Part II
As the month of the party approached, Eleanor got more and more excited. School let out for the summer, and on days when his baby-sitting plan fell through, Heero had to take her to the office with him. There, she would chatter away to her "Uncle Woofy" and ask her "Aunt Sally" to tell her all about Princess Relena. Wufei quickly grew resigned to the fact that his name would be mangled and Sally would tease him for it.
"Can't you teach that child to say my name correctly?!" Wufei finally demanded in exasperation.
"I think it's cute," Sally said.
"I know. That's why she does it," Heero said. "She knows how to say your name correctly, but she also knows that she gets more of a reaction when she says it incorrectly."
Sally grinned. "That's Duo's child, all right."
Just at that moment, Eleanor came bouncing back into the office with a handful of printer paper and a box full of crayons. Instantly, that line of conversation ended. They were careful not to discuss Eleanor's real father in front of her, afraid that they would have to be the ones to explain who he was and why she'd never met him.
"Touchan! Look! I drew a picture of Uncle Woofy!"
Heero took the proffered paper and glanced at it. "That's nice, sweetheart, but why is he breathing fire?"
"'Cause I can't draw yells," she explained as Wufei sputtered indignantly. "Aunt Hilde tried to teach me, but I'm still learning. See?" She showed him another paper, this one covered with symbols such as *!#@.
Heero's eyes widened. "Hilde taught you this? Did she teach you the words they stand for?"
Eleanor shook her head, her red pigtails flapping. "No. She said I wasn't allowed to know yet."
Heero breathed a sigh of relief, and mentally postponed the date of Hilde's death.
"Touchan, is Aunt Hilde going to be at the party?"
"No," Heero told her sadly. "But your Uncles Trowa and Quatre are going to be there."
Eleanor's face brightened. "Oh good. I like them. And Uncle Trowa gives good piggyback rides."
Wufei sighed. "It is a sad day indeed when Trowa Barton's role in life has been reduced to giving piggyback rides to a five-year-old."
~*~*~
Several weeks later, as they sat aboard the plane that took them towards the reunion, Heero found himself wishing that Trowa, regardless of his role in life, was present to entertain his "niece".
"Are we there yet?" Eleanor asked for what seemed like the billionth time.
"No," he told her again. "Why don't you take a nap?"
"Don't wanna," she grumbled, staring out the window.
Heero settled back to reading his book, but five minutes later, he heard, "Are we there yet?" again. This time, however, it was said in a sort of whimper.
"No, we. sweetheart, what's wrong?"
Eleanor's face had gone even paler than usual. "Touchan, my stomach hurts!"
Heero suddenly discovered just how much worse his trip could be.
~*~*~
Heero was immensely relieved to see that Quatre and Trowa had come to meet them. He happily deposited his charge in the arms of her two "uncles" and went off to try to clean himself up.
"I don't understand it," he muttered as he sat in the front seat of the car with his face to the wind (Quatre having rolled down the window to dispel the lingering smell). "She's never been motion sick before."
Quatre just shrugged. "There's got to be a first time for everything."
Eleanor, meanwhile, was sitting in the back seat, soaking up the attention offered to her. She was leaning up against Trowa, who rubbed her stomach soothingly and asked at regular intervals if she still felt sick.
When they finally arrived at the large house they would be staying at, Relena was waiting for them, along with Sally and Wufei, who had arrived early. Relena beamed at Heero, but refrained from hugging him when she saw the state of his clothes.
"Where's Eleanor?" she asked.
Two large, violet eyes peeked out from behind Heero's legs, then vanished again.
"She's being shy," Heero said, sounding almost confused. Such behavior was unusual for her.
Relena knelt down and tried to peer behind Heero. The violet eyes peeked out again, and she flashed an encouraging smile. She was rewarded when Eleanor finally stepped out to where everyone could see her, one small hand still fisted in Heero's pant leg.
"Hello, Eleanor," Relena said, still smiling gently.
"Hi," Eleanor said back. She regarded Relena, and gradually the shyness faded to be replaced by curiosity. "Where's your tiara?" she asked.
Relena laughed. "I don't wear it anymore. It's heavy, and it catches in my hair."
"But it's pretty," Eleanor said.
"But I'm not a princess anymore, and vice-foreign ministers don't wear crowns or tiaras."
"They should."
Relena laughed, and Eleanor grinned at her, and she caught her breathe. For one moment, she'd felt that it had been Duo smiling with her.
"She looks just like." she began, but cut it off upon seeing the look on Heero's face. It was a mixture of alarm and pain.
