A/N: Well, I hadn't really been planning on continuing this fic… I was gonna just leave it as it was. But I got to thinking and decided that maybe I could do something else with it. I'm still kinda thinking about where I want this to go, because this plot line is so typical, and I don't want to inadvertently plagiarize something someone has already done. So I decided to do the same thing from Heero's POV. He's probably way OOC… Tell me if he is or not. I haven't seen as much GW as I'd like, so I don't have much basis for comparison. Now, on with the fic!

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I had been watching you for a while before I realized why you had attracted my attention. From the moment you shot me, I knew there was something special about you, but I didn't know what it was. I thought that what I had felt was simple gratitude for pulling your shot, but the feeling didn't go away when I expected it to. It just got stronger the longer I ignored it. I had been trained for nearly all my life to hide or kill my emotions, and I couldn't kill this one, so I hid it as best I could.

I tried to stop feeling the way I did, insulting you and calling you names, cursing you in Japanese. But you were always nice to me, though you sometimes were slightly annoying. I was never as annoyed as I acted though. I sort of thought you were cute, with that long braid hanging down your back and your goofy smile.

Actually, you were the first person to ever make me laugh with that goofy grin and silly sense of humor. You told a joke, and I actually understood it and thought it was funny. You were the first person to ever tell a joke I thought was funny without being corny. I don't even remember what it was, but I do remember the look on your face right afterward. I'll never forget it, so carefree and loving- though at the time I thought it was just love for life or fun or something stupid like that. It was a long time later when I realized I had never laughed with you before that, and I didn't do it again for quite a while afterwards either.

Then came that day when the other pilots decided that they should leave the two of us alone all day in that cabin. You were your usual cute, slightly annoying self, and I was wrestling with myself. By that time I had decided I was attracted to you, at least physically, but I wasn't sure if I felt anything past that or not. I never have been very good at analyzing my emotions.

That day was sort of odd for me. I half wanted to throw you down on the bed and ravage you, and half wanted you to take me in your arms and never let me go. Of course I settled for neither, turning to my so-called 'beloved' laptop for comfort instead.

I was afraid. You seemed nice, but what was really beneath that surface? I could see the way you looked so sad sometimes, how you had cried yourself to sleep at night when you thought no one was listening. I was listening, but I never dared come near you at times like that. I was afraid I would say or do something wrong and ruin my chances with you. I knew that you considered us friends, even if I did act like a bastard towards you sometimes.

When I started feeling like that, I always opened up my laptop and started working, or just typing. I had all kinds of things saved for you on that machine. Letters, pictures, poems- everything I would have ever told you or given you, I put in the laptop instead. Then when I felt like I had to see you and we weren't together, I could just open up a picture of you and type out what I wished our conversation would be.

That's what I was doing that day, writing out one of my 'conversations', trying my best to ignore you, and , I thought, succeeding. Then you said something I hadn't expected.

"Heero, have you ever been in love?" I didn't look up. I didn't dare, or else I would give myself away. I had tears in my eyes, tears of realization. I suddenly knew the answer to that question, and it was yes. I had been in love, I was in love. In love with you. That was what that unidentified feeling was. Love.

I realized I had been quiet for too long when you ask if I had heard you. I said yes. Unfortunately, you took the, "Yes, Duo, I heard you," as a, "Yes, I've been in love."

When you asked who, I decided not to lie to you. There would be no point in that. Knowing you, you'd try to fix me up with who ever I said, and that was the last thing I wanted from you. But I wasn't about to tell you I loved you either. So I told you to go away as callously as I could manage. I suppose it worked, because you didn't say a word for the rest of the day. I missed your voice, but at least you didn't know I was in love with you.

Then came the time we were rooming together. You had gone to bed hours before I thought it was safe to turn off my laptop and get in my own bed, so I was startled to hear your voice out of the darkness.

"Heero, who are you in love with?"

I ignored you. I wasn't going to answer that question, so I pretended to be asleep.

"Heero, why can't you tell me?" I turned to face the wall opposite you, so I wouldn't have to see your reaction when I told you to shut up. I could never stand to see you upset without feeling a bit sad myself.

You persisted, though at the time I didn't know why. I thought you were just being difficult.

"Heero, I wouldn't tell anyone."

"Baka, it's not who you would tell, it's that you would know. Now go to sleep." I hoped that calling you an idiot would help, even though at the time I hated calling you that, but you just got more persuasive, offering me a tidbit that was hard to refuse.

"I'm in love with someone, Heero. And if you asked, I would tell you." I couldn't resist.

"Okay, who is it?" I said the words as calmly as I could, but inside I was a knot of nerves, all the while hoping you would say my name, but knowing you wouldn't. No one could ever truly love someone like me.

You freaked out then, not wanting to tell me anything, wishing you hadn't said you would. But I knew you wouldn't lie to me, and I reminded you of the trust I had in you to tell me the truth. You got a scared look on your face and answered almost hesitantly.

"It's… Wufei." I was stopped dead in my tracks. Even if you hadn't been an awful liar, I would have known that was a lie. And I couldn't believe it. You had lied to me. I sat up in shock, and turned to look at you. You looked guilty. Very guilty. I almost said something, then took pity on you and lay back down before I opened my mouth. I slept uneasily that night and I know you did too. I could hear you tossing and turning from the other side of the room.

