Like Father, Like Daughter

by Heroine of the Valley

A story about Mariemaia as a teenager.

Like Father, Like Daughter

I do not own Gundam Wing in anyway, shape, or form.

Mariemaia wasn't like the other girls in school.  But of course, none of their fathers were the general of a huge militia like OZ.  That was why so many girls envied her.  Mariemaia could be charismatic, friendly, and graceful but she was also hard when she needed to be.  Everyone thought she was the best.  She was so much like the father she never got to know, Treize Khushrenada.

She had many friends and they followed her wherever she went.  They admired but also envied everything she did. 

"Look at that," Gwen said, pointing at a bird that was flying very high in the air, "no one could shoot that high!"

Right after she said that, there was a definite sound of a gunshot and the bird fell down dead.

"Unless you happen to be the daughter of Treize Khushrenada," Carrie muttered to Gwen and looked behind her where Mariemaia was standing.  "Nice job, Mariemaia!"

"Why thank you," Mariemaia whispered, pulling down her rifle.  She and the others were dressed in their maroon school dresses.

"Don't you think it's wrong to shoot birds?" Gwen asked.

"I would never shoot a beautiful bird," Mariemaia said tersely, "did you notice how old that seagull looked?"

"That's better than people, don't you think?" Carrie questioned.

"It's only a sport," Mariemaia smiled.

"I hear it's your birthday tomorrow, Mariemaia," Carrie said.  "You're having a party, right?"

"Of course I'll be having a party," Mariemaia replied, "I'll be 16 tomorrow."

"Wow, sweet sixteen," Gwen whispered, "I should hurry and get you a present!"

"You wait till the last minute to get her something?" Carrie demanded.

"The party isn't until tomorrow evening," Mariemaia informed lightly.

"You can count on me being there," Carrie promised, her dark blue eyes glimmering.  She had black hair that fell down to her lower back.

Gwen had shoulder length blond hair that she kept half of it up in a gold barrette. Her eyes were the color of chocolate. "I'll be there too."

"Great," Mariemaia said.  "Anyone who wants to come is welcome too."

"How come you didn't make any fancy invitations?" Carrie asked.

Mariemaia laughed, "you're my friends, of course you're invited!  You don't need an invitation.  Just show up."

"Mariemaia, you almost took over the world one time," Gwen said, "you should announce it to the world!"

Mariemaia sighed, "Oh, okay, here," she picked up a blue bag "I made these just in case you forgot when my birthday was."  She pulled out a wad of envelopes, filed through them and handed the ones that were marked Gwen and Carrie.

"I wouldn't forget," Carrie said, "I just wanted an invitation so I could show little brother that I was invited to your party and he wasn't!"

"Rodger's only four," Gwen said, "Why would he be interested in a sixteen year old birthday party?"

"He likes cake!" Carrie laughed.  "He'll be so mad!"

"You can take a piece home to him if you want," Mariemaia offered.

Carrie shook his head, "No way.  This will be payback to him when I turned sixteen!  D'you know what he did?  He ate all the cake before I even made my wish!"

"Thanks for inviting us, Mariemaia," Gwen mumbled, changing the subject.

"You're welcome," Mariemaia said and waved to her two best friends when they walked away.  Mariemaia continued to hand out the invites to her friends and classmates, telling them things like, 'It would mean a lot to me if you could come' or 'You probably don't know me, but you can come if you'd like' and other things.  She had two invites left.

Mariemaia walked through the park, where she knew where one of her friends would be.  On a swing was a six-year-old girl, Celia Peacecraft, daughter of Milliardo Peacecraft and Lucrezia Noin.

"Hi, Celia," Mariemaia said.

Celia perked up her head.  She had collar-length blond hair and long bangs and her eyes were a light shade of violet.  "Hey," she said.

Mariemaia knelt down in front of her and handed her the evelope, "My sixteenth birthday is tomorrow."

"I know.  Happy Birthday."

"And you are welcome to come to the party."

"Party?" Celia asked, opening the envelope.  She blushed, "I'm only six years old.  I'll just bore you.  There wouldn't be any one my age there.  Besides, I'll have to ask my parents."

