An Orphan's Life

Disclaimer: We all know I don't own it, so why do I bother putting these things here? Oh, right. Lawsuit.

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Elysia looked over at Theo, who was staring straight ahead, arms crossed. It was obvious he didn't want to come with her. He pretty much made it clear the whole time they were preparing to leave, when they got to the airport, and when they got on the shuttle. He hadn't spoken since they sat down, and this was bothering her for some reason.

It was a late flight, eight 'o clock at the latest, so the other passengers were either asleep, or were getting there.

She opened her mouth to say something, but he held up his hand and said," I don't like shuttles, planes, or anything that doesn't allow my feet to be planted firmly on the ground. Please do me a favor and don't say a word, until we've reached the damn colony, otherwise, I will lose my concentration and go insane. I don't think you'll want to see that, so kindly turn around and look out that window and don't try to talk to me again."

Elysia frowned and was going to do what he asked, but then realized that he had just admitted he was afraid. That was something she hadn't really expected Theo to do. She figured that if he were ever afraid of something, he would act big and tough to pretend that he wasn't, being that he seemed to care about how he looked.

And yet, here he was, tapping his foot nervously on the floor, trying to hold back the terror that was showing in his green eyes.

Elysia smirked and leaned close to him. "So, you're afraid, huh?"

Theo continued staring straight ahead, not wanting to look at her. "I didn't say that."

Elysia unbuckled her seat belt and turned to face him better. "Not your exact words, I agree, but you still said it. You're afraid to go on planes and stuff."

"No, I'm not. It's just that planes have been known to crash a lot, and shuttles have the tendency to explode in the atmosphere from time to time."

Elysia held back a smile and slowly reached for his seatbelt. "If you aren't afraid, then why don't you unbuckle your seatbelt then? Nothing will happen if you do it."

He slapped her hand away, but still avoided looking at her. "No. They said to keep it on."

"That was when we lifted off. I don't think we need it on if we're going at a constant speed toward a colony. Turbulence isn't known to happen in space."

"How do you know all this? Didn't you just go on your first shuttle ride two days ago? Did one little trip give you that much in the experience area?"

Elysia smiled and nodded, even though she was only guessing. "Why do you keep staring at the front? Is there something there that I should see?" She leaned over his lap and tried to look at the front the same way he was.

Theo grew very uncomfortable by her doing this, and shoved her back towards her seat. "Don't do that!"

She looked at him in fake confusion. "Why? I was only trying to look-"

"Well, don't go leaning over me like that! If we hit something and burn to death, I don't want you to be the last thing I see before I die."

Elysia made a face at that comment and put her hand son her hips. "Well, you're no prize yourself, Mr. I'm-afraid-of-planes!"

Theo finally turned to look at her and narrowed his eyes. "Turn around, face the front, hell, look out the window if you have to, and leave me alone!" He then looked back to the front and Elysia could see that his left eye was twitching a little bit.

She held back a smile and turned forward, crossing her arms. "Fine. I will."

"Good. Now, shutup."

"I will. In fact, I'll go to sleep, just to spare you the trouble of knowing I'm conscious."

"Not a bad idea."

"Hmph!" She closed her eyes and got comfortable in her seat, as he sat up straight in his.

A few minutes later, she was fast asleep, leaving him to face his fears alone.

Elysia dream wasn't exactly a dream, but a string of memories she had starting from the night when she last saw her mother. The memories were a bit rusty, since she had tried to suppress them all, so everything she dreamed was jumbled and incomplete.

The first thing that she remembered was when she was three-years-old. Her birthday had just passed a few weeks ago, and she was wearing a red velvet dress, standing at the top of the long circular staircase, secretly watching her mother as she prepared to go to a business party or something of that sort.

Relena had worn a long, deep blue dress that brought out her eyes. Elysia remembered watching her from the top of the stairs through the railing, marveling at how beautiful her mother looked. The white coat Relena had on made Elysia wish she was old enough to go with her mother to parties and get dressed up.

She ran down the stairs as her mother was beginning to leave and wrapped her little arms around Relena's legs. "I want to go!"

Relena smiled at Elysia and picked her up. "Baby, you know I would let you, but…" She trailed off as two men approached from somewhere in the back of the house. "What do you want?"

"We are leaving now, Ms. Darlian. Put the child down. You know-"

"And? I'm not allowed to say goodnight to my own daughter?"

Elysia couldn't see the men's faces, but she remembered their voices. So rough and cruel. She hated them.

"Hurry along. You have engagements to attend to and-"

"I'll decide when I leave, not you. Wait in the car for me."

One of the men said something under his breath, but Elysia couldn't hear what it was. They left, not too happy at being ordered around.

Elysia looked up at her mother and hugged her. "Don't leave! I want you to stay!"

Relena had smiled, but gently put Elysia on the ground. "Baby, you have Pargan to watch you. He always watches you. You have nothing to worry about."

"But Pargan's boring!"

