Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Gundam Wing characters. I do, however,
claim to own all original characters (however short and pathetic their
appearances are).
Warnings: Shounen ai, angst (maybe), sap, OC, OOC, nice Relena (is that
really a warning?)
Ramblings: This is actually sort of a takeoff of a fic written by a friend
of mine who calls herself Gemini. When I read it, I liked some of the
ideas in it, but thought about all the ways I would have changed it. So,
after obtaining her permission, I started this story.
My thanks to Gemini, for inspiring me, to M.E., for correcting my horrid
spelling, and Blue Jeans, for prodding my muse whenever she got lazy.
A Willingly Carried Burden By Rapunzel
Prologue
Someone was coming to the house.
Heero tilted his head to one side and listened. There was no mistake; the sound was definitely of footsteps coming up the walkway outside. His first thought was that Relena had returned, but he quickly dismissed it. The steps didn't sound like the quick, assured strides Relena used when walking up to her own house. These were more hesitant; the steps of someone unfamiliar with the place. That in itself was odd. The house was small and out of the way, and very few people knew of its existence. Relena preferred it that way; it was her haven away from the chaos and insanity that was politics.
The steps had stopped. The doorbell rang.
There was nothing for it. With a sigh, Heero got up and headed for the front door. The only possibility he could think of was that this was some reporter who had finally managed to locate the place. With that thought in mind, he summoned up his best Yuy Death Glare(, and opened the door.
The glare faded slightly at the sight of the visitor, since she didn't seem to warrant such hostility. She was a rather small woman, in her mid thirties, with mouse brown hair pulled into a loose ponytail and large brown eyes looking out from behind large glasses in plain frames.
"Oh, hello," she said. "Are you Mr. Yuy?"
Heero grunted an affirmative and stood still, waiting for her to get to the point.
"Oh good." She smiled. "My name is Heather Shore. I'm a social worker. I was told that you might have information regarding the whereabouts of a Mr. Maxwell."
"Duo?" That surprised him. Then his eyes narrowed. "Why are you looking for him?"
The woman sighed. "It's a long story. May I come in?"
Heero couldn't think of any reason why not. He stood back and let her enter, then led her to the living room. Once he'd gotten her seated, he wasted no time in repeating his question.
Ms. Shore sighed again. "As I said, I'm a social worker. One case that recently came to me had to do with an orphaned infant. Her mother died about a week ago in a car accident. There are no relatives on her mother's side of the family. The child is illegitimate, but her father's name appears on the birth certificate. According to the mother, the child's father is one Duo Maxwell."
Heero sat in silence, trying to make sense of the whole thing. "So... Duo has a daughter."
"That's right," Ms. Shore said. "And it's imperative that we find him now that the mother is deceased so that he can take custody of the child. We've been trying, without success, to track him down, and a young lady named Hilde Schbeiker told me to ask you."
Heero shook his head. "I can't help you. I haven't heard from Duo since the end of the war." He said it with a vague sense of nagging guilt. That had been over a year ago. Had he really lost touch with his old lover that much?
"That's what everyone else I've talked to has told me," Ms. Shore said, sounding defeated.
He digested that, feeling gloomy and angry. So Duo had vanished had he? And had slept around to, apparently. The thought of Duo having a child by some unknown woman made Heero feel betrayed. A child.
"What's going to happen to her?" he asked suddenly.
Ms. Shore looked up from a sheaf of papers she had been sorting through. "She'll go to a girls' home, of course. At least until we find her father, or someone adopts her."
Heero stared off into space, lost in thought, until she called him back to earth by saying, "Thanks for your time. I'll just be going now. Here's my number in case you get any insight into Mr. Maxwell's whereabouts."
Numbly, he nodded, and showed her out.
~*~*~
The sun set over the small house, yet no lights were turned on inside. The moon rose and peered through the window to find Heero Yuy still sitting on the couch, deep in thought. He hadn't even risen to turn on the nearby lamp, seeming not to notice the darkness all around him. He was lost in memories.
*Flashback*
"So," Duo said carefully. "Going to Sank, are you?"
Heero shrugged. "Or wherever Relena is, since I'll be in charge of her security until things settle down."
