An Orphan's Life
Disclaimer: For the 21st time, I do not own Gundam Wing!
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Elysia stepped outside and closed her eyes as she breathed in deeply.
She was only in space for a couple days, but she missed earth more than she thought she would.
She glanced back at Jade, who had a look of irritation on her face.
"You all right. Jade?"
Jade put her hands on her hips and looked to Elysia. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just really hate it here."
Elysia frowned and looked to the street, wondering why this bit of information wasn't handed out when they left the colony.
*Doesn't somebody like to be on both the colonies and the earth? * She picked up her bag and waited for Jade. *I hope she's not like Theo or Caterina. *
Jade walked over to her and crossed her arms. "Well?"
Elysia blinked. "Well, what?"
Jade raised an eyebrow. "Don't you have a place to stay?"
Elysia frowned. "No, I thought you had that part covered."
Jade sighed and shook her head. She motioned around. "It's the holiday season. Hotel rooms aren't exactly empty this time of year."
Elysia bit her lip as she tried to figure out what to do.
She had completely forgotten that Christmas was near. Her mind was so jumbled with her trying to find her father that she had lost track of time.
Was her birthday really just a few days ago?
She shook her head and turned her attention back to the matter at hand.
"Couldn't we just walk around and sleep in an alley?"
Jade raised an eyebrow again. "You're not serious, are you?"
Elysia shrugged. "Well, an alley does sound nice and no one would bother us."
Jade made a face and shook her head. "I'm calling my father." She reached into her pocket and pulled out her cell phone.
Elysia stared at her, somewhat confused. "Wait, don't you know people here?"
Jade paused for a minute ad looked up thoughtfully. "Well, besides where we're supposed to go… nope." She looked down and raised a finger to begin dialing.
Elysia grabbed the phone from Jade and held up her hands. "Hold on there. I've got a plan."
Jade, who was trying to get over the shock of Elysia's super-human speed, crossed her arms and nodded slowly for Elysia to go on.
"We'll just hang around for a while, then go see Duo. If we manage our time right, we'll pretend we have to go when it's really late. Hopefully, he'll be very hospitable and offer us a room to stay. And we, feeling too tired to drive, will graciously accept his offer."
Jade stared blankly at Elysia. "Three questions. What do we do while we 'hang around'?"
Elysia shrugged. "Walk around, shop… Ooh! We do need transportation, so we should probably go rent a car."
Jade nodded slowly. "And where do we put our stuff?"
Elysia frowned. "Car?"
Jade nodded some more. "Okay… And, just out of curiosity, did this plan come from hanging around Caterina Winner?"
Elysia thought that over. "I think so…" She frowned slightly. "I don't think that's good."
Jade shrugged. "You came up with a decent plan, so it must be a good thing." She picked up her bags and started walking. "C'mon, we better get that car, before someone beats us to it."
Elysia nodded and followed.
Jennifer walked out of the hotel, deep in thought.
Caterina had told her Elysia would most likely be back on earth and in the Sank Kingdom.
It narrowed her search down pretty well, but she still had to figure out where n the Sank Kingdom Elysia would be.
Caterina had suggested that Jennifer go see the circus, that a Cathy might be helpful.
This seemed to be a good idea to her, figuring that if she didn't find any leads, then at least she could enjoy being in a circus atmosphere again.
She walked around and eventually found the circus. She went through the front entrance and breathed in the familiar smell deeply. How she missed the circus.
As she paid the admission fee and walked in, she looked around slowly, trying to get a hold of herself.
Her adoptive parents had never taken her to any kind of circus, no matter how much she cried to go. They just didn't understand.
She shook her head quickly and forced herself to focus on what she came here for.
She had business to attend to. She needed to do that first, before she did anything else, no matter how strong the calling was of the potential fun she could have.
She wandered around the circus grounds, wondering how exactly she would find this Cathy. It seemed easy at first, but seeing the enormity of the circus pretty much showed how wrong she was.
Then, an idea hit her.
If she did something bad and got caught, she'd have to talk to the owner, or someone else who was in charge. The way Caterina spoke of Cathy seemed to Jennifer that she was someone of importance.
She looked around trying to figure out a good crime.
It had to be something that would bring attention, but not too extreme as to lead to her getting arrested.
Her attention focused towards a tent, where a lion was roaring.
Setting an animal free would cause mayhem, but teasing it would cause it to make noises a trainer would know weren't right.
She smiled at her plan and walked over towards the tent.
This had to work.
Theo threw down his bag on his bed and stood silently, trying to gather his thoughts.
He knew his dad had seen his face when he got back from the colonies. Trowa had kept his distance, but it was only a matter of time, before he would come and ask what's wrong.
