Silent Waltz     by Hikari-chan

Disclaimer: Not mine! Not mine! Not mine! >.< Go away!

AN: Well, for the longest time after the last chapter, I was stuck with a writer´s block. After the climatic scene with Heero having to choose either Usagi or the plans, I wasn´t quite sure where to go to make it good. After all, what could possibly live up to that? I didn´t want to do a half-ass job and ruin the poor story, as well as disappoint the readers, so I just left it and hoped inspiration hits. About a few weeks ago, I was talking to Sere-kun on AOL when she mentioned a possible idea, and lo and behold, writer´s block was gone. So kudos to Sere-kun for that. *huggles*

Katlin Grace: I think the situation was too grave for them to have thought about fainting. ^_~

Lilaclight: I hope you meant Christmas, 2003. LOL.

Chibi Shamps: Well, I want it to end! >.< I need to finish this once and for all instead of leaving it dragging on.

Heart Soul: I was speechless because you guessed most of it correct. ^^

Anime Redneck: Thank you for all the compliments. I didn´t really have Treize in mind when I was writing Mamoru, but now that you mention it, there is a similarity.

Minna-san: I can´t believe I still have readers. Honestly, I´ve taken so long that most of the people who read it from the beginning should have abandoned me by now. So I thank you heartily for your continuous support. I hope you won´t be disappointed with these last bits.

Warnings: Heero is OOC (but less so in this chapter), action, wordy, and cliffhanger. (Now you can´t say I didn´t warn you.)

*********************************************

Chapter 12 - White Roses

*********************************************

He was only buying time, and he knew it. He also knew that he wasn´t buying very much time. In fact, he´d be lucky if he got more than twenty-four hours. After all, Dr. J had trained them both. Everything he was taught, Mamoru was also taught.

Yet, the funny thing was, neither of them had turned out the way Dr. J wanted. At some point in both of their lives, they had been perfect soldiers, Mamoru sometime in his teenage years, and he as well. But Mamoru had ambitions, his own goals, his own plans, a sense of leadership and intelligence that J hadn´t liked. It wasn´t that Heero was unintelligent. He was just willing to take orders when Mamoru wasn´t. Yet, he was the one who had somewhat regained his humanity. He had succumbed to what J considered the most horrible weakness of all – emotions.

Holding the sleeping girl in his arms closer, he couldn´t help but disagree with Dr. J, and everything he had thought correct in life. She didn´t weaken him. She strengthened him. She made him want to live. He wanted to succeed because she would be proud of him. She could make him forget his guilt, the blood on his hands. For her, he would be able to do anything. For her, he would make sure his archenemy never built that cannon. Because if the world goes, so would she, and he refused to let her die.

Quietly, he untangled himself from her embrace so she wouldn´t wake up. She grumbled a little at the sudden loss of warmth, a frown marring her pretty face. He gave a small smile, watching her cute behaviour. Leaning down, he kissed her softly on her lips, and as though by magic, a smile replaced her frown.

He got out of bed and pulled the covers over her. He couldn´t believe she had actually wanted to sleep in his bed. If her father found them, he would be lucky to die by a gun.

Unlocking the secret compartment of his laptop again, he stared at the white rose resting peacefully in the blank journal. Was it his imagination? Or did it seem even prettier than he had remembered? He glanced at the girl again. He couldn´t leave without letting her know, somehow. Snapping the compartment shut, he quickly scribbled out two notes, one for the Maganacs and one for her. He changed, armed himself, and quietly left the room, looking at the sleeping girl one more time before he shut the door.

The two notes were slipped under Rashid´s door. Then, he disappeared into the night, as silently as a ghost, as if he was a part of the shadows of the night.

~*~*~*~*~

Sighing softly, Usagi woke to the glare of the shining sun. Her eyes fluttered open to meet the clock on the desk. It read eight o´clock. Surprised, her eyes flew open and she almost leapt out of bed.

Why hadn´t Heero awaken her? Quickly, she looked around the room. The laptop still sat on the desk. She breathed a sigh of relief. If he had left his laptop, then he didn´t abandon her. Quickly, she left for her room.

No sooner had she shut the door, a loud squeal from downstairs made all the habitants rush out of their rooms.

"That´s Minako!" Duo yelled, panicked as he dashed down the stairs in the direction of the kitchen, followed closely by the other three pilots, Kenji, Ikuko, and Usagi.

