An Orphan's Life
Disclaimer: People, people… If I owned Gundam Wing, Dorothy's eyebrows would not be the way they are.
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"So, you managed to find Elysia's uncle…" Trowa stared at Jennifer as he tried to let everything she had just told him sink in.
Jennifer nodded. "My father helped me." She looked over at Theo. "Caterina did too. She was really into trying to find any information that we could. She wanted to help so badly."
Theo kept a blank face at hearing this.
So, Caterina was feeling guilty too. Elysia must've affected her more that he thought.
Trowa nodded a little. "And you want to know where she's at?"
Jennifer nodded.
Trowa looked at Theo silently, expecting him to say something.
Instead, he shrugged and walked over to answer the nearby phone that had started ringing. "Yeah, what?"
Trowa sighed and looked back to Jennifer.
She pulled some papers from her purse and handed them to Trowa. "I figured any family is better than no family at all."
Trowa looked over the papers slowly.
"Dad!"
Trowa looked over to Theo, who looked excited.
"Dad, it's Wufei. He knows where Elysia's at." He quickly handed the phone to Trowa and grabbed Jennifer by the hand. "C'mon!"
Jennifer's eyes widened as she was pulled at great speed. "Okay."
Trowa watched them leave, then slowly brought the phone to his ear. "Yeah, Wufei. He's gone."
~*~*~
Caterina drove around the Sank Kingdom, not really paying attention to where she was going.
Telling Jennifer where to go was good enough. Helping her get information was good too. She didn't have to go with Jennifer. She was fine at home on the colony. Going to earth was of no concern to Caterina Iria Winner.
Yet, here she was, driving and contemplating why she chose to get on the shuttle flight after Jennifer's.
Why was she feeling so guilty about wrecking a relationship that never really existed?
She'd never felt guilty before. In fact, she would've been shopping for Christmas presents, not even worrying about Elysia or that wretched lion tamer.
What was wrong with her?
As he slowed to stop at a red light, she sighed and looked at her watch.
It wasn't that late. She still had time to go to Duo's house.
But why did she need to go to his house anyways?
It's not like he had anything she needed. And it'd be kind of weird to call it a visit, since she hadn't seen Duo since she was seven… Or maybe it was ten…
She shook her head, trying to get her mind off her father's old friends.
She looked up as the light changed. She could continue driving around, thinking, or just go to Duo's house.
There was really no point in wasting gas, so…
As she began to pull forward, someone walked in front of the car.
She stepped on the brakes as fast as she could, but she still hit the person.
"Shit!" She got of the car and ran to check on the person. "You all right?"
"I just got hit by a car. What kind of idiot question is that?" The person stood up and glared at her.
He was a good foot and a half taller than he, and it seem to her that he wasn't hurt all that bad, judging by the muscles bulging out of his suit. He was also good-looking on her terms, slightly long blonde hair and the most gorgeous blue eyes she'd ever seen.
Then, she realized he'd indirectly called her an idiot.
Nobody, not even someone as hot as this guy, ever called Caterina Winner an idiot.
Nobody.
She took a step forward and gave him back one of her best glares. "Look, buddy. Be glad I even came out of my car. I could've just taken off and left you here to die."
The guy took a step forward as well and stared down at her. "I wouldn't have died, but I would've hunted you down and made you pay."
She narrowed her eyes at him. "For what? I didn't do anything wrong!"
He motioned at her car with his left hand. "Did you just forget that you hit me?"
She poked him in the chest. "Well, it seems to me that you aren't even hurt!"
He pointed to his right arm angrily. "You broke my arm!"
She glanced at his arm. "Where? I don't see anything wrong?"
"Just like you didn't see me!"
"Well, maybe if you wore brighter clothing, I would've seen you!"
He narrowed his eyes at her. "Well, maybe if you knew how to drive, I wouldn't have a broken arm!"
Caterina pushed him back slightly. "Maybe if you knew how to read traffic lights, you would've known to cross the street when the light wasn't green!" She flipped her hair over her shoulder and continued pushing him back. "If anything, I should be mad at you for putting a dent in my car, due to your stupidity."
He opened his mouth, but she cut him off.
"And don't think that you can sue me, just because your arm has a little crack in it. For all I know, you could've dove in front of my car on purpose."
He made a face at that statement. "You can't prove that." He thought a second, then added, "If it were true."
She raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure of that?"
They stared at each other silently for a couple minutes.
Then he said, "Look, I just want to go on my way and get my arm fixed. I don't know what to do, since I've never been in a situation like this before."
"Well, neither have I." Caterina crossed her arms and tapped her foot as she thought. After a while, she sighed and looked at him. "I guess I'll take you to a hospital… Probably a drink afterwards."
He rolled his eyes. "Not only will I get in the car of the person who just hit me, but she'll be drunk as well."
Caterina opened the door on the driver's side and glared at him. "I said after I drop you off, I'd get drunk. "She motioned at the passenger side. "Get in."
He stared at her blankly for a while, then shrugged. "What have I got to lose?" He opened the door and sat down.
Caterina rolled her eyes and started the car. "By the way, my name is Caterina Winner."
He smiled as he buckled his seatbelt. "Caterina, huh?" He stuck out his left hand, since he couldn't really shake with his right. "Jacob Marquise."
Caterina shook his hand. "Nice to meet you."
~*~*~
Elysia stared at the door blankly as she waited.