Relena laughed, and kissed Elysia on the forehead. "Be that as it may, you have no other choice. But I'd rather be with Pargan than some other old man. You be good. I'll see you later. Okay?"

Elysia made a face. "No."

"Well, that's too bad." Relena picked her up and gave her a hug. "I love you. Goodnight."

As Elysia was out down again, she looked up at her mother and watched her as she walked out the door, not knowing that this would be the last time she would ever see her.

As someone closed the front door, she felt herself being picked up and carried to one of the rooms upstairs.

The next thing she knew, she was playing chess with Pargan. It was in her room, or maybe it was his room, but she knew that she was winning. She had just moved her queen in front of his king and proclaimed "Checkmate!" when the door burst open, and the same two men came storming in.

Pargan had stood up, confusion all over his face. "What seems to be the problem?"

"Something has happened. We need the child."

Pargan looked at her quickly. "What for?"

The men pulled Pargan out of earshot, but Elysia could still make out a few words. Something like "accident" and "shot" and something about her having to go to the hospital. Whatever it was that they told Pargan, he nodded slowly and walked back to her. "You need to go." He began to clear the chessboard and put it away.

All of a sudden, Elysia felt herself being picked up too roughly and flung over a shoulder. "What's going on? What are you doing? Where's my mom?" She tried to hurt whoever was holding her, but the person held on tighter. "I want my mom! Let me go!"

Then, Elysia was standing in the front hall to the Maxwell Orphanage. The men who had her were talking to a nun, whispering loudly and fiercely.

She looked around fearfully, the huge room making her feel all the more insignificant. She felt herself being pulled and jerked around and then she was in a room.

It was empty, except for an old bed and raggedy blanket on it. The wood floors creaked loudly and looked as if they would fall at any moment.

"You're the only girl right now, so you have to stay in here, until we can get you a better room to stay in." She remembered the voice, but not the person who said it.

Soon, the memories came faster and more blurred together.

The time she was shoved in the closet with that jack-in-the-box, the kids yelling at her that she would never belong.

The time when she was there for maybe a week or so, and the nun had seen her holding the bear her mother gave her. The nun took it away, saying that she should grow up and put it somewhere where Elysia couldn't get it.

Then seeing the same bear being given to some strange man who had come to the orphanage, hearing the nun tell the man that it was a gift from the children.

When it was her fifth birthday and the kids wouldn't let her get any cake. She had ran out in tears, outside to where it was covered in snow, where she ran onto the thin ice and fell into the freezing water.

Someone had grabbed her, a nice man with violet eyes. He had carried her back, covered her with his coat, and asked her questions. He handed her over to the nun, saying that they should put up a fence in the back, so that this wouldn't happen again.

She was yelled at for being irresponsible and making the nuns look like a bunch of fools. She was whipped, beaten so bad that she couldn't move or stop crying for days.

Then she got a jacket from the man who saved her.

And a new one every year for her birthday, including nice presents for Christmas. But the presents stopped coming.

She was pushed around by all the new girls who were much more older than her, forced to stay in the room while they went out to play or eat. She was crying a lot, wondering why her mother abandoned her, and giving herself the false hope that Relena would come back and get her, save her from all the cruel children and nuns who beat her for not being a good little girl.

She kept hearing those men and the nuns, the children that taunted her. Everything was bad; she couldn't ignore the voices. They were getting louder, so loud that she couldn't think. Her mind was a rush of pain and tears and false hopes.

Then she could hear someone calling out to her. Someone was saying her name. Over and over, getting louder than the voices. She was being pulled out of the misery of her childhood, taken away from the memories that she thought she had forgotten.

She opened her eyes, wide-awake now, staring straight into a pair of emerald green eyes. She gasped and jumped in her seat, then calmed down when she realized that Theo was the one staring at her.

He was giving her a look that was mixed with confusion, and what looked like concern. "Are you okay? What the hell were you dreaming about?"

Elysia took a while to compose herself, slowly realizing that she was breathing hard and was sweating. "I-I had a nightmare. That's all. A simple nightmare."

Theo smirked. "And you made fun of me for being afraid to go on the shuttle? Must have been a hell of a nightmare, the way you were moaning and crying."

She blushed a little at having done that, and looked down to hide it. Her eyes widened when she realized that Theo was holding her hands, and a bit too tight at that.

He looked down in confusion, then noticed what she was looking at. He yanked his hands away quickly and turned to face the front again. "Well, you better stay awake for the rest of the trip, 'cuz I don't want to have to wake you up every time you get a nightmare."

She nodded and slowly turned back in her seat to face the front. They sat in awkward silence the rest of the way, Elysia wondering why she was remembering all of the horrid things from her childhood, Theo wondering why he had gotten so worried about Elysia having a stupid nightmare.

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A/N: Hmm… Nothing to say here, 'cept maybe that I shouldn't have done a big thing about her memories. But there's a reason for it, so there! Anyways, I have nothing else to say, but the usual R&R. So, I guess that means bye for now! ~_^