Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing no matter how much I wish I did.

AN:  So what did you guys think of the last chapter? Hope you like this one. Lots more 3xD to come. Oh by the way, I'd like to dedicate this chapter to my good friend Iggy, because she doesn't have the internet and she is like my biggest friend.

~~**~~

Dorothy sat down on the transport. She was so tired. Her nightmares had plagued her all night and she had not gotten a wink of sleep. She had grabbed a seat at the back of the emptiest cabin in hopes of catching a few of the missed hours of sleep. As she was just closing her eyes a little girl about the age of four came bounding in followed by Trowa. He seemed a little reluctant but obviously the little girl was as persistent as herself.

The little girl jumped up onto the seat next to Dorothy and began chattering. Dorothy caught something around the lines of, "Trowa said he wanted to talk to you to his sister and I wanted to find you Dotty so Trowa took me with him…"

Dorothy turned to Trowa, "You wanted to talk about what?"

"Dotty!" the little girl whined.

Dorothy looked at her, and sighed, "Yes Aislinn?"                                                                                                               

Aislinn smiled and crawled onto Dorothy's lap, "Dotty, will you braid my hair real pretty?"

She smiled turned the little girl around so she faced away from herself. She began to run her fingers through the small child's hair. Gently she plucked a few locks of the platinum silk and began to twist them together.

This little girl had wormed her way right into Dorothy's heart in half an hour with her cute attempts at mimicking fancy speech and her adorable facial expressions. Aislinn was an orphan that got left at the circus. The circus couldn't find her legal guardians and they couldn't find an orphanage that would take her, so they adopted her. Thus for the past two years the little girl handed out the programs in an adorable little costume.

And she adored Trowa and his lions. But the day she met Dorothy, Aislinn was in Heaven. Dorothy could do no wrong in Aislinn's eye. And vice versa.

The stoic ex-pilot sat next to her in the recently vacated seat. Watching intently as the two girls interacted. Dorothy didn't seem so harsh with his little girl around.

Finally when Dorothy finished with Aislinn's hair the little girl placed an experimental hand over the braid and beamed. "Thanks Dotty." And with that she slid of Dorothy's lap and ran along to find Christine, an elderly lady who once performed but now acted as a nanny for all the little ones of the circus.

Dorothy sighed and Trowa did the same. "So, you wanted to talk to me?"

"Yeah."

"I know that. I want to know about what."

He smiled and shrugged. "Nothing much. I just wanted to get away from my sister. She's been bugging me about last night for the last two hours. I figured I'd come find you."

"Well, I hope you don't mind if I'm poor company. I didn't get much sleep last night," she admitted meekly.

Trowa leaned back, although he himself had had a terrible nights sleep due to not only scandalous thoughts about Dorothy but also because of his reoccurring nightmare. Still, "Why, contemplating about getting platforms? Or am I just that unforgettable?"

If he hadn't known better he would have been sure that she had snarled at him. Though most would term him either silent or stoic, he felt like being stubborn today. "So, I hope you don't have a SHORT temper toady. People may begin to think little of you. It could be a tiny problem…"

Dorothy's eyes narrowed to slits. Nobody insulted her and got away with it. She had given him a taste of that yesterday night, and he wanted more? "…Though I'm sure you could do some small favors, they'd be just your size."

She turned to him and punched him in the face. Hard. He didn't flinch or anything, his head just turned from the force of her fist. Trowa wouldn't admit it, but that really hurt, and she was a great deal stronger than she let on.

"You're a real pain in the ass." She stated cracking her knuckles. "Now unless you want me to hurt you again will you please be civil?"

He smiled, "Alright, you win."

"Better."

"Dorothy, I understand that maybe you unconsciously learned this from someone, but you should try to control your anger in a way other than violence."

She was about to give him a matching bruise on the other side but instead, Dorothy balled her fists and counted to twenty. How could he have known? By the time she finished she felt better. Well at least she didn't want to hurt Trowa anymore.  She let out a relaxing breath and smiled at him, "I guess you're right."

He nodded and Dorothy studied his face. A nice bruise was already forming. She poked it gently and he flinched. "I'm sorry Trowa. I really shouldn't have hit you."

"It's alright. I deserved it."

"That doesn't mean anything. I'm sure Miss Relena would never hit anyone."

"You're not Miss Relena." Trowa stated gently. "And I'm glad. I'm sure Miss Relena isn't as fun to tease."

She looked away and shook her head. "No, she's much more fun to annoy. Sarcasm is best though. Her face just sort of contorts and then she sort of smiles. And when she gets really fed up she glares at you and tells you 'she's not in the mood.' It's actually quite amusing."

Trowa laughed. "I'm sure it was great. Now if you're as tired as you say you are, then you should get some sleep. If you want you can use my shoulder as a pillow."

"What a generous offer." She yawned and laid her head against his shoulder. Her eyes closed and soon her breathing became regular.

His smile faded and he yawned. Letting his head rest on top of hers and he took her hand in his own before falling asleep as well.

~~**~~

Trowa awoke first, lifting his head from Dorothy's he sat and leaned back. He decided against releasing her hand and closed his eyes again. He had a few things to contemplate. Just one thing really. What did he feel for Dorothy? Was it love? Or lust? Or what? He really needed to know.

It wasn't lust. He wasn't looking for sex. This was definitely more than just friendship. But love? Had he lost himself to her that quickly? Trowa looked at the object of his thoughts. His heart gave a slight lurch and he gave a little smile. (He found himself doing that a lot lately.)

Yes, that was an affirmative. He probably had lost himself a long, long time ago.

The Winner mansion was as grand and elegant as ever. The various antique and priceless item scattered about the mansion showed any and every visitor just how much the Winner family was worth. That was exactly why Trowa felt so very out of place while he waited for his friend, Quatre. When the young Arab finally came around Trowa began to be at ease.  