"What?" Eleanor was confused. "What do I look like?"
Relena, realizing that she had almost put her foot in it, swallowed, summoned a smile, and said, "You look very pretty."
The diversion worked; Eleanor giggled and twirled, showing off the light blue dress she'd gotten as a hand-me-down from one of Quatre's many nieces.
"Well," Heero interrupted rather hastily. "I still need to clean up, so if you could just show me to my room, please."
As he walked up the stairs with Eleanor in tow, Relena gazed after him thoughtfully.
~*~*~
"I wanted to thank you for your quick understanding earlier." Heero's voice startled her. Relena spun around to see him standing in the doorway, dressed in jeans and a tank top, his hair still wet from a shower.
"I don't really understand," she answered. "Have you never mentioned Duo to her?"
"No. Never."
"Why not?"
Heero gave her a look that said she ought to be able to figure that one out on her own. "Do you want to be the one to sit down with a five-year-old and try to explain to her why she doesn't know this person you claim is her father? Do you want to try and make her understand why Duo's not here?"
"But his disappearance has nothing to do with her!"
"But _she_ won't understand that," Heero pointed out. "She won't understand the why of it, so she'll blame herself somehow."
"Like you do?" Relena's voice was sad.
Heero stayed silent.
"You aren't still beating yourself up about whatever happened between you two, are you?"
Heero sighed. "I suppose I am. But that has nothing to do with Eleanor. I keep Elly for Elly, not for Duo."
"Speaking of keeping her near you, I hope you like the room arrangements," Relena said, hoping to change the subject.
Heero nodded. "It's good that you put her in a room nearby; she has a habit of climbing into bed with me at odd hours of the night."
Relena laughed. "Still doesn't sleep through the night, does she?"
"Sometimes she does, and sometimes she doesn't."
Relena smiled sympathetically. "Poor Heero."
~*~*~
"Poor Heero" wasn't the only one being subjected to Eleanor's whims. Quatre and Trowa, who only saw her two or three times a year, quickly found that they were extremely susceptible to Eleanor's puppy eyes. Trowa was constantly being suckered into playing tag with her, or giving her piggyback rides. Quatre seemed only too happy to give her large amounts of sugar or tell her long stories. Sometimes, he would play his violin for her, and she would listen to him, entranced. When he stopped, she would bounce up and cry, "Play more, Uncle Quatre! Play more! Please?" That please usually proved to be Quatre's undoing.
Quatre also discovered that he was pretty good at singing lullabies after Heero, tired of trying to deal with Eleanor when she was on a sugar high, had dumped her on Quatre and told him to make her go to sleep. Quatre was usually successful at making her go to sleep, but even he couldn't make her stay asleep, and Heero often woke up in the morning to find Eleanor asleep next to him.
Relena also seemed to enjoy spoiling the child, much to Heero's exasperation. He was beginning to think that everyone except Wufei had conspired to undermine him. And even Wufei seemed to be softening to her, although he still insisted that he disliked children. What made things worse was that Heero had trouble staying mad at any of them once he saw the smile on Eleanor's face.
~*~*~
Heero peered cautiously around the door frame. Finding Eleanor asleep in Quatre's lap, he entered softly.
"She finally dropped off," Quatre said softly
"Good."
"You ought to feel ashamed, always dumping your daughter on me," Quatre goaded with a smile.
Heero snorted. "I don't feel the least bit remorseful, considering you're one of the ones mostly responsible for getting her so hyped up." His eyes softened as they turned on the sleeping girl. "I'll just take her and tuck her into bed, shall I?"
"I rather hoped you would," Quatre said. "My legs have gone to sleep."
Heero picked her up and, leaving Quatre to try and restore feeling to his numb legs, carried her to her room. Since she was already in her pajamas, all he had to do was put her in bed and tuck her in. Still, he lingered, stroking her hair and kissing her cheek before leaving the room to join Quatre and the others downstairs.
Zechs and Noin had left the reunion a week early, and Relena had already gone to bed, so it was just Heero, Trowa, Quatre, Wufei, and Sally left. They sat in the living room, reminiscing about old times and occasionally sipping alcoholic beverages. They were still talking when, around midnight, there was a knock at the front door.
"Who can that be at this hour?" Sally wondered as they all rose instinctively.
"I'll get it," Wufei grumbled, but no one else sat down. Instead, they all trailed behind him to see who the visitor was. As Wufei opened the door, there was a collective gasp.
Duo Maxwell stood on the doorstep.
