pAuthor: Ok peeps...this is it. This is the last and final part of Silence and Death. Aww, you sad it's almost over? Want more? Don't worry, there WILL be a sequel...but I ain't doing anything about that yet. You think all the pilots are dead cause of Trowa? I can't tell you anything yet. You'll just have to read the story and find out for yourself. I hope you enjoy this final part. Enjoy. Adieu.
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ipI knew. I knew it all along. I curse at myself for not finding out earlier. The times have changed and have tumbled down upon all of our souls. I never realized how much the death of someone could hurt even though you hardly knew them until they were gone...it was true what Wufei told me a certain time before. Yes something would happen. And it did. Why would anyone want to do that...or why their soul would just die slowly...
p Trowa...one of my good friends after the war, and death was with him now. I know now that it wasn't death that was protecting me from perishing in the war. No. Sister Helen, the sweet woman who took care of me in the days of my youth, she wished that God would protect me. I didn't believe in him at the time, but now I finally realized that it was God that had protected me...and Sister Helen, who, like a shadow in the dark, watched over me in my sleep. I could always feel her close to me.
p Why did Trowa let death overcome him? It was hard to believe, and yes even hard to tell. But until that time I found out it was him that killed those people...and hurt our friends. Heero, Quatre, and Wufei...all were left physically and mentally scarred for the rest of their lives. As for me...well I'm not sure, but I think that I was hurt the most of all...I felt all of their pain. Even Trowa.
/i
p I was staring at the ceiling lying on my bed in my room when I felt something was wrong. Then I heard cries of pain. I got up and rushed outside and searched for the noises. I heard soft whimpering and went to look and I found Heero, hugging his knees, his eyes blank and wide, as if he feared something. I went to him and shook him slightly.
p"Heero? Heero? What happened? Are you ok? Come on man, snap out of it!" I said, but Heero didn't budge, he just rocked back and forth, mumbling something that I couldn't make out.
p "Dad? Why are you...what the? What's wrong with uncle Heero?" It was Duece. He had come outside and saw me next to Heero, still spaced out.
p "Duece, go get Rashid, and hurry!" I said, and Duece nodded and went. I looked back at Heero and then heard a soft moan not too far away. It was Quatre. He was bloody on one side of his body and he lay there, his eyes held the same fear that Heero had. He lay there on his stomach so I turned him over and picked him up.
p "Quatre! What happened?! Tell me!" I yelled, and shook him but stopped as I realized he was badly injured and another moan escaped his lips. My heart beat faster, frantic, trying to figure out what in the world had hurt my friends...or...who. I heard Duece return with Rashid and some of the other servants and then Ria, Trinity, Quaterine and Wu following afterward. Rashid came to me and took Quatre from my arms. I stared at the blood that stained my hands, and I nearly fell over from a wave of nausea. I looked back at where Heero was and Ria was hugging him tightly, a shiny stream of tears flowing from her eyes as Heero was still in his lost state. Quaterine was crying her heart out, staying close to Rashid who was still holding Quatre, rushing to get him help. I heard a cry of help and wondered who it was this time. It was Wufei. He was on his hands and knees, one hand covering his eyes, the other clutching the ground and his teeth clenched. His body shook violently as he was...sobbing? I went to him quickly and helped him to his feet. He wouldn't stand up so I had to support him. I pried his hand away from his eyes and they were swollen, puffed up and the red veins could be seen, and he was crying. But with the tears came blood.
p "Oh god..." I whispered, and looked into Wufei's eyes. The same fear in them as Heero and Quatre. Wufei's eyes, were blank. They were clouded, and I knew that it was a sign, that he was blind.
p "Wufei, what happened?! Who did this to you? And Quatre, and Heero!" I yelled. Wufei was still shaking, but he turned his head to me. His eyes weren't focused on me, and his hand searched around.
p "D...Duo? H-help...it...burns...don't...let him...get you...the darkness...the darkness...what's happened to me?!" Wufei said, shaking with sobs as he mumbled each word.
p "What? What are you talking about? Don't let who get me?!" I cried, about to cry myself at how horrible those words sounded.
p "T-Trowa..." Wufei whispered, and his hand dropped, and his head was still turned at me, his clouded eyes burning into my soul. I was shocked. I tried to convince myself I was dreaming. But then I just knew it was no dream. Because the blood on my hands from holding Quatre, and the pain I felt when I heard those words from Wufei and seeing Heero, it was real. The horror...was real.
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p "Father!" Wu cried, rushing to me and Wufei.
p "What happened to him?!" Wu asked, panic sounding in his voice. I still stood there, surprised. [Trowa...? How could...why would he...? It...it was you the whole time...wasn't it...] I thought, as the voices of the others rang vague through my mind. I was still lost in my own thoughts when someone slapped me. I shook my head and looked at Trinity infront of me. She looked angry.
p "Uncled Duo, snap out of it. What's happened here, do you know?" She asked, her hands formed in fists at her side.
p "I...don't know...I..." I looked at Wufei, he wasn't dead, just passed out. Medics came and took Wufei and I let go and stood there, watching them take him away. [Wufei, you knew it was him...you knew...] Wu went with them, and so had Quaterine and Ria. Duece looked at me.
p "Dad, I'm going with them. Quaterine...I'll go comfort them." He said and turned and left. Trinity stayed and looked at me.
p "So did you find out anything," she asked.
p "No...not a thing..." I lied, knowing I couldn't possibly tell her that it was her own father that hurt his own friends, her own family.
p "Uncle Duo...please tell me...where is my father?" she asked, a bit of worry in her voice. I was thinking of what I would say to her next when I had a feeling to go look for Trowa.
p "Just stay here, Trinity. Don't worry, I'll go look for him." I said, and started to leave, but Trinity grabbed my wrist.
p "No, I want to go with you, please," she said, now looking more worried.
p "No Trinity, stay here. I don't want you to get hurt if something happens, and I'm sure your dad wouldn't want that to happen, right?" I told her, and she looked down.
p "All right then. Please hurry back uncle Duo..." she said and let go of my wrist. I put my hand on her shoulder and smiled a smile for her not to worry and went to look for Trowa.
p "Please..." I heard Trinity whisper as I ran off.

