Duo's Child

Chapter 23

Uno stepped through the door when she got home and walked down to the living room in search of people. She sighed halfway there and dropped her things in the hallway. When she entered the living room, she looked over at Heero as he came out of the kitchen.

"Where is everyone?" Uno asked. Heero stopped walking and looked at her.

"…" He didn't have anything to say to her.

"I take it they'll be back, right?" Uno asked.

"Hn." Heero stepped past her. "Uno?"

Uno turned around to face him. "Yeah?"

"How did you hack into my old laptop?"

"…Um…" Uno pondered.

"Or did you lie about the whole thing?"

"No, I didn't lie." Heero wished she had. "I found it when I was looking around and took it to my room. I was bored, found it on top of a closet, got it down, and opened it up."

"How did you decode the codes? I kept a binary lock on it, a system lock, a Zero Code keycode, and a mechanic lock on the laptop to make sure nobody could get in." Heero furrowed his brows in question.

"Well, the lock on the outside wasn't hard; just had to pick it. But the rest…well…I learned the language and read the codes. They didn't seem that hard when I understood what it was saying."

Heero's eyes widened. "You found it simple?"

Uno nodded. "Was I not supposed to?"

"How did you learn the language?" Heero turned away and walked around Uno in thought.

"Um…I found books on it. In school, they have beginner's books to binary codes and whatnot, so I checked one out and read it. I asked Mr. Merky to give me an exam on it when I was finished."

"And you passed?" Heero asked, leaning agains the fireplace.

"Just barely; he said I got a sixty on it and the grading in the book was pretty wacky. But Mr. Merky told me that it was a very hard language to learn and he once tried at it. He said he failed but figured I could read the code well enough to pass with a sixty. Said that was very good as the language isn't easy to learn."

"So then how do you know it? Did you have a hard time learning it at all?"

Uno blinked off in thought. "At first I did, but then I realized a pattern and found a cheaters way through it."

Heero lowered his head. "A child can read a code it took me half my life to learn."

Uno smiled and patted Heero's arm. "It's okay…not everyone is that smart."

Heero glared Uno's big grin. Uno giggled and turned to leave. Heero looked up at her again, a new thought in mind.

"Uno…what about the Zero code?"

Uno turned around. "That was freaky."

"Huh?" Heero blinked.

"After I broke into the binary codes, a saw a bunch more written data of letters and numbers and I thought, for sure, it was more binary; but as I tried to scan everything and read it all, the entire screen when yellow and weird on me."

"It…did?"

"Mmhm." Uno nodded. "It was like it was trying to take over my brain."

"What did you do?" Heero asked, shocked.

Uno sighed. "Well, at first nothing…and then I started to feel like it was trying to tell me to get into your files and read everything; I got mad that a machine was telling me what to do and began hacking that."

Heero blinked. "You bypassed the Zero code?"

Uno shrugged. "I guess. It wasn't simple but I was mad at the stupid machine." Uno turned to leave. On the way, Quatre walked by and patted her head.

"Hey Uno."

"Hi Quatre." Uno picked up her stuff and went to her room. Quatre walked into the living room where he saw Heero off in deep thought.

"Trying to make preparations for another mobile suit, Heero?" Quatre asked, smiling.

"No." Heero blinked up at him. "Uno just described how she hacked into my laptop without a hard time. She understands binary, she bypassed and over ran the Zero, and did it all without haste."

Quatre blinked. "You put the Zero into your laptop?"

"Yeah, it was supposed to be a coded lock incase anybody got a hold of the machine. But Uno went around the system as it tried to control her. She reversed the process by taking over it." Heero looked at Quatre. "The binary part I understand and the lock on the outside she can pick from Duo, but the Zero makes me wonder. She might have been taken over by the Zero at the same time she took over it."

Quatre blinked. "Huh?"

"I don't think she really knew so much about the past to say what she did to the committee. She stated that she learned from several places, but nothing would explain as much as it had for her than the Zero system."

"You don't like it taught her all she needed to know, do you?" Quatre asked.

