An Orphan's Life

A/N: Yay! I finally figured out how to update! *Does a dance* "Kay, well I AM VERY SORRY for not getting this darn chapter out right away. My family was going through some probs that took to long to get rid of. I apologize a million and one times for keeping you nice people waiting so long. I hope I did not piss you all off and make you completely forget what the heck this story is about. Well, sorry for further delay, so please R&R. ~_^

Disclaimer: *Sigh* This is not an actual part of the Gundam Wing series, so we can see that Gundam Wing is not mine.

~ ~ ~

Elysia woke up to the sound of herself crying. She opened her eyes and sat up slowly.

It was obviously nighttime, but just how long was she asleep?

She frowned and looked at the clock, a little confused on why the suite sounded so quiet. *Geez, it's already 6:30. I wonder if Caterina and Theo left to go eat. * She frowned some more when she remembered the tears on her face. She wiped them away halfheartedly and got to her feet.

She made a face when she hit the nightstand by the bed and knocked off some papers. She sighed and bent over to pick them up, glancing over them quickly. *Flower order and dinner reservation? I wonder what he's up to now. *

She walked out of the room and went towards the bathroom, stopping when she saw a piece of paper on the door. She raised an eyebrow and took it off the door, reading what was written.

Hey Elysia, since you were taking too long with that nap of yours, me and Theo left already to go eat dinner. Take a shower and put on that new blue dress we got this afternoon, and go downstairs. The guy at the front desk will tell you the name of the restaurant. Don't worry about getting lost, because there should be a driver out front waiting for you. Have fun! We'll be waiting.

Cat

Elysia blinked and read it over a few more times. "Why does this sound bad?" She shrugged and went to take a shower.

Caterina tapped her fingers impatiently on the table. "You'd think with the money I'm paying, these waiters and cooks would be done by now." She frowned and looked over at Theo when he didn't say anything. "What the hell's wrong with you? Ever since Elysia and I got back from shopping, you've been acting weird."

Theo stared at her blankly and leaned back in his chair. "I have my reasons."

Caterina raised here eyebrows. "Oh? And what might they be?"

"If I told you, I might have to kill you."

She smirked and looked away. "I'd like to see you try."

There was a pause, then Theo said, slightly annoyed, "I've been thinking about my mother."

Caterina looked back at him slowly. "Your mom? Why on earth and the colonies would you be thinking of your mom?"

Theo shrugged. "Because I was reminded of her."

"By what?" Caterina turned in her chair to face him better. "Or who?"

"Elysia."

Caterina grew more confused. "Elysia? But she's nothing like your mom. Or, how your mom was…" She frowned at how lame she sounded.

Theo shrugged again. "When I first met Elysia, she mentioned her mom being murdered, and it made me think of my mom, because…"He trailed off, and looked down at he memory.

Caterina nodded slowly as she understood what he meant. "Oh… I didn't know that… Is that why she had your mom's clothes?

Theo shook his head. "No. She didn't have any, so I gave her my mom's clothes since she looked as small as my mom did… I… I didn't realize they were going to be exactly the same size, though." He looked up at Caterina. "I guess that made me think of her more."

Caterina stared at him and sighed. "You two are so much alike, it's not even funny." She looked away and glared a bit at any waiter who passed by. "Where the hell is our damn food?"

Theo shook his head at Caterina's quick change of moods and played with his fork, wondering if Elysia was okay. She seemed out of it when they got back from shopping and it bugged him when she went to sleep right away and wouldn't wake up when he and Caterina were calling her name. He hoped she was feeling all right.

As Elysia stepped into the shower and turned the water on, she couldn't help to hold back the memories that came rushing to her mind. She closed her eyes as the hot water hit her face and tried to hold back as much tears as she could.

After she had given Jennifer her bunny, it took a few more weeks before she saw her again. It was Christmas Eve, actually. She remembered because of how the orphanage looked.

The front hall by the entrance had a tree so big that it reached the top of the railing on the second floor. Red ornaments, gold ribbons…

She remembered the tree itself and how nice it was, since it was an obvious attempt by the nuns to draw visiting eyes away from the bottom of the tree, where there wasn't a single present for the kids. The few square packages that were there were just for the workers.

She was the only one who got presents though, from the nice man with the violet eyes. As cruel as the nuns were, they gave her the gifts he always sent.

She never understood why, until years later when she realized that it was a partial cause to why the other kids were mean to her. As long as she got something from someone when the other kids weren't, they were going to be jealous and mean to her. She had no control over this, but in the end, she stopped receiving the presents, so the cruel acts were less frequent.

She had just put on the new jacket she got, a light blue one that coincidentally matched her eyes, when Jennifer Silverman walked in, wearing a new pair of mittens and a scarf.

They stared at each other silently for a few minutes, before Jennifer smiled and said, "Come out and play with me!"

