Chapter 4: Kaitlyn
I stared questioningly in silence and then waved slightly at her before they completely disappeared in the crowd. As I headed back inside I heard the gentle rumble of an approaching storm.
'A perfect ending for one of the worst occasions of the year' I thought and closed the front door.
End
Heero awoke with a start. His alarm clock flashed 3:17. He sighed and wiped the perspiration from his forehead with the back of his hand. He didn't know what awoken him; his nightly reoccurring dream, the sudden clap of thunder from the incoming storm or maybe the faint, familiar sound he heard coming from downstairs.
Whatever it was, it didn't make a difference. He was fully awake now. Heero peeled off the sweat drenched sheets and swung is legs over the side of the bed. He neglected to put on his slippers as he headed down the stairs. His feet met uncomfortably with the cold tiles on the lower level as he headed to the front door.
The gentle reassuring sound of rain on the windows and roof broke the dead silence and loneliness the house seemed to radiate continuously. The sound of rain was comforting to Heero's ears. The shadows of the falling rain on the windowpanes danced shadows on Heero's skin as he passed by them one by one. The faint but distinct sound he'd heard in his dreams was heard again on the other side of the door. As Heero turned the knob, a flash of lightening illuminated the night and a crash of thunder followed soon after. This was the midnight crescendo. Sitting on the doorstep was a rain-soaked, shivering cat that appeared to be dark gray, almost black. Only the startling icy-blue of its eyes brought any remnants of recognition into Heero's mind. "Stupid cat," he muttered and picked up the shivering, starving fur ball after a moment's hesitation.
"Told you, you wouldn't make it out there tonight." He said as he took the hyperventilating feline upstairs to his bathroom.
He ran some warm water in a small basin and poured in some Badedas (the best bubble bath in all the world to me). He then submerged the terrified cat into the water and used a hard bristled scrubbing brush to scrub the feline clean. He used his naturally rough, uncaring hands to wash the areas where the brush would've been too harsh. The cat yowled pitifully throughout the entire ordeal. But Heero showed little mercy even so. It was then that he noticed a deep gash in the calico's back leg.
'Stupid cat, I wonder what happened…' he pondered as he poured the dirty, hair filled water out of the basin and went to the linen closet to find a towel for the now clean feline. He returned and his heart almost felt compassion for the shivering, scrawny, mass of hair. He hadn't noticed how small, and under-fed the cat really was the first time he'd seen him. He dried the cat with the towel mostly but used a hair dryer (don't know why he has one) to dry it the remainder of the way. Once dry, Heero attended to the cat's injury. He used those same rough, uncaring hands to gently administer a cleaning serum and wrap a bandage he'd found in his medicine cabinet around the wounded cat's limb. He then ventured to brush and comb the calico's matted hair. Using less care than he had when attending to the cat's injury, he pulled and tugged at the tangled hair. The poor cat dug its claws into Heero's arm in response to his unwarranted torture.
"You need a clipping" said Heero as he admired the four parallel deep scarlet scratches in his arm,"Hmh"
15 minutes later
"There" Heero muttered coldly in a self-satisfied way as he gazed on the now spotlessly clean, shining gray-silver coated feline that happened to have an excellent, if not professional, pedicure, an even over-all trim and a tightly bandaged hind leg.
"Bet you're hungry" he said and headed downstairs. The cat mewed in response and bounded ahead of Heero. He went to the kitchen and took out the customary bowls, pouring out the milk and dishing out the cat food. He watched half-interestedly as the cat attacked the food with a cannibal-like vengeance.
"Silly cat" he smirked, shaking his head as he left the kitchen to go the tv room. 'Another night of late night cartoons' he reminisced as he sat on the couch and switched the television on. It wasn't too long before Ices joined him and curled up quite comfortably on his lap and fell fast asleep. He looked down at the sleeping cat, half-amused. He smirked and cautiously stroked the sleeping feline almost affectionately as he undertoned,
"Who'd have thought…"
The Next Morning
Periwinkle blue eyes fluttered open exhaustedly as they awoke to the blinding rays of the persistent-to-annoy morning sun. He blinked unsurely as his eyes began to adjust the bright light. A sudden wave of relief and calm washed over Heero at that moment as he sat in silence. This feeling was rare and Heero cherished every small moment of its presence. He groaned slightly as he stretched upward to get the kinks out of his back as the remnants of the feeling disappeared. In doing this, he unwittingly deposited, the sleeping, Ices from his lap onto the floor. The neglected feline miaowed faintly at its rude awakening and then rubbed against Heero's legs affectionately.
