An Orphan's Life
Disclaimer: For the last thirty-four chapters, I have stated that I do not own Gundam Wing. Do any of you think that has changed since I last updated?
A/N: For some reason, everybody thought the last chapter was sad. I didn't realize I had the skill to make people cry. I've seen stories that are sadder than the last chap. At any rate, if you thought THAT was sad, then you're all going to hate me in this one… At least, I think you will. Any who, since everybody has been complaining that my chapters aren't long enough, here's an extra long one just for you. I hope you're happy. ~_^
~ ~ ~
Elysia and Theo sat on the front porch quietly.
They could hear the others' voices coming from inside the house.
Her uncle's house was pretty crowded. Jacob had brought Caterina back with him, Shane and Jade arriving a few minutes later, and then Theo came with Rene and Gabriel tagging along.
Caterina and Jacob's constant displays of affection forced the two out of the house and into the blissful silence of the night outside.
Theo wrapped his arms around her as they looked up at the stars, something they were doing a lot together lately.
He rested his head upon hers and asked," What was it that Duo was talking to you and Jennifer about?"
Elysia gave a little shrug. "He offered us a job at the orphanage. He said that we would know how the orphans there would want to be treated." She gave a smile. "And we get to boss the nuns around, so of course I jumped at the offer."
Theo shook his head and held her tighter. "You always have to cause trouble, don't you?"
Elysia smiled some more, then sighed. As happy as she was at the moment, there was still one thing left that she had to do. And she was beginning to not look forward to it.
Theo looked at her confusedly and asked," What's wrong?"
She shrugged again, and looked down. "I'm not sure what to do about my father."
"What do you mean?"
She sighed again and looked up at the sky. "What if he did know about me? What if he didn't want me?"
Theo made a face at this and turned to look her in the face. "Elysia, why are you worrying about this now? And why should it matter? You were ready to kill your uncle when you thought the same thing about him."
Elysia shrugged again. "I don't know… It's just… different this time." She looked away from him and took a deep breath. "I guess I'm just nervous, is all. I mean, I'm right where I wanted to be a week ago. And now that I'm here… I'm trying to prolong everything. I'm kind of scared." She glanced at him, hoping she was making sense.
Theo thought this over quietly for a few minutes, then sighed as he stood up, dusting the snow off of him. "Well, there's only one thing we can do about it, then."
Elysia looked up at him and frowned. "What?"
He extended a hand out to her and lifted her to her feet. "Got to have you confront your fear." He smiled at her and leaned closer to her, kissing her gently on the lips.
Elysia stared back at him in shock as he pulled away, still smiling.
He tugged on her hand. "C'mon. Let's go see your dad."
She continued to stand in shock, then she gained control of her senses. She smiled back at him as he led the way to his car.
~*~*~
Jennifer shook her head slowly as she saw Theo and Elysia leave quickly. She turned away from the window and took a bite of the cake she had in her hands. "Those two…"
"What about 'em?" Caterina asked, coming up from behind.
Jennifer motioned outside. "They left in a hurry."
"Oh?" Caterina looked out, a small smile creeping up on her face. "I wonder what they're going to do?"
Jennifer made a face at her. "They're not you, Caterina. And I think they're going to see her dad."
Caterina turned away from the window and frowned. "Why do you say that?"
Jennifer shrugged as she took another bite of her cake. "What, like I can't hear them through an open window?"
Caterina crossed her arms and shook her head. "You are such a bad girl."
Jennifer smiled sweetly at her. "I learn from the best." She looked over to one of the hallways as Lisette came up, looking a bit distressed. "Ah, so there you are. Where have you been all day?"
Lisette put a hand to her forehead, a bit distracted. "I was busy doing… some things." She closed her eyes and shook her head, trying to keep control of her senses. "Uh, where's Elysia?"
Jennifer frowned slightly at Lisette's behavior and pointed to the window with her fork. "She left with Theo a while ago… Why?"
Lisette's eyes widened. "What?! How long ago?!"
