Living With Yourself

Character Study of Mariemaia Khushrenada/Barton

Chapter Fiction

Summary: Six years after the war A.C. 203, at the tender age of 13, Mariemaia slowly starts to come to terms with what happened during and after the war and begins to learn the hardest lesson of life, learning how to live with yourself.

STATS: 1 Review; 2 Favorites ; 2 Alerts Four Different people all together

Banshee4 Thank you for the review you have no idea how much it made my day to see it! As for the hurt/comfort zone, this story has taken a turn from my original idea however as of the plan for now it will still be under the hurt/comfort zone. The guards will start to play a bigger part as the story progresses and certain guards will play bigger roles than others but that's all I'm giving away for now!

Also I posted in my profile that the first reviewer can have a one shot of their choice, which can be tied into the 'Living With Yourself' Universe if you like but does not have to be, I write for a variety of fandoms as well as some I've never written for that I know enough to write for. So state your pick you can either PM or email me with the rough idea and fandom.

04: For the Love of Literature

The two girls took their drinks from the cashier, after offering to buy Heero one, which he turned down to no one's surprise.

"So Leia, where'd you come here from?" Aine asked, as she matched stride to Leia so they could walk side by side.

Leia stiffened at the question but deciding that avoiding it wouldn't do any good answered anyway.

"I was born here, I've been to Earth a few times to live but other than that I've always been on X-18999. It's my home and always will be."

"I grew up on Earth until Mariemaia's Army tried to take over. My father was pretty high up and he knew of the original Operation Meteor and decided we'd be better off in a colony ruled by Mariemaia than one that wasn't, as long as it wasn't X-18999 as it was doomed, we moved to X-18998, its sister colony but once this colony was re stabilized we moved here with my mother."

"I barely remember that time but my mother and guardian said it was pretty hectic and chaotic and the girl was barely older than me." Leia said, keeping a tone of steel in her voice to keep it from shaking at her lie to her new friend, hearing Heero slightly chuckle as he followed them, the only sound coming from him where his footsteps.

"Have you seen the library here yet?" Aine asked, changing the subject to something that she loved.

"No but my mother said it would be up to my standards as our library at home was kept up to date with anything I could possibly want."

"You want to go see it? It's amazing I'm going to miss it when I leave but if you get in good with the librarian she'll let you check out books once you leave." Aine was in her zone and her cheerfulness seemed very natural for her, something that was a little daunting for Leia.

Stopping by the library seemed to please Aine, who was in a comfort zone as she introduced Leia to the librarian, a relativity young woman looking to be about twenty eight years old who went by the name of Tamayo, refusing to be called 'Miss', claiming she was still too young for the title.

"If you need anything at all Miss Leia just ask, if I don't have it I can either order it for you or locate a personal copy through a book store provider we have access to, it'd be no trouble at all. You can also have your bookstore purchases sent here weekly if you desire to place an order every now and then."

Leia murmured an appropriate glancing at the shelves and shelves of books that she could explore during her time at Belleview, she could see some extra credit reports coming from hours spent in here just on extracurricular reading and projects, she was already starting to like this place better than her old school.

"Let's go Leia I want to raid your books first and then we'll run off to lunch together and then hit the gym yeah?" Aine was still very energetic as she practically bounded out of the library and starting heading towards the dorm rooms.

"My rooms are in the teacher building silly, something about security, other way Aine." Leia said, her tone laughing at her friend's confusion at first.

"Wow," Aine said, letting out a low whistle "You must be some hot shot to have a room in the teacher's dorm."

Thankfully nothing more was said on the subject as they began chattering about books while Aine occasionally pointed out some of the boys on the campus as they walked, reaching the teacher's dorms in no time, thanking Heero as he held the door open for them, watching the two young girl's bound up the stairs before following them at a slower pace, reaching the door of her room right as Leia placed the key in the lock and pushed it open, stepping back automatically to let Heero pass through first.

"Ever heard of ladies first?" Aine asked, her tone disapproving, until she realized just why Heero had entered before them as he began searching the room thoroughly and swiftly before motioning that they come in.

"Well you must be something girl."

It was said more to herself than Leia but it was heard none the less.

"Something like that, I haven't finished unpacking all by books but they're over by my desk if you want to start digging." Leia said with a wave of her hand as she excused herself to change into everyday wear.

Aine decided to forgo the desk and began digging through the boxes that had yet to be unpacked, plopping herself down on the ground as she dug, looking up when Leia walked back in wearing her original outfit of the day.

