A nearly endless maze of tombstones and memorials decorated the landscape. The eery feel to the area was not misplaced as the innocent civilians and the soldiers together cried out as one in the wind. It was the only place in Suna that you could be hot and yet have a chill at the same time. Heero walked threw the rows, a piece of paper in his hands telling of where to find the tombs of his father and mother. He found the place, the Kuroka piece of land that until recently, he did not even know it was here. A few more minutes passed and he found what he was looking for. His Mom and Dad Buried right next to each other. Heero fell to his knees with tears flooding out of his eyes, it was the first meeting he had with them since the bandits took there lives so long ago. He placed the flowers on the to graves and said a quick prayer. He turned as if he could see both of them looking on as if for a few seconds they where a family again. " I..I have returned and I will make you both proud, I know I have a long way to go but I promise I will do my best." Heero smiled the tears starting to slow. He stood and pointed to his ninja head band. " Hehe look im even a ninja now!" He said to try to show he was not going to be a failure. A few more minutes passed as he stood looking at the graves wishing he could have just one day with them alive again.

Spoiler:

-at home-
It was a horrible day. Misoka wasn’t surprised that she woke up this early – 6 a.m. to be specific. With shaking hands, she got out of her bed, all the while trying to empty her mind from any inconvenient thoughts. As soon as the young kunoichi made her way to the bathroom, however, her resolution crumbled.

She could see her mother in the mirror. All she had to do was to remove the red tint in her hair, color her eyes a shiny light blue and make her facial features look more mature. It was easy, really. The similarity could not be denied. Her father spoke the truth when he said such things as “You look so much like her” and “Yuki lives on inside of you”.
With a small sigh, Misoka leaned her forehead against the mirror, closing her eyes. The image of her own face or a slightly altered version of her mother’s disappeared.
Beauty. It was a trade mark of the Karisuma Clan. Her mother had been a well-known and proud clan member. She had held an almost unearthly beauty and had not been afraid to put emphasis on it by wearing the most beautiful kimonos. No wonder her father, not belonging to any special clan on a sidenote, fell head-over-heels for Yuki.
Still, this beauty killed her in the end. Misoka had no doubts that the bandits had been drawn by that beauty radiating from her mother. It was hard not to attract attention and well, her mother was way too fond of all these pretty kimonos that she cared.
Misoka took a strand of hair and looked at it angrily. Why would a shinobi clan strive for something as vulnerable as beauty? This was ridiculous. She realized that Karisuma kunoichis had a grand disadvantage because their beauty was dangerous. Most shinobis didn’t have any inhibitions when it came to women – they were advanced killers, after all. And on long missions they sometimes didn’t see any people from the other gender; could you really blame them for going crazy over a beautiful woman? And for killing them off afterwards if they still tried to defend themselves?
Defending. It was all about being able to fight off such enemies. Misoka didn’t want to end up like her mother… she honestly started to question the Karisuma Clan. Was it necessary for them to age more slowly than others in order to preserve their beauty for a longer time? Hell, their kekkei genkai even had an effect on their ‘normal mode’-eyes making them seem to glow a bit.
Misoka felt as if the leaders of the Karisuma Clan pretty much neglected the technical shinobi stuff.
She clenched her fists, looking into the mirror again. It would be so easy to destroy this beauty in front of her. Some scars, cutting her hair off – But she could never bring herself to do any of this. She wasn’t the kind to hurt herself, it didn’t feel right. She also didn’t want to destroy something her mother had always been so proud of. And somewhere in the back of her mind she knew about another reason which she would never dare to say aloud.
She didn’t want to be ugly. Misoka bit her lower lip, ashamed of this feeling.
Perhaps the Karisuma Clan could never quite get rid of that hint of vainness.

With another sigh, she finally got a hold of herself and changed into a black dress. Outside the bathroom, Misoka could hear footsteps as well as her father’s voice. It was time to go.

---------------
-cemetery-

They didn’t take long finding her mother’s tombstone. After being there countless times, it was only natural for them to memorize the way. Misoka threw a glance at her father next to her. She could see how hard he was trying to keep a stern expression.
His eyes were focused on the name engraved in the stone. Yuki Karisuma. It was her day of death. Two years ago, Misoka had lost her mother.
Funny how this still seemed unreal. She looked straight at the tombstone, barely moving without making any sound.
She didn’t know how much time had passed when her father suddenly turned away.
“I… I’m going. I’ve got a lot of work to do. I just came back from a mission, after all.”

