Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Wasurenai yo - I won’t forget ❯ Chapter 6

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Disclaimers: I garner no profit from this fic. I don't own nor did I create the GW universe, I'm simply letting my imagination have its wicked way with the characters therein. ^_^

Warnings: Angst, AU, Duo torture, language
Pairings: 1+2, 1+R, 3+4, 5xS, eventual 1x2, 3x4
AN: ^_^* Editing frenzie.
Feedback is appreciated.

Wasurenai yo
by priscel

six

Alice hummed as she sorted through her few possessions, many of her clothes were too big and she didn’t know whether to be happy that she was finally losing weight like she wanted to after years of trying and never succeeding. She smiled bitterly to herself. She never wanted to lose it like that. She shook her head as a memory of Cedric’s grief stricken and soot-covered face resurfaced. She wouldn’t put names to the images in her mind, her stomach ached uncomfortably at what she did remember.

She held up her size twenty jeans and looked at her long T-shirt wearing body that was now a size fourteen. She sighed, her occupied hands dropping to her lap and imagined her self on TV advertising that depression was her weight-loss success story. She snorted to herself and ran her hand through her mousy, rust-colored hair. She was going to need a hair cut soon. She couldn’t stand wearing it past her ears.

“Yahooo!” Came the jubilant squeal.

“Ahh!”

“Maggiee!”

“Get the hell off my bed!”

“Maggie!” Alice admonished said girl with a displeased look on her round face.

“Maggieeeee! Wake UP!”

Alice smiled as she laid across her bed and laughed quietly to herself when Maggie hit Tamara with a pillow that only made her switch from bouncing around her on the bed to jumping up and down.

“Quit it!”

“Get up!” Tamara shouted happily.

“No!”

“Ok!” Tamara ran over to Alice’s bed and took her pillow and then proceeded to beat Maggie awake with it.

“Argh! You-ooph!” Maggie stopped talking and fought back with a pillow in each hand.

Alice smiled, “This is going to be an eventful day.” She picked up her pillow and joined the party.

In the kitchen, Alice found Emy and Inari contributing to the mess Hank was making all over the counter.

“Guys!” Three sets of eyes gave her innocent looks. She tapped her foot waiting for an explanation even though she thought of the older man as one of the best cooks around, she really didn’t approve of his messy way of doing it. The tall black man gave her his best winning smile which instantly deflated when she continued to watch them as if she was a mother scolding her children.

Emy hopped up on the counter and began munching on a cookie from a large tin can. More specifically, a snowflake decorated, tin can of Dutch butter cookies that she had painstakingly hidden. It had been her secret weapon against the little monsters, using the promise of a special treat to tame them when others were dumped on her for one explainable reason or another.

Emy smiled at her, thick globs of spit meshed cookies covering his teeth as he began to bounce in place on the counter. It was the first sign of his sugar high and she knew he’d eaten the cookies with the sugar sprinkles because Emy really loved those the most. She also knew she would be the one stuck with him, trying to make sure he didn’t break anything when he started bouncing off the walls and not Hank. Getting Cedric to help was out of the question because he had his hands full with the girls and Drew.

She glared at the source of her ire. She was going to get answers out of the rambunctious black man for once even if she had to use a gooey Emy to do it. She stepped toward the three when Inari ran past her like the hairball she often accused him of being.

“Shalita!” He whined, hugging the shorter woman’s legs. “We were going to surprise you! Go back!”

“Oh, were you?” Shalita smiled, resting her hand atop his bushy black hair. “Sorry honey. Thanks for being so thoughtful.”
Alice looked on in surprise at the normally selfish boy and thought perhaps, she’d been wrong about the little furball. Shalita took his grubby hand and hobbled in slowly. Alice reached out to steady Shalita, her eyes widening when Inari pushed her hand away and stuck his tongue out at her.
‘No, I was right.’ She glared at the boy who turned and shook his butt at her. She’d had enough. ‘I’ll noogie him the moment he lets go of Shalita.’ She decided, even though she found herself heading back toward the kitchen doors when she heard Cedric shouting.

“D! Damn that kid!” He swiped frustratingly at his brownish black fringe.

“Cedric, language!” She reminded him. Despite the fact she hated kids, particularly snot nose little bully boys, she was still mindful of them.

“Goddamn it!”

“Cedric!” She whispered harshly, grabbing hold of his unoccupied hand.

