"That'll be all for today. Remember, third graders have homework due Monday. Have a nice weekend you guys," Miss Celia said, smiling. The boy smiled back at her. He really liked Miss Celia.  She taught the class for kindergarten through third grade so he got to see her every day. She always had a smile just for him.

Since he was only in second grade, he shoved his books in his desk, stood and ran for the computer lab. The orphanage had about eight computers, but only one which was reserved for the little kids.        He barreled down a hall and galumphed down the steps taking two at a time. When he reached the bottom he made a sharp turn, sneakers shrieking on the white linoleum, and pounded his way to the computer lab. Suddenly something tripped him.   

The boy stumbled and fell on his hands and knees. There was the sound of laughing above him and the boy narrowed his eyes. It was them. He stood and glared at the group of teenagers. There were three of them, all boys. Although they picked on everyone younger then them, the boy seemed to have become their favorite target.

          "Where do you think you're going, dweeb?" Dakeem, the leader, asked. The boy turned and headed for the computer lab. Sometimes if he ignored them, they left him alone. A hand grabbed his arm and roughly turned him around.

          "Don't walk away from me like your not scared!" the teenager snarled. "I know better then that you little dork." Dakeem pulled back his fist. The boy stared at him. Dakeem almost always pulled his punches. He was really stupid. Threatening but never doing anything. The boy sighed.

          "If you're going to hit me, do it."

          "You asked for it brat!" Dakeem punched him in jaw, turning the boy's head to the side. The boy looked back at him. A little pain was nothing and Dakeem couldn't hit very hard anyway.

          "That…that kid isn't human!" one of Dakeem's friend's said. "He's not even crying."
          "I'll make him cry," Dakeem said, pulling back his fist again.

          "Dakeem!" a woman snapped. The boy smiled as Miss Celia came into view. The teenager let the boy go. Miss Celia came up to them, an angry frown on her face. Miss Celia was really nice, but when she got mad even the big boys got scared. She stood between the boy and the teenager and folded her arms.

          "What have I told you about hitting people? I know you've had a hard time but that's no excuse for taking it out on everyone else. Especially those who are younger then you."

          "He told us to hit him," one of Dakeem's friends said.

          "Yeah, he did," the other friend agreed.

          "You three are confined to your rooms for the weekend…and Dakeem, I'm putting you on lavatory duty."

          "Aww… but Miss Celia."

          "No arguing."

          The teenagers walked away, muttering to themselves. Miss Celia turned to the boy and a concerned look was on her pretty face. Her fingers lightly brushed his cheek, bringing with them the scent of honeysuckle. Miss Celia was so wonderful.

          "Come on, Hikari. I'll take you to the nurse," she said, holding out her hand. The boy shook his head.

          "I don't need to go."

          "Are you sure?" she asked, her concerned frown deepening.

          "I'm fine. It's just a bruise."

          "You're being such a big boy about this." The pretty smile was back on Miss Celia's face. "Every time I think I know you, you turn around and surprise me again." Yay! He made Miss Celia smile. The boy glowed with pride. Miss Celia smiled a lot but not everyone could make her smile. He was special!

          "So what were you up to?" she asked him.

          "I was going to the computer lab."

          "You're always in the computer lab. Why don't you go outside and play?" Miss Celia put a light hand on his shoulder. The boy looked down and kicked the floor a little with his shoe.   

          "Don' wanna."
          "Why not?"

          "Nobody likes me," he muttered. The woman laughed softly.

          "It's only been two weeks, Hikari. Give them a chance. I'm sure you'll make friends soon enough. Now go outside. It's such a beautiful day and it would be a pity to waste it."
          The boy obeyed. He didn't really want too…but Miss Celia had told him to do it. He would do almost anything for Miss Celia. The playground was full of kids of all ages. The really little ones were playing in the sandbox and all the older kids were grouped around the basketball court doing older kid things. A group of kids around his age were bouncing a red ball around. He watched them for a while. He'd never asked if he could join before. Maybe if he asked, they would let him play. Then maybe they'd be his friends. He came closer and folded his hands behind his back.

          "Can I play?" he asked, looking up at them shyly. The kids stopped playing and looked at each other uncertainly. One of the kids shrugged a little and looked like he was about to say yes. A girl with long pigtails interrupted him.

          "No, you can't," she said.

          "Why not?" the boy asked.

          "'Cuz you're a Winner orphan. You don't have a last name."