"Well, Zero knows of me and saw a little girl breaking into my personal computer. Zero must have felt she was ready to learn the truth." Heero went off in thought again.

"Oh Heero; Uno's not ready to know such things!" Quatre shouted, worried.

"…I know…" Heero replied softly.

The following two days, Uno sat down with Duo and the rest of the group and discussed what had happened when she met up with the Zero system and the committee. All they learned is Uno simply bypassed Zero, which made Zero realize she could handle herself in times of roughness, and taught her the lessons of the past. Uno spoke as if it were a simple topic and shrugged nearly half the time, while everyone else were crazily shocked about the whole thing. To them, Zero had taught her all she expressed, but to Uno, she read about it and learned about it from all the other ways as well.

She was walking to school with Theresa besides her. Uno was quiet—as usual—and Theresa was humming.

"Uno?"

"Hm?" Uno scratched her forehead.

"Did you know you were on the news Friday night?" Theresa lifted her arms and hung her bag behind her head.

"Hm…" Uno thought for a moment. "Not until afterwards." Uno looked at Theresa.

Theresa looked back at Uno with umoving eyes. "I thought it was amazing how you acted like that to those people. My mom said that was a dangerous path you took because those are all important people."

Uno scoffed at that. "Not important enough to matter to me."

"Huh?" Theresa looked at Uno in question. "But they own us."

Uno stopped dead in her tracks and turned to look at Theresa. "They do not own us! If you think so much as to let them guide your life and rule over you, than you are obviously not the type of person I would like to be around."

Theresa blinked at Uno, a little frightened about losing a best friend. "But…"

"Theresa, there is never a good time when somebody rules over you. If there were higher authority over you, telling you what you can and cannot do then we wouldn't be able to think for ourselves. They don't know what we, civilians, want in life and what we strive for so hard. They talk like they're our representatives and they own us, but they do not! I will not take orders from older people who think they know what I want! I would rather die before allowing such autocracy to rule over me!"

Uno remained a couple inches away from Theresa's face, anger rising in her mind, her breath coming out in harsh breaths. Theresa blinked back at Uno in fright. Uno pulled away and shut her eyes before she turned to leave.

"Sorry." Uno started walking again. "I don't know what came over me."

"You're weird Uno." Theresa continued walking.

"I know. I just got my period last week." Uno's head remained low and her eyes stayed closed.

"Wow! I heard most people are about ten or so when they get theirs." Theresa smiled weakly, trying to ease her tension. "What's autocracy mean?"

"Something like dictatorship by one person." Uno turned the corner onto the main street towards the school. "I'm not so sure, but I somehow know what it means when I speak with it."

"Wow. You got really smart since the last time I saw you." Theresa smiled.

"Hn…thanks." Uno smirked.

Uno was sitting in her desk, watching the class talk about to one another and chitchat about random topics. Theresa sat behind her, drawing little sketches and humming again.

"You sure do like to hum." Uno said.

Theresa giggled. "I have a song stuck in my head still."

"Great, and now you're giving that stickiness to me." Uno rolled her eyes. Theresa giggled again.

"I hope to become an artist when I grow up. I like to draw."

"Hn." Uno looked over at Brittany.

"Yo Uno, what was up with all that Friday night?" Brittany asked.

Doug turned to look at her. "Yeah, you were on the news!" The class looked at Uno. Theresa ignored them and continued drawing her cartoon figures. Mr. Merquise looked up at them.

"Yeah, you were on the news. I forgot." Sarah stated. "My mom said you were bad that night and should have been grounded to acting that way."

"Why? Because I have a mind for myself to think with?" Uno furrowed her eyebrows and looked over at Sarah. "Is it such a crime to think for yourself and be normal and not all high and mighty?"

"But you said all those rude things to them!" Corey proclaimed.

"Point being? If they're as mature and important as they claim to be, then they should be prepared for such thoughts from people who dislike them." Uno looked at Corey. "They don't know anything enough to be where they are today."

"And you do?" Brittany smirked and tilted her head, mocking Uno.

