Another Chance

x1-Taken-Over

Mild cursing

'I hope this isn't a mistake,' he thought with a deep sigh. He continued driving along the small pebble street and glanced through tinted glasses at the small, sturdy old houses, small white fences and big oak trees with a tire dangling from a branch. He noticed how many people were in their yards, either mowing the lawns, tending to their gardens or sitting on the porch-no doubt whispering about various whodunits.

Heero couldn't help but smile; his old town hadn't changed a bit. He drove by the old town park and saw quite a few young men focusing on their jump shot and dunks. A familiar warmth spread through him as the memories came forth but he didn't let them go too far. What had happened many years ago had been wonderful but foolish, and now was definitely not the time or place to think about them.

He pulled himself together as he turned down a familiar street and slowed down as he came upon the third house from the left. He pulled into the driveway of the 2 story red and black bricked house and cut off the engine. He noticed forest green Mercedes convertible and didn't recognize it that was parked on the side near the mailbox. It look fairly out of place considering that everyone in town owned either a Ford or a Chevy. He dismissed it quickly, after all the neighbors may just have a relative visiting or there maybe some other insignificant excuse. He turned his attention from the expensive sports car to the entrance of the house and stared at it in thought.

'I shouldn't have come; this was a total mistake. Things happen for reasons, do they not?' He questioned himself. He was startled as he heard a loud bang across the street. He turned in his seat just in time to see 2 young boys running from old Mrs. Hester. He looked to see what damage had been done and couldn't help but chuckle. It seems that the boys decided it would be hilarious if they wrote on Mrs. Hester's car, 'HALLOWEEN IS OVER YA OL' BAT,' in big white letters. He knew that they would definitely catch hell from that. Mrs. Hester's hover-round may only go 5 miles per hour but she, no doubt, knew where they lived and once she caught up with them-all hell would break loose.

He turned back around and took a deep breath. 'I need to do this, I need answers...I deserve answers.' He nodded solidly to himself and open the door to his midnight blue Porsche. He shut it tightly and walked to the door. He walked three steps up and rung the door bell. He waited a total of 15 seconds (he counted) and watched as the cherry red door opened to reveal-his sister!

What the hell?

"What the hell?" He questioned as he stared at this older sister, Miriam.

"Holy Hell," she said with shock written on her face and vocalized. She stepped out onto the porch and let the screen door slam behind her as she took a look at her baby brother.

"Miri...oh my God. It's been..."

"Eight fucking years! Heero Kiyoshi Yuy, where the hell have you been?" Miriam yelled with tears brimming in her eyes.

"Oh Miri," Heero used his nickname for her once his shock had worn off, "it's so good to see you. I really missed..." He was cut short as he was enveloped in a very strong and very tight bear hug.

"Oh Heero, I've-we've missed you so much," she sobbed into his shoulder.

He gently wrapped his arms around her and ran them up and down her back. "Don't cry Miri. I missed you too just please stop crying." Although, it was definitely not a good time, he couldn't help but notice with glee that he was a couple inches taller than her. Back when they were little she used to always tower over him, big sister or not it bugged the hell out of him.

"Oh my goodness," she laughed tearfully. "Look at me, I'm bawling like a little baby. And what are we doing out here? Come in, come in!" She all but pushed him inside and headed towards the kitchen with the screen door swinging shut behind her.

Heero followed at a more sedate pace and looked over the house he grew up in. It hadn't changed that much, there was still that cozy feeling that you got when you walked through the door. The couch and love seat looked fairly new-they were a cream and pink color and looked quite comfortable. The old piano was still in the corner shining bright next to the lamp. The walls were covered in a cream white with various works of art covering them; the carpet was still a fluffy beige and if he looked closely, next to the right piano leg, was a light purple stain.

He recalled how the stain came to be with fond remembrance. He was only 10 years old and had been watching an extremely scary movie, the Exorcist, with his brother-Akira who was 13. Neither his parents nor his sister and other brother were home with them so he decided to drink grape juice in the living which was a big no-no. Anyway, it had come to a scary scene and he was clearly on edge. He smiled to himself as he remembered how his brother had yelled in his ear, and therefore, made him jump to the ceiling and spill his juice on the carpet. They had quickly hid it by moving the carpet to cover it and thought all was forgotten until their mother decided to vacuum...under the piano, UNDER the carpet. Needless to say, both their asses were smarting for a few days.

