Disclaimer: Don't own Gundam Wing or The Parent Trap.

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The Maxwell Trap

by Dorothy Winner

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A week into their isolation period, Heidi and Sydney still hadn't spoken a single word to each other. One day, a large thunderstorm was brewing and all outdoor activities had been canceled. Heidi and Sydney were sitting inside their cabin, each cross-legged on a bed. Outside, the rain and the wind lashed at the small cabin, rattling the windows.

The lights in their cabin suddenly flickered and went out. "Great," Heidi said out loud to herself, "how am I supposed to paint the rest of my toes in the dark?"

"I have a lamp," said Sydney, grabbing her Coleman lamp and fumbling with several matches before she got it lit. "Don't even think for a second I'm being nice to you. I need it to see too."

"Fine with me," said Heidi. She went over to Sydney's bed so she could be closer to the light. She watched as Sydney undid her braid and began to brush out her long, waist length hair. "You have really pretty hair," Heidi said without thinking.

"Oh thanks," said Sydney. "I go through like a bottle of shampoo a week." She looked at the bottle of nail polish in Heidi's hands. "What color is that?"

"Lime green," said Heidi. "It's my favorite color."

"Cool. It's my favorite color too," said Sydney. "D'you think I could borrow it when you're done?"

"I guess," said Heidi. All of a sudden, a loud clap of thunder shook the cabin, starling them both. The two girls screamed and without realizing it, clung to each other in fright. They quickly broke apart, laughing nervously, neither willing to admit that for the first time, they were grateful for each other's company.

"Sorry," said Heidi, "I've been afraid of thunderstorms since I was a little kid."

"So have I," said Sydney. "The weather system once malfunctioned on our colony when I was five and we had thunderstorms for a week. My dad says I was so terrified that I was practically super-glued to him the whole time, even when he had to go and fix it."

"You're from the colonies?" asked Heidi. "That's so cool. I've never even been to a colony. I'd love to go into space."

"Oh, you really should go, it's the best… Want to see a picture of my house?" asked Sydney, fishing around in her duffel bag. "My dad owns a repair garage and salvage company, so we live next to this huge junkyard… here you go," she said, showing Heidi the picture.

Heidi looked at the pile of scrap that was towering over the house. "Cool. I've always wanted to learn to fix other machines like cars and stuff."

"I'd like to learn how to fix a computer," said Sydney, "my dad always keeps crashing ours. That's him," she said, pointing to the back of someone with a long chestnut braid. "I was taking a picture of him in front of our house, when there was a huge crash in the junkyard and he turned around just as I took the picture. He's the coolest. He's just acts like one big kid. He tells the funniest jokes and eats like a pig. He's super nice and friendly to everybody."

A weird feeling passed through Heidi as she looked at the man in the picture. She shivered.

"Something wrong?" asked Sydney.

"No… just cold," Heidi added.

The lights flickered back on. "Finally," said Sydney, putting the lamp out and peering outside. "Looks like the storm's stopped. Want to get something to eat?"

"I'm not really hungry." Heidi stayed where she was, biting her lip, with this strange feeling that she was missing something very important. "Sydney, how old are you?"

"Oh, I just turned eleven on April 8th," said Sydney.

Heidi's eyes went wide. "So did I."

"Really? Weird," said Sydney. She sat back down next to Heidi, swinging her legs. "So, what's your dad like?"

"Actually, I've never met my dad," said Heidi. "He and my mom split up when I was a baby. My mom never talks about him. I don't even know his name. It's like he never existed or something."

"Oh, that's too bad," said Sydney. "If it makes you feel any better, I don't have a mom. My parents got divorced when I was a baby too. My dad just gets this really sad look in his eyes whenever I ask about my mom, so I kind of just avoid mentioning her, for his sake. I know she was really pretty, though. My dad once caught me looking at a picture of my mom in his drawer, so he decided to give it to me. It was taken just after the war, she's just like, sixteen or something…"

"I hardly know anything about my dad," said Heidi. "I once tried to hack into the Preventers files to look for information about him, but my mom designed the computer system, and even I can't get through it. I kept bugging her about my dad though, so she finally gave in and gave me a picture of him. It's the only one I have of my dad. It's pretty old and beat up… I've always wondered what the other half of it was…"

"What do you mean?" asked Sydney.