As the month of the party approached, Eleanor got more and more excited. School let out for the summer, and on days when his baby-sitting plan fell through, Heero had to take her to the office with him. There, she would chatter away to her "Uncle Woofy" and ask her "Aunt Sally" to tell her all about Princess Relena. Wufei quickly grew resigned to the fact that his name would be mangled and Sally would tease him for it.
"Can't you teach that child to say my name correctly?!" Wufei finally demanded in exasperation.
"I think it's cute," Sally said.
"I know. That's why she does it," Heero said. "She knows how to say your name correctly, but she also knows that she gets more of a reaction when she says it incorrectly."
Sally grinned. "That's Duo's child, all right."
Just at that moment, Eleanor came bouncing back into the office with a handful of printer paper and a box full of crayons. Instantly, that line of conversation ended. They were careful not to discuss Eleanor's real father in front of her, afraid that they would have to be the ones to explain who he was and why she'd never met him.
"Touchan! Look! I drew a picture of Uncle Woofy!"
Heero took the proffered paper and glanced at it. "That's nice, sweetheart, but why is he breathing fire?"
"'Cause I can't draw yells," she explained as Wufei sputtered indignantly. "Aunt Hilde tried to teach me, but I'm still learning. See?" She showed him another paper, this one covered with symbols such as *!#@.
Heero's eyes widened. "Hilde taught you this? Did she teach you the words they stand for?"
Eleanor shook her head, her red pigtails flapping. "No. She said I wasn't allowed to know yet."
Heero breathed a sigh of relief, and mentally postponed the date of Hilde's death.
"Touchan, is Aunt Hilde going to be at the party?"
"No," Heero told her sadly. "But your Uncles Trowa and Quatre are going to be there."
Eleanor's face brightened. "Oh good. I like them. And Uncle Trowa gives good piggyback rides."
Wufei sighed. "It is a sad day indeed when Trowa Barton's role in life has been reduced to giving piggyback rides to a five-year-old."
~*~*~
Several weeks later, as they sat aboard the plane that took them towards the reunion, Heero found himself wishing that Trowa, regardless of his role in life, was present to entertain his "niece".
"Are we there yet?" Eleanor asked for what seemed like the billionth time.
"No," he told her again. "Why don't you take a nap?"
"Don't wanna," she grumbled, staring out the window.
Heero settled back to reading his book, but five minutes later, he heard, "Are we there yet?" again. This time, however, it was said in a sort of whimper.
"No, we. sweetheart, what's wrong?"
Eleanor's face had gone even paler than usual. "Touchan, my stomach hurts!"
Heero suddenly discovered just how much worse his trip could be.
~*~*~
Heero was immensely relieved to see that Quatre and Trowa had come to meet them. He happily deposited his charge in the arms of her two "uncles" and went off to try to clean himself up.
"I don't understand it," he muttered as he sat in the front seat of the car with his face to the wind (Quatre having rolled down the window to dispel the lingering smell). "She's never been motion sick before."
Quatre just shrugged. "There's got to be a first time for everything."
Eleanor, meanwhile, was sitting in the back seat, soaking up the attention offered to her. She was leaning up against Trowa, who rubbed her stomach soothingly and asked at regular intervals if she still felt sick.
When they finally arrived at the large house they would be staying at, Relena was waiting for them, along with Sally and Wufei, who had arrived early. Relena beamed at Heero, but refrained from hugging him when she saw the state of his clothes.
"Where's Eleanor?" she asked.
Two large, violet eyes peeked out from behind Heero's legs, then vanished again.
"She's being shy," Heero said, sounding almost confused. Such behavior was unusual for her.
Relena knelt down and tried to peer behind Heero. The violet eyes peeked out again, and she flashed an encouraging smile. She was rewarded when Eleanor finally stepped out to where everyone could see her, one small hand still fisted in Heero's pant leg.
"Hello, Eleanor," Relena said, still smiling gently.
"Hi," Eleanor said back. She regarded Relena, and gradually the shyness faded to be replaced by curiosity. "Where's your tiara?" she asked.
Relena laughed. "I don't wear it anymore. It's heavy, and it catches in my hair."
"But it's pretty," Eleanor said.
"But I'm not a princess anymore, and vice-foreign ministers don't wear crowns or tiaras."
"They should."
Relena laughed, and Eleanor grinned at her, and she caught her breathe. For one moment, she'd felt that it had been Duo smiling with her.
"She looks just like." she began, but cut it off upon seeing the look on Heero's face. It was a mixture of alarm and pain.
