Keys to the Heart

This is part one of my first, completely original fanfic. As usual, it's based on Gundam Wing. I worked pretty hard in composing it, so you'd better at least read it. Standard disclaimers apply. Oh, and if I didn't mention it before, this is set in AC 201, and Jeri and Heero are a happily married couple with two kids of their own. This is also one of the only fics that features Jeri's first child, Katrina. Check it out.

"Why does Heero have to be sick? Is he gonna die? Why did God let this happen?" the auburn-haired, aqua-eyed child inquired. Her mother winced at the question, knowing she was going to have to talk about it sooner or later. Jeri(Janine's nickname) looked over at her husband, Heero Yuy, with a pained expression. Heero was laid on their king-sized bed, his face pale and covered with sweat.

"Because of me, Katie…that's why he's sick. When I got pregnant with the twins, I somehow gave him something that made him sick." Jeri replied. Katie didn't seem to understand, she looked at Heero, over to the three-year old twins, Logan and Riley, then back at her mother.

"Why did you do THAT, mother? It was an accident, huh?" Katie said. Her mother nodded and took her daughter in her arms, holding her close. "Oh, Katie. You are so wise for your age. It's like you have the blood of Athena in you." Jeri commented. "Who's Athena, mother?" Katie asked. "Athena is the goddess of wisdom, of knowledge. She's very smart, and so are you." Jeri responded.

"Mommy?Do you know what I think will make Heero better?" Katie said, taking her mother's hand and sitting on the edge of Heero and Jeri's bed. "What?" Jeri asked. Katie smiled, her aqua eyes lighting up. "A story. Remember? When I had the flu, and you told me a story? I felt a lot better when you were done! We can tell Heero a story, and he'll get better. Okay?" the child suggested, looking up for her mother's approval.

Jeri smiled, reaching down and brushing some of Katie's dark hair out of her eyes. "Okay, that sounds good. Where shall I begin?" Jeri said, racking her brains for and idea. The twins climbed onto the bed, Riley sat in her mother's lap and stuck her tongue out at her brother, who started to pout.

At that, Heero opened his eyes and sat up slowly, placing his son in his lap to settle him down. Little Riley shrieked and leaped onto her father, glad that he was awake. "Daddy! You're awake! Mommy and Rosie are gonna tell you a story so you will be all better." Riley said excitedly, her prussian blue eyes sparkling, she tucked a strand of dark brown hair out of her eyes. Heero smiled and kissed his daughter on the forehead. When Logan started to pout from the lack of attention, Heero started tickling him, causing the chestnut-haired, emerald green-eyed little boy to howl with laughter. "So, on with the story…" Jeri said over the noise, causing the children to be quiet.

"Once upon a time, in a far away land, there lived a beautiful princess named Elizabeth. Her real name was Janine, but everyone preferred to call her by her middle name of Elizabeth, since they thought it was more princess-like. This princess lived in a big castle; she had everything she could ever want, but she was always sad.

When Elizabeth was thirteen years old, she ran into a wizard, bad wizard, who got mad and put a spell on her. He made it so she would never fall in love, and she would always be lonely. To make sure that his spell wasn't broken, the wizard created a magical lock and fastened it on a chain around Elizabeth's neck, making sure it was tightly locked in place. Elizabeth tried everything to get it off, but it was so filled with dark magic that it would always be there. She spent eight years being lonely, with no one to talk to or to love.

Meanwhile, in a small, poor village, there lived a shepard named Heero. He was very poor, his life was not good, he had little food to eat. Every day, Heero would take care of his sheep, but one of them always ended up getting lost or dying. Heero never had anything good happen to him, he was a bad luck charm.

One day, when Heero was walking home to eat a little food before going to sleep, he bumped into Duo, the village blacksmith. They started talking about their day, and Heero said that three of his sheep had died, making him really sad.

The blacksmith felt sorry for the shepard, so he gave him a set of keys. "What are these for? I don't need keys that I don't know what they unlock." Heero said to the blacksmith. "Keep them. Believe me, they open to locks of things you have never dreamed of. One, and only one, opens the most precious thing in the world. They will make your dreams come true." The blacksmith replied, waving goodbye and walking home. Heero kept the keys, but before he headed home, he called out, "How will I know that they open the things you speak of?" the blacksmith looked over his shoulder and responded, "Trust me."

