The Journal, Chapter 10
By: BadMomma
Notes at the bottom.
… thoughts
***** . . . ***** "live" action that takes place while she's writing her journal.
Journal Entry: 03.04.AC215I can't believe it's been more than two months since I last made an entry in my journal. I've been meaning to sit down and write for what seems like an eternity and I never seem to have the time. But today I heard some wonderful news and I figured it was about time I made time.
Wufei is getting married.
Actually, he's engaged, but why do people get engaged if not to get married. It's funny because I don't actually remember ever attending a wedding. I'm know I have, I've seen pictures of the weddings I've attended, there was Duo and Hilde's and Quatre and Aisha's, but I was very young. Did I say this already, I am so excited! Mom says that I should know her, we met Wufei's fiancée at the New Year's Eve party, her name is Maribeau, and that she and Wufei have actually known each other for years. It turns out that when Sally recently accepted a promotion, which will require her to move to one of the colonies, her position became vacant. Maribeau, who had met him through work, decided to interview with Wufei for Sally's old job. I'm not sure if she got the position or not, but the meeting sparked a flame and they began dating almost immediately. It's rather a quick courtship if you ask me, but mom says that's typical Wufei. He sets his sights on something and plunges in at full throttle. I sent him an email this afternoon congratulating him and wishing them both the best. I'm glad that he has found someone to share his life with. He deserves it.
On to other matters, the last couple of months have been fun. Mom and I spend copious amounts of our weekend time investigating 'the trunk'. Several weeks ago she and I were talking about it at dinner and we decided that it would probably be nice to go through it together. I had still been spending an awful lot of time on it on school nights despite my earlier claims that I was going to let up. So we decided that we should we should set aside some time, one day a week to go through it. We decided how we were going to tackle the project, at the time I was still organizing stuff, though I was almost done. We set one Sunday aside, just to finish the organizing; then we made ourselves a schedule. We would spend as many hours as we wanted, each Sunday, just 'spelunking'. So far, we've watched a couple of the vid discs already, we've thoroughly explored one whole sketch book, and we've conquered about a box and a half of photos; all in like six weeks.
It's really cool to go through it with mom, to see her find out things about dad that she didn't know. It's amazing how close they were and yet how much of himself he hadn't revealed. Mom's been most affected by his writings and sketches, she says it reveals a side of him that was much deeper than even she realized. I'm glad that she's getting to know him better along with me. Too bad it can't be in person.
On other fronts, Michael and I are becoming good friends. He's been coming to dinner at least every other week and if mom had her way it would be more often, but between work and his studies he doesn't have more time. I've told him about my dad and shared with him some of the things I found in the trunk, actually he had mentioned some interesting rock formations he had seen on a vacation and I remembered dad having a sample of rocks from the area, so I showed them to him. From that moment forward he always asks if I've found anything new and interesting to share. I'm really glad I can count him as a friend.
We see each other at school all the time and have even had lunch together a few times. My lunch friends have fortunately stopped teasing me about the 'older man' in my life once they realized that it really was a family thing. Sometimes he comes over on the weekend and we just hang out. Last weekend he hung out with Katie and me and watched movies all afternoon. He and Katie hadn't had a chance to meet and talk until her parents' New Year's Eve party, which he attended as his friend's date. That evening, he made sure to keep me and Katie entertained as his friend made the obligatory political rounds, apparently she interned with Katie's dad the last couple of summers and is hoping to get a permanent position in the diplomatic corps after graduation. I'm happy that he feels comfortable hanging out with us because he's a great guy and we're really a lot alike. The three of us mostly grew up around older people, he's the youngest of his siblings and Katie and I are only children, so we've gone through some of the same things. To us he's kind of like the older brother we never had, to him we're like his little sisters.
Journal Entry: 05.30.AC215Today was the last day of school. This afternoon I was so depressed I thought I would cry. I should be happy because the summer is finally here, but I'm not. In less than one month my best friend will be leaving for L4 and I probably won't see her in a very long time. I don't even know how long it'll be 'til they get a chance to come back to earth? Will I get a chance to go to L4? Will our friendship be able to survive the physical distance between us? We've been talking and making plans for the last two weeks. The closer the end of the year got, the more urgent the need to have a plan became. It's almost as if we were afraid that we wouldn't have time to do it once school ended. Katie and her mom have so much left to do before they leave that I may not be able to see much of her in the next month. There have been times where we just sat next to each other and held hands as if to remind ourselves that we were still both there. As if that contact would insure that the other wouldn't suddenly disappear.
Our grand communication plan consists mainly of us e-mailing each other. We know we won't be able to call each other that often because the phone bills would be exorbitant. And because of the time difference between us, chatting on-line will be near impossible, but we figured out we can do it on the weekends since we'll both be home at the same time, I'll stay up a little late and she'll get up a little early. It's the best we can do.