Caterina looked to Lisette worriedly. "Is something wrong?"
Lisette closed her eyes again and wiped her face. "No… At least, I don't think so. I just… Where did she go, exactly?" She opened her eyes and looked to Jennifer.
Jennifer started to get a little uncomfortable. "She left to see her dad… What's going on, Lisette?"
Lisette made a frustrated noise and ran to a nearby closet, pulling out a jacket quickly. "Shit!"
Jennifer and Caterina looked at each other, not sure what to do.
Lisette ran to the front door and opened it. "Tell my mom and dad that I went with her. I have to show her something, before she sees him."
She ran out, before Jennifer and Caterina could say anything else.
~*~*~
Elysia fiddled with her hands nervously. She was getting more nervous with each passing minute.
* What if he's not home? It's almost Christmas. He could be off with family somewhere... Does he even have a family? Do I have more aunts and uncles? … No, Uncle Zechs would've said something… Why did I agree to this? I should've waited 'til later. When I had more time to get used to everything and- *
Her thought stopped quickly when she felt Theo's hand hold hers. She looked to him slowly.
He smiled at her reassuringly, then turned his attention back to the road.
She blushed a little and looked down, getting a bit freaked out by how he knew what she was thinking again.
Theo had said the apartments where her father lived were a good twenty minutes away from her uncle's house.
Twenty minutes.
She had twenty minutes to prepare what she was going to say to her father when she finally met him for the first time.
She wondered what he looked like. Yeah, she knew about the eyes. Everybody kept telling her that.
* Okay, we have the same eyes. What else? Hair… It must be lighter… No… My hair is darker than mom's hair. He has to have dark hair… Wait. Why am I even worrying about what he look likes? I should be worrying about how he is. He could be some jerk or something… No, wait, because mommy loved him and she told me stories about him not being … like that. No. I have to stop thinking about this. I need to focus on something else. * She looked up at Theo and smiled slightly. * Something else. *
* Would my father approve of Theo? No! Stop thinking about that! You have to figure out what you're going to tell him! If there's a chance that he really didn't know about you, you have to explain to him who you are and who you're mother was… Would he even remember mom? *
She sighed and looked out the window.
She had twenty minutes.
~*~*~
Lisette drove the slick roads, trying to catch up to Theo's car without going over the speed limit. She had to show Elysia those tapes.
That is, when she got Elysia back to her house and taken the tapes out of the hiding place in the floor. She hid the tapes, because Elysia and her father were the only ones who should see them. Nobody knew about the hole in the floor, except Lisette, so the tapes would be seen by who they were made for.
Aunt Relena had been forced to keep her pregnancy a secret. Nobody was to know about the child of a gundam pilot and the vice foreign minister.
Chaos this knowledge would cause. So, the child had to be hidden at all costs.
And then Relena was murdered and nobody had yet to figure out why.
Lisette had it all figured out, though. She looked down slightly, remembering what her aunt had said on one of the tapes.
"I was too young, and a child born out of wedlock and with the parents that Elysia has… this would cause an uproar among the people… At least, that's what they told me."
Lisette shook her head and tried to focus on driving. There were other cars on the road and it was starting to snow again.
" I never told Heero. I couldn't. They prevented me from doing the simplest everyday things. I wasn't even allowed to talk to my own brother. I wanted to so bad. He needed to know. These people, these men… If Zechs had known that the people who worked for him were so cruel, so… so evil, he would have never allowed them to 'protect' me, as he had wanted. They would've been placed in a holding cell where they belonged. *
Lisette had watched the tapes over and over, trying to memorize every detail in them. Her aunt had known something was up. She had known they were planning something.