"Why should Heero trust the blacksmith, mother?" Katie asked. Jeri smiled down at hercurious daughter. She then looked over at Heero, who had the twins in his lap. "He didn't at first, but the blacksmith was a nice person, so he did." Jeri informed her. Heero glanced toward his wife, his face pale, but his eyes bright. "Somehow, the shepard felt his life was about to change, that something good was finally going to happen to him." He added, his prussian blue eyes showing what he knew was the truth.

"Really? What happened next, daddy?" Logan piped up, tugging on his father's shirt sleeve. "Tell us daddy, tell us, please." Riley pleaded, turning big, puppy-dog eyes onto Heero, who laughed; but it soon turned into a fit of coughs. Heero fell back onto the bad, he couldn't stop coughing. The twins had horror-struck looks on their faces, they looked at Jeri, hoping their mother knew what to do. "Katie, go get a wet rag and plug the fan near the bed please." Jeri requested, grabbing a bottle of pills from the bedside table. Katrina nodded and ran to the bathroom, grabbing a wet rag and a small, electric fan. Plugging the fan in and handing Jeri the rag, Katie turned it on to high gear, pointing the fan towards Heero's sweat-covered face.

Jeri wiped Heero's face with the rag, then folded it and placed it on his forehead. She then put her hand under Heero's back and helped him sit up. "Here, take this, it'll make you feel better." Jeri said softly, dropping a blue pill in Heero's mouth and helping him swallow it and drink a glass of water. She placed the glass back on the table. Jeri placed her hand on Heero's cheek, feeling his warm skin. Heero coughed shortly and took Jeri's hand and kissed the back of it.

"I think the shepard just unlocked his greatest and most precious treasure." Heero commented, smiling a little. Jeri had tears in her eyes, she lay down next to her husband, her eyes closing. The twins had confused looks, they had no idea what was going on. Katrina stood up and took one of each of the twins' hands. "Is mommy okay, Rosie?" Riley asked, looking at her big sister. Logan nodded, he had the same thought in his mind.

"Mommy is just fine, Riley. Daddy will be all better too, they just need to be alone now." Katrina replied, leading them out of the room and closing the door behind her. "But what about the story? Mommy and daddy didn't tell us the whole thing." Logan protested. "Don't worry, you'll hear the rest soon." Katrina answered. "Just wait a bit, they'll be okay in no time."

"Mommy, why do we have to leave?" six year old Katrina asked her mother. The two girls were packing their belongings into a few small suitcases. "Because, your daddy needs to be alone and think about some things. Just wait, we'll be back in no time and then we can be a happy family again."

"Do you know what happens in the story, Rosie?" Riley asked. Katrina shook her head. The twins looked disappointed, they wished SOMEONE would tell them the rest of the story. Suddenly, the doorbell rang. All was silent, the twins froze and looked up at Katrina. Katrina walked to the door, dragging a stool with her so she could see into the peephole. She looked up to see who it was and her face lit up. "Yay! They're here!" Katrina cheered. Riley and Logan looked at each other, not knowing what she was talking about.

Katrina hopped off the stool and dragged it away, then opened the door wide. Four people came inside; a blonde man, black-haired man, auburn-haired man, and a woman with hair that was a mixture of red, black and blonde. The woman was holding the hand of a little girl with chin length black hair and hazel eyes. The twins squealed and ran off to play with the little girl, leaving the other visitors behind.

"I'm so glad you guys could come!" Katie said, her aqua eyes sparkling. She ran to the auburn-haired man and jumped into his arms, giving him a big hug. "How's my little girl?" the man asked. Katie looked at him and smiled. "Oh daddy, I missed you so MUCH! I'm doing good, what about you?" she answered. "I'm fine, thanks. My, have you grown scince I last saw you! You must have shot up three inches." the man commented, kissing his daughter on the forhead. Katie giggled, hugging her father tightly around the neck.

"Caleb, will you find Jeri for me? I'm going to fetch Bailey; she's probably wiped out already from running around with the twins." the black-haired man asked his older brother. Caleb nodded reluctantly, then walked towards Heero and Jeri's bedroom. "Why does Uncle Rusty want to talk to mammy?" Katie inquired, looking into her father's aqua eyes, as if looking into a mirror. Caleb shrugged, then raised his left fist to knock on the door; but stopped in mid-air at the sound of Jeri sobbing.

