"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
Sally blinked and straightened, turning her eyes to the door that led to the 'childrens' room.
"What was that?"
"Something to do with my son, no doubt." Midii said with a sigh, starting to get up when the door slammed open, banging loudly against the wall. Everyone would have jumped if they had time, which was interrupted by a certain dark-haired girl with one sleeve rolled up her arm streaking across the room and diving under Hilde's chair. A very frazzled-looking Lucrezia ran in after her, followed by another dark-haired boy.
"AKIKO YUY! COME OUT NOW!"
"'Yui Akiko! Dete kinasai." The little boy said, leaning against the doorframe.
"AKI WA ITTE KONAI DA!" Aki screamed, gripping the legs of Hilde's chair.
"She says she's not coming out."
"Okay, now it's on." Lucrezia growled, grabbing Aki's ankles. "You're coming out and getting that shot NOW!"
"Shot?" Sally blinked, her mind whirling from all the events.
"Aki's gotta get a shot for somethin'." The strange little boy mended, and Aki screamed.
"HANASE!!!"
"The chair's legs are cracking!" Hilde cried nervously, not able to get up because she knew that Lucrezia and the girl would go flying across the room. Lucrezia finally realized that and planted her feet on the ground. "Get up, Hilde!"
Hilde quickly jumped out of the chair and Lucrezia wrapped one arm around Aki's waist, holding her as her other arm reached up and grabbed the chair that was coming down on her head from the momentum Aki had created. Aki sniffled a bit, slightly stunned, and Lucrezia let out a breath and set her and the chair down.
"Crazy kid! Kotaro, you could have told me BEFORE that she was scared to death of needles!"
"My bad." Kotaro mended innocently, looking upwards slightly as if he couldn't care less. Sally shook her head and stood up, walking into the children's room where she saw Zechs helping little Duo sit up.
"What happened to him?"
"He was kind of in Aki's path." Zechs explained, and that's when Sally saw the young doctor in the white coat, holding a needle and looking a little miffed. Sally approached him and held out her hand.
"Gimme the needle, buddy."
"What?!"
"I'm a trained medical doctor, now hand it over!" She sai giving him a steely glare.
"...You know I have to be present to observe the-"
"Yeah, yeah." Sally cut him off and grabbed the needle, holding it behind her back as she walked into the main room, where everyone else was off to one side and Lucrezia had seated Aki on the couch, where she was sniffling and rubbing her eyes.
"Aki chaaan." Sally said in a bit of a singsong voice, approaching her. Aki looked up at her, and Sally slowly brought the needle out from behind her back. Aki cringed slightly.
"Aki doesn't like needles!" She whimpered.
"I know, I know! I just wanna show it to you. If you don't want to get a shot, you don't -" She blinked and looked past Aki, pretending to be fixated with something out the window. "Oh my gosh! Aki, look at that!" She said, pointing. When Aki turned her head Sally grabbed her arm and pushed the needle in, pulling it back out again in record time. Aki blinked and then sniffled, turning to look at Sally, and then at her arm.
"There, now! That wasn't so bad, was it?"
Aki slowly shook her head, and Lucrezia breathed a sigh of relief. "Nice, Sally!"
"After three of my own, I know a little about kids and needles."
"Mama! It was AWESOME! Aki floored Duo with one punch!" Mulan cried excitedly from the doorway, bouncing up and down slightly. Hilde blinked.
"What'd she say?"
"She said that Aki knocked Duo out with one punch." Sally said, shooing Mulan out the door.
"Go play! We'll come get you in a few minutes."
The door closed, leaving Aki and Kotaro in the room with the strange adults. Well, just Kotaro..
"Aki? Aki?! Damn it! This always happens! She disappeared THREE TIMES on the way here!!"
"Are you looking...for this?" A slightly annoyed voice called from the other room, and the door to the bedroom opened to show Wufei holding Aki, looking a bit irked.
"As a matter of fact, I was. What was she doing in there, anyways?"
