Heya Dudes and Dudettes! Sorry it took so long! It wasn't my fault, well, not really. Ok, so maybe it was, but it wasn't intentional. And just so that you understand the situation better, I'm gonna insert a little part of the convo DJ and I had about this chapter:

moonchilddj: okie! well...it's pretty obvious...I LOVE WHAT YOU WROTE!!!!!!!!!

gideondreams: really?!?? honestly and truely!?!?

moonchilddj: gods, yes!!! i was totally blown away!! it was so moving! intense and funny and sad and sweet....*sniffle* i needed a tissue after reading it!

gideondreams: lol, you wouldn't believe how many times I had to write that over

gideondreams: I couldn't get satisfied with it at all

moonchilddj: well...i don't know what you did...but you did a marvelous job! in fact...i don't know how to match that right now!

gideondreams: Hey! that's my line! I'm the one who isn't sure how to match YOUR chapters!

moonchilddj: i think the tables are turned this time....

gideondreams: lol, it should, considering the fact that it took me soo long to write!

moonchilddj: how long did it take you to come up with it?

gideondreams: I'm not sure of the exact time line, but remember when I told you that I had it typed up and then it was lost?

gideondreams: When i went to rewrite it, the second copy was nothing like the original and then i deleted that one by mistake and so I had to write it over again, but this time I wrote it on paper first and then the last 4 pages got ruined by some water so I rewrote that, but it ended up being different than the one I had originally wrote and then i finally came up with the one I sent you, but I wasn't sure If i liked it or not

moonchilddj: ...........oh.......my........gosh...... i have NEVER had that much problem with a chapter! i mean, sure, i rewrite parts or fix parts i don't like, but i don't keep on like that...my poor sweety, what a tough time you had! considering all the trouble you had with it, i'm simply amazed at the results!

gideondreams: Thanx!

gideondreams: but at least you know why it took so darned long, ne?

moonchilddj: oh, gosh, yes. and now i don't blame you whatsoever!

gideondreams: What!?? You were blaming me before!!!

gideondreams: Whaaaa!

gideondreams: Dee doesn't like me!!!!

moonchilddj: well....i didn't blame you BEFORE, either...i was only wondering!! *hugs* hey, hey, no be upset!!

gideondreams: *sniffle* ok....*hiccup*

moonchilddj: *huggle* me and my big mouth...gomen, gomen!

gideondreams: s'ok! I forgive you!!! Not that I needed to forgive you before!

Anyways, that was part of our convo, the rest is just way too weird for you to read! LOL, no offense DJ!! Read on!





Two days after Ami's collision with Duo, she was amazed to find that he still wanted to be around her. He didn't seem like the type that would want to be friends with her, let alone want to date her. But lo and behold, Duo eagerly awaited her arrival at the local coffee shop.

She blushed as she took in his appearance. He was casually waiting for her, leaning against the storefront. His hands were in his pockets, his hat pulled low over his eyes. The simple stance made him look very alluring and she noted that many other girls had noticed and were staring at him with much interest. What made her happy was that Duo paid no attention to the other girls. It made her feel special that Duo only had eyes for her, yet it made her very curious. What could he possibly see in her?

Duo wasn't sure why he liked Ami so much. She was absolutely nothing like the other girls he had known. She didn't giggle mindlessly and constantly talk about fashion and food and such. She was much deeper than that. She enjoyed school, she craved knowledge, and she tried to accomplish and excel in everything she started. He couldn't understand why he was drawn to her. A guy would have to be blind to not notice her, though. Behind the big glasses and the shy blushes, there really was a beautiful girl that screamed for people to pay attention and notice her. And boy, did people notice her.

Duo had noticed the looks boys had given the blue haired girl. She was completely oblivious to those looks, though. That made Duo curious. Was it that she really wasn't interested in what others thought of her, or was it that she really wasn't aware of her own appeal? He suspected that it was a little of both.

After four days, Duo finally brought Ami home to meet the guys. 'Plus girlfriend...' Duo thought to himself, thinking of his ex girlfriend, now Wufei's new girlfriend.

They all seemed to like her well enough. She and Trowa got along pretty well as they both liked to play chess. Quatre was quite taken with her. She happened to be in his debate class and he thought she was wonderful, bright and very pretty. Wufei didn't mind her at all, since at one point he had been a scholar, he considered her accomplishments note worthy. Makoto liked her simply because there was another girl hanging around at the place. But Heero on the other hand...