"What's wrong, daddy?" Katrina asked, confused at her father's actions. Caleb placed a hand over Katrina's mouth to silence her. He set her on the ground and slowly opened the bedroom door.

"Please Caleb, not in front of Katie! Look, I don't know what I did to upset you but whatever it is, I'm sorry. Is there some way we can work this out? I want to be with you forever; I love you, Katie loves you, I want us to be a family! Why are you doing this?"

Jeri was trying to calm her boyfriend down, Caleb was running around their apartment, tossing various articles into a large duffel bag and throwing it over his shoulder. Jeri held five year old Katrina in her lap. Katie was confused as to why her parents were yelling, tears came to her deep aqua eyes. She started crying, Jeri hugged her little girl, trying to soothe her fragile emotions. Caleb snatched Katie up from Jeri's lap and walked around with the little girl on his hip.

"See what you've done? You made our daughter cry; what kind of a mother are you? This is why I'm leaving: your load of bull shit; all the excuses, the lies, I've had enough!"

"What are you talking about? When have I EVER lied or betrayed you? I've given you a child for heaven's sake! Tell me what's wrong, Caleb; if I know how to make it up to you I will. Just tell me, please!"

"No, I won't. I'm just going to leave; if you think we could actually become a family, then you stop acting like you've always been. Call me when you grow up." Caleb kissed his daughter, set her on the floor and slammed the front door loudly without even noticing his daughter's confused expression or Jeri's sobbing.

"Why is this happening to me?! How come in every relationship I get into, something goes wrong? Please God, tell me what I can do to change this, to make things right!" Jeri whispered. She was kneeling at the side of the bed, looking up at the crucifix that was nailed above the door. "Who am I kidding, my prayers have never been answered, why would they be now?" Jeri said harshly under breath. She shook her head and stood up, eyes narrowing. She leaned over and pressed her right hand against Heero's hot skin; his fever was climbing higher. Heero tossed and turned in his sleep, he was having a nightmare.

Jeri wished there was something she could do, but what? 'What could I do to change any of this?' Jeri thought. "Every time I try to help, something always goes wrong." she whispered to no one. Finally, Jeri had a decent life; three wonderful kids, a dream-come-true husband, no need to fight anymore: life was sweet.

But, however, ever scince she met Heero, Jeri always felt something was wrong. Sure, she loved every minute she spent with Heero, but she always had this nagging feeling in the back of her mind, telling her that all was somehow not well. "Why does it have to be like this? What did I do to deserve this?!" she said, exasperated. With that, she kneeled at the bedside and covered her face with her hands, sobbing uncontrollably.

In the hall, Caleb backed away from the open door, his hand gripping the knob tightly. Taking a deep breath, Caleb opened the door all the way and slowly stepped in the room. He cautiously approached Jeri's crumpled form, but stopped when he stood next to her. "It's not fair, is it?" he asked. Jeri stopped crying and glanced upwards, her gaze hardening.

"No, it's not. Nothing in my life is fair, nothing! I can't even think of a time when things were going well. Even when I had Katie, things were all wrong. I never thought having a child would hurt so much. God is punishing me for my sins, He's making my life a living Hell, I just wish I would die. But every time I face death, I somehow manage to escape it! I don't understand why I deserve this, I just don't get it."

"I would love to help you, Jeri; but I know that anything I would do to try to help, you would disregard. I know I don't deserve forgiveness from anyone, especially not you. I can't change the past, but I can sure as Hell try to make sure the future is different from how it is now." Caleb said. He turned around and walked out of the roomm but stopped in the doorway, looking back at Jeri with an icy glare.

"Life sucks, Jeri, always has, always will. No matter what happens, thought, I want you to a least know that I will always hold you in my heart. After all I've put you through, after all the Hell that we went through in OZ, I do and will always love you. Even though you're married and have two children with another man whom you love deeply, I will never stop loving you. Katie is the only thing more important than you are, and that's because she was made of our love, she's what we created together. I can't change what's happened so far and I know that we can never be together again. Besides, even if we somehow did get back together, things would be worse than how they already are. Just go on with life as you always have; if people don't like you, then screw them." with that, Caleb left the room, closing the door behind him.