"Well, have fun. And say hi to 'Lena for me."
Heero turned around, surprised. He'd assumed that Duo would want to stay with him. "Where will you go?" he asked.
Duo shrugged. "Anywhere, really. I'll probably go back to L2 and work with Hilde. Maybe I'll take a year off, see the world, ya know?"
Heero didn't know. He was still trying to deal with the idea that his partner didn't want to accompany him. That stung. Of all the other pilots, Heero felt closest to Duo, but now...
"Well," Duo said, heading for the door, "I'll leave you to your packing, shall I?" And before Heero could respond, he was out the door. Heero stood stock still, staring at the place he had last stood.
That was the last he saw of Duo Maxwell.
*End Flashback*
Heero heaved a sigh and put his face in his hands.
/Baka!/ he chided himself. /Idiot! It wasn't that he didn't want to come with me; he didn't want to intrude on Relena and me. I knew he always thought we were going to be a couple! Why in the world didn't I ask him to come with me right away?! I'm such an idiot!/
He suddenly wanted to curl up and cry with the hopelessness of it all.
/I drove him off, and look what happened. A child. There's no turning back now. A child is permanent./
/What could you have been thinking, Duo?/
/This is all my fault./
From somewhere in his memory, a phrase drifted through his mind.
"One of the signs of maturity is taking responsibility for your actions."
/Right./
He had flipped on the lamp and picked up the phone before he even realized what he was doing. "Hello, Ms. Shore? This is Heero Yuy."
~*~*~
The first thing Relena noticed was the light. It shown from the window of Heero's room, despite the fact that it was after midnight, and most sane people were already asleep. Of course, Heero's sanity had been questioned before, but it was still odd. He couldn't be waiting up for her, since he had no idea when her business trip would end. It had been a routine trip, and she had not felt it necessary to take along any members of her security staff, or give them the details of her schedule.
Relena was still pondering this little enigma as she walked up the path, when a baby's squall rent the air. Thoroughly confused, she let herself into the house and went straight to Heero's room.
During the war, Relena had been accustomed to seeing Heero in between battles, when he had been trying to get the rest he needed. She had seen him tired before, but never in all the time she had know him had he looked so exhausted as he did now.
Heero stood in the middle of the room with a screaming infant on his shoulder. When he looked up and caught sight of her, he asked, "How old do babies have to be before they sleep through the night?"
Clearing her throat and trying not to let shock get the better of her, she asked, in what she hoped was a calm voice, "Heero, what happened? How did you manage to acquire a child in the two weeks I was gone?"
"She's Duo's, but they can't find him, and the mother is dead. I went and picked her up from the social worker three days ago."
"Why did you decide to take her? Someone else would have adopted her."
Heero shook his head. "I remember Duo telling me about how he stayed at Maxwell Church, waiting and waiting to be adopted. He wouldn't want his daughter in that situation."
"And you decided to take her without even talking to me?"
Heero was simply too tired to feel truly remorseful. "It was important," he said, with the air of a man repeating an old argument.
"But spontaneous." Relena was still trying to grasp the fact that Heero was trying to turn into a father before her very eyes. "How final is this?"
"It's not final yet. They seem determined to keep me wading through paperwork. But at least they let me bring Eleanor home."
"But Heero," Relena protested, "you don't know anything about child rearing!"
"I'll learn." His face was set in grim determination, and on his shoulder, Eleanor had gone quiet, perhaps sensing the serious mood.
"How?"
"First time parents manage, and I will too."
"Heero, you've only had her for three days, and you're already burned out," Relena pointed out.
Noting that Eleanor had finally gone quiet, Heero carefully laid her back down in the little nest-like pile of blankets he'd laid down for her. He tucked one of the blankets around her tiny body and sat staring at her for a while before answering.
"I'll manage," he repeated.
Relena threw up her hands. "Well, I don't know why you're so determined to punish yourself this way, but since I can't seem to persuade you, I'm going to bed."
She walked out of the room, leaving Heero sitting stiffly on the edge of the bed. Relena had unwittingly hit a little too close to the truth. Eleanor was a penance of sorts, a way of atoning for his mistakes.
