And I can' forget:
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Gundam characters.
The story plot is mine, as well as, the original characters.
Kid'o,
How are you doing? Everything still going well with where you are? I would love to see you and know you are well with my own eyes. It has been so long since we have actually talked.
Things are fine with me.
Hope to hear from you soon.
~BB
~@~
Hey,
Thanks for your concern. I am doing well and am safe. I have missed
you too, and would love to see you. I actually will be in your area next
month, the 15th through 20th. Maybe we could meet and catch
up, be like old times? Let me know the place and time. You know what would
be best. ~_^.
~Kid'o
~@~
Sounds great! There is a park in the center of town that would be
a perfect place to meet. There is a fountain not far from the east entrance.
I will be waiting for you by it around 4:00 on the 16th. That work for
you?
~BB
~@~
That will work out well for me. Warning, I have changed some since
you last saw me. See you then.
~Kid'o
~@~
Lisa sent off her e-mail verifying her meeting with her big brother (BB). When she had set up her e-mail account those many years ago, she used one of the names Milliardo use to call her. "Kid'o" was one of the more endearing so she chose that.
She knew this might not be the safest thing to do, but she wanted to see her brother. The circus was going to be in the same town as her real brother for almost a week. It was an opportunity she would not pass up and worth the risk. She doubted that they were still actively looking for her after over a year.
~@~
The day came and Lisa and company made their way to the park. None of them, Duo, Trowa, Catherine, or Wufei, would let her go alone when she told them of the arrangements she had made with her brother. They did not care if he was her brother, they wanted to make sure nothing happened to her. They knew that her brother was not the cause of her state when she arrived, but she was one of them now and they took care of their own.
The five young adults casually strolled through the park entrance and towards the fountain. They laugh and talk as if they did not have a care in the world as they moved closer. All five sets of eyes stealthily scan the area. There was only one person there. A man in his early twenties with long platinum blond hair wearing a long trench coat and a Borgart style hat, and was sitting on the bench feeding the pigeons flocked at his feet. He glanced up as they approach teasingly jostling each other. He watched beneath the shadow of his had brim as they continued their teenage revelry. They sat at the edge of the fountain and splashed in the water with their feet. They all threatened to through Duo in if he did not stop splashing them. The man watched them and they watched him. He glanced at his watch again before scanning the area for the fifth time. He hoped the group playing in the fountain had not scared her off. Lisa made her way over to the man.
"Excuse me, sir," she said and his blue eyes met her violet ones. "Do you know what time it is?"
"It is five after four," he answered as his eyes sweep the area again.
"Thanks," Lisa said as she prepared to walk away, but stopped and turned back to the man thoughtfully. "Are you waiting for someone?"
"Yes," he said.
"Someone like your sister you have not seen in years?" she asked.
He eyed her suspiciously, and she let a large smile cross her face and a mischievous twinkle in her eye. He looked her up and down before he barley whispered, "Relena?"
Her smile grew wider and she nodded not trusting her voice to be steady as joy flooded up through her. After the long years her brother, her lifeline and strength when they were young, was standing before her, and she felt elated.
"Relena!" he declared again and sweep her up in an embrace that looked like he might suffocate her.
She through her arms around him as well, as he scooped her up. The others watched as the two reunited siblings greeted each other.
"What have you done to you hair, your eyes?" Milliardo asked as he pulled back and lifted a brown lock between his fingers.
"They were looking for a dark blond so I dyed it. As for the eyes, we changed them to match Duo's," she said pointing to the long haired brunet that was watching Milliardo cautiously.
"Why his?" Milliardo queried confused.
"Because he is my brother," she said it like that cleared up everything.
Lisa/Relena laughed at the confusion on her biological brother's face. It was not often that she could ever be one up on Milliardo when they were young.
"It is part of my new identity. I have a new name and a new family," she gestured to the group spread out behind her.
Milliardo was unsure how to take this. She was definitely happy where ever she had been. It was the happiest he had seen her since before the Dorlains died. He had herd rumors about Mr. Catalonias and was glad Relena was out of that household.
"Just call me Lisa," she informed him.
