Together Again – Part 2
"Before I was a Gundam Pilot, I was an orphan. Most of my life, though, I didn't remember how I got to be an orphan. There were always unanswered questions in my mind. Who where my parents? What happened to them? Did I have any other family, and if so where they still alive somewhere, waiting for me to find them? During the war, I didn't have time to worry about my past, only try to live my life from day to day and survive another battle. Even after the Eve Wars I didn't worry about it too much. I'd come to accept what I was and move on with my life. Then a man approached me a few days before the Mariemaia incident..."
One year ago
L2 Colony…
"Duo Maxwell?" a gruff voice said from behind the tall teen. Duo wiped his hands off on a towel and turned to face the man. He was tall, lanky but muscular like Trowa, with Heero's cold blue eyes, thick, curly blonde hair, and a no-nonsense look.
"That's me. What can I do for you?" Duo said with his usual smile.
"I have information regarding your family." The man stated simply, holding out a thick envelope to Duo. Duo's smile faded instantly and he became ashen as his hands began to shake.
"M-m-my…family?"
"There was pictures, a few personal items, birth and death certificates, documents on how they died…"
"Who?"
"My mother, father…and…baby sister…"
"So this information…? Did it spark anything?"
"Not right away, though. I would spend hours staring at the pictures, reading the documents over and over again. But nothing ever came to me. It was like I was looking at some one else's family, reading over some one else's life."
"Did you ever remember?"
"Yeah…after the Mariemaia incident, Quatre told us that he owned a large property outside a small town in Oregon, and there was a school near by. He said that we all should go back and try to have some semi normal lives as teenagers while we still could. The only reason I agreed was because my business was about to go belly up. About two months in to the school year, I started having horrible night mares about murder and other things."
"Where they memories?"
"Quatre knew I'd found out about my family…about the man giving me those documents, and suggested I try letting him hypnotize me to bring out the memories, hoping maybe I would sleep better knowing the truth."
"So… did you find out the truth?"
"Yeah…and let me tell you, it wasn't pretty…"
A.C. 186
L2 Colony…
Six-year-old Duo watched as his father franticly threw clothing and other items in to a suitcase. His mother was standing by watching as well, worriedly biting on her lower lip and trying hard not to shake. Duo remembered how he always thought his mother was so beautiful. She was slender, petite, with long, flowing chestnut brown hair down to her ankles and large, loving eyes that always betrayed her true emotions. She seemed like a goddess to Duo, almost unreal but always there with a loving touch to soothe any ache or pain.
His father was handsome, as she was beautiful; tall and muscular, with swept back auburn hair, chiseled face, and narrow but kind dark green eyes. He was a military man at one time, working for the government before the Alliance took over. Now he was a rouge, working for any who wished to do away with the tyrannical Alliance.
"Satoru, are you sure?" Duo's mother asked her husband with worry, "They could be bluffing." She reasoned.
"Azalyn…" Satoru said with an exasperated sigh, "The Alliance does not bluff. Now please help me get things ready. We have to be two steps ahead of them." Azalyn bit her lip even harder, but moved to help him pack.
Neither saw young Duo hiding behind the cracked door.
What's going on? Why are they packing things and why is Mom so worried?
"Duo?" a tiny voice came from behind him. Duo spun around only to see his sleepy green eyed four year old sister standing there, her auburn hair tousled and all over the place.
"Hiyami!" Duo hissed, "What are you doing up?"
"Same to you!" Hiyami snapped grouchily.
"SHH!" Duo hissed, not wanting to get caught. Too late. Duo looked up just as Azalyn opened the door.
"How long have you been out here, Duo?" she asked.
"Momma…what's going on? Why's Daddy packing stuff?" Duo asked in a slightly accusing tone.
"Duo…" Azalyn bit her lip again and lifted her tired daughter off the floor, heading for the stairs, "We're going on a trip." Hiyami attempted to wriggle out of her mother's arms, but found it useless and put her thumb in her mouth, leaning her head against Azalyn's shoulder.
"A trip?" Duo echoed as he followed his mother. An unplanned trip? It didn't seem right. Duo's father was very methodical. Any trip or vacation that was to be taken was well planned and completely organized and prepared for anything before anyone set foot in the family car.
"Why would we be going on a trip? We haven't planed for it." Duo stated as they entered the room that he and Hiyami shared. Azalyn laid her daughter in her bed, pulling up the covers to her chin and kissing her forehead before answering Duo.