He offered an apologetic smile, “Sorry. That kid’s gonna give me more gray hairs than Maggie, Tamara or the boys put together.” At her quizzical look in her brown eyes, he shifted his other arm to reveal the bundle in his arm were clothes. “That kid’s running around butt-ass-naked!”

She laughed and stopped when she saw the serious expression on his face. “You’re joking right?” She stood stock still before a good tug from Cedric had her moving again. Cedric was all worked up again and even though he often seemed indifferent to the little monsters, he was very protective. Their charges had them running all over the place most of the time.

“Have I told you how much I hate kids?”

“Yea, I think I’m starting to agree with you.” Cedric commented distractedly. “The Kid overdid it with the exercises the Doc suggested and bled through his clothes before I could get him to stop. That hard headed brat.” He grumbled as he checked closed doors on his way toward the exercise room at the back of the Inn near the pool. He opened another door and scowled into the empty room making the dust bunnies scurry away in fright. “I went to scrounge up something for him to wear while he showered to come back to an empty room. He’s so bullheaded.”

Alice snickered and gave Cedric a sad smile as she followed him out to the pool. Cedric often spoke of his brother in the same manner.

“Hey Bishop, have you seen a twerp about yeh-high,” he leveled his hand with Alice’s shoulder. “With a foot long plait, running around here butt-“

Alice punched him in the arm, wondering if he liked saying those three particular words together. The weather had been in the 80s for the past two days after a three-day down pour. It overfilled the pool and made many of the wildflower patches outside of the Inn into a dangerous slush of mud and sand. They really had to watch the children and make sure they didn’t go exploring those colorful patches unawares of the quicksand underneath. Alice guessed that was part of the reason why Cedric was so worried. Although Drew was far from being an eight-year-old, he got into his fair share of mischief.

Bishop chuckled at the pair, the other four adults supervising the youth playing in or around the pool gave them a cursory glance before continuing their vigil over the children. Bishop nudged his reading glasses further up on his nose with the knuckle of his index finger and pointed at the stoned inlayed hearth identical to the one they were seated in front of with an amiable smile. “Oh no need for more of a description than that, we’d know your little brother even if he shaved his head painted himself yellow.”

Cedric smiled, the tight expression on his face becoming lax at the notation.

“Though, I’d hardly call him walking around in too big boxers and a tank top being naked.” He stood up to his full height, which was 5'4 and heavy handedly patted Cedric on the back. “But the boy should be behind there. I told him not to go wandering around out there.” Bishop smiled sympathetically, the lines of his 60 years showed around his eyes and the bands of silver hairs that ringed his head faded into his once dark brown hair accentuated his long face. “Don’t forget, you’re not alone in this.”

Cedric nodded absently already heading toward the hearth.

“Sorry Bishop, he often gets like this with Drew.” She offered with an apologetic smile.

“Hmm . . . I’m sure he has his reasons, but he’s not as gruff or cynical like he used to be.”

She glanced at Cedric, catching a glimpse of his back as he rounded the corner going behind the hearth, they had all suffered losses. She was sure somewhere out there, Drew had a family of his own that was searching for him. She just hoped that Cedric didn’t get too attached to their little foster family. They would have to part eventually.

He hated being cooped up all the time. He hated not being able to walk the way he wanted. He sure as hell didn’t understand why his head felt so light or why his chest hurt every time he touched the plait of hair on the right side of his head that stopped in the center of his chest. He had gotten defensive when Shalita had offered to trim it like she had done for the rest but the unevenness reminded him of how he didn’t belong there or anywhere for that matter. He felt that if he stayed here, got too close to anyone, something bad would happen.

“Like it always did . . . ” He blinked, stunned by his own words and sat up from where he was leaning against the palm tree. He grimaced; the shadow of the tree had kept the ground moist which was more than evident on his backside. His brows scrunched together as he took in his surroundings and sighed when his cane somehow ended up a good foot away.

He continued to grimace, the pain in his back reminding him of the wounds there as he pushed himself up on his hands and knees. He swallowed, determined not to let the pain win out as he made his way over to his cane. This wasn’t the first time he came out of fugue or one of his moods as Alice called them in another place. At least this time he hadn’t woken up in a pool of his own blood. A chill went up his spin at the waking memory. It always left him feeling so uneasy, he couldn’t remember what happened or what he did while he was in that state but he remembered more of his childhood when he came out of it.

