Title: Heero and Duo
Part: 3/3
Author: Usagi-chan [usagilikesduochan@hotmail.com]
Warnings: Dog love, sap, bad language, angst, OC, POV
Pairings: 1+2, HxD (means HeeroxDuo but you'll know the reason why I
didn't write it in numbers when you read ^^)
Disclaimer: Nothing is mine; I don't make money from fan fiction. I
write only for fun and to get better at English. ^__^
Description: Set after EW
A little girl lives a happy, peaceful life with her grandma and her two
dogs. But one day her whole happiness becomes destroyed and she has to
fear for her true best friends. Will she save them from the worst and
find a place for them where they can live in happiness?
Uhm well, I know by first reading it doesn't sound much like GW but you
will see it is. *g* I think it's the first part of a little arc (if
you'd like to read more). The idea came to me because of my own great
love of dogs and my wish to have my own one some time.
Feedback: Hai, hai! Pleeeeeeease. ^____^
Archive:
-
-
Anyone want it? Just ask me so I can give credit and you can have it. ^^
And I mustn't forget, many thanks to Ryouga-nee-chan for helping with
my translation from German to English.
Dedicated to the dog I will meet somewhere in the future and who will
win my heart with one look. His name will be Duo ^___^
"..." = Speaking
*...* = Thinking
~...~ = Review
*****************************************************************
The orphanage I was sent to wasn't the greatest of places. In fact it
was the worse place I ever experienced. And this wasn't because there
were so many children. I didn't mind being around so many children.
Most of them were quite nice, but all afraid, shy and quiet. It was
because of the housemother. I already knew she didn't like children
when I first saw her.
Then I arrived. She looked at me with an angry face.
"So you are the nasty run-away, are you?" she growled. "The people from
the government have already given me a lot of information about your
former life. You were spoiled with your two little dogs, thought if you
ran away with the pack you could keep them and live happily ever after
huh? Well, serves you right that you three were torn apart. Life isn't
that easy, you need to learn this lesson."
Yes indeed, she didn't like me, but I can honestly say that it was
mutual. I glared at her with angry, burning eyes.
"There is a difference between separate and kill!" I shouted angrily
and everyone around us held their breath. "If I hadn't found new owners
for my friends they would have been dead by now. I would *NEVER* let
anyone kill my friends if I can prevent it!"
The woman massaged her head and growled.
"Oh great! A rebellious one. And this isn't the worse problem of yours
that you have just showed us either. I know that, *girl*!" she spat out
and glared at me. "You are a crazy fan of the Gundam pilots! How can
anyone be such an idiot?"
That was too much. I was smoking with anger. I shouted at her as loud
as I could. I called her an ignorant, idiotic woman who never even
tried to understand the feelings of others, especially the feelings of
a child. I called her as many bad words as I could imagine. I was
blinded with my anger.
To say bad things about my precious friends was bad enough, but to also
make jokes about the boys, who brought us peace, was way too much even
for me. I had never liked it, then when someone spoke ill of the
Gundam pilots it made me really angry, if the person made fun of me,
then I would tell them what I thought.
Everyone around me was shocked with my actions. But I also saw that
some of the children were impressed, maybe because they thought I had
courage.
Anyway, the housemother of course couldn't let this end like that. She
was even more angry now and glared at me with cold eyes.
"Seems that someone doesn't feel like eating today." she hissed. "Well,
young lady, I can arrange that. I will teach you to obey your new
housemother and treat her nicely. Lina!"
A girl, who looked a little older than me, came out from the crowd of
children.
"Yes ma'am?" she asked with a shy quiet voice.
"Show this trash her new room and make sure she stay's there the entire
day and night!" the woman barked and Lina started to shake slightly.
"Come, it's better to go," the girl whispered to me and took my hand
carefully. I couldn't tear my gaze away from this bad tempered woman's
face. I was still burning but let the girl lead me out of the room.
The last thing I heard as I left was the man who had caught me asking
the housemother if she was sure this was the right way to treat me. She
just barked a few words about *Her way to handle the kids* and he
should be silent if he wanted to see any money for catching me.
Well, to say the place was the worst was the understatement of the year.
***
Three days had passed since I arrived at the orphanage. The days were
monotonous and not a very nice experience. I got very little to eat
because I was too proud and too angry with this woman to obey her. To
make it worse she made fun of everything she knew about me.
All dogs were trash, especially my ones, she often said. My grandma
spoiled me, was her reason for my behavior and it was the Gundam pilots
who caused the war, she stated coldly too. They were mean boys with
very bad tempers.
I couldn't take any of her words in silence, although I soon discovered
that she wanted to provoke me. And so I got more punishment in these
three days than a day had hours.
The other children left me alone. It wasn't that they didn't like me or
anything like that; in fact it was quite the opposite. Most of them
sent me encouraging and admiring glances. But they were afraid of
punishment from the housemother for trying to befriend me. Their lives
were already bad enough, so I could understand that they didn't want to
add anymore to it.
The whole existence here was cold. The rooms had not a single color,
the playthings were nearly nothing, and the outside was only a small,
grassed area on the backyard and a stone yard on the front. Not a place
for children to live at.
And the housemother made very sure that any fun we had here stayed
minimal. There were no outings to parks, no shopping days, no TV, no
children's books.... nothing... just nothing. Yes, this place was a
simple hell for children. In addition all this caused me to have bad
dreams about Grandma, Heero and Duo, standing far away from me and
regardless of how fast I ran, I could never reach them.
