I have never understood the concept of a man loving a woman so much that he would do anything for her. I mean, wouldn't loving anyone make you do all you could for them? What makes the love a man has for a woman so special? My confusion on this point makes what I am doing even more confusing, but perhaps I should begin at the beginning.

It started out simply enough; I merely asked Dorothy Catalonia to have lunch with me after a Colony conference. I'm not sure why I even asked her. Maybe it was the way she looked so strong and yet in her eyes shadows of loneliness seemed to lurk.

Whatever the reason was I didn't regret my decision to ask her. Not then and not now. As we sat down at the table of one of the best Tai restaurants in town, she looked over at me with that penetrating look she is so famous for; the one that made you think she could see through you to all of your dirty little secrets.

It made me squirm instantly. I don't know why but the thought occurred to me that she was measuring me up and the only thing I knew was that I did not want to be found wanting. Why this was so important to me I could not have said but it was; right at that moment it was the most important thing of all to me.

After a few tense moments she smiled softly. Not her usual cat-like grin but a sweet soft smile. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. To my embarrassment I began to turn pink and of course she had to notice.

That sweet smile slid away to reveal her normal catty grin. Chuckling softly she asked me in that rich demanding voice of hers, "Are you feeling feverish, Quatre Raberba Winner?" I can't remember my reply; all I can remember is her, always her.

Well, that dinner was the start of a new chapter in my life; one that was far different than all of the previous chapters. This chapter was all about Dorothy.

We would meet for dinner once a week. No matter where we were, if and this was often the norm, with both of our lives being busy ones, we were on different parts of the universe so we would find the closest restaurant between us and flew to that restaurant for just a couple of hours. Those couple of hours quickly became the best part of my week.

As our friendship grew I came to realize anew that my having called her kinder than myself was true. She was involved in many charities and to my amazement and growing admiration her favorite one was the care and keeping of war orphans.

This I found out by accident; while at a newly-built orphanage I happened to spy a young woman with pale blond hair, the color of it so reminded me of Dorothy that for a few moments I couldn't take my eyes away from her. I was grateful for my idiotic staring a few seconds later when the young woman lifted her head from its bowed position over a young child in a wheelchair, and revealed the woman to be none other than Dorothy herself!

Of course after that she saw me as well and became angry at having been caught doing something most people would assume was out of character for her, she proceeded not to talk to me for an entire week! But my relentless hounding eventually brought her around. That and my swearing on my mother's grave that I would never tell anyone what I had witnessed.

Our relationship continued along this line for quite a while, until he came on the scene.

Louis Bragworth. I must say that while I make it a habit to find something good in everyone I meet I could not bring myself to find something to like about him.

He was tall, dark and handsome with that mysterious quality about him that so many women seem to love. Dorothy actually compared him to Heero once. I almost choked to death on the tea I had in my mouth.

That pompous idiot like Heero? Really, Dorothy, are you that blind?!

Of course I didn't say that to her; I just nodded and tried to move the conversation on to more pleasant things. And while she politely allowed me to do so I could tell her heart wasn't in it.

Soon she stopped showing up for our weekly dinners. Said she was far to busy with work. But I knew better; it was because she was far to busy with him.

I fell into a depression of sorts; to everyone I seemed to be fine but I could feel myself getting more and more restless. Nothing made me happy and all I could do was think of her with him.

I thought I had managed to hide these facts from everyone I knew. No such luck! Rashid figured it out and called me on it. And that brings me back to where I am now. On a shuttle to go and tell the woman I love how I feel about her and have her throw my heart back in my face. But I have to do this, and do it now. For I know if I do not I never will and that would be the worst mistake I could ever make.

The shuttle is landing. I walk down the stairs along with all the other passengers. The tension in me is building as I grab my overnight bag and hail a taxi.

As the car drives through the morning traffic the tension in me grows even stronger.

Far too quickly the car pulls up to Dorothy's townhouse. Knocking on the door I pray that the Dorothy is still there. The maid said she was but you never knew with Dorothy; she often got a whim to go somewhere and off she would go. But that was just one of the many little things I loved about her.

As I waited for the door to open I went through many ways of how to tell her about my feelings. None of them seemed right, so I became more and more nervous as the minutes ticked by. As I stood on the doorstep no sign of the door opening presented itself to my eager eyes, I soon became sure that I had just given myself a fool’s errand and that no one would ever open this door.

Just as I turned to go I heard a soft click. Twisting myself around with a jerk I stood face to face with the object of my affection.

Her eyes were still slightly glazed over by sleep, her hair hung in a messy braid down her back. She was wearing a lacy robe of dark purple that covered her from head to toe. She was staring at me in shock. "Quatre, what are you doing here?"

That was all she was able to get out before I pounced on her. I caught her soft warm lips with my own, pouring all my love for her into that kiss. After several moments during which to my everlasting joy she began to kiss me back, I let her go. Looking into her shining blue eyes I gasp out, "I love you, Dorothy!"

She smiled that sweet smile, the smile that I now realize was what caused me to start loving her in the first place, and said with a touch of cattiness rippling under the contentment in her voice, "About time you figured that out. Louis's girlfriend was starting to get jealous."

I just blink at her, realizing for the first time that the whole thing with Louis was just a ruse to get me to realize my feelings. I gave her a slight shake and demanded that she tell me she loved me. She did, and at that moment I was the happiest man alive.

On Christmas Eve we stood before the minister with all our friends and family gathered around us, and shared our vows to one another. After promising to love and cherish each other for the rest of our lives we share a sweet kiss. And at that moment I realized why a man would do anything for the woman he loved. It's because while loving your family and friends can make you do great things, only the love of a woman can complete a man and so a man is willing to do anything to have that love and make himself whole.