‘Maybe that’s because of the kids.’ He decided he’d ask Cedric about it later. Doctor Campbell often avoided him when he didn’t have to do mandatory checkups or supervise him in the gym so there would be no asking him. He tried hanging out with the other teens but a boy named Andy made it a point to alienate him whenever the others would include him in a game they were playing or come and visit him in his room that had become the terrible threesome’s (T3's) headquarters. He smirked against the pain, panting as he reached out for his cane. Tamara, Inari (not Giichi like he originally thought but the boy told him he didn’t mind it if it was only him who said it and beamed at him when he called him ‘G’ instead) and Emy included him in everything and never treated him like an invalid. Their constant presence as well as that of the four friends was a blissful reprieve from the rectangular, plastered walls that made up his world the first couple weeks he’d been conscious.

Duo whooped in accomplishment that was soon followed by a surprised yelp when he was suddenly hefted up and over a broad shoulder.

“Ow! No, Ced!” He whined watching his cane fall back to the soggy earth. He pummeled Cedric’s chest with his fists half-heartedly, “Put me down you dork! I can walk!”

“Knuckle head you’re bleeding through my shirt. Walking would open them up more.” Cedric growled out.

“And tossing me over your shoulder is any better?!” He countered, pouting. He was sure that he hadn’t been bleeding.

Cedric glared, smirking at Duo’s surprised gasp when he swooped down to pick up the cane. “It’s better.” He put the cane between his legs and reached up to re-situated Duo on his shoulder.

“Your bony shoulder is putting a hole in my stomach.” Duo complained.

“You’re one to talk, needle knees. Be grateful your perch is my shoulder and I’m not carrying you under my arm.” Cedric said with a laugh, his anxiety melting away as he walked back to the pool. “You’re not bleeding all that badly but you did ruin my shirt.” He offered with a smile.

Duo pouted, sticking out his bottom lip trying to look as miserable as he felt. “I’m not no freakin’ parrot.” He grumbled.

Cedric smirked at the double negative. “Aw, Polly wanna cracker?”

Duo turned his head away, folding his arms and would have fallen off the older man’s shoulder if Cedric hadn’t been quick to steady him. Cedric snickered as Duo continued to pout, though he couldn’t keep it up long. He recalled Cedric’s sorrowful comment among the teasing and he couldn’t help his relief that the bleeding wasn’t as bad as Cedric had made it sound at first. The last time something like that happened, Cedric had been the one to find him, clean and patch him up since the good doctor was no where to be found. He glanced at Cedric through the corner of his eyes and smiled mischievously.

Alice was still standing by Bishop when Cedric waved to her.

“I got him. Brat was playing in the mud. ‘E said something ‘bout making mud pies.” Cedric said laughingly, pulling Duo’s arms forward when the shouldered teen tried to elbow him in the face and turned around so the mud on Duo’s backside and legs could be seen. Duo ducked his head at the answering laughter and muttered under his breath.

“Eh? What was that, Kid? I didn’t hear you.”

“I was going to wait but I changed my mind. I said you’ll pay for this!” Duo pushed himself up on Cedric’s shoulder and wrapped his legs around his waist, laughing as he ruffled Cedric’s short black hair, noticing the odd dusty brown hairs that were starting to appear in Cedric’s hair. He pulled on it unintentionally a few times when Cedric threatened to lose his balance to make him find it again.

Everyone at the pool was laughing in varying degrees as Duo continued his revenge. Cedric swore at the imp on his back who continued assault, which he considered a super noogie. “Ah! Shit Kid! Fucking-”

“Cedric, your language!” Alice said between laughs.

“Yah! Pile on Cedric!”

“Race ya!”

“No fair! You’re closer!”

Inari stuck out his tongue at Tamara, speeding up into a full run when Emy ran past him.

“No running on the deck! Boys! Tamara!” Bishop shouted half heartedly when they collided with Cedric’s legs and he went down.

“Timber!” Hank shouted.

“Argh! Hank! Hey I could use a little help here!”

“Haha, I’m not touching that. Besides, my hands are full.” He smirked, rubbing Shalita's jean clad butt.

Shalita slapped his backside and he held her closer to him. She smiled up at him as his lips met hers.

“Ewww!” Came the united response intermixed with giggles.

“Hank’s got Shalita cooties!” Came the sing song comment from the edge of the pool along with more laughter and a few comments from teens, mostly telling them to shut up.