After the first night I knew that at least one thing the housemother
had said was right. I was spoiled in having had someone around me I
trusted and loved. Grandma, Heero and Duo. All three of them loved and
protected me from everything bad. And now, they were gone.
But when I woke up after the second night to start my third day in this
nightmare come true, Jessy, one of the other girls around my age
stormed into the room I had to share with three other girls and
stopped, out of breath, at my bed.
"Jeanie you are so lucky!" she howled. "I heard the housemother talking
on the phone with someone from the government. Someone wants to adopt
*you*! They asked clearly for Jeanie Silver. It's such luck, I really
envy you."
My heart seemed to stop beating. Sure, I had never wished for anything
more than to get out of this place but I couldn't go just now; not
until the boys had visited me with Heero and Duo. I had to tell them
first about me moving away from this horrible orphanage.
And I was also wondering how the people knew my name. I always thought
they would come and visit, look at the children and then decide which
one to adopt. But maybe this orphanage had another way. Maybe it was
with papers, listed with simple names, statistics and a picture. Or
maybe it was the Norris'... Maybe they wanted to adopt me now at last.
I didn't know and I couldn't think about this right now. All I knew was
that I wanted to see Heero, Duo and the nice two boys before I had to
go. I didn't want to leave the place where they knew I was at. How
would they be able to find me again if I was adopted by unknown people?
But first I had to find out if Jessy was right or if I just panicked
for nothing. I ran to the disgusting housemother and asked her if it
was true. She glanced at me with a sneer on her face before she
declared:
"Yeah, it's true, you are lucky. You can leave soon."
I must have had a shocked expression on my face because she lifted an
eyebrow in surprise. But then a grin came to her face, as she
understood my fear.
"Aaaaaaah," she nearly sang, "Your dirty little dog friends are
intending to visit you from time to time aren't they? Well, let's hope
then that these 'nice' boys will arrive before your new step-parents
do. It would be such a pity if you never see your precious dogs again
now wouldn't it?"
She grinned to show how much she pitied me.
"You'll have two hours. They are already signing the contract for your
adoption and then they'll be on the way to pick you up."
***
"That's crazy! You are the first one I've ever met, who's not happy to
leave this place," Jenny said when she found me in my hiding spot.
Fifteen minutes ago a man from the government had arrived to take me to
my new parents. They had to wait outside while he met with the
housemother and was brought into the orphanage. As soon as I saw them
arrive, I stormed out of my room to hide in the best place I could find
in a hurry.
I succeeded in hiding for about 15 minutes but everyone was looking for
me, including the children. I couldn't blame Jenny for revealing my
hiding spot. I knew that if I hadn't been found the punishment later
would had been insufferable. Still I struggled and bit the man from the
government who took me without a word and forced me through the rooms.
The housemother just watched and smiled, pleased.
"You should be lucky," she mocked. "You'll never guess who your new
parents are. They're two of your so-called beloved former Gundam
pilots. Trash to trash, how ironic."
Any other time and under any other circumstances I would not have
believed my luck after hearing her words. But not this time, not in
that situation.
"I don't care!" I screamed never fully noticing what she just said. "I
am not going before I see Heero and Duo again! I can't leave my
friends, I can't!"
"Ooohh, I forgot about your precious dogs. Well you are not in the
position to demand anything!" this terrible woman said in a sharp voice.
"And you are not in the right position either!" a much sharper and
colder voice suddenly sounded from the living-room door at my back. "To
be responsible for children is not a job someone like you should do."
This was confirmed by a loud bark and the children started to point
behind me in excitement.
"Look, look doggies!"
"So big!"
"They look so sweet!"
"I want to touch them!"
I couldn't believe my ears. Not for the bark and not for the voice I
heard just seconds ago. Before I had a chance to take a look or let the
events of what had just happened sink into my brain, the dogs cornered
the man who held me and growled dangerously. The man simply swallowed
nervously and carefully sat me down onto the ground just in front of
the two dogs I knew better than anything else.
They immediately stopped growling and started to lick my face and
hands, tails waving eagerly.
"Heero! Duo!" I sobbed and dove my hands into their soft fur. Then
someone I knew as just well, knelt down beside me and put a supporting
arm around me.
"You OK?" the shorthaired boy asked in a concerned voice. I nodded and
glanced to the other boy who stood in front of the housemother, hands
balled into fists. His eyes burned with anger, but there was softness
in his face as he watched the scene between my dogs, his friend and
myself carefully. I smiled to him to show I was okay. He nodded in
return, a light smile on his lips before he turned his full attention
back to the housemother.
I had only met these two boys twice until then but for me the long
haired one was someone who should laugh and smile, not be grumpy or
something negative like that. This was the first time I had seen him
angry, and although it didn't fit to his character, he looked pretty
dangerous right now. I nearly felt sorry for the housemother - well not
*that* sorry.
"You!" the boy growled. "This is NO WAY to treat children! You have
absolutely no right to call yourself *housemother of an orphanage!*"
"And you," she cried out, "have no right to come in here like this,
Mr..., Mr..."
"Maxwell," the man from the government said in a small voice after
taking a quick look at the papers.
"... Mr. Maxwell!" the woman spat out the name and with the look on her
face most of the children stepped backwards in fear. Not so the boy. He
simply showed her a dry smile.
"Oh I think I can very well judge your abilities," he told her,
dangerously calm. "*I* am an orphan myself and I used to live in an
orphanage for quite a while before the Alliance destroyed the little
happiness I had. This orphanage was led by the church. There was a
sister and a father to look after us children and I can tell you sister
Helen was the exact opposite from you. She was nice, friendly and made
the kids happy. If I look around here, I can see no happiness in any
way. All I see is fear, coldness and grey. No colors in the rooms, no
playthings, no crayons, nothing a child could be happy with."
