Eternally Yours

Summary: When Heero saves a girl from an unpleasant death in the hands of an enemy, the girl starts to harbour feelings for him. But can this girl really win the heart of the 'heartless' soldier?

Disclaimer: I, unfortunately, do not own Gundam Wing.

Chapter One: Another Chance

She could still hear the screeching sound of the bullets being fired as she ran as fast as she could, ducking into a dark alley for safety. The sounds of heavy yet fast footsteps were getting louder, signalling to her that her enemies were close. The muffled sound of voices shouting panicked orders could be heard from the street opposite. 'They're close, too close' she thought as the thuds of the heavy uniformed military boots stopped just before the dark alley in which she had taken her cover.

"Orders were to check everywhere. We cannot let her escape. She knows too much."

"Stop!" The soldier in charge halted his men and signalled to the alley. "Check in there."

"Yes sir" was the reply from his men.

The soldiers got closer and closer to her hiding point as she glanced around her warily. Just her luck, she had chosen the alley with the dead end, just then she spotted a strange gap in the back wall which seemed to lead to the next street. She examined the wall; it looked big enough for her to be able to fit through. She slowly started to rise getting ready to jolt to the gap and make her escape when the sleeve of her jacket caught onto something. It was too dark for her to see what she was caught onto so she tugged at her jacket sending the object on which her jacket had been hooked onto scattering to the floor recklessly. Damn! The soldiers turned around and sought her out from within the bags she had hidden behind.

"Get her!" yelled their leader. The men, immediately following orders, ran towards the young girl.

She froze on the spot, her mind was screaming at her to run but her body wouldn't follow its instructions.

"Don't move!" one of the soldiers told her sternly whilst pulling his gun out of its holster.

Suddenly her body seemed to connect back to life and she ducked behind a trashcan which was letting the bullets shot rebound back in the opposite direction.

She ran towards the gap in the wall somewhat slowly. Damn it! Move faster she screamed at herself. She felt a bullet narrowly miss her head and whistle silently past her ear. At the same time she felt a sudden immense pain hit her lower back another one followed in suit and hit her just to the left of her spine. 'Damn it!' she thought as her focus became blurry and her head began to spin in numerous circles, 'mission failed.' She whispered quietly as she fell slowly to the ground losing all consciousness. Lafeia hit the ground head first; the bullet punctures in her back spilling out crimson blood onto the alley's floor beneath her.

-8-

Lafeia was floating up from the black abyss that she had earlier drowned in. She could hear barely audible voices coming from around her although she could not distinguish from which direction they were coming from. She tried to open her eyes to find her location. That's when she felt the pain. The pain was so excruciating that she felt she'd rather fall back into the black abyss of nothingness where she could feel no pain. Immediately she tried not to breathe, breathing was too much torture, she tried to slowly move her arms but realised she had been restrained to the bed.

"She's awakening, quick pass me the painkillers." Said a voice, she could tell this person was standing very close to her on her right. It took her several moments to open her eyes and when she finally did she had to shut them again quickly due to the short term blinding from the medical lights that surrounded her. She pried open her eyes once again and readjusted to the light although she could still feel herself squinting through watery eyes. She studied the plain white ceiling of the medical centre and then studied other various objects in the room some of which were moving swiftly around her injecting painkillers into her side and fidgeting with gauzes and band aids.

Her wrist flinched when a sharp prick suddenly entered the top of her hand.

"Don't do that. You will pull out your IV, and you really wouldn't want to do that with the condition you are in." She focused her gaze on the woman who had just talked to her. The woman was looking down at her with a concerned gaze, she smiled weakly at her.

"Young lady, can you tell me your name?" The girl simply shook her head.

"I didn't think so. I am Doctor Sally Po." The doctor looked over to her monitor to check Lafeia's statistics and vitals before turning back to talk to her again.

"You were brought in here by a boy named Heero Yuy. He witnessed your attack but before he could do anything the soldiers had already shot you down. He managed to fight off the soldiers and brought you straight to me. I don't ever recall him making such an act of generosity." The doctor seemed to be talking to herself at this point. "But young lady you really must tell me your name. Please! We are anything but your enemies; you could even refer to us as your allies." The doctor again smiled down at the young girl and then looked down at her restraints. "Hey, how about I undo your restraints and you tell me your name. But if I do undo the restraints you have to promise me you will not leave until you are completely healed, you are in no condition to be outside of this room. If you leave Lady Une will have my life."

"Lafeia Gartner." The young girl whispered with a croaky voice. Sally smiled warmly at her and quickly undone the restraints.

"Now Lafeia, remember you have to stay here. You should sleep now. You need the rest."

Lafeia gladly obeyed Doctor Sally, she had felt a rush of exhaustion, ache and tiredness whelm over her body and she slowly closed her eyes once again allowing her mind and body to be engulfed into the peaceful darkness.

Sally sat with Lafeia until she was assured the young girl was sleeping and then, telling her apprentice to watch over Lafeia, she left the room to announce to Lady Une and the others that she had woken. They had so many questions that needed answered.