Oh God, if anything happened to Minako, they were going to die slowly and painfully. At the thought, Usagi´s eyes hardened and she ran faster.

She crashed, literally, into Wufei´s back in the doorway of the kitchen.

"Ouch!" she yelped loudly, almost falling to the floor. Then, rubbing her nose, she added quickly, "Is Minako alright?"

She peered around the Chinese, only to see the cause of Minako´s surprise. There, sitting on the kitchen table, were two huge bouquets of white roses. Usagi´s eyes widened.

"What is this?" Kenji asked, walking into the room. He eyed the flowers suspiciously, as though expecting them to blow up in his face like biological weapons at any moment.

"These, Mr. Tsukino," Quatre answered quietly, "would be roses, though I´m not sure if they´re from my garden or not."

Minako, who had been standing in the middle of the kitchen, suddenly turned to Quatre. "Who are they for, Quatre?" she asked, a bright glint of happiness in her eyes.

The blond-haired man turned to her apologetically. "I have no idea, Minako," he replied. "I didn´t even known they were here."

A loud noise from the doorway behind them made them turn to the newcomers. Looks of surprise crossed all the pilots´ faces.

"Lady Une, Miss Relena," Quatre was the first to greet them. "It´s awfully early for you to drop in."

"I had to inform Relena of our situation, seeing that it has gone beyond what even I expected to happen. I didn´t think it might come to war," Une stated coldly, looking at the pilots.

"We understand," Quatre responded. Quickly, he introduced everyone.

Usagi examined Relena carefully under lowered eyes. She had a manner of grace and self-confidence. It was no surprise that Heero had first been drawn to her. She had been so sure, when Heero had first told her about Relena, that she would be jealous of the other girl. Now, she was surprised to find that she felt nothing but respect for her. Usagi recalled Heero´s words clearly. Relena had been the humanity he had lost, but she couldn´t give him back his own humanity, because humanity had to be learned. It couldn´t be received, and Usagi was the one who taught him to love. Usagi didn´t doubt Heero´s feelings for her.

"It´s been a very long time, everyone," Relena replied, looking around the room, her cornflower blue eyes taking everything in. Her eyes fell onto the roses on the table. "How beautiful," she breathed.

"Is everything alright?" Une asked seriously. From the look on her face, it was clear that she was alluding to something else.

"He didn´t do anything stupid, yet," Duo joked.

Quatre nodded. "Now, if only we could figure out where these flowers came from," he added.

Minako looked hopefully at Duo, but the braided boy merely grinned and shook his head. "Sorry, Minako," he said. "I´m not that romantic."

Minako´s face fell, and Duo suddenly wished he was the one who had brought the roses.

"Where´s Heero?" Relena asked all of a sudden.

Everyone, except for the vice-foreign minister, looked at Usagi.

"What?" the blonde cried, throwing her hands into the air. "We´re not joined at the hips."

Relena studied her, sending a look between anger and curiosity her way.

"Are you looking for Heero?" Rashid called out, poking his head into the kitchen.

"Yes," Quatre replied. "Have you seen him, Rashid?"

"No," Rashid answered, "but he did leave me a note telling me to get that." He paused, pointing to the roses.

Duo´s jaw hit the floor. "Heero got roses?!" he shouted.

Rashid shrugged. "Ah, and this is for you," he added, handing Usagi a folded piece of paper before leaving to check up on the mansion´s security.

"That´s so cute!" Minako squealed, spontaneously hugging her cousin. "What does it say? What does it say? Is he proposing?"

Usagi turned red. "Minako!"

Kenji glared. Screw the fact that he had given his approval. He was going to have something to say if his daughter got married before she turned forty.

Usagi stepped back from the eyes in the room, quickly scanning the note. Her eyes widened as she reread the note again and again. "Oh God, no," she whispered, horror laced into her voice. She ran to the bouquets on the table and counted quickly.

Everyone watched as she slumped numbly into the closest chair, staring mindlessly at the roses on the table. Worried, Minako ran forward and took the note out of her hand, half out of curiosity, half out of genuine concern.

"Happy 25 months," she read aloud. "I´m sorry. You know what I have to do. I will love you until the last rose dies."

"That´s dishonourable!" Wufei declared. "Those weak flowers will die within a week. It´s injustice that Yuy risked everyone for a woman that he´ll love for a week."

"Uh. . .guys," Quatre interrupted. His eyes were glued to a single rose in one of the two bouquets. The rose was different in colour, its white so pure that it was almost unreal. "That one, it´s fake. That rose in the centre is a fake flower."