The braided boy's eyes were very small by now. The woman just snorted
in disgust.
"Happiness! If you keep the little brats happy then they start to get
on your nerves. They become spoilt before you can notice it and they
won't listen to what you say anymore. And by the way I need the money.
This certainly isn't my idea of a dream-job but it is a job after all
and very well paid. I will stay strong, keep the little brats five or
six years longer before I quit and live a good life."
"You know nothing," the boy said, his eyes burning with anger. "There
is a line between spoiling a kid and simply making it happy. A happy
child would look up to you as the great person whom it has to thank for
the wonderful life it can live. I can tell you, I was definitely not an
easy child at all when I was little, but with her friendly behavior
sister Helen got nothing but my faith and my respect. If she had have
been like you, I would have already run away or started a nice, little
rebellion against you. I can tell you that for sure." He paused a
second to calm himself down and then added with well heard anger: "And
someone who wants job just for the money and doesn't like children,
should NEVER EVER look after children! It's the wrong job for you!"
The housemother was quiet for a moment and looked very surprised. Then
she started to laugh.
"You are such a dumb boy," she chuckled. "Talking nonsense for nothing.
As I said, you are not in the position to order me around and your
words will never change anything of the way I handle the kids. I have
had enough of you and these disgusting dogs. Take this brat, leave this
place and never come back or I will make sure that you lose this girl
and will never be able to adopt a child again."
I stiffed, anger flamed in my eyes but I felt the calm hands of the
shorthaired boy holding me back by my waist.
"She is the dumb one," I heard him whisper, "She will regret her
actions. Never anger Shinigami when it comes to family, his friends or
children."
And just as if to prove his words, the longhaired boy smirked evilly.
"You underestimate us, you poor woman," he stated and knelt down to
take one of the smallest children who was already in tears, in his
comforting arms. "Don't worry anymore, everyone of you. Your *beloved*
housemother won't stay any longer than one day. We have powerful
friends in the government and when I tell them about your so-called
housemother they will fire her immediately. We will find a new, nicer
mother for you."
The housemother laughed, although I could hear it was a little shaky.
"You can't do this, you are just some dirty, little former pilots.
Murderers who caused a war. No one will listen to you."
The braided boy looked away from the children to face her again. The
smile his lips formed was sweet but oh so dangerous at the same time.
The glitter in his eyes could have melted ice in one second.
"You know Relena Peacecraft?" he asked sweetly and calmly. She
immediately paled and her lips opened a little in shock.
"Well then you may be interested in the fact that we are best friends
with her. She WILL listen to whatever we have to say and the rest of
the government will listen to HER because she is one of the symbols of
peace in this new era. Rest assured they will have fired you by
tomorrow morning. And I will personally make sure that the next
housemother in this orphanage will be a nice, kind woman, not a
disgusting thing like you are."
This was the last time he spoke to her. After he was done, he turned
around to his friend and to me. A warm, true smile came to his face as
he knelt down next to me. I just watched him, big eyes glowing with
proudness at his courage.
"Well Jeanie," he said. "Let's leave this place, shall we?"
I nodded happily and then my eyes widened as I realized what was
happening.
"You... YOU two adopted me?" I cried out and pointed, changing from one
to the other. The longhaired one laughed.
"Yep, we did!" he said. "But I'll explain more when we are in the car.
So do you want to see where you'll live from now on?"
I squeezed the fur of my dogs in pure happiness. It felt like centuries
had passed since I was this happy. I wanted to scream, dance and run
around such was the happiness that filled my body. Instead I hugged the
braided boy with all my might, then his friend. I still barely knew
them but I did know that we would become great friends.
Duo barked now and Heero waved his tail silently, their way of showing
how contented they were with the ending of the events.
Suddenly the short haired boy, whose arms still held me, got me by my
waist and lifted me up. I smiled at him and he gave me a little smile
back.
"Let's go!" he simply said. His friend nodded. I called Heero and Duo
to follow and waved a goodbye to the other children. Soon they would be
as happy as I was feeling right now. I was sure of that. But then when
we reached the front door, my carrier turned around and faced the man
from the government.
"Your name?" he asked coldly.
"St... Steve Mitch," the man answered hesitantly. "Why... do you want
t... to know that?"
"Because you'll be hearing from the government." the braided boy
answered while laying his hands lazily around his friends' waist. There
was nothing more to be said and we left the orphanage - forever.
***
"So?" I asked and looked from one boy to the other. "How come you
showed up here and requested me as your adopted child?"
The boys looked at each other stunned. We had driven from the orphanage
to the nearest fast food restaurant because I was dying of hunger. And
now we all sat in the car and ate some wonderful tasting burgers. The
nice boys, who would be my parents from now on, also gave me some pet
food for my beloved dogs. And I decided that it was time to get answers
to my questions.
"You promised me! 'More in the car' you said, remember?"
"Ah, very good memory." the braided boy chuckled before he became
serious. "Well, this man called you by your full name, so it was easy
for us to search for more information about you. That's how we learned
about your parents and grandmother."
At the mention of my grandmother I leaned closer to my two dogs. The
longhaired boy said he was sorry for mentioning it, but I told him it
was OK.
"Well," he sighed and patted the heads of Heero and Duo, "Anyway your
two friends obviously missed you very much and after we talked a while
about this, we decided to take you with us. As it was said before,
Relena Peacecraft is one of our best friends. It was no problem to get
the green light for the adoption."
I glanced, curiously from one boy to the other.
