Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing. Do not complain about references made in this chapter, I used internet and other reliable information to write this section and I know what I'm doing…like: Chang's not really from the Dragon Clan…but his wife was…get it? Anyway, don't analyze the story, just read it…

Chapter 49

"You're a. . .woman. . ." Chang said slowly in a tone of surprise, still holding the fighter's foot. Flipping her hair out of her face aggressively, she said, "Of course I am, my name is Asuka Ling of the Shai Tsu Clan and you are an invader!"

"My name is Chang Wufei. . .of the Dragon Clan. . ." Chang said, trying to subside the memories of his late wife. She looked surprised, saying, "Dragon Clan? I heard that clan was destroyed with Colony A0206 last year. . .how can you be a part of them? Are you a coward? Did you flee while your family died?"

"No! I could do nothing for them! I was forced to watch them die, against my will! How dare you presume that I am such a coward to let them die willingly!" Chang spat out in anger. He brought his leg over sharply, hitting her in the back of her left knee and knocking her down. She let out a cry of pain and surprise as she hit the ground, quickly being pinned down by Chang.

"Unhand me, weakling!" She screamed, writhing about under him. He stared into her fierce eyes wild with anger and said, "How can you call me weak when I am the one holding you down?" She growled at him and snaked her leg around his waist, using every ounce of her strength to bring him over. As soon as she had him off balance, she kneed him in the crotch, causing him more than enough pain to overpower him. She tackled him and whipped his sword from his belt, putting it to his throat and saying, "What were you saying?"

"Clever. . .but not clever enough. . ." Chang gasped, still in much agony. He closed his eyes and began to growl, his low growl turning into a war cry as his body echoed with the scream, a reflection of the sound wave forcing Asuka away. She flew across the room, doing a quick flip and hand spring before landing smoothly on her feet. With a sharp flick of her hair, she screamed, rushing toward Chang who had by now gotten to his feet, as painful as it was. He kicked out his foot and she dodged his hit, rolling off to the side and taking a swing with the katana. He ducked, swinging his hand up and catching her hand, twisting it back and causing her some pain as she growled under her breath, losing grip on the sword as it fell to the ground with a clatter. He then proceeded to flip her over his shoulder but she realized what he was doing and grabbed the back of his pants preventing him from slamming her against the ground.

"How dare you toss a lady! Have you no manners! Fighting a woman like a man!" She shrieked in his ear, keeping a firm grip on his pants for safety's sake. He growled at her and said, "I only treat you by the manner you act! Act like a lady and maybe I'll give you the respect you deserve. . ." She hissed and bit his neck, causing him to scream and release her. She jumped away, doing several back flips across the room to distance herself from Chang and devise another plan of attack. Stopping on the opposite side of the large room, she crouched down like a hunting tiger, staring down her winged prey. Chang reached to his neck and felt the blood slowly dripping from the bite she gave him, saying, "You are a shedevil. . .a sprite, deceitful and treacherous, using your beauty to tempt vain warriors to their deaths."

"And you presume you are not one to die by my hands? You won't be the first enemy I've taken down." She shouted to him as she crawled tauntingly across the floor, giving him a sly grin. Chang followed her movement as he responded, "You mistake me for the enemy, I am here to rid the world of the fools under the guidance of OZ, those 'men' in the mobile suits that you were slaughtering. . ."

"Liar. . .if you were on my side you wouldn't attack me. . ."

"You attacked me first, it's merely self-defense. . ." He said, a slight grin of amusement. She frowned and said, "You find this funny?"

"Ironic, really. . .that two soldiers fighting on the same side would kill each other instead of engaging the enemy together. . ."

"When you prove you're worthy of my help, I will join you. . .but only when you defeat me in battle will I join your conquest." She spat out, crouching lower and reaching back to her revealed thighs and plucking a pair of daggers from holsters attached there. She bore one in front of her face and swung the other back behind her back, saying, "Come and claim your death!"

"I doubt it." He said in a low voice, diving to the side and swiping up his sword as she came for him.

"Why do you always stay far enough that I cannot see you clearly? Are you afraid I will recognize you?" Milliardo shouted, looking around corners as he searched for the boy in the locker room of the fencing court.

"I'm not the one distancing us. . ." The boy's voice echoed through the whole room, not giving his location away. Confused beyond comprehension, Milliardo punched a locker, screaming, "These riddles make no sense!"