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p(Trowa's POV)

p I ran. I ran until I was too tired to run, but my soul would always run...Duo was right, my soul lay lying in the gutter, dead. It would wash down into the abyss of lost souls and I would always be lost. Because of death. I would stay with death now. Death was a part of me and I was apart of death. I wondered what I would do now...
p I walked slowly, my eyes cast upon the ground, my mind lost in mixed emotions and darkness. I looked up and noticed I was infront of a church. I decided to go in. It would be my last moments to live.
p "I'd like to spend my last moments here..." I uttered.ib Go ahead. I have been here many times.../i/b I walked down the aisle, sensing flashbacks of weddings, funerals, Sunday mass; mixtures of happiness and sorrow.ib I only come when a person is wished into the afterlife...many people are given last regards as they move on...there is always an invitation for me,/i/b death said to me, and I continued and went infront of the altar. The moonlight cascaded through the stained glass window of Mary, the blessed woman. Her hands were open toward me and I dropped to my knees and clasped my hands together.
p "Bless my daughter Trinity...though I long to see her, I couldn't let her see me. I hope she lives to have a wonderful life. My friends...take care of them, and their loved ones. My soul is dead, and I cannot live anymore...no more...don't cry Trinity...Amen." I looked up, tears of pain escaping from my heart. It beat slowly. I decided to stay.

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p(Duo)

