Disclaimer: The author does not own Gundam Wing, Endless Waltz, Mariemaia Khushrenada-Barton, or anything else you happen to recognize. If sued, the author will simultaneously explode and implode, causing scientists everywhere to suffer brain hemorrhages while trying to figure out how such a thing could happen. Please, for the scientists' sake, rein in your lawyers.
A/N: This story may seem incomplete. The eventual outcome is not immediately clear, and though I know what I think happens, it's really open to your interpretation. That doesn't make it incomplete, however. If you ask me to explain it to you, my reply will most likely be, "Well, what do you think?" After I hear your thoughts, I'd be perfectly happy to tell you mine.Please keep in mind that I haven't seen Endless Waltz yet, so I don't know if this story is even relevant. I think I have Mariemaia's character right, but again, I can't be completely sure. Really, I'm just humoring a mad plotbunny, so any suggestions you have would be appreciated.
The first time someone called her "bastard," Mariemaia hadn't known what it meant. While she had a remarkable vocabulary, especially for a seven-year-old, it was not a term she had come across in the past. No one before the war had dared to use it in her presence, other, perhaps, than Dekim, who simply hadn't cared. No one after the war had cared, either, but their reasons were different than her grandfather's. Instead of being a tool for her family's domination, Mariemaia found herself, for the first time in her life, in an environment where she was loved.
Of course, not everyone loved her. Everywhere she turned, there were people who hated her, who blamed her for the deaths of their loved ones. That was how she knew the strange new word wasn't a compliment; she could see it in his eyes and hear it in his voice when he spoke.
She had borne it as she had every other insult she had been delivered since the war: silently. Poker face firmly in place, she had given the man a disdainful look, turned crisply on her heel, and walked away.
Her next stop had been Lady Une's living room, where she had arrested the thick red dictionary from its place on one of the bookshelves (she had needed to stand on a chair to reach it). Curious, she had cracked it open and flipped through the pages until she found what she was looking for.
bas•tard (băst&rd) n. 1. Born of unwed parents; illegitimate. 2. Any product of irregular, inferior, or dubious origin. 3. Slang. An obnoxious or nasty person. Used as an epithet of abuse.
The little girl stared at the stark black words that told her so much and so little all at once. Oh, she'd known that her parents hadn't been married; that she was, in a sense, illegitimate. She had never really put much thought into the matter, however. Now, though, a thousand thoughts raced through her mind. She digested them as quickly and calmly as she could. Slowly, Mariemaia came to a decision.
She closed the book.