I feel so lonely even though she's not gone yet. Sometimes the feeling's so overwhelming that I can't breath. Most of all, I feel lost. We're going to ask our moms to let us spend at least one weekend together, probably here since her house is being packed up. She says her mom expects them to have to spend their last couple of days on earth at a hotel, since the remainder of their furniture needs to be shipped the day before they leave. I was at Katie's house last week helping her pack her stuff and it was eerie to see the house looking so empty with the majority of their things in boxes, stacked throughout the house. I almost wish they would come stay with us for those last few days, but it might hurt even more when they have to leave. I imagine this is how mom must have felt when dad never came back.
I'm trying not to think about it and be positive, but sometimes I just can't see what there is that is positive in this situation. I don't want to think about it anymore, maybe I'll just go to bed and end what could possibly be one of the most depressing days of my life.
Journal Entry: 06.01.AC215OK, I've had a few days to get over my fatalistic mood and with mom's help I'm feeling a bit better. We talked this afternoon, while spelunking, and I told her why I'd been so down for the last couple of days. I guessed right, she did feel like that after dad had disappeared and she said it was a natural human reaction. She said she would've been worried about me had I not been feeling that way, but we talked about what we could do to try and enjoy our last few weeks together. As a matter of fact she's gonna call Katie's mom and offer that they stay here when they need to leave home. I'm still not too sure about that, but I'm not gonna say no.
I just realized having reread my last entries that I haven't written about what's been going on since the beginning of March and it's strange because so much has happened. Let's see, do this in order here
First, about a week after my 2nd to last entry Duo called to say that he and the family would be coming to visit in April. Mom and Hilde had wanted to get together and the Maxwell's just decided to attach their vacation to the end of some meetings Duo had to come planet-side for. My beloved braided uncle and his crew of misfit – as he calls them – would be spending two weeks at the house with us.
It was absolutely wonderful. Of course, I was in school for most of the day but they came in on a Thursday night and didn't leave 'til the third Sunday later. Most spelunking was cancelled on those weekends, but not all. It was great to have them all around; the boys just get cuter every day, the baby – who's not a baby anymore – was virtually everywhere and in everything. It's incredible how quickly they all grow; if I hadn't seen them just a few months ago I wouldn't believe it.
Hilde and I got to do a little shopping that first weekend they were here. The second weekend, Duo and I took the kids to the zoo and the park so mom and Hilde could go out to do 'big girl stuff'. It also gave us some time to catch up on what I'd found in the trunk and for him to let me in on his and Trowa's attempts to get in touch with my dad. He told me that they'd both been in touch with each other regularly and were trying desperately to convince dad to respond. Of course, it hadn't worked yet, but he said they wouldn't be giving up in the near future and that they could be just as obstinate as him.
I wish I'd been able to spend more time with them but my spring break had already passed when they came to visit and mom only let me skip school the last Friday they were here. We all went to the beach and spent their last couple of days at a seaside hotel. Sunday afternoon they hopped a shuttle home and everything was back to normal for about two weeks.
That was, until Trowa came to visit. The circus arrived in town on Friday, May 2nd. Actually they had arrived a few days earlier but were busy setting up. Trowa came to dinner on Thursday night since he would be busy for most of the nights after. He made us promise to come to at least one of the weekend performances and left us enough ringside tickets to take half the planet to see the show. That weekend mom, Katie, her mom, Michael and I all went to see the show. Afterwards Trowa invited us to join him for coffee and we got to meet a great deal of the performers. Trowa also took us to meet his pride and joys, the lions. He rarely ever handled the animals now that he was the manager, but the new trainer was a good friend of his and they let us get close enough to pet them. They also to let us ride the elephants and play with the chimps, I hadn't had that much fun in a long time. While we were all having fun, our moms convinced Trowa to put on a small benefit show at the local children's hospital during the week, so Katie and I were drafted as temporary clowns. Michael got out of it because he had to work. It was during our visit to the hospital that I met some circus folks who remembered my dad. They all spoke very highly of him and I was struck with the realization yet again that he made such a positive impression on people. It wasn't since I'd gone to Duo's office all those months ago that I'd had total strangers treat me so nicely just because of him.
By the end of the week, the circus had to move on. To make things easier on the animals, they traveled mostly on land, Trowa made arrangements to fly to their next destination in time for their opening which gave him a couple of days to spend at the house. It was nice to spend time with him again and I found that he and mom made great friends. She says he has a quiet strength to him that reminds her very much of dad and that's probably why they were such good friends. When I think about it though it doesn't explain how Duo fits in the picture, but then again, who could resist him?
Before he left Trowa promised again to keep in touch. He also said that if he heard anything at all about dad, I'd be the first to know. I thanked him again for trying and wished him a fond goodbye. I'm not sure when I'll see him again.
~~ to be continued ~~
AN: This one is a little on the short side, sorry about that. Not much to say other than thanks, if you're still reading (Special Hi/Thanks to Angel, Patate Yuy, Little Washu and DK-you're the best!). We're down to 3 chapters (11, 12 & the Epi). Don't hesitate to let me know what you think. Ja ne!
Disclaimer: As if it wasn't already obvious, they're not mine.