Milliardo rolled the new name around mentally a few times to get it connected with his sister.
"You look happy and well," Milliardo observed, "and who are your friends?"
Lisa introduced everyone to her brother before they walked to a local café to have dinner. The gang decided that Lisa should have time alone with her brother so they sat at a different table than brother and sister.
Milliardo had a good suspicion why she had ran away so he went for asking, "Where have you been?"
"Actually I have been a lot of places. You know how I always said one day I would travel and see the world."
He nodded his remembrance of the frequented topic.
"I have not seen the world yet, but I am doing a lot of traveling."
She told him of some of the places she had been and what she had seen. Soon it was time to say goodbye. Milliardo bid her friends farewell and shook each of their hands in turn.
When he got to Duo he whispered warningly, "Be sure to take care of her. She is very special."
"I know," answered Duo, "and I will do my best."
Milliardo nodded his satisfaction before turning to Lisa and hugging her once again. As they pulled apart, Lisa slipped something into Milliardo's hand and waved goodbye as she walked away. Milliardo watched them go as they disappeared into the distance before he looked at the small piece of paper that his sister gave him. Milliardo looked down at the two tickets for tonight's performance to the circus in his hand and a note carefully wrapped around them.
Go to the circus tonight and enjoy the performance. You don't know who you might see.
~@~
Milliardo and Noin climbed up the bleachers and sat to wait for the performance to begin. The clowns came out and entertained the crowed. Next the Ringmaster announced a brother sister act on the tightrope. The spotlight centered on the two performers. Milliardo gasped at who was standing on the platform. There stood his sister with Duo. Noin looked over at him quickly. He leaned over and whispered to her.
"That girl is my sister."
Noin looked at him questioningly but opted to wait until later for clarification. She knew of his sister and how she had run away. Now she was in the circus and not at all like the picture Milliardo had of her.
The two preformed their high wire act, and Milliardo had to admit that they were good. His heart almost stopped a couple times when he thought Relena/Lisa might be in danger. She made it across safely, and he would let out the breath he did not realize he was holding. As the evening progressed, Milliardo saw all his sister's friends in one act or another.
Milliardo escorted Noin down the bleaches and out the tent. Noin glanced over at him.
"The circus sure seemed to agree with you," she said noting the happy grin that replaced his always serious look he wore.
"It seems it has," he agreed as they moved off to the car.
He was happy to know his sister was safe, happy, and well cared for by the other performers. He could not think of a better place for her to be at the moment.
~@~
A few weeks after Lisa meet her brother, Duo spied Wufei walking toward the cars.
"Where are ya' going" asked Duo.
"That's for me to know," growled Wufei.
Catherine and Trowa were standing by the car as Wufei and Duo approached.
"You all are going," asked Duo with mock hurt, "and you didn't ask me or Lisa to go?"
Wufei muttered under his breath.
"We are going to visit Wufei's destroyed village," answered Catherine. "If you and Lisa want to come, you may."
Wufei shot Catherine a glare before shaking his head in defeat.
Duo dashed off to fetch Lisa and the entire group set off down the road. As they neared the location, memories flooded Trowa, Catherine, and Wufei of the last time they were there. The group stood in the middle of the destroyed village and looked around them. Lisa and Duo, never having seen it before were shocked at the destruction still visible after so many years. Some of the small village had been rebuilt but much was still untouched. Catherine's hand sought out Wufei's and she gave it a reassuring squeeze. Wufei stood strait and tall with no emotion of any kind showing as he once again looked at what had been his home. Under his breath he once again renewed his promise to his father that he would avenge their deaths.
"Father I have done as you asked. Beth and I are well, and I am working to avenge you and out village. One day…" Wufei whispered.
Catherine scarcely caught the murmured words, but she did not need to hear them to know what he said. He turned without a word from the destruction and walked down a path with Catherine beside him, hand-in-hand. The others followed silently. A serious calm had fallen over the group since they entered the village, even Duo.
Lisa noticed that Duo seemed lost in thought or memories as they moved through the destruction and out of the village toward the woods. She walked up beside him.
"What are you thinking about," she whispered as to not disturb the solemnest of the group.