"Heero?" Miri called from the kitchen.

He bypassed the rest of the furniture knowing he could reminisce more later and made his way to the kitchen. He noticed that the kitchen had stayed the same expect for the tile instead of linoleum on the floor and counter, also the new chestnut colored cabinets, sparkling new sink, huge steel refrigerator, new table set and-actually the kitchen had changed quite a bit.

"Seems different, huh?" Miri asked as she watched her brother survey the kitchen.

He smirked. "Yeah, really different."

"Well, a lot of things have changed since you've been gone." She spoke flatly and looked at him for real. "A lot," she whispered. His hair was the same chocolate mess it had always been, he had grown a few inches gaining the upper hand that she had once upon a time ago.

"What?" He questioned and squirmed slightly as he noticed her stare.

She laughed lightly, "You've grown up Hee-chan. You're taller, got a little tan with some freckles coming out..."

Heero blushed, "I don't look that different."

"The last time I saw you, you had just gotten rid of your braces, you'd shed a few pounds and you were all gangly," she giggled.

"Was not," he muttered as his blush grew.

She leaned against the cool counter and continued, "you didn't have as much acne as you once did, you caught a 2-inch growth spurt-but were still shorter than me."

"And you never let me forget it," he smiled as his blush lightened. He hopped onto the counter, just like old times.

"Of course not, couldn't have you going and getting a big head now could I?"

Heero rolled his cobalt blue eyes, "Obviously not."

She laughed softly and pushed against the counter towards the stove. "Would you like something to drink?"

"Sure, any water?" He spoke as he watched his sister turn on the stove then rummage through the cabinets coming out with a tea kettle.

"Ooh, a health nut now, huh?" She said jokingly as she brought the kettle to the sink, filled it with water and set it on the stove. She went to the fridge and got out a bottle of water and a small milk carton. She handed him the water bottle and walked towards the table, sitting down with a tired sigh.

He hopped down from his perch and followed her to the table, taking the seat to the left of her. He took a long swig of his bottle before stating, "You know you've changed too."

"Oh I have, have I?" She spoke amusedly and stood up as the kettle began to whistle. She took it off the stove and searched in the top cabinet for coffee mug and tea packet. "And just how have I changed?" She inquired as she sat down with her ingredients.

"Well, your hair is shorter for one thing," he noted as he stared at her own chocolate locks that reached a little past her shoulders in contrast to when she was younger and the length went down her back, "your complexion looks darker and your freckles are coming out too."

She chuckled and began to stir her tea.

He hesitantly continued, "And uh...not to be mean or anything but you look kind of fat." He didn't know what he expected her reaction to be but it definitely wasn't to bust out in laughter.

"Wow, that's something I haven't heard yet," she wiped the tears of mirth away and smiled serenly.

"The hell is so funny?" He frowned, he hated when he wasn't in on the joke.

"Hee-chan, I'm pregnant. I'm 6 months along so the baby's due in October, hopefully." She smiled to herself and took a sip of her tea. After a few minutes of not hearing a sound she looked up to see her little brother staring at her with the most bizarre expression.

"What did you say?" Heero questioned again to make sure he hadn't been hearing things.

"I'm pregnant," she said slowly, "is there a problem?"

"Uh yeah! For starters how can you be pregnant you're only," he paused in thought, "25 years old! Oh wait, never mind that is kind of old..."

"Excuse me!" She yelled outraged. The age 25 was anything but old-she was still in her prime.

"No! Let's stick with the subject shall we? How in the world can you be pregnant?"

"Well Heero, when a man and a woman have a strong attraction to each other they..."

"Miri!" He whined, "That's not what I'm talking about and you know it!"

She looked apologetic, "Honey, I'm sorry I had no idea that me being pregnant would bother you so much."

"It...I...No! It doesnt bother me its just that...you're not even married and..." Heero ranted.

"Actually I am."

"Say what?" Heero looked at her squarely.

"Yeah, his name's Collin Barter and we were married three years ago next November." She said with a happy sigh.

Heero felt his heart clench. His one and only sister was married almost three years ago and he didn't know about it. Was she punishing him for leaving? Was she angry with him? It couldn't be because they were both acting just like old times.

"Why didn't you invite me?" He asked while trying to mask the hurt he knew was apparent.