"Well, for some reason, I don't even have a complete picture," said Heidi, "it's ripped right down the middle…"

Sydney's jaw dropped. "Right down the middle?"

"Yeah," said Heidi. "What about it?"

Sydney went over to her pile of stuff and rummaged through it, taking out a picture and clutching it to her chest. "Because mine's torn right down the middle too."

Heidi ran over to her duffel bag and began wildly tossing things left and right. "This is beyond weird. We both look alike, we both have the same birthday, we both are afraid of thunderstorms, and we both have the same favorite color. I only have a mom; you only have a dad. I've never met my mom, and you've never met your dad. You have only one old picture of your mom, I have one old picture of my dad, and both pictures are torn right down the middle." She carefully took her torn photo out of a small box and turned around, holding it to her chest. She walked back to where Sydney was and took a deep breath. "On the count of three, we'll show them to each other, okay?"

Sydney nodded nervously. "Okay."

"One…"

"…two…"

"…three!"

At the same time, Heidi and Sydney held their pictures out to each other. The torn edges of their photos fit together exactly, forming a complete picture. A grinning Duo Maxwell, wearing a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt, stood with his arm around the shoulders of a laughing Hilde Schbeiker, the pink beret on her head slightly askew.

"That's my mom…" said Heidi.

"That's my dad…" said Sydney.

The two girls looked up from the photo and stared at each other in shock.

Sydney spoke first. "If my dad is your dad, and your mom is my mom, and we both have the same birthday, then that makes us… sisters."

"Sisters?!" exclaimed Heidi. "We're not just sisters, we're twins!!!"

Both Sydney's and Heidi's eyes filled up with tears. The two sisters suddenly started to cry and hugged, sobbing. They pulled back to look at each other again. Heidi giggled, then Sydney giggled. They both began laughing and hugged again.

"I can't believe it. I have a sister," said Sydney. "An identical twin sister. This is the most completely amazing wonderful thing that has ever happened to me."

"It all feels… almost unreal," said Heidi. "I've always had this feeling that there was something else my mom… our mom wasn't telling me. Something really important. But I never imagined it would be this."

"Me neither," said Sydney. "I can't believe they split us up like this. When were they planning on telling us?"

"I don't know," said Heidi, "but they must have had a really bad fight for them to do something this drastic. Mom can be incredibly stubborn when she wants to be."

"Tell me all about her," said Sydney, "what's she like?"

"Her name is Hilde Schbeiker," said Heidi. "She looks about the same in the picture, only she keeps her hair longer now, down to her shoulders like mine. She's the computer expert at Preventers. She designed the entire computer system and all the security codes. It's completely hackproof. She piloted mobile suits in the Eve Wars and hacked into Battleship Libra and stole data for the Gundam pilots."

"Then that must be how she met dad," said Sydney, "he was Deathscythe's pilot. Gundam pilot 02."

"Whoa whoa whoa," said Heidi. "02? Duo Maxwell? My dad is Duo Maxwell?!"

"Yeah, didn't you know that?"

"No, Mom never told me his name," said Heidi. "All the information on the Gundam pilots is classified. Like I said, the Preventers database is completely hackproof; I couldn't get into it if I tried, and believe me, I have. I mean, I know their names, my friends Megan and Liane are daughters of two of the Gundam pilots, but I never thought… I never considered… that one of them could be my dad. I can't believe I never saw it before."

They lapsed into silence once again, staring at each other as though they were looking at one another for the first time. Sydney began to play with a chain on her neck.

"What's that necklace you're wearing?" asked Heidi.

"Oh, it's a cross," said Sydney, pulling out a gold cross from under her shirt. "I got it when I was born. It has my name 'Sydney' engraved on the back."

"I got one when I was born too," said Heidi. "Only it's got 'Heidi' engraved on the back."

"Dad's got a gold cross too," said Sydney. "That must be why we have them. He must have gotten them for us."

Heidi suddenly thought of something and bit her lip nervously. "Sydney… Dad hasn't remarried, has he?"

"Oh, no way," said Sydney. "He hasn't even come close. He always says I'm his only babe."

"Mom's never remarried either," said Heidi. "Oh my God. Do you realize what this means?"

"What?"

"Secretly," said Heidi, "in the deepest part of their hearts, whether they know it or not, they must still be in love with each other."

Sydney nodded in agreement. "And that's why they haven't remarried."

"Exactly," said Heidi. "Which means there's still a chance…"

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TBC…