"Growing up," came Duo's short answer.
Lisa looked at him concerned. He tried to give her a reassuring grin but it only made her more concerned. She raised one eyebrow showing her doubt in his assessment.
"What specifically?"
"Death, destruction, difficulty," he listed distantly as he stared at nothing in particular before him.
Lisa placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. He looked at her and smiled.
"I will tell you later," he promised as he placed his hand on hers resting on his shoulder and gave a reassuring squeeze saying he would be alright.
She nodded and filed away a memo that she would make sure he did tell her and preferably soon.
They entered the woods. Fall had turned the leaves into a collogue of red, orange, yellow, and brown. Those that had fallen and turned brown crunched under their feet as they passed. There was no way the group could sneak up on anyone with the noise their mere passing made. Wufei lead them to the water fall.
"About time you got here," said a monotone voice from above them, "and I see you brought the whole gang."
"Heero!" declared Duo. "What are you doing here?"
"I have some business with Wufei," he stated as his Prussian blue eyes took in the group from his perch on the rocks above.
"What do you have?" asked Wufei.
Heero tossed Wufei an envelope. The exact match to the one he had given Wufei over a year ago.
"They are consolidating and expanding their power," said Heero.
Wufei looked up at Heero at his comment.
"As expected," Wufei added dryly. "Anything we can do to stop them?"
"I haven't found it yet. Their security on their computer system is good and ever changing. I have not found my way totally in yet. Every time I get close it shifts."
"Is there a pattern to it?" asked Trowa.
"I think so, but have not worked it out yet," Heero informed them.
Duo and Lisa exchanged confused looks.
"What are we talking about?" inquired Duo.
The others looked at Duo and Lisa as if they had forgotten that they were there.
"Might as well tell them," said Heero.
Wufei grunted. He looked at Heero and saw the chocolate brown haired boy was leaving it up to him to tell the two.
"Sit down," he said as he took a seat on one of the rocks.
The rest took seats around Wufei and Heero moved down the hillside to join them.
"You all know my village was attacked by a group called Plague. Since that time I have been trying to keep tabs on them."
"Planing a little revenge," piped up Duo.
Wufei ignored Duo and continued.
"Several years ago they were incorporated into an organization called OZ. OZ is a special force made up by mercenaries and various miscellaneous terrorist groups that OZ takes over. They have been slowly building an elite, well trained, fighting force. All of this is being backed by an organization called Romerfeller. Several years ago, Heero and I discovered our mutual research on the group and have been aiding each other since."
"What's Heero have against them?" asked Lisa.
She froze as Heero's cold eyes focused on her. His eyes slowly drifted from her to settle briefly on each of the others in the group before he spoke.
"Let's just say I have a history with OZ and Romerfeller and would like to pay them back," he said so coolly that it gave Lisa frostbite.
He offered no more explanation than that.
"How does Romerfeller get the money to support OZ and what are they going to do with their army?" inquired Duo.
"From what Heero and I have uncovered their ultimate goal is world domination. As for their funding, they get that from several sources. They hire their soldiers out to those willing to pay the prices for anything from private wars to protection. They find friends in governments and businesses and through creative financing increase their pocket books. The number of big name companies they have on their side is amazing."
Wufei started naming off names. Lisa suppressed a gasp as her adopted father's company was listed. That certainly cleared up some of the things that happened before she left. She wondered if Dorothy knew and should she warn her. Maybe through the e-mail account through the Winner corporation, but she would deal with that later.
"What can you possible do about such a powerful organization?" Lisa voiced the question she had been pondering through Wufei's explanation.
"Currently not much," said Heero surprising the others who had forgot he was there. "We try to collect bits of information here and there about their dealings and movements. One must know ones enemy before you can defeat him."
"It is good to know their movements, but how does that help bring them down?" asked Duo.
"Ultimately it would be great if we could get hard evidence to bring the entire organization down and give it to the authorities that they have not bought off, but that is hard to get," said Wufei. "Bringing down just one cell is fairly easy, but does not damage the group as a whole. We keep plugging away at it and hope one day the right bit of info will fall into our hand that will blow them out of the water."