"Oh Hee-chan," she spoke and grabbed the hands that were laying lifeless in his lap, "I did invite you. I sent a letter to your current residence, I think it was in Arizona, but I never received anything from you in response. It was a miracle finding the place you were staying at and I certainly didn't know your number so..."

Heero nodded in understanding and squeezed the tender hands holding his. Arizona sounded familiar, they had pretty much lived everywhere before settling in the big city.

"I'm so sorry. You don't know how much I wanted you to be there. There's so many things that I wanted you there for...but you weren't." She sighed and added, "We all missed you terribly but never heard from you so figured, where ever you were, you were having a wonderful time without us."

"That's not true at all," Heero denied. "I missed you guys so much. It was so hard for me being away from you, Akira, Haru and Mom. I..." Heero felt himself getting choked up and cleared his throat, willing away the burning at the back of his eyes. "It doesn't matter," he shook his head to clear his thoughts and emotions, "I'm here now."

"That's right," she said through a tearful smile. She wiped at her eyes and took a steadying sip of her cool tea. "Um, if you don't mind me asking, not that it isn't a wonderful thing to have you here but...why are you here? Why now?"

"Well, I...I just thought it was too long since we'd been apart and decided to take some time off and come here. I'm just sorry I didn't do it sooner." He didn't feel like going into the gory details of why he was truly there-he'd save that for a late night confession he knew they'd have.

"Don't even worry about it; I'm glad you finally made your way back home. Mr. Big Shot up there in the Big Apple." She noticed Heero's blush and shy smile, "We're all so proud of you...especially Mom."

"She is? Really?" Heero asked excitedly. Could it be that maybe she did want to see him?

"Oh yeah, she won't stop telling everyone how you made it into the prestigious New York University and are about to be signed to the top magazine up there. Even though everyone in town knows about your success, they humor her anyway." She laughed and drank down the rest of her tea before taking it to the sink and rinsing it out.

He smiled. 'Wow, I had no idea.'

"Actually, you deciding to come down at this time is perfect." She spoke as she dried the clean mug.

"Perfect, how?" His brows furrowed.

"Well, the fourth of July is coming up pretty quick and you know the annual party down by the lake." She placed the mug back in its place and gently shut the cabinet door. She watched the recognition light up his face.

"Oh, that's right. I had completely forgotten. And this town treats the fourth of July like a summer Christmas." He joked.

She giggled and nodded her head. "Ain't it the truth." She walked towards the refrigerator and took out an orange. She sat down and began peeling it. "You know that Akira and Haru are here, right?"

"Are they really?" Heero asked excitedly. He had missed his older brothers something awful and it would be heaven to see them again.

"Mhmm, they got here about two days ago while me and hubby got here just yesterday." Once she was finished peeling the oranges she handed half the naked orange to Heero and saved the other for herself.

"Thanks," he began eating the orange piece by piece. "So do they live near here or is this something you guys do every year?"

"Um, a little of both I guess. We all live pretty close to here; I live on Baker St., Haru lives near Town Center and Akira plopped his country ass deep in the woods but he has the nicest place. The place is damn near gigantic and he helped build most of it. Even Haru did some and..."

Heero listened withe envy. It seemed his siblings had kept in close contact through the years. At that moment he would've given anything to have had a different life. His mother and father wouldn't have gotten a divorce, his father wouldn't have taken him all the way to New York City, and he wouldn't be sitting here feeling like a stranger in his own home.

Miri stopped short and when she noticed Heero wasn't listening. She saw the blank look on his face and asked cautiously, "You alright, Hee-chan?"

Heero was jolted from his thoughts at the sound of her voice. "Course, Miri. I'm fine."

She stared at him for a while before speaking. "I know that it's been a long time, all of us have some serious talking to do and catch up on one another's life."

Heero nodded for her to continue.

"We've all missed you, B.B," Heero smiled at his family known nick name for 'Baby Brother,' "and I hope that you stay long enough and give us the chance to do just that."

"I'll stay here as long as you want me," he whispered.

She smiled happily and wiped her hands on her jeans. "Well, come on then, you've got luggage right?"

"Yeah, it's in the trunk."

"Come then, we'll get it and get you settled in. You can even sleep in your old room." She stood up and started towards the door.

"Okay," he replied happily and followed his sister out the door.

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