Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing. This chapter has a lot of feelings and stuff in it and just as a note Trowa and Quatre aren't falling in love, they're just growing close. . .like Frodo and Sam in Lord of the Rings. They aren't gay, and neither are Trowa and Quatre so don't get any wrong ideas. War does this to people. . .you would know if you were in one, but you aren't are you? Nooo. . .so don't pick!

Chapter 45

"Trowa, the plane's going off course again. . ." Quatre said quietly, reaching over to poke the dazed boy driving. Trowa jerked the plane back to its original vector and took a deep breath, staring wide-eyed at the sky leveling out in front of them. He blew out a sigh and slowly blinked his eyes, his eyebrows raised. With a frown, Quatre asked, "Trowa, why are you acting so strange? Does this have anything to do with that bandage on your arm?" Looking over suddenly, he looked back at his arm and ripped the bandage off, saying, "No."

"Why such a hostile no?" Quatre queried, not believing him for a second.

"Because, now go back to sleep." Trowa said, still looking dizzy. Quatre shook his head and reached for the co pilot button, pushing it quickly and taking the steering wheel in front of him. Trowa stared wide-eyed at him, saying loudly, "Quatre, what are you-"

"You're losing it, Trowa, I can see your eyes fuzzing in and out of focus and it's affecting your piloting! I can't let you take both our lives in your hands when you couldn't even see those clearly." Quatre said sternly, keeping his eyes fixed on the horizon.

"Quatre. . ." Trowa said with a slight loathing tone in it.

"Tell me why you're acting this way and maybe I'll let you steer again."

"Fine, I gave blood at the hospital as a trade for your medicine. They had a low supply and it's the best I could do. . .would you give me the steering back?" Trowa's voice let on to his exhaustion for a minute.

"Trowa. . ." Quatre said in his saddened tone of voice, "You should know better than to fly after giving blood, it's a risk to your life! You're not suppose to operate any heavy machinery or work too hard for at least 3 hours after giving blood, and you know that!"

"You're sick, what makes you think you're any more qualified than me to pilot?"

"At least I'm not passing out every two minutes." Quatre narrowed his eyes.

"How would you-"

"I've been watching you for the past half hour. . ."

"I thought you were asleep."

"Was I. . ." Quatre grinned mischievously. Trowa frowned and leaned back against the back of his seat, looking tired as he said, "Quatre. . .why are you doing this?"

"Because. . .I care about you." Quatre said quietly, looking over at him. Trowa's expression softened as he whispered, "Quatre. . ."

"Rachel, there you are." Heero said as Rachel and Duo reentered the cave to join the group again.

"Yes, sorry about my rude interruption. Has everyone gotten ready for our final battle?" Rachel said, completely composed and recovered from earlier. Chang stood far off, looking up at the group like a punished child as they talked about things. Duo blinked and looked over at him in curiosity as he said, "Will we be taking our Gundams or leaving them behind?"

"Why wouldn't we take them?" Chang asked, suddenly sucked into the conversation by his love for his gundam.

"We're going to be the guardian angels of the world, we don't need machines to fight our battles for us anymore." Rachel said boldly, finding the courage to rally everyone together.

"But they have Mobile suits, and Dolls! How can you possibly fight them without Gundams!" Chris asked, shocked by her spirit.

"Simple, we have something they don't have."

"What's that?" Noin asked.

"Faith. Faith in whatever we do, faith in our friends, faith. . .that the One ruler will guide us to victory. . .we can't lose, not when we have God on our side."

"And no one's more powerful than Him! What are we waiting for, let's go save the world!" Duo cheered happily. The others joined in on the cheerful shouting as their wings formed out of pure excitement. Otto and Chris were a little lost in the celebration.

"Mr. Otto, sir. . .where does that leave us?" Chris said quietly to his superior.

"I guess we rally troops of our own and join the fight! Might as well give them some backup, they'll need it. . ." Otto said.

