9:27 p.m.
Friday June ninth, A.C. 206
L2
Colony
Maxwell household
Duo Maxwell looked over his living room and smiled. There had been no more serious threats to peace since the tete a tete with maremaia ten years ago. He had a family now, a beautiful wife and four wonderful children. Life was good. He and Hilde had gotten married four years ago. They had lived together since before the last threat to peace. Of his four children Matthew- Matty- was the oldest. He was Duo's son in all things. He had the long sweeping, mane of chestnut hair and the slightly too big Violet eyes that might make him look slightly androgynous in the years to come. He was Duo's son in personality as well; he was constantly in trouble with school though he never did anything truly serious. Duo was actually dreading the day he hit puberty. Younger than Matty by seven minutes was Michael. He had Duo's long thick chestnut hair paired with Hilde's own deep blue eyes. He was the quietest of all the children; he had a lot of Hilde in him. However quiet for a Maxwell is not quiet for most people. Too say he was slightly less rambunceous than the other children would not be a lie, but the difference was just that. Slight. He did well in school and Duo could see him when he was older. Unlike Matty who had inherited all of his father's looks Michael would have a more rugged charm, but he was shy. And if that didn't make him more adorable than the other guys Duo didn't know what would. Younger than both of the boys by nine minutes was Jillian whom preferred to go by Jilly or Jill. She was like a smaller version of Hilde. Her long dark Blue-black hair was kept in a braid like Duo's and bangs did not hide her slightly too-big Blue eyes. Those eyes would be the death of him someday. She had Hilde's love of computers in her, and damned if she couldn't coax just about anything out of them. She did well in school, and though she was a Maxwell he had yet to get any complaints from her teachers. But there was time yet. Matty, Michael and Jillian were all born on July 16 of A.C. 197. Hilde had told him of her pregnancy shortly after he returned from the battle. They hadn't been married until June of A.C. 201. The next April their youngest child, Marilyn was born. Mari had her mother's long blue-black hair and Duo's amethyst eyes. She was now four where her older siblings were nine. She was smart as whip and that was not figurative. She could already read more than passingly well and had what Duo suspected was a photographic memory. She might have looked like a little angel but she already showed Duo's personality in spades. She was going to be the death of him.but not right now. At the moment the family was happily ensconced upon the couch watching a movie. Hilde sat on one corner of the couch. Michael was at the other end reading a book. Jillian was on the floor her arms wrapped around Hilde's legs. Matty was sprawled out on the floor propped up by his hands. Marilyn had fallen asleep in Hilde's lap and Duo was simply watching the scene happily from behind the couch. As the credits started rolling across the screen Duo started up. "Okay guys, time for bed." Michael closed his book and yawned wearily and Marilyn was still very happily asleep. Matty and Jill did not go quite as quietly. "Can't we stay up a little later dad?" Matty asked schooling his expression to sad puppy dogface. Jill added a "Please?" her bottom lip trembling ever so slightly. "Not gonna work tonight you tow, c'mon time for bed." Both of them stood up, drooped over and started for the stairs, heads hanging low. They stopped long enough to give their other a hug and kiss goodnight before heading up the stairs. Duo walked around the front of the couch and gently picked up Mari. She shifted in her sleep and rolled over so that she was clutching Duo's shirt. He smiled softly and then headed up the stairs with his precious cargo. Mari and Jill shared a room as did Matty and Michael. Duo was going to have Heero and Wufei over later this summer to build an addition to the house so that each of the children could have their own rooms, A father's indulgence. He settled the girls into bed, closed the door and headed down to the boy's room. Michael was struggling to put Matty's hair into a braid as they did each night, it had loosed earlier that day and unless he wanted hair full of knots it would need to be re- braided. Duo gently took hi son's hair and deftly threaded it into a thick braid. Matty and Michael grinned a "Thanks dad" Before pouncing on him, knocking him to the floor. The three of them laughed, wrestled, tickled and were having a grand ole time until a cough alerted them to Hilde standing in the doorway. "Okay time for bed." Duo tossed both boys over his shoulders in a fireman's carry and dropped them in their beds. Once tucked in, their door was closed and Duo and Hilde retreated to their own room for the night.
***
Two voices speak in dark. The first is female, musical, lilting. The second, a man's voice, gruffer but just as musical. "Do they know?" "No." "Then it will happen." "Perhaps, we have seen but a path, their paths may diverge" "But still it shall begin" "Yes. It will, it is destiny, fate" "A divine will" "If that is the name you wish to bestow then yes, a divine will" "Can we not warn them? Can we not warn him?" "The divide is great, but perhaps.for there is still hope.
