Trowa plotted the graph of the position of some abstract object in time. The function was a third order polynomial, and in negative time, it had negative position. He frowned at the continuity extending backward into the realm of -- as far he could tell -- nothing. At some point, time zero, the curve crossed the x-axis and swept upward, veering off the top of his graph paper.
Although, even before time zero, the object was somewhere; it existed. Like he had been before he met Quatre. If he considered Corsica time zero, and himself as the object in time, he could understand the negative position. He had been moving toward that meeting even before the meeting existed. And before that meeting, had he been in some strange negative space?
The first derivative of the equation plotted his change in position over time, his velocity. That was positive and parabolic, and at time zero, his velocity was also zero. He had been still at their meeting. He remembered that, the stillness as he stood, arms raised, waiting for the unknown Gundam pilot to respond to his surrender. After the meeting, his velocity increased--
Acceleration was given by the second derivative: a linear function, the rate of change of his velocity. It was a constant rate, steadily increasing over time. As, Trowa considered, his feelings had been for Quatre since time zero. It had been a steady and continuous blend of attraction and camaraderie into friendship and desire, and, ultimately, commitment and love.
Jolt, the third derivative, was a constant: a vertical line, no change over time, the stress of acceleration, the 'fall' of falling in love. He smiled that it was a constant state. There was no cessation of the fall, it carried on into infinite time. It carried them.