We moved again the next day, to a place where we had separate rooms. I couldn't get over the fact that you had lied to me. I knew you hadn't wanted to tell me the truth, but I couldn't believe you had lied. Things were very awkward the next few days. You seemed to be doing everything you could to make it up to me and your God, but nothing helped, for either of us.

I was afraid to confront you about the lie. I wanted so badly for you to say, "I lied because I was afraid you wouldn't love me too, Heero," but I was afraid there was another reason, though I couldn't think of what it would be.

You came into my room four days later as I was leaving it. I went back inside reluctantly and sat down at my laptop, hoping you would apologize, and wondering if I could accept it. I doubted everything about you since you had lied to me, even though I still loved you.

I had thought the feeling would go away when I stopped trusting you, but it didn't. In fact, it got stronger, because you having this flaw was like having it proven that you weren't a dream. I was afraid you were, sometimes. You were too wonderful to be real. This lie of yours had actually endeared you to me more, although I tried not to think about the reason behind your lie.

There was only one reason I could think of for you to have lied to me, and that's the same reason I didn't tell you who I was in love with… you were in love with me. I was certain that that was the stupidest idea I'd ever had, because there was no way you could love me. I had been told over and over that no one loved me, and if they said they did I should be suspicious because they were only using me.

When you told me you had lied, I responded as monosyllabically as I could, hoping you would get it over with and go away. You offered to tell me who you were in love with, but I decided not to ask. I didn't want another reason not to trust you. I couldn't handle you lying to me twice.

I was feeling rather depressed the next day, so instead of going to my laptop as usual, I grabbed a book off the shelf and started to read. It really was very interesting and I didn't even notice that it was past lunch-time until you knocked on my door. Your timid "Can I come in?" told me what you wanted before you even walked in.

You looked surprised to see me in bed, which is what made me look at the clock. It was later than I thought.

You asked me to forgive for lying to you, and I said I had, but kept things as monosyllabic as usual, pretending to be deeply interested in my book. You took me by surprise when you asked me to actually say the words, "I forgive you." You obviously were more distressed by this than I thought.

I could see the chance for me to tell you how I felt. It would have been easy to say something sentimental or romantic about forgiving you. But I didn't give anything away. I wasn't sure of myself yet, and I wasn't completely sure of you.

When you ask if I hated you, I almost melted. How could I ever hate you? Me hating you would be like saying a snowflake wouldn't melt on a sunny day. You were my source of warmth and I needed you nearby so I wouldn't freeze. (A/N: Hey, no mixed metaphor this time! Yay!)

"Please Heero, tell me what's wrong?" You voice was like an angel's. You sounded so sweet, so caring, that I nearly broke down. I managed to choke out some semblance of a question about who you loved, because I had to know. I was going crazy not knowing.

You whispered the answer to my question so quietly that I couldn't hear you, and I had to ask you to repeat it. You'll never realize how hard it was to ask you that question twice. Then you answered louder and I nearly fell back on the bed I was sitting on hearing the answer.

"You. I love you, Heero." I could hear your uncertainty, and my own uncertainty seemed to overwhelm me. I was so happy, but still I was uncertain. I looked up to see if you were lying, and a tear came to my eye when I saw that you weren't. But still… my old mentor's words came back to me.

"Don't trust people. They'll only hurt you, and the ones who pretend to love you are the worst because they'll play on your weaknesses and not feel sorry at all."

I looked into your eyes, desperately searching for that glint of fraud, but I didn't find it. I nearly gasped when you took my hand and sat down beside me. I couldn't believe you were holding my hand, but I also couldn't believe that you were in love with me. I didn't doubt you because you had lied, though. I doubted you because I could still hear that voice in the back of my mind saying "Don't trust, don't let them trick you."

You squeezed my hand and I lost it. I looked away in shame when the tears escaped my eyes and flowed down my face. I wasn't crying in front of you, I wasn't. I should have been telling you I loved you too, but instead I was sitting and crying at you. It was embarrassing, and I was sure you would hate me now. But you didn't do anything except wipe a tear away and whisper my name.

You ask if you should leave, and I must have shook my head, because you just started talking about how crying was okay, and telling me how you had cried, and I shouldn't be ashamed. And I gave up. I sobbed my eyes out, thinking all the while how stupid I must seem to you. But you didn't act like I was stupid. You just held me and let me cry.

I didn't know at the time what was causing me to be do emotional. I was tired and stressed and I was in the situation of my dreams, with your arms around me. But I couldn't stop sobbing. I realized later that I needed that. You knew I did, but it took me a long time to figure it out. I had lived most of my childhood in a war, fighting where I should have been playing, and forced into an adult position when I should have been nurtured into maturity.

Finally, I asked you whether or not you were using me. I didn't want to accuse you of it, and I didn't want you to be mad at me. I trembled with fear you would reject me after all, but you didn't. You told me something I'll never forget, the only exact words I remember from our entire exchange that day.

"Heero, I don't lie. Not anymore. I've done it once, and once was enough. I love you, and I would never, ever use you, or treat you like anything but the most precious person in the world to me. I love you." Those words were all I needed. I cried for a while longer, and as soon as I could speak clearly again, I said the words I'd been longing to tell you since that day in the cabin, but had been to afraid to utter.

"Ai shiteru."