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A blue mobile suit….

It was moving away, crackling and sparking with discharged energy.

Moving away, into the depths of space.

And there was a voice, coming clear over the radio:

"The five of us have become nothing more than the Gundam soldiers, Quatre. So now, let’s accept it. Turn back into the nice guy I once knew. I just hope that something triggers your mind and calms you down. Something."

And then, there was an explosion. Massive, it seemed to shake the whole universe.

And the blue mobile suit was gone.

"Trowa!" Quatre heard himself scream—

"Ah!"

Quatre’s eyes opened.

Trowa’s voice responded calmly, "I’m right here, Quatre."

Quatre looked over. "Trowa?"

The spikey-haired pilot was leaning against the wall, arms folded over his chest. He nodded. "I’m glad you’re awake."

"What?" Quatre asked dumbly. He looked around. A hospital room?

"You’ve been here for almost a week now."

Quatre looked at him. "A week?"

"Yeah." Trowa walked over and sat in a chair next to Quatre’s bed. "You were only half-conscious when they brought you off the shuttle," he explained. "They said the operation was the only chance—"

"Operation?" Quatre said. Slowly, almost reluctantly, his mind was drifting back. He remembered the shuttle now. And he was remembering Lorri’s sacrifice.

Trowa’s voice broke his chain of thought. "Yeah. They went ahead with the operation." He leaned back in the chair. "We were all so worried about you. They’d said it was much riskier now because you were so much weaker." He paused. "What did they do to you at that base, anyway?"

Quatre blinked, and said, "When they captured me, they gave me a sedative. But they overdosed me by accident."

Trowa nodded. "Well, Duo refused to leave the hospital because he wanted to be kept up to date on what was happening. So he didn’t; he stayed here the whole time. And I stayed with him."

"You… stayed?"

"Yeah. Heero was busy with you sisters, or else I’m sure he would have been here too."

"My sisters?"

"They kind of needed some comforting," he explained. "But I wish you could have seen them when they found out you’d pulled through." Trowa’s mouth curved into the beginnings of a smile. "I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many women crying at the same time."

Quatre smiled.

"And I was with Hilde when she told Duo you were okay. He was so excited, he just kissed her, right there in the middle of the hallway. He looked like he could have kissed me too, but he didn’t."

Quatre laughed. "I wish I could have been there!"

"Yeah," said Trowa. "Anyway, you’ll be happy to know that your dog is going to be fine."

"Dusty?" Quatre asked. He smiled. "That’s great!"

"And the Earth Sphere United Nation sent a detachment to take care of the hidden base. It was quite a battle, but the base was destroyed in the end."

Quatre didn’t say anything. Destroyed…. So many lives, just wiped out…. But it had been necessary.

Trowa waited a moment, and then continued. "I have more good news," he said, and his half-smile grew just barely. "Your –"

Before he could speak, however, the door to the room burst open, and Duo came striding in, wearing the biggest grin Quatre had ever seen on him. Hilde followed, holding a bouquet of flowers.

"Quatre!" Duo said happily. He moved to the foot of the bed. "I’m so glad you’re awake! For God’s sake, there’s been no one to talk to for the past week, what with Clown Boy and the Perfect Soldier around – ow!"

Hilde had smacked the back of his head playfully. "What about me?" she asked indignantly.

"Well, yeah, of course," answered Duo, rubbing the back of his head. "But hey!" he said to Quatre. "We brought you some flowers!" Hilde walked around him and put them on a table.

"Thanks!" said Quatre.

"You’re sisters will be wanting to know you’re awake," said Trowa plainly. "They’ve been waiting." He walked to the door. "I’d better go see them," he said, then left the room.

"Good idea," put in Duo. "Though I don’t know if you’ll be able to fit them all into this little room – ow! Hilde!"

Hilde turned to Quatre. "Sorry about that. He’s been a little hyper these past few days."

"What do you mean by that?" asked Duo.

Hilde ignored him, and smiled hugely at Quatre. "We have a surprise for you," she said.

"A surprise?" he asked.

She nodded, and stepped out of the room for a moment. Duo grinned at Quatre, and followed her, closing the door behind himself. Quatre watched the door anxiously, curious about what Duo and Hilde meant. A surprise? He heard some hushed voices outside the door, then a moment of silence. The door opened – and his heart nearly stopped beating in his chest.