Jeri woke up with a start. She had the dream that she seemed to be having every night. It was a nightmare. The same thing happened, over and over, never once changing, it was torture......

Visions of her dream came back to her. Katrina as a baby, crying in her crib as a figure watched her every move. Jeri saw that the figure had a black cloak on, she didn't know who it was. Her child was taken away, her little screams muffled as a knife was brought out and the child's throat was cut. Fresh, warm blood oozed out and Katrina's dead body was dropped to the floor, her eyes rolled back into her head. Jeri screamed, running to her child's lifeless body, falling to her knees and reaching over with shaking hands.

"Now look what you've done, you fool. Only you would stoop so low as to kill you own child. I can't believe you; you make me sick." came a voice from the shadows. Jeri looked up to see the cloaked figure appear next to her. "Who are you? Why have you done this?" Jeri asked, rising to her feet in rage.

Hands reached up and pulled the black hood off and Jeri saw a head of auburn hair; a pair of aqua eyes that could only belong to the father of Jeri's child, Caleb Morgan.

"I...I don't understand this, why...how...you killed you own child! Why did you do this, Caleb?" Jeri choked out, looking into his piercing aqua eyes. Caleb smiled innocently. "Whatever are you talking about, Jeri? I didn't do anything. YOU were the one who killed your daughter." he said. He then pointed down to her hands. Jeri looked where he indicated and was horrified to see that her hands were covered in blood; the knife that killed Katrina laid by her feet, stained a deep red. "I have no child. The night...that we were together was a mistake. I never loved you and we never had a child, understand?" Caleb said. Jeri shook her head, backing away from him.

Suddenly, Caleb's hand came over her mouth, muffling her screams. The sharp edge of the knife pressed against her neck. Before she could think, Caleb drew the blade into her skin, Jeri's blood flowing out of the cut. She fell to her knees once again, coughing up crimson blood. She laid down next to her daughter's dead body and finally let the darkness envelop her in its welcoming embrace.


