A Strawberry and Vanilla Swirl
Chapter 8
"Wars are nothing but repulsive violence, so how is it that you can be so clear-cut about it all?"
"It's the only way I know how to live."
Those were some of the truest words he had ever spoken about himself, and they rang in his ears. His short conversation with Sylvia Noventa replayed in his mind. It was true; this was the only way he knew how to live. It was how he was brought up.
But, four years of finding himself was slowly paying off. He found himself expressing his emotions more often, and was amused by things easier. But there was still a block and when he got angry... he got angry. So, he definitely was not kid-friendly yet.
He lived in an apartment. No television, and a phone that was not in the phonebook. He kept a laptop on the coffee table and slept on the couch. The kitchen was the only room he had much use for, which was to eat.
He worked in a construction company for X-18999. He had some history with this colony and thought it would be a good place to come to peace with himself. He had done a good job of keeping a low profile, too. He knew some people were looking for him. He had intercepted messages from Preventers once and knew he was being looked for. It probably had to do with four certain males who he knew.
Heero wished he knew what his daughter looked like. He did not want to tell anyone his address so there was no way to get her picture. He could not go see her or anything either. He had even tried looking up her profile before, but there was no picture of her anywhere. So, he could only imagine what she looked like.
When he had time, he would imagine that she looked just like Relena. Long sandy blonde hair, deep, sea blue eyes, a beautiful smile, and a tiny little nose. But he wished he could see the real thing and not just his imagination.
He wanted to see Relena again, that was another thing he was looking forward to. He would love to see Relena again after nearly five years. But, of course, he wasn't Relena-friendly yet, either. Because he was so dangerous. It was true, that was – how he felt – the only way he knew how to live.
It was five o'clock, and that meant Heero's shift was over. He slipped pass all the chatty people and calmly walked pass the people who were scared of him – either because of his looks or his antisocialism – and left quickly. He didn't have a car, he liked walking. It helped him reduce any stress he got from work.
Depending on his mood, he would occasionally walk pass the park to watch all the children play. Those children were his guinea pigs. He tested himself around them so he knew the things his daughter would do, and his reaction to them. His years of experience with some of them showed him that around children he had incredible patience. But he was also pained.
He found he couldn't look into their eyes. No matter their gender, age, or features, he couldn't look into their eyes. This was because it pained him so much. The last time he looked into innocent eyes of a child, he ended up killing her. And her little dog, too.
He always had a soft spot for children. Deep down inside. He wasn't sure why. Whether it was because of his childhood was deprived from him and he did not want anyone to experience what he had to. Or maybe it was because children were so innocent and kind that they should be protected. Perhaps it was because he thought of Relena and children as being the base of all peace. Whatever the reason, he liked children and was always so afraid he would hurt them.
He entered the par the way he always did. Then walked over and sat on a bench. He studied the park with interest. He liked the layout of the place. They had it so that if you sat on a bench you could practically see the whole park. The park was so beautiful and peaceful, even if children were playing loudly. That thought made his mind wander to something else he was beautiful and peaceful: Relena.
Relena. There came a point in the war where she was the only thing he fought for. When the colonies were against him and he was not sure what to fight for, he fought for Relena. He would never admit to anyone else, but it was true.
Heero began to imagine what his daughter looked like again. He had been doing that a lot lately. It was those darn emotions showing through him. It was hard to get used to them. But, sometime he couldn't help thinking about the things that went on in that home. He smiled slightly. Poor Relena. On second thought, poor Quatre. Sometimes Quatre would annoy him slightly. The boy would always be able to know something about him. He could tell what his emotions were. Of course, he would deny, but it was true. Nevertheless, he had Quatre watch Relena and Destiny. One reason, of course, was he couldn't trust any of the other three. Maybe Trowa, if Trowa had the time. Not Wufei, 'justice' was in his vocabulary, not 'patience.' And definitely not Duo. He couldn't even trust Duo with a chocolate cake, much less something so important less something so important as this. So of course, he trusted only Quatre.
Besides, he knew Quatre knew his emotions, but he could read Quatre sometimes too. And he knew Quatre cared for Relena enough to watch her almost as dearly as Heero could himself.
Heero sighed. He was thinking too much again. He wondered why he was doing that so much lately. Well, no matter what the reason, he didn't really care. He turned his attention back to the park and its inhabitant. Again he thought about how good the layout was.
