When All Purpose Is Lost

By ~*Ai*~Wing

Chapter 11 (part 1)

"Here, take this and wipe the sweat off your forehead." Relena offered Heero a Kleenex.

"Thanks."  He took it and wiped his forehead.  He was cleaning himself up before the hearing after running so hard.

"Who were you chasing anyway?" Hilde asked.

Heero didn't answer and he didn't look at any of them.

"Are you sure you want to go through with this?" Mr. Carter asked Heero.

Heero gave a slight nod and proceeded into the courtroom.

Relena could feel the butterflies in her stomach.  She felt sick, very sick.  She shouldn't have come, she shouldn't have!  She could feel herself regurgitating…

"Relena!" They all shouted after her as she bolted to the washroom, covering her mouth with her hand.

"Go see if she's okay, Hilde." Duo said.

"Sure." Hilde replied as she quickly hurried off to where Relena had run off.

"I wonder what's wrong?" Duo thought out loud.

"Maybe she's not feeling well." Trowa supplied.

"I keep thinking it's not that simple."  Heero said quietly.

"Well, anyway, we can't worry about that right now.  Just concentrate on what you're going to say." Duo advised.

Heero gave an "hn" before the boys got seated.

Hilde heard the toilet flush as a very pale Relena walked out of the stall.  She went to the sink and splashed water on her face.

"Relena, what's wrong?" Hilde asked worriedly.

"Nothing, Hilde, nothing." Relena replied in a shaky voice.

"Are you not feeling well?"

"No."

"Then what is wrong, Relena?  Tell me, you can trust me!  I'll swear to keep secret!" Hilde exclaimed as she held her hand up.

"I'm just scared…nothing else." Relena finally admitted.

"What?  You're scared?  Of what?  What can make you so scared?" Hilde questioned.

"Scarred memories…"

** "Relena, what happened to your face?"

"Nothing, Mrs. Appleby."  A seven-year old Relena was close to bursting out in tears.  She flinched as her grade one teacher touched the purple mark on her cheek.

"Relena, you can trust me." Mrs. Appleby coaxed.

"I…I got into a fight yesterday." Relena lied.

"Really?  It's not like you to get into a fight." Mrs. Appleby wasn't convinced.

"Even Dorothy can prove it!" She burst out…not knowing if she had said the right thing.

"Very well, I'll call on Dorothy."

But Dorothy's words were not the same as Relena's.  Relena had told Dorothy the truth that morning after being questioned.  Of course, the truth came out to Mrs. Appleby. 

"Is that true, Relena?  Is it true that your parents hit you?" Relena's teacher demanded of her.

"No…" Relena denied the truth…she could not imagine what would result if she told the truth.

"Your parents are not here, Relena.   You have no need to be scared." The teacher told her gently.

Still Relena would not open her mouth to respond.

"Alright, I'll give you five minutes to think your answer over." Mrs. Appleby said before she left Relena and Dorothy in the room.  However, before she exited the room, she gave Dorothy a look that begged her to persuade her friend into doing the right thing.

After hearing the door shut firmly, angry tears coursed down Relena cheeks and she swivelled on her heel to face Dorothy.

"How could you!?  I asked you to keep a secret and you tell Mrs. Appleby.  Why did you betray me?  I trusted you!" Relena spat at Dorothy.

"But Relena, I did all that for your own good!" Dorothy tried to explain.

"My own good!?  My own good!?  If my parents find out, they are going to kill me!" Relena exclaimed furiously.

"Do you want to get hit?" Dorothy argued.

"You don't understand!" Relena cried.

"No I don't understand.  I'm seven years old!  I shouldn't understand!  But I know you need help, and you're my friend!" Dorothy exclaimed.

Relena stayed quiet.  Not long after, the teacher re-entered the room.

"So Relena, what will be your answer?" Mrs. Appleby asked quietly. 

Relena remained still and silent.

"Did they or did they not hit you?"

