All right...it's been how long since I updated this fic? And yet today I get a review, asking me to continue. So I figure, what the heck, might as well write one last chapter and get it over with.

Yeah, the formatting sucks on the first few chapters, and yeah, it's horrible writing from some of my earlier days, but the plot is semi-good...so anywho, here's the last chapter of Daughter of Two. Those of you reading, thanks for sticking with me, and thanks goes out to everyone who reviewed. (you must be out of your minds or something...this fic is weak).

Daughter of Two - Ending

Trinity sighed tiredly as she headed down towards the hospital cafeteria. The coins in her hand paid for two coffees before she absentmindedly made her way back towards Duo's room. It had been a week since the downfall of Danny's 'family business'. Thanks to her evidence, Preventers had managed to make a few arrests. Three weeks had passed since Nate and Heero had helped with her escape.

She reached Duo's room soon enough, offering Heero one of the Styrofoam cups silently as she took a loyal seat beside him.

The Japanese man nodded his thanks, tightening his hold on Duo's hand as he sipped at the black liquid carefully. His tongue was burnt despite his caution, but he was beyond feeling at the moment. Four weeks, and still Duo had shown no signs of improving.

They sat in silence for a few moments before the daughter spoke up. "Ano...Dad...will he ever..."

Heero shook his head slightly, closing his eyes briefly before turning his Prussian gaze on his daughter. "I don't know, Trinity. I honestly don't."

She sighed, sipping at her own drink before resting her head on his shoulder. Heero responded by setting down his coffee before gently slipping an arm around her shoulders. The days went by slowly, merging into weeks, months, years...

Duo was moved into the house, and although they started with an at-home nurse, Heero soon took over all of his lover's needs.

Dutifully, Heero watched over his lover, taking special cautions to care for the beautiful chestnut hair as if it were his own. Every day brought new hope that Duo's amethyst eyes would open, but at night Heero always returned to a cold and lonely bed. Trinity went back to school, but with little enthusiasm. She became as silent as Nate, as reserved as years of training had caused him to be.

Quatre and Trowa had moved in with Heero and Trinity...bringing Nate with them. The blonde had insisted on it mostly for the sake of Heero's health. Though he was diligent in treating Duo, he often forgot about his own needs.

The doctors had assured them that hope remained...but as time crept by, hope seemed like such a lonely thing to cling to.

Nate was confused. Very confused. And last time he had checked, confusion was not a good thing.

See, it had to do with his partner. Trinity.

There was this little matter of him having emotions when he was around her. Well...before it happened, anyway. Back when she smiled...

He sighed softly, sitting in front of his laptop, fingers poised over the keys. He was writing up his latest mission report. It wasn't going so well. So far he had typed in HQ's email address. Other than that, he had yet to start.

He leaned back in his chair, running his fingers through his platinum blonde hair as he closed his eyes against the glaring screen. Sighing again, he shut down the machine and got to his feet, intent on heading to the kitchen for something to drink. Perhaps that would refresh him enough that he could get back to work.

However, he took the walk to the kitchen slowly, his hands in his pockets and his gaze thoughtfully on the floor. His mind kept drifting back to that brief moment of ... feeling... that he had experienced with Trinity. She had kissed him....

No one had ever kissed him before. No one had found a reason to kiss him before. She'd said that she had wanted to help him...

That struck an idea in the boy's mind. If she had wanted to help him...perhaps he could return the favor and help her. She'd been so...sad, depressed...he didn't know the right word. He wasn't good at expressing his own emotions, never mind analyzing others.

Damn, but he was confused.

And last time he had checked, confusion was not a good thing.

Trinity looked up from the kitchen table as Nate entered the room. She had long ago gotten used to his quiet presence in her house, along with Quatre and Trowa. Their decision to move in to help her father had touched her, and she was grateful. Alone, she would not have been able to deal, with Duo as he was and a depressed Heero.

Her cobalt blue eyes met his aquamarine briefly before she looked away, staring back down at the newspaper spread out before her. She flipped the page half-heartedly, barely registering the fact that he had chosen to sit beside her once he'd gotten himself a glass of water.

"Trinity..." he started, sounding unsure of himself.

This caused the girl to look up, her eyes widened only slightly. The only one who called her by name with that tone of voice was Quatre...and usually he was overly concerned when that happened. "Yeah?" she asked softly, brushing a stray strand of hair from her eyes.

His fingers curled around his glass, his eyes focused only on the liquid contained within its barriers. "I want to help you," he said, finally looking up to meet her gaze.

She blinked. That phrase sounded so familiar. Where had she heard it before?

The memory of their shared kiss flitted through her memory, and she gave a soft sigh. She remembered feeling happy at that moment. Happiness had evaded her lately.

"I don't think you can help me, Nate," she admitted quietly, fingering the closest corner of the newspaper between her forefinger and thumb. She watched, entranced, as it curled upwards. The texture was soft under the pad of her thumb...the tips of her fingers were absorbing the black ink. "Not unless you can make everything better again. Not unless you can change things back to the way they were before."

Nate shook his head, and without much thought he responded, "No, Trinity. I can't do those things for you. But..." Here he hesitated, his eyes finally lifting for a brief moment to lock with hers before they lowered again. "Change is inevitable. Sometimes we just have to learn how to deal with it."

Trinity sighed, and flipped to the next page in the paper. "I dunno, Nate. I just don't think that happiness is possible anymore. Dad....Dad's starting to give up hope. He doesn't show it a lot, but I can tell. All he ever does is sit in Duo's room staring at the motionless form of my second father. He's pale as a ghost, he hardly eats...Duo was his other half. Neither of them can survive without the other."

She was about to continue when a startled cry sounded from upstairs, and both Trinity and Nate jumped to their feet. "That was Quatre's voice," Nate said softly. "He was in watching Duo while Heero slept."

Trinity was up the stairs in no time at all, her heart pounding in her chest. Was this the end? Had Duo himself given up hope? What would happen to her family now? Heero wouldn't be able to keep going without Duo...

And then Trinity was in Duo's room, and Trinity's cobalt eyes were wide with surprise as they landed on open violet ones...

She was crying, sobbing into Nate's shoulder as Heero shoved past them and reached his husband's bed, his own tears streaming down his cheeks as he wrapped his fingers with Duo's, giving a choked sob as his grip was returned.

"Guess you guys missed me, huh? How long have I been out anyway?" Duo croaked, his voice sounding like a beautiful melody to all occupants of the room. Quatre was sporting his own tears, Trowa standing nearby as a comfort that everyone recognized.

Love had been what had kept them alive through the war. It had been their love that had kept them together for this long. And it was love that had all of them alive and breathing in this room right now.

Trinity didn't know how long she stood there, wrapped in Nate's comforting embrace, her tears soaking into the shoulder of his shirt. She didn't know how long it was until Duo fell asleep again, and she didn't know how long it was before Nate led her back to her own room.

All she knew was that everything was going to be okay. She was going to make it through this, and Heero was going to make it through this, and Duo was going to make it through this.

Their family was still as strong as ever...stronger than it had ever been. Ties had been connected with Wufei and Quatre and Trowa, and Trinity knew that this was merely an extension of Duo and Heero's strength.

They could finally be a family again. They could finally be happy again.

And in Trinity's future, the only day when she felt that happiness to the same extent as when Duo's weak voice had sounded for the first time in three years was when Nate proposed and she accepted.

There were more tears and there was more happiness...

But the most important thing was that there would always be love.

There would always be love.

THE END