          "I heard he doesn't even have a real first name," an older boy said.

          "I bet you don't have any real parents either!" the girl said, tossing her pigtails.

          "Yeah, you were probably made in a test tube just like all the other Winners," said the older boy. "'Cept that they didn't want you. 'Cuz you're a reject!"

The girl laughed.      

          "Yeah! So get out of here reject!" she said. The boy sighed and walked away, kicking the dirt. He'd read about test tube babies on the linkup. It said that some people didn't like test tube babies because they weren't natural. But if the babies grew up to look like regular kids, what difference did it make?

          He went to his usual spot by the chain link fence and sat, tucking his legs underneath him. Leaning back against the fence, he titled his head back to look at the sky. It was a pretty day. But no clouds. The boy watched the empty blue sky for a while and listened to the kids playing. Then he heard footsteps. Someone was walking on the sidewalk beside the fence…and coming closer. The person stopped right where the boy was and the fence bulged a bit as the person leaned against it.

          "How are you doing, kid?"

          The boy's heart leapt at the sound of Odin's voice. It had been such a long time! He'd almost forgotten what Odin's face looked like. He started to sit up.

          "I'm not anyone you know," Odin said. "I'm just a man leaning against the fence." Oh. The boy rested back against the fence and returned his gaze to the sky.

          "No one likes me here," the boy said.

          "Who cares? You don't have to be liked to blend in. You're doing a good job so far, kid."
          "I like Miss Celia though! She's really pretty and nice and sweet," the boy said, beaming.

"Don't get too attached. Remember, you've got a mission to do."
          The boy looked hard at the ground. Oh right. The mission. What was it again? The boy wrinkled his nose, trying to remember. Oh yeah. He had to get information from some guy with a funny name… Akeem something.

"Is your teddy bear in a safe place?" Odin asked. The boy gritted his teeth. Uh-oh! He didn't know! He'd forgotten all about it. He could almost remember seeing it on his bed but he wasn't too sure.

"Kiiid?" Odin said in an almost angry voice.

"I…it's safe," the boy said.

"It better be. If anyone finds what's in that thing…"

"Th…they won't."
          "Good. Anyway, kid, I just came to tell you that it might just take a month after all. Todai decided to go to L-1."

L-1? That was the colony the boy was from. He could remember Odin telling him long ago.

"Why'd he go there?"

"I don't know. Something about visiting his daughter's grave. He'll be back in a week or two. I'll come and tell you when he's back. Until then, just stay here and try not to get yourself adopted."

---

          Not there. Not there, not there. The boy sat, panting. He glanced blindly at the clothes littered around the floor and the tangled bed sheets. The teddy bear was gone. He put a hand to his forehead and shut his eyes tightly. He couldn't lose it! If Odin found out…

          Suddenly a loud bell rang through the school, making the boy's heart jump.  Before he quite realized it, he was on his feet, hands clenched. The bell rang again. The boy forced himself to relax. It was just the dinner bell. He looked around the small room again. Everyone was supposed to go to dinner. Miss Celia would be upset with him if he was late. Maybe…maybe the teddy bear would turn up after dinner.

          He went down to the cafeteria. He sat in his usual place among the other little kids. They ignored him for the most part, even though he was in the middle. Their silly talk flew back and forth around him. Someone said this which made someone else say that. Someone had a crush on someone else. Some new video game was better then all the other video games. Sometimes the boy wished he could join their conversation, but he never had anything to say. So the boy ate his food in peace and listened. Suddenly someone smacked him hard in the back of the head.

          "Hey dweeb!" said a familiar voice. The boy turned and glared at Dakeem. The cheerful talk around the table died down as the teenagers loomed over them. The little kids were afraid of them, but the boy wasn't. What could they do to him besides hurt him?

          "Hey, all you little twerps want to know something? This little baby sleeps with a teddy bear," Dakeem said, pointing a finger at the boy.

          "A teddy bear?" another kid said.

          "The reject sleeps with a teddy bear!"

          The boy narrowed his eyes, ignoring the comments that flew around him. The teddy bear… Dakeem must have stolen it while the boy was outside. The teenager grinned, knowing he had the upper hand.

          "Awww… is he mad cuz now everyone knows what a loser is?" Dakeem asked in a baby voice. The boy stood.

          "Give it back," he said, holding out his hand. The teenager leaned closer to him, his tanned face nearly pressed against the boy's own. Dakeem wasn't smiling any longer.

