It's been a while since I've been active on here. Since I'm uploading all my stories to AO3 I figured I'd give my profile on here a huge clean up. I've deleted all my stories from here, and I will upload edited and rewritten versions of them in the upcoming months.

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing.

For the heart I once had

Chapter 1

The mission was complicated, the building was well guarded, but that couldn't have stopped them. Guns with silencers took care of the guards and they quietly entered the building. Every room was checked, the people in the rooms arrested. Two agents descended to the basement level to check the rooms there.

The basement was pitch dark. There was a door that led towards another room, but it was locked. While one of the preventers went back to search for the light switch, the other silently broke into the room. He shone around with his flashlight. The room seemed empty, but the bundle of light caught something in the corner. He aimed his flashlight at it again and discovered it to be a body. He quickly walked over and noticed that it was a young woman. He knelt down next to her and checked for a pulse. There was one and despite her unconscious state, it beat strongly against his fingers. He moved some dirty locks of hair out of her face. It was clear she had been in this basement for quite some time. Her body was thin, a sign that she had not been fed well.

The light went on and the Preventer turned off his flashlight. He looked at the woman again and froze. Green eyes widened in shock. "What the…"

He pulled her upper body towards him and tapped her cheek. "Wake up."

The young woman's eyelids fluttered.

"Wake up," he said again.

She slowly opened her eyes. And his suspicions were confirmed.

"Nanashi…" A weak whisper. "You found me…"

The use of his old nickname made him tense, made his stomach twist. He heard footsteps coming down the stairs. His partner was coming.

He looked at the woman's face. She was slipping into unconsciousness again. "Don't…" he said softly. "Stay with me. We're going to help you."

"Don't… leave me again," she whispered, before slipping away, her eyes drifting shut.

"Trowa, what…" His partner stopped talking. "Oh shit."

Duo ran back up the stairs, calling out that he needed medical support. Trowa carefully lifted the woman into his arms and followed his partner up the stairs. In the hallway, a team of paramedics took the woman out of his arms. She would be brought to the hospital for examination. Heero pushed a handcuffed man through the hallway and Trowa froze as he recognized him. The man's eyes narrowed and he spat on the ground.

"I'm not done with you!" he threatened.

"Really?" Heero smirked.

"And you…" the man stopped walking and stood in front of Trowa, glaring venomously. "Just wait. You won't have her. No man will have her. You hear me?"

Trowa rather felt then saw the quizzical looks that were sent his way. But he only had eyes for the man in front of him. He leaned in, a dangerous glint in his eyes. "Or what?"

Heero pulled the man back when he shot forward to attack the agent in front of him. "You bastard! She's mine!"

"She was never yours," Trowa said calmly. "Get him out of here."

Heero grabbed the man's arm and pulled him along with him. Duo stepped up next to Trowa. "What was that about?"

Trowa shrugged. "Old issues."

"Was it about the girl?" Duo followed him when he went outside.

He saw the paramedics taking care of the woman and walked towards the ambulance. "Which hospital will she be taken to?" he asked.

One of the paramedics looked up. "The one in Cairo, Sir. Were there found any documents about her in the building that might give us her identity?"

Trowa shook his head. "No. But I know her name."

"That is good. We can contact her family then."

"Her family doesn't know about her existence," Trowa said.

The paramedic looked at him, puzzled. "Excuse me?"

"Does it matter? I'll take care of her."

"Very well then. What is her name?" The paramedic grabbed a block note.

Trowa sighed, being very aware of Duo standing next to him, of Heero approaching them, and of the fact that he was going to reveal something that he had kept secret for many years.

"Her name is Aalia Winner."

-x-x-x-

It had been a promise that he couldn't have made. But still he had done it. He still remembered the eyes of her mother. They had shone so brightly, even though she was about to pass away.

"Nanashi," she had whispered. "Nanashi… promise me you'll take care of Aalia."

He had taken her hand. "I promise," he had said.

He had promised to take care of a girl whose eyes shone with the innocence he had lost long ago. At the age of thirteen he had promised her mother. But he had failed to protect Aalia.

-x-x-x-

"So… she is Quatre's sister?" Duo asked.