" I feel that something is going to happen. I can tell. They've been acting different. They listen to me willingly and do what I say, but they do it with a sinister gleam in their eyes. As if they are trying to appease me… I pray that they do nothing my little girl. She's all I have in this world and this whole damn situation has been caused in order for her to live. If she's… if she's… If these bastards hurt her, then everything I have done since the minute I knew of her existence would have been in vain. I can't… I won't live with myself if anything ever happens to her… If only I could talk to Heero…"
Lisette took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Her aunt had explained everything on those tapes. Why she was forced to stay quiet about Elysia, why Zechs was never told anything, why the other pilots were left in the dark with everything…
* Aunt Relena was put through so much. If daddy had only known… *
She glanced down to the clock, growing slightly annoyed that she wasn't moving fast enough. "Eight seventeen. Why am I taking so long?"
Lisette looked up just in time to see one of the other cars in front of her slip on the icy road and crash into another one next to it. She slammed on the brakes and swerved to avoid the two, but was hit from behind by another car. She closed her eyes, trying to get what was actually happening.
* This isn't right. *
She's not getting in a car accident on the road. She's dreaming. This isn't happening.
She whimpered as she heard the screeching of the other cars on the road and the crunch of each one hitting each other.
She needed to get to Elysia. She had to tell Elysia about what was on the tapes.
She cried out as she felt her car move and the sudden rush of pain.
No, she had to show Elysia the tapes. She had to tell her where they were. She couldn't die here. Then nobody else would know.
She opened her eyes as another car came crashing into the front of hers. She screamed as everything went black.
~*~*~
"Here we are," Theo announced as the car slowed to a stop in front of an apartment complex. He turned the car off and looked at her. "You sure you want to go by yourself?"
Elysia nodded as she tried to focus.
She was here. In a few minutes, she would meet her father.
She unbuckled her seatbelt and leaned over to kiss Theo. "I'll be fine… Thanks."
It was Theo's turn to be shocked as she got out of the car.
She smiled at him, saying," I'll get you when he's ready," then closed the door.
Theo watched her as she walked towards the apartments. She was brave. He smiled, loving the girl even more.
Elysia looked around, trying to find the way to her father's apartment. She looked up to the numbers on the wall by a set of stairs.
10 A would be up there.
She took a deep breath and began to climb the stairs slowly. She was almost there.
All she had to do was turn the corner and…
Here she was.
Apartment 10 A where her father lived.
She took another deep breath and knocked on the door.
~*~*~
Of all the things Heero didn't expect to see on his front porch, even he hadn't expected to see her.
Upon opening the door he came face to face with young girl about his height, looking a bit nervous. However, she was familiar to him. He knew her.
Long, wavy, dark blonde hair that reached her waist, dark blue eyes…
He knew those eyes. They were his eyes.
And everything began to make sense.
No words needed to be exchanged between the two. Just the fact that she was standing there in front of him was enough.
And he did the only thing that felt right, natural, even. He reached out and pulled her close to him in a warm embrace.
And that was all that had to be done.
~*~*~
It had been nearly three years, since Heero had last seen Relena.
In person, that is.
Anybody could see the former queen anywhere on broadcasted interviews and debates.
But Heero missed seeing her right in front of him, holding her in his arms.
He had to see her.
And he wouldn't let the stupid security stop him this time.
He had managed to break through it once, and had had the most wonderful night of his life. But that was once. It had been a long time since then.
He had to see her this time.
It was luck that had him here at another social gathering of the leaders and politicians of the galaxy.
Had he not overheard the conversation of those two idiot preventers, who needed to be reported to Wufei or Duo for the lack in common sense, he would never have known about his one chance to see Relena.
Perhaps, he shouldn't be too angry with those fools, though. They did help him out.
He sighed and looked around the crowded estate.
The cold December air bit into him, but he refused to go inside. He'd risk getting caught.
Those men seemed to have it out for him. They went out of their way to keep him away from Relena.
Quatre was supposed to be here too, but he could be at home with Dorothy and his daughter. Duo had told Heero about how the four-year-old was a load of trouble. Lucky for Quatre, though, he had the Maganacs to help with the raising of the little girl.
So, Duo had said.
Heero glanced around, wondering if Relena was somewhere inside the large mansion. He really didn't want to go in there and search the whole damn place for her. There was even the chance that the security would keep her away from certain people, like they always did.