"Muran-chan wo sagashiteita ne, aki chan wa." She answered.
"She was looking for Mulan." Wufei translated, setting her down. Aki was about to walk out the door when Lucrezia stopped her, and Aki tossed her an annoyed look as she picked Aki up and set her on the couch. Aki blinked as her vision swayed a bit, but paid it no attention.
"Uhm...I'm very sorry, but...could someone tell me who these children are?" Midii asked.
"What's it to you, lady?" Kotaro grumbled. Midii blinked.
"Wow, you're rude."
"Yeah, so?!"
"So," Lucrezia said, walking over to him, "Apologize to that lady and then go sit on the couch. Ryosuke's coming in a minute."
"Boo-hoo, I was rude. Cry me a river and build me a bride."
"Build your own damn bridge!" Lucrezia huffed, picking up the seven-year-old boy and almost slamming him on the couch next to his younger sister. Everyone blinked. They hadn't seen her this antsy since the twins were toddlers.
"MAMA! What does 'yan-yan' mean in English??"
"Mulan, sweetie, stay with the other children for a while, okay? and close the door on your way out."
"Okay..." Mulan left but didn't shut the door all the way, and while the adults were talking Aki saw a chance to bolt. Standing, she ran for the doorway and pushed it open, and instead of running out into the other room she ran into someone's legs. She felt herself falling backwards and was suddenly steadied by two hands, and she looked up curiously. A man with green eyes and an expressionless face was staring down at her.
"And who are you?" He asked her in Japanese.
"Who are YOU?" She asked back.
"I asked you first."
"I asked you second."
"Ah, I see. I'm Trowa."
"I'm Aki."
"So why in such a hurry, Aki?"
"Aki's looking for Mulan."
"Don't let her out, Trowa." Lucrezia said, and Trowa nodded, picking up Aki.
"You can see Mulan in a minute, but for now you have to sit and be patient." He then walked past Aki over to his wife, who was with Hilde near the window.
They didn't close the door...again! Aki thought as she looked back, making sure no one was looking. When they weren't looking, she stood and ran to the door, almost reaching it when...
Aki inwardly groaned as she ran into yet ANOTHER pair of legs, got thrown off balance yet again, and was steadied by a stranger who just so happened to be in the doorway....yet again.
"Itetete..." Aki mumbled, looking up and seeing a blonde-haired man staring down at her. She blinked when he started to say something.
"Aki can't understand you!"
"Ooh! You speak Japanese!" He said, bending down to her level and smiling pleasently.
"..." Aki turned to look back at Trowa, who was looking at her as well, and then turned back to the man.
"Everyone speaks Japanese but Aki's aunt and uncle!" She said, sounding a bit frustrated. Suddenly she pointed to him. "You can be Aki's uncle instead! So there!"
He laughed a little at that. "I'm afraid that's going to be a bit difficult...what's your name?"
"Aki is Aki."
"Hello Aki. I'm Quatre."
Her brow furrowed a bit before she bit her lip and tried saying his name.
"Ka-to-ru."
He smiled and nodded. "Good enough!" He said, thinking back to the time when a 15-year-old Heero Yuy stood before him with the same expression on his face, pronouncing his name the same exact way.
"Don't let her out, Quatre!"
He nodded and then looked back to Aki. "I'm sorry, Aki chan, but you have to -"
"Aki's LEAVING!" Aki yelled, pulling her foot back and kicking Quatre in the shin. She ran out the open door as Quatre winced and lost his balance. Suddenly from the other room they could hear a thump, a yell, and then Aki's screaming, and a split second later Ryosuke marched back in the room with Aki under his arm. Almost everyone blinked at the sight of the little boy.
My god...He looks so much like Heero... Trowa thought.
"URAGIMONO! URAGIMONO!" Aki yelled, kicking her feet and flailing her little arms. "URAGIMONO! HANASE! HANASE!!"
"What's she saying?" Midii asked.
Quatre chuckled a bit. "She's calling Ryosuke a traitor...and demanding that he let go of her."