"Well, something unexpected came up. We have to leave as soon as we're ready. So why don't you try to get some sleep? We'll be leaving very early."
"I can't sleep." Azalyn sighed.
"Then you can help me pack you and your sister." She said warily. Duo nodded and went to the closet, attempting to drag out the large suitcase placed in there. Azalyn came over and helped him lift the heavy object and the two began packing.
"Bring only what you can carry, and enough clothes for two weeks or so." Azalyn was saying as she placed clothing in the suitcase. The two packed in silence for a while, Hiyami sleeping soundly in her bed.
"You're worried, Momma." Duo finally stated, breaking the silence as he handed her items to pack. Azalyn sighed deeply and placed her hands firmly on top of the clothes.
"Yes, I am honey. Some one…a member of your father's family is in trouble, and we're both very worried about him. That's why we need to go as soon as we can. We're going to see what we can do to help." She lied.
"What kind of trouble?" Duo asked curiously.
"That's enough question's for now, D-" The sound of glass shattering in the kitchen down stairs brought Azalyn's head shooting up, her eyes wide and trembling with fear.
"What was that?" Duo asked, starting to get up from his kneeled position on the floor. Azalyn placed an arm his shoulder.
"Your father probably dropped a glass. Stay here and pack the rest of the bags for me." She said, leaving him with his sleeping sister. For a while Duo thought nothing of it, folding clothes while he hummed a nameless tune to himself.
After about two minutes of packing, Duo began to get restless, wondering what was taking his mother so long. He got his answer in the form of a terrified scream that shook the poor child straight down to his bones. Duo jumped to his feet and his sister jolted awake.
"Duo? What was that? Where's Mommy?" she wined. Duo could only shake his head.
"NO! STOP IT!" Azalyn suddenly screamed from down stairs. Hiyami quickly grew frightened.
"Duo, what's going on!" she screamed. Duo grabbed his sister's hand and pulled her out of bed, taking off for the stairs.
"I don't know, but we're gonna find out." He said with determination as he took off down the stairs with his sister in tow. They reached the end of the stairs and snuck to the kitchen door, both children peering fearfully around the corner. Hiyami cried out at the sight of their father laying on the ground, severely beaten and cut and their mother being held back by a man in an Alliance uniform, not to mention five other Alliance men standing around with silencers.
"DA-" Duo grabbed his sister's mouth and ducked back in to the shadows just as once of the men looked over.
"Shhh…" Duo said with his finger to his lips, "If you yell out those men'll kill Daddy. Do you want that?" Hiyami shook her head, her large even bigger with fear, "Then keep quiet." Hiyami and Duo returned to their hiding place, watching the scene before them with horror.
"Tell me where Sargent Wilkins is." One of the Alliance officers said to Satoru. He groaned and replied, "I don't know," Duo knew who Sargent Wilkins was. He was a family friend who had gone on the run, and Duo's father knew exactly where he was.
The officer got angry and kicked Satoru hard in his gut. Azalyn screamed again.
"LEAVE HIM ALONE! HE'S TELLING THE TRUTH!" she cried out, tears spilling down her cheeks.
"Shut up! Shut her up!" The officer yelled. Azalyn was silenced by a hard fist to her gut. Hiyami and Duo grimaced at the hit but remained quiet. The officer picked Satoru up by his collar, bringing their faces inches from each other.
"I will ask you only one last time. Where is Sargent Wilkins hiding?" he seethed.
"I told you, I don't know. He just left." Satoru replied coldly. The officer dropped the beaten man to the floor and evenly told his men, "Kill them both."
Azalyn screamed and fought against her restraints, tears falling from her cheeks like tiny rivers as the three remaining officers aimed their silencers at Satoru. He closed his eyes and breathed, "I'm sorry, Azalyn." A single tear fell from his eyes.
Duo turned away and pulled his sister close, holding her tight against his chest as the officers pulled the triggers. Azalyn screamed again. Four more shots. Azalyn was silent. Duo didn't want to look in the kitchen, but something inside him had to know what was happening. His sister sobbing against his chest, Duo peeked around the corner.
His mother lay atop his father, blood soaking both of them and a pool of crimson slowly spreading out around him. Duo felt bile rise in his throat.
"Oh God…" he muttered, swallowing the lump in his throat. The officer that ordered the kill looked over, directly at Duo with icy blue eyes.
"There!" he cried out. Duo gasped and pulled his sister away, grabbing on to her and tugging her along.