"I will love you until the last rose dies," Minako repeated to herself, her eyes tearing. "If that one is fake, it will never die."

"Where is he?" Une asked again, frowning. Something had happened to Heero. She supposed it should be good. The boy had lost so much during the Eve Wars. He deserved to be happy, but when it was endangering the world, then she would rather have the old Heero back.

Usagi felt teardrops rolling down her cheeks. Why did he have to do this? "Why can´t you understand?" she whispered to no one in particular, unaware that everyone was listening to her. Even Relena´s eyes softened at the sadness she saw before her. "A life without you isn´t worth living at all."

*Flashback*

It was so perfect. She couldn´t help it. She had always loved roses, and this one, a pure white in full blossom, was the most beautiful rose she had ever laid eyes on. On impulse, she looked up at the shopkeeper, whose smiled gently at her.

"Would you like that, Miss?" she asked.

"Very much," Usagi replied, her blonde head nodding up and down enthusiastically. "How much is it?"

"Four dollars," the shopkeeper answered, carefully plucking out of the container where it sat on display.

The blonde paid and took the beautiful flower, leaving the shop happily. Humming to herself, she wandered through the quiet streets. It was already evening. She wasn´t sure what made her decide to take a walk after dinner, but Fate called, and she answered.

"Look what we have here," a raspy male voice suddenly said.

Usagi whirled around, her eyes widening at the sight of three boys in leather jackets. She stepped back, her eyes wide with fear.

The boys laughed. The tallest one quickly approached her, and grasping one of her wrist so tightly that she cried out, he murmured, "If you don´t scream, we´ll make it easier."

Usagi blinked, still afraid but suddenly angry as well. Like hell she wouldn´t scream. Opening her mouth, she let out the loudest shriek the three boys had ever heard. Quickly, the tall one slapped her across the face. The white rose fell soundlessly onto the ground.

"Don´t say I didn´t warn you," he threatened.

But it was already too late. The lone soldier who was wandering aimlessly about the darkened streets had heard her cry for help. Sprinting towards the sound, he had arrived just in time to see the three boys slap the young girl.

"Leave her," he stated in monotone.

Despite its placidness, all the people present sensed the dangerous undertone in the words. Usagi looked up to see who her savior was, but nothing was clear in her vision due to the darkness.

"What are you going to do about it?" the tall boy sneered.

Immediately, the other two rushed the lone soldier. Usagi watched, wide-eyed, as he skillfully dodged and attacked. She never noticed the remaining one looking at the rose she had cherished so.

"You should not be concerned about them," the boy told her. He made the move to step on the white rose, crushing its beauty.

"No!" Usagi shouted.

The lone soldier, hearing her cry, rammed into the tall boy at a breakneck speed, tackling him to the ground and effectively knocking him out as he did the other two. Wordlessly, he picked up the rose and brought it back to her. He knelt before her, holding out the flower.

"You shouldn´t be out so late at night," he lectured her tonelessly.

"If I could defend myself like you, then it wouldn´t matter," Usagi replied, looking up to see his face. She was stunned when she met his Prussian blue eyes. They were so deep, so exquisite, yet so lifeless. They were blank except for their colour. His brown hair fell boyishly into them, and unable to help herself, she reached out and brushed them out of his eyes. He reeled back, as though he´d been burned by her touch.

"Hn," he grunted, almost shoving the rose into her hands.

Usagi studied the rose, then looked up at him. "You keep it," she decided. "You saved it, so you keep it."

"Hn," he grunted again, but Usagi could tell he was touched by the softening of his eyes.

She had to ask. If she didn´t, then she would forever be helpless. "Can you. . .Can you teach me?" she whispered. "To fight, I mean."

He stared at the rose in his hands, and then at her. Suddenly, it was as though he got lost in his memories. Another girl, another flower. No, he refused to take another victim. He gave her his most chilling glare.

"Stay away from me," he warned her, turning his back to her. He disappeared into the night as suddenly as he had appeared.

*End of Flashback*

It was not the end of their acquaintance. She kept bumping into him, again and again, and eventually, she had made a small prick in that frozen wall of ice. He had said once that he was darkness, he was the night. And she was the sun, the day, his other half. They complemented each other.

"The sun will never rise again if the night doesn´t come," Usagi murmured to herself.

"Where is he?" Trowa suddenly interrupted the silence.

