Trowa opened his eyes, not even realizing that he had shut them so tightly. The last thing he remembered, was seeing a blast so brilliant, he was sure that he had gone blind. Hmm, he'd have to ask Heero exactly what kind of bombs he had been using. Realizing that he was lying on his back, the tall boy wrenched his Gundam to a standing position, from where it had been thrown on it's back, due to the incredible force of the explosion.

Quickly, automatically, he checked the systems. He was out of ammunition, but had managed to bring his Gundam out of the fight in fair working order. Something was nagging at him about the fight, something that he couldn't place his finger on right now....something caught Trowa's eye, that made the memories come flooding back.

The usually emotionless pilot was overcome with such forceful emotions, that had his mind not been somewhere else, he would have surprised himself. A choking sob reached his ears, that Trowa realized vaguely, was coming from him. Duo's voice was distant in his hearing.

"Trowa?" Duo asked, his voice sounding genuinely surprised. Trowa paid no heed, instead, he was moving his weary body out of his Gundam, running at top speed towards what had caught his eye. Any other time, he might have collapsed from sheer exhaustion. Two things kept him going, the fact that he was a trained Gundam pilot, and pure, frenzied adrenaline.

Heero, Wufei, and Duo watched the usually silent pilot run past them, heedless that he nearly knocked a shocked Wufei over.

"What is he runn-" Duo began to ask, then saw what had claimed Trowa's emotions so suddenly. All colored drained from his face, as his eyes roamed over what he saw. Where Quatre and the battling Leos had been, now stood a two mile wide crater, of charred, blasted Earth.

"No..." he whispered, unbelieving. "No..." he said again, his violet eyes wide with disbelief and shock. Then demons claimed his feet, and he was running after Trowa, at break neck speed. Heero and Wufei, after seeing what the other two boys were running towards, followed more slowly.

Trowa stood at the lip of the still smoking crater, his eyes wide. He, was being baraged with emotions that he couldn't deal with, didn't know how to deal with. He needed Quatre, he needed his angel, but Quatre was....dead? He couldn't comprehend that, he couldn't want to comprehend that.

How could Quatre be dead? He'd be home tonight, right? And then Trowa could gather the small boy into his arms, bury his face in his baby soft blonde hair, and hold him forever. Forever, that was what Quatre had promised, and his little angel never broke a promise.

The red sun, glinted off a large piece of metal, near the center of the crater. Trowa looked, up, only realizing then that he had fallen to his knees, felt an icy hand clench his heart. It was half of one of Quatre's sabres. The metal was ruined, darkened and charred by the fiery blast. Something in Trowa snapped, and he realized that Quatre was never coming back.

Pain flooded him, eating at every corner of his being. Unable to deal with the pain, that brought back memories long buried in him, his emotions fled him, leaving him empty. Trowa had retreated back into himself, as he had done before meeting Quatre. Now standing at the edge of the crater, Trowa looked down on the devastated land, emotionlessly.

Duo reached Trowa first, his thick braid bouncing behind him. He was able to comprehend somewhat what the tall boy must be going for. He noted, with some apprehension, that Trowa was no longer crying, it seemed, even, that he didn't even care about what had happened.

The other pilot seemed sympathetic. Not turning around, Duo heard Heero and Wufei come up behind him. Taking the initiative, Duo touched Trowa lightly on the shoulder, as not to startle him.

"Trowa," he started, "I'm so sorry about Quatre." he managed to finish lamely. It seemed, so..so inadequate. He had no clue what it would be like if he lost Heero, and with some guilt, realized that he was deep down realived, that it hadn't been the Japanese pilot that was caught in the explosion. The tall pilot did not turn around to face the rest of the pilots, nor did he even aknowledge that he heard Duo.

Duo tried again. "Trowa-" he began, trailing of silently, when the other pilot turned around.

Trowa's face, though usually betraying not much emotion, was now completely devoid of emotion. His eyes were unreadable, but there was a dangerous glint to them.

Duo gulped. "I'm so sorry about Quatre," he managed to mumble again, not willing to look the other boy in his dead eyes. Trowa brushed past him, and turned to look at the other three pilots over his shoulder.

"I don't know who you are talking about." he said. "If you are talking about the pilor of Sandrock, well, he's dead now, and therefore, never existed." With that he walked away.

The other pilots were left in stunned silence. Quatre was dead, and Trowa was suffering, the worst of all.

Mwa ha ha! Sorry, I needed to have an evil cackle there. So...what do ya think? I know, I know, not the best, but I'm trying here! Cut me a little slack. Please send suggestions, questions, comments, etc...to: dkaz02@aol.com. Thanks!