Right in front of the benches were the slides, monkey bars, bridges, the normal things. To the left was a large sand bow, and to the right were swings. Under all the playthings were woodchips to keep the children safe. Then, to the far right, a few yards of grass later, there were plenty of trees with low branches to climb.
Of course, people didn't use the benches anyway, This park was usually used for parents to drop their children off before they went to work. He thought that was a dumb thing to do. He thought it was dangerous leaving children all alone like that. That's why he was there, he was protecting them. That was his place at the moment.
Heero felt a tug on his arm. He turned to look at a little girl. She had dirty blonde hair and sapphire colored eyes. For no reason at all, she reminded him of Relena. It must have been her innocence. He wasn't sure. She smiled at him and climbed up on the bench to sit next to him. She gave him a bigger smile. It made the corners of his mouth curl up in a small smile.
"Hi, Mr. Maxwell," she piped up.
"Hi," Heero replied.
"Will you push me on the swings?"
"I suppose." The little girl jumped up. "Yay!" She ran over to the swings. Heero, slower than the girl, got up and followed her.
Her name was July. Not July the month. Not Julie, although it was pronounced the same. It was spelled like the month, but she said her name like 'Julie'. He met her a year ago. He saw her and hoped his daughter was like her. One day she had come up to him and asked him why he always seemed to be on the bench…
"What's the matter, Mister?"
Heero had given her an odd look. "Huh?"
"Do you sleep on the bench, mister? Are you a homeless?"
'A homeless.' She had asked him if he was 'a homeless'. Well this was not the best way to start him on the day.
"No, I live in an apartment. I jus sit here a lot."
She had looked about the age his daughter would have been then. She sat on the bench, next to him, and they talked.
"Uh oh," she had said as she jumped off. "I have-ta go home now. What's your name, Mister?"
Heero didn't use his 'code name' much. He wanted his own name, not a name someone made up for him. Of course, he never had a name; it had always been something new for a mission. Yet, he did not want to think up a new name. So, he told her the first thing that came to his mind.
"Duo Maxwell.: Which so happened to be the name he was using on X-18999.
"Bye, Mr. Maxwell,' she had called and waved to him. He gave her a small wave and then she skipped away. He had known her ever since.
So, whenever she was in the park she would ask him to play with her. Well, Heero Yuy did not play. He did what ever the girl did with less enthusiasm, mostly because inside, he would rather play these things with his daughter. But he tried not to let it show as he pushed her on the swing, with her giggling cutely all the way.
Of course, Heero knew that the girl would get bored with that quickly, so he was prepared. Well, he was fortunate this time. At least she played on the swings for five minutes before claiming she wanted to stop.
Heero slowed the swing down and, by grabbing the chairs on each side of the seat, stopped it completely. She hopped off and stated she wanted to go play in the sandbox. Heero sighed and willingly followed. At that moment he realized he was not babysitting the girl and did not have to do whatever she said. But then again, he had a soft spot for children.
The sandbox was a good size, big enough to fit about five or six kids in. Of course, this was fine with Heero since he'd only grown about three inches since the war and he could fit in it all right.
He sat down on the edge of the sandbox, because he wasn't very fond of sand. He eyed the girl as she picked up a plastic shovel and pail and began putting sand into the pail.
"Come on, Mr. Maxwell," she said cheerfully. "Don't you want to play?"
"Yeah. I was just thinking," he lied.
July reached her hand into the sand until she found a plastic, red shovel. "Help me dig, Mr. Maxwell. We have to build a castle for the princess, because she has now here to live!"
Heero raised an eyebrow. "If she doesn't have anywhere to live how is she a princess?"
"Her last castle got knocked down."
"How?"
"A big dragon! He was coming to the princess's castle, and turned around, and accidentally hit the castle with it's tail and the castle falled down and the princess was sad and she wanted a new castle and -- "
"Okay," Heero butted in. He had never heard so many 'and's in his life, the girl needed to take a breath. "And the castle did not 'falled' it 'fell'," he added.
"Oh," she said. She tipped the pail over and let it sit on the sand for a moment. Then she lifted it up and smiled at the little beginning of the castle it had made. But she didn't see the other side that Heero could se. There was a little landslide going on and before they knew it, the sand castle tumbled to the ground.