"What?" Eleanor was confused. "What do I look like?"
Relena, realizing that she had almost put her foot in it, swallowed, summoned a smile, and said, "You look very pretty."
The diversion worked; Eleanor giggled and twirled, showing off the light blue dress she'd gotten as a hand-me-down from one of Quatre's many nieces.
"Well," Heero interrupted rather hastily. "I still need to clean up, so if you could just show me to my room, please."
As he walked up the stairs with Eleanor in tow, Relena gazed after him thoughtfully.
~*~*~
"I wanted to thank you for your quick understanding earlier." Heero's voice startled her. Relena spun around to see him standing in the doorway, dressed in jeans and a tank top, his hair still wet from a shower.
"I don't really understand," she answered. "Have you never mentioned Duo to her?"
"No. Never."
"Why not?"
Heero gave her a look that said she ought to be able to figure that one out on her own. "Do you want to be the one to sit down with a five-year-old and try to explain to her why she doesn't know this person you claim is her father? Do you want to try and make her understand why Duo's not here?"
"But his disappearance has nothing to do with her!"
"But _she_ won't understand that," Heero pointed out. "She won't understand the why of it, so she'll blame herself somehow."
"Like you do?" Relena's voice was sad.
Heero stayed silent.
"You aren't still beating yourself up about whatever happened between you two, are you?"
Heero sighed. "I suppose I am. But that has nothing to do with Eleanor. I keep Elly for Elly, not for Duo."
"Speaking of keeping her near you, I hope you like the room arrangements," Relena said, hoping to change the subject.
Heero nodded. "It's good that you put her in a room nearby; she has a habit of climbing into bed with me at odd hours of the night."
Relena laughed. "Still doesn't sleep through the night, does she?"
"Sometimes she does, and sometimes she doesn't."
Relena smiled sympathetically. "Poor Heero."
~*~*~
"Poor Heero" wasn't the only one being subjected to Eleanor's whims. Quatre and Trowa, who only saw her two or three times a year, quickly found that they were extremely susceptible to Eleanor's puppy eyes. Trowa was constantly being suckered into playing tag with her, or giving her piggyback rides. Quatre seemed only too happy to give her large amounts of sugar or tell her long stories. Sometimes, he would play his violin for her, and she would listen to him, entranced. When he stopped, she would bounce up and cry, "Play more, Uncle Quatre! Play more! Please?" That please usually proved to be Quatre's undoing.
Quatre also discovered that he was pretty good at singing lullabies after Heero, tired of trying to deal with Eleanor when she was on a sugar high, had dumped her on Quatre and told him to make her go to sleep. Quatre was usually successful at making her go to sleep, but even he couldn't make her stay asleep, and Heero often woke up in the morning to find Eleanor asleep next to him.
Relena also seemed to enjoy spoiling the child, much to Heero's exasperation. He was beginning to think that everyone except Wufei had conspired to undermine him. And even Wufei seemed to be softening to her, although he still insisted that he disliked children. What made things worse was that Heero had trouble staying mad at any of them once he saw the smile on Eleanor's face.
~*~*~
Heero peered cautiously around the door frame. Finding Eleanor asleep in Quatre's lap, he entered softly.
"She finally dropped off," Quatre said softly
"Good."
"You ought to feel ashamed, always dumping your daughter on me," Quatre goaded with a smile.
Heero snorted. "I don't feel the least bit remorseful, considering you're one of the ones mostly responsible for getting her so hyped up." His eyes softened as they turned on the sleeping girl. "I'll just take her and tuck her into bed, shall I?"
"I rather hoped you would," Quatre said. "My legs have gone to sleep."
Heero picked her up and, leaving Quatre to try and restore feeling to his numb legs, carried her to her room. Since she was already in her pajamas, all he had to do was put her in bed and tuck her in. Still, he lingered, stroking her hair and kissing her cheek before leaving the room to join Quatre and the others downstairs.
Zechs and Noin had left the reunion a week early, and Relena had already gone to bed, so it was just Heero, Trowa, Quatre, Wufei, and Sally left. They sat in the living room, reminiscing about old times and occasionally sipping alcoholic beverages. They were still talking when, around midnight, there was a knock at the front door.
"Who can that be at this hour?" Sally wondered as they all rose instinctively.
"I'll get it," Wufei grumbled, but no one else sat down. Instead, they all trailed behind him to see who the visitor was. As Wufei opened the door, there was a collective gasp.
Duo Maxwell stood on the doorstep.