2 Family

An Orphan's Life

Disclaimer: Read the first chapter. Says it all. But just in case, Gundam Wing isn't and will never be mine. Except for in my dreams. ^_^

Elysia had long left the orphanage behind her and was now on her way to the only place that made sense for her to go.

The police station.

They had all the information in the universe, everything about anybody, anything about anybody.

Even unusual events where a young girl was taken to an orphanage, never knowing what happened to her mother.

As she got there, she suddenly realized she had no idea what to say. Or do. Or even who the heck she was supposed to go to in the first place.

She paused in her steps and bit her lip thoughtfully. *I could just say I'm a missing person. Tell them that I'm looking for my mom… No, that won't work. They'll just think I'm a runaway…*

She frowned and thought a while longer. Then, she shrugged and continued toward the station. *Oh, well. Doesn't hurt to try.*

She walked to the station, planning what to say in her mind. She walked inside and looked around for any hints as to where she should go.

The station was pretty desolate, a receptionist at the front desk, typing away at a computer, a few police officers walking here or there. Everything else seemed dead.

She frowned and put her bag down by some chairs lined against a nearby wall, shaking the snow off of her jacket. She casually walked up to the receptionist and leaned against the counter. She waited for the receptionist to speak.

The receptionist continued typing, not seeming to notice Elysia standing there.

Elysia narrowed her eyes, mad that someone else didn't acknowledge her that night, and cleared her throat loudly.

The receptionist didn't look up, but said briskly," What do you want? We're busy."

Elysia blinked and looked around the station. "Sure doesn't look like it."

"Look kid, I don't have time for you to screw around in here. What do you want?"

Elysia sighed, trying to ignore the receptionist's rudeness, and smiled as sweetly as she could. "I would like to know… um… What happened to my mother and who I can possibly go to." She coughed to cover her embarrassment over sounding stupid.

The receptionist paused in her typing and raised an eyebrow at Elysia. "Excuse me?"

Elysia smiled a bit more and shrugged a little. "Well, um, I just got kicked out of the Maxwell Orphange over yonder a couple miles back and-"

"Orphanage!" The receptionist snorted. "Go on, kid. We don't need your kind here."

Elysia frowned in slight confusion. "But- I-… Why?"

The receptionist rolled her eyes and went back to typing. "Orphans need to live on the streets where they belong. They're out of everybody's way and away from those who are trying to make a difference." She waved a hand in dismissal at Elysia.

Elysia's eyes widened. She'd long ago heard from the boys at the orphanage who'd managed to sneak out that the world outside looked down upon runaways and any orphans. So much hatred, in fact, to the extent of which most of the boys came back for refuge, others being brought back by "concerned citizens". She'd never thought in her wildest dreams that those sworn to protect the city from crime and injustices would feel just as strongly.

She slammed a hand on the counter, startling the officer. "Hey! Some of us didn't choose to be orphans, you know! All of us were abandoned as children, or left behind by horrid relatives! Don't you have any remorse? We try to make a difference like you, but are denied the chances, because of who we are!"

The receptionist stopped typing again and turned to face Elysia. "What do you want, kid?"

"I want to know what happened to my mother fifteen years ago, when I was taken to that dreadful place!"

The receptionist sighed and looked at Elysia uninterested. "What was her name?"

"Relena Peacecraft."

The receptionist seemed taken aback for a second and then she shook her head. "No, really, what was your mother's name?"

"I just told you." Elysia couldn't believe how dense the woman was.

The receptionist stared at Elysia for a while, then turned to her computer and started typing.

Elysia frowned at the hesitation and tried to figure out what was wrong about her mother's name.

"Do you know what you're getting yourself into, asking this?" the receptionist asked as she typed.

"Obviously I don't. What's wrong with that?"

The receptionist stopped typing and stood up. "For one thing, you don't seem to know why you were taken from your mother." She walked over towards the back to where some printers had buzzed to life. She watched them, waiting for the papers.

Elysia frowned a little. "I thought we established that when I first got here."

The receptionist shrugged. "Well, I don't think you want to know, if you were close to her."

Elysia started to get a bad feeling. "Why is that?"

The receptionist picked up the papers and walked back to the front, handing them to Elysia. "Because your mother's dead."

Elysia frowned some more, somewhat in shock, and looked at the papers. "What?"