p I ran through the city, searching for Trowa. He probably didn't go very far, so I kept looking through various places where he might have gone. I passed by the church and stopped.
p "I wonder...maybe...he could've gone in here..." I said and walked into the church. I saw a figure near the altar. It was Trowa. I guessed he would come here. This was a sanctuary of peace. I walked slowly and carefully toward Trowa.
p "Trowa..." I said. He just kneeled there, and didn't turn around to face me. "Trowa...I want to know...why did you...hurt Quatre and Wufei? What did you do...to Heero?" I asked, my voice slightly quivering. No answer. I stepped closer but stayed a good 5 feet away from him.
p "Duo...I...was afraid. Afraid of everything that's happening to me. Death...wants me..." Trowa said suddenly. I opened my mouth to say something but was blank on words. Trowa got up and turned to face me. "Leave...leave now Duo...before I..." Trowa started, and turned his head away. He hadn't made eye contact with me. "Kill you..." he ended, and the shock hit me like a brick.
p "Hey man...don't be irrational...why would you..." I slightly gulped. "Kill me?" I asked. He looked up and looked straight into my eyes for a moment. His eyes flashed black, and I saw...in it's true form, death. "Oh shoot!" I yelled, and fell back, my heart pounding hard and fast in my chest. Trowa looked away and he clenched his fists.
p "Leave! Don't stay here! I...have to be alone...I will be gone...vanish from existence..." he said angrily.
p "Vanish...from existence? What are you talking about?" I asked.
p "Just leave!" Trowa yelled at me, sounding more angry. He walked toward me and I scrambled backward, moving with my elbows, and I got up and turned the other way and he cornered me near the altar. "Why so many questions...you don't need to know...I'm not important in this world anymore...the pain I've suffered...I can't live like this...Death has become my salvation...I don't want to live anymore...but..." Trowa stopped a brief moment as tears slid down his face, "I can't die...die...die..I want to die! How much more do I have to suffer Duo? How much longer do I have to live this torture...that's why I killed them Duo, that's why I hurt your friends...yes your friends...they fear me now...I am not their friend..." Trowa said. The words hurt me like a burning fire.
p "Trowa...you are important...what about Trinity...why are you suffering?" I said, fearing every moment he nearly looked at me.
p "Trinity...I live in her tears, her sadness...I really do care for her, but I can't! I can't go near her...she'll fear me...like the others...my whole life I've lived pain...some people like you, your friends, Catherine...they all tried to push away my pain but it still devoured me." he said. His breathing came louder and he was making strange sounds as if something were hurting him on the inside, and his hands grabbed at his head.
p "No! Duo! Leave! Now! You will die!" he screamed, vicious screams enraged. I was scared. Too scared to move, my eyes widened, even in the dim light, and he moved closer toward me. My heart raced, and I could hear it pound like thunder in my head.
p "Stop! Stop it Trowa! No!" I screamed, my voice breaking, whimpering and begging. He was looking at me, looking at me with cold, dead eyes, death, no no...I felt sheer terror electrify through my body and I felt the urge to scream violently. Suddenly there was a slight click, and Trowa turned around quickly, looking at the doorway of the church. It was Heero. He was holding a gun, pointing it at Trowa's heart. I stared at Heero, his eyes were the same, fearing, and I heard him say one simple thing before he pulled the trigger.
p "Die...evil..." he said, and the gunshot rang through the thick silence of the church and I screamed bloody murder and everything went in a flash.

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p(Trowa)

p I went enraged and out of my mind again as death overtook me, and I could see the terror in Duo's eyes, as I went to kill him. But when I turned around and saw Heero, he wished for my death and I welcomed it, as he did before. The bullet singed through the air and I fell back. Heero smiled a smile of victory, but turned white at the sight of what happened. I was not injured. Not a single wound on me. When I looked at Duo, there was a bullet hole in his side, the blood flowing from him like a river. Death sent my demise to him.
p "No no! Duo!" I cried, and looked at Heero. He was in shock and stood there, whispering something I couldn't understand. I looked back at Duo, his life hanging by a thread, ounces of blood pouring from his body.
p "Heero! Leave from here! Now!" I screamed at him, and he stumbled quickly away. I looked at Duo, his eyes turning blank as his life poured out of him. Death removed from me, and was about to take Duo's life, as it slowly approached him. Something appeared. It was an image of a woman, she stood infront of Duo, as if protecting him. She shook her head, and death stood there. I looked back at Duo. There was a bargain to be made.
p "Duo...Duo can you hear me? Can you see death?" I asked, and surprisingly he nodded just a little. "That woman...she is...Sister Helen, she is protecting you," I said, as I suddenly knew who it was. Duo nodded again. "Listen to me Duo, don't concentrate on death, it can't take you since Helen is protecting you...let yourself go..." I said, and Duo slightly raised his head, and closed his eyes. I looked at Sister Helen and she nodded, and I did the same. The wound disappeared from Duo's body and transferred to mine. Gingerly I touched my chest with my hand. Blood...my blood...my heart beat slower. "Crimson river...take me..." I whispered. ibYou fool...you will die now...I will take your soul...the bargain is made...your life for his.../b /ideath said.i He will live...you know you can't take him. They will all live...their lives are paid with mine...I will die here...now..../i I looked up at the church ceiling, a stained glass window panel of an angel above me. I would not ascend, but stay with death, wandering earth forever...
p "No!"
I heard someone scream. No...not now...Trinity...she was here...she would see me die. She ran to me and fell to her knees. She did not notice death. Death wouldn't take her now, but I would have my last moments with her.
p "No no...daddy...why...how did this happen..no please...don't die...don't die..." she whispered, sobbing. I slowly reached up and touched her face, and wiped the tears from her eyes.
p "Don't cry...Trinity...don't cry for me..." I whispered. She sobbed more and she hugged me tightly.
p "Why...why do you have to die..." she said, still crying.
p "Trinity...I love you so much...I don't want to leave you...I never will..." I whispered, and tears of sadness, not pain...came from my eyes.
p "Shh, don't cry daddy...don't cry..." she sobbed again and sang the lullaby I sang for her.
p i"Don't you cry for me my dear, please don't cry for me...I will always be with you, yet your tears still flow. Cry for me, cry for me, don't you cry for me...you will always be with me...my dearest...daddy...Hope shines bright withing your heart, why do you still cry...there is nothing you can fear...as long as I'm still here...cry for me, cry for me, wipe your tears away...faith needs hope and love is there...and I am always here...When I will depart from you, don't you cry for me...you will have me in your heart...and always think of me...cry for me...cry for me, why do you still cry...you will always have my heart...my dearest...daddy..."/i she sang, the words calming, and I slipped into a quiet calm, as I slipped into a silent forever...
p "I love you...Trinity..tell...Catherine...I love her too..." I whispered, my last words...everything...went blank.