He looked down at the infant, who blinked her blue-violet eyes back at him. Maybe penance wasn't the only reason for his attentive, if inexperienced, efforts.
As he stretched out on the bed next to his charge, Heero echoed his statement of the previous two nights.
"I wish your father was here."
A Willingly Carried Burden By Rapunzel
Prologue
Someone was coming to the house.
Heero tilted his head to one side and listened. There was no mistake; the sound was definitely of footsteps coming up the walkway outside. His first thought was that Relena had returned, but he quickly dismissed it. The steps didn't sound like the quick, assured strides Relena used when walking up to her own house. These were more hesitant; the steps of someone unfamiliar with the place. That in itself was odd. The house was small and out of the way, and very few people knew of its existence. Relena preferred it that way; it was her haven away from the chaos and insanity that was politics.
The steps had stopped. The doorbell rang.
There was nothing for it. With a sigh, Heero got up and headed for the front door. The only possibility he could think of was that this was some reporter who had finally managed to locate the place. With that thought in mind, he summoned up his best Yuy Death Glare(, and opened the door.
The glare faded slightly at the sight of the visitor, since she didn't seem to warrant such hostility. She was a rather small woman, in her mid thirties, with mouse brown hair pulled into a loose ponytail and large brown eyes looking out from behind large glasses in plain frames.
"Oh, hello," she said. "Are you Mr. Yuy?"
Heero grunted an affirmative and stood still, waiting for her to get to the point.
"Oh good." She smiled. "My name is Heather Shore. I'm a social worker. I was told that you might have information regarding the whereabouts of a Mr. Maxwell."
"Duo?" That surprised him. Then his eyes narrowed. "Why are you looking for him?"
The woman sighed. "It's a long story. May I come in?"
Heero couldn't think of any reason why not. He stood back and let her enter, then led her to the living room. Once he'd gotten her seated, he wasted no time in repeating his question.
Ms. Shore sighed again. "As I said, I'm a social worker. One case that recently came to me had to do with an orphaned infant. Her mother died about a week ago in a car accident. There are no relatives on her mother's side of the family. The child is illegitimate, but her father's name appears on the birth certificate. According to the mother, the child's father is one Duo Maxwell."
Heero sat in silence, trying to make sense of the whole thing. "So... Duo has a daughter."
"That's right," Ms. Shore said. "And it's imperative that we find him now that the mother is deceased so that he can take custody of the child. We've been trying, without success, to track him down, and a young lady named Hilde Schbeiker told me to ask you."
Heero shook his head. "I can't help you. I haven't heard from Duo since the end of the war." He said it with a vague sense of nagging guilt. That had been over a year ago. Had he really lost touch with his old lover that much?
"That's what everyone else I've talked to has told me," Ms. Shore said, sounding defeated.
He digested that, feeling gloomy and angry. So Duo had vanished had he? And had slept around to, apparently. The thought of Duo having a child by some unknown woman made Heero feel betrayed. A child.
"What's going to happen to her?" he asked suddenly.
Ms. Shore looked up from a sheaf of papers she had been sorting through. "She'll go to a girls' home, of course. At least until we find her father, or someone adopts her."
Heero stared off into space, lost in thought, until she called him back to earth by saying, "Thanks for your time. I'll just be going now. Here's my number in case you get any insight into Mr. Maxwell's whereabouts."
Numbly, he nodded, and showed her out.
~*~*~
The sun set over the small house, yet no lights were turned on inside. The moon rose and peered through the window to find Heero Yuy still sitting on the couch, deep in thought. He hadn't even risen to turn on the nearby lamp, seeming not to notice the darkness all around him. He was lost in memories.
*Flashback*
"So," Duo said carefully. "Going to Sank, are you?"
Heero shrugged. "Or wherever Relena is, since I'll be in charge of her security until things settle down."
"Well, have fun. And say hi to 'Lena for me."
Heero turned around, surprised. He'd assumed that Duo would want to stay with him. "Where will you go?" he asked.
Duo shrugged. "Anywhere, really. I'll probably go back to L2 and work with Hilde. Maybe I'll take a year off, see the world, ya know?"
