"DUO!" Quatre yelled over the transmission.

The next few moments were a blur for the other four pilots and Chie. Duo's Gundam had been severely damaged, Trowa wasn't even sure that a pilot, even a Gundam pilot, could handle that kind of an assault.

They all had no choice but to try and save him, if they could. Trowa maneuvered his Gundam in a way that it could push the Deathscythe along. It was such a sad picture, but Trowa couldn't shake the feeling that he had seen this before.

When they arrived at a colony hospital, Duo was laid on a bed. He was unconscious and barely breathing, but barely was better than not at all. His vital signs were dangerously low; Quatre bit his lip with anger at his inability to help Duo further. The local doctors wheeled Duo swiftly away, leaving the other pilots to their thoughts.

"Where is he?" an exasperated girl cried as she came into hearing range of Heero, Quatre, Chie, Trowa, and Wufei.

"He's been taken back to one of the IC units," Heero said calmly.

"Oh...no..." she sobbed and sank to her knees. Quatre immediately came to her side.

"Hannah! Please...just relax," he soothed helping her to her feet and then to a chair.

It was a few hours later when a doctor finally appeared to tell the crew of Gundam pilots that their friend would be okay. Duo was lucky this time. Trowa couldn't help but wonder how much longer they had before they ran out of luck.

The Doctors decided to keep Duo for a few days, for observation and treatment. Trowa's heart was heavy with worry for his comrade...war wasn't worth this sort of risk. Yet, he had no choice but to play his part in it.

When the pilots and Hannah arrived back to Quatre's Mansion all of them felt a little empty, and drained.

Chie sat in a window and began writing something, Trowa wondered if she kept a journal like he did. He decided to sit on the couch a few yards from where she was. He closed his eyes for what seemed like a moment and drifted into a deep sleep.

When he awoke, it was light outside. The artificial sunrays activated themselves slowly, to give the illusion of a sunrise. It was nearly as beautiful as the real thing, yet it held a certain ersatz air to it. He was alone in the room and only the note pad that Chie had been writing on before served as company for him. Curiosity overwhelmed him and he decided to look at the notepad. If it were her journal, he would respect her thoughts by not reading them.

Trowa gingerly picked up the notepad and was surprised to find a poem written not a Journal entry.

It read:

I See You

In his eyes I see a new person
That somehow reminds me of me,
Yet I think he hides him from everyone,
Because he's someone that no one should see.
I don't think he sees that I see him,
Or maybe he pretends not to care.
But deep inside he sees me,
Deep inside he's aware.

Everyday I realize that he's watching me,
Wondering what I'm thinking...
What is it I see?
He knows that somewhere in my mind,
A thought is devoted to him.
He wants to tell me everything,
He just can't tell where to begin.

I see his concern with his wounded,
With my own broken soul.
Then I realize that he's mending me,
Chasing away my emotionless cold.

There's a part of me that would tell him,
Exactly how I feel.
But there's a fear that he's not listening,
That his heart has long been sealed
I can't help but wonder if he sees me,
Me seeing him.
And if he has a story,
Without a place to begin.

Trowa read over the poem a few times more before he put it back down in the windowsill like it had been before he moved it. He went upstairs to his room and sat down on his bed. He removed his book from beneath its concealment and began writing.

8.2.196

I read a poem just now that Chie wrote...it was beautiful. I think she was talking about me. I've never met anyone like her...I have to wonder if she was really writing about me. I mean, she could be interested in Quatre, but something in that poem struck a cord in my heart. I know she meant me. But there is only one way to be sure.
I know what I have to do.
Duo is in the IC unit at the hospital. His wounds are severe but the doctors say he will pull through. He's going to be in a lot of pain. I don't know if I could go on fighting if Duo died. I probably could. I'd have to avenge his death. Why is it men feel that death can be justified with more death?
I must have fell asleep on the couch last night, because it's early morning now. I think I am the only one awake. I feel strangely peaceful, and usually that means something is about to happen. I wouldn't say that I have special senses, or that I am a gifted person in the supernatural department...I am just very intuitive.
I always have been.

Trowa looked up for a moment and saw Chie walk past his doorway quickly. He heard her run down the stairs and then fumble around for a few moments. He got up quickly and stood in his doorway...thinking of what he would say to her. He couldn't tell her he'd read her poem.

"Chie?" He called as she turned the corner of the hall.

"Trowa..." she said sounding surprised.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"Nothing...I uh..." she stammered dropping the notepad she had gone to retrieve.

Trowa walked over to her and picked the notepad up and handed it to her.

"Thanks," she smiled beginning to blush.

"What's that anyway?"

"It's a poem," she replied flatly trying desperately not to blush.

"May I?" he asked motioning towards the notepad.

"No...it's kind of personal."

"Oh I understand," Trowa said sounding a little disappointed.

"Trowa..." she began holding his eyes with her own.

"Listen it's okay...you don't have to--"

Chie wrapped her arms around Trowa's neck and kissed him. Surprise that made Trowa seem tense and unreceptive to Chie's advances made her draw away from him. Trowa regained his senses and pulled Chie back to him. He looked her in the eyes almost with an unspoken question. Smiling at her forced her creamy skin to flush with a soft shade of pink, but her gaze into his own eyes remained steady.

"Well, well, well..." Quatre laughed appearing from around the corner of his door.

Trowa and Chie exchanged looks of bewilderment. Looking down, Trowa realized that Chie had dropped the notepad again. He reached for it and she didn't stop him. Instead, she nodded with approval and both she and Trowa retreated to their own separate rooms.

Gingerly, Chie put her hand to her lips and smiled to herself.

"What has that boy done to you?" Heero laughed. He had been sitting on her bed awaiting her for some time now. "Oh..." Chie blushed. Suddenly, feeling very silly.

"Oh don't worry, I understand the feeling. You see, realizing that there are two people inside your existence is a little awkward at first. You have the one person that thrives on the fight, and other who seems to remorse for the deaths. The side that thrives on destruction is stronger than the side that cherishes life. Finding a balance between them means questioning your ideals and putting things into a new perspective as well as priority. Soon, love, that's right Chie...love becomes the most important thing to you. More so than any mission...so much that you find yourself no longer able to satisfy the soldier in you without satisfying the human nature."

"I wish I could make sense of all of this...I am doing things I never thought I'd do," she said sounding a little bewildered.

"That's the beauty of it Chie. There is no logic...no real goal."

"I never thought of you as the sort that could admire things that were illogical," she laughed.

"But it makes perfect sense Chie. Love completes a person...war hardened or not, it completes you. You can feel it...and that feeling of belonging to someone...that leaves you satisfied in the most wonderful way. Admit it to yourself Chie."

Heero smiled for a moment and then left Chie standing in the middle of her room. Her mind flashed on kissing Trowa, his eyes, his smile...and then she understood.

Trowa sat on his bed for a moment...reading over Chie's poem again. He folded the poem and put it within the pages of his book. He smiled to himself before he put the book away. Chie was such a complex creature...and he really did have a story to tell.

"Where to begin?" he wondered out loud and smiled to himself.