Title: Soldier's Daughter
Rating: PG
Warnings: Very slight mention of yaoi, some violence
Spoilers: Gundam Wing
Disclaimers: I don't own the Gundam characters or the concept. The only things that I own are: the fic, the children of the characters, any other characters that you don't recognize, two cats, a bike, and my clothes.
AN: I have decided to repost this fic, as it has been pretty much forever since I started it. I would like to apologize to all those who have read this and have been waiting and waiting for me to finish. Basically this was floating about in my head ever since I started watching Gundam Wing. I think the next time I try to write a chaptered fic I'll wait until I've nearly finished it before I start posting.
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Soldier's Daughter: PrologueMost of the world believes that peace was attained after the Eve Wars. Hell, I had believed it myself, but not any longer. Now I wonder if there will ever be a "true peace." That's what I fight for now. My "uncles" and I fight to protect that illusion of peace in the hopes of actually gaining. My father died while fighting for it, died trying to prevent my brother and I, and all our "cousins," from being sucked into war as they all were at our age.
I am Annel Dorlian Yuy. You probably figured out, by my name, that Relena Dorlian and Heero Yuy are my parents. I'm fairly tall with shoulder length sandy brown hair that looks like it hasn't seen a brush in a while, and cobalt blue eyes. I've heard that I look more like our dad than my little brother, aside from the fact that I'm a girl and have our mother's hair colour. Odin has short dark brown hair and our mom's aquamarine eyes. He is one of the reasons I began to fight.
Before I start my story, I'll give you a bit of the history behind it. I was seven when my dad died, or, rather in truth, was killed. At the time, I didn't know the real reason he went. We were told he died protecting the Vice Foreign Minister (my mom) from an assassin. I had learned the truth when I started fighting, and I'll explain that later.
Three years after my dad, Mom passed away, leaving Odin and me orphans. The funny thing about her death, she wasn't killed and it wasn't suicide. No ropes, no sleeping pills, no drugs of any kind, no gunshots, nothing. She just went to sleep and in the morning Mom was... gone. No reason or explanation. And I don't mean she disappeared.
During the next four years, we were passed between our relatives. Well, I should actually say between our uncle, Milliardo, and the four remaining pilots. Yeah, it would seem odd to consider them family, but in a way Dad and the others were like brothers during the war. They are also our godparents, so I guess they are family.
Anyway. Now, I will admit, I got into foolish fights at school during those years. All for stupid reasons, even got expelled a couple of times. I guess I was the reason we were shipped around like we were. Odin and I stayed with Uncle Milliardo and Aunt Noin right after Mom's death. Let's see, that lasted what... five, six months at the most. I won't try to explain why I was expelled that time. It's too complicated.
Anyway, so after that little incident, we went to L4 to stay with Uncles Trowa and Quatre. And yes, all of us nieces and nephews understood about their relationship. I was able to stay out of major trouble there for about a year. I managed to not be expelled this time, but I was suspended.
Then we were sent to Uncle Wufei and Aunt Sally's on L5. I actually tried to stay out of trouble there. See, Uncle Wufei owned a martial arts school and I would sneak into some of the classes. It was fun and I really enjoyed it. So far this is where we stayed the longest, about two and a half years. Then I got into a huge fight at school, almost broke someone's arm actually. Surprisingly, Uncle Wufei didn't give me a lengthy justice rant when I was sent home.
And so, in the year After Colony 214, Odin and I were sent to the Maxwell's on L2. Throughout those years, Odin stayed with me. Maybe if I had realized what I was doing, it might not have ended up this way. I haven't decided if my change of... well, I'm not sure what you would call it, fate or maybe destiny. Anyway, I haven't decided if it was a good thing or not. I don't think I ever will. Whichever it is, this is where my story begins.
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Soldier's Daughter: Chapter One"Annel? The shuttle's about to land." My brother's hand touched my shoulder. With a silent sigh, I closed the Internet window on my scuffed laptop that had once belonged to Dad. I had a natural talent for hacking. I had been looking to see if there was a martial arts school near my uncle's house. Or even on the colony for that matter, but there wasn't.
I put a blank look on my face to hide my disappointment at that fact as I closed the laptop. After storing it under the seat, I crossed my arms, and sat back to wait for landing.
