The Best I've Ever Had Standard Disclaimer Crap: "Gundam W," its characters, mecha, et al. do not belong to me, they are owned by Bandai, Sunrise, and the Sotsu Agency. "Best I've Ever Had" is owned by Vertical Horizon. The plot is owned by me and "Jade Maxwell Barton" is owned by Nanami Tendo (nanami_tendo@hotmail.com), though, so HAH! This story is based lightly on my sister's (ChibiChibi-chan) fanfic, Neo Gundam Wing. On to the story! < blah blah blah > = Lyrics.... ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ****A.C. 220 - In The Circus**** Jade Barton sat in the audience with her 17-year-old twin boys Triage and Nova, watching Trowa perform a dangerous stunt on his high wire act. Occasionally, Trowa would perform with his sister in the circus that her husband owned. He would bring along Jade and the boys as he toured with the circus in each of the colonies and all over the Earth. Ariel didn't come along since she was in college and was planning her and Shingo's wedding. Trowa glanced down, and his emerald-green eyes met with the amytheist-colored ones of his wife. He smiled, then jumped off the wire to do the closing part of his act, his triple backflip. He miscalculated the exact moment he should have done the third flip, and he plummeted to the ground head first. "Oh no..." he murmurred, and tried to recover, but it was too late. Seconds later, his head collided with the ground, instantly paralyzing and killing the former pilot of Heavyarms Gundam. Jade, Triage, Nova, Catherine, and the rest of the audience watched in horror as Trowa landed head first onto the ground, then laid still. Several audience members screamed as a few quickly called for help for Trowa. Jade jumped out of the audience seats, and rushed over to Trowa to cradle him before the ambulance arrived. **** One Week Later **** Rain flooded down from the heavens as the Gundam group gathered to say farewell to their comrade Trowa. It got heavier as the casket was lowered into the ground, and each of the "Gundam families" laid flowers on top of Trowa's casket one by one. Triage placed his rose on his father's casket. "Father," he said in a barely audible voice. "I'm sorry we didn't spend a lot of time together." His brother helped him walk back to their seats. Jade glanced at everyone who attended the funeral. Relena and Sally, with their husbands, sat alongside Catherine. Quatre and Dorothy sat next to Jade, offering their condolences to her and the boys. Ariel bawled into Shingo's shoulder, who cried along with her. The other gundam pilots and their families left. Triage, Nova, and Ariel decided to stay with some friends. Jade stood over her husband's grave, and sighed. "It's not the same anymore, Trowa," she whispered. "It's like someone took my will to live away from me. I miss you so much, love..." "Part of me yearns for you, Trowa," she continued, stubbornly wiping away the tears that were now falling from her eyes. "But...I know that you're in a better place, and you're happy..." A few months later, Relena and Heero came over to Jade's house. They (more like, Relena) wanted to make sure Jade was doing alright. Quatre and Dorothy often came by to keep Jade company now that Triage and Nova were in school, and Ariel went back to college in the former United States. The pilot of Silverlight welcomed the Yuys into her home. Relena noticed that she seemed thinner and paler than she did before. It was obvious that she was still depressed over the loss of Trowa. Noticing the look of concern on Relena's face, Heero decided to break the eerie silence. "How are things with you and the kids, Jade?" Heero asked politely, or in the most polite tone you can get from him. Jade gave him a rather blank, depressed look, then glanced away. "Everything's fine," she replied in a chilling, monotone voice that rivaled even Heero's. Relena was taken aback, wondering how to respond to her friend. She walked over to Jade, and placed her hand upon the blonde's shoulder. "Jade," Relena whispered softly. Jade stared off into space again, pretending that Relena and Heero weren't there. "Jade, you have to move on with your life. Trowa wouldn't want you--" "I CAN'T MOVE ON, RELENA!" Jade snapped back, tears flowing from her eyes. "I can't...Trowa was the center of my life. The only reason I continue to live is for Triage, Nova, and Ariel..." She slumped to the floor, bawling. Relena wrapped her arms around Jade, and tried to comfort her. Heero sighed, wondering what he could do to help Duo's sister. "When Noin and I thought Zechs was dead," Relena said. "We used to write letters to him, and leave them on his tombstone. It sounds like a silly thing, but it works sometimes. It'll make you feel better, Jade." After Heero and Relena left, Jade got out a piece of paper, and started writing a letter to Trowa. Over an hour later, she was done, and placed the five-page letter into an envelope, then sealed it. "I'll take this with me the next time I go to the cemetery," she whispered to herself as she placed the envelope next to a picture of the family she had on her nightstand. A few days later, Jade returned to the cemetery, with her letter in her hand. She placed it down upon the tombstone, and a wind suddenly began to blow. The envelope blew away, and Jade chased after it until it reached a height that she could never hope to recover the envelope from. She sighed, turned around, and decided to walk back to Trowa's grave when she saw a faint, translucent figure holding her letter. "Trowa!?" Jade screeched in surprise. Trowa nodded, and smiled. "But..." "Jade," Trowa whispered, stroking her left cheek with his hand. Jade was surprised at how his hand felt both cold and warm at the same time. "Hon, I know you miss me, but...I'm here to tell you that I'm in a better place. I miss you just as much, and I hate seeing you so lonely and depressed." "Trowa, I love you," Jade replied. "As I've said before..." "'My life is meaningless without you in it being a part of it,'" Trowa interrupted. "Yes, koishii, I feel the same way about you, but...I think it would be better if you moved on. I promise we'll be together one day." "But...but..." Jade sobbed, then hugged him. "You ARE the best I've EVER had!" Trowa embraced his sobbing wife. He felt her pain, and understood the lonliness she felt completely. "Hon, I understand that it'll take some time to heal, but you need to move on. Look at what you're doing to yourself." He said as he held her out, and noted the thinness and paleness she had acquired over the past few months. "If not for you, then for Ariel, Triage, and Nova. They still need you, Jade." She sniffled, wiped her tears away, and smiled weakly at her beloved. "Hai...you're right, as usual." she whispered. "Thank you, love." Trowa's response was a smile as he began to fade away... Jade headed back to her car, thinking about everything that just happened. 