Alright, here's chapter one. Read and Review!

Disclaimer: I don't own GW or ANYTHING!

Searching for Family

Chapter 1

The bell rang. Children of all ages poured out of the red brick elementary school, the younger ones rushing home to tell their parents about their first day of school, while the older ones hung back for a few more minutes to chat with their friends with whom they had lost touch with over the summer. One particular girl with deep blue eyes and dark brown hair ran out of her pre-school class into the waiting arms of her uncle in the front field. He was kneeling on one knee, and she just reached his shoulder. She was so excited that her words were rushed and the man called Heero Sato, once Heero Yuy, could only make out a few select words such as painting, recess, and fun.

He laughed a deep rich laugh that made his niece, Jayden, start giggling. She hugged him and he put her down. The four year old restarted her speech, knowing that he didn't understand it the first time, and took her uncle's hand as she began to lead him home.

"Oh Uncle Heero, you should have been there, we played tag, and soccer at recess, and inside we first introduced everybody! There are eighteen people in my class! Isn't that big? I made two new friends! TWO! Their names are Brittany and Ariel. We sit and eat lunch at the same table. Oh I can't wait until I go back tomorrow!"

"You're already thinking about tomorrow Jayden? We haven't even gotten home yet. You should calm down; your mother is not going to be able to listen to all this noise like I can." Heero explained with a smile as the pair walked up the path to their house.

The red crumbling house which Heero had arrived at nearly five years ago looked brand new. Since he had returned, he began doing repairs. He had repainted, renovated and he had even built a new addition to the house, a nursery, which had later turned into Jayden's room once she had grown out of it. He had kept everything how it had been; only upgrades had been done. Every time he looked at it, he felt a sense of pride, knowing that this was his place of residence, and that he had worked hard to make sure it was presentable. He had even created a garden which he kept up all year round in the fixed climate of the colony.

Jayden released his hand as they came to the front steps of the house, and ran inside to tell her mother of the day's events, knowing full well that her mom could never tire of listening to her talk.

By the time Heero reached the kitchen Jayden had already reported everything that she had to Heero to her mother. When he walked in, she grabbed his hand, and grabbed her mom's hand and exclaimed "You are the best family ever!" before running out the door.

"Well, she seems to like school," Jayden's mother Ella said to Heero after she had left the room.

"You're telling me. She wouldn't stop talking on the way home from school."

"Oh you're one to talk, remember your first day of university? You talked more then you had the entire time you had lived with me!"

Heero only smiled and walked out the door to his room, thinking about what she said. It still unnerved him when Ella said me in context like that. She was referring to his family, her. She was the only one left of their family. When he returned that day nearly five years ago, she explained how her parents, their parents, he corrected, had died.

They had found a clue to their lost son's whereabouts, his whereabouts, and while further investigating the information, Dr. J caught on to them. He had ordered them killed, Heero supposed, but Ella only knew that they were killed while looking for him. Ella had been sixteen, and Heero had been thirteen, training to be a gundam pilot. Ella was old enough to maintain the house on her own, but she had had to drop out of school. She worked as a waitress in a local restaurant and had only made enough money to support a very modest lifestyle. When she found out she had become pregnant at the age of nineteen, she realized that she would not be able to keep working the stressful hours and keep her job. She had decided to put herself on welfare when Heero showed up on her doorstep. He had told her he would protect her and that she could rest and let him take care of all the financial worries.

He smiled thinking about her reaction to that. When he told her he would get a job and help her out as long as he was allowed to live with her she had nearly fainted. Excited was an understatement to what she had felt. And the fact that Heero was glad that he was the one who had made her this happy showed just how much he had grown over the past five years.

As soon as Ella had been able to return to work, she had. Heero had been told to do what his heart desired, and was forbidden to return to the contracting job he had been working with for the first year of their reunion. It took him a while but he figured out that his happiest memories of the war were when he was fixing his gundam, and he decided to become an engineer. After a year and a half of university, Heero received a degree for mechanical and electrical engineering, a dual degree that should take a regular person around six years to complete.

While internally reliving some of his fonder moments at university, Heero came to his room and collapsed on his bed. He went through the highlights of his career and came to the same thoughts that he had been thinking for the past few months. After graduating, Heero had taken a position at the mining satellite owned by the Winner Corporation attached to his colony. He started at an entrance level position, but soon was promoted to chief engineer of his division. He had held that position for one year when he was promoted again. He was now at the highest position available to someone without management experience. And although his job was strenuous and sometimes quite stressful, he found it lacking. It was dull and repetitive and Heero found himself wanting more.

Instead of waiting for another promotion, he had spoken to the representative from the Winner Corporation Headquarters and explained his emotions, but that had been two weeks ago and Heero had decided not to wait any longer. He had called his friend, the former gundam pilot Quatre Raberba Winner, CEO of the Winner Corporation earlier that day and explained the situation. He was currently waiting for Quatre to return the call.