"This will be fun. We haven't seen Uncle Duo and Aunt Hilde for a long time." Odin chattered in my ear, "I wonder how they've all been."
I glanced at my brother. He was smiling brightly, as if this were just a vacation and not a change of residency for us. I couldn't help but give a ghost of a smile; he had that way about him. Like Mom, Odin could get a smile out of any one as an answer to his own. His eyes lit up and he grinned even more when he caught mine. I then dropped any expression from my face.
The shuttle landed and we joined the rest of the passengers leaving. After a quick shuffle through customs and security, we gathered our luggage (a couple of large suitcases and a backpack for Odin and my duffel bag and backpack), and headed to the waiting area for Arrivals.
It would have been impossible to miss our tall American uncle in the crowd. He stood out with his lanky form and a braid that reached his knees, even without the sigh with our names that he was waving upside down above his head. Odin waved to show that we had seen him.
"Hey kiddo's." Uncle Duo called out when we got closer, "You have a good flight?" I shrugged indifferently, in no mood to talk. Uncle Duo looked at me with an odd expression for a second.
"It was all right. Where's Aunt Hilde?" Odin asked, looking around.
"She's right behind her big lug of a husband." Aunt Hilde said, elbowing Duo out of the way. "Annel, Odin, how have you been?" She gave us both hugs. I shrugged again, but Odin smiled brightly. The four of us headed out to their mini van.
"Oh, we've been all right. Did none of the others come with you?" Odin asked as we put our stuff in the back and got in. Obviously, no one wants to mention the fight I had been in.
Uncle Duo laughed, "No, we made the horde stay home. You would've had to ride with the luggage if they had all come with us. Besides, I needed Jorden to watch the shop." Uncle Duo and Aunt Hilde owned their own scrap yard/repair shop; Duo doing the repairs while Hilde kept the books. When it was busy, their kids would help out.
On the ride home, our aunt and uncle pointed out different things on the colony. One of the malls, movie theaters, a couple of restaurants, and where we were going to go for school. The elementary, middle, and high schools were fairly close together. The middle and high schools were sort of back-to-back with a shared field and track between them. The elementary was across the street from the high school.
I stared out the window, choosing to ignore the others as they chatted. Every so often, Uncle Duo would glance at me in the rearview mirror and occasionally he would exchange looks with Aunt Hilde.
Finally we arrived at their three-story house and were greeted by four of our cousins. The twins, Solo and Michael, immediately demanded that Odin let them show him around. Uncle Duo carried Odin's things upstairs to the attic where the boys' rooms were.
Marie grabbed my duffel bag and I shouldered my backpack as Dian showed me to my new room in the basement. There was one other bedroom (Marie and Dian's), a bathroom, and a family room downstairs as well.
"Dinner's going to be in about a half an hour. Do you want us to help you get unpacked or anything?" Marie said as she put my bag on the bed. I shook my head, keeping a neutral expression. "All right. We'll leave you to get settled then, and someone will call you for dinner."
I stood listening for a minute after they left. I heard one go upstairs and then TV went on. Satisfied that I was going to be left alone, I unpacked, which didn't take long. I wondered for a moment if I should go up and check on Odin, but I decided against it. That would mean probably having to talk with my aunt, uncle, or cousins as well and I didn't feel like dealing with them at the moment.
Instead, I set up my laptop and logged onto the Internet. I wasn't doing anything specific, just looking at random things. Guess I got pretty absorbed in it, because before I knew it, someone came to call me for dinner.
"Hey, Annel! Come on, its dinnertime." I looked up to see the oldest Maxwell cousin, Jorden. I hid my surprise at how tall Jorden had gotten, a good two or three inches taller than my 5'9. He was hanging from the edge of the door jam with the same goofy grin that his father uses. "Let's go, food's on the table." He stayed long enough to make sure I was coming, and then he bounded up the stairs. I followed at a slower pace.
To someone watching, I would have looked very much like the odd one out with my light-coloured hair. The twins and Dian had black hair like Aunt Hilde; Marie had Uncle Duo's chestnut brown, while Jorden's was few a shades darker. The twins also shared their father's violet eyes while the girls had their mother's clear blue ones. Jorden's eyes were a lighter shade of violet, more like indigo.