"Are we...," I started, a little shy and unsure, "Are we a real family
now? I mean... you're both male but Grandma told me that there are some
couples that are both the same gender. Like Heero and Duo, they are
married!"
Surprisingly the longhaired boy snorted into his drink and started to
laugh. His friend chuckled. This was very confusing.
"Yeah... hope you don't mind... your new family being gay." the
longhaired boy choked out between his snickers.
"I don't mind because my dogs are the same, but why is this so funny?"
I asked pouting. "I know dogs can't marry like humans but still in
Grandma's and my eyes Heero and Duo *are* married, they love each
other!"
This caused him to laugh even more. He laughed so hard, that he got
tears in his eyes and had to hold his stomach, and the short haired boy
had a hard time trying not to laugh with him.
"It's just...," the longhaired choked out between his efforts to stop
laughing. "... it's not your dogs, it's just the..." he glanced to his
friend and to my surprise became red in the face while he started to go
on explaining, "The names! Heero and Duo and that they are married...
god Heero and Duo this is so..."
The shorthaired boy became red too and glared half-heartedly at his
friend.
"That's enough," he ordered with a calm voice and suddenly what was
said in the orphanage came back to my mind.
~You'll never guess who your new parents will be. They are two of your
much-loved former Gundam pilots.~
I grasped my hands over my mouth to choke back the surprised cry that
wanted to come out. Then another memory hit me. The time when I was
little, they showed this one pilot they had caught. I didn't remember
very well because I was little, but somehow I remembered long, chestnut-
brown hair.
"Oh my god," I whispered, "you... you're Gundam pilots, aren't you? You
know... wait, this one they caught back then was named... named... had
long hair, long brown hair and his name..."
I pointed at the boy with the long chestnut-brown hair and cried out.
"Maxwell! His full name was Duo Maxwell! You are... you are..."
The boy, who I just recognized as Duo, grinned wide at me.
"You know after this one..." he said in a soft, still amused voice and
pointed at the short haired, "... saw how wild your Duo was acting, he
didn't ask you for nothing if he is the one you named 'Duo'."
"Yeah because you're both little baka's and never easy to watch," his
friend said in a light chuckling tone.
"The same to you, *my friend*." Duo teased back. "I was sooooooooooo
sure that this quiet one with the little 'doggy glare' could only be
the one named 'Heero'. His behavior is so perfectly suited to your own,
sweetie."
"Duo!" he shouted and tackled the longhaired boy at his side. "If you
don't stop you'll regret it when we get home."
"Huh, huh," you don't want to scare our new little family member to
death on her first night do you?"
His lover shook his head in mild disbelief and I decided to end this
discussion.
"So, you are really Heero? Heero Yuy, THE Heero Yuy of Wing Zero?"
"Oh you are pretty well informed about our Gundam's names." Duo said a
little surprised but impressed. I nodded and crawled over to hug them
both fiercely.
"Look, look!" I shouted at my best friends. Duo and Heero, who had
cuddled on the back seat together with me. They looked up sleepily.
"These are the boys who's names I gave you! These are Gundam pilots! I
always knew they were nice and not mean murderers like the stupid
people said. And now you can see I am right, I knew it, I knew it! And
they are my parents now, isn't that great?"
Heero yawned and glanced up before he put his head back on his front
paws in a 'let it be' attitude. Duo looked a little stunned but then
started to give some short, enthusiastic barks until Heero stopped him
with a light growl and they went back to their silent cuddling.
We looked at each other. Heero Yuy smiled and Duo chuckled. I think my
grin must have been as wide as the distance to the moon.
"So, do you know anything more about us?" Duo finally asked. I shook my
head.
"Only that your last Gundam was called Deathscythe Custom. I am still a
little young and it has been a while since the war so I don't remember
much. It's also only by accident that I remembered you having long
hair."
I smiled at the longhaired boy and he smiled back lovingly.
"Although you don't remember much," he started in a soft voice, "and
you didn't know us personally. Although your parents died because of
the war, you are the first civil person who said such nice things about
us. You didn't judge us because we were so called assassins who fought
for their colonies. And that's why we are happy that you and your two
precious friends are with us now."
Heero nodded and brushed my cheek softly.
"You are a good girl who stands up for her friends and for what you
believe is right." he added. "Duo and I would be really happy if you
allow us to keep an eye on you till you are old enough to live by
yourself. We would be happy if you would call our home your home as
well."
I felt tears burning in my eyes. My heart wanted to burst and I threw
myself against Heero's chest to cry. He held me gently, while Duo
stroked my hair in a soothing way.
After I had calmed down a little, I looked up at the boys again.
"But how," I choked. "What will we do with my dogs? I mean, won't it be
confusing if we have two 'Heero's and 'Duo's?"
Duo started to chuckle again and my dogs lifted their heads in
curiosity, hearing their names.
"I've already thought about this." the longhaired former pilot told
me. "I don't think it will be too much of a problem having twice the
same name at home. For emergencies we can call your dogs Heero and Duo
II. What do you say?"
I looked at the Heero and Duo in question.
"That would be okay with us wouldn't it?" I asked my beloved friends.
Duo barked and Heero made a noise that sounded like a light bark.
"We agree!" I told the boys. Duo grinned and Heero smiled.
"Well if we are all done now," the former Wing pilot started. "I would
suggest that we go home."
I looked at Duo and Duo looked at me, nodding. I looked at Heero II and
Duo II. They both showed me one of their precious dog smiles. Then I
nodded for myself.
"Yes," I agreed. "Let's go home!"