"I'm sure they'll let you."

"Mariemaia, why are you always so nice to me?" Celia questioned. 

"You're my friend, of course."

For years, Mariemaia would include Celia in social gatherings to make her feel like part of the group. 

"Don't you think I have any friends of my own?" Celia asked, "those my own age."

"Sure I do."

Celia stood up, "When you were about my age you tried to take over the world."

"I know."

"I don't even deserve to breathe the same air as you!" Celia cried.

"That's not true!"

"You don't care for me at all!" Celia covered her face with her hands; "you're only nice to me because our fathers used to be friends!"

"You've got it all wrong!" Mariemaia knelt down in front of her, "this has nothing to do with your father or mine."

"It's not?" Celia wiped her tears away.  "But I thought you just felt obligated to be my friend."

"Nobody forced me to be nice to you, Celia," Mariemaia said.  "I think of you as my little sister."

"You do?" she asked, her eyes brightening.

"Absolutely and it would mean a lot to me if you could come to my party."

"I think of you as my big sister sometimes," Celia admitted.  "I've always wanted a big sister."  Celia laughed and threw her arms around her waist, "Yes, I'll come, Mariemaia! I'll be there, I promise!"

"Thank you," Mariemaia mumbled.

Celia hopped back, "I'd better go tell my parents!"  And she took off running like she found a million dollars.

Mariemaia chuckled lightly to herself and rose to her feet.  There was one last invitation and this was for somebody special.  Mariemaia held it in her hand as she trekked through the grass to find the spot where this person was. 

"Hi, Daddy," Mariemaia said, looking at the tombstone.  "I have an invitation here for you."  {Isn't that sweet?   I'm going to cry…}

Mariemaia sauntered up to the tombstone and propped the invitation against it.  "You're proud of me, aren't you?" she asked and waited for some kind of answer.

She knew he was gone but when she came to visit his grave every birthday, she could pretend that he was with her.  She wanted to show him how mature and beautiful she was becoming.

Mariemaia wiped a tear away.  She knew she was going to get emotional.  She always did, except for the first time she saw his grave. Lady Une had been there and Mariemaia could not get emotional in front of her.  She could never come here and keep a stiff upper lip.

"I miss you, Daddy," Mariemaia whispered, falling to her knees.  "I miss you and I never got to meet you!"  She covered her face with her hands and sobbed.  "Never got to meet you…. never got to meet you…."

Mariemaia continued to cry for a minute or so and stopped when she felt a cool breeze.  "Huh?" she stood up and wiped the tears away. 

In the breeze, she could almost hear a voice but she was unable to get the message.

It was getting close to the time for Mariemaia to depart and go back home.  She looked back at Treize's tombstone.  "'Bye, Daddy, for now.  Tomorrow's a big day for me and it would mean a lot to me if you'd be there."  She turned around and left.

The envelope floated up from the tombstone and was ripped across the top. Slowly, the invitation began to slide out.  It was a 'one faced' card that did not open.  All the information was on the front:

You are invited to celebrate Mariemaia's 16^th birthday, on June 4^th A.C. 206 at 6:00 pm.  Please come to share this beautiful day.

{AN: I really don't know Mariemaia's birthday so if anyone does, could you let me know?}

The invitation was slid back into the envelope and was placed right where Mariemaia had placed it before.

Her father had received her invitation and she could bet he'd be there.

*********************************************************

Next day, Mariemaia's party.

For a girl who was turning sixteen, Mariemaia only appeared to be having the time of her life.  Her hair was done with pretty butterfly clips and she wore beautiful blue satin gown. In the ballroom were all her friends who had brought her the best gifts.  The food looked appetizing, the music was wonderful and the decorations took her breath away.

But she still felt that there was something missing.

'Daddy,' she thought.  'Even if you were here today I wouldn't be able to notice.'

"Happy birthday, Mariemaia!" Celia shouted, pushing a pink wrapped box in her hands.

"Thank you," Mariemaia said and put it on the table with the other gifts.

"May I have this dance?" asked someone standing behind Mariemaia. She turned to see Calvin Richards.  A young man with chestnut brown hair and teal eyes, he always wore a smile when Mariemaia approached him.  He was dressed in a snazzy black and white tuxedo.  Calvin was no doubt, the most popular boy in school.