"But. . .we couldn't repair my suit. . .and I'm not a very good pilot anyway, I never got any training for that!" Chris said.

"There's a transport ship outside, if it's still in tact, I don't know after the battle. You can take it and head to. . .wherever you need to go." Milliardo said as he walked up to them.

"Lieutenant Zechs, sir, where should we go?" Otto asked.

"Head to the Sanc Kingdom. . .you should find some friends and allies hiding out there. Do what you can and be careful."

"Yes, sir! And thank you. . .for giving us a second chance." Otto said, standing at attention and saluting. Chris quickly followed suit and then ran after Otto as he took off to search for the remaining cargo plane outside. Milliardo rejoined the group just as Heero was saying, "Alright, we have a lot of ground to cover in order for this plan to work. Since we have seven people present we should split up and take different countries to sweep through. Chang, you take China and the oriental regions, I'll take Japan. Zechs, you take Eastern Europe. Rachel, you take North America, Duo can cover South America. Noin, you head over to Africa. I'm assigning Quatre to Asia and Trowa can stay here and handle Germany and any surrounding countries Zechs doesn't get to. Relena, you search all the islands including Australia."

"Right!" Everyone said in unison.

"And regroup with me when your task is finished and I'll see who needs help. Let's go!" Rachel announced, flapping her wings for takeoff. The group flew out of the cave in formation and slowly went their separate ways to begin their personal missions.

Just 10 miles from camp, hopefully all is well. . . Quatre thought as he checked the range left to their destination point. He looked over at Trowa, smiling at the serene look on his face as he rested and regained his strength.

He's changed so much. . .if it weren't for his long auburn hair and shocking green eyes I might not even recognize him! So much has changed in a week. . .I wonder, will my father even know me anymore? Can I go back to my home. . .my past life seems like a long forgotten dream. . .and. . .how will I even begin to explain myself? Everything I used to know is lost to me now. . .all because of my powers. . .where will I go if this war ends? I couldn't go home, no one would believe I am who I say I am! What will I do? What can I do. . .

"Quatre, what's the matter?" Startled, Quatre blinked and noticed Trowa was staring back at him.

How long has he been staring at me? Trowa thought as he sat up in his seat, keeping his sleepy eyes locked on Quatre's face.

"Nothing. . .I just got lost in thought. . ." Quatre responded, looking back out at the sky.

"About. . .what?" Trowa asked, unbuttoning his coat slowly.

"Many things. . .all theses changes. . .I'm worried that when this war is over, there won't be anything to come back to." Quatre said, bowing his head sadly as he gazed at the steering wheel.

"You have everything to return to, Quatre. A home, family, friends. . .a name to call your own. You have a life that's all yours. . .be grateful."

"What do you mean?" Quatre looked at him blankly. Blinking in realization that he had revealed something secret, Trowa turned away, gently pulling the belt around his coat loose as he looked on the world in sadness.

"Quatre, I. . .I am. . .not who you think I am. . ." Trowa muttered.

"I don't understand. . .what are you trying to say?" Quatre said, sounding uneasy. Trowa looked up at him with a dead, dull expression of regret.

"My name. . .is not Trowa Barton." Trowa said quietly.

"But. . ." Quatre stared at him, a betrayed feeling creeping into his stomach as he gripped the wheel tightly.

"Trowa Barton died near to a year ago, I am nothing but a nameless soldier. . .lost and. . .alone. . ."

"No, you have a home. . .friends. . .even family. . .you are not alone, my friend!"

"Family? But, I have none. . ."

"Your family is all around you, they are the people that love and care for you. . .as long as we have breath to keep us alive, we are brothers!"

"Quatre. . ." Trowa blinked in wonder.

