Chapter 1
"Trowa! Quatre! Wufei! I saw Duo last night! I saw him!" Heero called jovially as he trundled down the stairs. Quatre dropped a glass, which shattered on the floor. Trowa poured milk on the table instead of in his cereal. Wufei's waffle-loaded fork clattered back onto his back, his hand still poised in the air and his mouth still open.
"Heero, you couldn't have seen Duo. He's dead!" Quatre said, running for the broom. Trowa grabbed a dishrag off a cupboard door and hurriedly wiped up the spilled milk. "…Unless you snuck out and visited his grave last night…?" the silent brunette muttered. Heero shook his head and spun before plopping himself on a barstool. "Nope. I saw him. He was sitting in the tree outside my window. But then he was gone and there was this crow…" Heero babbled happily. His friends were looking at him like he was nuts. "…What!" Heero snapped, noting his friends' looks. The other three exchanged a look and, as one, went to Heero and hugged him. B-but I saw him! He was there! I know it was Duo! I saw him! I saw him!" Heero murmured, rocking back and forth in his friends' arms. Tears again sprang to his eyes as he remembered finding Duo, in pieces, outside the blackened wreckage of his Deathscythe…
Flashback
The scene was one of turmoil. After nearly a year of easy peace, a new uprising was bringing war to the colonies. The Gundams and their pilots were kept busy almost constantly, trying to stop the rebels. Now, the Gundams were forced to fight directly over the communities. People were running, screaming, trying to save their own lives. Suddenly, one of the enemies fired a beam cannon that they hadn't had a moment before. The shot was headed straight for Heero and his Zero. At the last possible second, Duo threw his Deathscythe in front of Heero.
The explosion was colossal, big enough to allow the enemy to retreat and destroy several city blocks below. When the smoke cleared and the pilots had abandoned their suits, what they saw was horrible. The sight made Wufei physically sick. Quatre cried while stoic and pale Trowa held him, trying not to see what was right in front of them. Heero was alone in his shock. All he saw was the blackened shrapnel and scattered chunks of poor Duo. He gently lifted Duo's head off the ground and held it close, hot tears pouring from his eyes. Duo was dead and it was all his fault.
They collected the pieces and cremated their fallen comrade the next day. Heero shut down completely. He returned to the perfect soldier he had been once more. About a month later, Heero finally broke mentally and the three remaining pilots moved in to keep an eye on him. All they could really do was keep him from committing suicide. They could stop him from thinking that he was to blame for Duo's death, nor could they convince him to move on. Heero was trapped in a bubble of his own sorrow.
End Flashback
"If he hadn't jumped in front of me…ohhhh…sniff…Duo…sob" Heero cried, relying solely on his friends' strength to keep him on his stool. The room was absolutely silent except for the forlorn teen's lamentation. The other three boys dared not say anything for fear that Heero's sorrow would suddenly turn to rage, as it had been known to do since he broke down.
Suddenly, the caw of a crow sounded at the window. Heero's head snapped up and his sobs ceased. The crow tapped on the window twice, flapped his wings, and tapped again. Heero suddenly burst from his friends' embrace and shot across the room like a bullet. He opened the window to let the bird in, but it fluttered away, up into the tree. There, it perched on the arm of a black-clad figure…
A/N: Ooh! My first cliffie! Okay, yeah, I love the movie The Crow, but only the original version with Brandon Lee. I was in Hot Topic the other day and saw a couple of t-shirts from The Crow and it made me want to watch the movie when I got home. Then, the next day, I went to the lake with my friend Rosemary and I wore one of her Gundam Wing shirts. So the next day, at school, I started writing this fic, a crossover between The Crow and Gundam Wing. Yeah, I've lost my mind, having The Crow come out in the daytime. I honestly can't remember if he does that in the movie or not. My birthday's April 4th, so happy birthday to me! See ya next chapter!
