{Caught between my culture and the system....genocide!} "Don't give up!! Please!" The voice rang out. Go away, he responded mentally. I've been Death for too long...let me have some peace, ok? "Damon!!! I won't let you!!! You can't give up when you've come so far!!" Duo's eyes shot open. Who the hell was Damon?? He froze. He was surrounded by darkness. No light, no sound. Dead silence. Dead…that's exactly what it was….. Moments seemed like hours in this dark… But then…. A pale light developed from the darkness, growing brighter within minutes. The intensity of the light soon had him squinting. "What the…?" He breathed. A figure took shape in the center of the light, a feminine shape. He blinked, and he could see the woman perfectly when he opened his eyes again. She wasn't too tall, hardly taller than he, bright wine-colored hair, and living indigo eyes. Living? He scoffed at his own description of the lady. But they are… Duo could find no better word for her eyes, which were bright and seemed to be the very essence of her image. She was so sad…so horribly sad…. {Read my writing on the wall} "Damon…" She begged. "Don't give up…please. I called you here…to my place… As long as you're with me, you're safe…but you can't stay very long…" Duo blinked at her. He rubbed his eyes. "I am dreaming…." He pinched his arm. "This is a freaky dream…and in ten seconds I'll wake up in my bed…" He shut his eyes and waited. He opened them a second later back to her face. "Damon…" "Who are you??" Duo screamed at her. "What's going on?? Aren't I supposed to be on the First Class Flight to Hell right about now? Why are you calling me Damon??" She looked hurt. "Because it's your name…." She said softly. "Please, I don’t have time to explain…just trust me!" Duo grunted. "Yeah…this is common…I'll just trust the floating ghost-thing…" The woman looked ticked. "Well…now I know where my attitude went. Never mind…ughhh…" she groaned. "Damon, you have one last chance! My name is Kara Kaelen, I'm your mother!" Duo blinked again. Hell, if this was a dream he might as well have a little fun. "Yeah, sure you are…so, where's Daddy Darth?" Her gaze darkened. "I died for you, Damon Kaelen. You'd better pay attention to what I have to say." She said inertly. Her tone stung, and this time he remained silent. "Me and your father, Scott Kaelen…Damon, honey, we wanted everything for you! We rebelled against L2 so that you'd have a future! We died for that and for you. So that you could live…and become something greater. We've been protecting you ever since! All for the big picture, all for your future and those you wish to protect!" "You…?" Duo asked mildly. Deathscythe…how it never managed to self-destruct properly, especially when he was anywhere near it… The close calls on the battle field… The Maxwell Massacre… Sister Helen, Father Maxwell….. The plague….Solo…….. She nodded. "We can't do any more for you…this is the last time we can help you, Damon! So Scott and I were given one final chance to protect you, and give you something to comfort you and insure your faith!" Duo snarled. "What faith? What God? What about you? I've lost everyone. Apparently someone up there doesn't like me all that much anyway, 'cause I had one screwed up childhood." Kara looked hurt, but her forehead furrowed. {No-one's here to catch me when I fall} "Never…" She hissed, "…never doubt God, Damon. Not to my face. Not after everything He's done for me. He saved my soul, and I've spent years praying for yours. Hoping that you were fighting for the greater good, and not some inner desire for death. Do you hear me, Damon Kaelen, Duo Maxwell?" Duo sighed. This can't be real!! It CAN'T be!! "Why can't it be? You're a Gundam pilot, aren't you supposed to expect the unexpected?" She grinned, and Duo knew that expression very well… "I…I hear you…." Duo brought his voice down a few octaves. {If ignorance is bliss, then knock the smile off my face} "I can protect you one last time, Duo…but you have to help me." Kara continued, losing her razor edge. "Help you how?" "I asked God for your protection, and Scott wants you to remember things…not about our deaths, because we know that you saw it when we died. " Her face became child-like. "I could never wish for my son to see my death…it wasn't pretty, Damon. But you'll remember other things…like everything we accomplished…everything…even our organization….Damon K…" "What do I have to do?" Duo immediately asked. Kara smiled again, her wicked grin…but it was beautiful. "You have to pray with me, Damon. From the heart. You have to reconcile with our Lord to see the gifts Scott and I have made for you." "Um…where is he, anyway? My dad, I mean…." Duo said uneasily. Kara smiled sadly. "He wanted to see you so badly, Damon…but he had to stay where he was to keep the connection. You to me, me to him, and he to God. Pray with me now…" She looked straight into Duo's eyes. {Yeah!