'Cold.' the thought drifted through his mind lazily. 'So
Cold.'
	He shivered, trying to break through the mind numbing
cold, but found himself trapped, the icy blackness closing in
around him, strangling him, freezing him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
	Trowa sat up, gasping for breath.  Sweat rolling down his
face, a cool breeze drifted in through an open window.  It was only a
dream.  Trowa looked over at the clock, it was only two a.m., but he
no longer had the need for sleep, or even the will for it.
	"It's not real, it's never real.  It's always real!" Trowa
shouted, throwing his fist into the wall.  The house shook, and a
small hand knocked at the door.  Trowa sighed, opening his bedroom
door, looking down at his daughter.
	The little girl standing at the door tipped her head to the side.
Trowa plainly saw the tear trickle down her small face.
	'Oh Midi, she looks so much like you.' Trowa thought to
himself, unable to stop comparing the little girl, Descartes, to his late
wife.  The girl stood unmoving in the doorway.
	"What is it, Des?  Did you have a nightmare?" Trowa asked
the petite four year-old, picking her up and carrying her through the
small house to the kitchen.  He opened the fridge door, only to find it
empty.  He didn't have the money to go grocery shopping.
	"Guess the cupboards bare..." Trowa sighed, looking over at
Des.  She shouldn't be so tiny, but Trowa could barely afford to keep
them alive.  Even he had shrunk a little.
	"Come on, it's time for all little children to be in bed.  I'll
even read you a story.  You would like that, wouldn't you?" Trowa
asked.  Des nodded, her snowy white hair shaking down her back.
Trowa smiled weakly as he began to tell her of a little under sea
princess, and her longing to see the world above.....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
	The sun rose, and began to set again, dwindling time to the
hour of three.  Trowa searched through the paper, looking for some
break, a better job, better than what he had, but to no avail.  He
sighed, setting down the paper, sipping the last drop of White Tea
from the battered porcelain cup.  The doorbell rang.  Des opened the
door.

	Des looked at the man with the long braid, and the one with
sunny hair.  A smile spread across her face, and the man with a braid
smiled sadly at her.  She cocked her head to the side.
	"Why, hello!  You must be........ Quatre, what's her name
again?" Duo asked, bending down to shake the little girls hand.  
	Quatre sighed, tears welling up in his blue eyes at the sight of
the child.  Her dress was small, even for such a small child, and
looked to be old and faded.  She looked like she had barely eaten for
weeks, or seen the outside sun.  Quatre took another breath, trying to
control his sorrow.
	"Her name is Descartes, Duo." Quatre said slowly.  Duo
grinned, picking up the girl.  She smiled, but no sound came from
her mouth.
	"Put her down!" Trowa roared, grabbing his daughter from
Duo, placing her on the ground behind himself, as if to protect her.
	"Trowa?  It's us, Duo and Quatre." Duo looked solemnly at
his old friend, and saw plainly what damage time had done.  In
twenty years, Trowa looked to have aged forty.  His skin was spread
across his bones, and his eyes shrunken inward.  He had a pale
coloring, more yellowish than should be healthy.
	"Duo?  Quatre?  What are you doing here?" Trowa asked,
letting up on his protective grip on Des's shoulder.  The little girl
smiled, running back over to Duo, jumping to yank his braid.
	"Jeez Trowa, don't you feed her!?  Don't you eat!?" Duo
demanded, catching hold of the tiny child, upset by the clarity of the
skin stretched over bones.  Trowa sighed, motioning for them to
come in.
	"I'd offer you something, but I'm afraid all I have is White
Tea." Trowa chuckled, gesturing at his empty, but clean, cup.
Quatre sighed, and looked at his friend.
	"What's White Tea?" Duo asked, setting the child down on
the table.  The table wobbled dangerously, and Duo decided that it
would be safer for her to stand on the floor.
	"Plain, unaltered, boiled water." Trowa sighed, sitting down
at the only chair.  He tried to hide the newspaper, and all the red X's
through jobs.
	"Trowa, if things were so bad, you could have come to us.