"Well…." Mariemaia mumbled, looking at Celia.  She wouldn't want to abandon her, even if Calvin was the cutest boy she ever met.

Celia waved at her to go.  "It's your birthday!" she cried in a whisper.

Mariemaia looked back at Calvin and smiled, "I'd love to, Calvin!" she took his hand and he led her to the center of the dance floor.

"So, are you enjoying yourself?" he asked politely.

"Yes," she said, "thank you for asking.  Are you?"

He nodded, "defiantly. It's not everyday I'm invited to a beautiful girl's sweet sixteen birthday party!"

His comment made her blush.  'Oh please,' she thought, 'I'm sure girls would kill to have you attend their birthday party.'

He twirled her around.

"Thank you for inviting me," he said.

"You're welcome, Calvin."

"You look beautiful today."  He flattered.

"Thank you, Calvin."

"Thank you for dancing with me."

"You're welcome, Calvin," she whispered, tired of this, 'thank you, Calvin,' 'you're welcome, Calvin' stuff.  He was very polite and gorgeous but she didn't really feel like talking today. 

"Is there something wrong, Mariemaia?" he asked.

"No," she said.

"I guess you're just feeling uneasy about turning 16 today, huh?" he suggested.

She shrugged, "I suppose so."

"If you want to talk about it," he told her, "I'll listen."

Mariemaia didn't know rather to kiss him or slap him.  He was just too unbelievable.

"Thank you Calvin," she said, "that's very sweet of you."

The song was over and he escorted her back to her seat.  "Happy Birthday, Mariemaia," and he kissed her gently on the cheek, which made her blush.

"I appreciate it, Calvin."

After dancing with Calvin, other male classmates practically lined up to dance with the birthday girl. 

"Is there something bothering Mariemaia?" Lucrezia asked Lady Une.

"Turning 16 is a big deal," she replied.

"Mariemaia will be okay," Celia said, "don't worry, Mommy." Celia smiled and watched the boys dance with Mariemaia.  "I can't wait until I turn sixteen!"

"I can," Millardo muttered under his breath.

 After dancing with every boy in her school, Mariemaia opened her presents.  She had around 40 gifts.  They were all very thoughtful gifts. Like those any one else would expect a girl to get on her 16^th year old birthday, she got jewelry, fine dresses and make up and even some money. When she was finished opening each present, she thanked the person who got it for her. From Lady Une she got a gold pin that Lady Une had received on her 16^th birthday.  It had the numbers 16.  From Celia, a pair of fancy sunglasses and from her parents a horse riding uniform.  Carrie gave her a pair of ruby earrings and Gwen gave her a bracelet.  Calvin gave her an expensive brand of perfume.  There was one present left.

"Who's that one from?" Mariemaia inquired as Lady Une picked up the brilliant red small rectangular box.

"I'm not sure," Lady Une replied, "there's no tag."

"Must've fallen off," Mariemaia guessed as she pulled away the gold ribbon and lifted up the lid. When she looked at what it held inside, she gazed upon it in admiration.

"What is it, Mariemaia?" Celia asked.

"Oh," Mariemaia breathed, her voice soft with surprise.  "Who got this for me?"  She looked up at the many faces.

"You've opened all our presents already," Calvin reminded gently. "The person who got it for you must've left."

Mariemaia swallowed and pulled up a golden heart shape locked with a rose on both sides.  "I've always wanted a locket."

"Open the locket, Mariemaia," Celia commanded, impatiently.  "Maybe we'll get a clue who it is."

"Yeah, from the pictures," added Gwen.

She paused as she held it in her hands.

"What are you waiting for?" Carrie demanded and laughed, "don't you want to see who the pictures are of?"

"Sure I do," Mariemaia replied, "I guess I'm still surprised."  She smiled and inserted her deep pink painted thumbnails in the crack.  It clicked and slowly opened to reveal the faces of…

…Her parents, Leia Barton and Treize Khushrenada.  {Whatever happened to Leia anyway?}

"Oh my god," Mariemaia gasped, standing from her seat.  'Who brought this?' she wondered as she stared at the photos of her parents' faces.