"Hanashitemo ii." Ryosuke said once he was by the couch, dropping her onto it and then sitting next to her.Aki sat up and crossed her arms, silently fuming. She wasn't going to get away with anything now that her big brothers were here.
"OKay." Lucrezia said, shaking her head a bit to clear it. "Since it seems everyone is here, I'll start. These three children are Kotaro, Ryosuke and Aki Yuy. Aki's the youngest, Kotaro's the oldest. All three are Relena and Heero's children."
The reactions varied. Wufei, Sally, Trowa and Quatre didn't really seem to surprised since they knew from the beginning, Midii kind of sat down real slowly, Hilde choked on her drink while Duo choked on his own spit, and Dorothy went up to Aki and took her face in both of her hands, turning it this way and that.
"My God...this IS Relena's little girl!" She said, a bit disbelieving.
"Trowa....darling..." Midii said in an unusually quiet voice.
"Uh oh..."
"DId you know about this?"
"....."
"Don't give me that! YOu knew about this, didn't you!?" She said, grabbing him by his shirt collar and starting to shake him. "YOU knew from the start, and got me worried sick that it was something serious!!"
"Uhm...excuse me.." Ryosuke said quietly.
"WOAH! MATT! YOUR MOM'S BEATIN' UP YOUR DAD!"
"Junior, OUT!" Hilde screamed at her oldest son before erupting into another coughing fit. Aki blinked as the door slamming shut jarred her hearing, and she winced.
Ugh...
Blinking to clear her blurred vision, she looked up at the adults, who gratefully had stopped yelling. Feeling her stomach roll sickeningly, Aki tugged on Ryosuke's shirt.
"Oniisan..." She mumbled quietly, her eyes glazed over. He turned to look at her just as her grip on his shirt loosened and her eyes slid half closed.
"Aki..doesn't feel so good...."
Those were the last words she spoke before she fell to the ground, blood soaking the bandages on her wrist.
"Aki!? Aki! AKI!!"
Sally blinked and straightened, turning her eyes to the door that led to the 'childrens' room.
"What was that?"
"Something to do with my son, no doubt." Midii said with a sigh, starting to get up when the door slammed open, banging loudly against the wall. Everyone would have jumped if they had time, which was interrupted by a certain dark-haired girl with one sleeve rolled up her arm streaking across the room and diving under Hilde's chair. A very frazzled-looking Lucrezia ran in after her, followed by another dark-haired boy.
"AKIKO YUY! COME OUT NOW!"
"'Yui Akiko! Dete kinasai." The little boy said, leaning against the doorframe.
"AKI WA ITTE KONAI DA!" Aki screamed, gripping the legs of Hilde's chair.
"She says she's not coming out."
"Okay, now it's on." Lucrezia growled, grabbing Aki's ankles. "You're coming out and getting that shot NOW!"
"Shot?" Sally blinked, her mind whirling from all the events.
"Aki's gotta get a shot for somethin'." The strange little boy mended, and Aki screamed.
"HANASE!!!"
"The chair's legs are cracking!" Hilde cried nervously, not able to get up because she knew that Lucrezia and the girl would go flying across the room. Lucrezia finally realized that and planted her feet on the ground. "Get up, Hilde!"
Hilde quickly jumped out of the chair and Lucrezia wrapped one arm around Aki's waist, holding her as her other arm reached up and grabbed the chair that was coming down on her head from the momentum Aki had created. Aki sniffled a bit, slightly stunned, and Lucrezia let out a breath and set her and the chair down.
"Crazy kid! Kotaro, you could have told me BEFORE that she was scared to death of needles!"
"My bad." Kotaro mended innocently, looking upwards slightly as if he couldn't care less. Sally shook her head and stood up, walking into the children's room where she saw Zechs helping little Duo sit up.
"What happened to him?"
"He was kind of in Aki's path." Zechs explained, and that's when Sally saw the young doctor in the white coat, holding a needle and looking a little miffed. Sally approached him and held out her hand.