We're your friends, we would've helped!" Quatre spoke softly, but
Trowa only shook his head.
	"I don't need help, Quatre.  Me and Des are getting by fine!"
Trowa snapped, glaring at his friend. "Why did you guys even bother
to try and find me, I don't need you!"
	"Hold your horses.  Trowa, you have next to no food in the
house, no money, and you say you're fine!  No one can live like this!"
Duo snapped, anger blazing in his eyes.
	"It's no worse than it was during the wars!" Trowa shouted
back, pounding his fist on the table.  The aging piece of furniture
shook beneath his strength.  Des huddled by the doorway, tears
streaming down her face.
	"You didn't have any other choice during the wars!  You
didn't have a daughter during the wars!" Duo shouted back.  Quatre
sighed, and looked over at Des.
	"Can't you two be a little louder!?  You're only half scaring
Des!" Quatre snapped under his breath.  Trowa raised his fist, as if to
strike Duo, but lowered it slowly.
	"Trowa, you can't actually expect to raise her this way, do
you?  She's half dead already!" Duo snapped.  Trowa glared at him.
	"Trowa, we came to help.  But you don't need it, she does.  If
something doesn't change, Duo's right, she will die." Quatre
whispered.  Trowa glared at his friend, tears forming in his eyes.
	"What am I supposed to do?!" Trowa demanded, sitting down
heavily, wincing as a pain rippled through his chest.
	"Trowa, you okay?" Duo asked, looking around nervously.
They had come to say hello, but had never expected to find things
this bad.
	"It'll pass, it always does." Trowa grunted between clenched
teeth, grabbing at his chest.  Red lights flashed before his eyes.  It
wasn't passing.
	Quatre looked at Duo, terror written across his face. 
	"Duo, we have to do something!  He's going to die!" Quatre
whispered.  Duo nodded, dialing 911 from the phone.  Des stood at
the back of the room, sobbing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
	"Quatre, if you give her any more food, she's going to
explode!" Duo laughed, watching Des chomp down another French
fry.  Quatre smiled, and handed Des the rest of his French fries.
	"I know, but she looks so innocent and hungry.  Like Anitra."
Quatre smiled as he watched Des down the rest of her food.
	"She's not your daughter.  But, speaking of little children, she
hasn't said a single word.  Most four year olds I know won't shut up.
But she won't even whisper..." Duo trailed off, looking over at
Quatre, and then at his watch. "Oh man, I promised Hilde I would be
home an hour ago!  She's going to fry me alive!" Duo joked, jumping
up.  Des smiled, getting up off her chair, chewing the last bit of ice
from her soda.
	"Uh, Quatre?  It would probably safer if I brought her home
with me, because, knowing Dorothy, the poor girl will get
smothered!" Duo joked, picking the child up. "Besides, I don't think
Hilde will mind another mouth, she's already used to all the traffic
my foursome drag in!" Quatre nodded, motioning for Duo to leave.
Des smiled, following Duo as he hailed a cab.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
	"Duo, it's about time you got home....... she's adorable!
Who's is she?" Hilde asked, picking Des up.  Des smiled sleepily, it
was close to ten.
	"Put her to bed first.  I'll tell you when you come back." Duo
sighed, slumping onto the sofa.  Hilde nodded, and walked up the
stairs, carrying the now sleeping child on her shoulder.
	"Okay, spill.  You come home three hours late, carrying a half
dead child.  What the hell were you doing!?" Hilde demanded.  Duo
put a finger over her lips, and glanced upward, to where all five
children should be sleeping.
	"She's Trowa's kid.  Trowa isn't doing to well right now.
Actually, he isn't doing much of anything right now.  He's comatose
down at St.Silne's.  He collapsed, and has yet to regain
consciousness.  They doubt he ever will, he had a brain aneurysm
and a myocardial infarction at the same time.  She doesn't have
anywhere else to go.  I figured she could crash here until something
is decided......" Duo trailed off as he watched the tears form in
Hilde's eyes.
	"She is going to stay here until I say otherwise!  And if that
isn't clear enough, you can sleep on the couch!" Hilde whispered,
throwing a pillow at Duo as she marched upstairs.
