Heero found Arys sitting on the couch, lazily flipping through the channels on the television. He crept up behind, and just as he was about to put his arms around her, she turned the television off.

"Don't even think about scaring me, Heero Yuy."

Heero smiled to himself and wrapped his arms around her shoulders anyway, planting a kiss on her cheek.

"What did you need to talk about?" Arys asked him as he sat down next to her.

"What do you think of Nari?" he bluntly asked. "You didn't say anything in there."

Arys thought for a moment. She had tried to figure out the dark-haired girl, but couldn't. Due to the gundanium body, Nari's face remained expressionless, leaving everyone guessing on her true thoughts.

"I don't know." Arys finally stated. "The only thing we can judge her motives on are her words. And those can be very deceiving."

"I agree." Heero answered, deep in thought.

"However, Quatre seems to trust her whole-heartedly." Arys brought up. "He's an extremely good judge of character."

"Hm." was all Heero said.

"What do you think of her?" Arys asked.

"I don't see any reason for not trusting her." Heero said after a moments thought. "However, Zechs was right. Trust needs to be earned. Besides, she saved Duo's life already."

"But that's something anyone would have done." Arys pointed out.

"No." Heero shook his head. "I would have let him drown."

Arys looked over at her boyfriend. His face was expressionless, but she could see the humor in his blue eyes.

"Heero Yuy, you would not let Duo drown and you know it." Arys said, playfully cuffing him on the shoulder.

"Your right." he admitted, putting an arm around Arys, who settled her head on his shoulder. "I would have sent Trowa after him."

Both young people were quiet for a few minutes, just enjoying each other's company. But it didn't take long for Arys to notice Heero's still tense posture. There was still something else on his mind.

"What is it?" she asked him.

"Nothing."

"Heero Yuy." was all she had to say. The Japanese boy let out a sigh of frustration and squeezed the girl in his arms. She knew him better than he knew himself.

"Adin Lowe gave me a disk before he died. He told me if I ever found a person by the name of 'Thunder', to give it to them." Heero told her.

"Lowe? Isn't that the last name of Javin, the one who created the gundanium bodies?" Arys asked.

"Yes, it is." Heero answered.

"Is there a connection between the two men?"

"I don't know."

"So what is it that you're wondering?" Arys asked.

"I'm wondering if I should give the disk to Nari."

"Why Nari?"

"Nari is a Japanese name." Heero explained. "It means 'Thunderpeal'."

"Oh." Arys said, the realization hitting her.

"So what would you do?" Heero asked her.

"I would give her the disk." Arys said. "But ask her first if she knows Adin Lowe. If she does, give her the disk. If not, keep it until later."

"Thank you." Heero said.

"For what?" Arys asked, looking up at him.

"For being my friend." he answered, leaning down and tenderly kissing her.

________________________

Quatre lead the way to the rock where he first met Nari and climbed up. Instinctively, he reached down to help her up. He found himself staring down into a pair of startled blue eyes.

"I can get up myself, thank you." she timidly told him.

"Well, as a gentleman, allow me to help you." Quatre smiled.

"No, that's all right." she declined politely.

Quatre could see the pleading in her eyes. She didn't want him to know her reason; she just wanted him to understand her request. Quatre nodded his head and moved over to give her room. She climbed up the rock with fluid grace and settled down next to him. The sky at that time was awash with reds and golds as the sun was just peeking over the horizon. Nari watched enraptured as the sun made it's slow climb over of the horizon. It was even more beautiful than the sunset.

Quatre watched her closely as she lost herself in the beauty. She had completely forgotten he was there. Cautiously, he moved his hand over and laid it over Nari's. She never took her eyes off the sunrise. It was just as Quatre thought. She didn't like anyone to touch her because she could not feel anything. Sadly, he removed his hand and stared at the sunrise. He usually enjoyed watching the sunrise in the morning, but after that realization, he couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness for the girl sitting next to him.

Nari looked over at Quatre and found him staring down the beach with a perplexed look on his face.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing. Why do you ask?" Quatre said, looking back at her.

