Warning: contains the death of an infant.
Not up to it? Don't read.
A little something I thought of when asleep (yes, I dreamt it. My mind is sick and twisted; I know.)
Reviews are love.
Standard disclaimer applies
A young Heero Yuy was seated on a chair, watching as a young woman tenderly rocked her infant back and forth in the cradle of her arms.
The female had beautiful brown hair, braided carefully and tied down at the end with a silky white ribbon that matched her pure white dress.
Her chocolate-brown eyes beamed with joy when the infant in her arms giggled, causing Heero's heart to ache painfully as he wondered if he himself had once been held by such a beautiful woman with the same loving tenderness and care.
He wondered if similar beaming eyes had ever been on him, watching him with pride as he giggled and wrapped his tiny hand around his mother's finger.
"Excuse me, boy?"
Heero jumped, finding the female to be crouched down in front of him with a warm smile present on her doll-like face. "Are you lost?"
Heero simply shook his head, turning to look at the baby in the woman's arms.
"Oh. Are you perhaps waiting for your parents?
Heero shook his head once again. "I don't have parents."
This caused the female's eyes to widen before they filled with tears. "I'm so sorry," she said before she placed one of her hands on Heero's and squeezed his hand gently.
Heero was surprised by both the reacting and the touch of the female and sat there frozen, simply staring at the woman who held his hand for the longest of times before her baby started crying, demanding her attention.
"My name is Alyza and this little beauty is called Ferylin," the woman, Alyza, said as she sat down on the bench next to Heero and smiled warmly again, poking her child's tummy when introducing her. "What's yours?"
"Heero," came the silent reply, causing the female's smile to widen.
"Do you want to hold her for a bit, Heero?"
Before the boy could even open his mouth to respond, Alyza dropped the infant in Heero's arms, instructing him on how to hold her and telling him that he needed to support the head at all times.
Heero stared at the baby, Ferylin, in awe when she giggled and stretched out her tiny hands as if wanting to wrap them around the boy's head. Her beautiful brown eyes seemed to be glowing as they were staring curiously into the world.
"She seems to like you," Alyza said with a soft giggle as she watched Ferylin kick both legs up in excitement and wrap small hands around his fingers, examining his digits curiously.
Heero let a smile lit his features as he wiggled his fingers, causing Ferylin to let out a squeak of joy.
Alyza watched the two interact for the longest of times before she got to her feet. "Heero, can I ask a favor of you?"
Heero looked up at this, the smile slowly disappearing from his face as he waited for the female to continue talking.
"I need to run a small errand in that shop over there," she pointed to somewhere behind Heero "I won't take too long and seeing how the two of you seem to be getting along just fine, would you mind looking after my Ferylin for a bit?"
Heero hesitantly glanced down at the baby in his arms before looking back up at Alyza, his eyes clearly showing his hesitation and fear.
Alyza giggled at this. "Don't worry. She doesn't cry too much. All you need to do is keep her occupied. And don't forget to keep supporting her head! I promise I'll be back shortly. Can I trust you?"
Heero's eyes flashed with determination as he nodded his head. "Yes!"
The female gave a chuckle as she leaned down and kissed Heero's forehead. "You're such a sweet boy. I'll bring you back some ice cream as a token of my gratitude. If anything happens, you can just come looking for me, okay? I won't take too long! Bye now."
Heero's cheeks burned in embarrassment when the female lay her soft lips on his forehead and kissed him. He had never been kissed before.
His cheeks turned a deep shade of pink when the female turned around and waved at him before crossing the road and disappearing into a shop.
A sigh escaped him as he looked down at Ferylin who was looking at him with a puzzled expression, as if wondering why the unknown boy had turned the same color as a strawberry all of a sudden.
"Your mommy will be back soon. Don't worry," Heero told the infant, rocking her back and forth in his arms like he had seen Alyza do earlier.
It was a bit harder for him to do seeing how he had smaller and weaker arms but he kept rocking her back and forth none the less, smiling happily when he watched her yawn and slowly close her eyes as she drifted off to sleep.
He couldn't help but chuckle. For a mammal who can only eat, sleep, play and drool, Ferylin was adorable, he had to admit that much.
He watched the rising and falling of the infant's chest for the longest of times before he felt his arms grow tired. He grimaced at the numb feeling in his arms as he glanced around, trying to figure a way to gives his arms some peace and not disturb the sleeping beauty in his arms.