"His twin sister."

"And he never knew about her?"

"I already told you that, twice," Trowa said, trying not to sound impatient with Duo's questioning.

He was tired and edgy, and it didn't help that Duo was so damn curious.

"Alright, alright!" Duo grinned and rubbed at his nose. "Still, I can't figure out why you kept his twin sister a secret."

"I thought she was dead." Trowa stood up and walked towards the window, gazing outside but not really seeing anything. "There even was a grave."

"Really?" Duo came to stand next to him. "Why would they want you to believe she was dead?"

"To keep me away from her. Isn't that obvious? Razouli wanted her for himself and he couldn't bear the thought of me coming to look for her." Trowa crossed is arms in front of his chest and sighed.

Mehmet Razouli was the man who had threatened Trowa during his arrest. He hadn't said anything since, chosen to invoke his right to remain silent. Not that it was going to help him in any way, as Preventer had accumulated more than enough evidence against him, his crimes, and his dirty businesses. But Trowa had seen the hate in the man's eyes. Razouli was a powerful man. Even in prison he could still be a danger to Aalia.

"Aalia has to leave the country."

"Are you planning to take her with you?" Heero askes as he entered the room.

"I have to. She is not safe here," Trowa said.

"Mister Barton?" A nurse entered the room. "Miss Winner has woken up. She is asking for you."

Trowa followed her to Aalia's room. She was sitting on the bed, still looking pale and frail, but a small smile spread on her face. The nurses had washed her hair and now he could see how much she looked like her mother. Same face, same eyes, same long, blonde hair. As if the woman he had seen on pictures in the Winner mansion had come to life.

"So…" she said softly. "It's Trowa now?"

He nodded. He noticed she was a bit hesitant to speak and he wondered why.

"Why… didn't you come to look for me… sooner?" she asked. Then she smiled again. "I'm sorry. I have not spoken to anyone in English for a long time."

"It's okay," he said while sitting down in the chair next to her bed. "They told me you had died."

"Really? But…"

"There was a grave," he said softly. "I'm sorry. I should have known better."

"Trowa…" she tested the name, causing him to smile slightly. "You had to fight a war… There was no time for me. We both knew it. And you have found me now."

He was damn glad he had found her. What would have happened if they hadn't arrested Razouli? Finding her would make things complicated for him. He would have a lot to explain to his friends, and especially to Quatre. But at least she was safe.

"I want to thank you for saving me," she said softly.

"There is no need to do that," he muttered. "When you are released from the hospital you're coming with me to Europe."

"You cannot do that!" she protested. "I will be fine."

"I called Quatre."

"You WHAT?!" Her eyes widened in shock, fear. "Nanashi…"

"Trowa," he reminded her. "What is so wrong about calling your brother? He wants to meet you. Quatre is a nice guy and I'm sure he will like you."

"No. No. He won't! Look at me!" She gestured to herself, her eyes shadowed by terrible memories. "I am too skinny and… I'm not pretty."

He raised an eyebrow. "Who told you that?"

She averted her face, refusing to meet his eyes. "Does it matter? The fact is that I am not pretty."

"Razouli… He told you that."

"Yes, he did. Plenty of times."

"Well…" Trowa deadpanned. "He lied."

"You're just saying that because you are my friend." She smiled wryly.

He took her hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. He didn't want her to feel insecure about herself. "I am sure Quatre will like you."

She entwined her fingers with his and held on tightly as she met his gaze again. Slowly, the dark emotions left her face and she smiled. She playfully tugged on the bangs that covered one side of his face with her free hand.

"You need a haircut," she said.

His lips twitched. He knew better than to answer that. From the moment they had met she had told him he needed a haircut. And she would always tug on his bangs.

"Will you come to Europe with me?" he asked.

"I would love to."

-x-x-x-

"I bet these two were involved." Duo grinned at Heero and wiggled his eyebrows suggetively.

"So what if they were? It doesn't mean they are now." Heero continued to type away on his laptop, not tearing his gaze away from the screen.

"Aw, come on," Duo said. "That Razouli guy nearly went nuts when he saw Trowa."