"RUN!" He screamed, making a b-line for the stairs, the soldiers in hot pursuit.
"Don't leave any witnesses!" the officer was yelling as they ran.
God, I don't want to die! Momma…Daddy…why is this happening to us!
Duo bolted up the stairs with his sister, not really having any idea where he was going to hide or how he was going to keep him and his sister safe. Just as they reached the top of the stairs Hiyami tripped and fell to the ground. Duo spun around, ready to run back for his sister when a soldier grabbed her from behind and lifted her up by her hair, holding a knife to her throat.
"DUO!" Hiyami screamed shrilly, reaching out for her brother.
"Don't move or I slit her throat, kid." He said with a sadistic smile. Duo at the down stairs hall way and saw another soldier with a silencer trained right on him. Duo was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Before he could even react to either situation, though, the sniper downstairs fired. Duo reacted the only way he knew how: jump out of the way. He rolled to the ground and looked up, only to see the knife whip across his sister's throat and bright crimson blood spill over her white night gown. She stared at him with unseeing green eyes as she fell to the ground.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Duo howled, "HIYAMI!" The soldier grinned.
"I told you not to move." He said. Duo noticed the roller skate lying down by his hand. The soldier pulled out his silencer and prepared to shoot Duo, but never saw the flying skate coming. The gun was knocked from the soldiers' hand.
"ARG! DAMN YOU KID!" he cursed, holding his injured hand. Duo jumped to his feet and bolted for his room, slamming the door and locking it. He stood back, staring at the door with wide eyes. It only took a few seconds for the soldier to recover his gun, and then he was down the hall, banging on the door.
"Open up! OPEN THE GOD DAMN DOOR KID!" he was screaming.
They killed my sister…they killed my sister… was all that was going through Duo's mind. There was a loud crash and the door suddenly began to splinter.
"Oh no…" Duo muttered. He searched franticly for an escape, a hiding place, anything that could save his life. The only option he saw was the window, but he was on the second story. How could one so small survive a fall like that? Then he remembered his father telling him something.
"If there's ever a fire and you're trapped up here, Duo, the only way out would be the window,"
"Yeah, but wouldn't I die falling so far, Dad?"
"The best way for any one to survive a far fall is roll when you fall, that way the impact wouldn't be all on one part of your body."
"Roll?"
"Yeah…run for the window, jump through it, put your arms up like this to protect your face from the glass, and tuck your body under like so…"
The image of his father showing him what to do came to mind.
It's the only way I'm going to live…
The door splintered again, ready to give way at any second. Duo stood back and aimed himself with the window. The door broke as the solider rammed in to it one last time, chunks of wood flying all over the place. Duo took off running for the window. He put his arms over his face and ducked his head down, his heart going a million as he charged the window. The soldier just watched in shock as the bratty kid with long brown hair ran for the window.
Duo's body screamed in pain as he pummeled through the glass and wood barrier, glass slicing in to his skin. He felt the sickening sensation of falling as he drifted to the ground. For a second it almost felt like he was floating, like he wasn't even alive any more…like it was dream or something. Then reality came crashing in when he hit the ground like a ton of bricks, rolling on the cool grass. He felt his leg snap but didn't scream out in pain. When he finally came to a stop he just lay there on his side, looking back up at the window and the soldier leaning out. Duo closed his eyes, hoping to convince the soldier that the fall killed the young child.
"He jumped!" he heard him call out to some one. Duo opened his eyes a crack. The soldier had left the window, meaning it was time to high tail it out of there before they found out he wasn't dead. Some how finding the strength, Duo got him self up, found a large tree branch to use as a cane, and limped to the near by park, collapsing near some bushes.
He felt like he wasn't far enough, but it was all his body could take. Images of his family's death flashed through his mind. He once again saw his sister's blank eyes staring at him, so helpless and scared. His stomach couldn't take it. He doubled over and heaved up everything, tears spilling down his cheeks as the acid burned his throat. He fell to the ground, crying and sobbing.
"Momma…Daddy…Hiyami…I'm sorry! Oh, God…I'm sorry!" he screamed through his sobbing. He crawled over to a gap between two bushes, in pain, sick, tired, and scared out of his mind. The colony passed by Earth, the blue and green marble filling the huge window of the colony. The blue and green blurred as tears fell from Duo's eyes.
I promise…I'll make them pay…someday…
That was the only thing the young boy remembered when he woke up the next morning.
"Oh god…Duo…I…"
"You don't have to say anything."
"Is there anything to say?"
"No…"