"Something's troubling you. I can see it in your eyes."

Quatre smiled a knowing smile. "Why don't you like people touching you?"

"Because I can't feel anything. I can't tell how much pressure I'm applying." she explained, picking up a fist sized rock. "You see I can't tell difference from this,"

Quatre saw her finger grab the rock every so slightly.

"Or this." she explained as the rock shattered into dust. "I would hate to do that to a human."

"How long have you been in this body?"

"Since I was ten." she answered, looking out at the ocean.

"How old are you now?"

"Twenty three." she answered.

Quatre sat back in surprise. He had a feeling she was older than he was, but not by that much.

"I'm sorry." he whispered.

"What for?" she asked.

"For bringing up all this. This morning was supposed to be happy."

Nari smiled up at the disappointed blond. Taking a deep breath, she carefully lifted a hand and gently brushed his bangs off his forehead. Slightly shocked, he looked over at her with wide eyes.

"Thank you." she said, "For the first time I'm able to talk about my past without feeling sadness for it. And it's because of you."

_____________________________

"Are you sure this is where she said this place was located?" Duo asked.

"Yes, Duo." Trowa answered for the fifth time.

Trowa, Wufei and Duo, in that order, were following Nari into the lower levels of the Peacecraft Palace. She had told them where the lab had been located, and now they were investigating it. It felt odd to be leading the ones who were the enemies into the stronghold of the Javin. But no matter how odd it felt, Nari couldn't help but feel that this was right. It had been a long time since she had that feeling, but it was unmistakable. She led the trio into the room that served as the lab and looked around. Javin had cleaned the place out. There was nothing left.

"This was where the lab was." Nari said.

"Javin and Inazuma are good housecleaners, I'll give them that." Trowa said.

"Yo, guys," Duo called from another room. "Check this out."

The two pilots and Nari filed into the adjacent room. Duo stood next to a stasis tube, which was the only thing left in the otherwise bare room.

"Who is it?" Wufei asked.

"I don't know." Duo shrugged.

"This was Inazuma's body before the transfer." Nari said.

"Why did Javin leave it?" Trowa asked.

"Probably to torment me." Nari answered as she turned her back on the stasis tube.

"How could this be a torment?" Wufei asked.

"It was left as a reminder to me that I can never be human again." Nari answered from the shadows. Only her eyes glinted in the dark room.

"We've seen everything down here." Trowa broke in. "Let's leave the stasis tube. We can come back later for it."

While the other two pilots nodded their heads in agreement, Nari's footfalls could be heard as she ran up the stairs.

_________________________

Heero walked through the hallways of the Peacecraft Palace, absently brushing a hand over his side to make sure the disk was still in his pocket. He had finally decided to approach Nari and give her the disk. He looked up as a shadow passed by at the end of the hallway. He only caught a glimpse, but a glimpse was enough. It was Nari. Picking up his pace, he rounded the corner just in time to see her head up another flight of stairs. She was by herself, which, if Zechs or Noin caught her, would only bring more grief to the poor girl. Heero finally caught up with her when she reached the rooftop. He was surprised to see her leaning against the edge of the small wall that surrounded the roof top balcony with her head bowed. When he got closer, he could see her shoulders shaking like she was sobbing.

"Nari?" he asked, letting her know that he was there.

The dark-haired girl whipped around like a gunshot had gone off. Her eyes were full of hurt and sorrow. If she had tear ducts, she would have been crying.

"Heero." she stated, straightening up and pushing all the emotions back behind her ice blue eyes.

"You all right?" he asked.

"Fine." she answered. "I just didn't think that dealing with past demons would be as hard as it is."

"They always are." Heero agreed. "I hate to bring up more demons, but did you know a man by the name of Adin Lowe?"

"Yes, I did. Why do you ask?"

"Adin Lowe took me under his wing when I was younger and taught me everything he knew in the assassin business. He gave me a disk and told me to give it to a person named thunder. I'm assuming he meant you. How did you know Adin Lowe?"

"He was my father."