Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam wing or any of the characters, places, ideas and things there in. I'm writing this for fun and make no profit.

Notes: I was so happy that I got some reviews and people e-mailing I decided to put up the next chapter sooner then expected. See I can write when I put my mind to it. Ummm, no big notes for this chapter, except if any of you are wondering about the name Caltha (your probably not but I like to amuse myself). It is a real name, I forget the origin but it means yellow flower.

Chapter Four

(Getting to Know You)

Odin unfortunately had to extend his stay longer then he expected. The officer that had found him came to the orphanage often to visit his daughter and the kids, and every time he would ask about him. Anna was just as persistent about his apparent welfare and the kids were unendingly curious and sociable, wanting to help him 'settle in'. Interests were far from cooling off. So, Odin explored, he looked into every inch of the surrounding territory. He committed the entire layout to memory, searched the grounds and looked through each room, cupboard and crawly place until there wasn't a single plant, corner or dust ball he didn't know.

Likewise there wasn't a face he didn't recognize, or come to have information on, and he began to have certain expectations of certain people. Neon had a noticeable limp and always wore loud colors with no sense of what went with what. When he was not dashing off in a hurry (despite the limp) to what ever he was currently late for, he wrote music. All of which was strange and supposedly hidden. The red haired girl on the second floor always had her note pad and pen. Ethan was responsible, protective and spent his spare time playing hockey, he wasn't bad. Anna was not only administrator but was also in charge of the kids on her floor, she was also protective. The little boy with chipmunk cheeks was always lost. Jinx was shy and always in trouble, but was light on his feet and hard to catch. And Caltha was… adherent.

Since the first day she wouldn't leave him alone and followed him everywhere, chatting about this and that, asking why the sky was blue and if he liked chocolate or vanilla better, not that he'd ever had much chance to decide. Every day after school she would immediately come looking for him and not leave his side, unless he could distract her attention and slip off unnoticed. However, she caught on very quickly and it was becoming harder to get away with it.

With all the children around, there was a steady sound of running feet defying the constant warnings from the adults to slow down. It was difficult to find someplace quiet, even in this immense building. The orphanage itself had once been an affluent boarding school before the war. But the accidental collision of a mobile suit with the most of the classrooms and gym had made the place unsuitable to the previous owners, since no one had enough money to fix it. So it was donated to a charity organization that in turn gave it to the orphanage as a permanent home. Despite the damage, the rest of the place was well intact and in remarkably good condition. The student suites had been turned into rooms for the children and could comfortably fit three or four. The living areas were all on the first floor for convenience. The Lounge was the general meeting and recreation zone and always had somebody lolling around.

Strangely enough however Odin found his sanctuary in what some jokingly called the great hall, the giant entryway to the building. The domed ceiling reached the fourth story and the floor spanned a good thirty to forty meters across. A large pair of double doors with a smaller door built in graced the front wall. The back wall had two great staircases on either side going up to the second floor. A small balcony looked over the entryway and opened into a wide hall at the rear leading back into the building. From here he could watch the whole parade of people coming and going. People quickly learned to leave him be and that this spot on the railing was not to be touched. At the moment though, Odin was researching in the library. There wasn't much else to do. There wasn't any point in putting him in school now, Anna had said. It was close to winter break and they were all having final tests. He would have to have an assessment for placement at the beginning of spring. So with most everybody gone and the place to himself, he studied.

"Family, the collective body of persons who live in one house. A father, mother, and their children. The children of the same parents. One's husband (or wife) and children. A group of people who are related by blood or marriage; relatives. Those who descend from one common progenitor; a tribe or race. Descendents; lineage. A collection or union of things having common source or similar features. A criminal syndicate under a single leader. A commune living in one household, especially under one head. In biology, a subdivision in the classification of plants or animals, ranking above a genus and below an order."

Odin looked down at the data pad in his lap. He scrolled back to the top of the screen and read the explanation again. Then he shut off the data pad and took out the glowing dictionary chip. He leaned back in the armchair and turned his head to the side to watch the falling snow. So that was the definition of family. Basically what he'd assumed. A simple concept really, he couldn't understand why he always had trouble remembering. It was one of those words that always slips the mind, no matter how many times you look it up. He stared down at the pad in his lap, glowered, and placed it on the floor. A simple concept… As simple as hobbling across a desert with one leg.