"I know far more than you do, that's for sure. Just because I told off the committee of the government doesn't mean I'm a bad person or I was acting badly at the meeting; it just means that they need to grow up and learn life isn't all peachy."

Mr. Merquise was smirking and unable to finish grading their last tests.

"And how would you know? You're not old enough to know that, either." Bobby said.

"Yes I would." Uno replied softly.

"How?" Bobby smirked. Brittany mocked Uno again. Uno's breath was harsh now and she was trying not to lose her temper. Theresa looked up at Uno, worried for her friend and wanting to help some, but was unable to do so.

"Yeah, since when do you think you can tell them off because you know the whole world already? They're where they are because of what they know!" Cindy asked.

Uno growled and stood up. "Have any of you ever lived on the streets and slept in a cardboard box? Have any of you stolen an apple because you were starving and haven't eaten for days? Any of you ever get beat up because older people thought you weren't good enough to get a family of your own? My parents died in the White Fang war as civilians! They left me to live alone in the streets, all by myself, without even knowing how to speak! If Duo hadn't of found me and taken me home, I would still be on the streets today!"

Mr. Merquise blinked at this surprising knowledge. He didn't know Uno literally was taken' off the streets; he just knew she was adopted.

"Sit down, all of you." Mr. Merquise stood up. Everyone sat down. He looked at Uno. That girl…she's probably raised by them into thinking like a Gundam pilot.

"Uno…you were courageous Friday night." Uno looked up to her teacher with a shocked expression. "I knew somebody who would have loved to hear you say that, especially at such the young age of six." Not only would Treize admire her, he would feel for the fact that his word got out to somebody besides us fellow pilots.

"Uno, what do you plan to be in your life?" Cindy asked.

"I don't know. I don't see myself in the future." Uno replied.

"Doesn't that usually mean you're going to die before that chance comes?" Bobby asked up at Mr. Merquise.

"Not all the time, Bobby." Mr. Merquise handed out worksheets. "Work on these while I finish grading your tests. I haven't gotten around to doing that just yet."

Claryce raised her hand.

"Yes, Claryce?" He paused.

"Why do you have such a deep voice? My daddy doesn't have a deep voice." She asked innocently.

Mr. Merquise smirked and bowed his head. "Some people are born with a history that shields away from normality."

"Psst, Uno?" Theresa leant forward and whispered into Uno's ear.

"Eh?" Uno leant back to hear her friend.

Theresa smirked. "Wouldn't it be funny if I put that picture of Brittany dating that goblin into the school talent book?"

"Alright, see you then." Quatre hung up the phone. Duo looked over from his sitcom with question written on his face. His arms were hugged behind his head.

"Eh? Whose that?"

"That was Relena. From the meeting, she met up with Sally Po, Lady Une, and Lucrezia Noin; she's got contact information for me."

"Oh yeah? What for?"

"That way I can ask them if they would take a week and teach Uno some of their tactics."

"Ah, not a bad idea. But, what could they teach her that we already haven't?"

"Well, Sally Po is with the medical unit and Une deals with the Preventers work; Noin can probably teach her the meanings of war and more history about what we all went through before Uno met up with us."

Duo sighed. "That's not a bad idea. But one more thing; we still gotta' get a hold of Zechs somehow; unless you'd rather he and several other's not be apart of her life."

Quatre turned off in thought. "It'll be best if we had. Only Relena doubts anyone can get a hold of him. Une did mention that he took off after the terraforming project proved to be a success; but he left without a trace and took off in the middle of the night. Even Noin had no clue where he went to."

"Well," Duo stretched, "I guess we'll just have to find out." Duo leant back and looked back at the television.

"Aren't you supposed to be in work, today?"

"Nah, took off. And besides, they're training a new guy named Venice. Kinda' fruit if you'd ask me." Duo yawned. "But they need a man on the floor while I work in the back."

Quatre sighed. "Well, I'm sure Catherine wouldn't mind teaching Uno how to throw knives."

Duo blinked and looked back over at him. "Don't you think she needs to practice on that, first?"

