Thank you for the hits and the reviews! This drabble is sad... ;;
Theme #1: C – 'Calling'
Word Count: 1021
Lacus knew that it would happen tonight. She could just see it in his weary eyes. As she kneeled down on the floor beside the bed, she swept the damp, blonde locks from Trey's hot forehead. He smiled at her weakly.
Trey was one of the oldest orphans that they had at Rev. Malcio's place. Since he had first come to the orphanage, he had been a frail child who hadn't acted like normal children his age. They soon found out why. Not nine months after the end of the Battle of Jakin Due, he had collapsed and his diagnosis had been a very sad time. By losing both his parents to a chemical attack when he was only six had caused amnesia and mutations in his genes. He had a rare form of Leukaemia that couldn't be treated.
It came as a shock to Lacus, who had always been close to him. She felt helpless when all she could do was make his last few months as happy and as comfortable as possible. He had seemed okay at first, but in the last two weeks, he had been unable to walk, his health deteriorating rapidly.
She knew that he would pass away tonight and she felt that he knew this too. As he coughed feebly, Lacus felt herself choking up inside. 13 years old was too young to die when there was peace; when it was a long-term result of war.
And Trey was so wise for his age. It was as if he had lived a longer life than thirteen years. He knew things that children shouldn't have the knowledge to think about. He wasn't naive in any way. All the times that he hadn't played with the other children; all the time when he had acted differently to them, it was as if he had been thinking about the world and growing up because he knew that the evitable would happen at this age.
Suddenly, although his grey eyes turned and were looking someway past her, he spoke, his voice weak and equally clam, "I'm going to die tonight, aren't I, Lacus-san."
It was more of a statement than a question and Lacus gently grabbed his hands in hers. They were so cold, "Trey…"
A solitary tear rolled down her cheek. She wanted to be strong, but…She looked upwards from kneeling as she felt a pair of hands settle on her shoulders. Kira gazed deeply into her eyes, comforting her, willing her on.
"You gave me a present, Lacus-san."
"Shh, don't talk Trey, you need the energy…"
He continued, fire burning in his grey eyes, "You…showed me what it was like to have a family; to be normal, what having a mother could be like, if…"
Lacus put her hand to her mouth, squeezing Trey's cold hand with the other. His words brought back a memory from a couple of years ago when she had visited the children.
"Lacus-san? Why don't I remember my mummy and daddy?"
Lacus smiled sadly, "You were hurt when you were younger: that's why you don't remember. Mummy and Daddy are in heaven, Trey. Although you may not remember their faces of the kind words they said to you, in your heart, they are there and you know them and they know you."
Trey bit his lip, "But I'm not like the other children. I don't play like them. I don't even know what its like to have a family. I'll never be normal. Go away, I hate you! "
Lacus closed her eyes, 'He remembered…'
"You gave me a present, I'm normal…" whispered Trey once again.
Lacus felt Kira's hands tighten on her shoulders. She was about to say something when she saw something in his face: a peace that was already gathering. She wouldn't disturb that peace now.
Lacus wiped her teary eyes, "You go into that peace now, Trey."
Trey's breath quivered, "You don't blame me for all the times I've hated you?"
"I don't blame you for anything."
His eyes looked to hers again and she could see that he was not afraid, "I'll never forget you…Lacus-san…mother…I never realised that you were my family."
Lacus' throat once again constricted as he called her his mother and Trey's hands were now icy cold, "Go Trey, go quick…your parents are waiting…"
He wheezed, "They're calling me…"
A mist gathered in his eyes and his chest became still as he smiled one last time and closed his eyes, his hand limp in Lacus' clasp. He looked so peaceful and she knew that he was happy. She laid his hand down next to him and stood up before planting one last kiss onto his forehead as she had done every night, "Sweet dreams, Trey…"
And then she was in Kira's arms, his embrace tight yet gentle. She trembled in his arms as sadness overtook her and she buried her face into Kira's shoulder. He laced his fingers through her soft hair, mumbling soothing words to calm her. His lips gently brushed her forehead in a kiss of comfort. After a long moment she pulled back to look at his pained face, his hands loose around her waist. She could see that he as upset as well and he broke the silence:
"Nothing really dies as long as it's not forgotten."
She smiled sadly and knew that he was right. She knew that he was thinking about the deaths of the war and Lacus remembered her own Father. They would never forget Trey in the same way that they would never forgot the others. She hugged Kira tightly once more and they stayed in that embrace for a long time before she spoke as well.
"Trey…he gave us a gift too."
"Lacus?"
She smiled in his shoulder, "We're never alone. There's always someone looking out for us, alive and breathing or alive through someone else. We've just got to look out for them and tell them that we're there for them always."
Kira embraced her more tightly, as if acknowledging her words. Lacus closed her eyes. They stayed like that for a long time.
That was one long drabble! Please read and review! Next theme is 'Dream for me'