Disclaimers: I don't own Gundam Wing. ????
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"Mommy! Daddy!" the little boy with feral bronze tresses and eyes of the maritime's hue through its temptress with fin to render brazenly to those who dared to glance his way the delight of the child and voice of that same timbre as the sea's waves, holding that mermaid within, retreat and yet return to the shore of their birth through yearning, called out to his parents as they stepped out of their car to greet him.
The woman fell to her knees to swathe the jubilant toddler within her embrace as he rushed to her, taking her arms and closing them around his tiny form that she could place a kiss upon his brow, for the child remained docile within her fondles then, cuddling even more deeply against her breast; Mother Unicorn to nuzzle her foal within her mate's and indeed her own Blessing*. His father too got down on one knee to take the boy's face in his left hand, tracing the area around his son's eye and along his cheekbone to memorize what he had not seen for what seemed so long, but in even more endearment ruffled the child's hair with his own cheek--tenderness this man's only impulse for his little boy that he'd been away from for almost three weeks now.
"Oh Adin, my Little Darling, I missed you so much while we were away," the mother with silken, blonde wisps that glistened against the sun's daybreak, as the princess can only mock her mother queen in privilege, whispered to her baby so gently in her sigh, trying to keep the tears she longed to unshackle from their separation, fettered by negotiations and councils, from falling unto her child's face, pulling away from their hug to look into the eyes of her son.
"So," she spoke again in question as she held him by his elfin shoulders, not able to satisfy the desire within to keep her babe's impression engraved amidst her memory, for she had just to touch him and set her watch upon his given frame to capture this little miracle she'd given birth to three years ago, yesterday, "did you have fun with Aunt Lucy and Uncle Milli?"
"Oh yes, Mommy! Aunt Lucy and I baked some cookies together, and Uncle Milli challenged me to the obstacle course. And guess what!" Young Adin squealed with pride in his reply of the amusement only children can hold, for the handsome grin that before graced his features had now widened enough that his cute little dimples began to show, "I beat'm!"
"Why, that's wonderful, Sweetie," Relena responded to her son's news as she stroked his arms so proud of his achievement but gave a sideways glance to Milliardo and Lucretzia standing back in the doorway.??
At her silent inquire, her brother merely shrugged his shoulders and winked as he let a smile so miniscule in its rite spread across his countenance at the child's glee--pleased with his nephew's abilities, even if he did <i>let</i> the boy win against him.
"Oh yeah, Relena, he's a tough little guy. You'd better watch out, 'cause pretty soon you'll have another full blown Heero on your hands," Lucretzia giggled to her sister-in-law as she saw the child's face glow quite splendidly at the comparison to his father, her nephew pulling his gaze from his mother's mild vigil that held the same compassion hers did sire and into the depths of his father's Prussian blue spheres.
"Yep, I'm gonna be just like Daddy--strong and brave... just like'm. Then, Mommy, I'll be able to protect you along with him. No one'll hurt you as long as I'm with you, just like Daddy," he gasped so excitedly at his aunt's comment... so much so he was out of breath by the time he finished his little speech--his cheeks flushed from his own confidence and thrill.
Looking down at her baby with a lone tear to twinkle while dancing along her skin in its fluid waltz to play only staves of the most enchanting aria upon mother's ears, she murmured, "I'm sure you will Adin... I'm sure you will." All the while his father holding back the smile that wished to stress his features to paint in hues adazzle and strokes so vaguely brushed for all to see of his son's admiration for him... a man once a killer... assassin to all mankind; the love of child to parent and kin to babe never broken by shades of a past unspoken.
The woman then stood from her former resting place and helped her son to his feet as well, taking his hand and leading him to the car that was waiting for them to take this family home... finally.
"Bye Lucy! Good-bye Milliardo! And thanks for keeping Adin for us!" she called out as she lifted the child into his car seat--her most gracious smile encircling her charade as she waved back to them (even if only by deceit).
"Mommy," Little Adin questioned her as she was buckling him in, "why isn't Daddy coming with us? Aren't we going home?"