Heero didn't know. He was still trying to deal with the idea that his partner didn't want to accompany him. That stung. Of all the other pilots, Heero felt closest to Duo, but now...
"Well," Duo said, heading for the door, "I'll leave you to your packing, shall I?" And before Heero could respond, he was out the door. Heero stood stock still, staring at the place he had last stood.
That was the last he saw of Duo Maxwell.
*End Flashback*
Heero heaved a sigh and put his face in his hands.
/Baka!/ he chided himself. /Idiot! It wasn't that he didn't want to come with me; he didn't want to intrude on Relena and me. I knew he always thought we were going to be a couple! Why in the world didn't I ask him to come with me right away?! I'm such an idiot!/
He suddenly wanted to curl up and cry with the hopelessness of it all.
/I drove him off, and look what happened. A child. There's no turning back now. A child is permanent./
/What could you have been thinking, Duo?/
/This is all my fault./
From somewhere in his memory, a phrase drifted through his mind.
"One of the signs of maturity is taking responsibility for your actions."
/Right./
He had flipped on the lamp and picked up the phone before he even realized what he was doing. "Hello, Ms. Shore? This is Heero Yuy."
~*~*~
The first thing Relena noticed was the light. It shown from the window of Heero's room, despite the fact that it was after midnight, and most sane people were already asleep. Of course, Heero's sanity had been questioned before, but it was still odd. He couldn't be waiting up for her, since he had no idea when her business trip would end. It had been a routine trip, and she had not felt it necessary to take along any members of her security staff, or give them the details of her schedule.
Relena was still pondering this little enigma as she walked up the path, when a baby's squall rent the air. Thoroughly confused, she let herself into the house and went straight to Heero's room.
During the war, Relena had been accustomed to seeing Heero in between battles, when he had been trying to get the rest he needed. She had seen him tired before, but never in all the time she had know him had he looked so exhausted as he did now.
Heero stood in the middle of the room with a screaming infant on his shoulder. When he looked up and caught sight of her, he asked, "How old do babies have to be before they sleep through the night?"
Clearing her throat and trying not to let shock get the better of her, she asked, in what she hoped was a calm voice, "Heero, what happened? How did you manage to acquire a child in the two weeks I was gone?"
"She's Duo's, but they can't find him, and the mother is dead. I went and picked her up from the social worker three days ago."
"Why did you decide to take her? Someone else would have adopted her."
Heero shook his head. "I remember Duo telling me about how he stayed at Maxwell Church, waiting and waiting to be adopted. He wouldn't want his daughter in that situation."
"And you decided to take her without even talking to me?"
Heero was simply too tired to feel truly remorseful. "It was important," he said, with the air of a man repeating an old argument.
"But spontaneous." Relena was still trying to grasp the fact that Heero was trying to turn into a father before her very eyes. "How final is this?"
"It's not final yet. They seem determined to keep me wading through paperwork. But at least they let me bring Eleanor home."
"But Heero," Relena protested, "you don't know anything about child rearing!"
"I'll learn." His face was set in grim determination, and on his shoulder, Eleanor had gone quiet, perhaps sensing the serious mood.
"How?"
"First time parents manage, and I will too."
"Heero, you've only had her for three days, and you're already burned out," Relena pointed out.
Noting that Eleanor had finally gone quiet, Heero carefully laid her back down in the little nest-like pile of blankets he'd laid down for her. He tucked one of the blankets around her tiny body and sat staring at her for a while before answering.
"I'll manage," he repeated.
Relena threw up her hands. "Well, I don't know why you're so determined to punish yourself this way, but since I can't seem to persuade you, I'm going to bed."
She walked out of the room, leaving Heero sitting stiffly on the edge of the bed. Relena had unwittingly hit a little too close to the truth. Eleanor was a penance of sorts, a way of atoning for his mistakes.
He looked down at the infant, who blinked her blue-violet eyes back at him. Maybe penance wasn't the only reason for his attentive, if inexperienced, efforts.
As he stretched out on the bed next to his charge, Heero echoed his statement of the previous two nights.
"I wish your father was here."