Relena could only slightly nod her head as tears of fear and shame flow down her cheeks.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~* *~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

It was so dark and cold in here…she shivered and made an effort to use her sore arm to push the tear soaked hair out of her eyes.  She held her knees under her chin, her feet propped up on the cot, as she heard cockroaches scurrying around near her.  She closed her eyes and tried to envision her nice, warm, comfy room.  Actually, it wasn't warm or nice at all.  It was bare.  The walls were white; there was a battered and hard bed in one corner.  In the other corner was an almost empty drawer…in front of the window with shaggy curtains, was an old desk.  A worn teddy bear sat on the bed beside the too soft pillow and the too thin comforter.  No, it wasn't comfortable at all.  But at least it was bug free.  The only part of that room she enjoyed was the window, which gave her a view of her neighbour's beautiful garden.  It was so colourful during summer…and so peaceful during winter.  The neighbours were Japanese, and their Japanese garden looked so serene covered in snow.  Of course, they also had a 'normal' garden filled with tulips and marigold, morning glories and many different kinds of colourful flowers.  In another part of the yard, they had a vegetable and herb garden. 

Mrs. Ito was a very nice woman.  When her brother had not been born yet, she used to go to the Ito's often to escape her misery.  They would spend the afternoon gardening, baking or just talking.  Her 'parents' never knew of their friendship.  When her brother was born, after he was old enough (which was just recently), she had been taking him along to Mrs. Ito's where he could play with young Ken Ito.  His brother never told their parents of their afternoons at the Ito's, as they both knew they would be forbidden to go if their parents ever found out.  It seemed like their parents wanted them to be loners.   She would lose every friend she made.  It became a habit…all her friends never met her parents, and vice versa.  As their neighbour, Mrs. Ito knew something was wrong in the house next door, and she asked her often.  But she could not tell Mrs. Ito the truth.  There were always consequences.  Mrs. Ito would never pressure her, but she would bring it up, once in a while.

Her back was really bothering her.  She knew it was all too good to be true.  She should have never told Mrs. Appleby the truth. 

Dumb Dorothy!   Relena thought.  What does she know?

Her nightmare began the day after confessing that her parents did indeed abuse her.  They called for a meeting with Relena's parents.  They slowly hinted that they had abused their daughter.  Slowly, the tension rose until an explosion went off.

"What?!?   Did you just say that we abuse our child?" Her father had roared.

"Please sir, calm down.  This is just an investigation." The representative from the SCFA tried to gently explain the situation.

"Who told you?  Relena?" her father yelled in rage.

"Yes.  But we saw proof of abuse on her very own body." The representative said, starting to lose her patience.

Relena cringed…she wished the lady wouldn't say that!  She was eavesdropping outside the staff room with Dorothy.

"God help me!" Relena said.

"Don't worry, we're here!" Dorothy reminded her.

"I hope you're right."

Finally, after an hour of 'debate', it was decided that Relena was not abused so her parents were allowed to take her home.  As her parents slowly dragged her away, Relena's eyes begged Dorothy to help her.  Dorothy immediately went to reason with the teacher.

"Now, now, Dorothy.  We shouldn't make accusations without proof." Mrs. Appleby said tiredly, wearing a sour expression.

"But…"

"No buts.  Go home and forget about this." The look Mrs. Appleby gave Dorothy was sympathetic…but it didn't help the matter.  She knew Relena was going to 'get it' at home.  She was sure Mrs. Appleby knew.  But they couldn't do anything without proof.  She looked straight into the fear stricken and desperate eyes of her friend, before she disappeared out of the building.  Maybe convincing Relena to tell the truth was wrong…maybe…but time cannot go backwards…right now, all Dorothy could do was pray for Relena's safety.

The next day, Relena limped into the classroom.  Her eyes were a dull blue, lifeless and dull.  That night, the first thing her parents did, when they stepped through the door, was punish her for her disobedience.  They were hitting her with something, perhaps a stick…she did not know.  The pain searing through her was too much too handle.  Then the worst pain came.  The object came flying down at her knee, and crack!  She let out a bloodcurdling scream. 

"Shut your f*cking trap!" Her father ordered angrily. 

But Relena couldn't stop…it just hurt too much.  He was about to hit her again when her brother walked into the scene and started crying.  They busily went to soothe him and left her alone in the small foyer of the house.  Her knee hurt so badly, and so did the rest of her…but the pain in the knee was too unbearable.  She could not get up.  However, she could not stay there.  Slowly, she half crawled, half slivered down the hall, and up the stairs to her room.  She didn't know how long it took to get to her room, she was grateful to her brother for keeping up his crying for so long.  Quickly, she bolted the door and pushed herself to get to her bed.  There, she changed, painfully, into her pyjamas and took a look at her knee.  It was starting to swell and turn purple.  She had no ice to soothe her injury, but she did have ointment stashed underneath her pillow.  She took it out.  Relena then gently messaged her knee before applying the ointment and rubbing it in, hard.  She gritted her teeth and pain shot up her leg.  She did not dare scream.  When she felt she did what she could do, she pulled up the covers and cried herself to sleep.