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p(Duo)

p I saw her. Sister Helen...she saved me from death...it was her. I heard Trinity crying, so I turned my head to look. Trowa. He gave his life for mine. I knew it. Gone. His life gone and Trinity, left crying, sobbing. Why..why did he do that for me...now he's dead. His soul, dead, and I imagined it was washed away in the gutter. What I told him. I heard him say it already was, and I was surprised he said that, but then it became true. No longer to be able to experience this beautiful world...or to feel its pain. I slowly got up, a little dizzy from the shock. I looked at Trowa. Trinity turned and looked up at me, the tears staining her pure face. She got up and hugged me, and I wrapped my arms around her to comfort her. She needed someone now that her dad was gone...Trowa...goodbye...my friend.
p I looked at the transparent image of Sister Helen. She smiled and nodded and mouthed the words, "God be with you" and she disappeared from sight. I looked at Trinity and she cried and sobbed, clinging onto my shirt and soaking it with her tears.
p "How could he leave me....how could he die...." she whispered, the tears staining her face. I held her tight as a tear rolled down my cheek. I looked over at Trowa's body and there was a blackness surrounding him. It was death. It would take his body along with his dead soul.
p "No! Don't take him!" I cried, trying to stop death. Then...I heard...something...speaking through my mind...ibI will take his body with his soul....you know that...no one needs him anymore....he will walk the ends of the earth with me for eternity...it was meant to be.../i/b death spoke to me. I shivered the feeling off, and Trinity looked to see the phenomena.
p "No...no...don't take my father!" she cried, and went to Trowa's body. I knew death would take her too if she went too close, so I pulled her back.
p "No Trinity...you shouldn't go near death...let him go..." I said, and she cried and buried her head in my chest. I watched death surround Trowa's body and his form seemed like a vague illusion, and I looked at Trowa's eyes...the once deep green now black, and a last tear faded into non-existence. I held onto Trinity tight, and she looked up to see the phenomena. Slowly Trowa's form vanished. My eyes widened that he just disappeared, gone forever in the dusk. Trinity could barely believe it either, but she turned her head away as if she never saw it. Death began to approach us. I held Trinity, and I closed my eyes so that death would just pass us by. I could feel death coming, and then I felt a wave of something horrible as it just passed us, never touching us.
p [Death seems evil like a demon...but yet death is only an angel...death doesn't take life...death gathers souls as to lead them to their seperate paths in the after life...] I thought, then looked down at Trinity. Her eyes were wide, she was frightened, but she didn't have that permanent look of fear like I saw in Heero's eyes. I knew she had watched death pass by.
p "Death...said...that my father...would...walk as a shadow among shadows..." she uttered. As she said that, I wondered if she knew what it meant. But she was intelligent...and she could understand things...so obviously...she knew.
p "Let's go...find uncle Heero...and then we'll go to the hospital...to check up on the others," Trinity said quietly. I nodded and we walked to the doorway of the church. Trinity looked back at where Trowa's body lay. I did also. The moonlight shining in from the stained glass window, faded over the spot where Trowa was. As the light faded, we could see that the blood from Trowa had left a mark like a cross.