The school bell rang and Theresa and Uno were walking out of the building. Several people looked at Uno as she walked by them and whispered to one another. A few teachers watched her as she exited the school. Uno practically kept her eyes shut as Theresa was looking around in a dazed fashion.

"Uno…you're even more popular now that everyone saw you on the news." Theresa whispered in Uno's ear.

"Nah they aren't." Uno opened her eyes as they stepped outside. "They just think I was wrong when I said what I had."

"Uno!" A boyish voice shot out. Uno stopped and looked back with Theresa. Ricky hopped through the groups and gatherings of people until he finally got on a roll of running towards his two friends.

"Hey!" Ricky paused to lean over and catch his breath. "Man…running is a bitch."

"Hey…no cussing around me." Uno stated flatly. Ricky looked up at her. "If I'm not allowed to cuss, I won't let you."

Ricky blinked then smirked. "Sorry. But man…I can't believe you were on television!" Ricky followed Uno and Theresa past the busses and towards the main roads. "I didn't believe it at first, but when I looked closely past all that high class crap that was on you, I knew it was you without a doubt." Ricky smirked.

"Fascinating." Uno replied without emotion. The three of them continued walking home towards Quatre's mansion.

"You know, at first, my dad was a little rough on the subject about you being in that committee, but man was he on a roll when he was talking about his work process and the kinds of things that would be changing because you mentioned all that."

"Uh huh."

Wufei pulled up on his bike when he noticed three little children walking up to the driveway. He paused and sat on the bike, waiting for them to catch up with him. He smiled a little when he saw them all chit-chatting about actual topics instead of child-like ones.

"So, any who…Johnson got really beat up when he did all that. My dad told him that, if he ever disrespected his name again, that he would be thrown out of the family without a second thought."

Theresa blinked at him. "But your brother's only sixteen. Why would he get that much punishment?"

"Well…my dad obviously doesn't like being called the names he called him. Johnson did tell him what kind of a father he thought he was; he actually stood up for me." Ricky smiled.

"Your father abuses you?" Wufei asked as they stepped up to him.

Ricky looked over to Wufei. "Well, he works me too hard and doesn't let me have fun as a child. Johnson says Dad takes his work too seriously, but my dad wants to be sure I take over the family business when he goes."

"What kind of business is this company?"

"Some military aid, I think. Uno, wait up!" Ricky ran off to catch up with Uno and Theresa.

"Military aid? There are no such things." Wufei sat a moment and conjured up the points in his head.

Duo walked by Quatre and got another canned soda out of the fridge. He popped the top and took a couple sips. He noticed Heero sitting at the table with the old laptop, rereading old mission reports.

"Still wondering?" Duo smirked. He toasted to the computer. "That's my Uno."

"I still can't believe she could understand Zero at such an early age." Heero hit a key and a bunch of button noises came up.

Wufei stepped into the kitchen.

"Hey Wu! What's up ol' buddy?" Duo nodded at Wufei. "Hey, anybody seen Uno around?"

"She said she, Theresa, and Ricky were going to hang out in the Victorian Library today; she wanted to show them what she found." Wufei washed his hands in the sink.

"Eh..." Duo paused to thin, then shrugged. "Let's hope they don't get lost."

"Oh wow! Hey Ricky! Come check this out, man!" Theresa was at the very top of the tower in the central part of the library, looking over the whole mansion to the forests surrounding the castle. "I can see so much, it's so pretty up here!"

"Yeah um…" Ricky was looking straight up at Theresa. "Why not stay up there and just uh…describe it all to me. I'm a…afraid of heights."

"You are?" Uno asked, surprised. Ricky looked back at her.

"No, not really…but just of how high up she is and having only glass and marble surrounding me doesn't sooth my heart." Ricky replied truthfully.

"Oh." Uno sighed and opened a book she took out of the history section of the library. "Hey Theresa, come down here a minute; I found something you may like." Uno sifted through a few of the pages.

"What is it?" Ricky asked, leaning over to look at the text in the book. "A bunch of names?"