Relena didn't know how she got to school.  When she woke up that morning, she could feel a strong pain in her leg near her knee.  As her head cleared, last night's events came flooding back to her.  She tended to her knee.  It was swollen and a dark purplish colour now.  Relena rummaged for the ointment and applied it to her knee…it hurt like hell.  Tears stung her eyes but she kept rubbing.  She could not get rid of the bruise by being gentle.  When she was done, she felt like lying in her bed…she was so weak in the knee, but her absence may cause suspicion and right now, she could not afford it.  So, she dragged herself to the bathroom to prepare herself for school.  After she was ready, she managed to make her way down to the kitchen for a small (almost meagre) breakfast…as if her 'parents' would leave anything good for her.  She also made an ice pack for her knee.  Yes, even Relena would agree that she was mature for her age.  In this kind of household, you need to be mature and brave to survive.  She looked at the clock and knew that even though it was twenty minutes before the school bus arrives, she will have to start heading towards the stop.  It would take her at least twice as long with an injured knee.  She cleaned up the table and put away her ice pack before she stepped out the door.  Before leaving, she took her backpack and an umbrella for added support.

"Relena!  What happened to your leg?" Dorothy exclaimed.

Relena gently shook her head, her eyes still empty.

Dorothy gently took her shoulders and tried looking into her eyes.

"Please tell me…I'm your friend!" Dorothy whispered earnestly.  Relena didn't move.

"Here, I'll help you to your seat." Dorothy offered.  Relena did not accept her offer, but she didn't reject her either.  Dorothy led her slowly to her seat and helped her sit down.  For that moment when Relena bent her knee, pain flashed through her eyes as they watered, before entering that passive state again.  Dorothy worried about Relena; she had never seen her like this!  She knew that it was partly her fault for being a nosy person.

Relena felt like a robot all morning in class.  She did as she was told, but she did not feel anything but pain…everything seemed so surreal.  It did.  She couldn't concentrate, yet she was carrying out all her instructions.  Dorothy was questioning her all morning…Dorothy…she did not want to think about her right now.  She didn't have the energy to.  She heard a soft ringing voice in the distance before hearing Dorothy's annoying voice and feeling her gently tapping her shoulder.  She couldn't hear exactly what Dorothy was saying…maybe she chose to tune her out…but she heard Dorothy murmur something about recess and help…recess.  Relena hadn't considered that factor before going to school.

What should I do? Relena thought.

She could not run around, but she couldn't just stay in the classroom without an appropriate reason.

Dorothy didn't wait for an answer from Relena.  She knew that there wouldn't be any.  Slowly, Dorothy took Relena by the arm and helped her up from her seat.  Pain once again ignited in Relena's eyes as they watered.  Relena bit her lip and struggled to walk without Dorothy's help, but secretly, she knew that it was next to impossible.  Relena gave in and let Dorothy help her.  However, an unexpected accident occurred.  Mrs. Appleby bumped right into Relena as they were heading for the door, and hit Relena's injured leg.  Relena hissed as she took a sharp intake of air.  Her eyes clouded over from the throbbing pain.

"Oh dear, I'm so sorry Relena!" Mrs. Appleby quickly apologized, noticing the pain filled expression painted all over Relena's face.

"Does it really hurt that bad?"  Mrs. Appleby asked suspiciously.  She couldn't possibly have caused so much pain just by bumping into Relena.  "Let's take a look at your leg."

Relena quickly shook her head and jerked away her leg, causing another sharp pain to shoot up her leg.  She let out a little suppressed gasp.

"Relena, you've got to let me help you!" Mrs. Appleby coaxed.

Relena shook her head fiercely, but Mrs. Appleby already managed to lift the leg of her pants up.

"Oh my gosh!" Mrs. Appleby gasped in shock.

"NO…" and Relena started sobbing.