-8-

Lady Une and the gundam pilots, Heero Yuy, Duo Maxwell, Trowa Barton, Quatre Raberba Winner and Wufei Chang where sitting around a long rectangular shaped oak conference table. They were going over the options they had in relation to their next few missions and what they where going to do with their new guest who was now situated in the medical area in the left wing of the building. A rapping could be heard from the door and they all looked up to see Sally Po walk in and greet them all.

"The patient has woken up. She could only tell me that her name is Lafeia Gartner before she again became drowsy and I had to let her sleep. I have removed all of her restraints, although she has given me her word that she will not leave the wing. She is healing well, but she has suffered from a mild concussion which has lead her to a mild case of short term memory loss, so I doubt we'll get much out of her soon. But her memory should return to her in a few weeks." Sally told the room.

"Thank you Sally, next time she wakes up would you please call for me as I would like to have a chat with our visitor." Replied Lady Une, Sally nodded and with one quick glance in Wufei's direction she left the conference room. She sighed in relief as she emerged into the hall. She hated walking into that room during an important meeting, the tension was so thick that she swore that she could cut it with a knife, but she was given orders to inform Lady Une when the girl woke up and she had had to carry out those orders.

After the meeting the five boys made their way back to their own rooms. Duo came over to Heero grinning mischievously.

"What is it Duo?" Heero asked, the tone of his voice not changing.

"Well ya know this so called 'visitor' of ours, well how did you come across her? And why save her? Not that I didn't want ya to, it's just, you've never done anything like that before, and ya know…"

"I had been watching her for a few days…" Duo's expression changed and if possible he seemed to be grinning even more.

"Watching her? For a few days?" he laughed cheekily.

"Duo!" said Heero getting aggravated. "Don't be so crude. I was watching her because she has a good talent, I noticed her first when she was taking out a few guards at a base I had been researching and planning to break into." He looked down at the ground and then back up to Duo. Duo was amazed to see that his eyes contained a strange glow of excitement; at least he thought it was excitement. "She was amazing, so strong and powerful for a girl. Watching her made me want to know more about her, so I tried to draw up some information on her on my laptop but I couldn't find anything on her. She's so mysterious, there is nothing on her, I just thought if I could find out her name, then maybe that would give me some sort of lead. I followed her around for the next few days trying to understand the situation more clearly. Then, that day, the day she got injured, she was running, I didn't know who she was running from but I knew she was in danger, but by the time I'd caught up with her she was… lying on the ground, two bullets penetrated fully into her flesh and a dozen guards surrounding her."

"What? A dozen guards, for a chick?" Duo questioned surprised, urging Heero to continue his story.

"Yes, but as I said she's good. I took out the guards and brought her straight here. I never thought she'd live through those wounds."

"Hmph! She's just like ya Heero. Won't stop at anything, must complete her mission even if it concerns her own life, and lastly she's extremely stubborn, I swear that that stubborn streak in you has something to do with you always pulling through and living through what the doctors say are critical conditions." Duo laughed at himself then looked at Heero whilst wearing his trademark grin. Heero just looked back at him, his face a mask of seriousness and his eyes once again void of emotion. As Heero turned to walk away again Duo thought, that's the Heero I know.

-8-

Pulling herself once again out of the pool of darkness that surrounded her Lafeia felt the great pressure and pain that was forced upon her wounds. She groaned quietly, and heard someone walk over to her.

"Hold still for a second, I'm just going to give you some more painkillers." The voice did not belong to the doctor she had met last time but of an older woman, who's voice she did not recognise. Lafeia began to panic wondering who she was going to have to deal with. She opened her eyes slowly and squinted through the small gap she had managed to force open. The older woman looked at Lafeia and smiled.

"I am Lady Une. It is a pleasure to meet you Lafeia Gartner; I have heard a lot of interesting things about you."

Lafeia's eyes suddenly shot open fully, "Like what?" she asked shocked that these people seemed to know about her yet she knew nothing to do with them.

"Do not be afraid, Lafeia. Remember that we are your allies."

"I'm not afraid." Replied Lafeia stubbornly, even though she was afraid, she hated being thought of as weak, and fear was certainly categorized as a weakness in her mind.

"Well then you must trust us."

"How can you ask me to trust you when I don't even know who you people are? How can I be sure that you are my allies? I don't even know where I am!" Lafeia eyed the woman suspiciously.

"Well that's something you are going to deal with in your own time, trust is something that grows on people through time. With time, Lafeia you will learn to trust me and my comrades." Lady Une tucked her long brown hair behind her ear with her hand. "As for whom we are. We are an organisation called 'The preventers' we are here to help promote the peace Miss Relena Peacecraft has laid down for us and to stop any rebellious organisations and groups from doing anything to destroy the peace that took such a long time to gain." Lafeia looked up at her nodding to accept the fact that she was an ally and that they where both more or less after the same goal. 'So these are the oh so great Preventers'.

"How long have I been here?" Lafeia asked curiously, she didn't feel like she'd been there long but she had a funny feeling she'd been there a lot longer than she would have expected.