"It's a table chart. The entire book is a table of tables, where they came from, what they mean…how used it usually is." Uno blinked in surprise at the big book.

"That's a big book." Ricky retorted.

"What's a big book?" Theresa breathed heavy from climbing up and down all the stairs. She looked at the book and paused. "Oh wow, that is a big book."

Uno turned a page. Ricky looked from Uno to the book, in question.

"What are you doing?"

"What's your name?" Uno had asked Ricky without looking up.

"Ricky." Ricky blinked at her.

"Not that, I mean your middle name. What's your middle name?"

Ricky paused. "Um…Farees."

Uno blinked and looked up at him. "You're Arabic?"

"I've got some in me. My grandmother was Arabian."

"Hm…didn't know that." Uno looked off in thought.

"Oooh, do me! Do me!!" Theresa beamed.

"Hang on, let me do him first." Uno sat down on the floor and flipped through the pages. "Ricky, your middle name, Farees, is Arabic and it means Knight." She scanned again. "Ricky is English and it means a powerful and strong ruler; people ruler, gifted ruler. Pretty much, your name came from some old German thing."

Ricky blinked. "Wow…I'm a powerful, ruling, knight!" Ricky stood and posed like Superman. Uno looked up at him with a blank face.

"Er…right." Theresa blinked then snapped her head back at Uno. "Me next, me next! Theresa Charline."

"Okay, hang on." Uno found the pages and read them. "Charline is French for manly."

"Hahaha!" Ricky laughed. "Theresa's manly! That's funny!"

"Hush you!" Theresa scoffed him. Ricky laughed a little more.

"Theresa is Greek and means Terence; it's traditional meaning is reaper." Ricky froze. Uno looked up at her. "Your name means reaper."

"Cool! I'm like the Grim Reaper!" Uno grumbled; she was supposed to be the Grim Reaper after Duo!

"You are manly!" Ricky chuckled.

"Watch it you, I can kill you with a single touch!" Theresa laughed. "What about you, Uno? What does it say about your name?"

Uno looked it up. She blinked. "It's not really in here. I know it's a form of the number one." Uno shrugged. "It's Spanish for one; that's all I care."

"You don't have a middle name?" Ricky asked. Uno shook her head. "Man."

"Oh wow, Uno!" Theresa gawked up at the catwalk of the Music Wing. "I can't believe you actually live with all this stuff! You are so cool!"

Uno smirked. "Thanks."

"You'll probably become the most popular girl in all the school by the end of the year." Ricky stepped onto the dance floor and stepped up to the DJ booth. He blinked in amazement at it as he trailed his hand and fingers across the keys.

"Follow me, Theresa." Uno walked down a little hallway into the recording studio.

"Where you going?" Ricky soon followed. He froze when he saw what was behind the metal door. "Wow! You got a recording studio in your own house, Uno! That's great!"

"So totally cool!" Theresa ran inside.

Uno shut the door behind them. "Yeah, only I don't know how to work it." She said flatly.

Ricky stepped up to the switches. "Well, here's your power button. These switches here are the bass and tremble; they're your tone switches pretty much." Ricky explained. Theresa stepped into the next room where the mic hung from the ceiling. "See these buttons here, they're the switches that mark the end of the song, beginning of the song, middle; you press them at certain times to link the song together incase of a power shutdown." Ricky looked over to his left where the switch board squared off to the side. "Cool! You even got a synthesizer!"

"A what?" Uno blinked in confusion.

"Synthesizer; it's a machine make techno. At least that's what I think Johnson used to call it." Ricky got an idea and looked at Uno. "Hey Uno…mind if I use this place to make a song? I wanna' enter the talent show."

"Me too!" Theresa beamed from the other side of the window. Ricky and Uno looked up at her. She had on singer ear muffs. "I think it'll be fun! Come on Uno!" Theresa smiled.

Uno sighed. "Okay. Why not?"

"Yay!" Theresa clapped then froze. "Wait…the Talent show is in two weeks, Wednesday."

