An Orphan's Life
Disclaimer: Until the day I buy out all the Gundam companies and do all the paperwork, I don't own Gundam Wing.
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Theo walked into the hotel room, feeling more tired with each step. He trudged slowly to his room, slightly noticing that Elysia wasn't there, and flopped onto his bed with a sigh.
This was a day he wanted to forget.
First off, Caterina made him think about his mother, which was a subject he had tried to avoid most of his life. Then, Ms. Winner planned the stupid dinner, which caused a lot of problems, not only for him and Elysia, but for the people at the restaurant, as well.
Now that Theo thought about it, Caterina was the source to many of his problems, even way back in their childhood.
That fall off the roof had given him a broken arm and leg, which prevented him from doing his first trapeze act that he was supposed to do the next night. His dad went and let his cousin Misha, who Theo had been fighting with to do the stupid act to begin with, do the act instead.
Now, because she did that first show, she was a highly paid and wanted circus act. If Theo hadn't fallen off of the roof, he would've been the richest circus performer in the galaxy, not Misha.
Damn Caterina and her conniving ways!
Theo closed his eyes, and tried to force himself to not think about Caterina and all the mean things she did to him.
He succeeded, only to end up thinking about Elysia instead. The bed still smelled of the perfume she was wearing when she and Cate- that awful person, had returned from the mall.
He breathed in the scent deeply, wondering what she had dreamed about, sleeping here.
Was it about her mother? Or someone else?
He sighed again at the thought of mothers.
He remembered his mother so well.
She was so beautiful and kind and loving and…
He slowly drifted off to sleep, dreaming of the night his mother died.
Theo was seven years old. He had snuck into his parents' tent again, as he liked the comfort of being near them, and crawled under their bed.
He liked sleeping here, for some odd reason. He figured it was because he was with his parents, but not in their way.
He snuggled down into his blanket and closed his eyes to sleep. A noise from outside the tent caused him to stay awake.
He opened his eyes a little and listened.
The circus was pretty quiet at night, the only noises coming from the animal cages, which weren't loud or frequent.
He wondered if he was imagining things when he didn't hear anything else. He sighed and went to close his eyes, when he heard it again,
Yes, there it was. Voices. Male voices. They were talking pretty loud.
Theo frowned and looked out the side of the bed where he could see shadows on the tent.
He watched as the shadows moved inside to where he and his parents were sleeping.
The voices had stopped.
Theo moved back from the side of the bed and inched closer to the middle.
He saw five pairs of black boots, all of which were surrounding the side where his father was sleeping.
He held back his surprise when he heard the sound of a gun being cocked.
He moved further back, not knowing what to do.
At that moment, he heard the bed above him move and his father's voice. Then the guys shouted.
Trowa must've heard the gun as well.
Theo covered himself with his blanket out of fear and tried to get an understanding of what was happening.
He heard his mother wake up and gasp.
Trowa was now standing up on the floor where the men were standing, and was fighting with the men.
Theo heard Trowa yell at his mom.
"Kate! Go protect the kids!"
Theo heard his mother say." Okay!"
He looked over to the other side of the bed, where he saw his mother's feet turn to the other side of the tent and run next door to where his siblings were sleeping.
He looked back at his father, who appeared to be fighting well.
He bit his lip, knowing somebody had to protect his mom.
He gripped his blanket tightly and crawled out from under the bed and darted out of the tent before anybody saw him.
He looked outside, the cold air biting into him, wondering which way his mother went. He turned to both sides, then decided to crawl under the heavy tent, figuring his mother was already inside.
Then he heard it.
His mother's screams.
He felt a cold chill crawl up his back as he turned to the left and saw his mother being held down by two men in black. He gasped and went to go help her, but he wasn't fast enough.
Theo remembered seeing the man come out of the shadows behind the two men and his mother.
The man had a malicious smile on his face, like he enjoyed seeing Theo's mother in pain.
He raised a gun up in his right hand and pressed it into her head. He gave a laugh as he pulled the trigger.
Theo's eyes widened as he heard the loud crack of the gun.
He watched as the men let go of his mother and saw her fall face first into the ground, blood spraying everywhere.
He tried to get a hold of himself as all three men started laughing and walked away casually, his mother lying still on the ground. He stared at her as she stayed where she was.
Not moving.
Not even a slight twitch of the fingers.
Theo forced himself to turn away from his mother's lifeless body and go into the tent. He had to protect Gabriel and Rene.