"Hmh, duty calls," he said groggily and stood up to go to the kitchen to feed the eternally hungry feline.
Later that Day
After letting Ices out for his daily romp, Heero went to his study. He slumped comfortably in his scarlet chair in thought. He booted up his laptop and opened a file, he codenamed his 'DreamBook'. He went to end of his last entry and was thinking of where to begin in today's entry.
It happened that not long after he'd begun having his strange dreams had he started to record them in his 'Dream Book'. He felt that maybe someday he'd figure it all out. Keeping records of all the odd memories that decided to reveal themselves every so often and recording what he could remember from his dreams may prove helpful one day in unlocking the mystery of his faded memories.
He slowly began to type, in a self-customized 'hand-written-like' font that only he could decipher, all that he remembered from his dream the previous night and the memory that had surfaced when he confronted the dark-haired stranger, Trowa Barton and most of all about his unprecedented fascination and the odd feeling he got from being around this Trowa Barton.
As Heero tried desperately to find the right words to describe the experience, his eyes wondered out of the window that was stationed directly in front of the study table. His eyes glazed over and an empty expression filled his features as the words slowly developed in his mind. He was so deep in thought that he didn't notice the tinkling sound that grew louder but no less majestic as it drew nearer. Had he been aware, he would've realized that the barely audible scattering of gravel and the almost silent whirring sound that accompanied the enigmatic tinkling, indicated a two maybe three wheeled, manually operated contraption, most likely a bicycle. And if he had been somewhat more observant than he was momentarily, he might've even been able to distinguish the make, model and origin of the cycle and even the age, height and apparent sex of the cyclist him/herself. But he was not aware.
So he did not notice a small child on a tricycle approach his front gate, although the view from the study provided a full view of the front yard. He did not notice that she sat on her bike for almost ten full minutes staring just as blankly at his house as he stared into the void known as space. He did not notice when she took off her over-sized neon pink helmet and rested it in the white basket on the front of her tricycle. He didn't notice her pedaling the bike toward his front door either. He only noticed the soft, steady knocking on his front door that was starting to greatly annoy him. He groaned, aggravatedly and withdrew from his thoughts as he went to open the front door.
A little girl, of no more than five years old with wispy silvery blond hair that was pulled back into a sloppy, frizzy ponytail, with intelligent, expressive cat-green eyes, a pudgy delicate physique and wearing a sunflower yellow sundress under a light-weight crème sweater, stood on his doorstep.
"Kaitlyn?" said Heero a bit confused.
"Hi mister" she grinned at Heero.
"Hi" he said, still a bit perplexed, "What are you doing here?"
She stared at him with those full-expression-filled eyes, twinkling with a curious, unclear emotion. Interest? Joy? Sadness? She was hiding something…
"I was just passing by and I remembered that you lived around here,"
Something about the way those eyes gleamed and jittered made Heero believe otherwise. The desire to question her came over him but somehow it didn't feel appropriate or in his nature to yield to it…
Heero's POV
My attention and steady flow of words were disrupted by a soft, almost inaudible knock at the front door. 'Who the fuck is that?' was my first thought. When observing the time and that fact that the mail and newspaper had already been delivered earlier, I eliminated the possibility of it being either the mailman or the paperboy. No one else ever came to my house, a fact in which I grew to accept and appreciate. So this new revelation of someone at my door at this time of day was well deserving of my crude mental remark, 'Who the fuck is that?'