"Of course we are, Sweetheart. It's just that your father wants to make sure we have everything before we leave, and thank your aunt and uncle one more time," she answered back to him in a whisper she didn't even know had parched her so, hesitancy latent in her voice as she refused to meet his gaze, for it would surely see past that very lie just now told.
Heero entered the car beside his wife fluently in motion, an intensity resting amidst his eyes something his child could perceive, and reached back to give the boy's seatbelt one final tug before they rolled out of the country house's driveway--intent on seeing the occupants of this home once again in mere hours.
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This dear family walked into the gates of the Cinq Palace to be met by a quarry of soldiers now retired and taken to wife, their faces familiar to the toddler walking amidst the pillars stifled by ivy from soil below--playmates of long ago in this child's recall--who brought with them a notion of refuge and sheathe to behold.
Adin's glance caught their sight in such a deft innocence, he releasing the hands of loving mother and father to welcome them properly in a child's way--halting at their feet with tears burning his eyes at their arrival.
"Oh Aunt Sally, Uncle Wufei; Uncle Quatre, Aunt Dorothy; Uncle Trowa and Aunt Cathy; Aunt Hilde, Uncle Duo... you're all here! All of you!" the Soldier's son cried gleefully as he looked to each of them, his hands then clenched trembling horridly from his joy.
Turning to face his parents, the tears now freely gliding along his olive pallor, he cried hoarsely from his own joy towards them at their thoughtfulness, "Oh thank you Mommy, Daddy! You already took me to the amusement park before you left as my birthday present,** and now you even brought my aunts and uncles to come here for my birthday!"
"You're the best Mommy and Daddy ever! I couldn't want anything else for my birthday now!"
The faces of his parents turning from concealed strife to a heartbreak they could barely whisper at hurting the child so in his elation, they were about to reveal the true reason why the former pilots and wives had come on that day to their reside, when Duo kneeled down to his "nephew's" height and chuckled, "Aw sure Adin. Your Mom and Dad would never forget about your birthday, Kiddo, and they knew we'd be nothin' but happy to sing 'Happy Birthday' to our favorite little guy."
He looked to the gazes of parents now eternally grateful at Duo's little fib to save the boy from disappointment they could not utter--especially after missing his birthday and being gone for such a duration--, and getting back on his feet and wrapping his arm around his wife's waist, continued, "But we have some important work to do first, so you'll have to wait just a little while."
"Yes, Adin," Relena interrupted as she handed the child her brown teddy bear of curled fleece and choking crimson ribbon, "so why don't you go outside and play, and we'll come and get you when we're all done."
"But Mommy, I wanna sit with you. I'll be quiet and stay out of the way. I promise."
"I know you will, Honey, but..."
"It'd be best if you went outside to help the time pass more quickly," his father finished for his wife as she struggled to keep their secret just that from an infant naive of what was to become.
"But Daddy..."
"Please Adin," Heero pleaded as he knelt down and placed his son's forehead against his own, an endearment the boy knew to be in his father's most sincerity and in meek love--sentiment only for his dearest.
Giving his father a nod to comply, the toddler scampered away from the gathering and out into the garden below, finding sanctuary beneath the looming oak and unto the swing the grandfather held for babe to play and laugh upon as petals of dying flora intertwined with cord tickled the child's nose while descending upon the earth.
His glance wandered to the glass doors upon the balcony above him, smiling a little as his mother gave him a small wave from behind the frame and father smiled weakly in turn, every so often gazes from both sides wandering to find the other in refuge... hour after hour and into the eve when sun bedded with the clouds to leave his sister moon to prance across the sky with her jealous lovers of the constellations.
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"Mommy... Dad?" the cherub blest of sinew murmured so softly as he emerged from his room to get a drink of water in the midst of that night, following the voices of mother and father echoing from within the kitchen's walls--severely anxious from thoughts turned weary earlier at the noon.
??? He stopped at the entrance to the chamber and knelt down silently to listen as his parents spoke quite urgently of something in dire, holding the bear to his little chest as their words resonated within his ears to pain his always jovial expressions with one of dread--a sniffle lost within the folds of the bear's tummy.
