A/N: Last chapter. Shocking, ne? I might've closed it off a bit too quickly, but I'm happy with the ending so I am going to leave it. Thank you _soooooo_ much to everyone who read and reviewed thus far. I really appreciate all your support. ^_^

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing or the song "Thank You For Loving Me." GW belongs to its owners…and Bon Jovi sings the song so I guess it must belong to him to some extent. Lyrics are italicized.

Warnings: nothin' much….sap, I guess.

"The Beginning of the End"

A.C. 195 After the war, before Endless Waltz

It's hard for me to say the things

I wanna say sometimes

Zechs stood on a lone street corner, the very image of loneliness. His pale hair curtained around him in the night breeze, as did the hem of his khaki trench coat. Ice blue eyes seemed to glaze over the desolate street; an obvious side effect of his deep reverie. The streets were deserted, leaving this solitary man to his thoughts, which at the moment were not thinking of the war, and were not thinking of his ill-escaped death. In fact, right now the ex-leader of the White Fang was thinking about times long gone by. He was thinking about the Academy.

He was thinking about her.

It all seemed strange, how he had been so full of emotions, passions and dreams back then. It may sound cliché, but it was true, no doubt. Of course, he was also full of bitter emotions, and those came back to him more easily, filling him with his own self-loathe, and not to mention a deep shame at his persistent want for revenge. Zechs chuckled; not all of his emotions had been angry.

Walking over to a street lamp, the man leaned against it; slightly amused at the way it flickered on and off. It sometimes seemed he was once like that street lamp. One minute full of light and feeling. He had never loved a friend as he had loved Lucrezia Noin, and when that feeling grew to more than friendship, the feelings overwhelming him would not allow him to leave it unspoken. True, he never spoke aloud what he felt inside, but she knew. Somehow or other, she knew…

However, when the street lamp flickered out…that's how he felt now. Empty and undeserving. Anger filled him briefly before fading: he should have died in the explosion…was it his punishment to live?

Somehow he had walked to Noin's street…her house was right in front of him…and yet he couldn't go in…he mustn't burden her. She deserved to have a life after the war, and she could never find one if he stayed with her, he who couldn't forget the war, not now…not ever.

There's no one here

But you and me

And that broken old street light

Zechs hesitated, and then quickly made his decision. The man walked purposefully towards the door, then raised his hand as if to knock, but stopped his fist from connecting with the door. He shook away his vacillation; she deserved to know he wasn't killed in the crash. She deserved at least that much…gods, she needed more than that, but what could he give her? Now that his hands were stained with millions of lives and also tainted with the silvery blood of so many more victims he could've taken had Libra fulfilled its crash course…how could he love now?

It seemed strange that he was able to love after all this time, but he did.

After what seemed like an eternity, Zechs's hand connected with the door in a solid knock. The man thought he could hear the noise echoing throughout the quaint house, but later assumed it must have been his imagination. He raised his blue eyes expectantly when he heard the door creak open.

He hadn't seen her in awhile, but she was just like he remembered.

She wore a pair of light cotton pajama pants and a tank top, but she was modestly clad in a periwinkle robe over this. Zechs fleetingly wondered if he should have come in the morning, but then thought against it. She would have been working most likely anyways.

Noin's deep violet eyes widened in shock, and then broke out in a pleasant smile, which also seemed somewhat sad. Her lip quivered, but she composed herself quickly, opening the door wider in a gesture of invitation. Slightly hesitant, Zechs walked in and heard the door close behind him as Noin followed him in, and then led him through the house to a small sitting room.

Lock the door

Leave the world outside

As they sat on a couch beside each other, Noin ventured to break the silence.

"I waited for you," she said softly, but her voice was unreadable.

And Zechs learned what it was like to be speechless, for at that moment he didn't know what to say. He wanted to tell her that all he ever really wanted in life was to love her and have her love in return. He wanted to tell her things that would make her smile with tears of joy, and things that would wipe away the harshness war had imprinted on her. He wanted to give her back her childhood so she wouldn't have nightmares.

He wanted to be there to comfort her nightmares.

