A boy not older than ten awoke on a sandy beach washed with debris, coughing up sea water and sand. He was holding something in his hand and when he looked over he saw it was a disk of some kind in a jewel case and felt an implacably relief. For the next several hours he dozed in the warm afternoon sun, managing to somehow ignore the pains and aches all through his body. When he began to awaken later the sun was setting and the chill wind made his cold body shiver violently as ocean waves lapped at his knees and water covered his feet. Trying to move he started coughing violently, and could hardly breathe because of the pain, let alone actually move.

"OVER HERE!" someone nearby called out, making the boy cringe as the too loud noise penetrated his skull. "I think I found a live one!" The boy wanted to move and tell them he needed help, but his body was reacting too violently to his now silent coughs and dry heaves. (((ICK!)))

Half a moment later he was surrounded by people who were all talking to fast for him to understand, and when someone reached over to touch his shoulder the pain made him pass out almost immediately after giving a small cry.

When he woke up there was little light to see by and he didn't hurt quite as bad as he had when he had awakened earlier. He looked down to see that he was still clutching the disk in his hand, and sighed in relief, though for the life of him he couldn't think what was on the thing.

"Oh, Hello." A woman said, walking up to him. The boy looked around and saw that he was in a long row of beds, most of which were full of injured people, and the beds that were empty were rapidly filling. "Can you tell me who your mommy and daddy are?" the woman asked in a way that infuriated the boy, he wasn't a four year old.

He opened his mouth to reply with their names... and realized he didn't know. Eyes widening in realization, he tried to dreg some memory of his parents or his past from his mind but all he got were hazy feelings that he didn't really understand. He didn't realize he was crying until the woman wrapped her arms around him in a comporting hug. "I ...dd...don't r.. re..member... " he sobbed, and he didn't realize she didn't understand him until he looked at the puzzled look on her face. "I don't remember..." he repeated in somewhat odd sounding English.

"I see... " she said, her voice full of pity. "It's alright. Are you hungry?" she asked and at the boys hesitant nod got up and returned a moment later with a bowl of soup.

For the next week he lay recovering from his various wounds, though it would take a while for his leg to heal. He mostly slept, although in his lucid hours he learned he was in the ruins of a city called San Francisco, and that they had been bombed by a rouge colony. He was just waking up again when the nurse, miss Kaily, came to check on him. The makeshift hospital was large and though the woman didn't have much spare time she took care of him, and seemed to have taken a liking to him.

"Hey, how are ya doing?" She asked.

"Pretty good, I guess..." He said, "What's going on?" he asked then. He had noticed that there was a lot more movement and fuss than normal.

"Good news actually." Kaily said. "One of the colonies has offered to help relieve the strain on our medical crisis, and I managed to get you a spot on one of the outgoing shuttles." Kaily said, and she looked sad and happy at the same time, though all the boy felt was ice in the pit of his stomach.

"Th... that's a good thing...?" He asked

"Yes, You'll get much better medical attention and there will be less of a strain on our supplies here." She explained.

"Thank you..." he said uncertainly, as ice gnawed at his insides.

"I'm sorry, but it is for the best. You will get better medical attention than you can get here, I promise. And since no one knows who you is it will be a chance for you to have a new start." Kaily said.

"It's OK. I'll be fine." He said, looking down at his hands, one of which was bandaged. "I'll be fine..."

Solo helped usher the injured people onto the shuttle he would be helping to pilot. He had been blamed for loosing both the Kaiba kid and the disk of information that had been so important. He was helping some nurses strap a younger child into his seat when he saw the younger Kaiba brother. His dark brown hair had been braded, and his eyes were a little unfocused and half hidden by his bangs but it was undoubtedly Mokuba.

"Excuse me." he said to the nurse he was helping and went over to the boy. "Hello." he said, but when the boy looked up there was not recognition in his eyes.

"Um... Hi." he said, his Japanese accent masked by the slight slur in his voice. Looking into his eyes, Solo realized that the kid had a real bad concussion at least and probably amnesia as well.

"Are you ok? You look like your in real bad shape, come sit down." Solo said, leading the boy to an empty seat.

"... You look familiar... do you know me?" The Kaiba kid asked as Solo strapped him in. Solo looked deep into the kid's eyes before answering, trying to decide what to tell the kid, if anything.

"No, you probably have me mistaken for someone else." Solo said, smiling brightly. It wasn't going to be the best idea to tell the kid his past just yet, and Solo had heard that it was best for amnesia patients to remember on their own. "So what's your name?" He asked, wondering how much the kid did remember.

"Don't have one..."the kid said yawning, " forgot it... Miss Kayla said I have.. am amne... "

"Amnesia." Solo supplied.

"Yea... what's your name?" the kid murmured, Yawning again.

"I'm Solo. You should probably rest, It's a long flight." Solo said, then he went back to his job, buckling refugees in and getting them ready for the three day flight.

For the next two days, Solo helped the Kaiba kid out, talked to him and befriended him. There was something about the kid that Solo had to admire, a strength that was only evident if you looked past the innocence and exuberance that seemed to bubble up endlessly.

"Solo, What does your name mean?" the kid asked on the third day of their trip, about four hours out from their destination.

"It means one, or alone." Solo said quietly. They were sitting by one of the larger windows that normally gave earth born people the creeps but seemed to comport the kid for some reason. The kid was strapped in to keep him from floating and bumping his head in zero G.

"Why? Why is your name like that?"

"Because I'm normally alone." Solo said, looking toward the blue planet.

"Solo, what would two be?" the kid asked a few minutes later.

"Hmm? I dunno... duo or duet I suppose. Why?" Solo answered.

"Because I want to be duo. Can I do that?" the kid asked.

"Sure, I don't see why not." Solo said smiling.

"Then I'm Duo now." the kid said smiling too. "Solo and Duo, one and two." 'Duo' said, yawning as he fell asleep.

"Yea, for now..." Solo said, still smiling before he went back to his job.

They were at the colony and unloading when they were attacked by a rogue military fraction. Solo was mortally wounded and died defending the refugees, while Duo was horrified and fell into despair when he found out. At the way station where the refugees were sorted and processed, a kind minister agreed to shelter all the children who had lost there families and had no where else to go. Duo was among these children taken to the church. Over the course of the next year or so most of the children where given homes by the other families of the colony, families who were willing to take the extra responsibility of another mouth to feed and clothe. Only Duo remained at the church, unable to remember his past and none willing to give him a future. Duo was remarkably mature, often surprising Father Maxwell with his insights when they were alone in study. The child was a normal child beyond that though he had problems making friends and was shunned by the other children in their neighborhood. They didn't seem to realize what they were doing and Duo count find it in him to hold it against them, though he often cried himself to sleep at night. Over the years, he developed a mask to hide his pain and sorrows, letting his endless exuberance hide his true self from the world. Time flowed, events passed.

Duo became Duo Maxwell, sole survivor of a terrorist attack on his church, and later Shinigami, pilot of the Deathscythe Gundam. He eventually joined with a team of Gundam pilots to fight for peace to the torn colonies and their world.

TBC