Oscillations of Life

I don't own, nor claim to own, any of the intellectual properties used in this article of fan fiction. Said properties are owned by AIC Animation and I think Pioneer.

Fool's Notes: This picks up where Start left off, Washu is now a human with only the cloths on her back. Where does she go from here?

Newcomer

The complicated thing in telling a story based upon these three is that time is subjective. What seems like a lifetime and a half to us, is a trip to the bathroom for them. For the simple sake of telling this yarn, I won't dwell on the details such as exactly how much time has passed between events.

Opening her eyes for the first time was a young girl; she didn't seem to be a day over eight. The girl didn't know much, just a vague understanding of her surroundings and not much more then that. She just found her self at the door or a large building, and that she was compelled to knock it.

"Coming, coming," came the voice of a mature sounding women who seemed to have her hands full at the moment, "Why hello there, aren't you the sweetest looking little girl. Where is your mother?"

"Mother, I, I don't know. I can't remember much, just that I am supposed to be here," came a dazed response from the little girl.

"Well I guess you have came to the right place, come in. I was just getting all the other rascals situated with dinner, are you hungry?" The lady asked the little girl with concern lining her hospitality.

"Hungry, I guess I am, I'm not sure"

"Not sure if you're hungry? Well no mater, just sit down and if you are hungry then just eat something. The food is nothing special, but it will fill your little tummy."

The lady escorted the child to the table with the other children. The little girl didn't question much at first; she simply took in her surroundings and tried to gather some understanding of where she was.

"Where am I?" she asked the lady.

"This is an orphanage; I take care of lost children such as your self. These children all showed up in a way like your self, lost and not sure where they should be. Now eat up, that goes for the rest of you too," she said as the other children all nodded in agreement and started to dig in.

"So, do you have a name?" asked a young boy who seemed to really be enjoying his meal.

"Washu, although that is just about all I can remember," the little girl said sadly as she poked at the stew that was in her bowl.

"Your clothes are funny, and what is with that necklace of yours?" replied the young boy who was giving the new guest his appraisal.

"My clothes? I don't really know. I guess I just got them somewhere, same with this necklace and the gems in it."

"Humph, you don't really seem to know much. What do you know?" the boy replied obviously trying to provoke an argument with the lost youth.

"Nimi, calm down. Just because you think you know it all doesn't mean you can pick on her," a little girl across the table said trying to diffuse the situation.

"What do you mean I don't know much, I just don't know who I am. You're not calling me stupid are you?" Washu fought back, already showing the trademark flare that defines her.

"What if I am, what do you know if you don't even know where you came from? I bet even I could figure that one out. What do you know, after all, your just a lost little girl who doesn't even know her mommy," that last remark angered the older lady, as she immediately yelled at the young boy.

"Nimirillo Clay, I order you to stop this pitter pattering. Little Washu wound up here much like you. She just doesn't remember a few things; they may come back to her later," the lady then looked towards Washu, "don't you listen to Nimi there, his head sometimes gets to big for him."

The tension settled after a few moments, and the glares of death the two children gave each other simply settled into the glare that is the trademark of any childhood rivals.

"Now I don't want to hear any more fighting between you two. If you must compete, why not fight for something like which one is the smartest," both children seemed to take the ladies advice as time went on. Many of the other children grew to fear the pair, afraid of what one of them was working on. The way it worked was simple, Washu would do something grand and spectacular, and Clay had to show her up. The pinnacle of their competition was met with the near destruction of the orphanage, along with the lady regretting her words.

"WASHU! NIMIRILLO! What do you two think you were doing this time?!" the lady yelled after another failure transpired.

"Well you see, umm, we were both trying to, umm," Clay was mumbling trying not to go into detail, "well you see, IT WAS WASHU'S FAULT!"

"What!? Mine would have worked if you didn't sabotage it!"

"Enough out of you two. You're both constantly trying to one up each other and nearly killing as all in the process. Now I have some people from the Royal Science Academy coming by, both seem intrigued by you two. Now I want you two to behave your selves, maybe show them what experiments of yours have worked. If you two impress them enough, you may just get into the Science Acadamy."

Washu seemed a little confused by this, though Clay was happy as a clam.

"Royal Science Academy?" they both replied in unison.

"What's that?" was Washu's simple reply.

"Come on Washu, don't tell me you don't know about the Science Academy. And you really think that you're smarter then me."

"Hey now, just because I've never heard of this place doesn't mean your smarter then me. Compared to you, I am the number one genius in the universe!"

By now the lady started to loose her patience as the two started to descend back into bickering.

"Enough you two. The Royal Science Academy is considered the top educational institution in the galaxy. I am sure they would love to have two people as eager to learn as the two of you. You both have great minds, no need to waste them. Now clean this mess up, they are going to be here tomorrow."

"Yes ma'am," was the simple reply the both gave as they started cleaning up another failure.

"And what is your name?" asked a rather official looking women.

"Washu," was the prompt response she gave.

"Washu, is that it? Just Washu?"

"Yea, I don't remember much besides winding up here."

"O, sorry if I hurt your feelings. My name is Miya. I'm told that you are quite the genius here little Washu," Miya was saying as Washu got this strange look when she was called little Washu, "Would you be interested in attending the Science Academy? You can learn a lot more there then you could here. Maybe you could even become one of the greatest minds that history has ever known!"

At this Washu was beside her self, the chance to show up Clay, even if he was also being handed this opportunity.

"I would love to, what do I have to do?"

"Well, we will simply give you a little test right here. If you pass that test, then we will take you and try and see where you stand with the others."

Washu thought it over and figured that this could be that one event that everyone dreams will be dropped in their laps, and she wasn't about to let it go.

"Sure, when do I start?"

"Amazing, perfect marks. She is an amazing girl you have there. Clay came pretty close too, its amazing that you wound up with these two. Shows that greatness can pop up just about anywhere." Miya was going over the results of the aptitude test with the orphanage's caretaker.

"So, are you going to take them to the Academy, to Todain?"

"I plan to, I am almost certain they will be accepted and they both are old enough to take care of them selves. I expect great things from them. Who knows, one of her creations just may save our buts from something someday," Miya laughed at her last thought, which eventually spread to the caretaker.

Another segment drowned. In the next one (it's still in pre-writing), Washu is one of the top professors at the academy. Kagato first gets involved.