"You woke for the first time a day after you were brought here, but since then you have been unconscious for more than two weeks."

Lafeia asked, shocked.

"Yes. You were in a very bad condition, if it hadn't been for one of my men you would not have survived the night. But as for your wounds, they have healed extremely well. I am surprised at how anyone could recover from such injuries so quickly." I know of only one other person how could pull through that. Both of you are very strong.

Heero walked along the eerily quiet corridor towards the room at the left wing of the preventer's base where he knew Lady Une would be waiting for him. Why she had to bring him to the other side of the building just to talk was a mystery to him. After all, both of their rooms and offices where situated in the right wing.

He tapped lightly at the door and waited patiently.

Lady Une stopped talking to her young guest when she heard the rapping at the door; she knew fully well who it was.

"Come in." she said in a stern voice. A young boy of around eighteen entered the room. He was wearing black slacks, a forest green tank top and a khaki preventers jacket thrown over the top of it. His dark Prussian blue eyes flickered from where Lady Une was positioned to where the young girl sat on the edge of her bed in the far corner of the room. He then turned his full attention to Lady Une. He positioned himself in a military position and nodded to her, sending the front bangs of his unruly dark brown hair to cover his eyes.

Heero, upon entering the room, scanned it from floor to ceiling, it was something he that had been drilled into him as a young boy and even when the peace had been attained he still wasn't ready to be taking chances. As he scanned the room he noticed the small girl sitting in the corner of the room, he recognised her as Lafeia Gartner. Her long ebony black hair flowed gracefully down her shoulders; her face was pale and gaunt from the life threatening events she had just taken part in and her body looked weak and fragile. Yet her intoxicating teal green eyes still seemed as dangerous and alert as he had remembered. She glanced up at him, seeming to be taking him in with her eyes and examining him thoroughly. He felt strangely drawn to her and disliking this uncomfortable feeling he quickly avoided matching her gaze with his by turning his full attention to Lady Une who was sitting not far from her at the back of the room.

Lafeia watched as the handsome young boy talked to Lady Une quietly, she looked down at herself and realised she was wearing only her underwear and a long sleeved shirt, of who the shirt belonged to she didn't have a clue but was grateful for it's warmth around her shivering body. She grabbed the covers of her bed to wrap them around her small form and waited for Lady Une and the boy's conversation to end. She watched the boy with a great fascination. He wasn't too much taller than she was, she estimated the boy to be around the age of eighteen, although as she watched the boy standing at regulation not moving the whole time that Lady Une was talking to him she thought he acted a lot older than eighteen. Eighteen year old kids shouldn't be running around in dangerous organisations and fighting to protect their country. Hold on, you are such a hypocrite, she thought as she thought about how she had been fighting most of her life to protect her family. She sighed as she remembered her family but pushed the thoughts out of her head quickly. Now was not the time to think about them she said to herself.

After a while Lady Une finally turned back to Lafeia. "Lafeia," She started, "this is Heero Yuy, the young man who saved your life two weeks ago."

"It is nice to meet you, Heero. Thank you." Lafeia said to him in a husky and raspy voice. She coughed trying to regain her own voice.

"Hn." was the only reply she got from him. He stared at her coldly with his Prussian blue eyes. Whoa she thought those eyes; they are so cold and so empty of any emotion.

"Heero I am placing you in charge of this young girl. Look after her." Lady Une told him. Heero glared at her but after a while he nodded his head curtly showing her that he understood his orders.

"Good. Now take Lafeia, get her some clean clothes and then introduce her to the other pilots." She then turned round to Lafeia and smiled, "Lafeia, we don't want you to be bored here during your stay so I have arranged for you to have lessons and training from the pilots to build up your fighting skills, " She glanced back to Heero briefly, "but I have heard already that your skills are very high anyway." And with that Lady Une left the two teenagers in the room alone.

Heero glared over at Lafeia. She hated the burning sensation that she got inside her when he glared at her with his icy eyes. He motioned for her to follow him and walked at a fast pace towards the door. Lafeia jumped up from the bed, forgetting her lack of clothes and followed him into the long dark corridor. Heero was already about thirty paces in front of her and she had to run to catch up with him. The boy sure moved quickly, she thought.

She was running to catch up with him. His mind was telling him to slow down and let her catch up, but his body wouldn't listen, he kept on walking at his steady pace. He was surprised when he seen her appear at his side, not out of breath at all from the long run down the corridor. He looked down at her, she looked cold, she had her arms wrapped across her chest and goose bumps covered her whole body. That was when he noticed she was not dressed appropriately for walking down open corridors where officers and soldiers could easily walk out of rooms and see her. In fact, he thought, I wouldn't even say that she's dressed. He blushed, realising he was staring at her and without thinking he removed his preventers jacket and thrust it into her arms. She looked up at him, surprised and blushing as she too had just realised she wasn't wearing very much. She then smiled a weak thank you smile at him and threw the jacket across her shoulders.

They soon got to a plain black door at the end of a corridor where Heero typed in his six digit code and allowed the door to slide open with relative ease.