He chuckled. The thought of Heero Yuy, the gundam pilot, asking an ally for a favour was quite humorous. But he had stopped being Heero Yuy the first time Ella hugged him. Heero Sato, uncle, brother and Chief Engineer of the Winner Satellite in the L1 colony cluster, had friends, laughed, and was a normal person. Heero laughed out loud at that thought, after five years of living like a civilian, he could barely remember being a soldier.

He woke from his reverie as Ella called him to come see what was showing on the television.

"It's her again," she stated when Heero entered the room. 'Her' was Relena Dorlain. The girl Heero had left behind for his normal civilian life. Ella had talked him into telling her all that had happened before he found her and Jayden, though it had taken her a while to get him to reveal what had happened between the two teenagers. But she now knew what had happened during the war, and what had happened after, which was very little. She knew he had saved her life, after vowing to kill her. She knew that after the Mariemaia rebellion Heero had kissed her. She knew when he had called her a week after he moved in, and she knew about the videophone calls that she made once a year. She also knew that Heero loved to watch her whenever she was on television, so he could keep up with what she was doing.

This particular day there was a showing of what went on during the discussions at the government. They regularly did this so that the public could give feedback and they would take the public's opinion into consideration for the final decision. Heero settled into a chair and prepared for the four o'clock discussion.

A reporter flashed on the screen to announce the topic for today's discussion: 'Revealing the Identities of the Lost Gundam Pilots.' Heero's heart jumped into his throat at the broadcast.

"Jayden," Ella began, looking at her brother with concern. "Why don't you go play with those new toys you just got?"

She looked around confused; she had heard the strangled sound Heero had made, yet she was unable to figure out why she was being sent away. So she just trusted her family, like always, and left without questioning her mother.

As she left, Heero sent Ella a worried look, the same question running through both of their minds. The decision of keeping his and his friends identities a secret had been made four years ago, so what had occurred to bring the issue back to discussion? Instead of figuring it out right away, he decided to see what they were discussing.

The television showed the same setting it always showed during the 'open discussion.' A wide circular room, with teal carpets and cream coloured walls was full of mahogany tables which were housed my politicians of all shape, size and colour. The floor was lowest in the center and there were four microphones set on plain stands for anyone who wanted the floor. Marcello Stevens, a man around Heero's age was standing at the center microphone. His black hair was short and gelled neatly in place. His green eyes were piercing, but most people found them trusting or understanding. Heero and Ella both recognized him, but from different places. Heero knew him because he had tried, and failed, to pursue a romantic relationship with Relena, while Ella had seen him in the latest entertainment magazine, being portrayed as the 'sexiest man in politics.'

He began to speak. He reiterated every one of the premises which had been decided against four years ago. The pilots were capable terrorist attacks. They could destroy a colony if they so chose. Their power needed to be kept in check. Heero visibly relaxed as the old arguments were explained. Relena will be able to deal with this . . . threat, he thought.

The camera flashed to Relena and she was the image of calm and cool. She knew how to deal with these comments. She merely paraphrased what had been said before. What good would come of knowing the identities of the pilots? They certainly pose no threat. Their lives would be changed if the world knew their identities. Why should we ask five young men who have already sacrificed so much to attain the peace of the ESUN have to sacrifice the lives they've built for themselves? After her piece she returned to her seat, with a small smile, knowing that she had bested his arguments.

Heero smiled too as he watched her. She had grown since the last time he had seen her in person. And he knew that the television showed her differently then in person. She, like him, had grown up. He had grown to six feet four, filled out, and gained a certain aura of trust and certainty, losing the hardness and wildness that he had portrayed as a gundam pilot. She on the other hand, had only developed the image she had during the war. She was still the picture of innocence and still advocated peace. She had grown to five feet five, and her hair was cut shorter, but she had still the same look to the girl who Heero had met six years ago.

Stevens stood up to counter Relena's rebuttal. He was confident, and Heero's worry returned.

"I speak of a peace of mind. I worry about the safety of the nation, and my worries will never be quelled until I know for myself that the gundam pilots are not threats. And you, Relena, asked me why the five should sacrifice their lives. I ask who in the Earth Sphere United Nation would not willingly sacrifice anything for the peace obtained after the war. Five lives disrupted so that millions, sorry I mean, billions of people can sleep soundly knowing that their lives are not at risk. Is it really too much to ask for the betterment of the entire human race?"

Heero looked at Ella. His eyes were full of emotions, yet he was unable to place a specific feeling at this moment.

"Everything is going to change. I'm sorry for everything."

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Okay, i know, alot of background, and no plot. Hopefully that will change for chapters to come! Thanks for the reviews! all two of them:)