Usagi looked up at him with blank eyes. They were so lifeless that her family´s eyes widened with surprise and fright at the change in the girl they had thought they knew like the back of their hand.

"You must know," Trowa insisted.

"The base," Usagi answered quietly. "He said that he was the one who gave away the plans, so he´s going to go destroy them, or be destroyed himself."

"If he said this, why didn´t you tell us earlier?!" Wufei yelled. "We could have stopped Yuy! Or at least we could have gone with him!"

"He told me," Usagi murmured, undisturbed by Wufei´s tone, "in his note."

"You know what?" Duo butt in. "We have to save Heero. I´d give my right arm to see Heero get hitched. And if you got that in those three sentences he wrote, then you´re going to marry him."

Usagi remained motionless. Seeing this, Minako frowned and walked up to her cousin. She raised her arm and slapped Usagi across the face, hard. "Get a hold of yourself, Usagi!" she yelled. "Look at this guy! He risked the world for you, and now, he´s risking his life for the world. He´s doing this for you. And if you don´t do anything, he´s going to die for you! How do you think he felt when you were there? I can tell you he didn´t just sit around and mourn, that´s what!"

The mist in Usagi´s eyes slowly cleared, hard determination replacing the sadness instead. "We´re going to him," she decided resolutely, standing up and looking at the pilots, who nodded in agreement. "Front door in fifteen minutes, not a second more."

And with that, she ran upstairs to get ready, leaving everyone staring after her.

"She definitely learnt from Heero," Duo grumbled, recalling the way the Wing pilot had them assembled and ready back in the Eve Wars.

Agreeing with the braided boy for once, the rest of the group piled out to get ready, leaving Quatre, Relena, and Une. The blond-haired boy looked worriedly at Relena.

"Miss Relena," he began.

Relena held up her hand, stopping him. "I know," she replied softly. "Lady Une told me yesterday."

"And you´re alright with it?" Quatre prompted.

"No, I´m not alright with it," Relena responded, sadness in her eyes. Une tactfully left them to talk, unnoticed by either of them. "How can I be, Quatre? I´ve loved him since the first time I saw him."

Quatre remained silent, not knowing how to comfort the girl.

"But he´s happy," Relena continued, her sad eyes glued sadly to the roses on the kitchen table. "I suppose we weren´t meant to be. I haven´t even talked to him these past two years. He must love her a lot if he chose her over the world that he´s been taught to protect since he was a child."

Quatre followed her gaze, nodding in agreement. "He does," he confirmed. "I felt it. He loves her more than words can say."

~*~*~*~*~

It wasn´t the first time he had been thankful for his memory, and he was sure that if he lived, it wouldn´t be the last. He paid no heed to the intricate twists and turns of the halls except for the path that led to the control room. The cameras were blown to bits as he dashed by. Stealth was out of the question. Mamoru, he was sure, already knew of his presence. No point in letting the man watch him as he passed by.

He reached the same electronic door that had led him to the control room of the base the first time he was here. But this time, he knew what was on the other side. And he knew that he wouldn´t find his love on the other side.

Drawing his gun, he readied himself as the door slid open. He wasn´t at all surprised to find Mamoru leaning casually against the mainframe in the centre of the room, coldly watching as he stepped forward, the gun raised.

"Welcome back," the black-haired man smirked as all the soldier in the room steadied their rifles and aimed at Heero.

"Hn," he grunted in reply, the handgun still trained on his enemy.

"Going back to old habits, I see," Mamoru replied, looking bored.

"I´m going to kill you, even if it means you take me down with you," Heero responded in monotone.

"That´s interesting," Mamoru returned. "Now, what would your sweetheart think?"

"Leave her out of this," Heero gritted out.

Mamoru ignored him. "Let me give you a proposal," he baited. "I´m sure you´ve been wanting this as long as I have. We´ll have a one-on-one fight. I can guarantee that my soldiers will not interfere. If you win, you get the cannon plans, which I´ve unlocked from your code, and my life will be forfeit."

Heero narrowed his eyes. Certainly, it sounded good, but there had to be a catch. Of course, beating Mamoru wasn´t going to be easy, but the proposal was still too good. "And if I lose?" he asked.

Mamoru smirked. "Your life is mine, and the girl is mine."

If Heero´s eyes had been icy before, now they were frighteningly chilling. Mamoru noticed the change and his confusion mounted, although his facial expression didn´t change. "Tell me, why did you choose her over the plans?" The tone of his voice was condescending, as though he was berating Heero for his choice, but deep down, he wondered what could make J´s Perfect Soldier go against everything he was taught.