I unraveled myself from my comfortable position and got up to find out. I went to the front door in my socks, forgetting the proper etiquette of foot apparel, and I opened it. I glared heatedly at my unwelcomed guest. I felt my glare soften and eventually evaporate when my eyes met with those of the unwanted intruder. There on my doorstep was the little kid I'd met the night prior, grinning uncontrollably at me. I must admit that she looked quite different now. She wasn't wearing the garbage bag anymore and her face was no longer splotchy from crying. Those startlingly green eyes were non-existent now as her eyes were a vivid blue. The only thing to testify for my sanity in believing that she did have green eyes, was the barely visible flecks of turquoise that glittered in her irises ever so often.
"Kaitlyn?" I inquired. Those bright eyes glittered ever the more as she began to speak.
"Hi, mister" she said, that ridiculously excited expression pasted on her face.
"What are you doing here?" I asked blandly, no expression escaping my mental grasp.
Her eyes twinkled with her child-like emotions. "I was passing by and I remembered that you lived around here." She smiled broadly. This entirely new personality puzzled me a bit. The expression that covered her face now was far different than those which I had witnessed the night prior. These eyes were brimming with joy and ecstasy now, while sadness and worry had warped them into dark, murky orbs of confusion the night before.
Somewhere deep inside of me, I realized a small significant fact. There was no genuinity in her eyes although a happy, healthy glow overshadowed her face radiantly. Moodiness and childishness would've been enough to explain her change in awkward character but I reasoned differently. A wall. I saw passed this obstruction and her acquired demeanor and realized the farce she played.
'Why was she doing this' was a question going through my mind right then but then again the most important question that needed answering was, 'Why now?' I had seen her off guard the night before and I'd seen the underlying sadness and unknown emotion she felt, almost clearly in those murky, overflowing eyes. Even now with her mask, so perfectly constructed, I could still see the hint of a similar sadness that would always linger there behind her smile. Only now, the task was harder. To see the true pain she hid, I had to break down that wall of endless green and stare into those deep, turmoiling blue pools of emotion. Yes, within the space of mere seconds I'd realize the secret of her chameleon eyes.
I knew something was amiss but other people's affairs were never my interest and I didn't plan to change my path now…yet for some reason I did care…but I wonder why?
I withdrew from my solitary thoughts and smiled slightly as I pondered on her beaming face for a second more. I barely had concluded my thoughts and settled on an adequate decision, when I heard myself say almost naturally,
"Do you want to come in?"
Something alien flashed beneath that wall of happiness but was quickly replaced by a broadened cheshire cat smile. As she made her way passed me the chatter began. At that very second I somehow realized that all hope I had of completing my record that day was dashed. I found a comfortable position and sat for the next four hours listening to her childish nothingness with half-interest. I'm sure she realized this, being as intelligent as she was, but again I believe that she didn't care. It was as though had she stopped talking, something bad would happen. The hours passed and the sun began to dip. She looked out the window at the setting sun and sighed and her eyes began to glaze over. A hint of green flashed in her eyes but was chased away by a sudden psuedo smile. She turned to me, grinning, "Well, I have to go. Maybe I'll pass by later."
I didn't respond, not knowing what 'later' meant. She got up and headed to the door.
"Good-bye mister" she said and took a last glance at me before she closed the door behind her.
'That's that' I hoped as I locked the door. I went back to the study and settled down to finish my report, unaware of my unpreparedness for what was to come the next day and the next, and the day after that and the next and…Well, to be honest, had I known what I had done when I invited her inside, I would've realized that all hope of 'enjoying' the quiet of my home ever again was now nonexistent. So from then forth, it became a daily routine, awkward and annoying at first but somewhat acceptable and natural as the days went by. She came at exactly at two 'o' clock in the afternoon and chattered nonstop for hours straight, and then she'd leave to go home before it grew dark. After maybe upon the fourth day of her 'visits' I made things easy on myself and just left the front door open. She knew where the refrigerator was if she got hungry and the bathroom if she needed to relieve herself and the living room if she got bored. So I didn't have to cater to her like I felt I had to the first few days. The status of 'guest' no longer applied to her 1. She was now what I called an 'accepted presence'. Some days she was as hyper and out of control as the first day she stopped by and milled around chaotically, while other days we could sit down and talk about something of mutual interest but these days were rare, or yet other days she'd just come and sit and watch the television quietly, excluding the occasional giggle sessions, thus allowing me to get some sort of work done.