          "How are you going to make me, dweeb?"

          The boy stared at the teenager. Then put his index finger against Dakeem's head like a gun.

          "Bang," he whispered, staring straight into Dakeem's eyes. The teenager stood up so fast that the boy's nail scraped his forehead a little. Dakeem put a hand behind his head and laughed.

          "Oh you're going to shoot me? Yeah, like I'm afraid of you."

          "You're sweating," the boy said, and it was true. A little droplet of sweat was rolling down the teenager's cheek. Dakeem's smile abruptly disappeared.

          "You think you're so smart, don'tcha?" He pulled a folded up piece of paper from his pocket and waved it around. "If you want your stupid bear back…"  He slapped the note into the boy's hand.

          "Boys…" said Old Mrs. Azul, waddling up to them. She was the school nurse and fatter then anyone the boy had ever seen. "I know you like to talk to your friends but you had better sit down," she said, smiling her big lipped smile. "Miss Celia wants to make an announcement."

          Dakeem walked away with his group. Mrs. Azul smiled at the boy.

          "It's so nice that you're finally making friends here, Hikari," she said. The boy shook his head and sat down. Mrs. Azul didn't understand anything. The old nurse tapped his shoulder lightly. When she had finally waddled away, the boy started to open the note. Fingers grasped the edge of the paper but the boy tightened his grip, preventing it from being taken from him.

          "Why don't we see what little note you got?" It was the girl from the playground. The boy glared at her. Her mean face disappeared after a moment and she pulled her hand away. When the others looked at her in surprise, she tossed her hair.

          "It's probably stupid anyway."

          The boy held the letter closer to him and opened it. Dakeem's writing was surprisingly neat. The boy wouldn't think that a big idiot like him even knew how to spell his own name.

          'Meet us tomorrow night by the oak tree if you want your bear back. If you don't do what we say we'll tear it apart. And don't go squealing or we'll tear it apart anyway. Got that dweeb?' 

          The boy clenched his hand. If they did tear it apart… How could he have let that happen? How could he have let the teddy bear be stolen? That was dumb. Odin said that it was dumb mistakes that lead to getting killed.

          The high pitched whine of a microphone filled the room, distracting the boy from his thoughts. Miss Celia was standing behind it. The boy forgot his problems for a moment as he watched her.

          "I'm sorry to tell you all, but next week's fun day has been canceled." A groan went up from around the room. The boy wasn't fooled though. Her eyes were dancing above her little frown. She had a surprise for them.

          "I'm afraid you all will just have to have it tomorrow." Cheering. Mostly from the boy's table. Miss Celia let it go on for a bit more, then held up her hand, a signal for everyone to be quiet. Even though all the kids liked Miss Celia and listened to what she said, it took the room a moment to calm down. She didn't seem to mind. Miss Celia never seemed to mind.

          "I have another surprise for you. Tomorrow, Mr. Winner is coming to visit us."

          There was a kind of quiet around the room then. The kids at his table didn't seem to understand. But the teenagers were muttering among themselves. Finally a teenager raised his hand.

          "Yes?"

          "You…you mean the real Mr. Winner, right?"

          "Of course," Miss Celia said with a laugh. "It's been so long since his last visit, he wants to see how you all are doing."  The teenagers started talking among themselves again, louder this time. Miss Celia stepped down from the small platform. Soon the room was as loud as ever. The boy read the note again. He couldn't help but wonder what Dakeem would have him do. Whatever it was, he would do it. He wouldn't let them ruin his first mission. He wouldn't let Odin down.

---

          Fun day was held in the gymnasium. It had all sorts of games and snacks and even a clown that made balloon animals. The boy sat down on a swing and stared at the ground between his feet. It wasn't any fun for him. Everyone else was with their friends. Even Dakeem had been excused from his punishment. The boy sighed. Maybe some people weren't meant to have friends.

          The playground was quiet. So quiet. He was glad. He didn't want to be in there where kids were laughing. It made him want to join. It was so quiet he could hear the door open. It was probably someone looking for him. A teacher maybe. Or maybe even Miss Celia. He hoped not. He didn't want to see Miss Celia right now. He didn't want to see anyone right now.

          The footsteps that came down the stone steps into the hard packed playground dirt didn't sound like an adult. It didn't even sound like Dakeem. It was a kid. The boy sighed. Probably the girl again. She started teasing him lately too. He kicked his feet and waited for the teasing to come. Instead, a strange thing happened, there was a small sigh and the swing next to him squealed a bit.