"It´s none of your business," Heero answered. "I accept your offer."

Mamoru shrugged. He´ll get it out of the Perfect Soldier, eventually. Right now, he would concentrate on the fight. He gave a nod to his soldiers, who lowered their guns and left the room, then he took on a fighting stance.

Heero fell into a similar one. He would win this battle, even if it killed him.

~*~*~*~*~

"Amazing," Une muttered, looking down from the hill onto Earth´s latest threat. "It´s amazing that this could be a base for an underground rebellion."

"But it is," Quatre replied. "I still don´t think it was a good idea for all of us to come."

"We´re here for Heero!" Minako exclaimed in a hushed whisper.

"We´re here for the world," Une corrected with a frown.

"You´re here for the world," Usagi stated placidly. "I´m here for Heero. And I agree with Quatre. More people makes more targets for the enemy. Plus, we´re such a large group that we´re never going to make it unnoticed."

"Holy Shinigami," Duo muttered. "You even say the same stuff Heero would."

Kenji stared at his daughter. She was almost leading this operation, and just now, he was realizing that he didn´t know her as well as he thought. His wife was in a similar state, but they had convinced her to stay at Quatre´s mansion. She had been the only one who had agree, solemnly entrusting her daughter´s life to her husband. However, now, as Kenji looked on, Usagi would be better protected by herself than by him, a fact that he acknowledged, but wasn´t happy to accept.

"If we go in peacefully, then I´m sure we can negotiate whatever problem these people have with the government," Relena reasoned.

"If that worked, we wouldn´t be here," Wufei hissed.

"But," Relena started to protest.

"Even if that worked, I doubt Heero took that method," Trowa interrupted. "We can´t expect them not to be on guard."

"We´re splitting up past the entranceway," Usagi decided, turning to face them. "Trowa, you lead one team. Take Dad, Wufei, Quatre, and Miss Relena.  That leaves Duo to lead Minako, Lady Une, and me."

"Wait, I´m leading?" Duo asked incredulously. He thought for sure Usagi was going to take the lead in one of the two teams by the way she was taking charge now.

"I can´t. I don´t remember the paths from the entranceway," Usagi replied.

"I´m going with you and Minako," Kenji argued.

Several people opened their mouths to argue as well. Usagi silenced them all. "We don´t have time to argue over this! Let´s move before he makes a copy of the plans."

Usagi and the ex-Gundam pilots, with the exception of Wufei, whipped out their guns, checking to make sure they were loaded. Relena´s eyes widened in horror at the fact that they were carrying weapons, but refrained from commenting.

Usagi led the whole group to the entrance, where she started to crack the electronic code, much like Heero had previously done. Kenji merely shook his head in wonder. What else didn´t he know about his daughter? Minutes later, they made their way into the base. The two groups split up silently.

Trowa and Quatre took the lead of the first group while Kenji and Wufei brought up the back, keeping the vice-foreign minister safely in the middle. Any soldiers they met were quickly and effectively taken care of to avoid anyone else being aware of their presence. Trowa was feeling a strong sense of déjà vu. They had done this and traveled this way before. It wasn´t long before he recognized the same set of doors that he now knew led to the control room. He soundlessly hoped that the other team had reached the other door as he entered the code he remembered from last time.

Meanwhile, Duo led his group through the other halls, with Usagi bringing up the rear. However, somewhere along the way, the blonde had started to lead, and Duo was at the back, which was reasonable considering the braided boy had never seen those halls before. It must have been the ones Heero took last time they were here. It must also have been the way Heero took this time, and they all picked up on the broken cameras and various unconscious men lying across the floor. Usagi quickly started to crack the code on the control room door while Une looked on in interest. Never had she seen someone even close to the skills the ex-Gundam pilots showed when they were in action, but this girl, who Kenji had previously claimed to be helpless, was everything they were. Either Heero had trained her really hard, or she had great potential, and Une would bet her left arm that it was the latter, considering the love between the two. As the door hissed open, she broke out of her thoughts, concentrating instead on what was going to happen. No matter what, she would make sure the Earth´s citizens didn´t face any more threats.

~*~*~*~*~

Dodge, punch, miss, kick, miss, dodge. The actions were continuous, repetitious, never-ending. For what felt like an hour now, he had been trying to hit Mamoru, but never succeeding. The man was faster than he remembered. Or maybe it was because he was out of practice. He hadn´t trained seriously for over two years now. Yes, some things were hard to forget. They even came naturally, but to take it that extra level, practice was absolutely necessary, and right now, he didn´t have that.