"Gimme the needle, buddy."
"What?!"
"I'm a trained medical doctor, now hand it over!" She sai giving him a steely glare.
"...You know I have to be present to observe the-"
"Yeah, yeah." Sally cut him off and grabbed the needle, holding it behind her back as she walked into the main room, where everyone else was off to one side and Lucrezia had seated Aki on the couch, where she was sniffling and rubbing her eyes.
"Aki chaaan." Sally said in a bit of a singsong voice, approaching her. Aki looked up at her, and Sally slowly brought the needle out from behind her back. Aki cringed slightly.
"Aki doesn't like needles!" She whimpered.
"I know, I know! I just wanna show it to you. If you don't want to get a shot, you don't -" She blinked and looked past Aki, pretending to be fixated with something out the window. "Oh my gosh! Aki, look at that!" She said, pointing. When Aki turned her head Sally grabbed her arm and pushed the needle in, pulling it back out again in record time. Aki blinked and then sniffled, turning to look at Sally, and then at her arm.
"There, now! That wasn't so bad, was it?"
Aki slowly shook her head, and Lucrezia breathed a sigh of relief. "Nice, Sally!"
"After three of my own, I know a little about kids and needles."
"Mama! It was AWESOME! Aki floored Duo with one punch!" Mulan cried excitedly from the doorway, bouncing up and down slightly. Hilde blinked.
"What'd she say?"
"She said that Aki knocked Duo out with one punch." Sally said, shooing Mulan out the door.
"Go play! We'll come get you in a few minutes."
The door closed, leaving Aki and Kotaro in the room with the strange adults. Well, just Kotaro..
"Aki? Aki?! Damn it! This always happens! She disappeared THREE TIMES on the way here!!"
"Are you looking...for this?" A slightly annoyed voice called from the other room, and the door to the bedroom opened to show Wufei holding Aki, looking a bit irked.
"As a matter of fact, I was. What was she doing in there, anyways?"
"Muran-chan wo sagashiteita ne, aki chan wa." She answered.
"She was looking for Mulan." Wufei translated, setting her down. Aki was about to walk out the door when Lucrezia stopped her, and Aki tossed her an annoyed look as she picked Aki up and set her on the couch. Aki blinked as her vision swayed a bit, but paid it no attention.
"Uhm...I'm very sorry, but...could someone tell me who these children are?" Midii asked.
"What's it to you, lady?" Kotaro grumbled. Midii blinked.
"Wow, you're rude."
"Yeah, so?!"
"So," Lucrezia said, walking over to him, "Apologize to that lady and then go sit on the couch. Ryosuke's coming in a minute."
"Boo-hoo, I was rude. Cry me a river and build me a bride."
"Build your own damn bridge!" Lucrezia huffed, picking up the seven-year-old boy and almost slamming him on the couch next to his younger sister. Everyone blinked. They hadn't seen her this antsy since the twins were toddlers.
"MAMA! What does 'yan-yan' mean in English??"
"Mulan, sweetie, stay with the other children for a while, okay? and close the door on your way out."
"Okay..." Mulan left but didn't shut the door all the way, and while the adults were talking Aki saw a chance to bolt. Standing, she ran for the doorway and pushed it open, and instead of running out into the other room she ran into someone's legs. She felt herself falling backwards and was suddenly steadied by two hands, and she looked up curiously. A man with green eyes and an expressionless face was staring down at her.
"And who are you?" He asked her in Japanese.
"Who are YOU?" She asked back.
"I asked you first."
"I asked you second."
"Ah, I see. I'm Trowa."
"I'm Aki."
"So why in such a hurry, Aki?"
"Aki's looking for Mulan."
"Don't let her out, Trowa." Lucrezia said, and Trowa nodded, picking up Aki.
"You can see Mulan in a minute, but for now you have to sit and be patient." He then walked past Aki over to his wife, who was with Hilde near the window.
