Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ A Normal Life ❯ Chapter 8

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Disclaimer:
No own it!

Authoress Note: Oh, the evils of standardized testing. *shudders*

OK, I know this had taken a LONG time, but I have a good reason. You see, Chris, the REAL Chris, has Cystic Fibrosis and is in the hospital, and Ayanami is worries sick!! My little (as in 4 foot little, he acually 4 months older than me) brother is sick!! *cries*

OK, enough with the begging for sympathy, on with the fic!!

Relena walked over to the large white and brown truck, and stared. Rose was standing on the elevator thing on the back. They were moving the timpanis onto it, and she was making sure they didn't fall off. Once the platform was full, she reached over, pressed on a small lever, and gleefully began to yell.

"El-le-la-tor go DOWN!" her high pitched, and very hyper, voice cut through the evening air. As soon as the timpanis were off, she pranced back over, and hit the lever again. "El-le-la-tor go UP!"

Relena smiled, and went over to help move the heavy equipment. Ayame and Aiko were playing nearby, jumping over instrument cases. Soon, all the equipment was unloaded, and then reloaded onto the carts. Apparently, one had to grab the big metal handle, and drag those carts onto the field. That was a task the petite Relena was not looking forward to.

"Babies! Stop that!" Rose called out. Aiko had put Ayame into one of the tuba cases that had been left open, and was getting ready to close it. Karou pranced over, and pulled the younger girl out of the case.

"Now, Aiko, if you do that again, I'll have to tell Heero, understand?" she admonished, laughter dancing in her eyes. Relena walked over, and, much to her surprise, the giggling two year old was deposited in her arms. "Take her over to the stadium, over there." Karou pointed. "Bring her over to the Band Mommys, and stay with her for a while. When West is called, leave her with them and run over to the pit entrance. We're going to warm up now. See you!" the young Japanese girl said, before running off.

Relena shook her head, and mumbled an "Okay..." before heading off for the stadium, trying to keep the girl under control. Where has Duo gone... she wondered, suddenly realizing that, beside the child in her arms, she was alone. Everyone else in all the nearby bands had migrated to either the stadium, the warmup areas, or the fast-food joints across the street. Mostly the fast-food joints. In fact, that was very probably where Duo was right now.

She didn't want to be alone. If no one was there, no one would be protecting her. There was safety in numbers, and she didn't have that safety. What if the assassins were out there right now and...and...and...

Ayame noticed something was wrong when the young woman stopped struggling with her. She, too, stopped kicking and giggling, to look up at her face. She was shivering and her skin felt cold and clammy. Her face was pale and drawn, her eyes clenched shut.

Ayame easily hopped out of her arms. It looked as if she hadn't noticed. The toddler took her hand, and tugged on it gently. When she didn't respond, Ayame tugged harder, in the direction of the lighted stadium. Soon, she was leading the terrified girl across the street, and to the entrance. It was in the same place as last year, the toddler gleefully discovered. If that was in the same place, then maybe...

By the time they had crossed the street, Relena was recovering. She could now hear human voices cheering, and the buzz of a thousand conversations. She opened her eyes, and looked around, to find she was already by the stadium, and Ayame was still tugging her hand. Kneeling down to be eye level with the girl, she asked "Ayame, you led me here?" The toddler nodded, pleased with her achievement. "Thank you." Relena said, eliciting a hug from Ayame, and something that sounded like "You're welcome."

Ayame then began to tug Relena's hand again, yelling out her nonsense phrases. Relena relented, and let the girl lead her into the stadium. As they walked in, Ayame proudly showed off the little red stamps all over her arms. Relena didn't have a stamp, but, because of the kid, the gawky teenager at the gate didn't check. (AN: a stamp means free admission. They walk onto the bus, and stamp all the band members hands so they can get in and out easy.)

Ayame then led the bigger girl to the place from last year....she could smell it now...there it was! The popcorn stand. Ayame jumped up and down, screaming, and let go of Relena's hand. She ran over to the stand, and climbed up on the counter, so she could see the popcorn. Relena ran after the child, and then inspected the popcorn herself. It smelled very good, but they were selling bags of it for 10 dollars. Then again, the bags were as big as Ayame. (AN: Real Comp. Real popcorn....real bags of popcorn that require four or more band members to eat it...)