The following Week
By now, I'd grown accustomed to Kaitlyn's daily rampage of my house and grew to accept it but today something was wrong. She was different. She came in precisely at two like always but what was strange was that she said nothing. I hardly noticed her or realized that she was even there. Only the gentle click of the door closing behind her signaled my awareness. I didn't mind this. It meant I could get some work done without her bothering me but somehow it didn't seem right. I didn't hear her voice, her annoying frenzied giggling or even the noise of the television. All I heard was the echoing, uninviting quietness and emptiness of the walls all around. I felt that maybe I should go and see what she was up to but my endless piles of work called louder to me and I remained put, but finally after maybe two hours from the time she'd arrived, I went to check on her. She was sitting with her back to me. Her hair was frizzy and messy as usual "Kaitlyn?" I said
"…" she didn't respond. I walked around to the front of the couch. . She was staring at the blank TV screen silently. A faint hint of her famous cheshire cat smile tugging at the corner of her mouth but slowly evaporating into nothingness. I wanted to ask her what was bothering her but all I managed to do was turn on the television and hand her the remote. She blankly took the device from me and switched the channels carelessly. The television finally settled on Cartoon Network and she still sat there, oblivious of her actions as she stared off into a void beyond that which her eyes could see. I left her and returned to my study unnoticed, wondering, 'What could a five year old be thinking?'
An Hour Later
As I was typing up the conclusion to my report, my eyes wavered to the clock at the bottom right edge of the computer screen. It was 5:43. I looked out of the study window and noticed that the sun was falling from the sky as a firey ball of heat. It was time for her to go but I doubt she noticed, so I got up and went to the living room to remind her.
"It's late Kaitlyn" I said, "I think you should go home….Kaitlyn?" She vaguely acknowledged me as she turned her head toward me that glassy look still clouding her eyes. For an instant, I thought I saw a glimmer of green. Some vague hope… but a sea of blue soon drowned it, as a 'smile' lit up her face again but its warmth never quite reached her eyes…
(End POV)
She got up from the couch and nodded at Heero as she readjusted her open sweater. She wordlessly headed toward the door and was just about to open it when she turned back to him. "Thanks mister" "Yuy" he said "What?" she said, perplexed"My name's Heero Yuy, if you've forgotten" which he strongly doubted.
She smiled almost genuinely, "Mr. Yuy" she said returning her gaze toward the inferno-colored sky as she still stood in the doorway lost in thought. Heero was just about to go back to his study and allow her to close the door beside herself when she finally visited reality again but was interrupted by her voice in mid-step.
"Come with me" she finally managed to say and looked back upon Heero with hope in her eyes.
Heero was really looking forward to completing his report but the look in her eyes stirred something inside of him and made him reconsider.
"Well..." she said as she sat on her tricycle and watched the emotionless, speechless Heero look at her with those piercing winter blue eyes for almost two minutes without blinking… "Are you coming?"
"Okay," he finally said and grabbed his house keys from off the front table and closed the door behind him.
Kaitlyn stayed by his side as they journeyed in silence. Heero didn't know where they were going or what to expect. After almost five minutes of walking at a relatively slow pace, Heero looked at the little girl.
"Where are we going?" he asked. Kaitlyn didn't return the gaze as she continued to pedal slowly. Minutes had passed and it appeared that he wouldn't be getting an answer but then in a small, almost indistinct voice, he caught the one solitary word she offered.
"Home"
TO BE Continued…
AN: I am so tired. I would post the next chapter but I'm too tired to type it and edit it today. Maybe next month…lol. Just joking…I think…o well, we'll see.
I need to speed this along, don't you think? Only for the love of…ahem…Net am I taking so long with this. 'Description Chara, description…blah, blah…' Frankly, I'm tired but I will live up to my promise nonetheless. I am determined to finish this as I started it, no short cuts…I think (glances around to make sure Net's not looking…muwahahahahahahaha). Somebody pleez remind me that next time I make Net a promise pertaining to writing, it's a oneshot.
1 This applies to me when I go to Net and V's house. Their mom told me this quite frankly the first time I ever went over to visit them. She scared me…(whimpers)… but it's all good now.