Hidden underneath her pants, was a purple and swollen knee with several long bruise marks along her leg.  Relena scrambled to cover up her leg, causing herself more pain.  But she didn't care.  If anyone found out, there will be more consequences.

"Did your parents do that to you?" Mrs. Appleby asked seriously.

Relena kept her mouth shut.  She would not break down this time.  However, the pain proved too much for her to handle.  Relena finally fell.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~* *~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

Relena woke up to find in horror that she was in the hospital.  The room was dimly lit since only the bedside lamp was lit.  Beside her were…her parents…with that fake concerned expression on their faces.  At the end of her bed, she found a woman in uniform and Mrs. Appleby along with the principal.

"She's awake.  We better get a doctor."  Mrs. Appleby suggested before exiting the room to get one. 

She felt long bony fingers hold her cold hand. 

"Honey, I'm so glad that you're okay!" Relena's mother exclaimed with tears in her eyes.

That high-pitched sugary voice.  Relena hated it.  The first year she spent with her new parents, that's what she heard everyday.  She didn't mind it then…she didn't mind it until things started to change.

"If you don't mind, sir and ma'am, I'd like to ask Relena a few questions…alone." The woman in uniform said.

"That's fine with us, but we'd like to talk to our daughter alone for a minute.  For heaven sakes, she just woke up!" Her father exclaimed with great pity.

"Sure, one minute." Then both the uniformed woman and the principal stepped out of the room.

Relena was scared.  She did not want to be alone in the same room as her parents, but she did not dare say a word.  When she heard the door click shut, Relena tried to squirm into the mass of blankets, away from them.

"Honey, you don't' have to be scared of us.  We're your Mum and Dad!" her mother said in that high-pitched sugary tone.

No. Relena thought, You're not my Mom and Dad…you're monsters!   Relena stayed in the safety of the blankets.

"Now darling, we're not gonna hurt you." Her father said gently.  And gently, he pulled off the covers, revealing a weak, helpless and frightened Relena.  She looked into their eyes and she felt a shiver travel up her spine.  Their eyes were flashing with anger…and madness.  They were diabolical.  Relena let out a little gasp before her mother's hand came into contact with her cheek.  Relena let out a whimper.  Her father grabbed her wrist and twisted it. 

"Don't you dare make a sound!" he hissed.

"Did you tell them?" Her mother asked, slapping her a second time.

Relena shook her head, tears threatening to spill.

"If I found out that you've been telling, you'll never want to live again.  Do you hear me?" His father spat as quietly as he could and pinched her really hard on the arm. 

Relena let out a small squeak.

"Shut the damn up!" Her father ordered quietly.

"Is everything alright in there?" The 'mystery' woman called from outside of the room.

"Everything is lovely!" Her mother responded in her sugary tone.

The door slowly opened.

"Your minute's up anyway.  I've got a job to do."  With that, the woman in uniform escorted her parents out before shutting the door firmly.

"So Relena, how are you doing?" The woman asked.

"Fine." Relena whispered, keeping her head down.

"Let me turn on the lights…" The woman moved towards the switches.

"No!" Relena exclaimed, looking up for the first time since she was alone with the woman.

"Why?"

"I like the dim lights." Relena explained quietly.

"Have you been crying?  Why are your cheeks red?" The woman questioned, noticing her face.

"No…isn't it a little warm in here?" Relena replied, shrugging off the woman's concern.

"Would you like me to open the windows then?" The woman offered.

"No, thanks."

"Well then, let's get on with the show.  I am Sergeant Joyce Po from the division of child abuse.  You may call me Sgt. Joyce, or Sgt. Po, whichever one you feel more comfortable with." The female officer said gently with a smile.  "I'd like to ask you a few questions, okay?"  The uniformed officer took out a notebook.

Relena nodded.

"I see you hurt your knee…what happened?" Sgt. Po asked, trying to be as indirect as possible.

"I slipped and fell." Relena answered without making eye contact.

"Did your parents know?"

"…Yes." Relena whispered.

"Why didn't they take you to the doctors?" Sgt. Po asked gently.

"I told them I was okay.  They helped me put some ice and ointment on it…Mum and Dad are nice people!" Relena lied.

"Are you sure?  They should have seen the severity of the injury.  Did you know that your knee could be seriously injured if you got treatment any later?" The officer explained.