Owari
*UsagiLOVESDuo-chan /'^^'\
Part: 3/3
Author: Usagi-chan [usagilikesduochan@hotmail.com]
Warnings: Dog love, sap, bad language, angst, OC, POV
Pairings: 1+2, HxD (means HeeroxDuo but you'll know the reason why I
didn't write it in numbers when you read ^^)
Disclaimer: Nothing is mine; I don't make money from fan fiction. I
write only for fun and to get better at English. ^__^
Description: Set after EW
A little girl lives a happy, peaceful life with her grandma and her two
dogs. But one day her whole happiness becomes destroyed and she has to
fear for her true best friends. Will she save them from the worst and
find a place for them where they can live in happiness?
Uhm well, I know by first reading it doesn't sound much like GW but you
will see it is. *g* I think it's the first part of a little arc (if
you'd like to read more). The idea came to me because of my own great
love of dogs and my wish to have my own one some time.
Feedback: Hai, hai! Pleeeeeeease. ^____^
Archive:
-
-
Anyone want it? Just ask me so I can give credit and you can have it. ^^
And I mustn't forget, many thanks to Ryouga-nee-chan for helping with
my translation from German to English.
Dedicated to the dog I will meet somewhere in the future and who will
win my heart with one look. His name will be Duo ^___^
"..." = Speaking
*...* = Thinking
~...~ = Review
*****************************************************************
The orphanage I was sent to wasn't the greatest of places. In fact it
was the worse place I ever experienced. And this wasn't because there
were so many children. I didn't mind being around so many children.
Most of them were quite nice, but all afraid, shy and quiet. It was
because of the housemother. I already knew she didn't like children
when I first saw her.
Then I arrived. She looked at me with an angry face.
"So you are the nasty run-away, are you?" she growled. "The people from
the government have already given me a lot of information about your
former life. You were spoiled with your two little dogs, thought if you
ran away with the pack you could keep them and live happily ever after
huh? Well, serves you right that you three were torn apart. Life isn't
that easy, you need to learn this lesson."
Yes indeed, she didn't like me, but I can honestly say that it was
mutual. I glared at her with angry, burning eyes.
"There is a difference between separate and kill!" I shouted angrily
and everyone around us held their breath. "If I hadn't found new owners
for my friends they would have been dead by now. I would *NEVER* let
anyone kill my friends if I can prevent it!"
The woman massaged her head and growled.
"Oh great! A rebellious one. And this isn't the worse problem of yours
that you have just showed us either. I know that, *girl*!" she spat out
and glared at me. "You are a crazy fan of the Gundam pilots! How can
anyone be such an idiot?"
That was too much. I was smoking with anger. I shouted at her as loud
as I could. I called her an ignorant, idiotic woman who never even
tried to understand the feelings of others, especially the feelings of
a child. I called her as many bad words as I could imagine. I was
blinded with my anger.
To say bad things about my precious friends was bad enough, but to also
make jokes about the boys, who brought us peace, was way too much even
for me. I had never liked it, then when someone spoke ill of the
Gundam pilots it made me really angry, if the person made fun of me,
then I would tell them what I thought.
Everyone around me was shocked with my actions. But I also saw that
some of the children were impressed, maybe because they thought I had
courage.
Anyway, the housemother of course couldn't let this end like that. She
was even more angry now and glared at me with cold eyes.
"Seems that someone doesn't feel like eating today." she hissed. "Well,
young lady, I can arrange that. I will teach you to obey your new
housemother and treat her nicely. Lina!"
A girl, who looked a little older than me, came out from the crowd of
children.
"Yes ma'am?" she asked with a shy quiet voice.
"Show this trash her new room and make sure she stay's there the entire
day and night!" the woman barked and Lina started to shake slightly.
"Come, it's better to go," the girl whispered to me and took my hand
carefully. I couldn't tear my gaze away from this bad tempered woman's
face. I was still burning but let the girl lead me out of the room.
The last thing I heard as I left was the man who had caught me asking
the housemother if she was sure this was the right way to treat me. She
just barked a few words about *Her way to handle the kids* and he
should be silent if he wanted to see any money for catching me.
Well, to say the place was the worst was the understatement of the year.
***
Three days had passed since I arrived at the orphanage. The days were
monotonous and not a very nice experience. I got very little to eat
because I was too proud and too angry with this woman to obey her. To
make it worse she made fun of everything she knew about me.
All dogs were trash, especially my ones, she often said. My grandma
spoiled me, was her reason for my behavior and it was the Gundam pilots
who caused the war, she stated coldly too. They were mean boys with
very bad tempers.
I couldn't take any of her words in silence, although I soon discovered
that she wanted to provoke me. And so I got more punishment in these
three days than a day had hours.
The other children left me alone. It wasn't that they didn't like me or
anything like that; in fact it was quite the opposite. Most of them
sent me encouraging and admiring glances. But they were afraid of
punishment from the housemother for trying to befriend me. Their lives
were already bad enough, so I could understand that they didn't want to
add anymore to it.
The whole existence here was cold. The rooms had not a single color,
the playthings were nearly nothing, and the outside was only a small,
grassed area on the backyard and a stone yard on the front. Not a place
for children to live at.
And the housemother made very sure that any fun we had here stayed
minimal. There were no outings to parks, no shopping days, no TV, no
children's books.... nothing... just nothing. Yes, this place was a
simple hell for children. In addition all this caused me to have bad
dreams about Grandma, Heero and Duo, standing far away from me and
regardless of how fast I ran, I could never reach them.
After the first night I knew that at least one thing the housemother
had said was right. I was spoiled in having had someone around me I
trusted and loved. Grandma, Heero and Duo. All three of them loved and
protected me from everything bad. And now, they were gone.