*** Duo sat bolt upright in be, heart in his throat, blood pounding in his ears. It had seemed so real, so damned real. It had been a scene out of his past, and his worst nightmare, or one of them. Solo dying in his arms and then reaching out. His thick golden hair blowing and his golden eyes beseeching. He had seen himself waking to dawn's early light to find his children, all four of his children gone. Their doors still shut, but their beds unoccupied. The only testimony to the way they left, curtains blowing in an early morning breeze. Solo's voice echoing in his mind. Can you save them Duo? Can you save them from their fate? Duo shook his head and climbed out of the bed donning a pair of sweatpants. It might have just been a dream but he sure as hell was not going to sit here and then wake up in the morning only to find that four of his reasons for living were gone. He padded quietly down the hall and peeked into the girls' bedroom first. Both lay sleeping, looking for all, the world like tiny angels. Duo left the door half-open and then-guided by the translucent rays of the moon- checked in on the boys. Both were sleeping but an errant breeze blew in through the window, disturbed by his all too recent dream he quietly closed the window. Bolted it and then closed the curtains. He was barely away from the window when a crash and a scream carried in from the girls' bedroom. He ran, skidding down the floor and ran into a scene from any fathers' nightmare. Marilyn's bed was empty, the curtain swinging in the breeze and he could hear her screaming from outside the window. Another person, wearing a completely black ensemble was trying to drag Jillian out the window. She was putting up a decent fight, fighting like a cat, biting his hand and then screaming like a banshee. Duo knocked out the man holding his nine-year-old daughter with a swift right hook to the nose. He had no more extricated Jillian from his hold when another crash and the boys' startled responses alerted him to what was happening just a few feet away. He was loathe to leave Jillian alone, but Hilde appeared with a colt .45 held firmly in her grip and hell in her eyes. Jillian ran to her mother's side and Duo went like a bat out of hell to his son's sides. These men had been smarter, they had cloth up against the boys nostrils, Duo could almost smell the chloroform from there. Matty was already out the window, gone from sight but Michael was still half within the room. Duo grabbed his son around the middle trying vainly to pull him back inside. He would not would not, lose his children. He struggled with Michael but a blow from the back of his head effectively knocked him out. He could vaguely see Michael being dragged out the window and heard Jillian's scream followed by three rounds of the colt .45 being shot off followed by pounding footsteps into the bedroom and another five or six rounds of the gun being shot off. He saw everything through a haze as if it were happening in slow motion and he couldn't get up. He couldn't save his children. And the last thought that ran through his mind was the hauntingly eerie visage of Solo's voice calling out "Can you save them Duo? Can you save them from their fate?
***
Friday June ninth, A.C. 206
L2
Colony
Maxwell household
Duo Maxwell looked over his living room and smiled. There had been no more serious threats to peace since the tete a tete with maremaia ten years ago. He had a family now, a beautiful wife and four wonderful children. Life was good. He and Hilde had gotten married four years ago. They had lived together since before the last threat to peace. Of his four children Matthew- Matty- was the oldest. He was Duo's son in all things. He had the long sweeping, mane of chestnut hair and the slightly too big Violet eyes that might make him look slightly androgynous in the years to come. He was Duo's son in personality as well; he was constantly in trouble with school though he never did anything truly serious. Duo was actually dreading the day he hit puberty. Younger than Matty by seven minutes was Michael. He had Duo's long thick chestnut hair paired with Hilde's own deep blue eyes. He was the quietest of all the children; he had a lot of Hilde in him. However quiet for a Maxwell is not quiet for most people. Too say he was slightly less rambunceous than the other children would not be a lie, but the difference was just that. Slight. He did well in school and Duo could see him when he was older. Unlike Matty who had inherited all of his father's looks Michael would have a more rugged charm, but he was shy. And if that didn't make him more adorable than the other guys Duo didn't know what would. Younger than both of the boys by nine minutes was Jillian whom preferred to go by Jilly or Jill. She was like a smaller version of Hilde. Her long dark Blue-black hair was kept in a braid like Duo's and bangs did not hide her slightly too-big Blue eyes. Those eyes would be the death of him someday. She had Hilde's love of computers in her, and damned if she couldn't coax just about anything out of them. She did well in school, and though she was a Maxwell he had yet to get any complaints from her teachers. But there was time yet. Matty, Michael and Jillian were all born on July 16 of A.C. 197. Hilde had told him of her pregnancy shortly after he returned from the battle. They hadn't been married until June of A.C. 201. The next April their youngest child, Marilyn was born. Mari had her mother's long blue-black hair and Duo's amethyst eyes. She was now four where her older siblings were nine. She was smart as whip and that was not figurative. She could already read more than passingly well and had what Duo suspected was a photographic memory. She might have looked like a little angel but she already showed Duo's personality in spades. She was going to be the death of him.but not right now. At the moment the family was