He grunted when Mamoru hit him in the side. He took a step back. Early in the fight, the black haired man had hit his gun out of his hand, sending it soaring to the other side of the room. Yet, he hadn´t made any move to retrieve some sort of projectile weapon. It was as though he had been looking forward to a hand to hand fight with Heero his whole life.

Internally, Heero grimaced. Hand-to-hand was Wufei´s specialty, not his. It looked like there were disadvantages to relying on your team after all.

Mamoru rushed forward, and despite Heero´s blocks and dodges, the black-haired man scored a few hits. One of his kicks hit Heero so hard that the Perfect Soldier fell to the ground on one knee, breathing heavily.

"It looks like the better man won after all," Mamoru mused, taking out his own gun from his waist and aiming it at the Perfect Soldier´s head.

Heero glared at him through icy Prussian blue eyes. Two years ago, he could have beaten this man. Actually, if it was anyone else, he still could have beaten them senseless, but Mamoru was an exception. He had the same training as Heero, and he had been practicing when Heero had thought the world was at peace.

"Just what is the better man?" he bit out.

Before Mamoru could answer, two doors hissed open, and ten new people piled into the control room, the majority of which had eyes the size of saucers when they saw the situation in the room.

"Heero," Relena breathed. She made a move to approach him, but Quatre quickly restrained her.

"Looks like I have an audience for my triumph," Mamoru smirked.

"What triumph is that?" Duo shouted, his hands itching to shoot the man, but seeing the gun pointed to his best friend´s head made him refrain himself.

"Why, the triumph of beating the Perfect Soldier in combat, of course," Mamoru answered nonchalantly. He wasn´t scared of their number at all. After all, he was holding the hostage. If they wanted him alive, which he knew they did, they wouldn´t do anything stupid, like rushing to kill him.

Wufei snorted. "I can beat him too if I wanted," he declared. "In the name of justice, fight me!" He took a fighting stance, readying his sword.

Mamoru rolled his eyes. "If I fought for justice, I wouldn´t be standing here," he replied sardonically.

He glanced at his long-time rival, whose eyes had locked with that of the blond-haired girl, silently communicating with each other. He had yet to find the answer to his question.

"You have yet to tell me why you chose the girl over the plans," he drawled, waiting for the answer.

Heero refused to satisfy him, keeping silent while he glared chillingly at him. Frustrated, Mamoru decided that if the Perfect Soldier wouldn´t tell him, he would suffer the consequences, the kind that didn´t just hurt him physically.

He turned his eyes to his rival´s girlfriend.

"I´ve had a change of heart, my dear," he stated, adding the endearment for the sole purpose of making Heero angry.

"It couldn´t be worse than the one you had before," Usagi bit out, sending him the same death glare as Heero, which unnerved Mamoru more than anything.

Still, he didn´t show it outwardly. "Touché," he replied. After a moment of silence, he added with a self-satisfied smirk, "The choice is yours this time. One of you will die. You pick. Do you want me to put a bullet through his head, or yours?"

Everyone except the three involved in the matter reeled back in surprise. All were about to protest the inhumanity and immorality of Mamoru´s suggestion when the blonde spoke up.

Usagi hadn´t even stopped to think. "Me," she said, determination flashing in her eyes. "You said you always keep your word. Shoot me, then let him go."

Heero looked up sharply at her. "Usagi, I´ll never forgive you," he stated dangerously. "Do you remember what you promised me?"

"I do," Usagi answered softly, turning her eyes to him. They glistened with tears, but Heero could tell that there was no room for argument in their depths. "And I´m sorry. I´m sorry I´m breaking my promise now, and I´m sorry that I´m leaving you. But I can´t. I love you too much to watch you die, let alone sentence you to death myself. This wasn´t your fault. It was mine, so I´m going to die for it. Forgive me."

She shut her eyes tightly as the sound of Mamoru´s gun went off.

*********************************************************

End of Chapter 12.

AN: XD I warned you! =P So you finally know how Heero and Usagi met the first time. Nobody picked up on the white rose. At least no one mentioned it in their review. Speaking of which, if you want the last chapter, then you know what to do. ^_~ Yes, there´s only one chapter left, and depending on what I can cram into it, there may or may not be an epilogue. I´m off to finish my ISP. Ciao!