Heero knew what was coming. His eyes widened and he looked over to the girl. Her eyes filled up with tears and she began to cry over her fallen castle.
Heero was quick to the rescue. He jumped up from where he was sitting and got down on the sand. He reached his hand under the pile of sand that was once a castle, and pulled out the green bucket from beneath it. He grabbed the red shovel she had given him not too long ago and began digging into the sand and pouring it into the pail.
Every few scoops he'd flatten the sand in the pail and push it down to pack it in. Then he'd continue piling it in. July's crying had reduced to sobs, which now was a sniff every once in awhile. She was distracted by Heero's sudden take-charge attitude.
Heero finally sat the small shovel down next to him, sighed, and flipped the pail over in t. Slowly he pulled the pail away and it gradually revealed the stable, small castle that he had created.
July wiped her eyes with her hands and smiled at him. "How'd you do that, Mr. Maxwell?"
Heero shrugged. "It just takes patience, I suppose." He held the pail out to her and she took it, looking at it – and then the castle – with surprise.
"Thank you, Mr. Maxwell," she said, exasperated. "I can't believe I –"
Suddenly from behind them another voice broke in. "But the castle was knocked down by a big, mean dragon." And they saw a big blur jump into the sandbox, right on the castle, knocking it down.
Heero and July looked down to see a little boy about July's age with light brown hair, and their eyes were the same color.
The boy sat up and grinned triumphantly. July gave him a deadly look. "Casey! You knocked down my castle, you big dummy!"
Heero crossed his arms at July's cousin, who was two years older than her. They had the opportunity of meeting many times before. Heero didn't like him, because he reminded him too much like himself. The boy was brutal – like most boys his age.
"Too bad the princess was inside, now she's dead."
"Nuh-uh, Casey! She's not dead!" July protested. "She can't be dead!"
"She is," Casey replied, sticking his tongue out at her.
July's eyes began to well up with tears again "My princess is not dead, she's alive! You didn't hurt her!"
"Nope, the dragon did."
Heero sighed. He'd had enough of this for now. "Okay, you've made your point. Now why don't you help your cousin rebuild the castle."
"Yuck," Casey replied. "That's sissy stuff. I have better things t do."
July put her hand on her waist. "Like be a big dummy!"
Casey glared at her and tackled her to the ground. Anger was really building up in Heero, he couldn't take it anymore. He grabbed the back of the boy's shirt and pulled him up. Casey let out a yelp as Heero sat him down on his feet.
"Listen you –" Heero began. He wasn't going to threaten him, just slightly lecture. But was interrupted by a girl's voice from far away.
"July, Casey, come on kids, where are you?"
Everyone turned to se a tall lady in the distance looking around for them. Heero let go of Casey's shirt.
July stood up and called to the woman, "Coming Mom!" She turned to her cousin. "Come on, Casey." She didn't have to tell him twice, the boy went running. She turned to Heero and smiled. "Good-bye, Mr. Maxwell!" She turned and started toward her mom.
"'Bye," Heero mumbled. He glanced around the now empty park. He must have been there longer than it seemed, because it was about sever or eight. He could tell because the artificial light of the colony was starting to dim.
He sighed, realizing this day was half over. He stood up and dusted off the sand on his pants. He stepped out f the sandbox and started to his apartment building. He took two steps away from the sandbox and heard someone say something. He paused when he thought he heard a girl say something. He turned around and looked surprised. It was Relena.
"Heero, I want you to make me a promise. Promise me you won't leave here without telling me fist."
Heero opened his mouth to reply, but Relena faded away. She was just a hallucination. He looked at the spot where he thought she was for a moment. He closed his eyes and shook his head absently.
"Stop seeing things, Yuy," he mumbled to himself.
He turned and continued on his destination to his apartment building. He walked down a busy street, the wonderful smell of the freshly baked goods from the deli filled the air. Heero stuffed his fists into his pockets and glanced to window out of the corner of his eye.
Cakes, muffins, cupcakes, brownies, cookies, and anything else imaginable were what greeted his sight. Duo would have a field tip in there; he knew it. He tried to shake it off and picked up his pace to hurry up and get to his apartment.
He began to climb up the steps to his room, when he heard "Maxwell." It took a moment to register that was supposed to be him. He turned around to face an old man half a floor below him.
"Your rent is due tomorrow, I'm telling you in advance."