"Hn."

Heero glared at Ami every time she came over. He wouldn't talk to her and stayed a noticeable length away from her. Duo noticed that it seemed to make Ami uncomfortable. So he decided to confront Heero while she was away.

"What's your problem, Heero?" Duo hissed at him one day, pulling him into an empty room.

"I don't trust her." He told Duo bluntly.

Heero had spent a week being cold to Ami and glaring at her simply because he didn't trust her?! It was so stupid, Duo almost laughed, but it wasn't funny.

"And why, tell me, don't you trust her?" He asked Heero, exasperated.

"Hn. She isn't the type of person that you would date. And there's something wrong with her." Heero trailed off, his eyes getting a far away look that Duo hadn't seen before.

"Heero?" Duo waved his hand in front of Heero, bewildered. Heero blinked and turned his attention to the braided boy.

"What was that? And what's wrong with her?" Duo asked.

"Nothing. Never mind, Duo, just know that I don't trust her, and I intend to find out exactly what she's up to." With that, Heero strode out of the room.

"Up to?" Duo asked the empty room.

*8*8*8*8*8*8*8* True to his word, Heero had been following Ami since the day he told Duo about his suspicions about her. There was something about her that didn't sit well with him. Heero liked to believe that he knew Duo fairly well. They'd known each other for years, so that gave Heero the right to question Duo's choice in his next flavor. The profile of this girl just didn't match with the profiles of other girls Duo had dated. There was something definitely wrong with this Ami girl.

Of course, Heero would have to be dead not to notice the beautiful blue haired girl, his heart beat wildly in his chest every time she looked at him. That was one of the things that tipped him off about Ami's unusualness. There wasn't supposed to be a girl alive in this universe that made him feel like that, especially after R---. He couldn't finish that thought, so he ignored it and stuck to the shadows, following Ami and observing her lifestyles.

So far, he hadn't found anything incriminating. In fact, she was much like he was. He was quite impressed when he had checked out her class records and class schedule. She had advance classes in almost everything and high marks in all her classes. It amazed him to find that she was in one of his classes. It made him wonder how he had never noticed her until Duo started dating her.

Heero shook his head and continued to follow her. Odds were that he would eventually find out what was wrong with her if he kept surveillance on her. Until then, there was nothing else for him to do.

*8*8*8*8*8*8*8* Not following far behind Heero were two cats, one white and one black. Both had a crescent moon on the middle of their foreheads.

"This was a brilliant idea, Luna." Artemis said silently to Luna as they followed Heero.

"Just find one of the girls and watch that one. They're bound to find each other, it's destined." Luna repeated her original plan. "although, I'm worried, Artemis."

"Why?"

"This 'Heero' boy. He seems to be stalking our dear Ami, and it definitely doesn't seem that he likes her. Should we be concerned about him?"

Artemis looked at Heero closely.

"No, it's best that we wait and see, Luna. After all, he might be Ami's champion. If it turns out that he means harm towards Ami, we'll send that Duo boy. Duo is her boyfriend at the moment, right?"

"Yes, he is, but I wouldn't count on him. I've been watching the boys at that house and I've heard that the braided boy doesn't stay with girls for very long."

"Really? That might actually be a key to our problems."

"Key?"

"Yes! Don't you see? Duo has already found 2 of our girls without even trying, while we've spent years trying to find them. Maybe we should stick with that boy. He just might find all of them without even knowing it!"

Luna made an inaudible gasp and looked at Artemis.

"You might be right for once, Artemis."

"For once!?"

Luna laughed at the disgruntled cat and shook her head.

"Let's just keep an eye on these two at the moment, alright Artemis? Once we find Ami's champion, then we'll think about your plan."

"Fine, Luna. Off we go, then."

*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*

Heero followed Ami as she walked towards her apartment building. He wanted to know exactly where she lived so that he could watch her every move. When Ami opened the front door to the building, Heero waited until she was inside before he ran for the slowly closing door. He caught the door before it closed and slid through the opening, silently closing it behind him.

He quickly looked around and saw that Ami was slowly making her way up the stairs. Quietly he followed her, making sure he didn't follow her too closely. He noted which floor she stopped at and paid attention to which room she headed to. Ami took her keys out and reached for the lock on her door, but before doing anything else, she stopped. She stood there facing the door for a few seconds. "Since you're here Heero, you might as well come in." Ami said out loud, and then proceeded to unlock the door and walk inside.

