Chapter 1: It was All a Dream
~*~ A black darkness gave way into a beautiful blue sky and luscious
green grass. It was all so vivid and bright, a perfect day. A young woman
approached from the monastery not far up the hill of grass. From here the
place looked like a precious jewel, its stained glass windows gleamed in
the sun, so bright that it could be seen from far off, where a small figure
stood besides a tree. And though the stained glass of the place was
beautiful, the fact that the cherry trees were blooming added to the
beauty, the beauty the small figure saw from far away, like a landscape
painting but so much more real. ~*~
~*~The woman who had come from the monastery drew closer, her dress billowing with the wind. The small figure that was a little girl didn't know what to call what the woman was wearing, though the woman had explained it to her several times before. It was what you had to wear if you were a nun, though she didn't quite understand what a nun's role was either. But she made a conclusion on her own: Nuns were beautiful angels who came down from the sky so that they could share their kindness with people who didn't deserve it. Sister Helen could make an aristocrat throw away all of his money and she could dance at a ball with a prince and everyone there would love her.~*~
~*~ *But she stays here with us and doesn't wear the sparkly dresses that the other women in town wear, especially on a day like today* thought the small girl. It was the fourth of July and they would be able to see fireworks from where the girl stood. Sister Helen stopped and glanced at something behind her. She stifled a giggle and gestured for the little girl to look.. "Shh. He's at it again."She stated, smiling, and the little girl turned her attention to a young boy in the distance standing very, very still. ~*~
~*~ the girl walked slowly, closer to the boy in question. Suddenly, she knew why he was so still. A single monarch butterfly rested on his nose. Now, this event was a great victory for him, for he had always wanted to catch a butterfly but was never fast enough. And as soon as the moment came, it vanished. He had sneezed and the butterfly flew far away. "DAMN!" was the great sound that broke the peace of the field.~*~
~*~ This was her great chance. She crept quietly a little closer, like she had seen an alley cat do to a mouse, and she made her bold move: She pounced him. Of course, once again she underestimated him. He saw her coming up and in a split second they were tumbling through the grass and laughing. ~*~
~*~ He had managed to lift her up above his head and they twirled. She laughed and looked down at his face. His violet eyes shined with the light of the day but they were not just any violet eyes. They were special eyes, eyes that always seemed to laugh and they were a much different violet than the violet that was in the crayon box, but then again, they could never put that color in a crayon. It would take the point out of looking into someone's eyes. ~*~
~*~After a while of being dizzy a familiar figure approached and both children ran at it. They had both clinged to it, but they could never knock down a man as tall as Father Maxwell. He had just came back from the last confessions of the day and sat in the cool grass. He was a kind man, kinder than any person they would meet in their entire lives. ~*~
~*~ The day faded to night and the sky shone with explosions of different colors of lights. It was a show of independence though this was a tattered colony. Days like these proved to people that it was still an American colony.~*~
~*~But the lights quickly faded and everything around the small girl was wrapped in a sheet of darkness and everyone around her was gone. And as though being alone wasn't enough a fire surrounded her and visions of Sister Helen and Father Maxwell, both chained to crosses of black marble, as though being crucified, filled her mind and their wrists bled. And it all faded away and the young boy was the only one there in the darkness, his clothes tattered as though he was attacked by an invisible enemy and he lifted a single hand to feel her face but began to fade away, his eyes devoid of the life once in them. And then he was gone and she was alone in the darkness with the beating of her heart. ~*~
And it all faded to the pounding on an apartment door in a city on earth. It was a very small and simple place with a wonderful view...of the alley. It was also generally a messy place...to say the least. And on the floor was a cheap, inflatable bed and on that of the locked apartment door.
"MAXWELL! WHERE THE FUCK IS MY RENT, YA LOW LIFE!?!"
The pounding continued. She sighed, brushing her bangs from her tired eyes with her hand. It was the old landlady. She was pissed off about not getting her rent these past few months and she was sick and tired of this Maxwell girl's excuses and sweet talk. The old woman was now cursing her in Italian.
The young girl stifled a laugh. That old bitch was probably still in her night gown with curlers in her hair and all. This reminded her, she wasn't exactly decent enough to be in public herself. She dressed herself as quickly and as quietly as possible, putting on a simple pair of black jeans (which she had rolled up at the cuffs because it was too long), a black peasant top, black glove, and her black boots. She picked up her trench coat, necklace, and laptop, and put them into her velvet bag. She didn't know why she always had to carry that blasted laptop around, but Dr. G insisted on it, knowing he would have to call on her at any time of day.