But when I woke up after the second night to start my third day in this
nightmare come true, Jessy, one of the other girls around my age
stormed into the room I had to share with three other girls and
stopped, out of breath, at my bed.
"Jeanie you are so lucky!" she howled. "I heard the housemother talking
on the phone with someone from the government. Someone wants to adopt
*you*! They asked clearly for Jeanie Silver. It's such luck, I really
envy you."
My heart seemed to stop beating. Sure, I had never wished for anything
more than to get out of this place but I couldn't go just now; not
until the boys had visited me with Heero and Duo. I had to tell them
first about me moving away from this horrible orphanage.
And I was also wondering how the people knew my name. I always thought
they would come and visit, look at the children and then decide which
one to adopt. But maybe this orphanage had another way. Maybe it was
with papers, listed with simple names, statistics and a picture. Or
maybe it was the Norris'... Maybe they wanted to adopt me now at last.
I didn't know and I couldn't think about this right now. All I knew was
that I wanted to see Heero, Duo and the nice two boys before I had to
go. I didn't want to leave the place where they knew I was at. How
would they be able to find me again if I was adopted by unknown people?
But first I had to find out if Jessy was right or if I just panicked
for nothing. I ran to the disgusting housemother and asked her if it
was true. She glanced at me with a sneer on her face before she
declared:
"Yeah, it's true, you are lucky. You can leave soon."
I must have had a shocked expression on my face because she lifted an
eyebrow in surprise. But then a grin came to her face, as she
understood my fear.
"Aaaaaaah," she nearly sang, "Your dirty little dog friends are
intending to visit you from time to time aren't they? Well, let's hope
then that these 'nice' boys will arrive before your new step-parents
do. It would be such a pity if you never see your precious dogs again
now wouldn't it?"
She grinned to show how much she pitied me.
"You'll have two hours. They are already signing the contract for your
adoption and then they'll be on the way to pick you up."
***
"That's crazy! You are the first one I've ever met, who's not happy to
leave this place," Jenny said when she found me in my hiding spot.
Fifteen minutes ago a man from the government had arrived to take me to
my new parents. They had to wait outside while he met with the
housemother and was brought into the orphanage. As soon as I saw them
arrive, I stormed out of my room to hide in the best place I could find
in a hurry.
I succeeded in hiding for about 15 minutes but everyone was looking for
me, including the children. I couldn't blame Jenny for revealing my
hiding spot. I knew that if I hadn't been found the punishment later
would had been insufferable. Still I struggled and bit the man from the
government who took me without a word and forced me through the rooms.
The housemother just watched and smiled, pleased.
"You should be lucky," she mocked. "You'll never guess who your new
parents are. They're two of your so-called beloved former Gundam
pilots. Trash to trash, how ironic."
Any other time and under any other circumstances I would not have
believed my luck after hearing her words. But not this time, not in
that situation.
"I don't care!" I screamed never fully noticing what she just said. "I
am not going before I see Heero and Duo again! I can't leave my
friends, I can't!"
"Ooohh, I forgot about your precious dogs. Well you are not in the
position to demand anything!" this terrible woman said in a sharp voice.
"And you are not in the right position either!" a much sharper and
colder voice suddenly sounded from the living-room door at my back. "To
be responsible for children is not a job someone like you should do."
This was confirmed by a loud bark and the children started to point
behind me in excitement.
"Look, look doggies!"
"So big!"
"They look so sweet!"
"I want to touch them!"
I couldn't believe my ears. Not for the bark and not for the voice I
heard just seconds ago. Before I had a chance to take a look or let the
events of what had just happened sink into my brain, the dogs cornered
the man who held me and growled dangerously. The man simply swallowed
nervously and carefully sat me down onto the ground just in front of
the two dogs I knew better than anything else.
They immediately stopped growling and started to lick my face and
hands, tails waving eagerly.
"Heero! Duo!" I sobbed and dove my hands into their soft fur. Then
someone I knew as just well, knelt down beside me and put a supporting
arm around me.
"You OK?" the shorthaired boy asked in a concerned voice. I nodded and
glanced to the other boy who stood in front of the housemother, hands
balled into fists. His eyes burned with anger, but there was softness
in his face as he watched the scene between my dogs, his friend and
myself carefully. I smiled to him to show I was okay. He nodded in
return, a light smile on his lips before he turned his full attention
back to the housemother.
I had only met these two boys twice until then but for me the long
haired one was someone who should laugh and smile, not be grumpy or
something negative like that. This was the first time I had seen him
angry, and although it didn't fit to his character, he looked pretty
dangerous right now. I nearly felt sorry for the housemother - well not
*that* sorry.
"You!" the boy growled. "This is NO WAY to treat children! You have
absolutely no right to call yourself *housemother of an orphanage!*"
"And you," she cried out, "have no right to come in here like this,
Mr..., Mr..."
"Maxwell," the man from the government said in a small voice after
taking a quick look at the papers.
"... Mr. Maxwell!" the woman spat out the name and with the look on her
face most of the children stepped backwards in fear. Not so the boy. He
simply showed her a dry smile.
"Oh I think I can very well judge your abilities," he told her,
dangerously calm. "*I* am an orphan myself and I used to live in an
orphanage for quite a while before the Alliance destroyed the little
happiness I had. This orphanage was led by the church. There was a
sister and a father to look after us children and I can tell you sister
Helen was the exact opposite from you. She was nice, friendly and made
the kids happy. If I look around here, I can see no happiness in any
way. All I see is fear, coldness and grey. No colors in the rooms, no
playthings, no crayons, nothing a child could be happy with."