"Let us see," Celia begged.

Mariemaia quickly snapped the locket shut, "Who wants cake?" she questioned with a smile, changing the subject.

Her guests, though wanted to know whom the pictures were of, decided not to argue.

"Yeah, cake, sure," most of her responses were.

Lady Une cut the giant cake in generous pieces and placed them in rows with three tubs of ice cream for the guests to choose from.  The flavors were, no doubt, vanilla, strawberry, and perhaps everyone's favorite, chocolate.  (Well, it's MY favorite!)

"Aren't you going to tell us who the people in your new locket are?" Celia demanded, "come on, please, Mariemaia?"

"Just two very special people in my life," Mariemaia replied.  She wanted to say it was empty but it would be a lie and she wouldn't want to lie on her own birthday.  "More cake, anybody?"

"We're fine, thanks," Gwen said.

"Hello, Mariemaia!" Dorothy cried, "I'm so sorry I'm late!"

"Dorothy!" Mariemaia almost dropped her own piece of cake on her own dress.  She was excited to see someone from her own family, what was left of it.  "It's okay, I'm sure you're busy."

"I was talking to Miss Relena," Dorothy said.  "She said she wanted to come too but I'm afraid she's in no condition for a party. She sends you her birthday wishes.."

"Oh no, is she ill?" Mariemaia's face softened with worry.

"No, not really," Dorothy replied with a smile, "she's having a baby."

"She's pregnant?" Mariemaia gasped, "I had no idea!"

"What did you say?!" Milliardo roared, "I guess I don't have to guess who the father is!"  'When I see that Heero Yuy I'm going to kill him!' he promised to himself. 'I should've killed him when I had the chance!'

"Congratulations, Mr. Milliardo Peacecraft," Dorothy informed, "you're going to be an Uncle."  She looked at her watch, "any minute now."

"I'm going to have a cousin?" Celia gasped, "Yay!"

Lucrezia raised her eyebrow as she watched her husband almost have a heart attack, "Milliardo, calm down."

"Calm down?" he demanded, "Calm down?  How can I possibly calm down?  My sister is going to have a baby and I had no idea that she was….aaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!"

Lucrezia picked up the punch bowl and threw it over Milliardo's head.  "Why did you do that for?" he snarled.

"You needed a little cooling off."  She replied smartly.

Celia frowned, "I wanted some more punch!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, honey," Lucrezia said.

"Did they elope to the colonies?" Milliardo demanded.

"Well, did you give them any choice not to?" Lucrezia asked.

"Not now, Noin!" he muttered, "Where is my sister, Dorothy?"

"The hospital, of course," Lucrezia groaned.

"In the Sanc Kingdom, colonies, where?"

"Sally Po's house," Dorothy answered softly.

"What?" Lucrezia and Milliardo cried.

"My sister is having a baby at someone's house?" Milliardo demanded, "why not the hospital?"

"She wanted it to be private."  Dorothy explained.  "If she he had the baby in a hospital, everyone will be standing outside her room with cameras."

Milliardo tugged on Celia's hand, "Let's get going."

"Wow, a cousin!" Celia yelped for joy.  "I'm going to have a cousin!"

Lucrezia followed them, "thank you for inviting Celia to the party."

"It wouldn't have been complete with out her," Mariemaia said.  "Tell Relena I said congratulations."

"I will," Lucrezia said, "hopefully Milliardo will not kill Heero when we arrive there."

"Oh, Mariemaia," Dorothy said, "I almost forgot!" she took her hand, "I brought you a present!"

"Really, what is it?" she asked.

"Come with me and I'll show you," Dorothy said.  "It's too big to bring inside."

Mariemaia gasped, "It's a car, isn't it?"

She grinned and threw her some keys, "yeah."

Mariemaia erupted with laughter and hugged her cousin until Dorothy almost passed out.  She ran out where there was a red and shiny car waiting for her with a giant silver bow and a sign that said: Happy Sweet Sixteen on the hood.

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!" Mariemaia chanted, "Oh, you're the best!"