At the lack of something better, Heero pulled his legs up onto the bench and carefully lay Ferylin on them, supporting her head with one hand as he shifted to make himself more comfortable before he scooped the infant back into his arms again with a smile.
His arms were now resting on his knees and Ferylin was tucked warmly against his chest. At least that way, he wouldn't grow tired holding the kid.
It was then that a rich smell of perfume traveled through the air and found its way to Heero, swirling around his head in a sickening way before entering his nose and mercilessly irritating him.
Heero wrinkled his nose and shook his head, trying to get rid of the feeling without being able to touch his nose. "Shit.." he growled when realization hit him and before he knew it, he jumped harshly into the air as he let out a sneeze hard enough to be heard from across town.
Still recovering from the sneeze, Heero blinked his eyes open and glanced down, finding Ferylin's eyes to be opened widely before her mouth followed and an ear-piercing cry escaped the infant's throat.
"Ssh! I'm sorry, Ferylin. Don't cry! I'm sorry! It's just that stupid perfume that made me sneeze. Oh, I'm so sorry!"
Ferylin, not caring nor understanding any of the things the boy was saying, cried even louder, kicking her feet against Heero's body in distress.
"Sssh! Don't cry. Don't cry, I'm here. Don't cry!" Heero said as he jumped to his feet and rocked Ferylin back and forth, desperate to make the girl stop crying before Alyza would return from the shops. "I'm sorry, so stop crying!"
Ferylin didn't stop crying, however, and it caused Heero to panic more. What if he had hurt her? Had he done something wrong? Had he forgotten to support her head? Why wouldn't she just stop crying?!
"Ferylin!" The boy cried as he lay the wailing infant down on the bench, oblivious as to how cold the bench was to her. "Please stop crying! I want Alyza to be proud of me, so, so please stop, okay? Please?!"
Tears of desperation appeared in his eyes when Ferylin kicked it up another notch, screaming as tears flowed down her eyes.
Heero, at a complete loss of what to do, wanted only to make the infant quit crying. Wanted only for Alyza to come back and find Ferylin lying peacefully in his arms, giving him ice cream and another kiss on his forehead in response. He wanted nothing more then for Ferylin to stop. To make her stop her wails.
"Shut up!" Heero growled as he shot forward, pressing his hand over the infant's mouth and applying pressure, smothering her cries and sound.
"Stop crying! Shut up! I want Alyza to be proud of me! I don't want her to hate me, I want her to be proud, like she is of you! So please, please stop crying!" Heero whimpered, tears streaming down his face as he watched Ferylin's body twitch and fight against his actions helplessly. "Please, stop crying!"
It was then that Ferylin's body suddenly stopped moving, showing no sign of life anymore as Ferylin fell quiet, her eyes closed as if she were merely sleeping.
But Heero knew better.
He knew that Ferylin hadn't stopped moving because she wanted to do him a favor. He knew that Ferylin hadn't stopped crying, simply because he asked her to.
He knew that Ferylin had stopped, because he had given her no choice.
Lifting his hand off of the girl's mouth, Heero watched the lifeless body through a curtain of tears. What had he done?
"F-ferylin? Ferylin!" Heero cried as he shook the infant's lifeless body desperately. "Open your eyes, Ferylin!"
When no reaction came, the boy panicked. Alyza would get mad. She'd hate him. She'd get angry and scream at him. She'd hate him forever.
Panicking even more, Heero jumped to his feet and ran, not once looking back as he ran away from Ferylin's lifeless body and the shops Alyza was in. He ran, not at all caring where his feet were taking him as he opened his mouth and sobbed loudly, the image of Ferylin clear in his mind.
"Heero?"
Heero looked up, his eyes filled with all sorts of emotions as they met warm violet ones that looked at him with tenderness and warmth.
"Isn't she beautiful?"
A small smile tugged at the boy's lips as he glanced down at the bundle in the female's arms, finding soft brown eyes to be looking at him curiously.
"Yes, Relena, she is," the male spoke as he watched Relena's eyes beam with pride.
"What should we call her?" The female asked as she handed the baby to Heero, making sure that he supported the infant's head. "I can't think of anything pretty enough."
Heero stared deeply into the infant's eyes that seemed to be glowing as they looked up at him. "What do you think of 'Ferylin'?"
Relena smiled widely as she wrapped her arms around Heero's shoulders and glanced down at the small child in his arms. "Sounds beautiful."
Fin.