He had once heard how Zechs was barred from seeing Relena for five months straight.
These men weren't fooling around.
Heero narrowed his eyes at the thought. He would have to find out later on what they were planning. They had to be planning something if they were so concerned about whom Relena was with.
He looked to the balcony, where various people were wandering up and down the stairs, chattering happily to each other.
Where was she?
His eyes wandered up to the top where a few people were leaning over the stone railing, looking out at the stars and what lay below them.
And there she was.
His breath drew in quickly at the sight of his angel.
God, she was so beautiful.
She had on the blue dress he had bought her. He couldn't believe that she still had it. That had been nearly five years ago.
She was leaning on the railing, looking so sad.
He watched as her gaze wandered down to the people below. Slowly, she looked to where he stood.
Their eyes met.
He smiled as he saw her face brighten at the sight of him. She looked around quickly, then took off towards the stairs, her eyes never leaving his.
He held his arms out to her as she rushed over. They kissed as she pulled into his arms.
"Heero…"
She buried her face into his shoulder as he got to hold her like he had wanted to for so long.
They stood silently for a while as they enjoyed each other's presence.
Heero looked at her in confusion when he heard her sniffling. "What's wrong?"
She shook her head as she held him tighter. "I should've told you. Right from the beginning."
Heero frowned and pulled back to look at her. "Told me what?" He ignored the sudden feeling of uneasiness as she continued to cry. " What's going on, Relena?"
She looked up at him and wiped her eyes. "Heero…" She looked around nervously and leaned in closer to whisper in his ear. "They'll kill me if I say anything."
Heero frowned some more at this, not liking that people were threatening Relena.
How could he have missed something like this?
"Relena, tell me." He couldn't help, but grow angry. How could she be allowing such threats to go on and not say something? " I cannot allow somebody to be doing this to you. What the hell is going on?"
Relena looked up at him quickly at the sudden change of his mood. She looked down slightly, feeling guilt wash over her.
She closed her eyes for a second and then looked back at him. "Heero… When you came to me three years ago… This whole situation happened to protect her… I wanted to protect her." She looked away as the tears came to her eyes again.
Heero stared at her in confusion, trying to make sense of what she was trying to tell him. "Trying to protect who, Relena?"
Relena looked at him as the tears began to fall. "Heero, I was trying to protect our-"
But she didn't finish her sentence.
A loud gunshot was heard.
Heero wanted to kill himself for letting his guard down. He looked past Relena to see a man in black slowly putting down is gun. He smiled at Heero and fired again, then calmly walked away as the entire party erupted in screams of terror.
He heard Relena cry out and her body shake in his arms as the bullet went through her and into him.
He tried to stand and keep Relena up, but she was slowly sinking to the ground.
He fell to his knees as she fell back on the now red snow. She was gasping for air, but he already knew what was going to happen next.
He leaned closer to her, ignoring he pain in his side and tried to calm her down, not really knwing what to say. "Relena…"
She looked at him with the tears still in her eyes, and tried to tell him. "Heero… "
He shook his head, angry at the cruel twist of fate, angry with himself for not paying attention. "Relena…. "
And she tried to tell as much as she could. "She needs you now…. She needs you, Heero…." She closed her eyes for a second as the pain increased.
Heero stared at her in confusion, forcing his mind to piece what she was telling him together. "Who?"
She opened her eyes and looked to him determinedly. "Elysia… " And the pain forced her to close them again.
Heero frowned, not knowing what to make of this and leaned closer to her, aware that people were surrounding them now. "Relena-"
She opened her eyes one last time and whispered to him, "I love you, Heero." And she let out her last breath and closed her eyes.
Heero held her as he whispered back, "I love you, Relena."
And that was all that he remembered, his body succumbing to the pain of the gunshot wound and heartache.
~ ~ ~
A/N: Well, there you go. One nice long chapter… Well, long considering the other ones in this story. Now, go R&R and I'll see you next chap. ~_^