"Only because you will not stop to think about what I have said. . ." The boy responded. In defeat, Milliardo plopped down onto one of the benches, putting his head in his hands as it spun around painfully.

"I don't. . .understand. . .what do you want from me!"

"For you to remember. . .think. . ." Milliardo finally calmed his thoughts, a idea popping into his mix of emotions.

Wait. . .he said. . .I am who I am. . .nothing more. . .what does he mean by that? And. . .why did he say he wasn't the one keeping us apart? If. . .he's the one running. . .

"You force me to run. . .don't you see?" The boy finally appeared about 10 feet from Milliardo, staring at him with cold hard eyes that flashed a pale blue. Milliardo's eyes widened and he said, "You. . .you're. . ."

"You." The boy finished. Milliardo blinked his eyes in disbelief. It wasn't often that you met your childhood self face to face, in fact, he figured it was pretty much impossible. Either that or he had just lost his mind.

"This can't be real, you aren't real. . ." Milliardo said in a disbelieving voice.

"But you are. . .why am I so impossible? I exist just as much as you or our sister, Relena. . ."

"This is some aftershock of Rachel's powers, isn't it? Well, I have my own job to do, if you'll excuse me. . ." Milliardo stood and then thought to himself, Why am I excusing myself from a conversation with my child self? I seriously need a vacation. . .or a swift knock in the head to reboot. . . He stalked toward the locker room door and barely touched the handle before he heard young Milliardo say, "Always running from your past. . .you're never going to free yourself from guilt if you keep that up. What would mother say if she saw you like this? How can you live with knowing you're a disappointment to your family?"

"Easily. . ." Milliardo said in his lowest tone, turning the doorknob and pulling open the door. Suddenly, a strong current of wind rushed in from the other side and blasted the door open, knocking him to the floor. He stared wide-eyed at an abyssal black void beyond the doorway, nothing but dismal black visible from his seat on the floor.

"It's your heart, Milliardo. . .an empty vacuum in your body as dark as a moonless night. Anyone that dares try to enter it disappears forever, doomed to wander the endless depression for all eternity. You will never find them again if they enter. . .only you can contain this black hole inside you. So you have two choices. One: Leave now and soon lose everyone you love to its careless nature. . .or. . .two: Stay, and face your past like a true warrior. I am merely a projection of what you can be, you have to achieve a level of light on your own. Hide or seek hope, Milliardo, it's as simple as that. . ." At that, young Milliardo turned and walked away, slowly fading into the scenery. With a nervous gulp, Milliardo faced the black abyss and said in a whisper, "But. . .I can't. . .it took me this long to forget. . ."

Heero slammed the last mobile suit with a burning tornado, melting away the remains of any sign of OZ.

"Weak. . .preying on innocent lives. . ." Heero muttered, glaring down at the burning forest. He quickly went to work putting out the flames and finished just before his head began to spin.

What. . .what's going. . .on. . .Heero thought, touching his head as he lost altitude.

I can't focus on everything at once. . .flying, fighting, moving, staying awake. . .it's. . .it's too much. . .Heero almost panicked trying to fly again. But it was too late. He crashed through the trees for the second time, injuring himself further and getting snagged in a tree high from the ground. Hanging upside down, he stared down in exhaustion, not quite realizing the dangerous and precarious position he was in at the moment, the branches slowly bending and creaking under the strain of his weight. He gasped for air as he lost control over his body and went limp, his head throbbing too much to concentrate on more than one thing. At the moment, breathing was more important.

"I. . .I can't feel my body. . .curse those people. . ." Heero whispered in a raspy tone. He felt something wet and warm hit his cheek and he managed to tilt his head up, seeing his wing bleeding badly with a branch tangled in and around it.

"Shouldn't. . .bleed long. . .at this angle all the blood. . .will flow to my head. I'll pass out before I die." Heero said to himself in an almost ironically sarcastic manner. He heard footsteps below and let his head hang again, getting a view of men running up to his location and staring at him. They weren't chattering in Japanese, but clear English.

"There's another one, get it down and bring it to Commander Treize immediately! I'll patrol the region for any signs of other angels." One man said, presumably the leader of the scout group.