The group went silent once again.
"Well our business is complete," said Heero as he stood and dusted himself off.
Wufei nodded.
"You could come back to the circus with us and have dinner," offered Catherine.
"Some other time," said Heero. "I have to be someplace else in a few hours."
With that Heero moved off in the opposite direction they had come and disappeared. Not much later they heard the sound of a dirt bike rev its engine and fade into the distance as it moved away.
The circus performers made the trek back through the woods to their car and piled in. Duo, Trowa and Lisa slipped into the back seat. As they headed home, Lisa rested her head against Duo's arm. He looked down at her and she flashed him a brief smile before closing her eyes. He moved his arm to wrap it around her shoulders. She snuggled into his friendly embrace and buried her face into his side before sleep overtook her. Trowa and Duo exchanged understanding looks over the sleeping form, for they all had had a late night and a busy morning and followed her example.
As they neared home, Catherine glanced back at the others and softly chuckled. All three of them were out cold. Trowa had his head tipped back resting against the window and the back of the seat. His mouth slightly hanging open in his relaxed state. Lisa had shifted so she was now leaning against Trowa. She had wrapped her arms around his, and Duo was leaning against her, almost falling in her lap. The soft rhythm of sleeping people breathing was the only sound coming from the back.
Catherine turned back around in her seat and murmured to Wufei of the sleeping trio. He glanced into his rear view mirror and shifted until the back seat occupants came into view. He nodded and gave her a small smile before catching her hand in his. He turned his attention back to the road while he gently stroked the top of her hand with his thumb.
~@~
That night Lisa laid awake in her bed staring up at the ceiling. Since she had put being Relena behind her and became Lisa, she had put her old life behind her as well. She would think about Dorothy, Hilde, and her other friends at times, but she would not allow herself to dwell on the horrors of her past there or from before. She was a new person. She no longer had to live in fear or more uncertainty than was found in normal every day life. She had a new family and friends in her fellow circus performers that loved and supported her. That made it easy for Lisa to forget she ever had a life different from her present one.
Tonight was different. With the information that Wufei had shared with them, buried memories resurfaced, and with them the dark feelings attached to them. She knew what she had learned played a role some way into her adopted father's mood swings and lashing out at her, but learning the catalyst for his actions did not lesson her hatred of him for it. The more she dwelt on it, the more it stirred up angry feelings at his abuse of her. She wanted him to feel the pain he put the through. She wanted to see him suffer.
With a regretful sigh, Lisa gave up on trying to sleep. Her mind keep running over her past and her "father" to allow sleep to come. Lisa tossed back the covers and silently slipped out of bed so she would not wake Catherine. She shoved her feet into a pair of shoes and grabbed her coat from the hall closet before exiting the trailer.
The cool crisp air gently moved around her as she paused on the steps and looked up at the stars that sparkled like gems in the cloudless sky. The stars always seemed to be at their best on the coldest nights. She let out a small chuckle as the irony of it. To witness their glory, you had to deal with discomfort. For their beauty, it was worth it.
She slowly moved her gaze from the heavens to the earth around her before stepping down the steps and meandering around the tents while she let her mind mull over her troubles. Anger and hate kept bubbling up inside of her. She found hate to be such a destructive emotion, especially when aloud to run unchecked. It always ended up damaging both the one hated and the one who hated. One of her early foster mothers had let hate eat at her until that was all she knew. In her earlier days, Mrs. Tamerin and her sister had a confrontation over a boy her sister had "stolen" from her. It did not matter that the boy dumped both of them when he tired of them. Mrs. Tamerin blamed her sister for it and never forgave her. That began the get even war. They allowed the hate to fester, and it soon not only affected their relationship with each other, but it colored every relationship Mrs. Tamerin had. A vicious cycle of being slighted and getting revenge spiraled through Mrs. Tamerin's life because neither one would stop the cycle by being gracious and saying no to getting even.
Mrs. Tamerin was unforgiving and often unkind. Lisa did not think Mrs. Tamerin's hate was the sole reason for her character flaws, but it was one of the contributing factors. Lisa had vowed to never let hate control her like it had Mrs. Tamerin. She had been mostly successful up until now. Usually she shrugged it off and hid behind the feeling of indifference. She figured it had its problems as well, but it was better than becoming a bitter old woman that no one wanted to be around. She just could not do that tonight.
