Disclaimer: I don't own GW.
Warnings: None as of yet.
~Two Pilots and A Baby~
by Cherry Blossom
'Am I doing the right thing?'
The girl looked down at the infant in her hands and sighed, cuddling the blanket swaddled form a little closer to her body. She looked around the church warily. It was dim but not dark and the smell of incense wafted through the room, clouding everything slightly in a haze of smoke. Few people were attending confessional that day. The girl could see a few old priests walking through the pews, talking softly to each other. The child in her arms shifted and let out a small cry.
"Shh…it's okay, baby."
The infant refused to be comforted, almost as if she sensed what was about to happen. The girl rocked and murmured words of assurance but they had no effect. Seeing this as a bad sign, the girl glanced nervously towards the exit.
'Maybe I should just go home and pretend this never happened.'
Then she frowned and shook her head.
'No. I can't chicken out now. It'll be okay. I'll just leave her with a priest. She'll be safe there…safer then she'll ever be at home with me.'
The girl brushed her fingers gently over the disgruntled baby's cheek.
"I'm sorry," she whispered softly. "I'm sorry I couldn't take care of you better. If I had only listened to my parents we wouldn't be in this mess right now. But the nice priests will take care of you until…until mommy finds a way to make things better, okay? You'll be nice and safe here. You'll be safe."
She repeated the words in her head like a mantra, more to reassure herself then the baby. Approaching the confessional, the girl saw a young priest step out of the box, whistling cheerfully.
'Here goes nothing,'
the girl thought as she walked up to him, meekly. 'I hope I'm doing the right thing…'~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"Bless me Father, for I have sinned. It's been…oh about thirty two hours since my last confession."
Duo grinned and leaned back on the small cushioned seat in the confessional, stretching out as far as the cramped space would let his tall frame allow. The priest behind the wooden screen sighed and shifted uneasily.
"What could you have possible done to warrant confession so soon, my son?"
"Welllll," Duo started, taking a deep breath, "I broke into someplace I wasn't supposed to be, killed about 30 people, blew up a factory, wrecked some property, and stole a bagel for lunch."
The priest sighed again. "Duo—"
"Ah ah," Duo warned. "You're not supposed to know who I am."
"How could I not? You're the only person that comes in here with confessions like that."
Duo pouted. "Still, you're not s'posed to do that."
Rolling his eyes, the priest answered, "Fine. My son, was there a reason you commited these sins?"
Duo smiled grimly. "The men I killed were about to kill me first, the factory was full of illegal weapons, the property belonged to someone who was enforcing child labour and…I was hungry."
"Did you do all this with malicious intent?"
"Nope."
"And did you enjoy doing it?"
"Well the bagel was rather tasty," Duo mused. "But no, I don't think so."
"Well then," the priest replied, "war brings special circumstances to mind. I think I can let you off with an admonishment to try not to kill quite so many people next time."
"Mou!" Duo protested. "Aren't cha going to give me some "Hail Mary's" or something?"
Becoming impatient which, admittedly, is not the best thing for a priest to be, the man replied, "Fine, fine. Say ten "Hail Mary's" and five "Our Father's" okay?
Duo smiled. "Thanks Father!" he said and then was gone from the booth in a flash. The priest pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his brow with it. Confessional with Duo always gave him a slight headache.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"Excuse me, father?"
Duo looked up, startled to see a young mother with a baby balanced carefully on her hip standing before him.
'She must think that I'm a priest,'
he thought, amused at the idea. 'She looks a little worried. And I wonder how she got that bruise on her cheek?'"Could I ask a favour?"
"Oh what a cute baby! What's her name?" Duo exclaimed, reaching forward the chuck the tiny child under the chin and making a silly face.
The baby giggled and reached up a chubby fist to take hold of the finger Duo offered out, shoving it into her mouth in the way that all babies do.
"Her name is Tori."
"She's beautiful!"
"Yes," the mother smiled, but it never quite reached her eyes and her lower lip trembled just a little bit. "I was wondering if you might be willing to hold her for me while I go light a candle."
"Sure!" Duo said, taking the child eagerly from her mother. "Hi Tori! Hi little princess!" Duo rocked the baby gently in his arms, making little cooing noises.
The mother looked torn for an instant, as if caught between to powerful forces. She hesitated and then looked back at her baby.
'It will only be for a little while. Just 'till I can get David calmed down a bit. She'll be safer here.'
The girl pressed a quick kiss to the golden curls lying on top of her child's forehead. Her lips quivered just the tiniest bit.
"Be a good girl, Tori," she said softly. "Mommy will be back for you soon."
"Don't worry," Duo piped up. "She's in good hands. You just go light your candle."
The girl swallowed the hard lump in her throat and murmured a soft thank you before disappearing around the corner to where the alter candles were, leaving Duo alone with the baby.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Duo sat down in one of the pews and bounced the baby on his knee, crossing his eyes and sticking out his tongue to make her laugh.
'I wonder how old she is?
' he mused. 'Can't be more than a couple months.'"You certainly are a cutie," he laughed when she made a grab for his braid. The child ignored this and raised her chubby fists in the air once more, determined to get her hands on the rope of chestnut hair. After teasing the kid with the end of the braid a few times, Duo let her have it, laughing when she shoved it into her mouth.
"Now, now…" he admonished gently, removing the braid from her lips. "That's not food. But I bet when your mommy comes back she'll have a nice bottle waiting for you."
Upset with the loss of her toy, the child's lower lip trembled and she started to wail, loudly. Duo got a slightly panicked look on his face and he tried to shush the child unsuccessfully.
"It's okay! Don't cry! Uh…look, you want the braid? You can have it back! Just stop crying will ya?"
Tori didn't care about the braid anymore. She was hungry. Duo cradled the kid in his arms and looked around the room for her mother.
"Let's just find your mommy. She'll know what to do."
Duo headed towards the alter candles…and discovered that the young mother wasn't there!
'Okay, don't panic…she's probably just in confessional. I'll just pop my head in and see…'
But when Duo pulled aside the curtain, the small seat was empty. The priest stirred from behind the window.
"Yes?"
The baby in Duo's arms started to wiggle, causing him to tighten his grip. "Uh, hello Father."
The priest frowned. "Duo you were just in here! How could you possibly need to confess again?"
"Actually," Duo said, " I was just wondering if a young woman came in after me."
"No, I haven't seen anybody."
Duo gulped audibly and shifted the baby from his arm to his hip, quietly starting to panic. A cold feeling of dread filled his insides.
"Thanks Father," he managed to mumble as he stepped out of the confessional. A quick glance around the room confirmed that the young mother was no longer in the church.
'She split. She abandoned her baby. How could she do something like that?'
The baby took a deep breath and wailed loudly, shaking Duo from his thoughts. He held the infant tightly, whispering words of reassurance. The baby's cries faded into small hiccups as the child was cuddled and comforted.
'What do I do? I can't just leave her here…I suppose I should take her to the police.'
Duo looked down at the small helpless babe in his arms and felt his heart constrict. He couldn't let this child grow up like he did: motherless and alone.
'I'll take her home. Heero is the best hacker in the world. Surely _he_ can find the kid's parents, wherever they may be.'
Duo held the child a bit closer, rubbing her back soothingly.
"Don't worry little princess. Duo's gonna take care of you," he whispered, heading out of the church.
'Wonder what Heero'll say when I show him _this_!'
To Be Continued…