Gabriel was standing up in his crib, having woken up from the gunshot. He watched Theo as he ran up to the crib and tried to get him out.
"Momma?" he inquired, his baby voice at a whisper.
Theo wiped at his eyes as they began to fill with tears. "Shh!" He pulled Gabriel out of the crib and went over to Rene, who was still asleep. He picked her up gently and crawled under his bed that was nearby. He motioned for the two year old Gabriel to do the same.
Gabriel crawled under the bed, just as two of the men ran in.
Theo and Gabriel watched as the men looked around the room quickly.
"Nothing in here," one said.
"They must've gotten the kids out before we got here," the other said.
"Should we go after them?" the first one asked.
The second one shook his head. "No. The others will get them in the woods… I think we got the wrong woman."
"Why do you say that?"
"She didn't look like the picture."
"Yeah, but she's on the run. Change in appearance is common."
The second man looked reluctant. "No. This one was different. I think she was Treize's sister."
"Kushrenada?" The first man seemed surprised. Then he shrugged. "Casualties are common. Mistakes happen. C'mon. We got to leave this place."
The second man nodded.
They both ran out.
Theo frowned, trying to make sense of what the men had just said.
For what seemed to be an eternity later, his father finally walked into the tent, a few bruises and cuts on him. But the sorrowful look in his eyes was a good distraction from his battle scars.
He looked down as Theo crawled out from under his bed and walked over to him slowly.
Trowa held his arms out as Theo handed him the still sleeping Rene. Gabriel came over and stood next to his brother.
Trowa stared at his three young children silently.
Theo had always figured it was because his dad wasn't sure how to break the news to his children that their mother was no longer around.
Trowa kissed Rene on the forehead and motioned for Theo and Gabriel to come closer to him.
Gabriel toddled over, but Theo stayed where he was at, knowing what was coming. He stared at Trowa, wondering when Trowa would say something.
Trowa finally sighed and went to lay Rene back in her crib. Gabriel followed and raised his hands up, wanting to be laid down as well.
Trowa bent over and picked Gabriel up.
Then Gabriel said it. "Momma?"
Trowa paused and looked at his son, a strange expression on his face.
Theo watched as his father covered Gabriel with a blanket and kissed him on the forehead like he had done with Rene. "Mommy's not here," he had simply said.
Gabriel, having sensed something was wrong, nodded a little and went to sleep.
Trowa watched him for a while, then turned back to Theo.
Theo was still standing in the same spot. He knew his dad was wondering.
Wondering why Theo seemed to understand what was going on, even though he had supposedly been in his room the whole time. Wondering how Theo knew to get his younger siblings and hide.
Theo continued staring at his dad.
Trowa finally walked over to Theo and picked him up. He carried him over to his bed and laid him down, covering him with the blankets. He then told Theo," Go to sleep. I'll wake you up tomorrow morning. I have something to tell you."
Trowa stood up and walked out, leaving Theo to think about what was going to happen, now that there was nobody to take care of Gabriel and Rene, while Trowa worked.
Theo woke up and looked over at the clock on the dresser by his bed.
Three thirty-five.
He frowned and sat up in his bed, wondering why Elysia and Caterina hadn't shown up yet. He started to get a little worried.
He rubbed his forehead and tried to forget about the dream he had just had.
His dad had never known that he was under their bed that night. Trowa had never known that Theo witnessed his mother's death. That Theo had seen his mother's killer, and saw his face all the time, having nightmares about the cruel smile and horrid laugh.
No matter how hard Theo tried to erase it from his memory, he couldn't get rid of that awful man and his mother's last moments alive.
Theo closed his eyes and tried to figure out what to do. Should he go back to sleep and assume that one of the girls would eventually show up, or wait up for them?
He sighed, knowing he didn't want to go back to sleep. But he didn't want to wait around for the rest of the morning for Elysia, or even worse, Caterina.
He got out of bed and went to look for his clothes. He might as well go for a walk. Clear his mind and admire the beauty of the colony. It was good idea, since he hardly got to go to the colonies, anyways.
He found his clothes and got dressed.
Maybe, one day, he would forget that awful night.
And this night too.
And he'll be happy again. And he won't feel sorry for his sister whenever she cried, because she couldn't remember her mother's face. And he'll get to cry himself, not having done it since that night.
And he'll feel human again.
Like he used to.
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A/N: Aww! He's a momma's boy! But who could blame him? Anywho, that was number four. Go on, review, etc. ~_^