"Well, I wanted to give you something that no one else would have the guts to give you," Dorothy said with pink cheeks.  "Your dad would probably make me prune roses for a month if he was still here."

"Ain't that the truth?" Mariemaia agreed.  "Oh, how about some cake?"

"Why thank you," Dorothy said.

They went back inside and Mariemaia announced that Dorothy got her a car.

"You got her a what?" Lady Une demanded.

"Oh wow!" all her friends shouted.

"Let's go for a ride in it," Carrie said.

"Can I?" Mariemaia asked.

"Let's wait until tomorrow," Lady Une said.  "It's a bit too late in the evening and we have a bit of cleaning up to do."

Everyone, including Mariemaia, groaned.

Most of Mariemaia's friends stayed behind to clean up the ballroom and put things away.  Everyone wished her happy birthday again before they left and she promised that she'd take Carrie and Gwen and Calvin out for a ride tomorrow in her new car.  They admired her car for about an hour and left.

"So, was it everything you wanted?" Lady Une asked.

"Yeah, just about," Mariemaia replied, "but I still felt like something was missing."  She smiled, "good night, Lady Une."

"Good night."

Mariemaia went to her room to get ready for bed.  "Oh, I'm tired," she yawned as went to her dresser to retrieve her nightgown.  She saw something in the mirror and turned quickly around to look at her bed.

"Oh my goodness!" she cried.

On her bed were a dozen roses from an anonymous party guest.  There was no card with the thoughtful gift so she figured they were from Lady Une.  She picked up the flowers, smelt them and went down stairs.

"Lady Une, thank you for the roses!" she cried.

"Roses, I didn't get you any roses," Lady Une said.

"You didn't get me these roses?" she asked, looking them over.

Lady Une shook her head.  "Sorry."

"Then who?"

Lady Une shrugged.  "You must have a secret admirer, Mariemaia."

"That's probably what it is," Mariemaia sighed, "I'm going to put these in some water."

"It must be from the same person who got you the locket," she heard Lady Une said as Mariemaia started to get a vase.

"I wonder who it could be," Mariemaia whispered, holding a vase under the faucet.

*************************************************************

Mariemaia woke up early so she could go for a drive in her new car.  She just hoped her friends were up.  But when she got to her car, there was one slight problem.

"I don't believe it!" Mariemaia gasped.

On the driver's side window there was a sign that read: "No Driving Until You Are 16 and a HALF"

"Aaagghhh!" she growled, "who, who?"  She clenched her keys in her hand and went back inside, "Lady Une!  Why, why, why?"

"Huh?" she mumbled groggily.  "You're up already?"

"Why did you put that sign in my car?"

"What sign?" Lady Une asked, "I didn't put up any sign in your car."

"Come on, I know it was you!"

"I give you my word it was not me," Lady Une promised.  "Maybe Dorothy did it.  She got it for you."

"That doesn't make any sense," Mariemaia said, "I didn't see that sign there before."

"She probably did it right before she left," Lady Une suggested with a yawn and turned to go back to sleep.

Mariemaia went back outside and she suddenly knew whom the culprit was, even though she thought it was crazy and maybe impossible.  She walked up to the grave and put her hands on her hips.

"Thanks for coming," she said, "I appreciate the locket and the roses, but why can't I drive until I'm 16 and a half?"

"You want to go for 17?" she heard the voice of her father in the wind.

Mariemaia gasped and hung her head, "No, sir.  I can wait for 6 more months."  She started looking around for him but only got his voice.  She couldn't see him but she knew he was there and that's all that mattered.

"That's my girl," Treize whispered.  "But no dating until you're 18."

"Hey!" she shouted.  "Why not?"

"I saw you dancing with that young man," he said.

"You mean Calvin?"

"He's no good for you."

"What do you mean?" she inquired, "Calvin's very polite, handsome, wealthy…"

"He's still no good for you."

"But-but but Daddy!" she covered her face and groaned.  There was no point in arguing with a dead man.  "Oh, okay."

Mariemaia could not explain how her father made it to the party and gave her the gifts or how he put the sign in her car.  But he was the general of OZ and he had his ways.

The End

Pretty cute, huh?