"Hello Trowa! I'm so glad you could come! I'm so sorry to have kept you waiting. Something came up with the family business and I had to make a couple of calls."

Trowa smiled back at his energetic friend. "It's fine. I just got here. How is the world of politics and big business?"

"Keeping me up till the early hours of the morning, and yourself?" Quatre asked sounding a little tired.

"It's the circus, there's never a dull moment."

"How's Cathy?"

"Fine."

The two fell into silence and Quatre led Trowa to his office. He sat down and watched as Trowa wandered about the room looking at the impressive mahogany shelves covered with possibly hundreds of books.

"So, Quatre," Trowa began. Turning to a section of the wall that had about thirty or so portraits. Each picture was of a beautiful lady in a beautiful silver frame. "Who are all the beautiful ladies? Lovers?"

Quatre laughed and blushed. "No, not quite sisters. All twenty-nine of them."

Trowa smiled and continued to look around. Finally, he went around the desk and looked at the picture in a beautiful golden frame. It was of an elegant lady with long platinum hair and stormy blue eyes.  "And this one?"

Quatre chuckled. "Don't you recognize her? That's Dorothy Catalonia."

Trowa felt a little awkward. He had heard a lot about her recently and yet he didn't even remember what she looked like. The last time he had seen anything of Dorothy was after the MaireMaya incident. She had gotten her picture in the paper along with the pilots, Miss Relena and MaireMaya and everyone. She had gotten the public to support the Gundams and stand up to the oppression of the Barton Foundation. "So, your lover?"

"No, no. Just a very good friend. Why?"

"No reason. I just thought that you two would have hooked up after everything."

"No, Dorothy is too much like another sister. She's too…Spirited for me."

"Afraid of a challenge, Quatre?" Trowa offered with a smirk.

"No, she's just not the one for me. Enough about MY love life, now let's talk about yours."

Trowa frowned, "Non-existent."

Quatre smirked, "Maybe you should try Dorothy. You might like her more than you think."

Trowa snorted, "I'm sure I wouldn't survive the attempt."

That was about three months before Dorothy had come to the circus. At here he was perfectly alive and well and in love with Dorothy Catalonia. There was about another half an hour or so before they reached the colonies. Might as well get a little sleep.

~~**~~

Catherine looked at Shiv. "See? I told you that he's in love with her."

He didn't look convinced. "Explain."

"Alright, he said he had to go talk to her. That was one and a half hour ago. He also has been talking more than ever. And, he is actually smiling. Not that little smirk thing he does, but actual smiling. He's almost acting out of character."

Shiv snorted. "Right. Whatever you say."

Catherine glared at him. "Are you jealous of Trowa?"

Shiv shrugged. "To be totally honest, a little. But that's okay. I'm glad he's finally found someone. The old stiff hasn't had a date in years."

"Better."

~~**~~

Dorothy awoke refreshed and happy. She'd been asleep for at least two hours and not a single sign of her nightmares. Trowa appeared to be sleeping. She smiled and gave him a little tap on the shoulder. "Oh darling," she coed, "we're almost there."

"Please don't call me that. People might think we were in love." ~ Or please do. ~

She snorted in return. "Then I had better not embarrass myself by having people think things like that. You're not exactly anybody's dream date."

"I could say the same about you. Duchess."

Dorothy looked at him fiercely. "Don't you dare call me that." She hissed.

"Don't you like your title?"

"I am not a Duchess anymore. I am not Dorothy Catalonia. My name is Dorothy Bennit. Nanashi."

Trowa's visible eye flared. He figured she'd throw some low shots, but how did she know about that? And despite her knowledge of his past, how could she be so cruel? Nanashi was the part of him his nightmares were made of.  "Don't call me that. I have a name. It's Trowa Barton."

"No. I've met the real Trowa Barton. He's got blonde hair. Was even more of a dick than you could possibly hope to be. Besides, he talked far more than you do. Nanashi."

"Duchess Catalonia, I asked you not to call me that." He was close to losing his temper.

She leaned close to him, their faces mere inches apart, "Would you really like me stop calling you no name?"

Trowa growled. She smirked and pushed her lips roughly against his. She pulled away quickly. "Then don't call me duchess."

Dorothy got up and stalked away.

Trowa watched her retreating form and raised a shaking hand to his lips. She just kissed him. For no reason whatsoever, she just kissed him. Although he sure she meant it as some kind of threat, he just got kissed. His lips began to twitch until they were twisted into a complete grin. Before he could stop himself Trowa slapped his hands together and shouted for joy.

~~**~~

Dorothy walked away from Trowa and couldn't keep the smile off her face. She just kissed Trowa! What could she have been thinking? She was sure that despite what she wanted the kiss to represent, Trowa probably took it the wrong way. But boy that felt good!

~~**~~

Colony x-399299 was a middle class colony filled mostly with retired people and the necessities for successful life styles. The two transports stood out like a sore thumb. One of them was a regular transport. It was a large multi-cabin transport that could be used for both for traveling across earth and making trips to the colonies. The other was an old mobile suit carrier that had been transformed to carry the trailers and other equipment for the some what famous 'Bloomin Circus.'

The entire circus troop was out unloading what was needed while others were driving the numerous trucks with the equipment out onto the lot they had rented on the colony. Trowa was helping the guys unloading the animals and had sunken back into his silent state. Dorothy had to go fill out some documents about ticket sales or other such stuff that had been misplaced and she was also going to go get her trailer. Thus, his current state.

Trowa looked at his lions and smiled his usual smile. They reminded him of two things, Dorothy, and how much he wanted to be with her.