Elysia's eyes widened and she shook her head quickly. Didn't this girl know it was practically illegal to play with her?

Jennifer made a face. "Why not? We can play in the snow."

Elysia fumbled for an answer. "The boys… They don't like me playing with them…"

Jennifer scoffed at the comment. "So? We can play by ourselves." Without waiting for an answer, she grabbed Elysia's hand and pulled her out of the room. "Come on!"

As scared as she was, Elysia soon found that she was enjoying herself. A snowball here, dodge there; she was having fun for the first time since she arrived at the orphanage.

Then the boys came.

They saw how happy she was. And with the new girl as well. One of the boys yelled at them.

Elysia and Jennifer stopped playing ad looked over at the group of boys. Elysia's face fell, knowing what would happen next. She looked at Jennifer fearfully.

Jennifer had her hands on her hips, obviously not getting that the boys were going to do something. "What do you want? We're playing!"

The boy who yelled at them stepped forward. "This is our spot!"

"So? We were here first! You can go somewhere else." She turned her back on them.

This angered the boy more. "No, because this is our turf! You can go somewhere else and find your own place to play."

Jennifer turned back and narrowed her eyes at him. "Well, I don't care whose turf it is. You lost it the minute me and Elysia stepped out here, so go away!" She threw a snowball at him and smiled in triumph as it hit him right in the face.

Elysia's eyes were even bigger when Jennifer did this. She couldn't believe someone would do that.

The boy wiped at the snow on his face and made a growling noise. He ran at Jennifer and tried to hit her, but Jennifer merely stepped to the side and tripped him. She looked at him as he turned over on his back, trying to hold back tears. "I'll tell you what. You stay out of my way and I'll stay out of your way. We don't talk to each other. We don't fight with each other. Got it?"

The boy nodded quickly.
Jennifer smiled. "Good." She kicked him. "Now, go away!"

The boy nodded some more and jumped to his feet, running away quickly. The rest of the boys followed reluctantly.

Jennifer was laughing and Elysia was completely confused.

Never had anyone hit or threaten others like Jennifer had just done. And never had anyone looked as afraid of a person as that boy did.

This new feeling was something she was beginning to like.

But later that night, the boy Jennifer had beaten up was going to the room Elysia was sleeping in. Nobody makes him look like a fool in front of his friends. Especially some dumb new girl. He was getting revenge on Jennifer.

He knew he couldn't hurt her. She knew how to fight back. But if he hurt Mary, then Jennifer would have no one to play with and the turf would be the boys' again.

All Elysia remembered was that she was looking at the stars again, wishing her mother would come save her, when she felt herself being pushed out the window.

She screamed and managed to grab a hold of the sill, but she was losing her grip on it, the snow melting under her fingertips. She looked up and saw the boy smiling triumphantly.

Her eyes widened, knowing what was happening. She tried to get a better grip on the sill but he started to hit her fingers.

Her hands were losing feeling, the cold getting to her. She screamed as she lost her grip and began to fall.

The next thing she knew, her right arm was hurting and she couldn't breathe. She tried to sit up, but she hurt all over. She couldn't even cry, the pain was so much for her.

Then Jennifer was there, standing over her, helping her to her feet. She had heard her screaming and ran out when she heard something fall.

She led her to the nuns' rooms. But the boy who pushed Elysia was there, having already told a story to the head nun that Elysia was trying to hurt him and that when she tried to push him out the window, he moved and she fell out instead.

Since he had a bruise on his face from the snowball Jennifer had thrown, the story was believable.

Jennifer was about to explain what happened, when Elysia stepped forward and said she was sorry and that she wouldn't try to hurt the boy anymore.

She knew what would happen to Jennifer if it came out that she was the one who hit the boy. Elysia knew what happened to the kids who fought. She had the marks to prove it. She didn't want this new girl to get hurt, this girl who stood up to the older boys. She had spirit, something that Elysia had lost so long ago.

And since the boy was getting more than what he wanted, he nodded in agreement with Elysia's false story, so it was impossible for Jennifer to tell the truth.

So, Elysia was whipped again for fighting and costing the nuns more money to fix a broken arm that shouldn't have been broken to begin with.

And Jennifer was forbidden to go near the troublemaking Mary. Eventually she found friends within the arrival of the new older girls, and Mary was all but forgotten…

Elysia opened her eyes and sighed. She turned the water off and stood for a few minutes. She hated how she was treated at the orphanage. Every person she was nice to was mean in return. But it was in her soul practically to always be nice and to never fight back, unless it was absolutely necessary.

She stepped out of the shower and got dressed, hoping she wasn't too late for dinner.

~ ~ ~

A/N: Well, was it worth the wait? No? Ah, well, too bad. Just continue reading. There's another chapter. -.-: