Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Childhood Reborn ❯ Lullaby ( Chapter 4 )

Author's Note: Okay my loves…I see that my first couple chapters were pretty out there and raised some eyebrows. So…after a good suggestion…I am placing this story with a Alternative Universe genre to be safe as I do not want to step on any toes of true Gundam fans…I wouldn't like it either if a fanfic I read was pretty chopped up. Trust me I know the feeling of reading fanfics that say they follow the story line, but have people completely out of character or totally butcher the whole actual manga to begin with. In retrospect…I am basically thrusting the G-boys into an Alternative Universe. One where they deal less with their soldier backgrounds and more with their own personal lives as just teen boys. This whole fanfic had been plaguing my mind for months upon months to the point up to the last couple of days my fingers had been itching to type away...figuratively not literally of course…lol. Anyway…I do appreciate your critiques and I want to write a really good fanfic for you. In fact…if you can recommend specific Gundam episodes for me to watch in order to get a better idea of these guys past histories I would really be thankful. My main object is to focus on the 5 of them personally. Thanks guys for all your help!!

 

-Jennifer K.

 

PS: Duo is having a fever induced nightmare in this chapter about the destruction of the church and the deaths of the children and Father Maxwell and Sister Helen, so if it seems a little messed up…blame the fever...lol.

 

It was well past midnight when the last boy was brought up from the basement and back into the recovery room joining his friends. The operations had gone well though there had been a few scares. Broken bones were reset, wounds cleaned, severe injuries tamed. Everyone was indeed exhausted but wired. Jacinda herself, worn out but edgy decided to keep watch on the young pilots for the night. Though many of her comrades thought it best for her to rest, her first priority was to be the boys and that was it and she adamantly refused to retire to her own bed until she knew the pilots would be alright. Dr. Ridge of course would also be staying the night, but he was completely wiped out from hours of non-stop surgeries so he was resting in another room in the house.

 

By 2am she was examining the boys again. She had been given a fresh cup of coffee and a small stew to nourish her, so her energy was replenished slightly. Being careful not to wake them, she monitored their heart rates and pulses. As she quietly shifted to each boy her curiosity was spinning.

 

“Who are you?” She whispered to boy with the braid. “How on earth could you pilot those Gundams? You are so young.”

 

Of course her questions were only met with a deep exhale of a dreamless slumber. She sighed and patting the boys bandaged exposed hand retired to her post, a small cushioned rocking chair near the door. Placing her hands behind her head and stretching her legs out a little she closed her eyes. She was close to dozing when she felt a tugging on her pant leg.

 

“Mama?” Jacinda looked down to see a boy in a long shirt, small ponytail and holding a stuffed bunny and a short blanket looking up at her.

 

“Bastian!” She scolded in a whisper. “What in the world are you doing awake!?”

 

“I couldn't sleep.” The boy answered.

 

Jacinda became a tad worried.

 

“Oh…did you have a bad dream?”

 

The boy looked up at her sheepishly.

 

“No…I just had to potty and I found you in here.”

 

Jacinda grinned and pulled the boy up into her lap.

 

“What happened with all the loud booms?” He asked.

 

“They went far far away.” She answered rocking him a little as she put her chin in hair. “All gone.”

 

“Went bye bye?” He asked.

 

Jacinda laughed. “Yes went bye-bye. Were you scared down in the secret hole with the other kids?”

 

“No…me and Hester played shadow games. But I did want Mama with me.”

 

“I'm sorry.” Jacinda said. “But I just wanted to make the booms go away so they wouldn't scare you. That's what mamas do after all.”

 

“Oh.”

 

He looked over at the figures ahead in the room.

 

“Mama?

 

“Hmm?”

 

“Who they?”

 

Jacinda sighed.

 

“Well…they are...some guests of ours I guess. They got hurt, but hopefully they will be feeling better soon. So we need to whisper so they can sleep and get well.”

 

“Oh.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Mama?”

 

Jacinda laughed as once again Bastian had another question or statement.

 

“Yes?”

 

“You didn't kiss me goodnight or sing me my song! That's why I couldn't sleep.”

 

“Mrs. Weist told you Mama had some work to do right. Before I helped our guests I gave her big rules on what to do when it's your bedtime.”

 

“Yeah…but I don't like the way she sings and her kisses are really yucky…it made my face all wet like when a dog licks me.”

 

Jacinda glared.

 

“That's not nice.”

 

“But it true!”

 

Jacinda looked down at her boy in an attempt to scold him but then started to chuckle. Bastian smiled and looked up at her.

 

“Can I stay with you Mama?”

 

“Now?”

 

“Yeah…I'll be real quiet…I promise.”

 

Seeing as how she had spent most of her day away from the boy, Jacinda didn't have the heart to refuse. However, before she could respond to her son her thought was interrupted by the sound of ragged breathing and heavy movement. Immediately Jacinda jumped off the rocking chair and put Bastian onto it.