"And besides, if what you say is true, then the real Trowa will have no use for his name now, so why not give it a home? Keep it; so many know you by that name so what does it matter? You aren't made human by your name, but by the life that you live. . .that you have. . .you can have a million names but it won't change who you really are: A clown, a soldier, a friend to us all. . .so please, don't give up because of a simple thing such as a name. . .you're so much more than that to me. . ." Quatre said, his greenish-blue eyes sparkling with tears fighting to fall free. He sniffed and wiped his sleeve over his eyes, taking the tears away so he could see the world more clearly. Pausing for a moment, Trowa stared at Quatre in surprise and shock, not used to such devotion from another person. Finally, he removed his jacket and folded it over his left arm, looking at his shirt's right sleeve.

"I can barely see it now. . .after my shirt burned so much. . ." Trowa said in an almost musing tone.

"See what?"

"One day. . .I was rehearsing a show with Catherine and she was a little nervous about doing new tricks. I tried to assure her she'd do fine but on accident, she threw a knife too close to me and caught my arm. She was so scared and afraid. . .she felt responsible for it even though I allowed her to do it. It really didn't hurt that much but she insisted I go to a hospital. After the show that night, I went back to my room to find my shirt laying over a chair, fully mended. . ."

"She really cares about you. . .doesn't she?" Quatre smiled.

"I guess so. . .you know. . .I never really noticed how much she cared. Why do you suppose she's so protective and loving?"

"Maybe she likes you. . ." Quatre grinned. With a curious blink, Trowa responded, "But. . .it's not really like that. . ."

"I don't know, but she does care about you, so you do have someone to return to after the war."

"Yeah. . .I suppose so. . ." Trowa said, letting a smile crease his lips. Just then, Heero appeared in the cockpit of the plane, startling both the passengers to death.

"HEERO!" Quatre gasped, clutching his heart.

"Trowa, Quatre, we've made plans." Heero said simply in his monotone, uncaring voice.

"What's going on?" Trowa asked.

"We're splitting up to fight OZ all over the world, and you two have been assigned to your own missions. Quatre, you're assigned to Asia, go there and take out all signs of OZ. Trowa, you stay here and work on Germany since there's been so many attacks in the area due to our presence and work around the Eastern European area when you're done here. Both of you report to Rachel when your tasks are done for further orders." Heero said.

"But. . .Heero. . ." Trowa started to stand.

"What?" Heero looked at him. Hesitating, Trowa sat back down, saying quietly, "Nevermind."

"I have my own work to do, good luck." Heero said and disappeared. Trowa turned to Quatre and said, "But. . .you're sick, you can't go out by yourself with the flu! Quatre-"

"It's alright, I'll be fine, don't worry. . .I'm sure everything will turn out just fine. I'd better go, everyone else has probably gotten started, I'll see you later. And. . .be careful, Trowa." Quatre said, trying to smile.

"You be especially careful, and don't forget to take your medicine. . ."

"Oh. . .right, thanks." Quatre chuckled, picking up his supply of pills. As he stood, he looked down at his outfit and said, "Oh my, I completely forgot about this! How can I fight in these clothes, I can barely move! And I think I got a wedgie. . ."

"Here. . ." Trowa raised his hand and new clothes appeared on Quatre's body, much freer than his original garments. Quatre looked down in surprise and said, "Wow. . .thank you! These look great, and very comfortable. . ." He ran his hand over the light blue, long sleeved shirt now on him, feeling the soft texture of the material as he looked down at his new white pants, similar to his old pair but larger.

"I thought you'd look more grown up in something other than pink. . ." Trowa grinned. With a chuckle, Quatre said, "Is there something wrong with what I used to wear?"

"No. . .but your new build doesn't suit pink. Blue is much better. . .plus the light tones will keep you cool out in the hot Asian sun."

"Yes. . ." Quatre said quietly. He smiled at Trowa and said, "Good luck to you. . ."

"You too. . .Quatre. . ." Trowa said in equal silence. Finally, Quatre closed his eyes and vanished, going off to start his journey.

Please come back alive. . .Trowa thought as he took over the plane controls and headed for camp. And so, their journeys begin. . .