Lorri had walked into the room.

The room was completely silent. For an unmeasurable moment, Quatre simply stared at her, completely unable to believe his eyes. He couldn’t speak. His heart raced wildly, beating heavily against his ribs, pounding in his ears. What’s going on? he thought numbly. How can this be?

She stood silently before him, looking at him with wide eyes. Behind her, the door closed, and the two of them were alone. They continued watching each other. Neither moved. Neither spoke.

Then, without warning, Lorri heaved a deep shuddering sigh of relief and rushed forward to the bed to gather Quatre in a loving embrace. "Oh, Quatre, I’m so glad you’re okay," she murmured as she buried her face against his shoulder and wept unashamedly.

Quatre, finally overcoming his shock, threw his arms around her, holding her close to his beating heart. He slowly touched her hair, her back, her arms, making absolutely certain that she was really here, holding his sore body against hers – that she was really alive. He felt her cheek brush softly against his, felt her rubbing his back with shaking hands. He tried to speak her name, but found that his voice was lost because he was crying now, too.

"Quatre," she whispered again, and tightened her arms around him. They clung to each other for several more minutes, neither wanting to ever let go.

Finally they drew apart, and Lorri gazed into Quatre’s face. He looked back, into her eyes, and an utterly numbing joy overwhelmed him. He couldn’t think, almost couldn’t breath; he could only feel Lorri’s hands resting gently on his arms, could only see her eyes looking into his.

He heard himself say, "You’re alive."

She nodded, unable to speak.

He swallowed. "Lorri," he said, and felt more tears running down his cheeks. "What happened? How did you escape?"

Lorri smiled at him and sat down on the side of the bed. She didn’t answer right away, but stopped to wipe the tears off her face. Finally, she spoke.

"I was planning to die," she said quietly. Quatre watched her face intently, not speaking. She continued.

"It… it was the only thing to do," she said hesitantly. "It was like…. I knew what I had to do, and why, and… everything was so clear, but…. Oh, Quatre, I can’t really explain it…."

Quatre put his hand gently on top hers. "You don’t have to explain it," he said. "I know exactly what you mean."

Lorri smiled gratefully at him, then went on. "When I went back to the base to stop the cannon," she said, "that feeling was what kept me going. It kept me from thinking about what was happening; it allowed me to do what I had to do without being afraid. When everything was set, though, and I was waiting for the explosion, I saw your shuttle lifting off through the window. It… it was weird. My calmness just shattered, and suddenly I didn’t know what I was doing. I was so scared… more scared than I’ve ever been in my life. I suddenly realized that I was about to d –" Her voice broke, and she stopped abruptly. She stared wide-eyed at her hands for a moment, silently reliving the experience in her mind.

Quatre waited quietly; he squeezed her hand gently. He was all at once reminded of how it had felt that time – long ago, it seemed – when he had set Sandrock to self-destruct and then prepared himself to die….

Lorri sighed, and looked at Quatre. "It was all different then. I didn’t want to die. I wanted to escape. I wanted… to be with you." She smiled gently at him. Then her smile faded. "But by then I knew it was too late. I couldn’t outrun the explosion; I knew there was no escaping it." She shuddered, and looked away. After a moment of silence, she said, "I fainted."

She had closed her eyes, and her mouth was screwed up painfully. Quatre gently stroked the back of her hand. "It’s okay," he muttered.

Lorri nodded and opened her eyes to gaze quietly at the floor. Then she said, "But I didn’t die." She looked at him, and her smile returned. "The control room was set slightly underground, and it was specially enforced against explosions. The explosion only destroyed the laser cannon – it turned out that the control room was safe."

"When the fire had died down enough," she said, "my godfather sent a group of soldiers in to get me. When I woke up in the medical quarters, I… for a moment, I though I was dead." She laughed, and the sound startled Quatre. She smiled, and said, "It was the strangest feeling – very disorienting."

