Author Notes: Well, I've come down with a cold all of a sudden which means it's damned hard for me to get to sleep. As a result, I can't sleep well. Good for you guys, though, cause that means I'll update instead of sleeping. Heheheh.

Twist of Fate – Change of Heart
Chapter Four – Change of Heart

The sun had set over an hour ago and as the chill of night laid in and a light fog crept towards them two women sat motionless, lying in wait for their prey. They sat quite silent, not for fear of discovery, but because they had become accustomed to it. Throughout their newfound partnership barely a sentence had passed between the two, each holding within their hearts a loathing for the other beyond description. A loathing for what the other had done the life the other had taken, the title the other had stolen, the friend the other had slain.

As the sound of footsteps reached their ears they tensed in unison, readying for their mark. This wise old Soldats official was not so wise after all, choosing to walk alone when he knew that Noir was after him. Perhaps he wished to die? Thought he could fight them off alone?

As he came within striking range the blonde assassin lifted her weapon, taking aim, while her companion watched her menacingly, as she always did. A flash from the gun and the shot burst out, sending a hollow echo about them. However, taking the place of the cry of pain and the thud of bullet finding flesh was the ping and whir of a ricochet and the cocking of a second gun. Then a third. Then a fourth.

As swiftly and silently as the fog had moved in just before, a small army of men emerged from the mist, aim already taken towards the two that would slay their leader.

Quick as she could the younger of the two leapt towards the thicket alongside the path on which she had been waiting, reflexively grabbing her partner as bullets ripped apart the air where the Corsican had stood moments ago. Knowing the gunmen would be quick to follow the women took off through the underbrush, twisting their way through the trees, eager to leave this botched job in their wake.

Gasping for breath it was no less than three kilometers away that the younger of the two darted to the side and fell to her knees in a dry river bed, hoping the sand bank might hide her from her pursuers. She tried to calm her breathing, listening to the shots being fired behind and the men crashing through the forest in hunt. It was not until several moments had passed and her breathing had returned to normal that she realized that her hand was still clenched tightly around her partner's wrist, having dragged her into the ditch behind. As her eyes traveled up the Corsican's arm and met with the other woman's wide eyes a great fury seemed to somehow take control of all rational thought.

"What were you THINKING?" she half-shouted, half-whispered, shoving the blonde harshly, "If you couldn't make the shot why did you shoot?"

The outburst did not go unheeded by the gunmen as shouts and shots rang out in tandem, ripping through the air towards the riverbed. The pair shot once again away from the small army, sprinting through the trees at breakneck speed in an effort to once again lose their assailants.

"At least I didn't shout when there were twenty men with guns pointed in our direction," Mireille pointed out as the pair, having lost their pursuers, walked along a small dirt road through Eastern Europe, shrouded in the cold darkness of the early hours of morning.

"That wouldn't have happened if you hadn't missed the shot," Chloe reminded pointedly. After a few more moments of walking in silence she said, more to herself than to Mireille, "Guns . . . how impersonal, dirty, and impractical."

"Humph, you didn't say that when Kirika used a gun," Mireille retorted, mentioning the dead girl for the first time since the night of her death.

Sighing, a content smile spread across Chloe's lips as she reached back in her memories to the thoughts of the girl who should be walking beside her now, "Kirika was different. She . . . could make anything the perfect weapon. To kill the way she could . . . she was perfect."

Mireille turned her head and was surprised to see a smile where she had expected to see tears. She realized it was only down her face that the tears fell, and she brushed them away with her wrist. As she did so Chloe's eyes caught hers and the girl's smile faded, "What do you have to cry for?" Turning her face away scornfully, "You didn't even know her."

Genuinely offended Mireille stopped walking, grabbing Chloe by the arm and jerking her around to face her. Chloe's face was etched with defiance, but now Mireille realized that tears were beginning to form in the other girl's eyes as well. It was not more than a minute that the despair that had filled Chloe since the passing of her love became too much to bare and her sorrow came gushing out in a river of tears and a torrent of sobs uncharacteristically audible from the girl.

Falling to her knees Chloe clenched her fists and bared her teeth, choking out through the sobs, "You could never know her like I knew her. She was me and I was her and we were one and we were to be Noir but now she's dead and it's all . . . it's all . . . it's all my fault!"

This outburst was met by a more violent fit of sobbing as Chloe doubled over, trying to hide her face from the Corsican's eyes. "Chloe," Mireille said, her voice shocked, sad, and with an unexpected hint of tenderness. She knelt down beside a woman who was no longer a ruthless assassin but had been reduced to a sobbing child in a matter of minutes. What was she to say? Console the girl; tell her it wasn't her fault, when both knew it was? At a loss for what to do Mireille succumbed to her instincts, sitting at the side of the dirt road and pulling the sobbing girl into a rather awkward embrace.

After several minutes of stifling her crying and wiping away her tears Chloe was surprised to find that her current location to be in the arms of her . . . rival? . . . partner? . . . nemesis? . . . friend? As several moments passed and an awkward silence filled the air between them the duo stared at one another, not sure how exactly this had come to pass.

"Chloe," Mireille began softly, "What's done is done. She's dead. You want her back just as much as I do, but we can't. We can't bring her back and there's—" Mireille had to wipe away some of her own tears now, "—there's nothing we can do to change the past. The past is the past and should be left that way. We won't forget her . . . but to dwell on things we can't change is a waste." Mireille smiled a bit, "I guess I just realized that myself. I'd been out for revenge because of my family . . . but now that their killer is dead, nothing's changed and they're still dead. We just need to move on, right, Chloe?"

Mireille stood up, brushing the dirt off of her clothes and smoothing out her shirt. She turned to Chloe who was still sitting on the ground, her eyes shiny in the moonlight as the orb began to sink below the treetops and the first rays of dawn began appearing over the far horizon. Reaching out her hand to help the girl up she smiled, "Shall we go then, Chloe?"

Chloe took her hand and stood. They began walking once again towards the rising sun. Towards the future, and away from their pasts.

Author's Notes: The End! Heh, your thoughts? Didn't work in as much shoujo-ai as I'd planned, and I apologize to those who are disappointed by that. The end I tried to wrap up by getting rid of the whole 'pilgrimage to the past' idea but I'm not sure how that really worked out. Either way, the end, please review.

FYI: Madlax! It's first dubbed DVD is coming out on the twelfth and y'all should get it.