"He was already nuts. Otherwise he wouldn't have kept a girl locked up in a basement for years," Heero countered dryly.

Duo sighed. "Yeah… I guess you're right about that."

"Did you know she was on L3 when Trowa was trained there?" Heero asked.

"What? No…" The surprise was clear in Duo's eyes.

Heero ceased his typing and looked up, already regretting having spilled that bit of information. But sooner or later everyone would know.

"Her adoptive mother fled there with her. She worked in one of the labs owned by the Barton Foundation."

"How do you know all this?"

"Trowa told me some of it just now, but the rest I pieced together myself. I did my research during the Mariemaia uprising." Heero smirked at his friend.

Duo pulled a face and plopped down in one of the chairs in the hospital's waiting room. "What more do you know?"

"The mother died after a terrorist attack. Guess who was behind it?"

"Razouli."

"Correct. That's all I know so far." Heero shut his laptop. "I have no idea how Razouli got his hands on the girl or how she ended up here on Earth. We got a hold of his hard drives, so I'm going to dig into those. See if there is any information on there."

Duo pursed his lips in thought. "How did Quatre react when Trowa called him?"

"Shocked. But he wants to meet Aalia," Heero said, while getting up from his seat.

"Where are you going?" Duo asked.

"There are still a few things that have to be taken care of before we go back to Europe."

"Right, do you need help?"

"I'll be fine." Heero left the room, laptop tucked under his arm.

Duo got up from his seat and walked towards Aalia's room and peered around the doorpost. He grinned when he saw that Trowa and Aalia were holding hands, while deep in conversation. He almost cursed when his cell phone rang. He would have loved to see anything happen between those two! Trowa needed a girlfriend. He walked away from the room while picking up his phone.

"Quat."

"Hi Duo." Quatre's voice sounded on the other end of the line.

"How are you, my man?"

"I'm fine. I've arrived at the Space Port! Can you send me your location?" Quatre asked.

"Sure thing! You're early!"

"I know," Quatre chuckled. "But I want to meet my sister."

"If you want, I can come and pick you up?"

"That would be nice! I haven't seen you in ages."

"Alright. I'll be there in twenty minutes," Duo said. "See ya!"

He walked back to Aalia's room and grinned. "Quatre is at the Space Port. I'm going to pick him up."

Aalia looked away nervously, drawing her hand back from Trowa's grasp to fidget with the sheets.

Trowa nodded at Duo. "Alright. I'll see you later then."

Duo waved and left.

"Is Quatre… angry with you for not telling him about me?" Aalia asked.

Trowa shrugged. "I don't know."

Her breath left her lungs in a rush. "I guess we will find out then."

-x-x-x-

Heero walked into the interrogation room and calmly gazed at the man who was sitting at the table. He was handcuffed and when he looked up, he had a hateful glint in his eyes.

"I'm not going to tell you anything," Razouli spat.

"There is no need to," Heero said cooly. "I was able to break into your computer system and found quite a lot of interesting information there. I found out why you locked up Aalia Winner."

Razouli smirked, but underneath his face turned deadly pale. "Really? Care to enlighten me?"

"She was promised to you by someone in the Barton foundation."

Razouli glared at him. "I've never been in contact with anyone."

"So you say…" Heero dropped a thick folder onto the table and pulled out some transcripts. "It says so right here."

Razouli's eyes only flitted briefly to the papers in front of him. "I've never seen that before."

"You are responsible for the death of Dunya Sarami, Aalia Winner's adoptive mother." Heero pulled out more papers. "The Barton foundation ordered you to end her life and as payment you got the girl. But Trowa tried to keep her from your grasp."

"The kid doesn't have a fucking name!"

"He has now. You saw him as a danger. So you took the girl and locked her up and then made him believe she was dead."

"He was just a kid. He had no business with the girl," Razouli said spitefully.

"You're going to be locked away for a very long time. Not only for your dirty businesses. Trowa will press charges against you for kidnapping."

"WHAT?" Razouli jolted from his seat in rage. "That fucking bastard! If I get him he is a dead man!"

"We'll see about that." Heero got up and left the room.

- End chapter 1 -