The braided boy's eyes were very small by now. The woman just snorted
in disgust.
"Happiness! If you keep the little brats happy then they start to get
on your nerves. They become spoilt before you can notice it and they
won't listen to what you say anymore. And by the way I need the money.
This certainly isn't my idea of a dream-job but it is a job after all
and very well paid. I will stay strong, keep the little brats five or
six years longer before I quit and live a good life."
"You know nothing," the boy said, his eyes burning with anger. "There
is a line between spoiling a kid and simply making it happy. A happy
child would look up to you as the great person whom it has to thank for
the wonderful life it can live. I can tell you, I was definitely not an
easy child at all when I was little, but with her friendly behavior
sister Helen got nothing but my faith and my respect. If she had have
been like you, I would have already run away or started a nice, little
rebellion against you. I can tell you that for sure." He paused a
second to calm himself down and then added with well heard anger: "And
someone who wants job just for the money and doesn't like children,
should NEVER EVER look after children! It's the wrong job for you!"
The housemother was quiet for a moment and looked very surprised. Then
she started to laugh.
"You are such a dumb boy," she chuckled. "Talking nonsense for nothing.
As I said, you are not in the position to order me around and your
words will never change anything of the way I handle the kids. I have
had enough of you and these disgusting dogs. Take this brat, leave this
place and never come back or I will make sure that you lose this girl
and will never be able to adopt a child again."
I stiffed, anger flamed in my eyes but I felt the calm hands of the
shorthaired boy holding me back by my waist.
"She is the dumb one," I heard him whisper, "She will regret her
actions. Never anger Shinigami when it comes to family, his friends or
children."
And just as if to prove his words, the longhaired boy smirked evilly.
"You underestimate us, you poor woman," he stated and knelt down to
take one of the smallest children who was already in tears, in his
comforting arms. "Don't worry anymore, everyone of you. Your *beloved*
housemother won't stay any longer than one day. We have powerful
friends in the government and when I tell them about your so-called
housemother they will fire her immediately. We will find a new, nicer
mother for you."
The housemother laughed, although I could hear it was a little shaky.
"You can't do this, you are just some dirty, little former pilots.
Murderers who caused a war. No one will listen to you."
The braided boy looked away from the children to face her again. The
smile his lips formed was sweet but oh so dangerous at the same time.
The glitter in his eyes could have melted ice in one second.
"You know Relena Peacecraft?" he asked sweetly and calmly. She
immediately paled and her lips opened a little in shock.
"Well then you may be interested in the fact that we are best friends
with her. She WILL listen to whatever we have to say and the rest of
the government will listen to HER because she is one of the symbols of
peace in this new era. Rest assured they will have fired you by
tomorrow morning. And I will personally make sure that the next
housemother in this orphanage will be a nice, kind woman, not a
disgusting thing like you are."
This was the last time he spoke to her. After he was done, he turned
around to his friend and to me. A warm, true smile came to his face as
he knelt down next to me. I just watched him, big eyes glowing with
proudness at his courage.
"Well Jeanie," he said. "Let's leave this place, shall we?"
I nodded happily and then my eyes widened as I realized what was
happening.
"You... YOU two adopted me?" I cried out and pointed, changing from one
to the other. The longhaired one laughed.
"Yep, we did!" he said. "But I'll explain more when we are in the car.
So do you want to see where you'll live from now on?"
I squeezed the fur of my dogs in pure happiness. It felt like centuries
had passed since I was this happy. I wanted to scream, dance and run
around such was the happiness that filled my body. Instead I hugged the
braided boy with all my might, then his friend. I still barely knew
them but I did know that we would become great friends.
Duo barked now and Heero waved his tail silently, their way of showing
how contented they were with the ending of the events.
Suddenly the short haired boy, whose arms still held me, got me by my
waist and lifted me up. I smiled at him and he gave me a little smile
back.
"Let's go!" he simply said. His friend nodded. I called Heero and Duo
to follow and waved a goodbye to the other children. Soon they would be
as happy as I was feeling right now. I was sure of that. But then when
we reached the front door, my carrier turned around and faced the man
from the government.
"Your name?" he asked coldly.
"St... Steve Mitch," the man answered hesitantly. "Why... do you want
t... to know that?"
"Because you'll be hearing from the government." the braided boy
answered while laying his hands lazily around his friends' waist. There
was nothing more to be said and we left the orphanage - forever.
***
"So?" I asked and looked from one boy to the other. "How come you
showed up here and requested me as your adopted child?"
The boys looked at each other stunned. We had driven from the orphanage
to the nearest fast food restaurant because I was dying of hunger. And
now we all sat in the car and ate some wonderful tasting burgers. The
nice boys, who would be my parents from now on, also gave me some pet
food for my beloved dogs. And I decided that it was time to get answers
to my questions.
"You promised me! 'More in the car' you said, remember?"
"Ah, very good memory." the braided boy chuckled before he became
serious. "Well, this man called you by your full name, so it was easy
for us to search for more information about you. That's how we learned
about your parents and grandmother."
At the mention of my grandmother I leaned closer to my two dogs. The
longhaired boy said he was sorry for mentioning it, but I told him it
was OK.
"Well," he sighed and patted the heads of Heero and Duo, "Anyway your
two friends obviously missed you very much and after we talked a while
about this, we decided to take you with us. As it was said before,
Relena Peacecraft is one of our best friends. It was no problem to get
the green light for the adoption."
I glanced, curiously from one boy to the other.