'I talked to Trowa's spirit, and we said our final goodbyes,' she thought. She continued to ponder the meaning behind Trowa's visit, and was so deep in thought that she was unaware of the fact she walked straight into a dark-haired, tall man wearing a black trenchcoat. "Ahh!" she screeeched, then looked up at the handsome man. He merely grinned in response, enjoying the shocked look on her face. "G-gomen nasai..." Jade whispered. "It's fine," he replied. "You are Mrs. Barton, I assume?" "Hai," she responded, wondering why this man was here, standing before her. The questions she asked herself mentally were about to be answered. The man held his hand out to Jade. "The name's Akumyou Kyuusei," he said. Jade looked at the charming man with the first 'real' smile she had given anyone in a very long time. **** Two Years Later **** Jade walked down the altar, accompanied by her little brother Duo, who was giving her away for the second time. Today was the day she could finally move on, and would be happy with her new husband, Kyuusei. "Finally," she thought. "I can start to live again, with the help of Kyuusei." She couldn't understand why her children and friends weren't happy for her. Isn't this what they wanted? She shook her head, and came to the belief that people were fickle-minded. Duo remained as stoic as he could bear, which was difficult for the one referred to by his colleagues as "Smiling Shinigami." He against the idea of Jade marrying this strange Kyuusei guy. Something about him just didn't sit right with him. He knew that his niece and nephews felt the same way, as did the rest of the pilots. Duo and Heero tried desperately to find some information about this guy, but they turned up nothing. As soon as they arrived at the altar, Duo gave his sister a kiss on the cheek, and went to sit with the rest of his family. "Jade, I hope to whatever gods exist that you've found true happiness again," Duo whispered as he watched the rest of the ceremony. "I hope that this bad feeling I have about that guy doesn't end up being true, for your sake." Something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye, and Duo could almost swear that he had seen the ghost of Trowa near the windowsill of the church, shaking his head at Jade. **** Three Months Later **** Jade happily finished setting the table. Tonight, she would finally be alone with Kyuusei. Ariel and the twins went back to school, and she had finally convinced Duo that there was nothing wrong with her new husband. She heard the door slam shut, and she knew that Kyuusei was home. She walked out of the kitchen to greet her husband. "Kyuusei," she said, then gasped. Kyuusei looked at his wife with glazed eyes. Jade suspected he had been up to something, and tried to think of a way to bring up the topic without getting him angry. She sighed, then slowly approached her husband. "Leave me alone, Jade," Kyuusei growled in slurred speech. Jade ignored him, and continued towards him. He got angry, and slapped Jade. "I TOLD YOU TO LEAVE ME ALONE! DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND SIMPLE JAPANESE?" Tears fell from Jade's face. 'This always happens when he's drunk or high,' she thought. 'What have I done, Trowa? God, I've made the biggest mistake of my life...Trowa, you truely were the best I've ever had...' Jade eventually divorced Kyuusei and lived the rest of her life with Ariel and Shingo, who had finally gotten over their petty little arguements to marry each other. Later on in life, Jade contracted a rare, uncurable form of cancer. As she layed on her deathbed, her ] family circled around her. Jade, knowing that the end was near, looked up weakly towards the opposite end of the end of the room, and saw her true love standing there, smiling. "Trowa," she whispered in a nearly inaudible voice. She smiled weakly at the glowing, translucent figure which was being to solidify before her eyes. "Grandmother," one of her grandchildren asked. "What are you looking at on the wall? There's nothing there." "Nothing, my darling," she answered, turning to the young child. "Minna, I'm going to have to ask you guys to leave. I think I need my rest." She glanced back at the wall, and saw Trowa nodding in agreement. 'So, this is the end of my mortal life, and the beginning of the afterlife I'll spend with you, my love.' she thought as her daughter, her sons, their significant others, and grandchildren left the room. She closed her eyes, feeling sleep take her. She awakened a short time later, and found herself dressed much like she was in her younger days. Jade turned around to see a flight of white stairs, and at the top, Trowa. She ran up the stairs and nearly jumped into the arms of her beloved. "Darling, I've missed you," she whispered, holding Trowa as close to her as possible. Trowa smiled and gave her a kiss that she hadn't received in years. "I've missed you too, dear," Trowa answered. "Now, let's go." The two happy, reunited lovers continued walking up the flight of stairs, closer to the blinding white light at the top. FIN ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Well, guys! Here's the end of the first fanfic I've written since... Christmas time? X.x I hope you guys enjoyed it, and I look forward to your critiques, comments, or gripes about this fic in your review. Ja! ^^;;;