He let his head rest against the pane of glass. It was icy cold on his forehead. They were outside, playing in the snow. Everyone seemed to put such importance on having or not having a 'family', he wondered if he should care that he'd never really had one. He watched a few of the tiny creatures outside start to throw balls of snow at each other, not meant to hurt, all in good fun. Others were flailing about in the snowdrifts; they called them snow angels. Some one had started a game. He watched them twirl about in a circle, hands joined laughing and giggling. The rhyme drifted up to him carried by the harmless voices.

"Ring around the rosie's, pockets full of posy's, ashes, ashes, we all fall down!" And so they did, throwing themselves in the snow with shouts of glee. Sending clouds of ice billowing up through the air only to fall back to earth like so many white ashes. Ashes, ashes we all fall down. Fall down dead, did they even know what they were singing? He thought. No, of course not, why would they? The plague had been a true horror of the time he remembered, thinking back to the random history chip he'd picked out earlier. The Black Death they called it. All over Asia Minor deaths were estimated to be over 23 million. At the peak of the epidemic, Paris lost 800 people a day, and by the end of Paris's long run with the disease, half its population of 100,000 people had died. The data chip had included several gruesome illustrations of bodies. Now that song of death, which people had sung to protect them selves from a horror you couldn't see or fight had become a child's rhyme. Ironic, he thought. No doubt the Eve Wars would likewise fade into limericks.

His ears picked up the sound of her entering the library immediately. She had a very distinctive walk, but he didn't move or acknowledge her presence in any way. Perhaps if he ignored her she would go away for once. No such luck, Caltha came running up and pounced on him with her usual energy, still wearing her backpack and jacket and dripping snow.

"Where've you been? I've been looking all over for you!" Odin said nothing, concentrating on calming his heart and pulling his hand away from where he used to keep his gun. She was too fast and lively, she made him jumpy. Since she didn't seem inclined to stay on the ground a good ten feet away, he had managed to convince himself that so long as he didn't move while she was in his lap, he wouldn't hurt her. Even so, it did nothing to silence the alarm in his head.

The two stared at each other for a long time, fascinated with one another. Her eyes were so bright and full, the exact opposite of him self. It was then that he realized they had gotten into an unofficial staring match, and she wasn't looking away. Intriguing, here was yet another puzzle to unravel. There had been an unending supply of puzzles since he'd been drafted here. Looking at her he analyzed her stare. It wasn't a challenge, which normally was the only time someone would look him in the eye. Rather it was simply a lack of averting her gaze. She wasn't scared of him; but why, he'd certainly given her reason to be afraid of him.

"Did your face get stuck?" she asked. Odin blinked,

"Huh?"

"Anna says that if you keep frowning your face will stick like that." He hadn't been aware that he was frowning.

"… Do I frown a lot?" he asked, with a sudden spike of curiosity. Caltha nodded vigorously

"All the time, is it stuck?" Well he couldn't remember his face ever being different, except for once or twice during the wars, that had been strange.

"I guess so." The two continued to stare at each other throughout the discourse, finally Odin asked

"Why aren't you with the other children?" Caltha shrugged,

"They're too noisy, and they don't like me." He found that an interesting answer since Caltha was the loudest person he'd ever met, including Duo. The rhyme had started again. Odin listened, watching the children through the window. Caltha leaned forward and rested her chin against the arm of the chair, looking out the window. "I like that game" she said, Odin glanced at her sideways before whispering

"To them it's nothing more than that, a game, one of the great lessons of the human race is nothing more then a game. Death would laugh if he saw this." He looked down again to see that she'd stuck her thumb in her mouth and was frowning to herself. She apparently hadn't understood a word. Perhaps it was too complicated a thought for her. She seemed to speak and think very simply. But then, why was he speaking to her in the first place, he shouldn't be, she was a liability.

"You want to see a picture?" she asked, he didn't have a chance to respond before she began digging through her backpack, and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper. He hesitantly took it from her and scanned the painting. There were blobs of gray and black and brown, the thing looked vaguely as if it might be an animal but he couldn't tell.

"What is it?"

"Hee, hee, it's a doggy silly!" he didn't see the resemblance.

"Come on I'm hungry," she said, grabbing his hand and leaping off the chair, pulling him with her. Caltha skipped out of the library and down the hall dragging Odin behind her. She began singing row, row, row your boat and trying to get Odin to join in, which he refused, remaining obstinately silent on their way to the kitchen.

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