The doctors had told him that three of his ribs were broken, he had suffered from a concussion, dangerous blood loss, and a broken arm.

"You're lucky your friend was there to help you," the doctor said.

"Huh?" Duo asked snapping from his thoughts.

"Your friend, the one who helped you when you fell off the cliff..." The Doctor trailed.

"Oh," Duo nodded as if he remembered this whole ordeal his friends had created to explain his injuries.

No one could know that he was really a Gundam pilot. Not even the people who helped him. Duo must not have been conscious when the others had told the story.

"Do you remember the accident?" The doctor asked stepping into the light. Her auburn hair and clear blue eyes seemed to radiate some sort of wintriness and still manage to bring warmth to the room.

"Not at all," Duo shook his head.

"Good. Because I know that is not what happened to you," she laughed. Nearing Duo's bedside she propped her chin on her hand and leaned over to look at Duo deeply.

His heart began to race and he unconsciously clenched his fists, "What do you mean?" he laughed nervously.

She leaned closer and a ray of light flashed over her nametag reading: Dr. Lisa Air

"I mean...I know who...you are. Or should I say, what you are?"

Duo narrowed his eyes.

"Don't worry. It wasn't so much your ordeal...a month or so ago a young man about your age came in here with a severely infected forearm. I just happened to see that same young man with your case. I'm not sure I should say that I know what you are. What I do know is that you aren't part of any armed force within the colony or OZ. You're outside of that...a different, much smaller organization. I believe you and your friend are two of the alleged Gundam pilots."

Duo's eyes widened and his head began to throb. He remained speechless for a few more minutes before he opened his mouth to say something.

"Shh...don't worry I'm not an enemy. You can take your guard down."

"I have to get out of here!" Duo yelled. He started to get up, but the frail frame of the red haired doctor proved to be much stronger than expected. She forced him back into the hospital bed with strength that seemed to emit from a source other than her body.

"Don't make me put restraints on you..." she whispered. Duo settled back into the bed and looked again into the wintry eyes of the doctor.

He twisted a strand of his chestnut hair around his finger before asking, "What is it you want?"

"I don't want anything. I just wanted to make it clear that you and the other pilot...are not alone in your fight. I too am part of an organization." "What sort of organization?"

"Well, I'm sure you have heard about all the soldiers with minor wounds dying in hospitals after treatment," she smirked and her wintry eyes seemed to take on an almost devilish glow.

"You're responsible for the deaths?" Duo raged.

"Don't be so self-righteous. You and your friends slaughter them daily without a second thought," she leaned back for a minute seeming to be considering her next words. "You see, war knows no boundaries. War itself is immoral and on its field...there's no room for ethics."

"Yes, that is true...but a hospital is a place outside of war. A refuge where there is no battle...only healing," Duo protested.

"What a romantic thought," she laughed. "You may fight a man's war...but you still hold true to the ideals of a little boy."

"Those ideals keep me alive. Stupidity kills a person, drains an ally, and defeats a union. In order to fight for a cause, it is imperative that you hold true to what you believe in. You see, unless you know what you're fighting for...your cause is useless. War without a goal is murder."

"Don't excite yourself. I have my goals in the war as well as you...you should be thankful, I saved your friend...as well as you."

Duo said nothing he simply closed his eyes.

"I'll come to check up on you in a little while. Relax for now my friend...rest," she said brightly as she left the hospital room.

A little while later, a young Japanese boy appeared around Duo's doorway. He hesitated, not wanting to wake the injured form of his friend.

"Come on in Heero," Duo urged, never opening his eyes. "No one else would have hesitated," Duo smiled answering Heero's unasked question.

Heero nodded and offered an appeased "Hmm..."

"So, when do I get out of here?" Duo asked sitting up and fighting the urge to wince.

"As soon as you're better," Heero answered flatly.

"Duo!" A bright-eyed girl greeted as she came to his bedside.

"Hannah," Duo choked, his eyes burned slightly and he blinked rapidly to stop a tear.

Heero smiled to his self and casually walked out of Duo's room; he turned at the door and smiled back at his comrade. This scene was warmly familiar.

"Look at you," she whispered tracing a gash on his arm with her eyes. "You're a mess."

"But alive," Duo smiled wrapping his arms around the girl. She snuggled next to him, pushing into a tender broken rib, but Duo didn't flinch.

"Yes, alive," she laughed, the sound muffled on his chest. Trowa sat silently under a tree overlooking Quatre's lake. The moon's reflection was distorted on the water's surface, wavering and moving with the artificial breeze. Crickets in the background and a few frogs could be heard in the distance.

Trowa's mind was focused on Duo. He had hesitated to save his friend and in doing so nearly killed him. If he had only been there a second sooner, Duo wouldn't have suffered injury. Yet, he'd waited because he was considering if Chie would be all right. He cared for the girl, even thought he already loved her...but Duo's life was worth more than risking her injury. I need priorities, he thought to himself. Even if everyone thought he was a hero for being there...he didn't agree. Beside the water, Trowa pulled his book from beneath his shirt and a pen from his pocket.

8.18.196

It seems that every time you think you have full control of your life, something shows you otherwise. Life itself is a cruel misery that thrives on proving all of my beliefs wrong. I can't help but wonder how much worse things will get before they get better. One instant I am standing on the clouds and the next, I am treading water to stay afloat.

You have to wonder what will be next...but you know better than to ask because usually you find out. It's like realizing that you've had the best of luck, and somehow ruining it by saying it out loud. It's almost as if someone, or something, were waiting for you to show appreciation only to cast a giant, destructive thunderstorm to rain on your parade.

Its almost childish to think of some omnipotent being playing such games, yet, it leads me to wonder if there is really something more. You see it everyday, religion, morals, beliefs. Man thrives on the supernatural, on miracles, on the abnormal. We sort of look for it, hunting innocent people down with rumors and misconceptions all for the sake of something interesting and unusual.

I read once in a history novel about a place called "Area 51" where so called "alien" aircraft were tested. People believed in this huge conspiracy. Believing that their own government was out to get them, they all crept closer to finding out what was being hidden in this "Area 51". We know now that it was nothing more than new models of aviation crafts. Some, of which we have perfected today, others, crashed and burned and were kept in a red book listing their mechanical problems. Amusing as it is, the "truth" was manipulated to include aliens, conspiracies, and flying saucers.

Sometimes, I just close my eyes and imagine how I would look at life if I had to learn it all alone. Without teachers and books...without men before me with pure genius to discover things. I'm no genius...so I guess my beliefs and ideas as well as "truth" would be based on my natural desire for the supernatural.

One thing I know must be supernatural is known as love. It miffs me. How can something so sudden and uncontrolled be powerful enough to make a person's heart skip, their mind race, and their every thought center on its sole idea: devotion. How can something so sudden make you question your morals...make you doubt yourself...make you risk someone else's life for the one thing you have an unexplained urge to be devoted to?