"Yeah, so?" Uno stated.

"I'll be gone that day. Doctor appointment." Theresa frowned. She then pointed her finger at Uno and furrowed her eye brows. "But you better enter that dang contest!"

"It's not a contest, Theresa." Ricky smirked. "Dummy."

"Well, it doesn't matter!" Theresa frowned. "Uno's joining anyways! I'll join her up."

Ricky chuckled.

"Uno." All three jumped and looked around.

"Duo?" Uno blinked.

"Where is he?" Theresa looked around through the glass panel.

"He's a ghost." Ricky claimed.

"I wish." Duo came on again. "I'm on the speaker; I'm in the security room. What you all doing in there?"

"Playin' around." Ricky stated, looking at the switches and turning on the machine. He blinked when all the lights turned on. "Woah."

"Well…okay. I'm coming down." Duo's voice disappeared from the speaker.

"What's he talking about?" Theresa asked.

"He's joining us. I guess he's bored. He didn't have to go to work today." Uno watched Ricky figure out the switches and plates.

"Man, this thing is wicked cool! I can make anything with it!" Ricky's eyes were wide and he wrapped his arm around Uno's waist. "Uno, you rock!"

"Oooh! Shame shame! Ricky and Uno, sitting in a tree!" Theresa joked from the other room. She received glares from both people and laughed. "Ricky, you remind me of Heero, especially when you do that!"

Uno sighed. "Oiy."

"Hey." Duo entered the room. Uno jumped and spun around.

"How did you get here so fast?!" She practically shouted out.

"I learned something you didn't when touring this place." Duo grinned.

"What? Secret passages?" Uno blinked.

Duo smirked. "Nope. How to run."

"Hah hah." Ricky smirked and snickered some. "That was a good one."

Uno stood there glaring the two of them. She turned and stepped up to Theresa as she walked out of the room. Duo walked into the room and put on the headphone.

"Hey Ricky." Duo called out through the microphone. "Set the numbers to one o' thirty-four sixty-two."

Ricky blinked and flipped on the combinations of the numbered switches. "This thing's weird."

Music came on and Duo started to hum. Before they knew it, he was singing It's so all right. Uno smirked, Theresa gawked, Ricky paied attention to the switches and put on the headphones.

"Wow Uno, your whole family rocks!" Theresa proclaimed.

Weeks later, Uno was talking to Ricky at the Talent show and laughing. Duo was talking to Theresa's parents. Quatre and Trowa were talking to other fellow parents. Heero was forced to go because Relena had wanted to see the Talent show.

"So…you're actually going to go through with it?" Ricky asked as Uno tucked her hair into the beret. "I wish I could join, but they didn't accept songs unless I'm doing it on stage."

"Oh well." Uno shrugged. "Besides, Duo and the others don't know I could do this. They don't think I paid attention when Heero and everyone else tried to teach me their native language."

"But you do know them." Ricky stated.

Uno nodded. "Mmhm. And they're about to find out."

"Man…I can't wait to see the look on their faces when you do. It'll be a real shock."

Uno sighed. "Is Mr. Merky here? I thought I saw him but he isn't talking to anyone and we can't go anywhere else."

"He's here, I just don't know where." Ricky shrugged. "You're going to be fine, Uno. Trust me."

Uno smiled. "I am a little nervous."

Ricky leant forward and hugged Uno. "Trust me, you're good at this shit."

Uno smirked. "Shame on you."

"Yeah yeah." Ricky winked at her and reached over to give her a peck. Uno blinked in shock and felt her cheeks warm up. "May that be some help." He smiled.

"Ricky?" Uno mumbled.

"Alright people, let's get moving!" One of the teacher ladies called out.

"Gotta' go!" Ricky fled before Uno could say anything. She lifted her hand to her cheek where he had kissed her and felt it. It still felt warm.

"So, Uno a little scared?" Quatre asked as Ricky sat down besides Duo.

"A little; I told her not to look this way if she doesn't want to mess up."

"Why would she mess up if she faced us?" Duo pondered before he cracked up laughing with Ricky.