They entered the dark room and Heero flicked a switch for the lights, the lights flickered for a second before settling to a steady state. Heero walked over to his closet and started searching for something to dress the girl in. He picked out a smallish shirt and a black pair of trousers; he decided that he would let her keep the preventers jacket for the minute. He threw the clothes into her arms and turned his back towards her focusing his gaze on the opposite wall. He could hear the sound of clothes being removed and applied again and pushed mental images of the pretty girl out of his head. He was after all a teenage guy, maybe not your average one, but a teenage guy with hormones all the same.

Lafeia cleared her throat gently; "Umm…" she said not knowing what else to say to signal that she was dressed, but Heero caught on. He turned around and only glanced at her before making his way towards the door to leave. Lafeia quickly followed him making sure to keep right beside him. She didn't know why, but she felt drawn to him in a strange way, like his presence somehow confirmed her safety and being closer to him made her feel even more secure, so she kept as close to him as possible.

In her present condition she was very weak and vulnerable to any form of attacks, she felt that for now she needed as much safety and security as she could find, She really didn't like the feeling that the vulnerability brought to her.

Heero was striding down the corridor walking towards the pilot's lobby, where the pilots usually went to hang out. He turned around to look at Lafeia who was still struggling to keep up with his large strides.

"Are you hungry?" he asked in his monotonously cold voice, Lady Une had told him to look after her, he guessed that would include feeding her. She needs to eat something soon; she's too thin and pale, did they not feed her at all in the medical wing?

Lafeia nodded her head quickly in reply still finding it difficult to keep up with him.

They arrived at the lobby doors with Lafeia panting and out of breath. Damn, those few weeks without training or any form of exercise, I'm becoming really unfit she thought. Heero entered yet another 6 digit code into locking device beside the huge doors and walked into the main area.

Heero had forgotten that Lafeia had been with him, she had moved quickly but silently, maybe she is just like me. Only when he heard the quiet gasp of surprise was he reminded of her presence. He turned around to see her shocked expression. She was amazed at how huge and amazing the lobby was.

Lafeia looked up at Heero; the shock must have registered on her face, as she was sure she saw the trace of an amused smile on his face and his eyes glimmered amusedly but it was there and gone again in a blink as his face returned to its usual blank expression, that was both his trademark and an irritant to many of his friends.

She again studied the room, the room was extremely large, and way more extravagant than she had expected for a lobby.

Heero watched her, amused as she glanced around the room in amazement, like a child at Christmas. Her teal eyes glittered brightly with fascination and curiosity, they browsed around the room examining every little detail, not missing one thing, she is a well trained soldier, he thought. He watched as her hand twitched longing to touch many of the mysterious items scattered sparsely around the room. His thoughts were soon disrupted by a loud thump coming from the bottom of the large staircase situated in the centre of the room. Heero looked round to see Duo standing at the bottom of the staircase grinning widely having accomplished his mission of startling Heero out of his thoughts.

Stop thinking about this girl Heero she's distracting you. And here I thought the perfect soldier didn't get distracted from his missions. Duo laughed at himself out loud.

"Hey there, Heero! How's it going?" Duo's eyes widened as he looked upon the new girl, "Is this the girl I've heard so much about?"

"Hn." Heero replied.

"Huh! So why does Une still want her here if she's healed?"

"Hn. She's not completely healed" Heero shrugged his shoulders lightly as he replied; "Une wants us to give her special training for a while."

"Special training?" Duo's eyes widened, "What kind of special training?"

"Dunno."

"Huh Une's gone crazy these days." The girl blushed at this, seeming offended and took a step back, which caught the braided boy's eye, and he turned, "Oh, I didn't ask your name!"

"Lafeia." Heero answered as Lafeia opened her mouth to speak.

"Hey look at that. She's a ventriloquist!" Duo mocked. Heero glared at him, Prussian orbs like daggers. But duo was used to this gaze and shrugged it off carelessly, there was no point in entering a staring match with Heero, it was all but too obvious who would win. He turned his attention back to the dark haired girl. She was staring back at him; her face showed little emotion but it was easy enough for him to read, after all he had spent the last few years with Heero. It was crazy how alike the two were. Duo laughed as he thought about this earning himself yet another death stare from Heero but he again shrugged it off.

"Nice to meet ya Lafeia, the name's Duo Maxwell!" He grinned widely at her, and she smiled back, not nearly as enthusiastic though. Okay well she can smile; maybe they are not so alike after all.

Lafeia watched the mysterious boy in fascination. The young man seemed so full of energy and enthusiasm. As she studied him, she noticed the long golden brown braid that swung back and forth at his back and the stunning and cheerful cobalt blue eyes that shone out from behind his dark bangs. He talked to Heero, seeming to wind him up and then turned to call out to someone.

"Quatre, Trowa, Wufei, come here!"

A blonde head followed by a cinnamon one emerged from the kitchen. Quatre was the first to approach, "Hello there."

Wufei appeared at the entrance to the room and glared over at the newcomer, "Who is this?" He asked surveying the girl.

"This is Lafeia; Une wants us to train her in our spare time." Duo said looking around at his friends who were now grouped around the young girl and Heero.