          "I hate it in there," said a strange voice. The boy looked over, not moving his eyes up, and saw a pair of really shiny black shoes. He didn't know anyone around here who had shiny black shoes.

          "They either love me because I'm rich or hate me for the same reason," the kid continued. It was as if the kid hadn't even noticed the boy was there. The boy looked up into the kid's face. It was a boy too, with blond hair and blue-green eyes. The blond boy smiled at him.

          "Hi! My name is Quatre Raberba Winner. What's yours?"

          "H…Hikari," the boy said, a little startled by the change in attitude. Quatre leaned his head against the chain of the swing and glanced at him.

          "So why aren't you in there with your friends? Why are you out here all alone?"
          "I don't have friends," the boy said, looking away.

          "Oh." There was another little squeak as Quatre started to swing.       

          "I don't have any friends either," the blond continued. "There's no one to play with at home. Except for Nanny Ellen. She's not much fun though."
          "Neither is Odin," the boy muttered to himself. Whether Quatre heard this or not, he didn't comment. Instead, the squeaking increased as the blond went higher.

          "Why don't you swing, Hikari?" Quatre asked. The boy's face grew hot and he stared hard at the ground. He couldn't swing. All normal kids could. But he wasn't normal.

          "Can't," the boy muttered. Quatre dragged his feet across the ground, getting dust all over his shoes. When he finally stopped, the boy could feel him staring.

          "You don't know how to swing?"

          "No."

          Quatre laughed. It wasn't a mean laugh like Dakeem's. Or even like Odin's angry laugh. It was nice…just like Miss Celia's.

          "I can teach you how to swing. It's so easy! I'm sure you can do it," Quatre said brightly. The boy straightened and watched what Quatre did.

          "First," the blond said. "You have to stand up but still kind of sit on the swing. Just go up as far as you can without actually standing." The boy did so. Quatre nodded.

          "Then, you lift your feet up and you'll go forward. Then, when you start to go back again, just sit up, like this." Quatre swung a few times, then put his feet back on the ground and smiled encouragingly.

          "Now you try!"        

          At first, it was a little hard to get it right. But pretty soon, the boy was flying. Baack and fooorth. Baack and fooorth. The wind sung through his hair and the sun smiled on his face. Quatre swung beside him. They swung together for a bit, then the boy started going back when Quatre was going forward. The blond was laughing and, the boy realized, so was he. He hadn't really laughed in a loooong time.

          "You can do something else fun too!" Quatre said.

          "What?"
          "Let gooo!" And with that, Quatre flew off the swing and landed, butt first, on the ground. The boy let go too. For a second he was flying. Then he was on hands and knees, the wind almost knocked out of him.

          Next they went on the spinny-twirly. Quatre couldn't spin it really fast with someone on it, so the boy spun him. He ran around with the spinny-twirly as fast as he could, and then jumped on. They went around and around and around, laughing for the pure fun of laughing. Finally, the spinny-twirly creaked to a stop.

          "Again?" the boy asked. Quatre shook his head, laughing so hard he couldn't speak. Quatre slid off the spinny-twirly, stumbled for a bit, then landed on the ground, spreading his arms out and gazing at the sky. The boy stumbled to lie beside him. The clouds were spinning. It was quiet for a long time. But a nice quiet.

          "Master Quatre!" a man called. The blond heaved a sigh and sat up, his face suddenly cold.

          "What?" he asked. His voice was different too. The boy stared at him. Was this really the same person?

          "Master Quatre! There you are! You're father has been really worried about you."

          "I didn't think he would notice," Quatre said, standing and brushing off his pants. "Or is it time for us to play 'happy family' again?"

          "Master Quatre," the man said. It almost sounded like the man was scolding him. Quatre looked down at the boy and a little smile lifted his face.

          "I'll see you again Hikari. I don't know how, but I'll arrange it. You're really fun!"

          The boy propped himself up on his elbows and watched Quatre walk away. Then he laid back down and closed his eyes. The sun was warm. But it would be night soon. The thought made him frown. He was supposed to meet Dakeem tonight. Meet him to get the teddy bear back. Even if he didn't really want what was inside it anymore, he needed to make Odin proud.

---

Note: Again. It couuuuld have happened.

Disclaimer: If I owned Gundam Wing would you see me writing fanfiction about it? … … … probably. *gryn*