Disclaimer: Don't own GundamW or it's characters.

Chapter 10:
Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

Heero glared at a banner outside a shop of sorts. He felt that his stormy blue eyes would have eventually burned a hole through the cloth banner if he had stared at it long enough. But the strokes on the fabric never formulated into anything legible, they were just scribbles as far as his brain could tell.

"What is it?" WuFei looked over at him.

"Nothing."

"Something division..?" WuFei read the sign over. "What does it say?" he nudged his traveling companion.

"No clue." Heero shrugged. "I thought you were able to read that."

"I know the characters, but they don't make sense together like that," he continued thoughtfully. "Besides, it's your language."

Heero stiffened bit. "I can't read that," he informed. Before WuFei had a chance to say anything he continued, "to be honest, I can't read any of it. It's all a bunch of squiggly lines, as Duo would say."

"But you are Japanese, right?" WuFei began a bit confused. "You can speak it. You've done it quite often, getting us food and information."

Heero sighed. "Yes, I am Japanese," he began, "at least partially, as far as I've ever been able to tell. But that doesn't mean that I can read the language." He brought his thumb up to his lips and began to nibble on the nail as he thought his next statement through. "I didn't grow up the way you did, with someone who would teach me my heritage. I was raised by a man named Odin Lowe, he was a for-hire hit man. He taught me English, Russian, and some Slavic. After he passed away, when I was with Doctor J, one of his assistants spoke in Japanese and I realized that I understood most of what he was saying. So I just figured it was something that I must have learned before my time with Odin."

WuFei smiled a bit. The ex-gunadm pilots had known each other for nearly five years now, but as it turned out, they didn't seem to know much about one another. WuFei mused over this thought for a while. He actually didn't know anything about his fellow pilots. This was certainly the first that he had heard anything about Heero's past. "It must be tough not knowing where you come from," he blurted out without realizing. He instantly covered his mouth, wide eyed as he turned and meet Heero's surprised glance. "I'm sorry," he began.

"Hnn…" was Heero's only reply. He thought for a bit, reaching back as far back as he could recall. "I vaguely remember having a mother and father. At least I think that's what they were. Neither of their faces are clear to me, they never have been. I remember asking where we were and she told me to not worry. Then something happened. Everyone was panicked and there were gunshots coming from all directions. I know my father was shot, and I got separated from my mother. In the confusion, I got picked up by Odin. Afterwards, I remember he tried to get me back to her, but we never found her. I don't know what happened to her. I'm not even sure what colony that all happened on. So, you are right. I really don't know where I come from or who I am. What about you?" Heero turned the tables on his companion.

WuFei's eyes softened. "My father was a stern, no-nonsense kind of a man, but he knew how to relax and he loved my sister and I. My mother was very patient and understanding." He paused for a moment looking up at the clear sky, homesickness beginning to set in. "Our clan was exiled from our homeland here on earth and settled in the colonies. Something about being too influential, I never cared much to understand that part of my history. When I was about nine, my parents come down to earth and were arrested. Mater Long tried to get them safe passage back home, but he was unable to. I never saw them again."

"What happened to your sister?" Heero's voice was soft.

WuFei's features twisted a little. "She died along with the majority of my clan when my home colony was destroyed during the last part of the Colonial War."

"I'm sorry," Heero started, "I didn't mean to-"

"It's alright," WuFei stopped him.

The two continued in a bit of silence reflecting on each other's story. WuFei felt rather relieved that he had been able to speak of his past without tearing up anymore. A ghost of a smile curved his lips. "So what do we do now?" he asked changing the subject. "I am sure that we're in the right place this time."

"We find 'Goddess Amaterasu'," Heero put the goddess's name in air quotes, "and this Tsukuyomi she's with. Then we have to find the others and figure out how to get back home."

WuFei stopped in his place. "Back home? Can we even do that?"

Heero paused to look back at the dark haired man. He opened his mouth to say something but closed it without uttering a single word. Ever since arriving, his top priority had been to find his fellow comrades. The thought of how they were getting back home had never crossed his mind. "How do we get back home?" he finally voiced.

WuFei shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine."

The two stood silently eyeing one another, not knowing what to say or do about the situation. A sobbing sound caught their attention and both men looked down towards the river running alongside the street. There on the walled off edge of the river sat a man garbed in dark green looking down into the river with a single hand up to his face. He was trying desperately to keep the sobbing to himself.

"Trowa?" WuFei moved forward.

The man turned. Indeed it was Trowa. His puffy reddened eyes brightened for an instant at the sight of his fellow pilots. In a heartbeat, his features twisted again and he returned his gaze down at the river well below his feet, stifling another sob as he brought his other hand up to his face.

The two Asian pilots exchanged surprised looks. They had watched Quatre cry a number of times during the war and had heard about Duo sobbing behind closed doors once, but they had never expected in their wildest dreams to see the pilot of the HeavyArms in such an emotional state as this.

"What's wrong?" WuFei swept down to his friend's level, placing a hand on his broad shoulders. The lanky man simply shook his head, tears streaming down his face.

"Trowa," Heero's voice was steady and full of concern. "What happened?"

"Duo is dead…" Trowa's voice hitched at the back of his throat.

"What..?" WuFei's eyes widened, his voice barely audible. "What did you just say?"

Trowa took in a deep breath, composing himself the best he could. He brushed his redden nose with the back of his hand before looking up at WuFei, his deep green eyes full of sorrow. "He was ex… executed," he stammered. "We broke into the… the castle a… a few days ago… The idiot went off on his own and… and… and got himself kill!" He dropped his face into his hands.

"Are you sure?" Heero couldn't believe what he was being told.

The brunette nodded solemnly. He slowly got to his feet and gestured for his friends to follow. They wordlessly obliged, flanking both sides of the tall man. Trowa lead them to what appeared to be some sort of execution grounds, boxed off by a low gate. A row of heads were clearly visible from behind another fenced off area, each placed into its own individual box, a bulletin board right next to them. The slender man slowly brought up his hand and pointed to one of the heads on display.

WuFei's eyes shot wide as he brought his hand up to his lips, mouthing something in his native tongue.

Heero's eyes peeled wide as well. His deep blue irises dancing across the severed head's features in disbelief, his hands shaking as his fists clenched. He could feel his stomach turning in disgust as his breathe became shallow. He grabbed WuFei's arm and clutched onto Trowa's sleeve, directing them both away from the scene as his eyes burned with tears.

"I couldn't help…" Trowa's voice was small.

Heero shook his head viciously. He couldn't say anything. He could already feel that his voice would fail him if he even attempted to speak. Years ago, none of them would have cared had one of the others died. They had been strangers fighting for the same thing, nothing more. Each pilot would have continued their lives without a second thought. But now, years later, even if they still acted cold towards one another it was quite obvious that they cared for each other. In a strange way, they regarded each other like brothers… the kind that you would beat up for no damn reason other than you can. The tears in his eyes finally began to stream down his face. He released his grip on WuFei and wiped them away. "Idiot!" was the only thing he was able to hiss through his clenched jaw.

The three young men found themselves a place to rest while they collected themselves from the shock of the day. They mourned over their fallen comrade before formulating a plan to break into the execution grounds to take their friend's head and give it a proper burial.

A/N: This chapter was more of a filler (sorry about that). It's a stepping stone to set things up for the remainder of the story and hopefully to get the story moving a bit faster from here on out. Hope it's still enjoyable.