Lafeia blushed at the sudden appearance of the four other boys. She found herself feeling uneasy and nervous amongst the strangers and suddenly felt like going back to the medical wing where she could drown herself in loneliness and emptiness, it was a thing the young girl was well accommodated to. She never really tried to associate with the other members of her former groups, but she reassured herself that she was safe here, there was no dodgy characters hanging around hallways and no 'shadows' tailing her every movement anonymously.

The blonde haired boy suddenly and unexpectedly stepped forward thrusting out his right hand in a kind welcome. She accepted his hand and shook it gently studying the kindness in the boy's eyes and the genuine smile plastered on his face.

"It's nice to meet you, Lafeia. My name is Quatre Raberba Winner, and this is Trowa Barton," The tall silent boy with the cinnamon hair to the right of him nodded but his face remained as serious as ever. These boys seem to be wearing masks of some sort, such emotionless masks, she thought as she studied Trowa carefully and nodded politely in return, "Wufei Chang," Quatre went on. The Chinese man to the left of him with the black silky hair which was pulled back into a tight ponytail glared at her even more, showing his apparent distaste for her, Lafeia smiled weakly at him, and quickly she turned back to the blonde boy with the warm smile to get away from those cold, angry dark eyes of the Chinese man.

"And I take it you have already been introduced to Heero Yuy and Duo Maxwell?" Lafeia nodded towards him feeling the gaze of all the pilots upon her. It made her feel even more uneasy than she already was.

Heero noticing that she was feeling awkward decided to tell Duo to give her a tour of the pilot's wing and Duo agreed happily.

The cheerful boy named Duo showed her around their whole apartment or wing as they called it, they ended in the kitchen where Duo started rummaging about for food and asking her if she was hungry.

"Yeah, I'm starving." She said quietly.

"Great! Me too!"

"When are you ever not?" Wufei entered the room and sat down at the kitchen table once again studying Lafeia with a remorse dislike. The girl is too weak! She shouldn't even be getting trained, if she were to battle she would break too easily, she is too thin, just skin and bones.

"Well I happen to make the most exquisite dishes out of all the pilots." Duo said happily ignoring Wufei's comment. Lafeia smiled at him, she was extremely hungry she felt like she hadn't eaten in a month. That's because you probably haven't! She thought.

-8-

After eating and listening to Duo talk about his life and the lives of the other pilots, Lafeia felt drowsy, she sat down on a comfortable sofa in the main lobby and sank into its soft cushions, Ooohh this is nice! I could definitely get used to this… She laid her head back and felt her eyelids become heavy and suddenly found it very hard to focus on anything around her. She was finding herself unable to keep her eyes open any longer.

"Lafeia!" Heero raised his voice and tugged the girl off the sofa, putting his arm around her waist to balance her; she opened her eyes groggily, letting her weight fall upon Heero's sturdy arms. Slowly she took in her surroundings and gradually realised that she was in Heero's arms, she blushed violently and pulled away from his grasp only to find her knees were so weak that they where about to buckle beneath her. Heero moved swiftly closer and caught her before she could collapse; he frowned at her for pulling away so quickly. She smiled up at him seeing a look of concern in his usually harsh Prussian orbs.

"She still hasn't recovered from the anaesthetics yet. They heal the wounds and relieve the pain but they make the used very drowsy and weak." Quatre whispered to Heero as he looked down at the young girl who was drifting in and out of consciousness, he was sincerely concerned for the young girls health, he doubted she was even in a good enough condition to be walking about. "When did she come out of the coma?"

"She woke early this morning, just before I was called in to talk to Lady Une. Hasn't had much rest since." Heero replied not taking his eyes off the girl. He ducked down to collect the rest of her body in his two arms, lifting her fully off the ground.

"Where about was she hit?"

"On her back but I'm not too sure where."

"You should take her to a bed Heero, I'm worried about her, and she's not stable enough to be using up too much of her energy." Heero nodded in reply and walked over to the door, he waited while Quatre opened the door for them and nodded to his friend before turning in the opposite direction towards his room.

Heero walked along the dark corridors without a sound through the black darkness that nearly engulfed them. The bright moon shone through the large glass windows making the couple seem ghostlike as he walked with the small girl cradled in his arms.

Upon nearing his room Heero shifted the girl in his arms so that he could open the door. He entered his room and carefully laid her down on his bed; he stopped to think for a moment then reached up and covered her with the blankets. He blinked in surprise, seeing at last that this was the first time he had ever been this gentle with someoneHe shook his head furiously in an attempt to rid himself of the strange thoughts that had started occurring recently

He took hold of a spare quilt in his dresser and pulled it out laying it upon the floor, he glanced over at Lafeia quickly before changing, and he was not taking any chances.

