A/N: Okay, so I know I've updated this one twice without an update to Silent Companion, but this one is being a bit more persistent at being finished because it's not going to be that long and it knows it's near the end. With Nanowrimo going on, it might make updates a little more spread out. This chapter contains a few answers. Were you right?

"Where are we going?" Heero asked.

"You'll see," the little girl told him without looking back at him.

"I have a better idea. Why don't we ditch the girl and I'll show you the way out," the Cat said as he caught up to them.

The girl stopped and glared at the Cat. "You don't own him, you know."

"Neither do you," the Cat growled. "Let him go before you do irreparable damage."

"No." The girl turned and continued to pull Heero through the woods.

The Cat growled again and continued to follow.

Heero was perplexed. Why did the Cat, who seemed to be the most reasonable creature in this place, despise the girl so much? She hadn't done anything but give Heero a flower. He had no reason to think she was dangerous…except to the flowers.

"Do you recognize where we are?"

The girl's question brought Heero out of his thoughts. He looked around. "No."

The girl stopped walking and Heero stopped as well. The Cat stopped a few steps away, not wanting to get any closer to the girl than absolutely necessary.

"Look again. Look carefully," she said.

Heero looked around. As he looked the landscape changed. His eyes widened. He knew this place. He looked at the girl. He knew her. He dropped to his knees in disbelief. "How is this possible?" he whispered.

"You know where you are?" the girl confirmed.

Heero nodded.

"Watch," the girl ordered.

Heero watched as a boy, his younger self, jumped an impossibly high fence then ran through a park, falling to the ground with relief at managing to escape unnoticed. It was just as it always was in his dreams. He watched as the girl approached him and offered him a flower before running off with her dog.

"You know what is about to happen, don't you?" the girl beside him asked.

Heero nodded. "Can't we change it? Save them somehow?"

The girl looked at him with large, solemn eyes. "The past cannot be changed, no matter how much you may wish it. It can only be learned from. What do you learn here?"

Heero counted down in his head the seconds until he pushed the detonator. He felt the familiar drop in his gut as the mission went wrong. He hadn't accounted for the force of the blast that knocked the stationary mobile suits the wrong way. He wanted to look away as the suits fell into an apartment building that, in Heero's opinion, had been built way too close to the base in the first place. He couldn't tear his eyes away as the building was destroyed, killing everyone inside. It had been his fault.

"Please…stop it. I…I don't want to watch this anymore," Heero whispered.

"It cannot be stopped until you can tell me what you learned."

Heero watched his younger self wander through the rubble the morning after. Heero remembered hoping that he was wrong and it had been an empty office building rather than an apartment complex. But the teddy bear dashed that hope. Seeing Mary, lifeless amidst the debris had been his breaking point. He'd killed the girl and her dog. An innocent girl that had done nothing to deserve such a fate. She hadn't had the chance to live her life yet. And it was his fault.

"I'm sorry. I should have been more careful."

"I accept your apology and I forgive you. But tell me…did you learn anything?"

Heero tore his eyes away from watching his younger self wander aimlessly with the dead puppy in his arms. He looked at the girl. "Mistakes…mistakes happen."

The girl nodded sagely. "What else?"

Heero thought.

"Did apologizing make the mistake go away?"

Heero shook his head.

"Even if it didn't go away…do you feel better now that you know you've been forgiven?"

Heero frowned. He didn't usually acknowledge his feelings but now that he thought about it…he nodded. "Yes," he whispered.

The girl smiled up at him as the scenes around them faded away. "Then you have a choice to make. You can come with me or go with the Cat."

Heero looked at the Cat, who was fidgeting. "Why did you tell me she was dangerous?"

The Cat moved to Heero's other side, giving the girl a wide berth. "Let me show you something."

Heero followed the Cat's gaze and saw Wing Gundam battling the Talgeese. He heard the demand to surrender or the Colonies would be destroyed, then Dr. J telling him to exit Wing. Heero watched as Wing's cockpit opened and he stepped out.

"I surrender, but I will NOT hand over the Gundam. I repeat, I surrender, but I will not hand over the Gundam."

The Heero on Wing narrowed his eyes. "Mission Accepted."

Heero watched as his other self lifted Wing's detonator and deliberately pushed the button. Heero's eyes widened as Wing exploded and his body was thrust through the air like a rag doll. Is this how the others had felt watching him throw his life away?

Heero frowned. Where had that thought come from? He was following orders, not…not throwing his life away…right?

"Do you remember this?" the Cat asked softly.

Heero nodded. "But…what happened after that? I can't remember."

"Watch. Learn."

Heero watched as Gundam Heavyarms picked up his body, tiny and lifeless in the huge robotic hand, and sped off with him. The other Gundams scattered before Oz could follow.

"Heavyarms…why would he come after me?" Heero wondered softly to himself. "They should have left me and gone while Oz was distracted with the detonation."

"Heero…"

Heero looked at the Cat. "How do you know my name?"

"That wasn't me," the Cat told him. "Listen."

"Heero…don't give up. The world needs you."

Heero frowned. "But it sounds like you."

The Cat nodded. "Do you know what this place is?"

Heero shook his head.

"It's what many people refer to as Purgatory and sometimes as Limbo," the girl supplied.

"Why is it so weird here?"

The girl giggled. "That is your subconscious messing with you. I would bet you recognized almost everything you saw and heard, didn't you?"

Heero couldn't deny it. Everything here had seemed familiar, even if he hadn't been able to place why.

"Do you know why you are here?"

"No."

"You are here," the Cat said, "because you are being given a choice. Anyone else who did what you have done would have died and gone straight to Beyond. But you have a higher purpose and the ability to make things right in your world. You asked me before why I said the girl was dangerous. It is because unlike the rest of us, she is not from Limbo. She is from Beyond. My purpose was to show you the way back. When someone comes here from Beyond, their purpose is to take travelers to Beyond with them. I was afraid she would take you before you could make your own choice. Now that I know she will respect your choice, I retract my earlier assessment."

The girl smiled at the Cat. "Thank you, Cat. However, time is short." She looked at Heero. "It is time for you to choose. The pathway back is not going to be easy and when you go back, there will be tasks for you to complete. They are non-negotiable and must be completed before you can achieve True Peace."

Heero thought for a moment. "What happens if I do not go back?"

"Then your world will be plunged into chaos and ruin. Eventually, another will be born that can halt the destruction but it will be many years before they are old enough to effect change. It is your choice," the Cat said.

Heero looked at the girl. "I have to go back. I cannot leave the world as it is."

The girl nodded. "Then you must go. I will visit you again with the tasks you are to complete. Go."

Heero nodded and looked to the Cat. "Show me the way back."