} "I…I…I can't!" Duo stammered. "Why not??" Kara demanded. Duo hung his head down low. "I don’t have that right….let me die, 'Mom'. I just want some peace, ok?? Is that too much to ask for? I don't want to pray, I don't want memories of a life I can't have. I can't do it…" Silence hung in the air like an guillotine ready to fall. Duo wondered what Kara could possibly be doing if she wasn't angry, just waiting for him to make another move? He looked up. Kara was crying. Not the kind of crying you would see in a movie…not hysteria or anything of the sort. She crossed her arms and tightened her grip till her knuckles were white. She looked far from pitiful…she looked beautiful…as an angel should, Duo supposed. Silvery tears streaked from her eyes slowly, the life in her eyes gone. One of her tears hit the center of her chest…over her heart…. Instead of a darkened spot of moisture, it left a dark red stain on her shirt, which Duo now realized was awfully familiar… The red stain grew with every drop. Her hands dropped from their position and she placed them tightly over her heart. "What's happening to you??" Duo shrieked. She looked at him, her indigo eyes trembling and the tears still sliding from her face, and she smiled. She smiled, despite obvious pain. "I suppose…" She stammered, "I suppose I'm about to die…again." She brought one of her hands up and watched blood drip from her fingers. "I don't know what's happening…." She sighed, her voice filled with wonder. "I failed in protecting you…and I swore that I would…" "No!!!" Duo screamed. He was NOT, not about to make Kara suffer again!! "I'll pray!!! I swear it, and I'll pray with you and accept it all!!!" {If we don't take action now} Kara sighed, "Please…Damon…not just for me…I've been through this before…" She begged. Duo shook his head. "For me!! I don't have to go to Hell, and I sure don't want to!!!" She tried to smile, but cried out in pain. "It…it wasn't this bad….last time………" She breathed, keeling over and clutching her chest. Duo put his hands together in prayer frantically. He shut his eyes. Not for her…it won't work if I pray for Kara….it has to be for me…. "Out father…." He started shakily…damn, it had been so long since he'd done this!! The first memory hit him like a ton of bricks. "....there are literally thousands of orphans on the streets-- result of their damn battles. But do they help? Do they atone for their sins?" His head reeled backwards, the images coming back…the pain…the fear….. "Who art…in….heaven…" Kara gasped. "You swore you'd never let Damon K get in the way with our life, Scott." "Hallowed…be….thy…name…." Duo fought himself, Don't think about their deaths! If you do you're remember them!!! {We settle for nothing later} "I know....but what if something happens? Damon...someone will need to take care of him..." "Thy…" Kara screamed in agony again. Duo clenched his eyes shut…forcing himself not to look at her…by this time she'd be covered in blood…. "Kingdom come….thy will be done…" "Mommy...where's Daddy goin to?" "He's setting us free..." "As on earth as it is on heaven!!" Duo finished, almost screaming. His eyes flared open, and Kara stood straight….a white aura surrounding her. Ethereal….eternal….his angel, his guardian angel… {Settle for nothing now} No blood, no pain….just Kara as an essence, rather than form. She was nothing and everything, light and darkness, the angel with a devil's smile. "You'll have your peace, Damon….I promise you…" She was crying again as she faded… The darkness shattered, and Duo once again found himself facing the beam cannon. Duo kept his eyes open. This wasn't the time for the darkness of his past. It was the time for the future, and the light that his new knowledge had given him. There was a flare of hot light… {And we'll settle for nothing later}