-8-

Lafeia awoke the next morning to a bright light shining upon her eyes, she opened them slowly to see the sun had just risen from behind the horizon and was shining serenely through the window. She looked around the room taking in her surroundings, after a while she finally recognised the room as the one Heero had lead her into to change into some of his clothes. Why am I sleeping in Heero's room? She got up, lifting herself off the bed too quickly, and finding that her legs couldn't cope with the sudden pressure reinforced upon them and collapsed back onto the bed. With a sigh she tested her legs again holding onto the bed to gain some form of balance. She started walking slowly towards the door holding onto the walls and now and then leaning against them when she felt a weakness spread through her body. Her body wanted to collapse into the strange darkness again and her mind craved for the relaxing nothingness of the dark unconscious oblivion. I hate this weakness she screamed to herself and pushed her body to move forward more promptly, pushing the pain out of her mind and locking it up. There is no time for weakness.

Her sudden drive of determination moved her legs faster and she congratulated herself for her quick thinking. Just then her legs once again failed her and her body gave in and fell to the ground with a thump. Cursing her legs she tried pushing herself up again and gave up upon failing for the third time. She slumped against the wall, pushing her head back against the wall for support.

Heero walked into the room and stared at the girl who was leaning against the wall. He had heard the thump from the next room and came in to see if she was okay.

Her hair was messily strewn across her face as she looked up at him from her helpless position on the floor, her teal green eyes containing traces of anger, determination and stress.

He smiled slightly at her and stooped down to help her to her feet.

As he entered the room had Lafeia watched him watch her through amused eyes, and then he did a surprising thing, he smiled at her, That must have been the first time I've ever seen that boy smile, I wish he'd smile more often, he looks so handsome when he smiles... Wait! What am I saying! She smiled back weakly at him, blocking out her thoughts as he crouched down beside her and wrapped his arm around her back. She groaned in agony as he placed pressure upon one of her recent bullet wounds. He pushed her forward slightly and his left hand pulled the shirt up slightly so that he could examine her wounds carefully. As his hand touched her she felt her skin burn but not from the pain of the wounds but from the gentleness of his touch. As he moved his hand further up her spine in order to examine the rest of her wounds she felt goose bumps prickle up all over her body. Why am I acting like this? She asked herself.

Heero moved his hands effortlessly around her back thoroughly examining her injuries. These are nowhere near healed! He thought angrily. He would have to take her back to the medical wing for a while. I'm going to have to have a word with Lady Une and Doctor Sally, he thought. As he moved his hand further up her spine he felt a chill run through her body and goose bumps appear across her skin, he hastily pulled down the shirt and threw her his preventer's jacket over her to keep her warm.

He stood there for a while just staring at her, she looked so weak and vulnerable sitting there gazing back at him with her enchanting eyes. He forced the thoughts of her out of his mind and helped her up off the floor. He guided her out of the room her arm thrown around his neck and his hand holding onto her waist gently and guided her down the long cold corridors.

After they had passed the entrance to the pilot's main lobby Lafeia began to feel confused as to where they where headed.

"Uhh… Heero…?"

"Hn."

"Where are we going?" she whispered as if afraid that talking aloud may disrupt the silence of the hallway. But Heero heard her okay.

"The medical wing?" Her voice choked with the shock, she didn't want to go back to the medical wing, not now anyway. She was enjoying the company of the pilots and Heero. She didn't want to be left isolated in that room any longer and she didn't want to drown in her own loneliness. No, she wasn't going to stand for it. She pulled her arm away from Heero's neck and pulled her body away from the support of his arm. She trembled and her legs threatened to give way to her weight but she quickly leant against the wall breathing deeply from her exhaustion of their long walk, she knew she really wasn't up to do doing any physical exercise but she wanted to commence her training with the pilots, she was already out of shape and she couldn't stand it and she had to prove to Heero that she wasn't so dependent on everything and everyone.

Heero felt her tremble as he mentioned where he was taking her. He knew what she was feeling, he too hated lying in the medical beds needing constant attention from medical staff and feeling weak and useless lying there inept of moving. When she suddenly pushed him away from her with all the power she contained in her body he was surprised. He watched carefully, ready to catch her if she fell; her body was drained of most of its energy from the long walk and her sudden energy upsurge that she had used to push him away. He watched her shake and waver as she held onto the wall for strength. She frowned in his direction.

"I'm not going to the medical wing, Heero!" She exclaimed, "I'm just fine!"

"No you're not!" Heero glared at her unconvincing form, "Lafeia, you need to go."

"No." she sighed and turned to walk away still leaning against the wall slightly, her long limp hair draped around her shoulders.

Heero groaned quietly in defeat and hesitated before moving to catch up to her, which didn't take him long as she wasn't moving very fast, he supported her once again with her waist in his hand and her arm round his neck and shoulders. They were both silent as Heero led them back to the main lobby to meet with the other pilots.

Heero left Lafeia on the sofa and went over to Quatre and Trowa to discuss her condition. "She won't go to the medical wing, she's too damned stubborn." Heero said obviously irritated.

"Maybe if you weren't so cold towards her she would listen to you." Trowa said analysing the situation. "There's no way she's going to be getting training from us for a few days." Heero glared daggers at him, but Trowa had learnt how to deal with Heero's coldness as had the other pilots.