"Hn," Heero turned to his door and opened it. He never locked his door; he figured there was nothing of interest to steal. But he did lock it if he was in it so he wouldn't be bothered. He shut the door behind him and locked it. Then he glanced around his living quarters. He room always seemed to be so dark.
"I need to get a dog or something," he said. "It's so melancholy in here."
He walked over and sat on his couch. He felt tired. It just washed over him all of a sudden. He walked got a good night's sleep, so why he was tired he wasn't sure. But he went ahead and lay down. His eyes closed halfway and he tried to keep conscious. But the sleep proved to be powerful and made him quickly fall asleep.
A few minutes after he fell asleep, he heard a telephone. He immediately sat up and rested his head in his hands. The loud ringing startled him and he glanced over to the phone. Why would the phone be ringing? No one knew his phone number. He slowly stood and walked over. He snatched the phone up. 'The person on the other end had better not be something selling something, for their sake.'
He picked up the phone and said with his ever-so-etiquette voice, "What do you want?" The other person told him something that made his eyes widen. "What? But… right."
Heero hung up the phone and looked down at it. He got a determined look on his face and ran out of his room. He was fast down the stairs and out of the building, practically flying down the street. Only a few minutes later, he arrived at a hospital and was standing in a hallway. Then he heard loud noises and turned to see a couple doctors and nurses pushing a stretcher down the hall. He stepped to the side and looked at it was it went by. Suddenly, he grabbed the side of it, and made them all stop. He looked at the person on the stretcher and gasped.
It was Relena! She was bleeding everywhere; it was terrible. He looked to one of the doctors.
"How did this happen?"
The doctor sighed. "A building blew up, they were trying to assassinate the vice foreign minister. Her and her daughter were both injured."
"Where is she?" Heero grabbed the doctor by the collar. "Where is my daughter?"
"R-room C-1 – down the hall."
Heero turned and ran down the hall, calling for Relena to hold on. He found a sign that read 'C' and was about to run into room 1. But a person standing at the door stopped him. He was slightly surprised to find it was Quatre.
"Quatre, move out of my way. I want to see my daughter."
Quatre crossed his arms a. "Since when? Why should you go see her now? You've never bothered to see her before. Biologically, you are her father. But, relationship wise, you have nothing to do with her."
"Move it, Quatre. She's my daughter, I can she her whenever I want." Heero's voice was growing dangerous.
"Why?" Quatre had a warning look on his face. You've never taken advantage of that before."
Heero's eyes were tempting to wander from shame, but he forced himself to keep eyes contact. "I --
"Face it Heero," Quatre said angrily. "You're not good enough to be her father. You're not good enough to be with Relena. I take care of them both, not you! You coward! Because you weren't there they got harmed! You weren't able to protect them! It's your fault they're in the hospital!"
"Quatre," Heero said through gritted teeth.
"Heero," Quatre said. "You're not worth it."
"Huh?" Heero looked surprised.
"You're not worth all the pain Relena goes through. You're not worth it." Quatre's eyes began to turn a red color. "All those times... could have died."
Heero's eyes narrowed. "Quatre –" Before he could finish the word, Quatre was gone. So was the hospital. He was soon just standing in blackness.
"Heero."
Heero turned his head when he heard Relena's voice.
"Heero."
Heero turned his head the other way, trying to find the source of the voice.
"Heero."
"Relena?" Heero kept looking around. He couldn't find her. Where was she?
"Heero," the voice repeated. Then he heard her desperately cry, "Heero!"
Heero quickly sat up. He looked around the dark apartment and, realizing where he was, calmed down. He slumped against the couch and exhaled.
"Some dream." He rubbed the back of his neck. "Some nightmare." He threw his legs over the side so he was sitting on the couch.
"Quatre's right," he mumbled. "I am a coward. I have to admit that I think it's about time I see my daughter." He looked over to a calendar hanging on the wall by his laptop. "Two months. I should be able to afford a plane ticket by then." It would be a birthday present for her. But he'd have to inform Relena about it too. Heero smirked slightly. Oh, he'd contact her about that later.
The End of Chapter 8
Yay, I got it out! Okay, we're going to get back with everyone else next chapter! And, no matter what the end of this chapter hinted, the Heero and Relena reunion isn't for about five more chapters. And, yes. They have very demented dreams, don't they? As always, thanks for reading!