"You two are bad." Heero retorted.

"Yeah, well, at least I'm not being copied—oh wait…I am." Duo and Ricky laughed again. Heero rolled his eyes.

As the Talent show went on, there were many kids who did acts and jokes and few who sang. Brittany and her group of famous friends did one popular song you hear all the time on the radio and had the music teacher beaming with glory. A boy in the middle school sang the song Baby Got Back and did the same dances; he even had some of his female friends play the act at the beginning of the song. He had loads of laughter for his song. Some people did dances and moves together in a group to various techno rock and dance songs. A girl before Uno just finished doing a skit from Romeo and Juliet with another boy and cleared the stage. Uno's heart began to pound in her chest.

"Alright. Next we have a very special young girl with a song that wasn't listed. She said she wanted to keep it a secret until the show. Please, don't any of you make any negative gestures towards her when she is on stage." The woman in charge of the show spoke to the audience.

"What's the big deal?" Duo whispered down to Ricky.

"The whole school's disappointed with Uno because Brittany spread some wild shit—er, crap—about Uno being on the news and things she claimed she had said." Ricky replied.

Duo chuckled. "You have a naughty mouth, Ricky."

"So, what's the song about?" Quatre asked Ricky.

Ricky shrugged. "I don't know, but she said it's going to test her intelligence…whatever that means." Ricky shrugged. "It's hardly in English; that's all she told me. Just something she put together the words of and made a song."

"Not in English?" Duo asked.

"Her name is Uno Maxwell, and she is presenting to us a song she preformed from scratched." The lady stepped down off the stage.

Uno took a big breath before stepping out onto the stage. "Here we go." She murmured to herself.

When she stepped out, the load of people ran up to her sense and she almost panicked, but she reminded herself of the time she was the star attraction at the circus and Catherine had nearly stabbed her to death. She scanned the audience as she stepped up to the microphone, catching a glimpse of Brittany and her group of fans scoffing and making jokes about her. She looked over and found Duo and Ricky and the rest of the group. Amazingly that didn't phase her one bit. She found, in the back of the room in the shadows, Mr. Merquise. She wanted him of all people there because he gave her the confidence she always searched for.

Uno took a deep breath and spoke into the microphone. "The song I have for you today is called First Love. It is an original song I created by myself. The song is in Japanese so if you require the translations, I have asked that they be put in the back of the pamphlet you received upon entering, tonight."

Duo blinked and looked in the pamphlet—as did the rest of the audience. Brittany grinned.

"I bet she won't even know what she's saying." Brittany murmured; her friends giggled. Duo frowned and pressed his foot up against the legs of their chairs—they were seated in front of Duo and Ricky. Brittany turned around and looked at him scoffingly.

Uno took one more breath before signaling for the music to turn on. When it did, Relena and Quatre smiled; it was a nice, soft, and classical song. Uno began to hum, nervously, into the microphone to pass the time of the song until she was ready to sing. Quatre smiled, remembering when she asked for his help on learning to play the violin and piano and Trowa for the flute; he now knew why.

Uno shut her eyes and wished the world away as she began singing the lyrics she spent so much time on.

First Love is by Utada Hikaru; English translations is in parenthesis

"Saigo no KISU wa (In your final kiss)
TABAKO no flavor ga shita (I could taste the flavor of tobacco)
Nigakute setsunai kaori (It was a bitter and painful smell)

Ashita no imagoro niwa (At about this time tomorrow)
Anata wa doki ni irun darou (I wonder where you'll be)
Dare wo omotterun darou (I wonder who you'll be thinking of)

You are always gonna be my love (You are always gonna be my love)
Itsuka dareka to mata koi ni ochitemo (Even if someday, you fall in love with someone else)
I'll remember to love (I'll remember to love)
You taught me how (You taught me how)
You are always gonna be the one (You are always gonna be the one)
Ima wa mada kanashii love song (For now, it's still a sad love song)
Atarashii uta utaeru made (Until I can sing a new one)