Lisa meandered through the quiet circus tents and trailers as she struggled with her feelings and how to handle them. She was surprised when she found herself stopped beside the lion's cage. The lion rubbed against the cage bars as it passed her. He came back and poked his nose between the bars at her. She carefully scratched him behind the ear and whispered words of greeting. The lion purred with the contact.
"Hi, there," she said. "You kind of lonely tonight?"
The lion circled the cage once before settling down with his front paws extended before him in a position like the sphinx and looked at her expectantly.
"You probably don't get many late night visitors, do ya' boy," Lisa found herself saying.
It was silly, but she felt the lion was expecting her to talk. She was soon telling the lion her emotional troubles. When she finished, she laughed. She did have a better handle on her emotions after verbalizing them to the lion even if he did not understand. She shook her head slightly in amusement as she decided that she had been hanging out with Trowa too much and was picking up his habits.
Lisa returned from her late night excursion and crawled into bed and fell right to sleep.
~@~
Lisa had just finished composing an e-mail for Dorothy warning her to watched herself for she had heard that the Catalonias' company was mixed up in with trouble with a capital "T."
"I don't know many details," she wrote, "but just keep your eyes open and watch out for yourself more than you usually do. I have a feeling that this might be the entire cause of your father's changed behavior in the past years.
"Got to go. Take care. Your friend."
She clicked the send button and the message was off. She stretched her arms above her head before checking her other e-mail account. Hilde had dropped her a quick note letting her know what was going on in her life. Hilde had her first boyfriend. They had gone on a couple dates. The e-mail went into detail about the boy in her life and even attached a picture. Lisa smiled as she read about her friend's good fortune.
Lisa logged off and shut down the computer before heading out to find Duo and see if she could pry some information out of him. Lisa found Duo while he was working on one of the circus vehicles. She leaned up against the finder and peered down out Duo as he had his upper body under the hood working on the engine.
"Hey," she said.
Duo lifted his head a bit quickly and hit it against the hood. He let out a groan in pain as he came out from under the hood.
"Don't you know better than to sneak up on a guy?" he accused.
Lisa smiled innocently at him.
"Maybe you should be more observant of your surroundings," she chided in jest.
Duo opted to let the topic drop and asked her to hand him the socket that was behind her. She handed him the item and he continued working on the engine. Lisa watched him work for a while before gathering up enough courage to voice her question.
"Duo," she started.
"Yeah," came out from the hood.
"Why did Wufei's old home remind you of growing up?"
Duo got a heavy look on his face while he continued to work.
"The place I spent most of my youth," he started, "looked like a war zone. The area I lived in had a lot of unrest. There were gangs that were always fighting over territory and the police did not care. Things were bad. Constant destruction and terror."
Duo paused from his work and cringed at the memory.
"How did you get there?" asked Lisa concerned.
"Well," he said thoughtfully, "I guess it started when my mom got sick and died. Start the engine!" he added as he moved his tools and himself away from his location under the hood.
Lisa slipped into the seat behind the wheel and turned the key. The engine sputtered then caught. Duo smiled to himself satisfied with what he saw and heard.
"You can shut it down now," he called over the noise of the running engine.
Lisa turned the key to the off position before crawling out of the vehicle.
"What happened after she died?" asked Lisa as she came to stand beside Duo who was putting his tools away.
Duo shut his toolbox and sat cross-legged on the ground. Lisa joined him and looked at him intently letting him know she was not going to let him get out of telling her. Duo stared off at the trees before he began his narrative.
"I was young when Mom died, I barley remember her at all. I do remember standing in the graveyard with Dad and everything being very solemn. After that, thing changed. Dad just could not function without Mom. He became withdrawn and distant. As time went by, he lost his job which was followed by the house. We packed up what belongings we could and moved into a rundown apartment. Dad started going from job to job and half heatedly tried to make ends meet. It just was not working. He could not pay the bills and we moved yet again and again. Each place was more rundown and dilapidated than the last. I got to the point where I didn't unpack at all so I would not have to pack for the next move.