"She was murdered fifteen years ago. By an unknown assailant. I guess they didn't tell you, 'cuz you were just a baby. Orphanage should've, though, when you were old enough to understand." She sat down and looked at the computer. "Apparently your uncle didn't want you, so the officers sent you to the orphanage."

Elysia blinked and leaned closer to the receptionist. "Wait, I have an uncle?"

She nodded and clicked on something. "Yep. And an aunt too. Grandparents are all dead, no siblings… Father unknown." She typed around some more. "But he's put down as an ex-gundam pilot. Interesting… Still alive, as far as we know. But no name." She looked at Elysia, who was struggling to let this all sink in.

She turned and leaned back against the counter dejectedly. "I have an uncle… Who didn't want me." She tried to hold back the tears that came, but wasn't really succeeding as much as she had wanted.

The receptionist smiled sympathetically and patted her on the back. "He was probably busy all the time. Maybe he didn't have enough money to raise you at the time."

"But he would've come for me when he did have the money." She wiped at her eyes, mentally yelling at herself for being weak. "Why didn't he get me?"

The receptionist sighed and glanced around for a box of tissues. "He… um… Well, you do have a father, so why don't you go focus on that." She found the box and handed it to Elysia.

Elysia sniffed and took it, muttering a thank you. She wiped her eyes some more, but ended up crying harder. She made a face and looked at the papers the receptionist gave her. "It says all these names that I don't even know. My mother never told me I had an uncle." She looked at the paper again. "Or who my father was." She laughed hysterically at that. "I have a father who's alive! What a world!" She wiped at her eyes some more.

The receptionist watched her, starting to pity the young girl in front of her. "Is there anything you want me to do?"

Elysia laughed harder. "Oh, sure! Give me addresses, names! Hell, give me a cemetery!" She started crying harder. She desperately wiped at her face, finding it useless. "My life is one bad thing after another! I should just end it!"

The receptionist sighed and typed at the computer. She walked to the back to get more papers from the printer. When she had them all, she handed them over to Elysia. "Here. These are the names of everybody mentioned on that list. And their last known address. It should help you in some way."

Elysia looked at the papers and laughed. "Oh, look! Colonies!" She shook her head in disbelief. "I've never even been to space! How crazy is that? And now that I have a reason to go, I don't even have the money! Talk about your worst nightmare come true." She wiped at her eyes as more tears poured out.

The receptionist frowned a little. *Poor kid. Probably was promised a lot of things in her life she never got.* She smiled weakly and said, "Well, I could help you get to where you need to go…" A thought hit her. *Wait a sec… Relena Peacecraft's daughter… She had to have left something for her.* She turned to her computer and began to type rapidly.

Elysia watched her, wondering what she could be doing for an orphan that she seemed to hate.

The receptionist cried out in triumph as she found what she was looking for. "Aha! Here it is!" She turned the screen towards Elysia. "Look! You have an inheritance! Over ten million dollars!"

Elysia stopped crying and stared at the screen in shock. "What? How?"

The receptionist smiled. "Your mother was a very important person."

Elysia closed her eyes. "Important?"

The receptionist nodded and turned the screen back. "She was quite well known." She looked at the screen and frowned. "Wait… How old are you?"

Elysia opened her eyes. "Eighteen. Why?"

The receptionist's face fell. "You can't get this money until you're twenty… Sorry. I thought that-"

Elysia raised a hand and smiled a bit. "No, no. That's okay. I understand."

The receptionist looked at the screen sadly. She noticed something else on it. "Wait, there's one other thing. You do get at least get some money, until you're twenty." She hit a few keys. "About one thousand. Enough to get you where you want to go and still be able to eat." She looked at Elysia. "Well? What do you think?"

Elysia smiled some more. "I think this is great!

A/N:For future reference, I am being lazy and a bit of a sentimental person, and will NOT be deleting my old notes from the chapters. I will make them smaller to read, so that they aren't so glaringly annoying. Don't worry, you aren't missing anything important. They all say the same thing. R&R! Thanks for your cooperation.

A/N: Hiyas! I love you first three people who reviewed me! So, I decided to put the second part out tonight. But to the rest of… Grr… R&R, darn it, or I'll eat the cookies myself! Oh, and yeah, Heero's the father, but Elysia doesn't know yet, so keep it to yourself. Well, bye for now. ~_^