Tachidomaru jikan ga (The time which has stopped)
Ugokidasou to shiteru (Is about to start again)
Wasuretakunai koto bakari (It's just that there are things I don't want to forget)

Ashita no imagoro niwa (At about this time tomorrow)
Watashi wa kitto naiteru (I'm sure I'll be crying)
Anata wo omotterun darou (And I'll probably be thinking of you)

You will always be inside my heart (You will always be inside my heart)
Itsumo anata dake no basho ga aru kara (Because it's a place that will forever be yours alone)
I hope that I have a place in your heart too (I hope that I have a place in your heart too)

Now and forever you are still the one (Now and forever you are still the one)
Ima wa mada kanashii love song (For now, it's still a sad love song)
Atarashii uta utaeru made (Until I can sing a new one)

You are always gonna be my love (You are always gonna be my love)
Itsuka dareka to mata koi ni ochitemo (Even if someday, you fall in love with someone else)
I'll remember to love (I'll remember to love)
You taught me how (You taught me how)
You are always gonna be the one (You are always gonna be the one)
Mada kanashii love song (It's still a sad love song)
Now and forever (Now and forever)"

As Uno sang, she was nervous, but after her first major chord, she forgot the audience was there and cherished the amazing voice she just recently found out she had. She echoed within the building, she shook the minds of those who had disliked her, she brought attention to herself by all she expected and those she had not. Duo's eyes were huge, his mouth ajar. Ricky was pretty much shocked just as Duo, but mainly because she kept singing and facing him, pointing her arm and hand movements in his direction. Heero was shocked as well because he understood all that she was saying, didn't struggle one bit—unless to get the words past shaky lips—and was even more amazed that she did pay attention and learned the language as he had wanted her too.

When Uno finished entirely and the song ended, she had kept her head bowed and softly stated into the mic, "thank you," before exiting.

When the Talent show ended, Duo stepped up to Uno with a big smile on his face.

"Uno! That was good!" Duo chanted.

Uno smiled weakly and faced Ricky "How was it?"

Ricky stared at her in a shocked expression because of the translations and how she practically sang it to him. "Uh…it uh…"

"That was beautiful, Uno." Quatre smiled.

"Thank you, Quatre." Uno replied, smiling.

"I especially like how you made your introduction before you sang; that really brought out the wonders of your song." Relena stated, smiling and rubbing the back of Uno's head gently. She faced Heero as he stepped up to the group.

"I guess you passed. You apparently have been paying attention."

Uno giggled.

"Uno." Uno turned around and faced Brittany. "What was all that crap? Glaring us when you were on stage?" Her friends surrounded her in a fashion and mocked at Uno.

"Um…what crap? Is it because I can sing and make my own stuff and you can't?" Uno blinked and shrugged.

"Uh!" Brittany and her friends looked shocked. "I can't believe you just said that! I'm the most popular girl in school; I can ruin you!" Brittany pointed at Uno.

Uno stood there without expression. "Right, and you say all this to me in front of my family. Real bright, Brittany."

"Why not? Better to let them learn now about how fake you really are rather than later on when it'll hurt more." Brittany smirked.

"Brittany, look around you and think wiser. You just got outmatched, the entire audience is watching you get outmatched again, and yet, you try and conquer over Uno! That's very stupid and a quick loss for your side!" Ricky shouted at her and opened his arms to show her the viewing public. Brittany blinked and looked around their surroundings. Uno rolled her eyes and walked away. "Skank." Ricky scoffed Brittany and followed Uno.

Duo blinked and bit his bottom lip. "You know…I have to agree with him. You're worse than Relena." Duo left with Heero who was smirking to meet up with the rest of the group outside at the car.

Uno stopped before leaving the school's building and looked over to where she last saw Mr. Merquise. She blinked and spun around to try and find him. She couldn't and she frowned.

"What?" Ricky asked.

"I can't find Mr. Merky; I saw him when I was on stage." Uno pouted.

"Oh well." Ricky shrugged. "Come on, let's go."

"Okay; but I wanted him to meet Duo."