happily ensconced upon the couch watching a movie. Hilde sat on one corner of the couch. Michael was at the other end reading a book. Jillian was on the floor her arms wrapped around Hilde's legs. Matty was sprawled out on the floor propped up by his hands. Marilyn had fallen asleep in Hilde's lap and Duo was simply watching the scene happily from behind the couch. As the credits started rolling across the screen Duo started up. "Okay guys, time for bed." Michael closed his book and yawned wearily and Marilyn was still very happily asleep. Matty and Jill did not go quite as quietly. "Can't we stay up a little later dad?" Matty asked schooling his expression to sad puppy dogface. Jill added a "Please?" her bottom lip trembling ever so slightly. "Not gonna work tonight you tow, c'mon time for bed." Both of them stood up, drooped over and started for the stairs, heads hanging low. They stopped long enough to give their other a hug and kiss goodnight before heading up the stairs. Duo walked around the front of the couch and gently picked up Mari. She shifted in her sleep and rolled over so that she was clutching Duo's shirt. He smiled softly and then headed up the stairs with his precious cargo. Mari and Jill shared a room as did Matty and Michael. Duo was going to have Heero and Wufei over later this summer to build an addition to the house so that each of the children could have their own rooms, A father's indulgence. He settled the girls into bed, closed the door and headed down to the boy's room. Michael was struggling to put Matty's hair into a braid as they did each night, it had loosed earlier that day and unless he wanted hair full of knots it would need to be re- braided. Duo gently took hi son's hair and deftly threaded it into a thick braid. Matty and Michael grinned a "Thanks dad" Before pouncing on him, knocking him to the floor. The three of them laughed, wrestled, tickled and were having a grand ole time until a cough alerted them to Hilde standing in the doorway. "Okay time for bed." Duo tossed both boys over his shoulders in a fireman's carry and dropped them in their beds. Once tucked in, their door was closed and Duo and Hilde retreated to their own room for the night.
***
Two voices speak in dark. The first is female, musical, lilting. The second, a man's voice, gruffer but just as musical. "Do they know?" "No." "Then it will happen." "Perhaps, we have seen but a path, their paths may diverge" "But still it shall begin" "Yes. It will, it is destiny, fate" "A divine will" "If that is the name you wish to bestow then yes, a divine will" "Can we not warn them? Can we not warn him?" "The divide is great, but perhaps.for there is still hope.
*** Duo sat bolt upright in be, heart in his throat, blood pounding in his ears. It had seemed so real, so damned real. It had been a scene out of his past, and his worst nightmare, or one of them. Solo dying in his arms and then reaching out. His thick golden hair blowing and his golden eyes beseeching. He had seen himself waking to dawn's early light to find his children, all four of his children gone. Their doors still shut, but their beds unoccupied. The only testimony to the way they left, curtains blowing in an early morning breeze. Solo's voice echoing in his mind. Can you save them Duo? Can you save them from their fate? Duo shook his head and climbed out of the bed donning a pair of sweatpants. It might have just been a dream but he sure as hell was not going to sit here and then wake up in the morning only to find that four of his reasons for living were gone. He padded quietly down the hall and peeked into the girls' bedroom first. Both lay sleeping, looking for all, the world like tiny angels. Duo left the door half-open and then-guided by the translucent rays of the moon- checked in on the boys. Both were sleeping but an errant breeze blew in through the window, disturbed by his all too recent dream he quietly closed the window. Bolted it and then closed the curtains. He was barely away from the window when a crash and a scream carried in from the girls' bedroom. He ran, skidding down the floor and ran into a scene from any fathers' nightmare. Marilyn's bed was empty, the curtain swinging in the breeze and he could hear her screaming from outside the window. Another person, wearing a completely black ensemble was trying to drag Jillian out the window. She was putting up a decent fight, fighting like a cat, biting his hand and then screaming like a banshee. Duo knocked out the man holding his nine-year-old daughter with a swift right hook to the nose. He had no more extricated Jillian from his hold when another crash and the boys' startled responses alerted him to what was happening just a few feet away. He was loathe to leave Jillian alone, but Hilde appeared with a colt .45 held firmly in her grip and hell in her eyes. Jillian ran to her mother's side and Duo went like a bat out of hell to his son's sides. These men had been smarter, they had cloth up against the boys nostrils, Duo could almost smell the chloroform from there. Matty was already out the window, gone from sight but Michael was still half within the room. Duo grabbed his son around the middle trying vainly to pull him back inside. He would not would not, lose his children. He struggled with Michael but a blow from the back of his head effectively knocked him out. He could vaguely see Michael being dragged out the window and heard Jillian's scream followed by three rounds of the colt .45 being shot off followed by pounding footsteps into the bedroom and another five or six rounds of the gun being shot off. He saw everything through a haze as if it were happening in slow motion and he couldn't get up. He couldn't save his children. And the last thought that ran through his mind was the hauntingly eerie visage of Solo's voice calling out "Can you save them Duo? Can you save them from their fate?
***