"An Oldie But a Goodie"
by: the archduke
disclaimer: i don't own GW, but i do own Samantha.


Chapter 1:


The young man sat on the railing contemplating all possible outcomes. He looked
down below him, to the raging waters, and knew what he had to do. He got to his feet, never
swaying as he stood atop his perch. With one last look around his surroundings he
turned back to the water, ready to step into the night, when a scream focused his attention
away from his mission. Below him and to the right he saw a child, no more than ten years
old, struggling in the rough water. On instinct the young man dived in towards the child,
his former goal forgotten for the moment. He had no problem reaching the child and dragging
the girl to safety on the banks of the river. The young man looked over the little girl
trying to determine if there were any external injuries that had to be taken care of.

All of a sudden the girl turned to the young man and gave him a self-satisfied smile.
"I knew you would come in after me Heero. You really do have a kind heart."

The young man looked at the girl with a shocked face, which quickly turned to
suspicion. "Who are you? How do you know my name? How did you get here?"

The little girl chuckled at the young man. "Slow down there Heero. Let me answer
one question at a time. First, my name is Samantha and I'm what you can call your guardian.
Second, I've been watching you for a very long time now Heero, and I suspect that I know you
better than you know yourself. And third, I was sent down here because I was watching you
trying to take your life and I just had to intervene. What sort of a guardian would I be if
I just sat by while you made a huge mistake?"

Heero sat looking at the girl, carefully trying to figure out if she hit her
head when she went into the water or if her delusions were a prior affliction.

The little girl, Samantha, once again chuckled. "I know that you don't believe me,
Heero. You wouldn't be the Perfect Soldier if you did. I guess I'll just have to prove it
to you."

Samantha put her hand on Heero's arm, where for the first time he noticed a cut that
he must have gotten when he went in after this strange girl. Heero's eyes widened as his
arm began to tingle, and he was astounded when the girl lifted her hand and revealed that
his injury was now healed.

Heero sat looking at the girl. "So you're an angel?," he asked in a quiet voice.

She shook her head. "No, not an angel Heero, a guardian. Angels are more like the
special forces, dealing with the big stuff, like natural disasters and wars. Guardians are
foot soldiers, dealing with day to day things, such as love, hate, death, all that stuff.
We're kinda like fate, but not exactly. Understand?"

He slowly knodded his head, wondering if maybe he was the one who had hit his head
when he jumped into the river.

Samantha leapt to her feet and motioned for Heero to do the same. "Now let's get
started Heero. As I understand it, you want to end your life because you believe it's
worthless, you have nothing to live for anymore. Am I right?"

Once again Heero nodded, not sure if he should make a run for it or stay and hear
what this girl had to say. He decided to stay, his curiousity getting the better of him.

"My job, Heero," the girl continued, "is to show you that your life isn't worthless,
it's actually quite valuable." Samantha stopped and began tapping her foot, talking more to
herself than to Heero. "Now let me think...I guess we could do a 'past, present, future'
sort of thing, but thats been done to death. Visiting loved ones? Nah, not my style." She
snapped her fingers. "Got it! The classic 'never been born'! An oldie but a goodie."

While she was having this internal dialoge with herself, Heero began to slowly back
away, convinced that this girl was nuts. Just as he was about to turn and make a run for it
Samantha was suddenly in front of him and grabbing his hand.

"Come on Heero. We're going to see what life would be like if you were never born."

And with that both Heero and the girl vanished into thin air.