"All I can say is to make sure she rests, Heero maybe you should stay with her while she's sleeping, well for as long as you can anyway." Quatre added, again showing his concern for the young girl.

"Me?" Heero asked surprised.

"Yes. You seem to be the one out of us that she trusts the most." Quatre countered.

Heero left Lafeia in the living room area watching TV with Duo and Wufei. Duo seemed to be his usual energetic self and was aggravating the humourless Wufei.

"Yo, Wu-man that's a crap station!" Duo said before snatching the controller out of Wufei's hands and continuously flicking through channels.

"Duo! Give me that back now!" Wufei growled.

Duo jumped up off the sofa and ran round the room with Wufei on his tail. Eventually Wufei gave up the chase and wandered over to Quatre, Trowa and Heero.

Lafeia strained to hear what they where conversing about, she heard Heero mutter a few words about the medical wing and knew in an instant that they were of course talking about her. Great she thought now they're all going to be forcing me to go to the medical wing!

"I don't know why she trusts you so much though." Wufei said as he entered the conversation with Quatre, Trowa and Heero, leaving Lafeia watching TV with Duo. "She's one strange girl." Heero growled at him, but before he could say anything back Quatre said, "If you watch over her, she should sleep better; I assume she left your bed this morning to find you. If you are there when she wakes up she will have no reason to leave the room therefore speeding her recovery." Heero nodded as Quatre's speech seemed to be comprehensible. He looked over at the girl who was chatting happily with Duo.

"What's going on back there?" Duo pulled her out of her thoughts, she was surprised to see the braided man leaning against the back of the sofa and watching his comrades discuss a topic which was unknown to him.

"No idea." She sighed and lay down on the sofa spreading her legs across it with a great effort. She didn't understand why her legs were malfunctioning when it was her back that had been injured. I guess I'm just weak.

Duo turned around, his eyes wide with interest and started a friendly conversation with her. Soon she felt her tiredness overwhelm her again and she rested her head on the sofa's back, closing her eyes… Just for a short while, she thought.

She stirred from her sleep and opened her eyes, blearily searching the room for anything to tell her of her whereabouts, she found herself resting against a slumbering Duo, she looked around further to find out that the other pilots were also asleep. She sought Heero out from the pilots and watched his sleeping form. It was the first time she'd seen him sleep, and even in sleep, Heero seemed to be fully aware of his surroundings and constantly on guard. She was now becoming aware of the fact that she was falling for the young soldier, unwillingly of course.

She leant down beside him to watch him sleep. He's so handsome. Why do I have to have these feelings for you? She asked him silently. After a while of staring at the sleeping Japanese man she lay down close to him on the ground and studied the ceiling until she fell asleep once again.

Heero awoke from a violent dream about the war; he had relived the nightmare of killing thousands of innocent people, over and over again since the end of the wars. Guilt surged through his body as he thought about his nightmare, cold sweat had formed on his skin and his heart was beating rapidly. He sighed, took a deep breath and steadied his breathing by lying back down again, it was only then that he realised that the young girl had somehow managed to end up sleeping beside him on the floor. Heero glared coldly up at Duo who had now inhabited a whole sofa to himself, Duo stirred uneasily in his sleep as if he could feel Heero's cold stare infiltrate his body.

It had been Quatre's idea for the pilots to sleep in the lobby, because Duo and Lafeia were already asleep on the large sofa and later Trowa had fallen asleep beside them in the armchair. He had thought it would be too much hassle for them to wake everyone, and as Heero had to stay with the girl at all times he found that this was the best solution. And this way, it took some of the strain of Heero, because all of them could keep an eye on the girl.

Heero looked down upon the small girl, she was shivering from the cold, he glanced around him looking for a spare blanket and upon not finding any he moved closer to the girl with his own blanket and threw it securely around the both of them.

Lafeia woke feeling warm and comfortable on a soft mattress. Mattress? She thought confused; she looked around to find that she was back in Heero's bed once again. The bright light shining through the windows blinded her sore eyes and she turned her head away quickly and closed her eyes again. When she opened her eyes she could see bright spots appearing before her, she blinked them away to see Heero sitting on an armchair in the corner. I wonder how long I have been here.

"Heero…?" she started. Heero glared at her, his eyes feeling cold and icy upon her skin. He got up slowly, his face a dark mask, and walked towards her, she watched him carefully her heart hammering in her chest as he moved even closer. He leant across the bed and drew the curtains together. She smelt the strong scent of his cologne reach her as he leant across her.

"That should be easier on your eyes." He said his voice devoid of any emotion. Lafeia glared at him coldly as he sat back down on the armchair and continued to watch her, not really watching her at all, more like seeing through or around her. It made her feel even angrier, but she couldn't understand why, he hadn't actually done anything wrong. What was I expecting? Did I really think that Heero would kiss me? Don't be stupid Lafeia, he would never do such a thing, why would he? Why would you want him to? She looked over at him sadness overwhelming in her eyes, his head was bowed and he was reading an old newspaper that had been sitting on the table beside him.

You don't want him! She convinced herself before turning her head away from him and curling up in the bed and falling asleep as her eyes closed and she fell once again into the lonely nothingness.