"You've got hundreds of books here!" Aine said, glancing at what was up on the shelves and what was still in boxes.

"Yeah, I'm going to be a year round resident for the most part, I'll probably go home around Christmas for one of the two weeks but other than that you're stuck with me." There was a wistful tone in Leia's voice but Aine didn't ask that question.

"What'll you do over the summer?"

"I can take summer classes through the college here and earn dual credit, or so I would assume and it could probably be arranged for me to stay on campus." Leia said, she hadn't actually told her mother that yet but that had been her plan from the get go.

"Awesome. After we go to lunch we need to go get you enrolled in Feminist Literature 101 and Women in Politics 101, since classes start tomorrow, wouldn't want to miss anything important and the first day of class is almost as important as mid terms and finals day." Aine had a knack for learning, Leia couldn't tell if there was more to it or not but it pleased her to find someone as academically challenging on herself as she was. "The Women's Studies classes are generally females, though there'll be one or two guys that will enroll in it for kicks and then drop for something easier or so my mentor told me."

"This school is picky about who gets admitted, why would you want to drop for something easier if it can risk you being put out from the school?" Leia asked, referring to the school's academic policy from her handbook.

"Dropping a class can only get you kicked out if you drop it with a failing grade and you have to do that twice and then it gets you the risk being kicked out. I mean to even apply to this school your academic standing has to be almost perfect, why on Earth would they want to ruin what was already good?" Aine said, letting out steam as she ended her miniature rant.

"It's boys Aine, they don't know their brain from their pencil sometimes and they never use common sense so I wouldn't worry about it." Leia said, patting Aine on the back all the while trying to hide a smirk that Heero managed to see.

The girls continued on in this manner until Heero announced that it would be prudent for them to go ahead and head down to lunch if they wanted to get a good seat, which of course they did. Following the now full throngs of the campus as everyone had returned to their dorms by noon it seemed the school would be full again this year.

A few girls came up to Aine and said hello as they walked, upon entering the cafeteria Aine motioned that they follow her as they all stood behind their chairs, waiting until Madame Grange, the Headmistress motioned for them to be seated and then table by table they got up and went through the line, which went relatively quickly considering there were twelve hundred students in the school although she only saw females in the cafeteria which surprised her and when she asked Aine she was told that they only ate breakfast together and that the males ate after they did, to avoid having to feed twelve hundred children at once, six hundred at a time was more than enough.

"After lunch we'll go talk to Madame Grange she'll be in her office from one until four usually." Aine said, glancing at the Headmistress before looking back at Leia.

"After that I want to raid your bookcase." Leia said, pointing at Aine with her fork which Aine immediately pushed down.

"Are you trying to get in trouble before classes even start Leia?" she asked, resuming her meal as she gave Leia a reproachful look. "Proper etiquette is one of the biggest grades here outside of academics, do that where someone else can see you and your possibly going to wind up in detention or on probation or with an extra etiquette lesson. None of which you have time for."

"Wow, they really are strict on etiquette here. My mother said it was better but even my old school wasn't that bad." Leia said as one of the kitchen staff came up to the table to refill their water cups.

"Thank you." Leia said, earning a shocked look from Aine who shook her head hard.

"The unspoken rule is they don't speak to you and you don't speak to them. Yes, they are servants and not slaves however let one of the teachers catch you talking to them and see what they'll do, it won't be pretty." Aine said, waving off the server as she tried to fill her drink.

It seemed a little brass to Leia, after all this wasn't the twenty first century anymore but rules where rules and in formal dining you really only spoke to a server if you needed anything, not to say thank you.

"They are servants Aine not slaves as you pointed out, they deserve human interaction." Leia said her voice rising a little which startled Aine.

"Keep your voice down a lady never raises her voice." One of the teachers had snuck up behind her during the conversation and had decided to intervene. "Like she said they are servants and not slaves and it's more of a learning tool than anything Miss. As long as it is outside of the dining hall you're allowed to speak to them and vice versa, like I said it is merely a learning tool to make you focus on the ladies at your table, your manners, and etiquette."

The instructor that was speaking had blonde hair that was tied back with a crimson tie and was wearing a pale blue pant suit. She had a pleasant voice and a cheerful smile, something Leia was glad for, it wouldn't do to be reprimanded for something before the first day of classes as it was.

"You must be Miss Leia. My name is Miss Tenoh, I'll be your etiquette instructor while you're here at Belleview and if you ever need anything feel free to find my office."

And with that brief interaction she disappeared as quickly as she had come, floating in and out of the tables stopping to speak to a few students who said hi to her.