"I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE, MAXWELL!" came the bitching from outside and she moved faster, searching frantically around for something that could be used as a breakfast food. "Damn it! Why do I have to eat so much?!" she cursed herself mentally as she scanned the barren kitchen while braiding her long hair.
When all seemed lost she found a single apple on the table, which she should have noticed a very long time ago. "Whoo! Kick-ass! Fruit!" she mentally congratulated herself and digged around for her special Al Capone hat. After successfully finding it she struck a dramatic pose in front of her mirror and walked up to her closed apartment door, which was still being pounded on. She gave the door the finger (Yeah, as if the friggin' landlady was going to see that) and walked over to her fire escape window, opening it and taking in the air after a long rainfall. There was something about rain that she felt at home with. This city wasn't her home and that apartment wasn't either, but the rain was what she dwelled in, where she thought.
She was going to need to make this as quick and as quiet as a great escape could be or the landlady might catch on and get her anyway. She was already familiar with Maxwell's different escape routes.
And since climbing down would make too much noise...she jumped. Either she was crazy or extremely suicidal...or both. Nonetheless, she jumped, bag on her back, and apple in hand. She landed safely on her feet with a soft thud. However...something was missing..."I did have an apple with me when I jumped...didn't I?" she mused and searched all around her. Finding nothing, she shrugged and walked off, something running down the alley as she left
But wait. Let's rewind. *Meanwhile*
On another side of the city a strapping young man yawned, knocking on the ground-level apartment door. He was fighting for consciousness and his eyes teetered between opened and closed. As he was teetering he hit his head on what was something he could have used a long time ago: the doorbell. He would have never discovered it had it not been for his dozing. He forced his violet hues open and ran a hand through his chestnut brown bangs, his braid swinging near his knees, and his priest outfit ruffled slightly by the light breeze.
The door swung open to reveal angry cobalt blue eyes glaring at the braided boy from under brown tufts of hair, suppressing the urge to smack him for messing with his doorbell.
"Hey, Heero. How ya been?" the braided one asked, smirking slightly, as it was his natural way. He then yawned into his hand.
"Duo, you're late." Heero stated flatly, narrowing his eyes at him... He then proceeded to drag Duo in by the shirt and seated him in a chair, in front of a very shiny and new-looking laptop, seated on a perfectly clean mini dinner table. He glanced around him. Everything in this place was so clean that it looked sterilized. What is up with Heero Yuy and perfection?
"Dr. J has instructed me to look for this girl," he gestured towards the laptop screen. "She was spotted during the White Barge mission and is said to have possession over another Gundam." Duo analyzed the screen thoroughly. "She goes by the name Catherine Maxwell...spelled the same way as yours..."Heero mused.
"Small world." Duo stated blandly and Heero went on.
"We are to find out whether she is an ally or an enemy. You were assigned as my partner for this research...since you're so good at stealth...."he trailed off when he noticed that Duo had fallen asleep on the laptop. He hit the braided one with his mission status folder and jotted down the address of the young pilot in question.
"I am the God Of Death..." Duo muttered, still asleep. Heero sighed and slapped him. He knew that Duo wasn't used to waking up so early but the mission was in question. And so they set off.
*A Little Later*
Duo and Heero were at the other side of the alley that belonged to the building in which the other pilot dwelled. They had stopped in their tracks, hearing a light thud and indistinguishable muttering. But now, whatever it was had left. They both walked near the row of fire escapes, leading up. Suddenly something fell from the sky...and hit Duo on the head.
"Ewww! What the hell?!" he felt around his head and found little chunks and pieces of apple in his hair and on the floor around him. "Sick!" he exclaimed in disgust.
Heero was thoroughly confused by the situation and looked up at the sky in search of whoever threw the apple. He was about to check on Duo's condition when suddenly some fat old lady in a nightgown, with curlers in her hair crept up behind Duo, wielding a dough roller.
"AH HA! YOU THOUGHT YOU COULD ESCAPEFROM ME! WHERE'S MY RENT, MAXWELL!?" she screamed.
"Whoa!" Duo jumped up to face her. "I don't have your fuckin' rent, lady!"