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"Heero, we have to stay here and protect the kingdom as much as we can. We just can't leave all of the citizens open to attack," the Lady of the Cinq throne gasped rather faintly as she kneaded her hands together in her obvious trepidation--eyes aflame with passion in the address to her lover.
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"I know that, Relena," her husband of five years responded to her pleading with that of his own, "but I can't risk your safety or Adin's by letting you stay here with me.??
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"You know that you're my breath, the very source of my humanity, and I know I couldn't very well survive if you were killed... or worse. We don't know much about this new enemy, and until I know I can protect both you and our son I can't risk it.??
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"Adin is the embodiment of our love, the most precious thing we have. You know that I promised him that he'd never know war the way I had to, and he's my flesh...my blood. I'd give anything to see him smile at me, to embrace me..." his voice faded to a hush as he summoned his son's words from the reminiscence of that morning, those words that stoked his heart to kindle and ignite pride within himself... for only the third time in his entire existence***... the love of a child, his son, never corrupted by a past to gory to speak: <b>"Yep, I'm gonna be just like Daddy--strong and brave... just like'm."</b>
"No Heero, we won't leave you... we could never leave you. You can order an evacuation for all citizens, but Adin and I will not follow your instruction."
He stared at his lover with a look so exhausted from all they had suppressed behind their fortresses to seal away their souls for the sake of peace in just that one day--his hair limp, completely dull from its usual severity with eyes of lost luster to match... no fervor reigning there--, taking the woman's hand to lead her to their bedroom where they could perhaps drown the misery of the coming tempest in a twilight filled with intimacy only their union could touch.
*Leave? Why would Daddy want Mommy and me to go away?* the toddler asked himself as he rested his back against the corridor, entwining the ribbon from the animal around his chubby fingers as he watched his parents retreat to their own realm of sleep... leaving him wondering, hugging his companion close to keep the fear from surfacing.
As the child rounded the corner to return to his own bed and find comfort amidst the sheets that could very well conceal his fate, crying in the dark where his fears would remain just that... his own--still, perhaps he could sleep with Mommy and Daddy tonight... something just compelling him to stay near their sides... a feeling of emptiness filling his chest as their faces entered his thoughts--, he felt the ground shake from beneath his feet and fell to the floor with a terrible cracking of his bones to follow--shaking his head to clear his mind from the wave of dizziness and nausea that threatened to overtake him at the rumbling of the chamber.
His sight cleared, finding his mother and father rushing to his side as the earth continued to quake, laughing viciously at their misfortune so much as to keep its chest heaving, and felt himself being lifted into the arms of his father, King of the Cinq Kingdom through marriage.?
Burying his face into his father's breast, eyes peeking over his shoulders, Adin saw a stern grip upon his mother's wrist, for his father was literally dragging her through the halls of the castle--her waterfall of golden tresses glittering as they turned from tamed to wild with the wind tangling its own fingertips along her ringlets, face soaked in sweat and drops of blood draining slightly from her temple.
Soon sprinting through the corridor that would lead them to the palace's inner gate, a shaft of fire burst through the marble stone surrounding them in ash and embers dying upon touch to cooled mold, grazing the right side of Heero's face to already swell of blisters pulsing and spitting blood to taste upon his lips and hinder his forward sight--almost completely blinding the man in white hot flame of the blaze's core--and cinders falling upon Relena's breast to leave crimson trails along the exposed satin, she clutching her bodice to whimper in pain she knew to only ignore for the sake of their survival--both of them using their arms and upper bodies to shelter their lovely child from harm.
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As they passed through the gate, faltering in step from the sudden attack, they noticed a body lying still in a pool of crimson snaking along its arms and all other limbs to even stain his braid in the venom it held to the soul, finally resting as a warm puddle of rose-tinted waters around the man's frame--although they could see still the faint rise and fall of his chest as he struggled with his breaths.
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"Duo!" Heero gasped as the Perfect Soldier once acclaimed cradled his comrade with his free arm, Relena too wiping the blood from the American's view with the hem of her nightgown to paint even more cadaverous in the portrait of death she resembled.