"You'll love Miss Tenoh! She's from mainland Japan back on Earth but she is so divine." Seeing Leia's raised eyebrow she gushed some more. "No she really is, she has the elegance about her that I haven't seen anywhere else. You will love her classes."

"What all does she teach?" Leia asked, taking a sip of her water as she watched Aine talked animatedly about the teacher.

"Well she teaches etiquette, fencing, Feminist Literature 101 , and occasionally helps out in Gym classes."

"So I'll have her for three sometimes four classes? Nice." Leia smiled, at least she would know one of her teachers by the time classes rolled around tomorrow.

Lunch proceeded to pass by quickly and they found Madame Grange in her office at one so they got the forms Leia would need to transfer into two more classes out of her study block and hour of gym, deciding to go ahead and scan them before heading back to Aine's dorm, wanting to see who her new roommate was.

Upon reaching Aine's room Leia was surprised to find that Sarah, with an 'h', was her friend's roommate. It was an amazing turn of luck.

"Leia! Are you my roommate?" Sarah asked, frowning only slightly when Leia shook her head 'no' before introducing Aine and Sarah.

"Well that's still awesome! We all know each other, hey do you guys want to walk to class together tomorrow?" Sarah asked, a hopefully look on the first year's face.

"Of course, you don't think I'd just let the two of you wander around lost would you?" Aine asked, smiling at them before she turned back to unpacking her books as Leia began to shelf what was unpacked on the bookcase that was built in beside the desk.

The dormitories weren't nearly as fancy as where Leia was staying, as it was one big room. Two beds on opposite walls with room for their dressers in between, the desks where on the wall with the door, not offering much room in between them and their closets where on the walls with their bed. Clothes and books were scattered everywhere as the fury of unpacking before classes began had just started today.

"Would you guys like some help getting your room set up, or at least some of the clothes hung up as well as the books maybe?" Leia offered, knowing that all three of them would probably be spending more time in her set of rooms than this cramped dorm room.

At their excited smiles they began getting to work on hanging up clothes that had just been dumped out of boxes and putting books on the respective bookcases after making sure to write their names and room numbers inside each book in ink. Time flew by quickly as they worked for three hours on end without stopping until everything had been put in its place.

"Now to just my room done before tomorrow and I'll be good to go." Leia said, as she stood to leave to continue with her unpacking.

"And where do you think you're going?" Sarah asked with a smile "Let's go grab a water and we'll help you after all you did help us."

"You guys must run on water?" Leia said, joking as she smiled at just how much water she'd seen the girls put down since she had meet them.

"It's all they serve besides coffee and tea, and since with a water bottle you can add a flavor packet and still like it , it seems it's the best choice. If you want any sodas you'll have to buy them at the convenience store in a twelve pack and store them in your dorm." Sarah said, running a brush through her hair as they left the dorm and headed back to the cafeteria, taking their waters and jogging the rest of the way up to Leia's room.

Upon entering the building Heero went ahead of them and survived the room before allowing them to enter. As they did they went straight to Leia's room, leaving the door open to allow air to circulate and they dug through the three bags of clothes that were left placing most of them in the dresser or closet before finishing up her books all well within two hours.

"I promised to show you the gym didn't I?" Aine asked, sipping on what was left of her water before throwing it into a trash can that was by the desk.

At Leia's nod, they once again left the room and walked towards the library and entered the gym through the library side door. Inside the gym where exercise bikes, weight machines, rowing machines, elliptical machines, male and female weight sets, an indoor pool, an basketball court that was inside its own room as was the pool, a tennis court and a sauna.

They spent an hour on the exercise bikes talking about classes, the school they left behind, the classes they had tomorrow and their families as Heero ran on a treadmill just far enough away they wouldn't think he was eavesdropping.

They had had so much fun that afternoon they hadn't realized they had skipped dinner until well on seven o clock as they were debating on how to arrange their hair for the first day of class, Leia almost gagging at the choice of conversation, but soon getting dragged into the taboo conversation.

"I know we missed dinner but it's after seven so we really shouldn't eat anything." Aine said, as she sipped on another water that she had taken out of her fridge.

"A small snack would be ok but not a large dinner." Sarah said, which Aine decided to agree with as they pulled their shoes back on and headed to the coffee shop, grabbing a latte each and a piece of fruit before splitting up for the night with promises to meet at five am for their run and or swim depending on how they were feeling.

It was seven thirty before she reached her dorm and another hour before she had showered, picked out her clothes for the day before her, and started reading her book which eventually lulled the young girl to sleep.