Heero tapped the last commands into the keyboard before pressing enter, smiling in satisfaction. Someone pulled at his pant leg, and he looked down to see his four year-old daughter, Anne, smiling up at him. He smiled, lifting her onto his lap.

"So, what are you up to, my little chibi one?" Heero asked, chuckling. She smiled up at him, mirth written through her eyes.

"Nothing! Can I go to the park?" she asked, her Prussian blue eyes begging at his soul. Heero laughed, nodding his head.

"Of course, just let me grab my jacket! And you don't forget yours, it may be sunny, but it's cold out there!" Heero smiled to himself as Anne ran out of the room, to get her jacket supposedly.

"Papa! Come on, let's go!" Anne shouted down the short hallway from the living room. Heero sighed, stretching as he stood up, working the many kinks out of his system. Working for hours on end in front of a laptop was not his ideal of a decent job, but it was the only one he had been able to find after the wars.

"Coming!" Heero shouted back, grabbing his well worn blue blazer off the back the door, closing it soundly behind him. Anne giggled, her small red jacket hanging open. Heero sighed, becoming her to come to him so that he could button it up. "A jacket can't work if you don't button it up!" Heero scolded with a smile, finishing the last of the black clasps, standing up once more to open the door for her.

"Papa, why does Ms Kaiyo always look sad?" Anne asked as Heero locked the small apartment's door behind them as the two, parent and child, stepped onto the cement staircase, an old woman looking out the window at them, sorrow ringing true in her eyes.

"She's had a hard life, and thinking back on it hurts." Heero replied softly, taking the little girls hand and walking down the street toward the small park, six blocks down.

"Then why does she think back on it?" Anne asked, skipping along with her father's long stride.

"Because that's what people do when they get old. When I get old, I'll think back on my life, and when you get old, you'll think back on your life, as will your children, and your children's children. It's simply the way of things." Heero answered her softly, stopping at the street to look before crossing.

"But why do I have to get old?" Anne asked, trying to read the graffiti painted on the wall as Heero stopped to think on her question. A cold wind blew past, and Anne's strawberry blonde hair, tied in a messy braid, tried escaping the realm of gravity, only to be replaced once more as the wind died down as suddenly as it came.

"Because. It's just like how I explained why Mama had to leave. Some things just happen, there's no reason for them, they just have to happen, whether a person wants them to or not. Do you understand?" Heero asked, looking down at Anne as he continued walking. Anne paused for a second, and then nodded, a smile playing over her childish face.

"You mean like why Uncle Duo talks a lot, and Uncle Trowa doesn't?" Anne giggled, remembering the last time Heero had taken her to a Gundam Pilot's reunion, the year before. Heero smiled, and nodded.

"Exactly! Watch out, there's a car coming." Heero said, picking Anne up before she could walk across the street, a black Sedan pulling up to the stop sign, and rolling down its window.

"Sir, would you happen to know what time it is?" a man asked, his face hidden in the shadows of the cars interior. Heero looked at his watch.

"It's three thirty." Heero said cautiously, hugging Anne close to him. Something about the man's voice rubbed him the wrong way.

"Thank you. My name is Jeremy Von Kummer. What would your name be?" the man asked, his face still hidden in the shadows. Heero felt the hairs raise on the back of his neck. In this neighborhood, one had to be wary of what one said.

"Heero Yuy." Heero said, hoping he had not made a dreadful mistake. The person in the car nodded.

"Good day to you then, Mr. Yuy, good day to you then." the window rolled up, and the car moved on, making a right turn and gliding past Heero and Anne. The tinted windows prevented Heero from seeing into the car.

"Come on Papa, let's go to the park!" Anne said, squirming out of Heero's arms. Heero nodded slowly, his attention still focused on the car, long since out of sight.

"Yeah, to the park." Heero mumbled, taking Anne's hand and finishing the walk to the park in silence.

"Come on Anne, we have to get going home now. It's nearly five o'clock! Don't you want dinner tonight?" Heero asked as Anne climbed on top of the monkey bars, refusing to come down and leave the park.

"But I don't want to go home! It's boring at home!" Anne whined, trying to stall Heero for a little more time, even if it was getting cold, and darkness was setting in. Heero sighed.

"Anne, we can come back tomorrow. Now come along, or we won't come back at all!" Heero sighed, hating to threaten Anne in such ways, but it was the only way he could think of to get Anne to agree. Anne pouted, but climbed off the monkey bars, taking her fathers hand as they started for home.

"Why do we always have to leave so early?" Anne whined, dragging her feet on the cracked cement sidewalk, glancing back longingly at the big toy in the park. Heero sighed, looking down at Anne.

"We're not leaving early. We were there for nearly an hour and a half. But time seems to speed up when you're having fun, so it seems like less time has gone by than really has." Heero explained patiently, looking both ways before crossing another street.

"Then why doesn't time speed up when I'm at school!" Anne demanded, pulling back on Heero's hand. Heero let go of her hand, and looked down at her, wondering how he could explain the situation.

"When you're having fun, time seems to speed up, but when you're not having fun, time will seem to slow down. You'll understand more when you get older." Heero explained, taking another step toward home, holding out his hand for Anne to follow.

Around the corner, pulling out of the street they had just crossed, a black car creeped along, following the father and daughter duo. As it saw Heero and Anne separate, it sped up, the window opening, and the glimmering barrel of a gun pointing out. Shots rang out through the evening air as the rain of bullets hit their target, and Anne fell to the ground, blood dripping from her still form.

Heero watched the scene unfold in agony, and, without thinking, pulled his own aging gun from his jacket pocket, firing six shots at the car, not watching, or caring, as it rolled away down the street, only silver bullet holes to mark its encounter.

"Papa...... Papa......" Anne whispered softly, crytal tears streaming down her face, mixing with the red blood of her life as it flowed toward the sewer drain. Heero sobbed, picking up his small daughter as he collapsed onto the sidewalk, his face puring with sorrow.

"Anne! Don't leave me, please don't leave me! Anne! Anne!" Heero cried out into the crisp evening air as Anne's eyes flickered.

"Papa..... it hurts..... it hurts....!" Anne sobbed, her eys beginning to whiten. Heero sobbed, rocking her gently, the blood staining his blue jacket a deep maroon.

"Don't worry, it will all be better soon, I promise. I promise." Heero whispered, kissing her gently on the forehead, trying to reassure himself and his daughter. Tears rolled off his face, sinking into the red depths of the bloody puddle forming around him.

"Papa...... I'll..... miss..... you........" Anne sighed, her body going limp in Heero's arms.

"Anne! Anne! ANNE!!!!" Heero cried, his voice echoing through the crisp evening air as his daughter's eyes glazed over, her angelic soul winging its way upward, toward the heavens above...........