it, email me at eptenun@hotmail.com and I'll send you a copy.
Pairing(s): 2+1
Rating: R
Written: March 4, 2001 - April 9, 2001 by Neptune
Revised June 13, 2001 -
Title: A Child Lost Forever
Background: The year is After Colony 189. Heero Yuy and Duo Matthews are residents of Colony X19-L1-2032.
Heero is the unplanned, unwanted, and unloved son of a very prominent couple in the society of the upper wheel of X19-L1-2032, more informally known as X19(1). Since his parents try to keep the fact that he exists a secret, most of the people in X19-L1 aren't aware of any child named Heero Yuy.
Duo is an orphan, surviving on the streets with his older sister, Nancy. He was formerly a resident of the lower wheel of X19-L1-2032, also known as X19(2), but escaped with Nancy to X19(1) in A.C. 186.
The boys met at a park one year prior and have become friends in the time since.
Note: I know that Duo's last name is not Matthews. I changed for a reason. Please do not email me and tell me that I made a mistake.
Duo stood just outside the chainlink fence that surrounded the playground, his small hands gripping the cold metal loosely. His eyes moved over a child -- a little girl; no, more like a vision; long blonde hair, dark green eyes, flawless porcelain skin -- she met his gaze for the barest second then scampered across the playground, calling a greeting to a friend before dissolving in giggles. She had never known hunger or hardship -- never known how the pain from hunger went away after a couple of days, leaving just that dull ache; never known how it felt to fight with other children over something as petty as a scrap of orange peel; never known how it felt to be as good as dead, but alive anyway -- but still, how could anyone be so carefree while the colony was going through a food shortage and a plague at once?
Is that how Nancy would have been had it not been for the plague and their parent's dying just after he was born, leaving her to survive, and not just herself to care for, but a longed-for baby brother who she would have never thought to set on top of a heap of garbage or leave crying at the steps of an orphanage? Happy and free of the wretch of
living on the streets? Or should it be careless and ignorant of the world around? Duo couldn't decide; he went back to watching the children in the playground.
Several times, other children stopped to observe him. He could feel their eyes on him -- some burned to his very core, others just carelessly pushed him out of their minds.
He knew their thoughts as they took in his tattered clothing that was five sizes too big --
"Orphan,"
-- knew their thoughts as his gaze met theirs' with unabashed ferocity --
"Reject,"
-- hell, he even knew what they thought about his small stature and deep set eyes, what ran through their minds when they saw his long, tangled hair --
"What a freak,"
He could care less though. He had Nancy, he had Heero, and whatever paradise he might be missing out on by being an urchin, well, then he was missing out. His own world was much brighter since leaving X19(2).
How Nancy had managed to get them clearance to go through the gate that separated the top and bottom wheels, he wasn't quite sure. Anyone who wanted to could go down to X19(2) but supposedly, only people with a certain passport could get back up.
A sudden fit of coughing drew him out of his reverie. He gasped for a breath and gagged slightly from the sudden pressure on the back of his throat. The bitter taste of bile came rushing into his throat and a bitter memory of what happened the last time Nancy heard him cough came rushing into his head.
"Duo, are you okay?"
"Y-yeah, I'm fine,"
"You sound sick; here, you eat this."
"But Nancy, that's your food! I already ate; I'm not gonna make you starve!"
"It's all right, Duo,"
"Nancy!"
"No, really, I- I'm not that hungry anyway. Here, eat."
A boy, scarcely older than Duo, paused in the middle of a game of football to stare at him. Duo gazed back, a cold fury forming in his eyes. A part of it was anger at himself, for pushing Nancy closer and closer to death; another, smaller part was anger at the boy -- he would never know how it felt to live on the streets, who was he to judge? -- he even felt anger at life or fate or whatever god there was, for sending the plague to his colony and killing his parents and making him an orphan.
A hand gently brushed his shoulder and Duo jumped.
"Somebody's a bit nervous today," a soft voice said.
Duo turned to see his older sister standing behind him, a playful grin tugging at the corners of her mouth.
"Hey, Nance! Any luck?" Duo asked, returning her grin.
"Mm-hmm, went to Celestial today. Not a lot of choice, but I did manage bread and apples." Nancy paused a moment, putting a hand to her mouth and looking up. "Oh, but I ate it all already. Hope ya don' mind,"
Duo smirked; this was an old joke between them, from back when they had first been orphaned, about five or six years ago. It had been Nancy's way of stopping his crying when he was cold or hungry -- back then, all the homeless in X19(1) were rounded up by the police and forced down to X19(2), to help keep the levels of disease and squalor down to a very bare minimum. Nancy had to find ways to keep him quiet or else they would probably have never seen X19(1) again.
