"An Oldie But a Goodie" by: the archduke

disclaimer: I don't own GW, but I do own Samantha. I also don't own this premise. It belongs to the owners of "It's a Wonderful Life".

Chapter 6

He found himself sitting on bleachers underneath a gigantic tent. Looking down at his clothes he found that he was now wearing a suit and tie, very out of place in the casual atmoshphere. He knew immediately what had happened.

"That stupid girl", Heero growled underneath his breath. "When I find her again, I'm going to-"

His thoughts were cut off when the light suddenly dimmed and the center ring was bathed in light. A young man and a young woman walked into the light, followed by two full grown male lions. The lions seemed to favor the young man, flanking him on either sides. Heero knew right away who the young man was, but he didn't recongnize the young woman.

"Well, it looks like Trowa's life wouldn't be much different. He's probably happier now." Heero had by now caught on to the entire situation, deciding that Samantha had drugged him with something, and that it would be better to go with the hallucinations than to fight them. The encounter with Wufei showed him that.

As Heero settled in, waiting to wake up from this drugged induced dream, he became curious at what was happening down below. Instead of the knife act that he had expected to see, there were all kinds of hoops and pedestals and beams all over the ring. "Must be an animal act," he whispered to himself.

A tug at his sleeve brought his attention down to a little boy next to him.

"Hey mister, you ever seen this act before?" When Heero shook his head 'no', the boy suddenly bounded to his feet excited.

"Boy, you are in for a real treat, mister. They say that that guy used to be his Excellency Treize's personal jester. He is the best. Wait till you see what he does with the lions. It'll blow your mind."

The little boy sat down and started conversing with his friend behind him, leaving Heero with his thoughts.

"Again, a connection with Treize. Do all of the Gundam pilots have such a connection? I'll have to go speak to Trowa after his act."

Trowa stood in the spotlight waiting for his assistant to introduce him. His thoughts strayed to the past, as they always did right before he began a show.

He remembered the girl that had taught him everything he knows about entertaining. He had started out as a target for her knife throwing act, and in time he had developed his own act. He also remembered how foolish he was fighting in that war so long ago. A stupid boy in a machine, even if it was a Gudam, could never beat an entire army of mobile suits. He had learned that quickly, with Catherine showing him the error of his ways, talking him out of continuing with the hopeless battle. When she had been killed in the war, by one of the other Gundam pilots no less, he gave up being a soldier, and took off on his own. It was purely by chance he had happened upon that military base, and found that the soldiers appreciated someone who could make them laugh. His act got so popular in the military that he was sent to show it to Treize himself. Treize was so impressed that he got Trowa this job in the largest circus on earth. That man truly was a saint.

However, Trowa's life was far from perfect. Sure, he was famous all over the world, but he was unhappy. More than unhappy, he was miserable. No family, no friends, nothing but his work. What did he have to live for?

Heero had been impressed by Trowa's act. It involved him interacting with the lions in seemingly dangerous ways. He especially liked it when Trowa had put his head into one of the lions mouth, then having it bite down lightly on his neck. He had to admit his breath caught in his throat when he saw the animal slowly closing its mouth over Trowa's head.

Heero was now roaming around the backstage area, his suit making him look like some sort of businessman who wanted to learn more about the circus. Many thought he was a potential investor and treated him with respect, answering any questions he had about Trowa's whereabouts.

He found Trowa some distance away from the circus tent sitting down on a boulder, seemingly staring into space. Heero was walking towards him when he saw Trowa bring something up to his chest. When Heero realized that it was a gun, he began running, yelling for Trowa to stop.

About ten yards away he heard the shot. He ran ahead and caught Trowa just as he was about to fall over the boulder. Amazingly, Trowa wasn't dead. He was even conscious, with Heero trying to keep him awake.

"Trowa, talk to me, why did you do this? Damn it, talk to me Trowa!"

Trowa's eyes focused on Heero, wondering who this man was and how did he know his name? "Who are are?", he whispered.

"Just a friend, Trowa, just a friend. Come on, stay awake, stay awake." Heero was now yelling towards the circus tent, hoping that someone would hear him and call an ambulance.

His attention turned back to Trowa as he heard his friend trying to speak.

"Can I tell you something, stranger?" At Heero's nod, Trowa continued. "I didn't really want to die. I was sad, but the desire to die was in my head, not my heart. Too bad I didn't follow my heart. But I didn't know how to. I didn't know I should have followed my emotions." And with those words, Trowa closed his eyes for the final time.