Chapter 8
"Wars are nothing but repulsive violence, so how is it that you can be so clear-cut about it all?"
"It's the only way I know how to live."
Those were some of the truest words he had ever spoken about himself, and they rang in his ears. His short conversation with Sylvia Noventa replayed in his mind. It was true; this was the only way he knew how to live. It was how he was brought up.
But, four years of finding himself was slowly paying off. He found himself expressing his emotions more often, and was amused by things easier. But there was still a block and when he got angry... he got angry. So, he definitely was not kid-friendly yet.
He lived in an apartment. No television, and a phone that was not in the phonebook. He kept a laptop on the coffee table and slept on the couch. The kitchen was the only room he had much use for, which was to eat.
He worked in a construction company for X-18999. He had some history with this colony and thought it would be a good place to come to peace with himself. He had done a good job of keeping a low profile, too. He knew some people were looking for him. He had intercepted messages from Preventers once and knew he was being looked for. It probably had to do with four certain males who he knew.
Heero wished he knew what his daughter looked like. He did not want to tell anyone his address so there was no way to get her picture. He could not go see her or anything either. He had even tried looking up her profile before, but there was no picture of her anywhere. So, he could only imagine what she looked like.
When he had time, he would imagine that she looked just like Relena. Long sandy blonde hair, deep, sea blue eyes, a beautiful smile, and a tiny little nose. But he wished he could see the real thing and not just his imagination.
He wanted to see Relena again, that was another thing he was looking forward to. He would love to see Relena again after nearly five years. But, of course, he wasn't Relena-friendly yet, either. Because he was so dangerous. It was true, that was – how he felt – the only way he knew how to live.
It was five o'clock, and that meant Heero's shift was over. He slipped pass all the chatty people and calmly walked pass the people who were scared of him – either because of his looks or his antisocialism – and left quickly. He didn't have a car, he liked walking. It helped him reduce any stress he got from work.
Depending on his mood, he would occasionally walk pass the park to watch all the children play. Those children were his guinea pigs. He tested himself around them so he knew the things his daughter would do, and his reaction to them. His years of experience with some of them showed him that around children he had incredible patience. But he was also pained.
He found he couldn't look into their eyes. No matter their gender, age, or features, he couldn't look into their eyes. This was because it pained him so much. The last time he looked into innocent eyes of a child, he ended up killing her. And her little dog, too.
He always had a soft spot for children. Deep down inside. He wasn't sure why. Whether it was because of his childhood was deprived from him and he did not want anyone to experience what he had to. Or maybe it was because children were so innocent and kind that they should be protected. Perhaps it was because he thought of Relena and children as being the base of all peace. Whatever the reason, he liked children and was always so afraid he would hurt them.
He entered the par the way he always did. Then walked over and sat on a bench. He studied the park with interest. He liked the layout of the place. They had it so that if you sat on a bench you could practically see the whole park. The park was so beautiful and peaceful, even if children were playing loudly. That thought made his mind wander to something else he was beautiful and peaceful: Relena.
Relena. There came a point in the war where she was the only thing he fought for. When the colonies were against him and he was not sure what to fight for, he fought for Relena. He would never admit to anyone else, but it was true.
Heero began to imagine what his daughter looked like again. He had been doing that a lot lately. It was those darn emotions showing through him. It was hard to get used to them. But, sometime he couldn't help thinking about the things that went on in that home. He smiled slightly. Poor Relena. On second thought, poor Quatre. Sometimes Quatre would annoy him slightly. The boy would always be able to know something about him. He could tell what his emotions were. Of course, he would deny, but it was true. Nevertheless, he had Quatre watch Relena and Destiny. One reason, of course, was he couldn't trust any of the other three. Maybe Trowa, if Trowa had the time. Not Wufei, 'justice' was in his vocabulary, not 'patience.' And definitely not Duo. He couldn't even trust Duo with a chocolate cake, much less something so important less something so important as this. So of course, he trusted only Quatre.
Besides, he knew Quatre knew his emotions, but he could read Quatre sometimes too. And he knew Quatre cared for Relena enough to watch her almost as dearly as Heero could himself.
Heero sighed. He was thinking too much again. He wondered why he was doing that so much lately. Well, no matter what the reason, he didn't really care. He turned his attention back to the park and its inhabitant. Again he thought about how good the layout was.