	The Anime Nirvana \| home Keys to the Heart This is part one of my first, completely original fanfic. As usual, it's based on Gundam Wing. I worked pretty hard in composing it, so you'd better at least read it. Standard disclaimers apply. Oh, and if I didn't mention it before, this is set in AC 201, and Jeri and Heero are a happily married couple with two kids of their own. This is also one of the only fics that features Jeri's first child, Katrina. Check it out. BACK TO MAIN ************************************************************* Keys to the Heart Written by Sphynx-chan "Mother? Can I ask you something?" Eight-year old Katrina looked up at her mother, twenty-one year old Janine Tyler. The dark-haired young woman smiled at her oldest child. "Sure, honey. What is it?" Janine said. "Why does Heero have to be sick? Is he gonna die? Why did God let this happen?" the auburn-haired, aqua-eyed child inquired. Her mother winced at the question, knowing she was going to have to talk about it sooner or later. Jeri(Janine's nickname) looked over at her husband, Heero Yuy, with a pained expression. Heero was laid on their king-sized bed, his face pale and covered with sweat. "Because of me, Katie…that's why he's sick. When I got pregnant with the twins, I somehow gave him something that made him sick." Jeri replied. Katie didn't seem to understand, she looked at Heero, over to the three-year old twins, Logan and Riley, then back at her mother. "Why did you do THAT, mother? It was an accident, huh?" Katie said. Her mother nodded and took her daughter in her arms, holding her close. "Oh, Katie. You are so wise for your age. It's like you have the blood of Athena in you." Jeri commented. "Who's Athena, mother?" Katie asked. "Athena is the goddess of wisdom, of knowledge. She's very smart, and so are you." Jeri responded. "Mommy?Do you know what I think will make Heero better?" Katie said, taking her mother's hand and sitting on the edge of Heero and Jeri's bed. "What?" Jeri asked. Katie smiled, her aqua eyes lighting up. "A story. Remember? When I had the flu, and you told me a story? I felt a lot better when you were done! We can tell Heero a story, and he'll get better. Okay?" the child suggested, looking up for her mother's approval. Jeri smiled, reaching down and brushing some of Katie's dark hair out of her eyes. "Okay, that sounds good. Where shall I begin?" Jeri said, racking her brains for and idea. The twins climbed onto the bed, Riley sat in her mother's lap and stuck her tongue out at her brother, who started to pout. At that, Heero opened his eyes and sat up slowly, placing his son in his lap to settle him down. Little Riley shrieked and leaped onto her father, glad that he was awake. "Daddy! You're awake! Mommy and Rosie are gonna tell you a story so you will be all better." Riley said excitedly, her prussian blue eyes sparkling, she tucked a strand of dark brown hair out of her eyes. Heero smiled and kissed his daughter on the forehead. When Logan started to pout from the lack of attention, Heero started tickling him, causing the chestnut-haired, emerald green-eyed little boy to howl with laughter. "So, on with the story…" Jeri said over the noise, causing the children to be quiet. "Once upon a time, in a far away land, there lived a beautiful princess named Elizabeth. Her real name was Janine, but everyone preferred to call her by her middle name of Elizabeth, since they thought it was more princess-like. This princess lived in a big castle; she had everything she could ever want, but she was always sad. When Elizabeth was thirteen years old, she ran into a wizard, bad wizard, who got mad and put a spell on her. He made it so she would never fall in love, and she would always be lonely. To make sure that his spell wasn't broken, the wizard created a magical lock and fastened it on a chain around Elizabeth's neck, making sure it was tightly locked in place. Elizabeth tried everything to get it off, but it was so filled with dark magic that it would always be there. She spent eight years being lonely, with no one to talk to or to love. Meanwhile, in a small, poor village, there lived a shepard named Heero. He was very poor, his life was not good, he had little food to eat. Every day, Heero would take care of his sheep, but one of them always ended up getting lost or dying. Heero never had anything good happen to him, he was a bad luck charm. One day, when Heero was walking home to eat a little food before going to sleep, he bumped into Duo, the village blacksmith. They started talking about their day, and Heero said that three of his sheep had died, making him really sad. The blacksmith felt sorry for the shepard, so he gave him a set of keys. "What are these for? I don't need keys that I don't know what they unlock." Heero said to the blacksmith. "Keep them. Believe me, they open to locks of things you have never dreamed of. One, and only one, opens the most precious thing in the world. They will make your dreams come true." The blacksmith replied, waving goodbye and walking home. Heero kept the keys, but before he headed home, he called out, "How will I know that they open the things you speak of?" the blacksmith looked over his shoulder and responded, "Trust me." "Why should Heero trust the blacksmith, mother?" Katie asked. Jeri smiled down at hercurious daughter. She then looked over at Heero, who had the twins in his lap. "He didn't at first, but the blacksmith was a nice person, so he did." Jeri informed her. Heero glanced toward his wife, his face pale, but his eyes bright. "Somehow, the shepard felt his life was about to change, that something good was finally going to happen to him." He added, his prussian blue eyes showing what he knew was the truth. "Really? What happened next, daddy?" Logan piped up, tugging on his father's shirt