He wanted to lie beside her, so that when he woke up in a cold sweat, he could hold her close to him and know that he didn't have to be alone anymore.

Most of all, he wanted to tell her how thankful he was for her. He had done so many wrongs, and for his punishment he had been given an angel. For being a curse to mankind he had received heaven's blessing in the form of this lovely woman sitting beside him. It was an injustice, as Wufei might have said. But for Zechs, it was the most beautiful injustice he had ever witnessed. And whether he deserved her or not didn't faze him in this moment.

All I've got to give to you

Are these five words tonight

Thank you for loving me

"I…" Zechs started to say, but then stopped. He just wasn't able to speak his mind…his heart.

He wished he could tell her that he wanted to be her best friend again. He wanted to stay up late drinking hot chocolate with her, and he wanted to know her habits better than he knew his own. He wanted to see her everyday, and talk to her about cheesy movies they'd seen and the idiots who ran for president.

But even more than that…wanted to be her lover. He wanted to be the one who opened doors for her, and he wanted to see her face first thing every morning when he woke up. He wanted to know what it was like to have her steady heart beat as lullaby. And when she cried, he wanted to kiss the tears off of her cheeks. He wanted to always be there, so that she never had to be alone again.

All these things Zechs wanted with all his heart, but he wasn't able to put it into words.

He wanted to be so much to her, but gods-one person can only do so much, and he was such an empty person. Just the shell of a man that could have given Lucrezia so much…a broken-down man who couldn't even bring himself to tell the sole person who defined love how he felt.

"Thank you," he ended up murmuring, glad when Noin leaned against his side and rested her head on his shoulder.

"I'm so glad you're alive," she murmured, her voice slightly muffled by the fabric of Zechs's coat.

For being my eyes

When I couldn't see

For parting my lips

When I couldn't breathe

And just being there, holding tight to the woman who owned his heart filled him with a kind of contentment that he hadn't experienced in so long. And it seemed strange, how he could sense so much around him. He could smell lilacs wafting from her hair. He must be intoxicated by that stuff…it sure felt like it. Or made he was just drunk on her. It seemed strange, how one person could fill you so completely by simply being.

Zechs wondered with a small amount of amusement when he had become so damn poetic.

And then Zechs's thoughts shifted to those of his younger days, and he realized that dreams really could be recovered. Back then he had wished that he could come back to Noin so she wouldn't be alone…

And somehow, he did come back. Through hell and high water, he came back. And he had never been gladder in his life.

"You know I love you, right?" he asked with a slight edge to his voice, and he felt Noin stiffen in his arms.

"Yes…"

"Well I must leave again," Zechs said, turning his gaze away from her. "But I will come back, Lucrezia, you have to trust me on this one…"

Noin didn't look up; instead she studied her pillow thoughtfully.

"Will you at least…stay with me tonight?" she asked, looking up at him, and her eyes seemed to sparkle.

How did she do that? He wondered to himself. How did she make her eyes sparkle, fill him with contentment and make it practically impossible for him to deny her anything? It could have been his loneliness or his love or this beautiful woman in front of him, but he couldn't bring himself to say no, and that may seem weak but he was beyond caring, because gods, how could he ever say no to her after all she's been through?

So for one night Zechs held her close and promised her he would return, and now he knew…

He had something to look towards when he did come back.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The blonde woman looked over at Noin curiously.

"Why is it that you never pay respects to Mr. Milliardo's grave?" she asked.

Noin smiled knowingly.

"Because there's no need," she told Dorothy. 'he left again but I know he's still alive…he made sure I knew…' she thought.

Dorothy looked at her quizzically. "Huh?"

Noin turned her violet eyes to the sky.

"He's still out there somewhere…" she trailed off and smiled inwardly.

'And he's coming back to me…' she thought.

Thank you for loving me…

'And he loves me…'

The End!

A/N: I finished it!!! Yippee….and thank you soo much to everyone who stayed with me thus far. I really appreciate the support and reviews. I enjoyed writing this, and I hope people enjoyed reading. Please review!

Luvvies, KaT aka Mistress Shinigami