Heero stood there surprised.

"How in the--" He thought to himself.

Cautiously, Heero entered the apartment. It was decorated in shades of blue, and he could tell that she had put a lot of thought into decorating the place. He could tell that she spent a lot of time studying also. The place wasn't messy, but there were several stacks of books and papers all over the place.

Heero wandered around, trying to locate Ami. Finally, he found her in the kitchen. Her back was towards him, but he could tell that she was busy making coffee. "Honestly, Heero, you worry me. Do you really have nothing better to do than to follow me around all day? And speaking of which, why were you following me, anyways?"

Heero narrowed his eyes at her back. She still hadn't turned around to face him. That simple thing made her seem even more suspicious.

"How did you know I was following you?" Heero asked gruffly.

"I asked you first, Heero. Answer mine and I'll answer yours." Ami said quietly.

Heero grunted. He didn't want to tell her the exact reason why he had been following her. Of course, he could always lie, there was a time when he had been very good at that. But he had made a vow a long time ago that lies would no longer be a part of his life. So that vow and his first impulse had put him in a little bind. He glared at her back while he thought of his choices. Finally, he came to a decision. Tell her the half truth. After all, telling the half truth wasn't exactly a lie, right?

"I don't trust you." He stated, quite bluntly. He watched as her shoulders slumped forward slightly. "I see.." She said quietly.

Heero wasn't sure why, but he felt a pang in his chest when he heard the sadness in her voice. He frowned and shook himself.

"Now, how did you know that I was following you?" He asked once more.

There were a few minutes of silence as Heero glared at the girl's back. She still hadn't turned to face him. It annoyed him and unnerved him at the same time. What exactly was this girl's problem?

"I saw your reflection." Ami said out loud.

Huh? Heero shook his head.

"Huh?" he repeated his thought aloud. "When I was walking down the street, I looked over into one of the stores. I saw your reflection in one of the store front windows." She clarified for him.

"Hn."

"I kept an eye on you after that, to make sure you were actually following me. At first, I thought that you just wanted to speak to me. But then I remembered that Duo said you didn't talk much. I also remembered the fact that you kept glaring at me every time I was at your place. So I knew, just knew, that whatever the reason you were following me couldn't be on friendly terms. And so I got scared."

On the last sentence, Ami turned around and faced Heero. He reeled back. Her eyes were wide and blue, bluer than any eyes he had ever seen. He got lost in them, and in those eyes, he saw that she could never be as devious as he had originally thought. Something inside of him stirred, something he hadn't felt since -- Heero stomped down on that thought and pushed it away.

"Scared?" He asked her after a while.

Ami sighed. She looked tired and wary. She glanced at the coffee pot and noticed that it was done. As she grabbed mugs from a nearby cupboard, she talked to him.

"It's a complicated story, Heero. I'll tell you if you want to listen."

Heero studied her for a few minutes before nodding. What was there to lose? If he stayed, he might be able to find out what made him feel the way he was now. If he left, he'd be forever curious and mistrustful of Ami. That's not what he wanted if Duo was planning on staying with her.

Catching his nod, Ami poured herself a cup of coffee.

"Coffee, Heero?"

"Hn. Black." Ami smiled slightly.

"I'll take that as a yes."

Heero followed Ami into her living room. They sat down and silently drank their coffee, studying each other. Finally, Ami decided to break the silence and get down to business. There was plenty to tell Heero and if she wanted to be finished soon, she had better start as soon as possible.

"I know what you've been thinking about me, Heero. You don't think I'm the kind of person Duo would date. You don't think that Duo would be the kind of person I would date, that there is some kind of ulterior motive in our decision to date. To tell you the truth, I'm not sure why Duo would want me as a girlfriend. I've met Makoto and I've heard about the other girls he's dated. It's baffled me. But I can tell you why I'd want to date him.

"Duo is a great guy. He's funny, outgoing, and he respects me. Not to mention, he's cute." Ami smiled slightly.

"But besides all that, he reminds me of Greg." Ami trailed off and turned to stare at a picture on the wall. Heero followed her gaze and was surprised to see a picture that had escaped his notice before. It was a picture of a younger Ami and a dark haired boy her age. They were smiling happily and waving in the picture.

"Greg?" Heero quietly prompted.