She looked at him and slowly realized that this was not the right kid. She cursed herself under her breath for letting the girl slip away. She decided to scold the boy anyway. "You should have more manners when speaking to a lady, especially an elder lady, young man." She went on, muttering about foul language in youngsters these days.
To Be Continued.
~*~The woman who had come from the monastery drew closer, her dress billowing with the wind. The small figure that was a little girl didn't know what to call what the woman was wearing, though the woman had explained it to her several times before. It was what you had to wear if you were a nun, though she didn't quite understand what a nun's role was either. But she made a conclusion on her own: Nuns were beautiful angels who came down from the sky so that they could share their kindness with people who didn't deserve it. Sister Helen could make an aristocrat throw away all of his money and she could dance at a ball with a prince and everyone there would love her.~*~
~*~ *But she stays here with us and doesn't wear the sparkly dresses that the other women in town wear, especially on a day like today* thought the small girl. It was the fourth of July and they would be able to see fireworks from where the girl stood. Sister Helen stopped and glanced at something behind her. She stifled a giggle and gestured for the little girl to look.. "Shh. He's at it again."She stated, smiling, and the little girl turned her attention to a young boy in the distance standing very, very still. ~*~
~*~ the girl walked slowly, closer to the boy in question. Suddenly, she knew why he was so still. A single monarch butterfly rested on his nose. Now, this event was a great victory for him, for he had always wanted to catch a butterfly but was never fast enough. And as soon as the moment came, it vanished. He had sneezed and the butterfly flew far away. "DAMN!" was the great sound that broke the peace of the field.~*~
~*~ This was her great chance. She crept quietly a little closer, like she had seen an alley cat do to a mouse, and she made her bold move: She pounced him. Of course, once again she underestimated him. He saw her coming up and in a split second they were tumbling through the grass and laughing. ~*~
~*~ He had managed to lift her up above his head and they twirled. She laughed and looked down at his face. His violet eyes shined with the light of the day but they were not just any violet eyes. They were special eyes, eyes that always seemed to laugh and they were a much different violet than the violet that was in the crayon box, but then again, they could never put that color in a crayon. It would take the point out of looking into someone's eyes. ~*~
~*~After a while of being dizzy a familiar figure approached and both children ran at it. They had both clinged to it, but they could never knock down a man as tall as Father Maxwell. He had just came back from the last confessions of the day and sat in the cool grass. He was a kind man, kinder than any person they would meet in their entire lives. ~*~
~*~ The day faded to night and the sky shone with explosions of different colors of lights. It was a show of independence though this was a tattered colony. Days like these proved to people that it was still an American colony.~*~
~*~But the lights quickly faded and everything around the small girl was wrapped in a sheet of darkness and everyone around her was gone. And as though being alone wasn't enough a fire surrounded her and visions of Sister Helen and Father Maxwell, both chained to crosses of black marble, as though being crucified, filled her mind and their wrists bled. And it all faded away and the young boy was the only one there in the darkness, his clothes tattered as though he was attacked by an invisible enemy and he lifted a single hand to feel her face but began to fade away, his eyes devoid of the life once in them. And then he was gone and she was alone in the darkness with the beating of her heart. ~*~
And it all faded to the pounding on an apartment door in a city on earth. It was a very small and simple place with a wonderful view...of the alley. It was also generally a messy place...to say the least. And on the floor was a cheap, inflatable bed and on that of the locked apartment door.
"MAXWELL! WHERE THE FUCK IS MY RENT, YA LOW LIFE!?!"
The pounding continued. She sighed, brushing her bangs from her tired eyes with her hand. It was the old landlady. She was pissed off about not getting her rent these past few months and she was sick and tired of this Maxwell girl's excuses and sweet talk. The old woman was now cursing her in Italian.
The young girl stifled a laugh. That old bitch was probably still in her night gown with curlers in her hair and all. This reminded her, she wasn't exactly decent enough to be in public herself. She dressed herself as quickly and as quietly as possible, putting on a simple pair of black jeans (which she had rolled up at the cuffs because it was too long), a black peasant top, black glove, and her black boots. She picked up her trench coat, necklace, and laptop, and put them into her velvet bag. She didn't know why she always had to carry that blasted laptop around, but Dr. G insisted on it, knowing he would have to call on her at any time of day.