Ayame hopped up and down on the counter until Relena picked her up off of it, and set her on the ground. The child was chanting something, continuing her jumping, and pointing at the stand. It sounded like "Pop-con! Pop-con! Pop-con! Pop-con! Pop-con!" Relena thought real hard for a second, and thought she knew maybe what the kid wanted. (that's sarcasm, folks)

She gave in the utterly cute demands for the caramel coated confection, and bought a bag. She the picked the kid up so the toddler could eat while they were walking. Soon, they located the West High section, and settled in, sharing the popcorn with everyone who walked by.

Thirty minutes later, less than a fourth was gone, and Ayame had permanently attached herself to her new best friend. West High was called, but the little girl would not be separated from Relena. She was getting ready to throw a fit, her eyes were already watering up when Relena relented and one of the Mommys went in her stead.

She sat down, and watched the brown, gold, and white figured marched onto the field, accompanied by girls dressed as Genies, or Arabian Dancers. (AN: Think Jasmine from Aladdin, but purple) Soon, the band had formed a giant lamp on the field, the Tall Flags and Drill Team interspersed between them. Before they began, the announcer came on to introduce them.

"West High School, you have three minutes. Your Air Grams: From Wes and Rachel, to the seniors. This is the last show, guys! After this we blow the joint! From the kids to Mommie, We love you, Mommie! From Mommie, to the Kids, I love you, babies! To Andrew, from the Drummers, STAY IN STEP, GODDANGIT!! (AN: really happened, names changed for protection of the stupid.) From Heero, to Ayame and Aiko, Daddy loves you, girls. West High, the Judges are ready."

Ayame cheered at the last air gram. She was sitting in Relena's lap, munching on popcorn, getting crumbs all over Relena, not that she really minded. They were starting. The drum major saluted to the judges, held up his hands, and then brought them down sharply. The music started with that motion. It was a show with an Aladdin theme. They played A Whole New World, A Friend Like Me, and Arabian Nights. Relena was lost in the show. Well, not really. She was staring at Heero. he hadn't been hard to spot. After all, he was the tall tuba. The very tall tuba. He looked so happy. Were his mouth not hidden by the mouthpiece, he might have been smiling.

Relena waved and cheered as they finished she show, and marched off. In about three minutes time, the band was already approaching, hot dogs or hamburgers in one hand, coffee or hot chocolate in the other. How they got through the lines so quick is a mystery.

She searched the onslaught of tired, grumpy, and yet quite happy, band members for Heero. There he was, smiling, and he was approaching fast. It seemed he was always smiling now, and it was slightly unnerving. Aiko had already attached herself to him, much the was Ayame was attached to her. She stood up, and walked over to meet him.

Smiling up at him she told him what she thought. "Wow."

His face lit up even more, if possible, at her praise. "I'm glad you liked it, but we screwed up a few times, and Andrew was out of step the whole time." he said.

"Daddy, you didn't mess up! You can't mess up, because you're perfect!" Aiko said from next to him. He stared down at her, speechless for a moment, before he moved to sit down on the bleachers. Relena and Aiko followed suit. He sat next to Relena, Aiko on the other side, and Ayame on the other side of Relena.

"It's things like that, that makes everything worth it." he said to Relena. It was obvious to Relena he been deeply changed in the last years. His eyes, they were so different. Rather then the cold, lifeless eyes she knew and loved so well, these eyes were full of life, bright, and as clear as a window. She looked into his eyes, and saw his heart melting at the child's comment. Not that you needed to look at his eyes. His face told the whole story. Raising two little girls, and supporting a third, could not have been an easy task, nor a normal mission. It was years of long, hard work, and high school to go along with it. Being a single parent is tough anyway, but when you also attend school, it is infinitely harder. And then...he didn't have to take those girls in the first place. He could have left them for an orphanage.

But he didn't. He took them in, and he raised them as his own. In the beginning it must have been incredibly difficult. He didn't how to show emotions then, but apparently the two girls remedied that quite soon. And the emotion glinting in his eyes now, etched on his features, was one of love and joy.

No, these eyes weren't the hard, cold eyes of Heero Yuy, the Perfect Soldier. They weren't the eyes she had fallen in love with. These eyes were the bright, happy eyes of Heero Yuy, the normal person, and she loved them even more.

SAP!! SAP!! OH THE SAP!! I didn't not plan that...but...but...I LOVE SAP!! WAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!

-Ayanami_Chan
ayanami_rei@softhome.net
http://go.to/aya nami_shrine