"Are we...," I started, a little shy and unsure, "Are we a real family
now? I mean... you're both male but Grandma told me that there are some
couples that are both the same gender. Like Heero and Duo, they are
married!"
Surprisingly the longhaired boy snorted into his drink and started to
laugh. His friend chuckled. This was very confusing.
"Yeah... hope you don't mind... your new family being gay." the
longhaired boy choked out between his snickers.
"I don't mind because my dogs are the same, but why is this so funny?"
I asked pouting. "I know dogs can't marry like humans but still in
Grandma's and my eyes Heero and Duo *are* married, they love each
other!"
This caused him to laugh even more. He laughed so hard, that he got
tears in his eyes and had to hold his stomach, and the short haired boy
had a hard time trying not to laugh with him.
"It's just...," the longhaired choked out between his efforts to stop
laughing. "... it's not your dogs, it's just the..." he glanced to his
friend and to my surprise became red in the face while he started to go
on explaining, "The names! Heero and Duo and that they are married...
god Heero and Duo this is so..."
The shorthaired boy became red too and glared half-heartedly at his
friend.
"That's enough," he ordered with a calm voice and suddenly what was
said in the orphanage came back to my mind.
~You'll never guess who your new parents will be. They are two of your
much-loved former Gundam pilots.~
I grasped my hands over my mouth to choke back the surprised cry that
wanted to come out. Then another memory hit me. The time when I was
little, they showed this one pilot they had caught. I didn't remember
very well because I was little, but somehow I remembered long, chestnut-
brown hair.
"Oh my god," I whispered, "you... you're Gundam pilots, aren't you? You
know... wait, this one they caught back then was named... named... had
long hair, long brown hair and his name..."
I pointed at the boy with the long chestnut-brown hair and cried out.
"Maxwell! His full name was Duo Maxwell! You are... you are..."
The boy, who I just recognized as Duo, grinned wide at me.
"You know after this one..." he said in a soft, still amused voice and
pointed at the short haired, "... saw how wild your Duo was acting, he
didn't ask you for nothing if he is the one you named 'Duo'."
"Yeah because you're both little baka's and never easy to watch," his
friend said in a light chuckling tone.
"The same to you, *my friend*." Duo teased back. "I was sooooooooooo
sure that this quiet one with the little 'doggy glare' could only be
the one named 'Heero'. His behavior is so perfectly suited to your own,
sweetie."
"Duo!" he shouted and tackled the longhaired boy at his side. "If you
don't stop you'll regret it when we get home."
"Huh, huh," you don't want to scare our new little family member to
death on her first night do you?"
His lover shook his head in mild disbelief and I decided to end this
discussion.
"So, you are really Heero? Heero Yuy, THE Heero Yuy of Wing Zero?"
"Oh you are pretty well informed about our Gundam's names." Duo said a
little surprised but impressed. I nodded and crawled over to hug them
both fiercely.
"Look, look!" I shouted at my best friends. Duo and Heero, who had
cuddled on the back seat together with me. They looked up sleepily.
"These are the boys who's names I gave you! These are Gundam pilots! I
always knew they were nice and not mean murderers like the stupid
people said. And now you can see I am right, I knew it, I knew it! And
they are my parents now, isn't that great?"
Heero yawned and glanced up before he put his head back on his front
paws in a 'let it be' attitude. Duo looked a little stunned but then
started to give some short, enthusiastic barks until Heero stopped him
with a light growl and they went back to their silent cuddling.
We looked at each other. Heero Yuy smiled and Duo chuckled. I think my
grin must have been as wide as the distance to the moon.
"So, do you know anything more about us?" Duo finally asked. I shook my
head.
"Only that your last Gundam was called Deathscythe Custom. I am still a
little young and it has been a while since the war so I don't remember
much. It's also only by accident that I remembered you having long
hair."
I smiled at the longhaired boy and he smiled back lovingly.
"Although you don't remember much," he started in a soft voice, "and
you didn't know us personally. Although your parents died because of
the war, you are the first civil person who said such nice things about
us. You didn't judge us because we were so called assassins who fought
for their colonies. And that's why we are happy that you and your two
precious friends are with us now."
Heero nodded and brushed my cheek softly.
"You are a good girl who stands up for her friends and for what you
believe is right." he added. "Duo and I would be really happy if you
allow us to keep an eye on you till you are old enough to live by
yourself. We would be happy if you would call our home your home as
well."
I felt tears burning in my eyes. My heart wanted to burst and I threw
myself against Heero's chest to cry. He held me gently, while Duo
stroked my hair in a soothing way.
After I had calmed down a little, I looked up at the boys again.
"But how," I choked. "What will we do with my dogs? I mean, won't it be
confusing if we have two 'Heero's and 'Duo's?"
Duo started to chuckle again and my dogs lifted their heads in
curiosity, hearing their names.
"I've already thought about this." the longhaired former pilot told
me. "I don't think it will be too much of a problem having twice the
same name at home. For emergencies we can call your dogs Heero and Duo
II. What do you say?"
I looked at the Heero and Duo in question.
"That would be okay with us wouldn't it?" I asked my beloved friends.
Duo barked and Heero made a noise that sounded like a light bark.
"We agree!" I told the boys. Duo grinned and Heero smiled.
"Well if we are all done now," the former Wing pilot started. "I would
suggest that we go home."
I looked at Duo and Duo looked at me, nodding. I looked at Heero II and
Duo II. They both showed me one of their precious dog smiles. Then I
nodded for myself.
"Yes," I agreed. "Let's go home!"
Owari
*UsagiLOVESDuo-chan /'^^'\