	"Perfectly clear!" Duo laughed, running upstairs after Hilde.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
	"Hey Mom!  Who's the new Chibi!?" Mizu, Duo's seventeen
year old son asked as he stumbled down the stairs.  Hilde rolled her
eyes.
	"Her name is not Chibi, it's Des.  She's the daughter of an old
friend, who's sick at the moment.  Until he's able to take care of her,
she is to live with us.  And chew your food!" Hilde sighed as Mizu
stuffed another piece of toast in his mouth, shrugging.  
	"Cool.  Tell Moira that I'm over at Kaiyo's, will ya?" Mizu
asked as he ran out the door.  Hilde sighed.
	"Why did I have to have twins!  Why do they have to like
hanging out at Heero's house!" Hilde sighed, watching four more
children scramble down the stairs for Sunday breakfast.  
	"Moira, Mizu's at Yuy's." Hilde said, handing a jelly donut to
Hasu, her ten year old daughter.  Tanoshii, the youngest of the
children, a mere five years old, looked at the donut hungrily.  Des
stood at the doorway, still dressed in the same dress she had worn
the day before.
	"Hasu, do you remember where I put your old baby clothes?"
Hilde asked, motioning for Des to sit at the counter, handing her and
Tan donuts.  Des hungrily devoured hers.
	"In the attic somewhere.  Gotta go, see ya!" Hasu laughed,
dashing out the door, hollering at Moira to give her a ride.  Hilde
sighed.
	"So, Des, are you having fun?  I'm sure you're still hungry."
Hilde handed the rest of the donuts to the two children.  Des smiled,
and scarfed five more, Tan staring at her incredulously.
	"She eats a lot!  Way more than Dad!" Tan giggled, finishing
off his fourth donut.  Hilde nodded sadly, looking at the tiny child.
She looked so small and pale to Hilde, she couldn't believe that she
was still alive.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
	"Des!" Tan hollered out the door, willing his sixteen year old
voice not to break.  It didn't.
	"What!" Des hollered back, her voice still faint, though she
was only a few feet away.  Tan rolled his eyes.
	"Mom 'n Pops want you!" Tan hollered.  Des glared at him,
making as if to hit him, Tan ducked with a grin, his short brown hair
gelled in spikes.
	"What's going on?" Des asked as she stepped into the room.
Duo sighed, and motioned for her to sit down, and for Tan to leave.
Tan looked around, and decided to vamoose.
	"Des....... your Father has woken up.  He asked to see you."
Hilde whispered.  Des stared at the two people, unbelieving.  She
could barely remember the man who was supposed to be her father.
To her, he was nothing but a vegetable in a bed, wasting away in a
hospital.
	"We decided that it would be best if we went immediately.
You can miss school today." Duo said solemnly, showing his
forty-eight years.  Des nodded silently.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
	"Des?" Trowa asked the girl at his side.  She looked like Midi
to Trowa, exactly like Midi.
	"Yes.  You've been in a coma for twelve years.  Papa's been,
Duo's been looking after me." Des whispered.  She stared down at
the man who was supposed to be her Father.  He looked like a hollow
shell, nothing like the pictures Duo had shown her.
	"I guess he did a better job than I could.  Ashiteru" Trowa
sighed, smiling.  He closed his eyes, letting the darkness he had
struggled against for so long wash over him.  His heart monitor went
flat line.
	"Father!  Father!" Des shouted, shaking Trowa, sobbing.
	"Come on, Des.  He's gone." Duo whispered, letting her cry
on his shoulder.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
	"I now pronounce you Man and Wife!" the preacher said,
letting Tanoshii lift Descartes veil and plant a kiss on her lips.
	"You may now......" the preacher sighed as the crowd burst
out laughing.  He had been beaten to the punch line.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
	"It's a boy!" the doctor said, handing the infant, wrapped in a
blue cotton wrap to Des.
	"What shall we name him?" Tan asked, looking down at his
son.
	"Trowa.  Let's name him Trowa." Des sighed, looking down
at her infant son's green eyes, and brown hair.............