He wiped his face, wondering why on earth and the colonies he was getting so hung up on a girl that he had only known for less than three days.
Normally, he'd chalk it up to experience and carry on. But this time, he couldn't let go. Why was he feeling like this?
He sighed and decided to take his mood off of… her. There was only one thing that could distract him.
It was good too, because he hadn't seen Tawny and Ricky in a long time, and it would make them happy to see him as well.
He walked out of his tent, glad to be back on earth and with his family.
Jennifer was beginning to see a flaw in her plan.
The lion and tiger were asleep, and it looked like they weren't going to be up anytime soon.
She kicked the bars in a feeble attempt to wake them up.
"Hey! Get up!"
She kicked the bars a couple more times, before giving up, due to the pain in her foot.
She gave a cry of frustration and crossed her arms. "You're ruining my plan, you stupid overgrown cat! You're supposed to get mad and roar, not lie around and sleep." She glared at the tiger. "And you. You're supposed to be the active one. Why are you sleeping too?"
The tiger opened her eyes sleepily and looked at Jennifer.
Jennifer smiled happily. ""Yes! You're awake! Now, start getting angry!"
The tiger blinked a couple times, then let out a big yawn. She closed her eyes and went back to sleep.
Jennifer stared at her, then hung her head in defeat. "So much for my great plan. Now, what?"
"Hey! What the hell are you doing back there?! Damn it! Why does everybody always come in here?!"
Jennifer froze at the voice, not liking the angry tone.
She slowly turned around, trying to think of a good excuse. "Um, well…"
She trailed off when she recognized the owner of the voice. "Theo?"
Theo stopped in his tracks and stared at the girl standing in front of the cages. "Jennifer?"
Jade glanced over at Elysia. "So, what do we do now?"
Elysia shrugged from the passenger side of the van and opened the glove compartment. "You're the driver. You decide."
Jade sighed and looked out at the traffic. "I don't think it matters, because we'll kill a lot of time trying to get there." She thought a while. "Movies sound nice." She glanced over at a sign posted on a light pole. "Or, how 'bout the circus? That sounds fun." She looked back at Elysia.
Elysia raised an eyebrow.
Jade turned her attention back to the road. "Or not."
There was an awkward silence.
Then Jade asked," Want to talk about it?"
Elysia stared straight ahead and crossed her arms. "No, that's all right. There's nothing to talk about."
Jade studied her silently then nodded slowly. "Okay."
They drove around in another awkward silence.
Finally, Jade looked to Elysia and gave a smile as she said, "How 'bout we shop then? I do need some shoes. And I haven't bought any presents yet for my family."
Elysia smiled back faintly. "I should buy something for Quatre and Trowa and your dad for helping me." *Maybe Theo, Caterina, Jade and their siblings, too. *
"Then, we're headed for the mall. That should keep us busy for a couple hours."
Jennifer stared at Theo in shock. It had been so long, since she had last seen him. It didn't occur to her that she would come across the same circus that her family had worked at many years ago.
She was so happy to see a familiar face that she forgot her wealthy upbringing and the brisk and proper manners she was taught, and ran to him, letting out a squeal of joy.
"Oh, my god! It's so great to see you! After everything happened, I didn't think I'd ever see you again!"
Theo hugged her back, but with less emotion.
Although he was happy to see his childhood friend, he was still feeling a bit upset about Elysia.
He was so sure that the girl he saw by the cages was her.
He took a good look at Jennifer and frowned.
Had she always dressed so nicely? And what was with her hair? She had established long ago that she would never cut her long hair. It was above her shoulders now.
And it seemed like she was hiding something deep inside, an emotion of some sort. What happened to her, since she and her family disappeared that night?
"It's nice to see you too… What the hell are you doing here?"
Jennifer stepped back and gave a laugh." Geez, I almost forgot. I came to talk to a Cathy…"She trailed off as realization hit. "That's your aunt." She slapped her forehead. "Why didn't I catch it before? I'm so stupid. I mean, duh! How many circuses have a Cathy?"
Theo crossed his arms, getting slight déjà vu. "What do you want to ask my aunt?"
"Well, I'm trying to find someone I knew back when I was at the orphanage. I think I have something that she wants."
Theo stared at her blankly. "Orphanage?"
Jennifer nodded. "Maybe I should explain everything to you. But take me to your aunt. Better yet, take me to your dad first. It's been a long time since I've seen him. I wonder what he looks like now."
Theo frowned at that comment, starting to regret coming out to the cages.
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A/N: …Yeah got nothing to comment on. Just R&R. ^_^