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"He... Heero," the wounded man managed to choke with blood to merge with spit to help moisten his lips to speak, "get the Missy and the Little Guy outta here now. You... you're all in danger... go... plea..."
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Cutting off the concern of his fellow soldier, Heero growled somewhat fiercely, "We won't leave here unless you come out with us, Duo."
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"Don't worry about him, Heero," Hilde cried as she ran to her lover's side, placing a damp cloth upon his forehead to calm the fever raging within his veins to eat away his senses. "I'll get him out. The most important thing is for you guys to get Little Adin outta this hell hole.??
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"Now go!" she gestured with a smile to relay her sincerity, placing Duo's arm around her shoulder to carry him out.
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Heero nodded his head in thanks--yes, his wife and son were his top priority then, to keep them from anymore pain and suffering than they needed to witness amidst this war newly birthed, just more blood to taint his hands and keep them from him ever more-- and taking Relena's hand once more and placing a tiny kiss upon his child's hair continued their trek from the prison their home had now become.?
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Upon entering the streets explosions resounded amidst their steps, chunks of mud to splash fleer from the chaos an onslaught upon all hashed more aptly with gunpowder from the few pistols able to be salvaged--the clangor of the stallion's hooves echoing in the darkness as the beast's orbs shattered the blackness of the eve in rearing its breath, snorting as handler pulled at the reins to strangle the animal to comply.**** The growl of the hounds from enemy lines nipped at the legs of the horses, searching for any moving flesh to grind between their jowls and earn mere pet from the master's glory at his four-legged companion--blood spilled from sinew of mother and daughter, brother and sister, betrayer and the faithful, covering the ground in the warmth the hearts of the people it once dwelled within had borne... chilled as it laced the grass, splattered the bark of trees with children twigs, imprints of hoof, paw, and human boot leaving their mark upon the roads in that same crimson.??
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Poor Little Adin could feel the earth as it streaked his face of opaque brown smudges, watching through impaired eyes as it weighed his father down in his sprint, and therefore slowing his mommy trailing behind; the boy licking his lips to find the bitter flavor of foreign scarlet as even more of that blood mixed with sludge determined to pelt him further--blast after blast scarcely missing their backs as they fled so desperately.
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He could see the hanger of the safe house only yards in front of them, feeling his daddy's pace quicken with hope of their safety as they approached, giving a harsh squeeze to his mate's hand to let her know they would be safe then... they had weathered this storm...
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"Nooooo! Mommy!" the infant child screamed as he felt heat race around his body, trapping him in nothing but white flame raging across his skin, and flailing hysterically saw his mother's hand break free of Heero's grasp as she fell--eyes rolled back into her head to reveal nothing but the back of her spheres, pure white as her gown--into the pit created beneath them by the explosion--a wall of dirt and that so hated mire of before barring his and his father's only chance of catching her from her demise.
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It all seemed to slow, as if time ceased to flow at that very moment, for in that dome of fire that surrounded them then, he could feel the embrace of his father slacken, crimson the only shadow to keep the bone from the child's gaze as he fell from his daddy's arms and into the world of darkness kind enough to steal him from the hell of the carnage encompassing his soul on that night those fateful thirteen years ago...
*A Blessing is the correct name for a herd of unicorn.
**Heero and Relena had taken him to the amusement park to be a normal child for one day and spend the day with their son right before they left on their business trip. I didn't feel like wasting time to explain that in the story (it would have distracted from the mood).
***The first time he ever felt personal pride was his marriage to Relena, the second when Adin was born, and the third was his son's confession that he wanted to "be just like his daddy."
****I'm not sure if I'll go into this or not later in the story, so I thought I'd give you the scope now. At this time, all mechanical weapons have been obliterated, so pistols would be a scarce commodity. Cars are a rarity for this same reason, because people were using this machine for corruption (secretly installing weapons and so forth). It may seem a little farfetched, but we might as well put the equestrian angle in the GW Series to use. Besides, it added greater effect to this and will to future chapters.?
The italics got too difficult to read, so I changed it to regular font. Sorry about the inconvenience.
<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Tomorrow on 2002-07-22 16:56 ]</font>