 

“Stay here…don't move.” She said as she quickly averted her gaze to the source of the movement. There, in his bed the braided lad she had just examined was tossing restlessly. He was in the throes of a nightmare brought on by fever induced delirium.

 

“Father! Sister!” He yelled. He found himself a foot smaller running into a deep red light. “Where are you!?”

 

“Duo! Duo help…help please!!”

 

As he raced towards the menacing light he found himself getting hotter by the second. It was almost like he was running into…a fire!? Suddenly he tripped and fell forward. Seeing the source of his accident his heart suddenly raced, practically choking him as he saw it was a burnt corpse of a small child. Almost immediately he became surrounded by masses of small corpses.

 

“No.”

 

“DUO!!”

 

Duo looked up and saw the adults he had loved most in his own life when he was a young boy laying on the ground. A priest and a nun, being burnt alive as the church around them were engulfed in flames.

 

“Duo…where were you…why didn't you help us?”

 

“NOOOOO!!!!!”

 

Suddenly he felt himself being pulled back into a world of darkness. He sobbed hard clutching his chest as he fell to the ground. He was sweating hard…but instead of warm like it was in the fire…it was now cold.

 

“What?” He murmured.

 

“Shh…just rest now baby.” A voice echoed quietly in his mind. “You were hurt…you need rest.”

 

“But Father…sister…”

 

“It's over…all over…no more bad dreams…you are safe.”

 

Suddenly he felt the atmosphere change and everything suddenly seemed peaceful.

 

“Hey Duo over here!” The boy turned and saw his friends…the other pilots They were all at a basketball court dressed in gym clothes. He was surprised to actually see Wufie was interested and was holding the basketball while Quatre was grinning eager to play and even Trowa had on a kind smile.

 

“Just like you Maxwell to easily become distracted!”

 

“Heero?”

 

The boy named Heero sighed annoyingly approaching Duo and grabbing his hand.

 

“We promised the three of them we'd teach them how to play.” He smiled shyly while Duo found himself blushing at the sweetness of that smile and the soft hand currently enveloping his. It was a smile and touch he rarely saw or felt.

 

“Yeah…okay…let's do it!”

 

And off he went.

 

Back in the world of the conscious

 

“Thank God…looks like he is calm now.” Jacinda said as she rang out the damp compress that had warmed and once again placed it in the cool water.

 

“There we go.” She said as she placed the cool compress on his head once again and gave his face a motherly stroke. “That should help.”

 

`He was calling for his father and sister.' She thought unknowing who really Duo was referring to. `I wonder if all these boys have families.'

 

“What wrong Mama?” Bastian's voice interrupted her thoughts.

 

“He just has a fever and it was giving him bad dreams.” Jacinda said as she lifted the boy's head gently and moved his braid out from under him so he could be more comfortable. “But he's alright now and please, Bastian, whisper.”

 

“'kay.”

 

 

Jacinda got up after making sure the boy was back in a quiet slumber before returning back to the rocking chair where her boy was rocking back and forth quick.

 

“Enough mister.” She whispered as she stopped the rocking chair with her hand. “You need to sleep.”

 

“But I want to stay with you!”

 

Jacinda remembered that Bastian wanted to stay with her for the night.

 

“Okay…but you have to promise me you'll go right to sleep and not bother our guests. They are not feeling very well.”

 

“'Kay.”

 

Jacinda lifted the boy onto her lap and wrapped him in the blanket around him.

 

“Now go to sleep.” She said as she held him close.

 

“Sing me my song.”

 

“Not tonight Bastian…Mama is very tired.”

 

“Please?”

 

“Bastian…”

 

“Please…then I will go right to sleep!”

 

Jacinda sighed…once again defeated.

 

“Alright but first I want you to close your eyes.”

 

Bastian did as he was told and laid against Jacinda as she softly began to sing a lullaby the she had learned. It was centuries upon centuries old and one her mother used to sing to her as a child.

 

Baby mine, don't you cry.
Baby mine, dry your eyes.
Rest your head close to my heart,
never to part,
baby of mine.

Little one when you play,
pay no heed what they say.
Let your eyes sparkle and shine,
never a tear,
baby of mine.

As Jacinda sang, Bastian soon began to fall asleep. She rocked gently in the rocking chair as she wrapped his blanket around him. She looked up to see the lone figures in the beds as she sang.

 

`Please pull through.' She prayed silently to them.

 

If they knew sweet little you
they'd end up loving you too.
All of those people who scold you
what they'd give just for the right to hold you.

 

 

Little did she know that there were 5 pairs of blurred visions trying to find the source of the melody coming from the room. While their soldier instincts told them to fight their ways out of unconsciousness and figure out what had happened…the child in each of them couldn't help but be soothed. Once again they were forced into slumber…but this time…a little more comfortably than before.

 

From your head to your toes
You're not much, goodness knows
But you're so precious to me
Cute as can be, baby of mine…

 

Author's Note: I do not own this song `Baby of Mine'. It was a song on the soundtrack for the original Disney movie Dumbo. I tried to write my own song...but failed miserably.