"Dad would go out at night, and one night, when I was around seven or eight, he did not return. I looked for him in all his usually hangouts. Finally one of his "friends" informed me that he had crossed the wrong people and was now sleeping with the fish. I was unsure what he meant, but I soon learned that it meant Dad would not be coming back. He had gone to be with Mom," Duo paused briefly and plucked at the grass in front of him.
"I had to learn to live on my own. I had learned much already on how to take care of myself since Dad was rarely home. I spent time at the local save the youth program or what ever it was called. It was ran by a church and they provided a supervised place for parents to send their kids after school. Dad had often sent me there. A lot of kids hung out there because it was safer than the streets. It became my refuge for a time until one of the local gang leaders took a dislike to it and blew it up. I came by one day after trying to scrounge a few bucks and there were emergency vehicles all over. Smoke was rolling from the building. There was a large gapping hole in the side where the bomb had gone off. That attack killed may kids and those that worked in the shelter. I stood there numb and watched the smoke rise as I realized the last people who ever cared about me were gone.
"Soon after that, the landlord came looking for Dad. I once again told him that Dad was not here and he told me to tell my Dad that if he did not get the rent by Monday, we were out of the apartment. I did not know what else to do, so I packed up and set out to find another place to live. I finally settled down in an abandoned building. There were others there, but they ignored my presence as long as I left them alone. Finding a room where the windows were not broken out was the hard part and nothing was ever truly safe from one of the others going through it. I finally became part of the buildings social group, Just as I began to get my feet under me, I came home to no building. It had been one of the many victims in the recent string of bombings. It had become cool to blow up buildings now if you did not like someone in it. They had done a great job this time. Usually it would damage only part of the building. This time the entire building was gone. It had fallen with the explosion and derby was everywhere. Even some of the near by buildings were damaged.
"Through out my entire life, the neighbor hood was like that. Full of destruction, smoking and crumbling buildings, death, and ashes. So much like Wufei's old home."
"What happened after that?" asked Lisa who had been listening intently to Duo.
"I moved on," he shrugged. "I did what I had to for survival. I did discover I had an knack for fixing things and used that to survive on, but there were always dangers around every corner."
Duo looked Lisa in the face and saw tears begin to form. Anger began to flare because he did not want her pity. What was done, was done, and there was no changing it.
"Why do the innocent young get thrown into such harsh conditions that take the joy of childhood away from them?" she whispered and a tear rolled down her cheek.
Duo then realized that Lisa was not feeling sorry for him directly but she was mourning the rough circumstances that caused not only him but her as well as others to learn at an early age the cruelty of life and how harsh it truly was.
Duo gently pulled Lisa into his lap, and she wrapped an arm around his neck, buried her face in his shirt and let the tears flow. Duo wrapped his arms around her and stroked her hair trying to comforter her. He placed a gentle kiss on the top of her head as he tenderly rocked them back and forth and murmured what he hoped would be comforting words.
"Some times we have to grieve what we have lost, but we can't let the grief ruin what we could have," Duo whispered to her as her tears slowed.
"I know," Lisa said as she turned her tear stained face up to Duo's.
He dried her cheeks with his hand and smiled down at her before she rested her head on his shoulder and let out a sigh as she stared across his chest.
"Sometimes I wonder why such things have to happen to me or you or anyone. Every one should have a protected childhood with a family that loves them. They should not have to worry where their next meal will come from or where they will be living tomorrow. Why do such things happen?"
"They just do," said Duo. "Life is not perfect, people are not perfect. They are greedy and selfish, and that affects those around them usually in a bad way."
Duo noticed tears begin to form in Lisa's eyes again.
"You know," he added, "if life was perfect, we would not appreciate the precious things in life, like friendship, family, etc. as much because we would take them for granted."
Lisa considered his point while Duo continued to hold her. They sat
that way for quite some time as they talked about thing from their childhood's
to their current friends. By the end they were laughing and joking. There
was a smile on both their faces and a strengthened bond of understanding
between them.