Maybe nobody was home. Then again, it was a pretty big house. Maybe nobody heard her. Or they went to sleep early.
That was probably it.
And who was she to disturb these people? She should turn around and walk away from this place and pretend she never came.
The door opened, just as she was turning to leave.
An older woman with dark purple hair was staring back at her. "Yes?"
Elysia's eyes widened slightly as she faced the woman. "Oh, um… Hi… I'm here to see a, um, Mr. Maxwell."
The woman looked her over, then nodded. "I should've known."
She opened the door wider and turned to call up a large staircase. "Shane! There's a girl here to see you!" She looked back at Elysia. "C'mon inside, while he prepares himself to come down."
Elysia frowned and waved her hands around. "No, no. You must be mistaken. I'm here to see a Duo Maxwell, not Shane." She paused and frowned some more. "Wait, I heard that name before." She blinked, then shook her head. "What I mean is-"
"Duo!" The woman yelled out towards a hallway this time.
Elysia stood silently, not knowing what to do.
Then, a familiar voice rang out from the stairs. "Mom, how many time have I told you to tell any girl that comes here that I'm dead?"
Elysia looked toward the stairs and gasped. "Shane?"
Shane blinked and looked at her. "Elysia?" He frowned in confusion. "How'd you find out where I lived?"
His mother crossed her arms. "So, you know each other?"
They nodded slowly as Shane walked down the stairs.
His mother blinked and looked at Elysia. "But I thought you were here to see Duo."
Elysia frowned slightly and nodded. She turned to face her. "Yeah, I am. You see, I'm looking for my father. He was an ex-gundam pilot and-"
She was cut off by the appearance of Duo, and his wife slapping him.
"You stupid cheater!"
Duo grabbed his cheek in pain and glared at her. "Geez, Hilde, what the hell was that for?!"
Elysia's eyes widened. "No! I didn't mean he's my father." She gestured around lamely as she tried to find the right words. "I was told that Duo would know where my dad is at."
She looked to Shane for some sort of help, but he appeared to be holding back his laughter at the sight of his father in pain.
She sighed and looked back to Duo and Hilde. "I'm sorry to cause you trouble, but-"
"Elysia!"
Elysia frowned and looked back to the still open door, where a very cold Theo and Jennifer stood.
She hid back her surprise, and disappointment, at seeing them together. "What are you doing here?"
Theo held up his hands and motioned to Jennifer. "We, er, Jennifer…" He pushed Jennifer in front of him. "She has something to give you." He poked Jennifer, who smiled meekly and held up the papers.
"I located your uncle, because Caterina said you'd probably want to know where he's at."
Elysia closed her eyes and tried to let this process in her mind. "Wait… Caterina helped you find… my uncle?!"
Jennifer nodded. "Uh, huh." She frowned a little and looked at Theo, motioning to Elysia with her eyes. "Say something," she whispered to him.
Theo looked to Elysia, then quickly averted his eyes.
Although he had sworn to himself that the next time he saw her, he would tell her how he felt, now was definitely not the time to do it.
Elysia saw this and looked down a bit.
Why was Theo not looking at her?
She bit her lip and tried to ignore the pain she was starting to feel inside.
She looked at the papers and frowned slightly.
The address was in the Sank Kingdom. So close to the orphanage…
She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, not wanting to get mad.
There was a reason her uncle didn't want her. But did she really want to know what it was?
Theo watched as Elysia's face changed with all the emotions overcoming her.
He wanted to hold her so bad and tell her that everything was going to be okay. He wanted to calm her down and try to get rid of that sadness that kept appearing in her eyes.
But he had to keep his distance. For the time being, anyways.
Jennifer cleared her throat a little and looked to where Duo, Hilde, and Shane were standing.
She smiled slightly and stuck her hand out to Duo. "Um, sorry to barge into your house like this. My name is Jennifer Silverman and-"
"Silverman?" Duo shook her hand and looked her in the eyes for a few minutes. "Your father wasn't Dean Silverman, was he?"
Jennifer's eyes widened at the mention of her father's name. "Yeah, actually… How do you know him?"
Duo studied her for a second, and then shook his head. "We'll discuss that later. But first," he turned back to Elysia," we have to know what she's going to do."
Elysia blinked and looked up at him. "What do you mean?"
"Well, are you going to want to see your uncle first, or your father?"
Elysia stood silently and slowly looked to the papers in her hands.
The whole point of her being at this house was to find out where her father was. The last week was spent trying to find father.
But now she knew where her uncle was.
Did she want to even see him?
She looked up at Duo, unsure of what to do. "I don't know."
~*~*~
A/N: And that was chapter…25. Although, it is probably 26 or 27 on the scroll thingy. Any who, I had to end it there, 'cuz this chapter dragged along a lot and just jumped from one thing to another. Sorry about that too, by the way. And, yes, I am aware that there's a possibility of a time discrepancy in this. I just figured it would really suck for everybody if Duo lived closer to where the circus was. And yes, I am also aware that update at weird and inconvenient times, sometimes every day, sometimes every other week. Sorry about that as well. It just always depends on what mood/day/whatever it is. And I've noticed that by doing my haphazard updating, I have gained new readers who review, but I have yet to see any of my old readers. Is that good? I feel kind of bad about that. Well, enough with my babbling, so R&R as usual and I'll see you next chapter. Bye. ~_^