sleeve. "Tell us daddy, tell us, please." Riley pleaded, turning big, puppy-dog eyes onto Heero, who laughed; but it soon turned into a fit of coughs. Heero fell back onto the bad, he couldn't stop coughing. The twins had horror-struck looks on their faces, they looked at Jeri, hoping their mother knew what to do. "Katie, go get a wet rag and plug the fan near the bed please." Jeri requested, grabbing a bottle of pills from the bedside table. Katrina nodded and ran to the bathroom, grabbing a wet rag and a small, electric fan. Plugging the fan in and handing Jeri the rag, Katie turned it on to high gear, pointing the fan towards Heero's sweat-covered face. Jeri wiped Heero's face with the rag, then folded it and placed it on his forehead. She then put her hand under Heero's back and helped him sit up. "Here, take this, it'll make you feel better." Jeri said softly, dropping a blue pill in Heero's mouth and helping him swallow it and drink a glass of water. She placed the glass back on the table. Jeri placed her hand on Heero's cheek, feeling his warm skin. Heero coughed shortly and took Jeri's hand and kissed the back of it. "I think the shepard just unlocked his greatest and most precious treasure." Heero commented, smiling a little. Jeri had tears in her eyes, she lay down next to her husband, her eyes closing. The twins had confused looks, they had no idea what was going on. Katrina stood up and took one of each of the twins' hands. "Is mommy okay, Rosie?" Riley asked, looking at her big sister. Logan nodded, he had the same thought in his mind. "Mommy is just fine, Riley. Daddy will be all better too, they just need to be alone now." Katrina replied, leading them out of the room and closing the door behind her. "But what about the story? Mommy and daddy didn't tell us the whole thing." Logan protested. "Don't worry, you'll hear the rest soon." Katrina answered. "Just wait a bit, they'll be okay in no time." ---FLASHBACK--- "Mommy, why do we have to leave?" six year old Katrina asked her mother. The two girls were packing their belongings into a few small suitcases. "Because, your daddy needs to be alone and think about some things. Just wait, we'll be back in no time and then we can be a happy family again." ---FLASHBACK ENDS--- "Do you know what happens in the story, Rosie?" Riley asked. Katrina shook her head. The twins looked disappointed, they wished SOMEONE would tell them the rest of the story. Suddenly, the doorbell rang. All was silent, the twins froze and looked up at Katrina. Katrina walked to the door, dragging a stool with her so she could see into the peephole. She looked up to see who it was and her face lit up. "Yay! They're here!" Katrina cheered. Riley and Logan looked at each other, not knowing what she was talking about. Katrina hopped off the stool and dragged it away, then opened the door wide. Four people came inside; a blonde man, black-haired man, auburn-haired man, and a woman with hair that was a mixture of red, black and blonde. The woman was holding the hand of a little girl with chin length black hair and hazel eyes. The twins squealed and ran off to play with the little girl, leaving the other visitors behind. "I'm so glad you guys could come!" Katie said, her aqua eyes sparkling. She ran to the auburn-haired man and jumped into his arms, giving him a big hug. "How's my little girl?" the man asked. Katie looked at him and smiled. "Oh daddy, I missed you so MUCH! I'm doing good, what about you?" she answered. "I'm fine, thanks. My, have you grown scince I last saw you! You must have shot up three inches." the man commented, kissing his daughter on the forhead. Katie giggled, hugging her father tightly around the neck. "Caleb, will you find Jeri for me? I'm going to fetch Bailey; she's probably wiped out already from running around with the twins." the black-haired man asked his older brother. Caleb nodded reluctantly, then walked towards Heero and Jeri's bedroom. "Why does Uncle Rusty want to talk to mammy?" Katie inquired, looking into her father's aqua eyes, as if looking into a mirror. Caleb shrugged, then raised his left fist to knock on the door; but stopped in mid-air at the sound of Jeri sobbing. "What's wrong, daddy?" Katrina asked, confused at her father's actions. Caleb placed a hand over Katrina's mouth to silence her. He set her on the ground and slowly opened the bedroom door. ---FLASHBACK--- "I'm sick and tired of all your excuses, Jeri! It's all a bunch of bull!" "Please Caleb, not in front of Katie! Look, I don't know what I did to upset you but whatever it is, I'm sorry. Is there some way we can work this out? I want to be with you forever; I love you, Katie loves you, I want us to be a family! Why are you doing this?" Jeri was trying to calm her boyfriend down, Caleb was running around their apartment, tossing various articles into a large duffel bag and throwing it over his shoulder. Jeri held five year old Katrina in her lap. Katie was confused as to why her parents were yelling, tears came to her deep aqua eyes. She started crying, Jeri hugged her little girl, trying to soothe her fragile emotions. Caleb snatched Katie up from Jeri's lap and walked around with the little girl on his hip. "See what you've done? You made our daughter cry; what kind of a mother are you? This is why I'm leaving: your load of bull shit; all the excuses, the lies, I've had enough!" "What are you talking about? When have I EVER lied or betrayed you? I've given you a child for heaven's sake! Tell me what's wrong, Caleb; if I know how to make it up to you I will. Just tell me, please!" "No, I won't. I'm just going to leave; if you think we could actually become a family, then you stop acting like you've always been. Call me when you grow up." Caleb kissed his daughter, set her on the floor and slammed the front door loudly without even noticing his daughter's confused expression or Jeri's sobbing. ---FLASHBACK ENDS--- "Why is this happening to me?! How come in every relationship I get into, something goes wrong? Please God, tell me what I can do to change this, to make things right!" Jeri whispered. She was kneeling at the side of the bed, looking up at the crucifix that was nailed above the door. "Who am I kidding, my prayers have never been answered, why would they be now?" Jeri said harshly under breath. She shook her head and stood up, eyes narrowing. She leaned over and pressed her right hand against Heero's hot skin; his fever was climbing higher. Heero tossed and turned in his sleep, he was having a nightmare. Jeri wished there was something she could do, but what? 