An Orphan's Life

Disclaimer: Gundam Wing is not mine. It belongs to someone in Japan.

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Theo and Caterina tried to hold back their contempt as they watched Jacob talk with his parents.

Sure, his parents might have had a reason for not wanting her. Hell, it could probably be a good one.

And perhaps they should let Elysia take care of things on her own and do what she felt was right.

But maybe if Theo and Caterina could make them feel a little bit of what Elysia had felt for the last fifteen years of her life, then they'd be satisfied.

For a while.

Zechs paused in his conversation with his son and looked at the two teens sitting nearby who had been glaring at him the whole time he was there. "Who are these two?"

Jacob smiled innocently at his father and said as quickly as he could," Uh, my girlfriend and her…cousin."

Theo made a face at the idea of him being related to Caterina and went to say something, when Elysia flung open the door to the room and stormed over to where Jacob was.

Jacob's eyes widened and he tried to push her away before his parents got a good look at her, but it was too late.

Zechs had a look of horror on his face as Noin just stared at her in shock.

Elysia looked her uncle straight in the eye and glared at him.

It was strange, actually. Jacob looked way too much like his father and it was kind of hard for her to stay angry with him.

But she kept her focus.

"Why?!" she demanded. She stepped towards him, mentally cheering when she noticed he had taken a step back.

She would've continued asking him all the things that had bugged her for the last week, but had to stop when her uncle began grabbing at his chest and looking a tad on the freaked out side.

She watched as her aunt rushed to his side and gave, not her, but Jacob and Lisette, who had just walked in, the meanest look she had ever seen.

"What the hell is going on?!" She turned her attention to Zechs and tried to help him keep his balance.

Lisette looked around nervously as Jacob tried to explain it as well as he could. " Uh, last night, Elysia, " he pointed to her," came here and informed us that she was our cousin and would like to have a word or two with her uncle who apparently never wanted her."

Noin frowned and looked at her son confusedly. "Cousin? But you don't have any cousins on either side of the family. Your Aunt Relena never…" She trailed off as she realized what was happening.

She slowly looked to Elysia, who was undeniably her dead sister-in-law's child.

"Oh, my god."

Zechs moaned a bit and whispered something to Noin.

She nodded and led him over to a chair to sit down.

Elysia turned so that she could still look at him. She was losing some of her anger at her aunt's reaction.

Lisette moved up to her cousin and smiled reassuringly.

Noin looked at Elysia, trying to figure out how this child could've existed without her knowing.

Jacob handed his father a glass of water and crossed his arms, annoyed that nothing had yet to be said.

Zechs gulped down the water and sat silently for a couple minutes.

Elysia watched him patiently. He could take as long as he wanted. She wasn't going anywhere until he explained himself.

Zechs rubbed his forehead and finally looked at her, straight in the eye like she had done to him earlier. "My sister never had a baby."

Elysia tried to hold in the sudden rage that came at the statement and asked as calmly as she could," Well, how the hell did I get here?"

Zechs looked at her some more and inwardly smiled at her forwardness. He shook his head and leaned against the table. "That's what I'm now asking myself."

Elysia turned on him her best death glare and stepped closer to him. "What do you mean? You knew about me! You didn't want me!"

Noin's eyes widened in surprise. She looked to Zechs quickly. "Is that true? You knew about her?! Why didn't you tell me?!"

Zechs sighed and looked at her. "How can I not want something that I didn't even know was alive?" He looked at Elysia and said," Relena never told me about you." He looked down a bit, saddened by that. "I don't know why she didn't, but you have to believe me when I say that I had no idea that you were born. I swear on my dead family's graves that I never knew about you.""

Elysia stared at him, unsure if he was lying. He didn't seem to be. But that didn't make sense.

She looked at him and tried to be slightly nicer. "How could you not tell that your own sister was pregnant?"

Zechs looked up at that and shrugged. "That's something else I'm asking myself."

Noin looked at Elysia. "When were you born, Elysia?"

Elysia stared at her aunt, who didn't seem to be the awful woman she had imagined. She seemed fairly nice, not quite mean in any way. "December 5, AC 203."

Noin frowned and did the math in her head. She looked at Zechs and said somewhat quietly. "You were gone that month."

Zechs thought that over, and then shook his head. "That may be so, but what about the rest of the year? I saw Relena all that time."

Noin shook her head. "No. No, you didn't. You left on that mission in September. And the last time you saw Relena that year was in July. She probably wasn't showing then." She looked down as she thought some more. "But why didn't she tell us? That's not like Relena at all."

They paused, thinking everything through, trying to make connections.

Elysia looked at Theo and Caterina, who didn't seem to quite believe her aunt and uncle. Theo also seemed to be holding back on some sort of a violent urge.

Lisette looked up surprised when she heard the doorbell. "Who could that be?"

Elysia frowned at the sound of the doorbell, wondering why she didn't see it the night before.

Lisette walked out to get the door.