Right in front of the benches were the slides, monkey bars, bridges, the normal things. To the left was a large sand bow, and to the right were swings. Under all the playthings were woodchips to keep the children safe. Then, to the far right, a few yards of grass later, there were plenty of trees with low branches to climb.
Of course, people didn't use the benches anyway, This park was usually used for parents to drop their children off before they went to work. He thought that was a dumb thing to do. He thought it was dangerous leaving children all alone like that. That's why he was there, he was protecting them. That was his place at the moment.
Heero felt a tug on his arm. He turned to look at a little girl. She had dirty blonde hair and sapphire colored eyes. For no reason at all, she reminded him of Relena. It must have been her innocence. He wasn't sure. She smiled at him and climbed up on the bench to sit next to him. She gave him a bigger smile. It made the corners of his mouth curl up in a small smile.
"Hi, Mr. Maxwell," she piped up.
"Hi," Heero replied.
"Will you push me on the swings?"
"I suppose." The little girl jumped up. "Yay!" She ran over to the swings. Heero, slower than the girl, got up and followed her.
Her name was July. Not July the month. Not Julie, although it was pronounced the same. It was spelled like the month, but she said her name like 'Julie'. He met her a year ago. He saw her and hoped his daughter was like her. One day she had come up to him and asked him why he always seemed to be on the bench…
"What's the matter, Mister?"
Heero had given her an odd look. "Huh?"
"Do you sleep on the bench, mister? Are you a homeless?"
'A homeless.' She had asked him if he was 'a homeless'. Well this was not the best way to start him on the day.
"No, I live in an apartment. I jus sit here a lot."
She had looked about the age his daughter would have been then. She sat on the bench, next to him, and they talked.
"Uh oh," she had said as she jumped off. "I have-ta go home now. What's your name, Mister?"
Heero didn't use his 'code name' much. He wanted his own name, not a name someone made up for him. Of course, he never had a name; it had always been something new for a mission. Yet, he did not want to think up a new name. So, he told her the first thing that came to his mind.
"Duo Maxwell.: Which so happened to be the name he was using on X-18999.
"Bye, Mr. Maxwell,' she had called and waved to him. He gave her a small wave and then she skipped away. He had known her ever since.
So, whenever she was in the park she would ask him to play with her. Well, Heero Yuy did not play. He did what ever the girl did with less enthusiasm, mostly because inside, he would rather play these things with his daughter. But he tried not to let it show as he pushed her on the swing, with her giggling cutely all the way.
Of course, Heero knew that the girl would get bored with that quickly, so he was prepared. Well, he was fortunate this time. At least she played on the swings for five minutes before claiming she wanted to stop.
Heero slowed the swing down and, by grabbing the chairs on each side of the seat, stopped it completely. She hopped off and stated she wanted to go play in the sandbox. Heero sighed and willingly followed. At that moment he realized he was not babysitting the girl and did not have to do whatever she said. But then again, he had a soft spot for children.
The sandbox was a good size, big enough to fit about five or six kids in. Of course, this was fine with Heero since he'd only grown about three inches since the war and he could fit in it all right.
He sat down on the edge of the sandbox, because he wasn't very fond of sand. He eyed the girl as she picked up a plastic shovel and pail and began putting sand into the pail.
"Come on, Mr. Maxwell," she said cheerfully. "Don't you want to play?"
"Yeah. I was just thinking," he lied.
July reached her hand into the sand until she found a plastic, red shovel. "Help me dig, Mr. Maxwell. We have to build a castle for the princess, because she has now here to live!"
Heero raised an eyebrow. "If she doesn't have anywhere to live how is she a princess?"
"Her last castle got knocked down."
"How?"
"A big dragon! He was coming to the princess's castle, and turned around, and accidentally hit the castle with it's tail and the castle falled down and the princess was sad and she wanted a new castle and -- "
"Okay," Heero butted in. He had never heard so many 'and's in his life, the girl needed to take a breath. "And the castle did not 'falled' it 'fell'," he added.
"Oh," she said. She tipped the pail over and let it sit on the sand for a moment. Then she lifted it up and smiled at the little beginning of the castle it had made. But she didn't see the other side that Heero could se. There was a little landslide going on and before they knew it, the sand castle tumbled to the ground.