Misoka swallowed. Her father’s shaky voice and his attempt to hold it together were heartbreaking. There were few occasions when he would leave her alone if not to train so Misoka knew how hard it was for him. She wanted to answer, but couldn’t seem to say anything. Up to this moment, she hadn’t noticed how dry her mouth was. A slight nod would have to do.
Then her father hurried away from the graveyard, leaving her behind. Misoka slowly got on her knees. Her chest felt tight; her eyes stung, but the tears wouldn’t come. She hardly ever cried. This didn’t mean, however, that she never felt sad. Helpless. Lost.
Her mind overflowed with words she had meant to tell her mother. Yet, she couldn’t bring herself to say them aloud; it seemed as if she had forgotten how to speak. With her glance kept at the ground beneath her, the girl kneeled in front of the stone, completely still.
Somewhere in the distance, she heard racking sobs and a soft voice. She looked up, realizing that the mourning person wasn’t too far away from her actually.
Misoka hated the cemetery. All people here shared the same pain.

Heero did not know why but he thought that he had heard someone else in the grave yard, however he was not to sure, he went up a few rows and on his way out he spotted a girl. With farther inspection he found out the girl was Misoka, the girl he had met earlier. Heero himself had seemingly cried his eyes out rubbed his face on his sleeves and walked up to Misoka, hoping to maybe make it easier on both of them.

She heard footsteps approaching her although they still felt very far away as if she was in her own world, isolated from the rest. It was only when a familiar boy stepped forward that she forced herself to fully take in her surroundings again.
Her eyes widened; her lips parted in an attempt to say something, but with a dry throat she could only manage a cough.
Misoka wasn't going to lie and claim she was happy to see Heero. His presence meant that he was mourning just like her; the tear-stained face was proof enough.

Still not trusting her own voice, Misoka nodded to him slightly. She wanted to ask him who he grieved for and hoped he would read the question in her eyes. At the same time, something in her wished to run away as her father did - away from the graveyard, away from these feelings which filled every inch of her soul with pain. She also didn't know whether she wanted to talk to Heero or not. The fact that he must be familiar with what she was going through, however, calmed her a bit. And this sounded horribly wrong because she didn't want anyone to feel this way.

Minutes passed; yet to her it could have also been hours as she had long lost track of time here. In a sudden urge to declare herself, she opened her mouth again and finally spoke.

"My mother was killed by bandits two years ago."

She stared at the ground beneath her with an empty gaze.

Heero was kind of surprised to see her in a very similar mood, although, he did not know why he thought of it that way, his mouth was very dry and not because of the climate they where in. Struggling to find words he was about to give up when Misoka mentioned her mother getting killed by bandits. That struck home, now he felt as though someone would understand him just a little bit. Gulping, He spoke in a low voice : " I lost both my parents to bandits, I..I w..was to young to fi..fight them and and...." Heero sputtered as he tried to form the words. " They t t took me as a..a..a slave." He pulled up his sleeve to show the long scar running down his arm. " I ..It was a a reminder to n not ru run from them.." He said. He did not know why he was spilling his guts about his life to a girl he met just recently, maybe he was going crazy, or maybe he just did not care anymore. He dropped his sleeve and stared at the ground.

Heero's stuttering words sent a surge of pain through her body. Both of his parents! Misoka didn't know what she would do if her father wasn't there anymore. She'd probably go crazy, feeling all alone in this big cold world. What happened to the boy was cruel, so, so cruel.
Misoka swallowed and turned to look at him sideways. He clearly had trouble holding back his tears after telling her about his darkest moments. Being held a slave... Damn bandits.
The young Karisuma clinged to this new sensation; anger was better than sorrow.

"Where did the bandits come from? Iwagakure?" She spat out with a shaking, yet hateful voice.
As she threw another glance at the small, fragile figure beside her, she couldn't help but feel some kind of responsibility for him. He could be her younger brother, really. How old was he again? 12? Misoka couldn't remember whether he had told her on the training grounds or not. What did it matter anyway?
Her thoughts were still hazy, drifting through her mind aimlessly.
How she wished her mother was here now. Her mother would tell her to snap out of this gloomy mood and put a smile on her face. The memory of her gentle face made Misoka's heart ache.

"I am so sorry, Heero." It was not more than a whisper, but could be clearly heard in the silence between them. She wanted to add something; anything; yet every time her lips parted nothing came out. She blinked as if to blink tears away. Tears which were still hiding inside of her.

