."
Quatre nodded slowly in agreement. "You know." he said. "I believe you and I are a lot like a star."
"How come?" Erin asked, looking at Quatre with a puzzled expression.
"Because..." Quatre began. "There are stars in the universe known as double stars. For their entire lives, they are together, bound together by their gravity. They were meant to be together forever. You and I, Erin. We're like a double star. We're bound together by love, meant to be together out entire lives. That's why, Erin, I want to ask you....will you marry me?" He delicately pressed a ring into her hand.
"Quatre, I-I..." Erin stopped for a minute, looking at the ring. "I don't know what to say....it's too sudden."
"But what about while I was in the hospital. You were by my side every day, and you loved it. You did not have to do that, Erin. I know we're meant to be."
"I still don't know what to say." she stammered. "But I promise I will give you an answer by tomorrow."
In the dark of the midnight hour, the demon girl crept out of the darkness and stole down the hall towards Quatre's room. Once there she put her back to the wall and drew out her cards again.
"These cards tell me who is to die." she said quietly, tracing out the golden pentagram on the back of the deck with her finger. "If I were to draw another mortal out of this deck, it would mean Quatre lives. If Quatre's picture is drawn again, he must die." She closed her eyes, reached down, and pulled a card. She held it in her hand for a moment, then turned it over. The card revealed the same picture of Quatre, as the others had. Erin sighed.
"Then it cannot be prevented." she decided, pulling out her dagger and reaching for the doorknob.
"He must die tonight?" came the familiar voice of Trowa. Erin turned her head and looked straight at him.
"My cards don't lie." she said.
"Leaving destiny to a stack of cards." Trowa snorted. "How like you. No mind of our own. You leave everything to the will of a pathetic deck of cards. You and the rest of your kind."
"If I had my choice, I would let him live!" Erin hissed, raising her voice slightly. "Is that what you wanted out of me this whole time?!?!?" Trowa stood and nodded. Tears began to form at the corners of her eyes.
"I never wanted this position in the first place, you know." Erin said, hiding her tears from Trowa. "If it could have been helped at all, I would have chose to live out the rest of my days with Quatre. I did not expect to be killed. I did not expect anything that happened to me. All I wanted was to spend the rest of my life with him."
"I don't quite understand." Trowa replied.
"The truth is, I'm not like most other demons." Erin said, her entire body beginning to shake. "In the sense that, I'm not a fallen angel. I was a human once. And as a human child, I befriended a young Quatre Winner. We were inseparable. We went everywhere together, did everything together, agreed on nearly everything. We loved each other more deeply than anyone ever has or ever will....and then..."
"Then what?" Trowa asked, showing slight signs of curiosity.
"Then there came that day. We were out playing in a park when it happened." Erin sighed. "The bombing I mean. I remember getting knocked to the ground once. I couldn't get up. Quatre tried to help me, but he was hurt and couldn't reach me in time. I was killed when another bomb struck. The last thing I saw was his panicked face. The tears in his eyes. His outstretched hand, trying to help me up."
"I'm sorry to hear that." Trowa said. Erin shook her head, and then continued.
"After I was killed, I was presented with a choice." Erin stopped for a moment. "Turns out Quatre was mortally wounded in the attack. It was said he wouldn't survive another two days. Either I accept that and let my soul go on....or let him live, and become what I am today....and you can clearly see the choice I made."
Trowa stood there silently, letting what Erin had just said slowly sink in. "If you let him live then, why not let him live now?" he asked.
"It's my job!" Erin exclaimed. "You must realize, I am not the same person I was the day I died."
"But he LOVES you. And you love him back." Trowa persisted. "Not even a demon would be so heartless as to kill the one they love."
Erin swallowed the lump that had accumulated in her throat, and reached into her pocket, pulling out the ring. She let it lay in her palm as she watched the single diamond glisten. Then, in one swift motion, the demon girl walked over to Trowa and put the ring in his hand.
"Then it's been decided." she said. "I will leave, and spare the life of Quatre Winner until it is the proper time for him to die."
"And when is that?" Trowa asked.
"When he can no longer remember the friend and lover he has lost." Erin replied. "Just promise to give him this." She handed Trowa a small note.
"I will." Trowa promised.
"And do one more thing for me. Please take care of him. You're his guardian angel after all."
And with those final words, she opened the window and jumped outside. Trowa watched as she dropped lightly to the ground and disappeared into the night.
"I will keep my word as a messenger of God." he muttered to himself, walking into Quatre's room and placing the note and the ring on the table.
The next morning, Quatre did not come downstairs. His bedroom door was locked, as Heero soon discovered when he attempted to bring him some breakfast (as instructed by Duo). It remained that way as the day continued on, and it soon became clear to Trowa, Duo, and Heero that the Arabian boy had no intention of showing his face that day.
"I've never seen him like this." Duo noted. Heero grunted in agreement while Trowa quietly proceeded upstairs.
Within his room, Quatre read the note over and over again while clutching the ring tightly in his right hand.
Quatre my love, the letter began.
Words cannot express the regret in my heart as I write this, but it is clear to me now that to reject your proposal is how I can show you my true love. It is not because of anything you have done, nor because of the person you are, inside and out. It is because of me. I have to reveal the truth to you one day, and I suppose today is that day. Trowa was correct in everything he said about me, and I am glad you don't hold anything against him. I am dead. Beyond being dead, I am a demon. No more, and no less. Why or how isn't important. You can feel free to ask Trowa about those matters later. The only reason I was here in the first place was because it was your time to die as well, Quatre. My job in death is to finish off those who are ready to die. After your injuries aboard Libra, you qualified for this. But I could not kill you, Quatre, because even a demon is not so heartless that she would kill the one she loves.
Trust in your heart, though that you will see me again, though it will probably be when you can no longer remember my face, or the sound of my voice. But for now, farewell. I will miss you.
Love,
Erin
"She left..." Quatre sniffed. A tear trickled down his cheek and splashed onto the paper, smudging several words in the process.
"It was for the best, Quatre."
"Trowa?" Quatre turned and wiped the tears from his eyes. "How did you get in?"
"It's not important now." Trowa replied, quietly reading the letter. "She meant every word she said, you know."
"I have no doubt about that." he sniffed. "It's just that....just that..."
"I know." Trowa said soothingly. "But you have to remember who she is, and who you are. You could never be together."
Quatre nodded slowly.
"It'll be okay." he said, taking Quatre in his arms and kissing him lightly. "Everything will be fine..."
"Trowa..." Quatre closed his eyes and for a moment he felt soft, feathery wings surrounding him.
"I'm here for you, Quatre..."
end