She shook her head to clear the thought and continued. "My godfather came down to see me. He was furious with me — well, you can imagine. He wanted to punish me, but he knew that the Earth Sphere United Nation would be sending an attack force to the base soon. There was too much to do to prepare for the battle; he didn’t have time to deal with me. Besides…." Lorri paused for a moment, then went on, quietly. "He still loved me, despite all that had happened. And he didn’t want me to get hurt. Because he knew… he knew that there was no chance of surviving the battle. That base didn’t stand a chance, and he knew it." She shook her head. "But he wouldn’t surrender. He decided he would rather sacrifice his own life, and that of every other person on the base, for… for… I don’t know what for! For the glory of OZ? But OZ is gone! He was never able to grasp that. He wanted to keep fighting, even though it was all over…."

Lorri let her voice trail off. Quatre suddenly realized how much she had loved her godfather. He had been her only real family after her parents had been killed. And now she had lost him, too….

Lorri spoke again. "He put me on a shuttle," she said. "He… he didn’t know where to send me, so he asked me where I wanted to go." She smiled sadly. "So of course, I chose L4. I chose you." She looked at him, tears shining in her eyes. "When I got here, I contacted your sisters, because I didn’t know where to find you. Then I found out that you were… that you might…." She had to stop for a moment to regain control of her voice.

Lorri suddenly clenched her fist. "That was when I found out what had become of my godfather’s base," she said, in a low voice. "Destroyed. Completely wiped out, and not a single survivor." When she spoke, her voice shook with grief and anger. The tears that had been gathering in her eyes now ran down her cheeks. She shook her head.

"I prayed," she said. "I prayed for your life. For days, I waited desperately for news of your condition." She paused. "I… I don’t know what I would have done if you had died," she whispered. Quatre suddenly thought that she sounded like a very young, very frightened child.

Her smile broke through again, though, and Quatre knew that she was crying for joy now. "But you didn’t die," she said through her tears. "And neither did I. I found you again. Didn’t I say I would?" She looked like she was on the verge of laughing.

Quatre actually did laugh. "Yes, you did," he said. "And I never doubted you would." That’s the truth, he thought. Even when I was sure you were dead, I never doubted that we would find each other again someday. He smiled. I just never knew it would be this soon.

Lorri laughed back at him, and they embraced each other again. When Lorri drew away, though, and looked into his eyes, she looked more confused than relieved. "Quatre," she said, and there was a questioning note in her voice. "I… I don’t have anywhere to go. My home’s destroyed. I have no place to go."

Quatre laughed again, and she started, then frowned at him, as though she found nothing at all funny in what she had just said. Quatre simply smiled at her, though, and said, "What did you just tell me? The whole point of your coming here was to find me, so we could be together!"

"What are you saying?" she asked, confused.

"I’m saying," he told her, "that you’re going to live with me!"

She blinked. "With you?"

"Sure!" he said. "There’s plenty of room in my house. You could live with me, and go to school, and –" He took her hands in his. "And we would be together."

Lorri smiled back at him, and added, "Forever. Just like we said."

Quatre nodded. "Forever," he smiled.

Lorri looked at him for a moment longer with the utmost adoration in her eyes. Then she leaned forward and brushed a gentle hand slowly across his forehead, under his bangs. "The nurses said you need rest," she told him.

Quatre nodded. "Okay. Just stay here?"

She nodded. "I’ll be right here when you wake up," she said, and settled herself in the chair beside his bed.

Quatre smiled gratefully at her. "Thanks," he said, and settled back in the bed to sleep, suddenly realizing how tired he was.

He closed his eyes, and smiled happily as he felt Lorri’s hand resting on top of his. "I can’t wait for you to meet all of my sisters," he yawned as sleep began to creep up on him. "I think you’ll like them…."

"There’s plenty of time for that," Lorri assured him, and Quatre could hear the smile in her voice. She gave his hand a little squeeze. "We have forever, remember?"

Quatre smiled blissfully. "Forever…." he muttered.

As he began to drift into dreams, he heard a woman’s voice faintly calling his name. He recognized her immediately.

Don’t worry, Mother, he thought. I’ll be there someday. We’ll be together someday, don’t worry.

He could hear her voice clearly:

I’ll be waiting, Quatre.

And he could hear Lorri’s:

As sleep closed over him, those words comforted his heart.

He smiled to himself.

Together….

Forever.

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