Relena just shook her head to disagree.  No, this time she would not open her big mouth.

Sergeant Joyce Po frowned and shook her head.  She had never seen such a tight-lipped child in her whole career.  She was not going to get anything out of the girl's mouth today.  They would have to approach the matter in another way.

"Alright then, I'll see you later on.  Get a good rest, okay?"

"Okay, Sergeant Po." Relena replied without much enthusiasm.

Sgt. Po gave the girl a last smile before exiting the room.

Outside of the room, Relena's parents had eavesdropped and were beaming with smiles.

So after spending two days in the hospital, Relena was allowed to go home.  Sgt. Po asked her if she was sure that she wanted to go home.  In her mind, she wanted to escape the black darkness that awaited her at home, but she didn't dare say anything.  Instead, she gave Sgt. Po a reassuring smile and told her that she was sure that she wanted to go home.

Oh God, please save me.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~* *~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

This is how she ended up in the basement.  Before she left the hospital, she was assured that they would help her and that no one at school would know about her situation.  She was relieved at that, but she was not sure that she was ready to ever accept help again.  Back home, her parents beat her again.  They slapped, punched, pinched…whatever they could do to punish her for almost revealing their dark secret.  Then they threw her into the basement.  They didn't want her to have any chances of associating with those 'bad influences'.  She had been trapped in that hellhole for a whole weekend. 

Would anyone suspect what was happening if I wasn't at school? Relena asked in her head.  She thought she was going to go crazy if she had to stay down there any longer.  Suddenly, she heard the doorknob jingle and a slight creak from the door. 

"Get up here you little bitch." Her mother called down.  So she quickly scrambled off the cot and up the stairs.  Her mother seemed to be in good mood. She grabbed Relena's wrist and yanked her out of the dark and dank room. 

"Go take a shower and get ready for school.  We don't want people to start thinking.  Go!" Her mother barked at her. 

She quickly ran up the stairs and into her room to get some clean clothes before entering the bathroom.  By the sounds of it, her father was already at work and her brother was waiting for a ride to school.  Good, she could enjoy her shower peacefully if her mom and brother left soon.  Not long after did she hear the front door close.  Quickly, Relena jumped into the shower and had a nice warm shower.  Then she got ready for school…brushing her teeth and hair, washing her face and getting dressed.  Finally, she took a last look at her reflection in the mirror.  What reflected back scared her.   Her face, arms, neck, legs were all bruised.  Her skin was pale and there were dark circles under her eyes.  How was she supposed to go to school like this?  Everyone would know for sure.  Without thinking for another minute, she grabbed her backpack and ran out the door and across to Mrs. Ito's.  She rang the doorbell and waited exactly one minute before the door opened.

"Oh hello there Relena, nice to see you…Oh my goodness, what happened to you?" Mrs. Ito exclaimed.

At that point, Relena couldn't hold it in any longer and started bawling on Mrs. Ito's front steps.

"Come in, child." Mrs. Ito ushered Relena in.

First, Mrs. Ito listened to Relena as she sobbed and finally revealed her dark secret.  Mrs. Ito was there to comfort her and helped her to dry her tears.  Then Mrs. Ito fixed Relena up with some make-up to hide her bruises.  After that, Mrs. Ito gave Relena some decent breakfast, which Relena took her time to enjoy.  Finally, Mrs. Ito offered to drive Relena to school since she probably already missed her bus.

At school, none of her classmates suspected anything.  They just thought that she was sick for a few days.  Relena sighed in relief.  So far, everything was going okay.  Then she got called down to the office.

Relena didn't know what to expect…she felt sick to her stomach with nervousness.  What was she called down for?  She didn't want to know.  When she approached the office, she sensed that something was wrong, but she continued to press on.  Slowly, she reached for the doorknob and turned it.

***

A.N.: Sorry, had to stop there…was getting pissed with this chapter…I think I'd never be done if I didn't stop here so I've now cut chapter 11 into parts 1 and 2.  Gomen ne about that but it couldn't be helped…I'm kinda brain dead and having a serious case of writer's block right now so please bear with.  Hope enjoyed chapter 11 part 1, ja!

Disclaimer: Look up the definition of 'disclaimer' in the dictionary and you'll get my message.