'What could I do to change any of this?' Jeri thought. "Every time I try to help, something always goes wrong." she whispered to no one. Finally, Jeri had a decent life; three wonderful kids, a dream-come-true husband, no need to fight anymore: life was sweet. But, however, ever scince she met Heero, Jeri always felt something was wrong. Sure, she loved every minute she spent with Heero, but she always had this nagging feeling in the back of her mind, telling her that all was somehow not well. "Why does it have to be like this? What did I do to deserve this?!" she said, exasperated. With that, she kneeled at the bedside and covered her face with her hands, sobbing uncontrollably. In the hall, Caleb backed away from the open door, his hand gripping the knob tightly. Taking a deep breath, Caleb opened the door all the way and slowly stepped in the room. He cautiously approached Jeri's crumpled form, but stopped when he stood next to her. "It's not fair, is it?" he asked. Jeri stopped crying and glanced upwards, her gaze hardening. "No, it's not. Nothing in my life is fair, nothing! I can't even think of a time when things were going well. Even when I had Katie, things were all wrong. I never thought having a child would hurt so much. God is punishing me for my sins, He's making my life a living Hell, I just wish I would die. But every time I face death, I somehow manage to escape it! I don't understand why I deserve this, I just don't get it." "I would love to help you, Jeri; but I know that anything I would do to try to help, you would disregard. I know I don't deserve forgiveness from anyone, especially not you. I can't change the past, but I can sure as Hell try to make sure the future is different from how it is now." Caleb said. He turned around and walked out of the roomm but stopped in the doorway, looking back at Jeri with an icy glare. "Life sucks, Jeri, always has, always will. No matter what happens, thought, I want you to a least know that I will always hold you in my heart. After all I've put you through, after all the Hell that we went through in OZ, I do and will always love you. Even though you're married and have two children with another man whom you love deeply, I will never stop loving you. Katie is the only thing more important than you are, and that's because she was made of our love, she's what we created together. I can't change what's happened so far and I know that we can never be together again. Besides, even if we somehow did get back together, things would be worse than how they already are. Just go on with life as you always have; if people don't like you, then screw them." with that, Caleb left the room, closing the door behind him. *************************************************************************** Jeri woke up with a start. She had the dream that she seemed to be having every night. It was a nightmare. The same thing happened, over and over, never once changing, it was torture...... Visions of her dream came back to her. Katrina as a baby, crying in her crib as a figure watched her every move. Jeri saw that the figure had a black cloak on, she didn't know who it was. Her child was taken away, her little screams muffled as a knife was brought out and the child's throat was cut. Fresh, warm blood oozed out and Katrina's dead body was dropped to the floor, her eyes rolled back into her head. Jeri screamed, running to her child's lifeless body, falling to her knees and reaching over with shaking hands. "Now look what you've done, you fool. Only you would stoop so low as to kill you own child. I can't believe you; you make me sick." came a voice from the shadows. Jeri looked up to see the cloaked figure appear next to her. "Who are you? Why have you done this?" Jeri asked, rising to her feet in rage. Hands reached up and pulled the black hood off and Jeri saw a head of auburn hair; a pair of aqua eyes that could only belong to the father of Jeri's child, Caleb Morgan. "I...I don't understand this, why...how...you killed you own child! Why did you do this, Caleb?" Jeri choked out, looking into his piercing aqua eyes. Caleb smiled innocently. "Whatever are you talking about, Jeri? I didn't do anything. YOU were the one who killed your daughter." he said. He then pointed down to her hands. Jeri looked where he indicated and was horrified to see that her hands were covered in blood; the knife that killed Katrina laid by her feet, stained a deep red. "I have no child. The night...that we were together was a mistake. I never loved you and we never had a child, understand?" Caleb said. Jeri shook her head, backing away from him. Suddenly, Caleb's hand came over her mouth, muffling her screams. The sharp edge of the knife pressed against her neck. Before she could think, Caleb drew the blade into her skin, Jeri's blood flowing out of the cut. She fell to her knees once again, coughing up crimson blood. She laid down next to her daughter's dead body and finally let the darkness envelop her in its welcoming embrace. *************************************************************************