Heero laid her down on his bed looking softly at her delicate peaceful face; he tucked her beneath the cover and sat down in the old comfy armchair in the corner of the room getting ready for a long day of doing nothing, it looked like it would be a long time till the girl recovered fully from the drugs and woke up again.

He had grown close to the girl, even though he had known her for only a short time, he felt the need to be close to her and feel her presence in the room. Even over the past few days as she remained unconscious, sleeping off the rest of the drugs he had watched over her quietly like a guardian, growing closer to her emotionally. At times he was glad she couldn't see him, the way he looked at her, the way he felt about her. No! He pushed the thoughts out of his mind! She's already to close, you cannot let her become any closer, and she would only end up getting hurt.

He couldn't let his emotions fail him, not now, probably not ever, he was the perfect soldier and would always remain the perfect soldier, there was no place for love in a soldier's cold heart.

She stirred, groaning sleepily, the sunlight blinded her as she opened her eyes, his eyes found her amongst the sheets and grew soft when they met hers, and knowing he was letting his emotions get the better of him Heero tucked his feelings beneath his stoic mask knowing they would be safer there where no one but him could find them.

He walked over and closed the curtains.

"That should be easier on your eyes." He told her his voice icy and much colder than he meant it to be. She looked over at him for a moment and he seen a look of hurt spread across her face but it was quickly replaced with a cold and angry glare. He ignored the glare, he had received many threatening glares throughout his life, and this was no different. Yes it is. You care about her. He shoved the feeling quickly aside and picked up the newspaper on the table beside him to try to remove the unwelcome thoughts from his mind. -The girl turned over after seeing that he was not paying any attention to her and quickly fell asleep.

After he was positive that she was sleeping Heero set the newspaper to the side and sighed deeply. I need to get away from her. He thought, and with that he emerged slowly from the chair and headed towards the door.

-8-

The other pilots where lounging in the lobby, relaxing after a long day of training, it was tiring work but they loved it all the same, the boys where trained soldiers who sometimes found it hard to settle into the peace, by training, and only fighting each other, they did not risk others lives but still got to do what they do best.

"Poor Heero, he's been up there for nearly two weeks with that girl. I wonder how he's getting on." Duo said trying to start a conversation, the silence that sometimes developed between his friends sometimes became too eerie for him to manage. He, after all, wasn't the silent type, unlike his fellow comrades.

Quatre looked over at him from the top of his novel. "He's doing fine. I called into his room to see how the both of them were doing, earlier. Heero's used to being antisocial, and the girl can't seem to sleep without feeling his presence in the room." He paused, "I just can't understand that part of my theory, and I know that I'm right, but why she needs him in the room is a mystery to me."

Trowa looked at him silently seeming to be lost in his thoughts, whilst Duo sat staring at him in surprise, "Whaddya mean she can't sleep without feeling his presence in the room? That's crazy, I can't sleep feeling his presence in the room; around Heero ya never know when you can let your guard down!" Quatre laughed good-naturedly and smiled at his friend.

"You're right but she seems to trust him, for what reason I don't know, he's always glaring at her with those cold dangerous eyes of his, I don't know why she would want to be around him when he glares at her like that."

"Quatre? I thought you were good on picking up on other people's feelings."

"Huh?" Quatre glanced over to Trowa; it was the first time his tall friend had talked since they finished training. The two boys had a close bond between them, which had been attained during the war, and kept growing even after the peace declaration. They had different personalities but they seemed to just click, like Duo and Heero. "I am good at reading other people's feelings, but I haven't been round the girl much when she's awake."

"…She loves him…" Trowa had said it quietly but he seemed to silence the whole room when he talked.

"How could she love him?" Wufei joined into the conversation.

"I don't know, she just does, you should watch her she's easy to read."

"Love! Are you sure? I mean, they hardly know each other." Duo's eyes widened as he thought about Trowa's words.

"Well maybe she doesn't know it herself yet, but she's definitely falling for him."

"Hmm…" The boys fell silent and analysed their own thoughts on the conversation.

"Duo, where's Hilde? I haven't seen her around here lately." Quatre was referring to Duo's girlfriend, she and Duo had got together just after the war had ended.

Duo emerged from his thoughts. "Hilde…" he said thinking, "Oh yeah! Hilde's with Relena on earth, she went to visit her there last month, I haven't heard from her since, which reminds me…" Duo got up and left the room to find his vidphone and to call Hilde to see if she was okay.

Quatre sighed as he watched the braided man run out of the room. He'd forgotten to call Hilde. That was a first, normally when one of the couple left the two lovers would be on the phone to each other every night.

"One minute… what happened to Heero and Relena?" Wufei enquired.

"Heero decided it was best if he kept his distance from the princess. I guess he didn't feel ready to be attached to anyone." Quatre answered. Poor Lafeia, let's hope that Heero doesn't treat her the way he did Relena.

Once again silence fell upon the room as the pilots drifted into their own thoughts, each one considering their own personal lives.

So? What do you think? Please, please, please review…

:Allura: