A/N: Hello again. Thanks for all the reviews so far. I'm happy to hear from you. I can't wait to get into the 'heart' of the story. This chapter sets up the whole struggle before the bad guys have to interfere. Oh this fic is so much fun to write. It's late right now- so I'm going to leave things at that and get to the fic!

ENJOY!

-

They had been in there for what seemed like years. Duo was lightly snoring over in the corner as Relena sat clinging to Heero's hand. The injured man had not done anything since the doctors had hooked him up to all the monitors and tubes.

Relena had been told that Heero would be unconscious for some time. However she could not help but ignore the feeling that Heero could and would surprise them. In fact the last time she had been with him was a situation similar to the present one they were in Heero showed everyone just how much he could walk away from a serious injury. Getting up in the middle of the night, Heero had gotten out of the hospital bed and left during the night. Unlike before, she wanted to be there when he finally awoke. To see his Prussian blue orbs up close after so much time would be a dream come true.

Looking down at the prone body bandaged from nearly head to toe, Relena couldn't help but want to laugh seeing his hair. Like always, Heero's wild locks were rebelling from being confined underneath the bandages. Trying to brush the locks back into some order, she was startled to hear a sigh released from Heero's parched and chapped lips.

"You can pull through this. I know you'll awake up and then we can be together, forever."

-

Everything was dark. Inside the recesses of the perfect soldier's mind blocked memories bombarded him to the point he wanted to shut off everything. Suddenly after the blur stopped, a light came on a silhouette of a young brown haired boy.

The visions of a smiling woman quickly came rushing back. Taking him in her arms, he felt safe and loved. He laughed happily as she twirled him around, still holding him to her. Her deep blue eyes seemed to sparkle with hope and life. Everything about her radiated gentleness and peace. Every time he felt the least bit vulnerable, lost or afraid it was her voice that calmed him.

The mother-son bond was especially strong between these two. The loss of his father, not knowing where he went, or who he was, had caused his utter dependence on the woman who brought him into the world. She was all he had.

Things would have been so different in his life if she hadn't suddenly become ill with a rare disease. The doctors, who were busily monitoring her condition, had bad news to break to the lost looking child. At first the young boy didn't understand what was going on. However, seeing his mother's weak and tired eyes clued him in that something was wrong. Clasping his mother's hand as he sat at her bedside, the boy cried like he had never done before.

As the monitors around them began to ring with alarms and frightening sounds he couldn't see the woman who was before him minutes ago. Feeling himself being pulled farther and farther away from the only family he had, the young boy's Prussian eyes strained to see what was happening to her. Reaching out to her proved futile as the darkness once again consumed him and pain returned.

-

Waking suddenly from her position huddled over the medical bed, Relena felt the bed's occupant shift. Looking up to his face, Relena was a bit afraid to reach out to wipe the sweat that was forming on his brow. Pulling her handkerchief out of her pocket, Relena let the silk fabric absorb the perspiration there.

His skin was not the deathly cold she had thought it would be. In fact he was rather on the hot and clammy side. Looking away from Heero's sleeping body; Relena noticed the sun outside the hospital window was already high in the sky. Rubbing the sleep, or lack of good sleep, from her eyes Relena figured she had been there for the better part of a day, if not more.

Her eyes returned to her love's face as a groan once again escaped his lips. His body movements were coming more readily now. Relena could only watch as his hands would twitch and his head thrashed against his pillow. She debated whether or not to leave for a moment to call in a doctor; Relena decided to wait a little longer at his side. Taking a hold of his hand again, Relena began to speak calmly to him in hopes he would calm down.

"Calm down Heero. It's alright. You're safe here." She told him over and over. No matter what she seemed to say, nothing would calm him down. She was about to get up and find a doctor to giver him another round of medication until the sound of his froze her in place.

"Don't leave me." He called out in a tone she had never thought she would hear from the brave solider. The man who had faced death countless times and never flinched sounded so lost and afraid. Instead of continuing to leave the room, Relena sat back down at his side and took up his hand again.

His eyes were not yet open again as he continued to call out for someone. Relena didn't know what to say to ease his pain and worry.

"I'll never leave you Heero. Nothing will ever make me leave your side. I promise you, I'll be the one to protect you now."

Then out of no where the Prussian blue orbs of Heero Yuy opened slowly and uncertainly. Adjusting to the lighting of the room, Heero's eyes moved quickly to focus on Relena and her kind eyes.

"M...mother?" His groggy voice whispered out to her as she saw uncertainty flash in his orbs. Relena could only sit there stunned as he stared up at her blankly. His eyes traveled slowly from her face to the various areas of the room they were in. Coming back to her face, the man on the bed closed his eyes and groaned.

"Where am I?" He asked her. "What happened? Why am I here... who... who are you. Who am I?"

-

"He lost his memory?" Millardo asked his wife to repeat what she had been told by a distraught Relena.

"She said he doesn't remember anything. Not becoming a Gundam pilot, or even the Perfect Solider organization. All he seems to remember is his mother." Noin handed over the squirming daughter in her arms to the concerned man before her. "Relena said that he's been asking where she is. No one knows anything."

"Have you contacted Heero's surrogate father on the colony about it. They must have some information that we don't." He asked as he rocked his daughter to sleep.

"Not yet, but aren't you just the least bit worried about all this. I mean, it's like the man in the hospital room isn't the Heero Yuy we know. He's a completely different person."

"What do you mean?" Millardo asked not understanding his wife's words.

"He's so fragile. Nothing like the stone cold Yuy you fought with and against."

"Well, this only adds to our problems... we'll deal with it as things come along. Right now we have to keep an eye out for the Red Doves. It is only a matter of time until they come."

-

"Are you feeling better Heero...um, sorry, what was your name again?" Relena asked as she fluffed up the pillow the brown haired man leaned against. For the past hour the man before her had been throwing her for loops. Not only did he not remember her, or the gundam projects, but he acted completely different. His eyes were no longer the source of strength she had always found, now they were more frightened than anything.

"It's Ryo." He said quietly watching her every move cautiously. "Did they find anything about my mother?" He asked again.

"I'm sorry, nothing yet. But I'm sure we'll find something... why don't you tell me about yourself?" She asked trying to keep his mind from thinking about some one who was long dead and buried.

"Relena, it was Relena right?" He asked only to get a nod from the woman before him, "Why am I so beat up? What happened to me?"