Duo pretended to think for a moment, then answered his sister with the usual response, "Does that mean I get your food tomorrow?"
"Hmm... that depends on what it is. If it was, like, this, maybe --" she pulled a small loaf of bread and two apples from her sleeves with a little flourish. "-- then I would say 'no'."
Duo seized the food and quickly set to gulping it down.
"S'good, sis," he said, looking up.
"What have I told you about talking with your mouth full?" Nancy chided.
"Nuffin'." Duo answered, his mouth still full.
"Okay then." Nancy kissed him on the forehead and walked a few steps away. "You coming? It's five o'clock already. We'd better get to the shelter pretty soon, else they won't have any room left and it'll be another night in the alley. I heard that they're gonna have inoculations tonight, too, and I want you to get one."
"Uh-huh, I'll be there in a sec. Just wanna finish this," Duo replied, holding up the remainder of his last apple.
"Okay. Hurry up, though." Nancy called. Duo watched her until she disappeared around the corner, then let out the breath he had unconsciously been holding.
The apple fell from his grasp and rolled a few feet away.
Duo winced as another sharp pain stabbed at his stomach. It almost felt like there was an animal inside of him, eating its way out, bite by bite.
The plague.
Bene Talia was the name it had been given, but most people just called it be'lia. Nancy had told him exactly what it meant and what language it was in, but Duo only vaguely remembered it being something like "demon".
He had seen the evidence of be'lia everywhere: the bodies of the dead stacked like the rugs sold at the daily market, staring eyes wide open, seeming to follow his every move; thin, sun-blackened skin, stretched tight over the bones that were cracking and breaking from even that slight pressure. But the grins were by far the worst, the dead mouths stretched into hideous mockeries of smiles by the final effects of be'lia.
But that had been in X19(2); here in X19(1), it was clean and neat, for the most part -- he only saw a body every month or so, instead of every few minutes.
People still got be'lia in X19(1), but not as much, since most of the residents could afford the costly inoculation to avoid the disease, or the even more expensive counter-virus. The counter-virus was only so useful though, and really only for children; adult's immune systems had formed too completely for the counter-virus to take over.
Nancy had been trying to find a shelter that dispensed the inoculation for children under twelve, but tonight was the first time she had found anything in the nine months she had been searching.
Duo wished there was somewhere that gave out the version of the inoculation that had been developed for teenager's immune systems. He couldn't stand the thought that he might get protection against be'lia and Nancy wouldn't.
He hated to think of what would happen if his older sister got be'lia. Her beautiful hair would all fall out, her skin would thin and thin until the slightest touch would make her bleed, and her whole body would slowly disintegrate until- until- until she- he shook his head. Such lines of thought were not productive.
"Until she what, Duo dear? Until she dies? Until she looks like this?" Aiden, the leader of the demons, flashed a picture in his mind. Nancy, but dead from be'lia, exactly as he had imagined her, long hair gone, skin thin, already turning black, eyes vacant, staring, piercing his soul... but her mouth, that was the most terrible, pulled and contorted into a horrible smile by the be'lia.
Duo shuddered, retching, barely holding back the food he had just eaten. "S-s-stop it, A-Aiden... p-please, s-stop," he managed to choke out, hating the day the five demons had found him.
It had been right around the time he and Nancy had managed to get up to X19(1). Duo had found some leftover food thrown behind a restaurant and was taking it back to Nancy when a group of older orphans had seen him and tried to get the food from him. He ran, so obviously, they chased him.
Just as he was getting ready to give up and surrender the food to them, he heard a voice, feminine and softly coaxing, "That's your food, isn't it? You found it. Why should you have to give it up to them?" He looked around, expecting a grownup to be standing in one of the doorways surrounding the alley, but there was no one in sight.
"We're right here with you, Duo. Would you like us to help?" the voice came again and Duo jumped.
"Who- who are you? Where are you?" Duo asked, looking to either side of him, then up, and back down to the street again.
"My name is Aiden and we're inside your head right now, dear." Duo shivered once, violently.
"We? There's lots of you?"
"Just five, dear. Donovan, Brennan, Kali, Cassias, and myself. Would you like us to get rid of those bullies for you?"
"Could you?"
"Of course, dear! And all we ask in return is a place to stay for a while."
"What?"
"We'd like to live inside of you, but we can only stay if you want us to."
"Oh..."
"Do you agree? You better decide quickly, dear, here they come,"
"Yes!"
They had upheld their part of the deal, transforming themselves into five huge lions and chasing the older children away, so now he carried them wherever he went. They stayed in his head, dancing in and out of his dreams, his thoughts, his life, like performers in some diabolical ballet.