"Um, yes, sorry. 4 years ago, I was like the girls that Duo would normally date. I talked about boys, I kept up with the latest fashions, I knew of and talked about all the latest gossip, and most of all I had a boyfriend, Greg. He was very much like Duo. He was charming and funny and good looking. Most of the girls in the school had crushes on him, but he ignored them, because I was the only girl in his life. He made me feel like I was the only girl on the earth. We were so much in love that we were planning on getting married once we graduated from high school."

"Well, what happened? Did he dump you?"

"No! Of course not! Greg, my dear Greg, was killed the summer before our senior year in high school. There were hoodlums in the neighborhood that liked to cause trouble. They had been harassing Greg for most of the summer. Finally he decided that he wasn't going to take it anymore, and he confronted them. He threatened them, telling them that if he was bothered again, he'd tell the police, and as a sign that he was serious, he punched the leader. The leader didn't like Greg's attitude, so they went after him. But not in the way most hoodlums would act. They tampered with Greg's car. They cut the brake fuel line and punctured the tank that held the steering wheel fluid. When it came time for him to drive to work, he lost control of the car. The brakes wouldn't work and he couldn't handle the steering wheel. He crashed and died when the car burst into flames."

Ami noticed that Heero had a far away look in his eyes. He seemed to be remembering something painful. She wasn't exactly sure if she should bother him or if she should wait, but before she came to a decision, Heero blinked and turned to her.

"I'm sorry, what happened after that?"

Ami was surprised. She didn't expect Heero to be interested in her story, much less apologize for it. Still, he asked for an explanation and she was going to give it to him.

"At 2am that night, I got a call from Greg's mother, telling me that he had been killed in an accident. I knew right away that it was not an accident. He had told me about his encounter with those hoodlums. I told him to be careful around them, that they couldn't be trusted, but he had waved off my warning. I knew that they had caused his accident. I went to the police to explain everything, but they waved me off, explaining that there was no witnesses and there had been nothing wrong with the car. I didn't believe that, so I went to the mechanic that had checked Greg's car after the accident. After much harassing and accusing, he finally told me what really had been wrong with the car. When I asked him why he had lied, he told me that the hoodlums had threatened his life if he told the truth. There was nothing I could do."

"So what did you do? Give up?"

"No! Of course not! Well, not in the sense you'd think. I threw myself into my school work. I was determined to make something of myself, so that I could change rules or do something so that people like the hoodlums that killed Greg wouldn't get away. I graduated top of my class that year. I'm not going to forget about Greg, not by a long shot, but there's nothing really that I can do but try and make a difference. That's why I'm not like the girls Duo usually dates and that's why I decided to date him. Are you satisfied now, Heero?"

Heero nodded his head. He felt guilty, now that he understood why she was so unusual to him. The two of them were in the same boat in a sense. She had gained his respect and Duo was free to date her if he wished. He told her so as he left her apartment.

"Thank you, Heero, I'm glad you think so. Feel free to stop by anytime, I don't get very many visitors here." And with that, he left the building, heading towards home.

*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*

Duo paced back and forth in an empty room. It had been 3 weeks since Ami and Heero made peace with each other. Heero had come back home and explained that he and Ami were friends, so to speak. It had made Duo happy, and Ami seemed more comfortable spending time with them at home.

He liked her, he really did, but it seemed that she wasn't the girl he was looking for. Once again, Duo found himself fretting about breaking up with a girl. It was odd. He had never been scared about breaking up with a girl before. But here he was, scared of breaking up with Ami like he was with Makoto. What was that about, anyway?

Shrugging to himself, Duo thought of how to break up with Ami. He couldn't break up with her himself, he couldn't bear to see her cry, and he liked her too much. He thought about Quatre, he seemed to like Ami way too much, he might cry himself. Trowa got along with her, but Duo still didn't think the poor boy could handle that much verbal contact. Wufei had sworn off Duo's favors, simply because he had a girlfriend himself. That left Heero.

Now, Heero did seem to be the best choice. Duo had noticed that there was something between the two after the talk he had with Ami. They got along pretty well and they had classes together. So, Duo went to Heero to ask him to break it to Ami. Heero glared at Duo.

"No."

"Why not?"

"I will not have her heart broken once again."

"Again?"

"Never mind. She doesn't deserve it."

"Well, what am I supposed to do? Hope she breaks up with me first? Please Heero, she understands you better, and I'd make a fool of myself trying to do it myself."

