Disclaimer: Did I ever own Gundam Wing or Sailor Moon? Okay … no, that approach doesn't work. Well, anyhow, I don't own either of the two animes now!

Thanks to my lovely editors who had the decency to chop up all of my paragraphs and then tell me to edit some more. Lol … maybe I'm just exaggerating … thank you's to Usagi Asia Maxwell, AutumnHime, Lady Artemis, and DevilsDarling for your continuous, *ahem*, support. (*cough* criticism *cough*) *Ducks from flying fruit* Just kidding, sheesh, just kidding … ^^'''

……………………

A listless voice cut through the barrier of her unconsciousness and droned on, listing overwhelming injuries. Was somebody watching ER?

"…slight concussion, compound fracture of the right radius and fibula. Tension on the right elbow, snapping of left ACL, pinched nerve at thoracic number eight, some internal bleeding, general scratches and cuts on right side…"

The words careened in and out of her mind, one minute unmistakable and then next misty with fog. She tried to lift her eyelids, but they were too heavy and insisted on only fluttered. A soft hand swept a wisp of hair off of her face and came to a rest upon her own. Curiosity showered over her.

She tried again to open her eyes, whimpering out loud from the cosmic amount energy that it seemed to necessitate. Her senses registered a blurred picture before everything slid into focus.

"Usagi! You're all right!" the dark-haired woman cried out, looking as if she wanted to jump up and hug her but settling for gripping the blonde's hand between her own.

"Where am I?" she found herself whispering, throat straining to create sound.

"Quatre's mansion. You lost control of Deathscythe with all the turbulence in the air made by Art and me, and fairly crashed to the ground. Apparently you landed on your right side."

Everything seemed so surreal. There was a daze after the information was presented to her, but really, the amount of shock she was enduring was nothing at all compared to what she had expected. "And the others? Are they okay?"

"They're all fine. Very worried, but fine."

She nodded dimly and settled down into the pillows.

"Art and I have something to discuss with you, but with you in the shape you are, it'll be at least a month or two before we'll even try to tackle the problem."

"Art?"

"Artemis."

"Artemis!" She sprang up to a sitting position and bit down hard to keep from yelping out loud from the pain. A warm metallic taste swept through her mouth.

Luna's hands immediately moved to support the teen but stopped when the girl turned to her slowly.

"Luna? What are you doing here?"

By now the vivacious woman was very bothered. Usagi, undoubtedly, had been in shock, but did it go so far as make her not recognize that she was Luna throughout the bulk of their conversation? "Usagi, are you all right?"

"Ugh…I feel horrible." Usagi made a face and looked down at herself. "But probably not as horrible as I should be," she added softly.

"We'll have to keep you on the painkillers."

"Is everybody else all right?"

"Dear, you just asked that question not five minutes ago," Luna said fretfully, brow puckered with distress.

The blonde shrugged with one shoulder. "I guess I wasn't really thinking then."

………………….

He had geared up an answer for all of Quatre's remonstrations and reprimands. He had thought out how to clarify that he was not in the wrong. But nothing prepared him for Quatre's wide-eyed silence and the girl's - Usagi's - wilting figure.

The conversation was meant to prove that nothing was his fault.

Why did he continue to fire when she was falling?

It was a controlled fall.

But she's an amateur!

She sure didn't act like one.

He had all the answers, but that one teary-eyed look from Quatre, backed with the panicked face of Duo, stony silence of Wufei, and unrelenting gaze of Trowa made them all evaporate. He had uttered nothing and looked away.

She was lucky that she was still alive. She was lucky that Deathscythe hadn't caught on fire. She was lucky … but if she hadn't been practically dueling him, she wouldn't have needed to be lucky. He needed to see her. To help her, to make up for his actions.

In short, he hated himself with passion.

…………………

Not a word passed through the still air when Hiiro got up and paced out of the room. Duo's eyes flickered up at him, once, twice, thrice, but no sound came out of him. Wufei's eyes narrowed but then returned to their previous task of staring a hole through the floor. Trowa's shoulders tensed and then relaxed slowly, an inaudible breath passing through his lips. Quatre raised his eyebrow covertly and hid his face.