Noin looked up quickly when a thought hit her. "Wait, there were those rumors about Relena, Zechs. And remember that time she said she was sick when we went out to eat for your birthday?" She looked down as everything started making sense. "I can't believe I missed all that." She looked at Elysia questioningly. "Do you know who you're father is, too?"

Zechs snorted and looked at Noin surprised. "Can't you tell? I mean, Relena was in love with Heero for as long as I can remember."

Noin gave a shrug and gave him a look. "Well, excuse me for thinking that perhaps Relena didn't say anything because Heero might not have been the father and she didn't want him to know."

Zechs and Elysia blinked and thought that over.

Then they said together, "Nah!"

They looked at each other and frowned.

Lisette walked in followed by Shane, Jade, and Jennifer. "Look what I found on the porch!" she announced happily.

Shane gave a little wave as Jade and Jennifer surveyed the room.

Jade frowned when she noticed Zechs and Noin. "Hey, now. Are they the neglectful relatives?" she asked Elysia, pointing to them.

Elysia nodded, then shook her head. "Not neglectful, but they are my aunt and uncle."

Jade nodded and crossed her arms. "Okay." She looked at Caterina and Theo and smirked. "Well, aren't you two the poster children for happiness."

Theo turned his glare on her as Caterina stood up and walked over to Jacob, surprisingly not wanting to comment.

Zechs looked at the three who walked in behind his daughter and frowned. "Who are these people?"

Jade stuck her hand out to him. "Jade Chang. And the bumbling idiot to my right is Shane Maxwell."

Zechs looked at her a bit curiously as she shook his hand.

Jennifer gave a little wave. "Jennifer Silverman, although my adoptive parents' name is Groff."

Zechs stared at the three quietly, then looked to Caterina and Theo. "Then that means you're Trowa's son and you're Quatre's daughter."

Theo nodded as Caterina got her smug look.

Zechs stared at them a while longer, then rubbed his forehead. "This is too much for one night."

Lisette looked at Jade, smiling a bit to cover her nervousness. "Hey, how'd you guys get here in that snowstorm?"

Jade shrugged and sat down next to Theo, pulling the unusually quiet Shane with her. "When your genes consist of a Preventer and gundam pilot, you tend to find a way to do anything."

Noin looked at her and smiled. "That's right. You're Sally's daughter. How's your mom?"

Jade shrugged again. "Same as usual. Working late, yelling at my dad, spoiling the younger kids." She frowned at the last part and looked at Elysia. "You're lucky you never got siblings. They're monsters."

Jacob laughed at that. "Tell me about it." He stopped when Lisette shot him a glare.

Shane looked to Elysia, who was trying to get a good stance on what was happening around her. "Are you okay, EL?"

Elysia stood silently for a while, and then looked to him slowly. "Yeah… I think so…"

Theo raised an eyebrow. "She got herself sick this morning and has refused any medication we gave her. To be honest, I'm surprised she's still standing."

Elysia glared at him. "Are you saying I'm weak?"

Theo shrugged. "Well, you did faint twice this week and you're looking a bit pale right now."

Elysia glared at him, then stopped, knowing he was right.

Noin walked up to her and felt her forehead. "Geez, you're burning up." She grabbed Elysia by the shoulders and turned her towards the hallway. "You go to straight to bed, while I make you some soup and get you some medicine."

Elysia opened her mouth to protest, but Lisette grabbed her and lead her out of the room. "You do what she says. You don't have much of a choice."

Elysia stared at her younger cousin, trying to pull away. "But I still have to talk to your dad. There are things we need to discuss."

Lisette nodded and tightened her grip. "Yes, there are many things we as a family have to talk about. But we have all week to do that. And you need to be functioning normally in order to do that. So hop into bed and I'll see you in the morning." She stopped at the stairs and nudged Elysia to move up. "Goodnight."

Elysia glared at her and stayed where she was. "I am not going to bed."

Lisette raised an eyebrow. "Do you want me to get Theo and the others involved in this? Because I'm pretty sure you aren't going to win." She smiled a bit. "Don't worry. We won't talk about anything important while you're gone. We'll probably just have a nice dinner with a bit of conversation."

Elysia stared at Lisette, not wanting to go upstairs, but also not wanting to deal with the others in the room. She sighed, disappointed that everything was not turning out the way she had expected it too.

"Fine. Fine. I'll go," she muttered as she turned and walked up the stairs slowly.

Lisette smiled some more and watched her, making sure she made it to the room.

* Poor Elysia must've had a hard week. No wonder she got sick so easily. *

She shook her head and walked back to the dining room, beginning to form a plan in her mind to do something special for her older cousin. The others wouldn't mind helping her out on this one.

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A/N: Heh. Not quite the reaction and outcome most of you expected, huh? Well, there's a reason for all of it. And I know. They all got too talkative in this. I don't even think there's anything relevant in here. But I had to have 'em explain a few things. Any who, R&R and I'll see you next chapter. ~_^