"Aw, poor baby. You gonna kill Nancy, you know that?" Kali interrupted his thoughts.
"I won't." Duo murmured.
"You will, just watch and see." she replied coldly, showing him a picture in his mind. The form Kali usually took, a tall woman with long, flowing black hair and milky white skin. She sneered, then laughed and turned, walking away into the darkness.
"I won't let Nancy catch it from me." Duo said loudly, as if clearly voicing his thoughts meant that they would somehow come true. He drew in a shuddering breath, then straightened and ran to catch up to his sister.
Just as Nancy had said, an elderly lady was at the shelter giving inoculations to the children. Nancy dragged Duo over to the line and stood with him until they reached the front of the line.
The lady smiled at Duo and Nancy as she pulled fresh needle out of her bag.
"How old are you, honey?" she inquired of Duo with a slight accent.
"Nine and a half." Duo replied, watching the needle with apprehension.
"Poor baby, you scared?" Brennan laughed in his thoughts.
Shut up! Duo thought, unconsciously narrowing his eyes.
"Is something the matter, honey?" the lady asked, concern spreading over her lined face.
Duo looked up. "Huh? Oh, no, I'm sorry, just thinking."
"Alright, honey. Would you please hold out your arm?"
"I- uh- I-"
"Duo, this'll keep ya safe. Put out your arm." Nancy directed, giving him a tiny push.
Duo complied, still eyeing the glistening needle, and watched as it was inserted into his skin and the clear-yellowish liquid was injected. He still watched as the needle was pulled from his arm and the lady tied a brightly coloured bandage right above where the needle had gone in.
"My, aren't you a brave lad, watching all that and not even flinching?"
"Mm..." Duo murmured, distracted by two of the demons, Cassias and Donovan arguing in his head.
"Duo? Let's go," Nancy said. "Duo? Are you listening?" She asked after a small pause. "Duo!" Nancy waved her hand in front of his face. "C'mon, Duo, move! They've got other people waiting!" Nancy pulled Duo to his feet, giving him a little shake.
"Wait a moment, honey, what about you? Aren't you going to get a vaccination?" the lady asked, placing a hand on Nancy's arm.
"Me? Well, I- um- I think I'm too old," Nancy said, turning around.
"You might not be. How old are you, honey?"
"Fifteen."
The lady frowned slightly. "Yes, honey, I guess you are too old. We can only give the shots to children under twelve."
Nancy smiled. "I trust my Lord Jesus to keep me safe."
The lady smiled back, a pitying look in her eyes. "You be careful anyways, honey."
"I will, don't worry, ma'am." Nancy said, taking Duo's wrist once more and gently pulling him away. Once they were several yards away, Nancy looked over her shoulder at Duo. "It's almost your bedtime, Duo. Help me find a bed."
"Aw, sis! Do I gotta go to bed?"
"Yes."
"All right... I wish you wouldn't pull that church stuff on everyone, though,"
"It's all crap anyway, right guys?" Cassias said to the other demons. They quickly voiced their agreement.
Don't you ever shut up? Duo thought. If Nancy believes it, there has to be something to it, I just don't like her springing it on everyone all the time.
"Whatever!" Brennan called out.
Nancy turned and looked at Duo fiercely. "Duo, how many times do I have to tell you? It's not 'church stuff'! It is the word of God, salvation, and eternal life! We are talking about people's souls here, not just 'church stuff'!"
"O-kay." Duo muttered, rolling his eyes. "Hey, there's a bed there. C'mon, Nance," he half-walked, half-jogged to the bed and tossed his backpack at the foot of it. "Hey, Nance?"
"Mm?" Nancy murmured, setting her backpack next to his and sitting on the edge of the bed.
"Would you- would you tell me a story?" Duo asked, pulling at his shoestrings.
"Aw, ain't that sweet? The baby wants a story!" Donovan laughed.
Nancy looked up, surprised. "Sure, bro, if you want. What story do you want to hear?"
Duo pulled off his shoes and slid under the worn blankets. "Um... well... I dunno,"
"How about The Prince and the Pauper?" Nancy suggested.
"What's that?"
"You don't remember? I guess it's been awhile since I told you a story but you used to love that story! It's about a prince and an orphan who... well, I don't want to give it all away. How about I just tell you the story?"
"Okay, as long as it's a good story," Duo agreed, turning on his side and propping up his head with one elbow.
Nancy pulled the blanket over his shoulder, then settled herself more comfortably. "Once upon a time, in a far away land, there was a prince and there was an orphan..."