They didn't close the door...again! Aki thought as she looked back, making sure no one was looking. When they weren't looking, she stood and ran to the door, almost reaching it when...
Aki inwardly groaned as she ran into yet ANOTHER pair of legs, got thrown off balance yet again, and was steadied by a stranger who just so happened to be in the doorway....yet again.
"Itetete..." Aki mumbled, looking up and seeing a blonde-haired man staring down at her. She blinked when he started to say something.
"Aki can't understand you!"
"Ooh! You speak Japanese!" He said, bending down to her level and smiling pleasently.
"..." Aki turned to look back at Trowa, who was looking at her as well, and then turned back to the man.
"Everyone speaks Japanese but Aki's aunt and uncle!" She said, sounding a bit frustrated. Suddenly she pointed to him. "You can be Aki's uncle instead! So there!"
He laughed a little at that. "I'm afraid that's going to be a bit difficult...what's your name?"
"Aki is Aki."
"Hello Aki. I'm Quatre."
Her brow furrowed a bit before she bit her lip and tried saying his name.
"Ka-to-ru."
He smiled and nodded. "Good enough!" He said, thinking back to the time when a 15-year-old Heero Yuy stood before him with the same expression on his face, pronouncing his name the same exact way.
"Don't let her out, Quatre!"
He nodded and then looked back to Aki. "I'm sorry, Aki chan, but you have to -"
"Aki's LEAVING!" Aki yelled, pulling her foot back and kicking Quatre in the shin. She ran out the open door as Quatre winced and lost his balance. Suddenly from the other room they could hear a thump, a yell, and then Aki's screaming, and a split second later Ryosuke marched back in the room with Aki under his arm. Almost everyone blinked at the sight of the little boy.
My god...He looks so much like Heero... Trowa thought.
"URAGIMONO! URAGIMONO!" Aki yelled, kicking her feet and flailing her little arms. "URAGIMONO! HANASE! HANASE!!"
"What's she saying?" Midii asked.
Quatre chuckled a bit. "She's calling Ryosuke a traitor...and demanding that he let go of her."
"Hanashitemo ii." Ryosuke said once he was by the couch, dropping her onto it and then sitting next to her.Aki sat up and crossed her arms, silently fuming. She wasn't going to get away with anything now that her big brothers were here.
"OKay." Lucrezia said, shaking her head a bit to clear it. "Since it seems everyone is here, I'll start. These three children are Kotaro, Ryosuke and Aki Yuy. Aki's the youngest, Kotaro's the oldest. All three are Relena and Heero's children."
The reactions varied. Wufei, Sally, Trowa and Quatre didn't really seem to surprised since they knew from the beginning, Midii kind of sat down real slowly, Hilde choked on her drink while Duo choked on his own spit, and Dorothy went up to Aki and took her face in both of her hands, turning it this way and that.
"My God...this IS Relena's little girl!" She said, a bit disbelieving.
"Trowa....darling..." Midii said in an unusually quiet voice.
"Uh oh..."
"DId you know about this?"
"....."
"Don't give me that! YOu knew about this, didn't you!?" She said, grabbing him by his shirt collar and starting to shake him. "YOU knew from the start, and got me worried sick that it was something serious!!"
"Uhm...excuse me.." Ryosuke said quietly.
"WOAH! MATT! YOUR MOM'S BEATIN' UP YOUR DAD!"
"Junior, OUT!" Hilde screamed at her oldest son before erupting into another coughing fit. Aki blinked as the door slamming shut jarred her hearing, and she winced.
Ugh...
Blinking to clear her blurred vision, she looked up at the adults, who gratefully had stopped yelling. Feeling her stomach roll sickeningly, Aki tugged on Ryosuke's shirt.
"Oniisan..." She mumbled quietly, her eyes glazed over. He turned to look at her just as her grip on his shirt loosened and her eyes slid half closed.
"Aki..doesn't feel so good...."
Those were the last words she spoke before she fell to the ground, blood soaking the bandages on her wrist.
"Aki!? Aki! AKI!!"