Anyway, we all sat down for dinner, random conversations starting up. I didn't pay much attention, content to just concentrate on eating. I would murmur short answers to any questions directed at me, but for the most part I was silent.
Dinner didn't take long, but it was good. Again I noticed Aunt Hilde and Uncle Duo watching me and exchanging looks. Afterwards, the twins cleaned up, Jorden went upstairs saying something about doing homework, and Marie raced Dian downstairs fighting over who got the remote for the TV. Uncle Duo pulled Odin and me aside for a moment.
"You all are taking the bus tomorrow," he said, handing us public transit passes. "The bus goes by at 7:30 and passes the schools at 8:15. Yeah, I know. 45 minutes on a public bus has got to be boring, but I need the van for work and you won't all fit in Jorden's truck. As much as he would like to think so." Odin smiled at Uncle Duo's joke; I nodded without changing my neutral expression. "Well, I'll let you go now. Don't stay up too late."
With that, Uncle Duo left with the oddest look on his face. I couldn't think of a reason for him to look so surprised, startled, and worried, so I just dismissed it.
"Do you want to see my room, Annel?" I nodded to my little brother and we went upstairs. The attic was set up much like the basement; the only difference was that there were three bedrooms instead of two.
Jorden was lounging on the couch in front of the TV, which was on with the volume low. Spread out in front of him was a textbook and a few papers. Jorden looked up innocently at us when we got to the top of the stairs.
"I'm doing my homework." he stated.
I raise my eyebrows, "Oh, really. I'm sure you are." I had to resist a smile.
"I am!" Jorden said, pretending to be indignant. "But this helps." I shrugged and ignored him as I followed Odin into his room.
My brother was still in the process of unpacking. So I spent the rest of the evening there watching Odin putting his stuff away as he chattered. Before long I realized that it was getting quite late and remembering that there was school tomorrow, I murmured "Good night." to Odin. Before I could leave though, Odin quickly gave me a hug.
" 'Night, sis. Try and lighten up for school." he whispered in my ear. Surprised, I returned the hug, kissed him goodnight, and left. On my way downstairs to my room, I heard my aunt and uncle talking. I paused outside their room to listen.
"... I'm not sure what to do, Hilde. It's like having the old Heero around again. She's so much like he was that it's creepy. The silence, the emotionless face, the... God, she's even got his damn laptop."
"You'll think of something. You got through to one 'perfect soldier,' Duo, I'm sure you can get through to another."
"Ah, but there's a difference this time. Annel hasn't been forced to become a soldier like he was. Like we all were."
"Oh, Duo."
Suddenly I realized I was eavesdropping on a private conversation. Yeah, it was about me, but it was still private. So, quickly and silently, I hurried to my room. Once there, I decided to put it out of my mind. It wasn't really that important anyway.
I changed into a pair of sweatpants and an old T-shirt and got into bed. I had to get back up to turn off my laptop, but soon I was back in bed and falling asleep. As soon as I was, I was pulled into that dream again.
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It's a sunny day; I'm standing and watching a playground. A younger me is playing with an also younger Odin, with Mom and Dad watching us. Suddenly, the sky would darken and Dad would disappear. The clouds would continue to gather, the wind would pick up, and a fog would start rolling in as Mom vanishes. The fog thickens until I can barely see Odin and myself. Then, he too would disappear. The last thing I see before the fog swallows my dream-self, would be the young me crying and calling for my family. I would then wander through the fog alone.
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My eyes snapped open as I jerked myself awake.
'That dream! That damn, damn dream.' I'd been having it for a while and it always frightens me a bit.
I lay there breathing deeply as I tried to calm down again. My eyes focused on the alarm clock next to me. It was about half past twelve and the house was silent.
'Odin!' my mind screamed. I had to go check on him. Like a shadow, I crept through the darkened house to Odin's room. I could feel the relief flood through my body when I saw my brother sleeping. I brushed my fingers against his cheek, causing him to stir but not waken. After staying a few minutes to watch him as he slept, I ghosted back to my room. I slept dreamlessly the rest of the night.
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AN: I just want to put a final Author's Note here to say Annel's name is pronounced (Ah-nell). I'll let you know pronunciations for all the weird looking names. Also, I don't know if there is a customs check in the shuttle ports in the Gundam Universe.