Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing or Jimmy Eat World's "12.23.95" from Clarity.

Warning: Phase shift people, watch out.

Chapter Eight

I sat next to Duo, holding his hand. The vid-player the school children had Duo a couple of years ago played soothing music on a little table next to his bed. I kept the curtains on the glass chamber open for the occasional devoted fan that would visit, but it had been months since someone witnessed the sleeping pop-star, once loved by all. After nearly six years, the Forsaken children that knew Duo well all graduated, leaving only stories written on hallway walls. The younger L2 orphans and new L3 students circled the memorial together once a month to pay respect, but the time has come to let go.

Xia He grew into quite the personality. My mother came to L2 and took care of her as an infant, but the school pretty much adopted her once she managed to stumble through the doors. Xia He kept me rooted in the present, and when she was about two years old, I told her about Duo. I remember those big eyes tearing up as I hoisted her up to touch him.

"Daddy's sleeping? Will he wake up to see me, Papa?"

Every morning, Papa's girl would get up and spend time with Duo. One morning when Xia He was four, she ran into my room and drug me out of bed, claiming Daddy had squeezed her hand. I got frustrated and said that she was lying. I'll never forget the way she stopped and looked me straight in the eyes and said, "I will never lie, to you or to anyone." I called Sally then and she told me that Duo's movement was involuntary and something that can occasionally happen. That night I felt like dying.

The Forsaken's "Darling" grew up happily and without any conflict with me until it came time for her to decide where she would go to school. Quatre and Trowa's Li Ming was accepted to the school in Sanq for leadership development, and Wufei and Sally's Yu Jie wanted to attend the academic intensive boarding school on the newly rebuilt L5. Since the three sisters got along so well, I assumed Xia He would team up with one of them, although I think deep down I sensed what she was up to.

Seven weeks before the school year began, I found five-year-old Xia He packing a suitcase in her room.

"Darling, who invited you to visit?" I asked, hoping Quatre forgot to inform me of Li Ming's latest trip planned for the 'china dolls'.

"I'm getting ready for summer training at school." Xia He turned to me, "I'm going to the Lunar Military Academy, Papa, will you send in my application?"

I knelt in front of her and put my hands on her shoulders, "Why do you want to join the military?" No one had ever told the girls that their parents fought in the war, or that fighting was an answer to anything in anyway.

My child's eyes glossed over as she fought to not break our gaze, "I want to protect Daddy… and you." I didn't tell her that thousands of people had joined the military years ago to protect their families, and that I had killed them, her Daddy and I had killed them all.

With Xia He gone, I felt the choking loneliness again. My hallucinations slowed to once every few weeks, and I finally agreed to see an artificial intelligence psychologist that Quatre recommended. The week after Darling went to school, Trowa and Quatre invited/forced me to go on a double date with them. It was here that I met Joel, a dark-haired twenty-year-old that seemed to have a crush on me. Quatre explained that he was the rookie bodyguard that intercepted four shots from different directions aimed at Relena during an anti-poverty conference last year. He was also the young Preventor that hunted down and assassinated every member of a rebel group that sent a threatening letter to one of the chairmen of E.S.U.N. Being with the Preventors meant he heard about my work with the organization and as the founder of Mikoshi Inc, but something about the way he acted around me said that he knew who I really was.

We went on several more double dates and Joel taught me how to dance. I started thinking that maybe Trowa was right, that Duo would want me to be happy, even if it meant I had to move on to someone else. Though Joel asked to have a date alone many times, I never let myself go out unless it was in a group. I still had this inkling in the back of my mind that maybe someday Duo would wake up, that there was the slightest sliver of hope that I would get him back.

Then the day came that decided it. Iria made her quarterly visit and confirmed what we'd been holding out on for a long time, that Duo would need a liver transplant in order to survive. Everyone that was close to Duo said they didn't want him to go through with it, and I finally agreed, even though I didn't accept it.

I smoothed the bangs out of his face, too tired from all of my tears to shed any more. The others had already come and said their goodbyes, along with all of the school children. Notification of the great Keiichi Sei's death is on its way to the Earth and Colonies, and funeral cards have been sent to former Forsaken students. The undertaker is waiting in the school with the nuns, and Joel is waiting there as well, promising to hold me when I come back.

I clutch my love's hand as the nurse comes in to unhook his machines. "Goodbye, Duo. I love you, I love you…"

"Shoibi… Heero, Heero come on."

I felt Trowa shake my arm, but much more strongly, I felt as if someone had crushed my skull and left me to die.

"Good morning, sunshine." Trowa smiled, "It seems we're all back in the land of the living."

I massaged my temples, "Where's Darling?"

"Pardon me?"

"Xia He." I growled. "Do you know where Xia He is?"

"Um, Heero…" Trowa's voice sounded concerned, "The last time I checked, she was still in womb with Sally."

My eyes shot open. Trowa sat in front of me in a dimly lit room. I am laying on a reclined bed… with Duo next to me. Duo is in a set of Quatre's baby blue sweats, apparently sleeping peacefully despite looking exhausted and beat up. My heart sped up and I started to panic.

"Trowa, I need to make sure my daughter is safe. When did Duo get transported here?"

Triton's eyebrows knitted as he looked at me. "Sho, we're still in the hospital after taking Duo from the studio. We were watching over him when he went into another seizure and knocked you out cold. You've slept for six hours and Duo's been awake for about two."

All of his words left me except for the last sentence. I turned my head and saw Duo's face only a few inches from mine, his eyes open and peering at me.

I didn't mean to leave you hanging on
I didn't mean to leave you all alone.

In complete disbelief, I pulled him into a kiss and felt him kiss me back, he was actually there! I knew that for some reason there were tears pouring down my face, but I didn't take notice as I clutched him closer to me, feeling him, feeling my Duo.

Trowa chuckled as he left the room. "I guess that's my cue to go find Quatre."

Duo and I kissed as the sun slowly went down on the day I thought I'd never see. As the darkness became complete, we fell asleep in each other's embrace, happy.

A/N: I'm sorry to those that have been confused by previous chapters, I am taking your advice and editing things so they're more clear. What do you think of this chapter? Please let me know, I hope you enjoy my this. –Keiichi Sei