The dying away of the footsteps followed by the clicking of a closing door brought a tsunami of relief, washing away the heavy dust of tension. Quatre smiled a small smile, and Duo slumped.

"Ten minutes and thirty-two seconds. Gentlemen, I believe we had a wager?" Quatre grinned.

"It's truly dishonorable that you are thinking of money when that gi - Usagi is in such bad shape," Wufei muttered.

"Oh, Wufei, we all know she'll be all right. Like you said, when have our gut instincts been wrong?"

"Yeah Wu-man! Cough it up!"

"I noticed you hadn't guessed correctly either, Duo," Trowa pointed out softly, arching an eyebrow while reaching for his wallet.

The braided boy shrugged carelessly. "Who would have thought Hiiro only needed ten minutes? I had thought at least ten hours. Besides, I wasn't the only one to miss! Wufei here missed by two days!"

"Hiiro's emotion-starved mind [1] is gouging at him. He had never truly understood Usagi and now a newfound emotion has mingled into the mayhem - guilt."

"Hmm … I still have my doubts on how this will work out. According to her, we're not real. And though we might have realized that something is up with Yui, he sure doesn't," Wufei put in cynically.

"Aren't you assuming too much Quatre? For all we know, it could only be friendship! After all, what about that Relena girl?"

"Stop changing the subject. I believe we agreed on five dollars per person?"

Grumbling, Duo dug into his pocket for money. "Now who's changing the subject?"

…………………

The room was strangely quiet and the woman … Luna was it? didn't even flinch at the sound of the door. He slipped in inaudibly and stood still for a brief eternity.

It looked like some scene out of a soap opera. He shook his head and frowned. Great, now his mind was getting twisted by those once-again horribly popular wastes of time. Resentfully, he had to admit that it was a near-perfect analogy.

The machines were beeping with dissonance while wires and tubes interlaced around a tiny figure almost drowning in white sheets. A worried friend sat by, pale-faced and soft-eyed with hands clasped around the patient's.

The room itself was anything but hospital-like, though. Instead of freakishly bare, white walls, puffy clouds waltzed around in a whirl of blue. Silver angel wings flickered in and out of sight as they caught the light. The bed and all things associated with it seemed to be pasted into the room by the hands of some devious computer-genius who tinkered with photos. Either Quatre or God had a sense of humor, but who, he really didn't know.

"Hello Hiiro." The faint voice made him jump as if it were blared through a microphone. He grunted vaguely in response and stepped closer.

"It would really be amusing to meet you if the situation had been a little different. Usagi always ranted about you - your clothes, hair, shading. She was never satisfied, and now I understand why."

He was beyond confused. What was this woman talking about? The only way all this could make sense is if what Usagi had proclaimed was true. Nevertheless, he, who was so often wrapped in silence couldn't bear another second of it. He continued the conversation. "Why?"

"Usagi made her big break with Gundam Wing."

He frowned. Had the woman changed the subject?

"Because of you … and perhaps Duo. Duo might be the most popular amongst fans," she paused and glanced at him, lips curving at his faintly twitching right eye.

"Yes, surprising, isn't it? Not really though. Even our world deals with daily stresses of simply being alive… Of course, we don't really have a war going on or anything remotely similar, but just the sight of Duo and his antics makes anybody want to smile," she paused again and chuckled at the fact that the twitching eye had expanded and was making his face spasm.

"But nobody really expected you to be as huge of a success as you were. Even Usagi had trouble believing that you would morph into her most appealing character. You'd be surprised how many people wish for you to be real. You have quite a fan club." She smiled gingerly, purple hair catching a dying ray of sunlight.

It was the strangest thing - hearing yourself being talked about as if a person truly knew everything about you and was your, well, creator, something even past your parents. All he could muster was a feeble, "Oh."