Slowly she reached out and pressed his shoulder encouragingly. The smile she tried to give him was cracked, but it was the thought that counted, she hoped.
"I know that nothing can ever take the pain away, but... my mother remains in my heart. This helps sometimes."

He heard her question fine, Where the people who ruined his early life from iwa he did not know. " I I don't know.." he said, she touched his shoulder and he relaxed a little bit more. He felt a connection if you will to the girl that was with him, not unlike a sister in his eyes as she had gone threw alot of the stuff he had. He decided to speak. " The pain.. it never leaves, howe..ver ti time dulls it somewhat." He tryed to smile but failed. He just did not like this at all but that was to be expected. He looked over to the graves a final time and waited for what she had to say.

"I know," she muttered under her breath, then her eyes narrowed slightly. "But they don't care. They simply take away others' lives even though they have no right to do so. It is ... a shame to kill innocents. They shouldn't get away with it."
The way she spoke out the word 'they' made it clear who she meant by it. Her voice was trenched in hate and anger, which would most people consider unusual for her. People who didn't know her too well. Deep down in her heart, there had always been a strong desire for justice and she believed that avenging someone's death could only be successful if the killer suffered the same fate.
Her father had told her so.

She turned to Heero, her fists clenched. "An eye for an eye! Don't you agree?"

" Its....ok, the band bandets that did this are already dead...." Heero whispered. He paused for a few seconds catching his breath, still it did not feel right to him. He replayed the thoughts of his rescue over in his head. It did not bode well with him for some reason. He ran his hand threw his hair. He looked up at her and let out a small smile. "..I Im tired of being so timid!" He whispered. If he had not been weak he could have saved his family, that was what was going threw his mind. "Th..they are the the reason I I I stutter so much.. They are the re reason im so small.. not enough food then..." He clenched his fists and looked at Misoka. " Eye for a a eye huh..."

Misoka nodded with sad eyes. She had an idea of what he felt like when he said he didn't want to be timid anymore. She also had to struggle with her fear for men ever since what had happened to her mother.
Heero went on, his voice was shaking terribly. The reason he stuttered... Of course. There were no parents there for him who would show him braveness and make him feel safe. His insecurity was perfectly understandable.

Then he said that was also the reason for his short height. A weak smile spread across her lips. He could blame the bandits for a lot, but his height were his genes' fault.

When the boy slowly repeated what she had said before, she nodded once again with a grim expression. "How else can they make up for their murders? It's good that the bandits who killed your parents are dead."
She paused shortly. "I am going to avenge my mother someday. It doesn't matter how long I have to wait... I can't let them run around and harass other people as long as they are still alive. I.. I will never forgive them."

She slowly got up, new anger surging through her which she welcomed gratefully. It distracted her from her sadness.
"Heero!" She said sharply before she went on in a determined tone. "We both want to get stronger, right? So let's work together."

After having said that, Misoka held out her hand. "Friends?" She smiled, for the first time in the cemetery it wasn't fake. In fact, Heero was the only boy around her age she felt at ease with.

Heero sighed as Misoka declared she would avenge her family one day, since the bandits that got him where already dead he could not do that. He almost jumped when her whole tone changed, it was to anger or determination he guessed and maybe a little of both. He smiled at her deceleration to become stronger and inside of himself he felt a fire burn that he had not felt for the past nine years, the ambition and the want to get stronger flooded his mind.

He thought back to the time before the bandits when he had been himself. To long has he let fear and the memory of his past rule him, he straightened up and with a light not seen in his eyes in ninw years he let out a wide grin.

She held her hand out and he shook it without the normal hesitation. " Friends!" he said smiling still. He was sure if he got back to who he really was deep down he would get strong and he would walk proud again.

"All right!" Misoka's smile grew wider when Heero shook hands with her, accepting her offer. It was good to have people you could count on, people who could help you improve. She threw a sideway glance at her mother's gravestone. 'Mum, I promise you... I'll make you proud.' Just then, a single tear crawled down her cheek. Finally. But before more tears could escape her eyes, she swallowed hard and replaced the sadness with a smile.
Then she turned to Heero again, nodding to the exit of the cemetery. "Shall we?" There was no point in staying any longer; it would only bring them down further. With her eyes closed, Misoka quietly spoke a prayer before walking away.
She knew that Heero would follow her. That day marked the beginning of their friendship and she hoped they would support each other in order to become stronger.

[Misoka exits]

Heero smiled at her invitation to leave, He paused and looked back, it was time for the past to remain the past. He let out a soft sigh then a smile. " Sure." he said following her to the exit.

[Heero Exits]