"I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE, MAXWELL!" came the bitching from outside and she moved faster, searching frantically around for something that could be used as a breakfast food. "Damn it! Why do I have to eat so much?!" she cursed herself mentally as she scanned the barren kitchen while braiding her long hair.
When all seemed lost she found a single apple on the table, which she should have noticed a very long time ago. "Whoo! Kick-ass! Fruit!" she mentally congratulated herself and digged around for her special Al Capone hat. After successfully finding it she struck a dramatic pose in front of her mirror and walked up to her closed apartment door, which was still being pounded on. She gave the door the finger (Yeah, as if the friggin' landlady was going to see that) and walked over to her fire escape window, opening it and taking in the air after a long rainfall. There was something about rain that she felt at home with. This city wasn't her home and that apartment wasn't either, but the rain was what she dwelled in, where she thought.
She was going to need to make this as quick and as quiet as a great escape could be or the landlady might catch on and get her anyway. She was already familiar with Maxwell's different escape routes.
And since climbing down would make too much noise...she jumped. Either she was crazy or extremely suicidal...or both. Nonetheless, she jumped, bag on her back, and apple in hand. She landed safely on her feet with a soft thud. However...something was missing..."I did have an apple with me when I jumped...didn't I?" she mused and searched all around her. Finding nothing, she shrugged and walked off, something running down the alley as she left
But wait. Let's rewind. *Meanwhile*
On another side of the city a strapping young man yawned, knocking on the ground-level apartment door. He was fighting for consciousness and his eyes teetered between opened and closed. As he was teetering he hit his head on what was something he could have used a long time ago: the doorbell. He would have never discovered it had it not been for his dozing. He forced his violet hues open and ran a hand through his chestnut brown bangs, his braid swinging near his knees, and his priest outfit ruffled slightly by the light breeze.
The door swung open to reveal angry cobalt blue eyes glaring at the braided boy from under brown tufts of hair, suppressing the urge to smack him for messing with his doorbell.
"Hey, Heero. How ya been?" the braided one asked, smirking slightly, as it was his natural way. He then yawned into his hand.
"Duo, you're late." Heero stated flatly, narrowing his eyes at him... He then proceeded to drag Duo in by the shirt and seated him in a chair, in front of a very shiny and new-looking laptop, seated on a perfectly clean mini dinner table. He glanced around him. Everything in this place was so clean that it looked sterilized. What is up with Heero Yuy and perfection?
"Dr. J has instructed me to look for this girl," he gestured towards the laptop screen. "She was spotted during the White Barge mission and is said to have possession over another Gundam." Duo analyzed the screen thoroughly. "She goes by the name Catherine Maxwell...spelled the same way as yours..."Heero mused.
"Small world." Duo stated blandly and Heero went on.
"We are to find out whether she is an ally or an enemy. You were assigned as my partner for this research...since you're so good at stealth...."he trailed off when he noticed that Duo had fallen asleep on the laptop. He hit the braided one with his mission status folder and jotted down the address of the young pilot in question.
"I am the God Of Death..." Duo muttered, still asleep. Heero sighed and slapped him. He knew that Duo wasn't used to waking up so early but the mission was in question. And so they set off.
*A Little Later*
Duo and Heero were at the other side of the alley that belonged to the building in which the other pilot dwelled. They had stopped in their tracks, hearing a light thud and indistinguishable muttering. But now, whatever it was had left. They both walked near the row of fire escapes, leading up. Suddenly something fell from the sky...and hit Duo on the head.
"Ewww! What the hell?!" he felt around his head and found little chunks and pieces of apple in his hair and on the floor around him. "Sick!" he exclaimed in disgust.
Heero was thoroughly confused by the situation and looked up at the sky in search of whoever threw the apple. He was about to check on Duo's condition when suddenly some fat old lady in a nightgown, with curlers in her hair crept up behind Duo, wielding a dough roller.
"AH HA! YOU THOUGHT YOU COULD ESCAPEFROM ME! WHERE'S MY RENT, MAXWELL!?" she screamed.
"Whoa!" Duo jumped up to face her. "I don't have your fuckin' rent, lady!"
She looked at him and slowly realized that this was not the right kid. She cursed herself under her breath for letting the girl slip away. She decided to scold the boy anyway. "You should have more manners when speaking to a lady, especially an elder lady, young man." She went on, muttering about foul language in youngsters these days.
To Be Continued.