"One of these days, Duo, you're going to have to grow up. This is the last time I ever do this kind of favor for you, ok?"

Duo grinned at his friend.

"Thanks man!"

And with that, Duo turned and left Heero alone in the room to think about Ami.

*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*

Heero walked to Ami's apartment thinking about her. He had really grown to like her. It was a shame that he wouldn't see her again, not counting the class they had together. Maybe he could come and visit her sometimes, she had, after all, invited him to visit once in a while. Maybe.



Heero's thought was cut short by sirens and flashing lights. He looked up to see Ami's building on fire, more specifically, Ami's room on fire. Panicking, Heero glanced around, trying to find her, but she was nowhere in the crowd. That meant that quite possibly she was still in the burning building.

Heero gazed up into the fire and froze. Memories of Relena flooded his mind. She had died in a fire. He was forced to watch her die in the car full of flames while the hoodlums held him back. He could remember her screams and the hoodlums laughing. And when the screams finally stopped, he was beaten almost to death.

"No!" Heero screamed out loud, breaking out of his self imposed nightmare. He rushed through the barricade that the firemen and policemen had set up and raced up the stairs towards Ami's apartment. *8*8*8*8*8*8*8*

"Artemis! Hurry up and transform. If we don't hurry, Ami will die!!"

"It's alright, Luna, we know for sure that he's her champion, he won't let her die, regardless if we help."

"Still, it will make things go much smoother if you stop taking your time!" *8*8*8*8*8*8*8*

Heero rushed towards Ami's door and realized that the fire was confined to her apartment. Frantically, he started to ram his shoulder into the door, trying to knock it down. His eyes were tearing up, not only from the smoke, but from memories that were tearing through him. Dimly, he thought about how much he had grown to care for Ami and he told himself that if he ever got to see her alive, he'd ask her out.

"Heero!"

Heero turned around to face the person that called out to him. He saw a man with long white hair that reached past his shoulders, his bangs were long enough cover his forehead. He wore blue jeans and a white tee-shirt. Somewhere in the back of Heero's head, he thought about the fact that this man didn't have a scratch on him, let alone a smudge of dirt.

"Use this!" the man called to Heero, tossing what seemed to be a blue star. Heero tried to catch it, but before his hand could close around the star, it exploded into several little stars around him. A little confused, he looked up, but the man was gone. Heero shook his head, upset that he had let that man distract him from saving Ami.

He went back to knocking down the door and with a mighty shove, the door gave way. The room was filled with flames, but in the middle of the room he could see Ami sprawled out on the floor, unconscious. He looked around, trying to find some safe way into the room, but found none. So he jumped over the flame and landed next to the girl. He checked her over and was relieved to find that she was still alive.

Now that he knew that, his next course of action was to get out of the room. He grabbed a blanket that, surprisingly, wasn't burning and bundled Ami up in it. She moaned, but didn't wake up. Heero tried to jump out the way he had come in, but now the flames were too high. He backed up and tried to go for the window, but before he could reach that, a large piece of the ceiling fell, blocking the view of the window. Angered, Heero turned towards the door once more. Lifting up his hand, he said a couple of words he didn't know.

*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*

2 hours later, Ami awoke in a hospital with someone holding her hand. She looked over to see Heero holding her hand, but fast asleep. She smiled slightly and tried to pull her hand out of his. He woke immediately and smiled the first smile she'd ever seen on his face.

"I'm glad you're okay, Ami. What happened in there?"

"The damned computer blew up! I flew backwards and I guess I hit my head. What happened after that?"

"Your apartment's gone, due to the fire the computer caused. I took the liberty to call Quatre and tell him that you're living with me-- I mean, us. I hope you don't mind."

Ami didn't miss the slip-up that Heero had made. She had been wondering how long it would take for him to finally notice her. She smiled at him.

"Of course I don't mind, Heero. But I'll stay on one condition."

"What's that?"

"You have to kiss me first." She said with a blush.

Heero stood up and leaned over to kiss her. He was glad that he had been able to save her, but he'd never tell anyone exactly what had happened. He didn't want anyone to think he was crazy. He wasn't really sure if he wasn't crazy. Because when they were trapped in that room, he swore he saw a stream of water come out of his outstretched hand to extinguish the fire. No, it was best that he didn't tell anyone. But he wouldn't hesitate to try and use that again if it meant saving Ami's life. Because, together, they had a life worth living.