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p(Trinity)
p Me and uncle Duo left the church, and went to look for uncle Heero. We found him, huddling under a statue of an angel in the cemetary. We went to the hospital afterward, to check up on my friends, and their fathers. I watched my friends weep and hug their fathers...something I'd probably never get to do again...
p Life...never went back to normal after my father's death. Uncle Heero, Quatre, Wufei, and even uncle Duo had been left permanently scarred...physically and mentally. Ria now had to take care of her father, because uncle Heero's had gone a little insane. He said it was because of the absolute oblivion that death showed him. He seemed fine, at times, but a slight tap or hit on his head would drive him crazy. Sometimes he would whimper at night, and huddle in the corner, Ria told me. He would never seem the same again...
p As for poor Quaterine, her father could barely use the left side of his body now. My father had stabbed him, re-opening an old wound. Uncle Quatre said the earlier wound came from a kind woman named Dorothy Catalonia, who only felt pain, trying to hide who she was. Still and the same, uncle Quatre had to use a cane to support him if he moved. I did my best to comfort my friend Quaterine.
p Wu...I felt a great pity and sympathy toward him. His father was now permanently blind. Uncle Wufei would mumble often that he could see his wife, so close, yet he could never be with her. He said his visions were becoming more clearer, but more horrifying. He almost was in the same condition of uncle Heero, but I think it worse because he could never see the world again.
p I went to go visit my aunt Catherine once, and when she heard the news she was broken like glass. She wept and wept, and I wept with her too. Everyday she would cry, every time I visited her she would be sad about my father. She said that they were close like brother and sister. It really seemed that way. I told her she shouldn't cry forever for my father, but inside I would cry for him always, too. Aunt Catherine said she would always cry for him...because he was crying. He was crying too...for us...
p Uncle Duo...my favorite uncle I guess...he helped me through the time my father died...but now he was different. Duece hardly played with him now, and uncle Duo kept to himself. He'd try to go and comfort his friends, but he could never really get too close to them. Soon it was if he couldn't go near them anymore, like it was his fault that this tragedy happened to them. He too, was left with a scar in his heart. No more the same as he used to be.
p Life. Aunt Catherine told me life was a stage, we all had a role to play in this world. Uncle Heero said life is like war, battles won and lost. Uncle Quatre said life is like a never-ending circle. Uncle Wufei said that life is where you're always searching for something. My father...once said...life...is forever. Life goes on, even after death. In my heart, I always felt whatever he told me was right. Life...is forever...
p "Father...never lose hope...even in your life of the dead, believe in something you can hold onto forever...to me...life...is nothing...without you."

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p(Duo)
p I watched Trinity kneel by her father's gravestone. Even though no one knew what happened to his body, they left a gravestone in respect to him. Now, I felt alone...but it wasn't the kind of lonely feeling to be sad about...but...a lonely to reflect. It felt like I was taking Trowa's place, since he passed on. He was part of death now...he was now silence. But he wouldn't cause a whole genocide, but I knew that sometime, he would be in our midst.
p "Trowa...let there be a day when you can finally be free...when you can finally...rest...in peace...goodbye...pal..." I whispered on the breeze. The wind picked up and I watched my long coat flap with it. I stood under a twisted tree in the cemetary, waiting for Trinity. On the wind I heard a soft melody...I could hear things on the wind all the time now...a sad, sweet melody. I watched the wind play through Trinity's hair. I watched her get up and look at the gravestone for a moment. Then she started to walk back toward me. She asked me what I thought life was like once...I told her...life...is how you live it.

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p Trowa watched from the far end of the cemetary, watching Trinity leave his supposed grave and walk toward Duo. He could take his place now. He hoped that Trinity would remember their song...their only song...as father and daughter...the melody played on the wind...
pi Cry for me....cry for me...don't you cry for me....life goes on so live it now, my always...Trinity.../i
pib Are you ready....death asked. /i/b Trowa looked at death; he was the only one that could see death now. They were part of each other.ib The paths you will walk with me are never-ending...but there will be times when we can rest...but there will never be a time when you need it...let us go now...the dead souls will cry and mourn soon.../i/b
p Trowa nodded. He looked back at Trinity and Duo walking away.
pi Don't you.....ever.....cry for me.... /iTrowa said silently, and together he and death vanished into the dark and lighted pathways...pathways to the lives of others...to bring them to the real light.
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piWhat ends shall the paths lead to...silence and death are one....together hope and tragedy...combine into what is done...forever...eternity.../i