Heero knew what was coming. His eyes widened and he looked over to the girl. Her eyes filled up with tears and she began to cry over her fallen castle.
Heero was quick to the rescue. He jumped up from where he was sitting and got down on the sand. He reached his hand under the pile of sand that was once a castle, and pulled out the green bucket from beneath it. He grabbed the red shovel she had given him not too long ago and began digging into the sand and pouring it into the pail.
Every few scoops he'd flatten the sand in the pail and push it down to pack it in. Then he'd continue piling it in. July's crying had reduced to sobs, which now was a sniff every once in awhile. She was distracted by Heero's sudden take-charge attitude.
Heero finally sat the small shovel down next to him, sighed, and flipped the pail over in t. Slowly he pulled the pail away and it gradually revealed the stable, small castle that he had created.
July wiped her eyes with her hands and smiled at him. "How'd you do that, Mr. Maxwell?"
Heero shrugged. "It just takes patience, I suppose." He held the pail out to her and she took it, looking at it – and then the castle – with surprise.
"Thank you, Mr. Maxwell," she said, exasperated. "I can't believe I –"
Suddenly from behind them another voice broke in. "But the castle was knocked down by a big, mean dragon." And they saw a big blur jump into the sandbox, right on the castle, knocking it down.
Heero and July looked down to see a little boy about July's age with light brown hair, and their eyes were the same color.
The boy sat up and grinned triumphantly. July gave him a deadly look. "Casey! You knocked down my castle, you big dummy!"
Heero crossed his arms at July's cousin, who was two years older than her. They had the opportunity of meeting many times before. Heero didn't like him, because he reminded him too much like himself. The boy was brutal – like most boys his age.
"Too bad the princess was inside, now she's dead."
"Nuh-uh, Casey! She's not dead!" July protested. "She can't be dead!"
"She is," Casey replied, sticking his tongue out at her.
July's eyes began to well up with tears again "My princess is not dead, she's alive! You didn't hurt her!"
"Nope, the dragon did."
Heero sighed. He'd had enough of this for now. "Okay, you've made your point. Now why don't you help your cousin rebuild the castle."
"Yuck," Casey replied. "That's sissy stuff. I have better things t do."
July put her hand on her waist. "Like be a big dummy!"
Casey glared at her and tackled her to the ground. Anger was really building up in Heero, he couldn't take it anymore. He grabbed the back of the boy's shirt and pulled him up. Casey let out a yelp as Heero sat him down on his feet.
"Listen you –" Heero began. He wasn't going to threaten him, just slightly lecture. But was interrupted by a girl's voice from far away.
"July, Casey, come on kids, where are you?"
Everyone turned to se a tall lady in the distance looking around for them. Heero let go of Casey's shirt.
July stood up and called to the woman, "Coming Mom!" She turned to her cousin. "Come on, Casey." She didn't have to tell him twice, the boy went running. She turned to Heero and smiled. "Good-bye, Mr. Maxwell!" She turned and started toward her mom.
"'Bye," Heero mumbled. He glanced around the now empty park. He must have been there longer than it seemed, because it was about sever or eight. He could tell because the artificial light of the colony was starting to dim.
He sighed, realizing this day was half over. He stood up and dusted off the sand on his pants. He stepped out f the sandbox and started to his apartment building. He took two steps away from the sandbox and heard someone say something. He paused when he thought he heard a girl say something. He turned around and looked surprised. It was Relena.
"Heero, I want you to make me a promise. Promise me you won't leave here without telling me fist."
Heero opened his mouth to reply, but Relena faded away. She was just a hallucination. He looked at the spot where he thought she was for a moment. He closed his eyes and shook his head absently.
"Stop seeing things, Yuy," he mumbled to himself.
He turned and continued on his destination to his apartment building. He walked down a busy street, the wonderful smell of the freshly baked goods from the deli filled the air. Heero stuffed his fists into his pockets and glanced to window out of the corner of his eye.
Cakes, muffins, cupcakes, brownies, cookies, and anything else imaginable were what greeted his sight. Duo would have a field tip in there; he knew it. He tried to shake it off and picked up his pace to hurry up and get to his apartment.
He began to climb up the steps to his room, when he heard "Maxwell." It took a moment to register that was supposed to be him. He turned around to face an old man half a floor below him.
"Your rent is due tomorrow, I'm telling you in advance."
