Why do I find it ironic? No really good reason. Some people think that if Heero Yuy would have survived there might have been peace between Earth and the space colonies. That's not the reason why I chose the name as an alias, though. I don't really have a good reason. It just had a good sound to it. Heero Yuy.

-my defenses-

The girl asked me: "What's a guy like you doing in a place like this?" She was neither disgusted nor amused. She was both, actually, yet none. Everything, yet nothing.

"You're from Earth, aren't you?" I asked, knowing already that this was the case. There was something in her movements. A lost, misplaced look on her face. Or was there?

-become fences-

"Yes," she answered.

Immediately my heart cried out to her. She must have lost everything. I hoped she didn't hate the colonies, blaming the people. We were nothing in that battle. It had actually been a man from Earth that had destroyed his own world.

-I'm stumbling-

I swiveled my chair to face her more directly, closing my laptop screen and removing my glare preventing glasses. The girl had a serene face with beautiful, silvery, blue eyes, and long, flowing, blond hair that was the color of wheat fields. Immediately, upon the moment that I filed her appearance in the ever present computer-like structure of my mind, I experienced the most irrational sort of deja vu. I couldn't help but feel that I had met this young woman before and experienced the same reaction to her. Despite the feeling, no images were brought to mind. Just her, sitting at my lonely table in the cafe. No longer lonely, that is.

-I change my face-

"I'm sorry," I said, hoping that my voice had obeyed my order to soften into something resembling the campassion that I felt.

-and you think I'm fake-up

wait around

till I take off my make-up-

"You don't have anything to be sorry for. Believe me, I have far more reason to feel guilty concerning the Earth's unfortunate...situation," she said softly, her voice waning considerably on the final word.

Never have I been very good at casual conversation, yet sometimes I consider it worth playing a hand at. "What's your name?" I asked.

Her pause indicated that she was not quite sure how much to reveal to me- this stranger. "Relena. Relena Dorlan," she answered truthfully. If she would have lied, it would have been understandable. Then again, if I had been at all observant as to the goings on concerning the Earth some months ago, I would have recognized her immediately. Come to think of it, I was then certain I had seen her likeness on television. For awhile I let that explain my deja vu, though I am now certain that my vague memory of her speeches on television and my odd feeling were not related. "And yourself?" she asked in return.

-here we go again

i need another one

her name is

she looks through me

says I'm the only one-

"Heero Yuy," I answered.

At that, Relena's eyebrows shot up. She seemed quite

interested. "Seriously? Is that your real name?"

"Yes," I said, smiling a little at her almost excited

reaction to my lie. "It is."

-I met a Christian in Christiansands

a devil in Helsinki-

"Sorry. I can't help noticing... My father was an ambassador to the colonies. He was assassinated for promoting peace here, as was Heero Yuy. So here we are, sitting in a coffee shop together on L-1 after war has destroyed Earth. Is that ironic?"

I thought a minute. "A lot of things could be called ironic."

Her eyes were glittering, held in limbo with mine. Who had initiated that stare? I think it was me, though I'm not sure exactly. That seemed inconsequential to me, anyway. I was lost completely to what I found in her eyes. There were a thousand sunsets, sandy beaches, waves lapping gently at white sands; great, rumbling thunderheads accumulating far overhead: things I would never see in person. Things I wouldn't miss. She was over mourning her home, but too weighed down to be happy. Perhaps she would always be weighed down.

-is it getting better?

wrote her a letter, asking questions

maybe some deceptions-

"In a way, it's comforting. The fact that I have a chance to be no one here. On Earth...I was so burdened. For a time, I literally felt responsible for the whole world. But that was certainly better than losing the whole world." She had looked away from me now, disillusioned. What had she seen in me? Perhaps only confusion. Or her own reflection staring back at her.

-I mean we'll take it slow

I really don't know-

"Are you staying somewhere nearby?" I asked, hoping that my question didn't seem to disregard what she had just said.

She looked at her feet. Perhaps she was suspicious of me. I hoped not. I wanted her to say yes to my question. I wanted to see her again.

-when you talk,

you make me cringe-

"No," she breathed. "I'm not really staying anywhere. Yet. In one week I have to meet someone here." After all she had been through, this girl was trusting me with this information. I only hoped that maybe there was some kind of deeper meaning behind the trust.

But what was I thinking, anyway? I meet some girl in a coffee shop, and suddenly I'm thinking of...offering her a place to stay? Surely, she could find a hotel. If not...I wouldn't be able to help myself. That carefully concealed kindness that Odin had said would one day be the end of me was taking over.

-Silver me to the messenger

Let her go, don't question her-

"This is a good neighborhood. Mostly made up of technicians. If you don't have any other place to stay, I'm sure my-" I paused. My what, exactly? Was I about to say family? Before too much time passed, I figured I ought to finish my statement. "- friends wouldn't mind if I invited you to stay with us for a time. It wouldn't be any trouble." There. I said it.

For a moment I thought that I might have misjudged her need. Perhaps she already had a plan. It didn't really matter all that much to me as long as I could see her again. She seemed to think carefully about my offer, though. Weighing possible calamity over need. After all, we'd only known each other for a few minutes. Would the thing that drew her to sit down at my table and initiate a conversation with me also lead her to trust me enough to let me take care of her for a short while? Did she have any choice but to let me help her? "If it is truly no burden to you, then I will gratefully accept your generosity," she said, managing a weak smile.

I looked back at her, nodded, then stood, gathering my computer from the table. Wordlessly, I motioned her to follow.

-I met a Christian in Christiansands

a devil in Helsinki-

Maybe after awhile she'd tell me more about herself. How she ended up lost on L-1, far away from her dying homeworld. How she put up so gracefully with the simplicity surrounding her, apparently disgarding her past memories of wealth and power. Maybe after awhile, I'd tell her the truth. That my name isn't Heero Yuy. That I don't even have a name. That I don't even exist.

-you and me, what does that mean?

always, what does that mean?

forever, what does that mean?

it means we'll manage

I'll master your language

and in the meantime

I'll create my own

by my own-