Oh no. . .another one? Who else did they find? Hopefully no one's been captured, like I'm about to be. I have to do something, I can't allow this to happen. . .Heero groaned painfully, trying to move again. The branch holding most of his weight crashed and he began to fall more. His wing tore in half and he cringed, feeling the blood pouring down his right leg. Even though he couldn't feel it now, he knew it wouldn't be fun later when he could.

I only have one choice. . .I have to teleport. But where and to who? The one I pick might have been kidnapped. . .or dead. I have to be careful, I'm in no position to defend myself. Well, here goes. . . He thought long and hard about who would be the best choice to join and finally closed his eyes, teleporting just as one of the soldiers climbed the tree to retrieve him.

"It's. . .it's you!" Alyssa gasped, surprised by the different look Trowa had. He panted for air and said in a raspy voice, "A. . .Alys. . .sa. . ."

"Don't talk, you're badly hurt! We have to get inside, if we stay out here we'll get caught!" She reached down and started to lift him up, supporting his entire weight as she carried him into the hospital.

She's strong. . .Trowa thought in amazement, trying to help but stumbling half the time. She stopped by the front desk and helped him behind it where she sat him down, taking great care not to hurt him anymore than he already was. With a moan of agony, he winced as she felt his back to sense the severity of his injuries.

"Your back may be broken, can you move?" Alyssa asked, looking him over for any other wounds. He slowly gave her a painful nod and she looked into his eyes. The anguish filling the deep green color caught Alyssa's attention for a minute. He reached up to her arm and grabbed it gently, saying, "I. . .I have to. . .have to. . ."

"You have to rest is what you have to do! Don't worry, our men are out there fighting those monsters, they'll leave soon. . ." She paused as the look in Trowa's eyes told her otherwise.

"Alyssa. . .there's nothing but OZ soldiers out there. . .you're defenseless. . ." Trowa said, feeling sorry for her being in such a dangerous position. She stared at him with wide eyes as she said, "I'm sure. . .there's still someone fighting. . ."

"Where's your family. . ." Trowa asked, getting serious.

"They're here. . .somewhere. My mother was hurt while moving my father and sister here after our home was destroyed. Why?"

"I know how much. . .they mean to you. . .you should. . .make sure they're alright. . .I'll be fine." Trowa said quietly, still gasping for air. She shook her head and said, "How did you. . ."

"Catherine told me. . .where is she?" Alyssa looked away sadly, saying in a choked whisper, "Out there somewhere. . .at least. . .her body is. . ." Trowa stared at her, feeling sorry for her losing so much. Still holding her arm, he gently squeezed it, getting her attention.

"I have to go back out there, those tyrants won't leave until the last building standing has been blown clear away. I have no choice. . .I'm the only one who can. . ."

"But, David. . .you-" She began to cry, hanging her head as tears ran down her cheek.

Why is she doing this? Concerned. . .for me? I owe this girl more than I could possibly give her, I feel I should do something. . .to repay her kindness. . .Trowa thought. He brought his hand up to her cheek and brushed away her tears as she looked up at him.

"Alyssa. . .you're so kind. . .you don't deserve this much pain. I feel that. . .I should repay you for your courtesy. . ." Trowa said softly. She blinked in surprise and said, "What. . .do you mean?"

"Anything. . .ask me and I'll. . .do it. . ." Trowa said, his eyes telling her that he meant what he said.

"Any. . .thing?" She stared at him in astonishment. Just then, an explosion shook the building, knocking Alyssa off balance as she fell against Trowa. He held onto her until the shaking stopped, slowly letting her sit back up as she looked at him shyly in embarrassment. He stared at her distantly for a moment before gently pushing her back, leaning forward to get up.

"I have to stop them, they're getting too close to the hospital." Trowa said, beginning to stand. She tried desperately to stop him, saying with tears in her eyes, "No, you couldn't possibly!"

"There's more to me than meets the eye. . .I promise, I'll stop them." He looked down at her, great concern in his slightly hazy eyes. He turned his gaze to the front doors, seeing rubble crumbling to the ground outside from another demolished building. He slowly zigzagged toward the door, leaning against the wall as his back throbbed and shot painful seizers up and down his spine. Alyssa stared at him in fright, her hands clutched tightly against her chest as she shouted to him, "Please, don't do this! You'll die!" He paused and looked down, saying sullenly, "I'd rather die fighting for peace than live knowing I could have stopped this. . ."

"David. . ." Alyssa gasped quietly, her eyes shaky as she held back the tears building up between her lashes.