"Hn," Heero turned to his door and opened it. He never locked his door; he figured there was nothing of interest to steal. But he did lock it if he was in it so he wouldn't be bothered. He shut the door behind him and locked it. Then he glanced around his living quarters. He room always seemed to be so dark.
"I need to get a dog or something," he said. "It's so melancholy in here."
He walked over and sat on his couch. He felt tired. It just washed over him all of a sudden. He walked got a good night's sleep, so why he was tired he wasn't sure. But he went ahead and lay down. His eyes closed halfway and he tried to keep conscious. But the sleep proved to be powerful and made him quickly fall asleep.
A few minutes after he fell asleep, he heard a telephone. He immediately sat up and rested his head in his hands. The loud ringing startled him and he glanced over to the phone. Why would the phone be ringing? No one knew his phone number. He slowly stood and walked over. He snatched the phone up. 'The person on the other end had better not be something selling something, for their sake.'
He picked up the phone and said with his ever-so-etiquette voice, "What do you want?" The other person told him something that made his eyes widen. "What? But… right."
Heero hung up the phone and looked down at it. He got a determined look on his face and ran out of his room. He was fast down the stairs and out of the building, practically flying down the street. Only a few minutes later, he arrived at a hospital and was standing in a hallway. Then he heard loud noises and turned to see a couple doctors and nurses pushing a stretcher down the hall. He stepped to the side and looked at it was it went by. Suddenly, he grabbed the side of it, and made them all stop. He looked at the person on the stretcher and gasped.
It was Relena! She was bleeding everywhere; it was terrible. He looked to one of the doctors.
"How did this happen?"
The doctor sighed. "A building blew up, they were trying to assassinate the vice foreign minister. Her and her daughter were both injured."
"Where is she?" Heero grabbed the doctor by the collar. "Where is my daughter?"
"R-room C-1 – down the hall."
Heero turned and ran down the hall, calling for Relena to hold on. He found a sign that read 'C' and was about to run into room 1. But a person standing at the door stopped him. He was slightly surprised to find it was Quatre.
"Quatre, move out of my way. I want to see my daughter."
Quatre crossed his arms a. "Since when? Why should you go see her now? You've never bothered to see her before. Biologically, you are her father. But, relationship wise, you have nothing to do with her."
"Move it, Quatre. She's my daughter, I can she her whenever I want." Heero's voice was growing dangerous.
"Why?" Quatre had a warning look on his face. You've never taken advantage of that before."
Heero's eyes were tempting to wander from shame, but he forced himself to keep eyes contact. "I --
"Face it Heero," Quatre said angrily. "You're not good enough to be her father. You're not good enough to be with Relena. I take care of them both, not you! You coward! Because you weren't there they got harmed! You weren't able to protect them! It's your fault they're in the hospital!"
"Quatre," Heero said through gritted teeth.
"Heero," Quatre said. "You're not worth it."
"Huh?" Heero looked surprised.
"You're not worth all the pain Relena goes through. You're not worth it." Quatre's eyes began to turn a red color. "All those times... could have died."
Heero's eyes narrowed. "Quatre –" Before he could finish the word, Quatre was gone. So was the hospital. He was soon just standing in blackness.
"Heero."
Heero turned his head when he heard Relena's voice.
"Heero."
Heero turned his head the other way, trying to find the source of the voice.
"Heero."
"Relena?" Heero kept looking around. He couldn't find her. Where was she?
"Heero," the voice repeated. Then he heard her desperately cry, "Heero!"
Heero quickly sat up. He looked around the dark apartment and, realizing where he was, calmed down. He slumped against the couch and exhaled.
"Some dream." He rubbed the back of his neck. "Some nightmare." He threw his legs over the side so he was sitting on the couch.
"Quatre's right," he mumbled. "I am a coward. I have to admit that I think it's about time I see my daughter." He looked over to a calendar hanging on the wall by his laptop. "Two months. I should be able to afford a plane ticket by then." It would be a birthday present for her. But he'd have to inform Relena about it too. Heero smirked slightly. Oh, he'd contact her about that later.
The End of Chapter 8
Yay, I got it out! Okay, we're going to get back with everyone else next chapter! And, no matter what the end of this chapter hinted, the Heero and Relena reunion isn't for about five more chapters. And, yes. They have very demented dreams, don't they? As always, thanks for reading!