The woman looked down and muttered something to herself that even his trained ears couldn't pick up. Then, looking back up, while he fumbled to hide his curious expression, she smiled sheepishly.

"I'm sorry for babbling. You want to talk to Usagi, no? She might still be in a daze from shock. I don't really think reality is registering for her… She was perfectly unmoved when I recited her injuries to her. But of course, you don't need to know that! You helped diagnose her-" she caught herself and blushed, realizing she was doing what she had apologized for again.

"I'm sorry. I'll go now." Giggling as if she were still in junior high, she left. Usagi will be all right. She had the will to live, and that's all she really needed in this situation.

Closing the door softly behind her, she sighed at the sound of the click and leaned heavily against its cool and solid surface. Glad something was definite in this world. "You have no idea how much she wanted you to be real. She's the true fan, Hiiro. Please realize that," she conversed with the shadows.

"Talking to yourself again, Luna?"

She jumped. "Art! You know I'm high-strung!" And so a cat and cat chase ensued.

…………………

Silence again soaked into the room, and he fidgeted uncharacteristically. Letting go of a breath in a low hiss, he walked closer to the mesh of tubes.

Blonde hair tangled and rested around her while dark lashes laid on pale cheeks tinted with blue. A childish nose seemed ready to wrinkle in disdain while soft lips parted delicately. A petite form was lost in insanely white sheets, but one, pale arm slipped out of the covers to rest at her side. He wouldn't go as far as to say she was beautiful, but grudgingly, he would have to admit that she wasn't ordinary. May that be in a good or bad sense.

He cleared his throat uncomfortably and watched like a hawk for a reaction. No movement. If she were truly awake and faking sleep, she was very good at it.

"Um," he started clumsily. He cleared his throat again. "Um," he continued gracelessly. Finally, taking a deep breath, he spilled his thoughts out in syllables.

"I was awake that night while guarding you," he blurted. Again, he waited for an indignant cry but received none.

"I … I watched you because…" The next confession stuck at his throat. He forced it to stumble out. "Because I was afraid. All the pilots, including myself, felt drawn to you, and after you swore that you were our creator, I was afraid of you. Because you would know everything about me. Everything … all the dark desires and emptiness.

"And everything you did afterwards hinted to the fact that you did create everybody in this world along with the world itself, which made me even more afraid. Not long after, I started getting angry at you because you made me taste fear and … that's it," he finished lamely. His voice never rose or lowered, always a constant percussion beat of syllables, without inflections.

What happened next made his jerk back. Yes, literally.

"Hiiro, you're very eloquent." The blonde sat up and twisted a wince into a smile. He didn't know whether to take it as sarcasm or sincerity.

He fell back a step. "I-"

"Thank you for sharing that with me." She continued smiling softly.

He nodded succinctly and walked towards the door.

"And could you help me lie down again? My pinched nerve, whatever that is, is killing me," she grinned through gritted teeth. Nodding, he walked back and supported her back with one hand. She relaxed.

The next few words came out in a rush. "Are you okay?"

"I hurt all over, but otherwise I'm fine," she informed him cheerfully. He hesitated, but just barely. "You don't need to stay."

If his slight hesitation was that obvious to her, then perhaps she was his artist.

He made his way to the door. Opening it, he was greeted by six cocked heads, each with one ear aimed at the door.

Six people simultaneously snapped their heads back in their proper, front facing positions and blinked innocently at him. He closed the door behind him menacingly. The sight of him massacring her friends would not improve the healing process. The click of the lock triggered Duo's squeak.

"Uh-oh…"

A mad clamber followed as six people rushed towards the nearest exit.

He smirked. Oh well, he knew where they all lived.

…………………

How was that? This chapter came rather easily … and it's not that short either! This length is considered good for me! Or maybe it's not as long as I think it is … it felt long when writing it! After all, it's the thought that counts, ne? ^^ Review please!

Notes:

1. This didn't come from me but from I Am Walrus-chan. I'm sorry to have taken it, but it was too tempting. ^^