“Ha! You can’t hold me, not when my man G has my back!” Duo’s laughter came to an abrupt end, his smile wobbling with the sudden ache in his head. He shook it off and smiled showing all his teeth when he saw Hank and Shalita doing the tongue tango. “‘Bout time you kissed her!” Duo shouted, his bravado coming back and wolf whistled at the kissing couple who smiled into their kiss. Inari proceeded to make loud kissing sounds with his hand and Duo stopped him by tickling him.

“Oh really?” Cedric queried, freeing himself of Inari and Tamara and heading to where Duo was mercilessly tickling Inari.

“Drew! Inari! Look out! He got away!” Tamara squealed and then screamed when Cedric swooped down on the unsuspecting duo. More chaos ensued when Emy and Tamara scrambled up to their feet and chased after him.

Shalita laughed, pulling away from her husband who was determined not to end their lip lock session. She rested her head against his chest, opening her eyes to frown at Maggie still standing beside them, looking wistfully at everyone else. Shalita touched her shoulder, smiling into olive shaped brown eyes that rose to her in question. “Hey, not going to help them capture Cedric?”

Maggie gazed over at Cedric who was grumbling with Inari and Duo captured under each arm as he attempted to walk toward them with Tamara and Emy on each leg. She smiled then quickly covered it with a scowl. “No, I’m just making sure they don’t get into troub-”

Shalita and Maggie both glared at Hank when Maggie was suddenly shoved forward.

"Hank," Shalita warned.

Hank rolled his eyes.“Be a kid, Kid. You don’t have to act all grown up all the time.”

“I have to with Cedric looking after us.”

“What was that?”

She screamed when she was suddenly picked up and swirled around in the air, her surprise giving way to laughter before they all collapsed into a pile of limbs at Bishop’s feet.

Alice smiled at them, pulling Duo up to her side. She was surprised that none of them had fallen into the pool yet.

Duo nodded his thanks to her, panting but content and exhausted. It would have been really bad for his back if Alice hadn’t stepped in and pulled him out of the fray at the last minute. ‘Maybe I pushed it too much.’ He looked longingly around the pool, the happy faces as a melancholy creased his lips. He couldn’t hear their laughter anymore, ‘I want to stay out here. Please, just a little wh-’

Alice stumbled in surprise as she shifted Duo to her arms and kneeled down on the patio. “Drew,” she called gently, brushing his long bangs from his flushed face and wiping away the tears at the corners of his eyes. A hand on her shoulder had her look up to Hank who waved away Bishop to keep attention in their direction to a minimum.

“I’ll take him. No need to get Cedric worried again.” She glanced up to see Shalita nod to her somehow holding the clothes Cedric had balled up under his arm earlier. She nodded back, letting Duo’s hand slip from hers as Hank lifted him and took him away.

He groaned and wondered why they were being so loud. He turned over and put the pillow over his head.

“That’s not answering my question.”

“Cedric.”

“No Alice, you said it yourself. You saw it. Despite his spells he was getting better and stronger. A little rough housing wouldn’t take him down.”

“Oh and that’s your expert opinion.”

They weren’t actually that loud. Their voices were muffled by the door, but he could hear them well. Right down to the shift of their feet against the floor. That was one of the things he discovered about himself, he had excellent senses. Duo blinked up at the shadowed ceiling. It was already nightfall.

“Doctor.” He could hear the warning in Alice’s tone.

“No, it’s my personal observation.” He could picture Cedric's rigid/stiff posture and agitated expession.

“Then your input is just that, an observation. As his doctor I’m better aware of his condition than you are no matter how impressive your guess work and observations were before I got here. I’d suggest you be concerned about your own health.”

“Wha-”

“It’s nothing Alice. We’ll talk about it later. Right now I want Dr. Campbell to tell me about Drew’s condition.”

“I don’t have to tell you anything. You are not his biological family.”

Duo heard nothing from them for a while, the snide remark from the Doctor hurt him as much as he was sure it had Cedric, but it was the truth. ‘It had been nice pretending.’ He didn’t mind belonging somewhere and being a part of someone’s family. ‘Family . . . ’ His mind felt sluggish and then . . . he wasn’t sure where he was.

“I became his guardian when he was brought here and I still am regardless of blood. Now you damn well better tell me everything. And I mean everything.”

He felt like he was forgetting something. ‘I have to go meet . . .’ Duo rolled out of bed and limped toward the terrace doors using the wall as his support. The door was already open but he didn’t notice it, walking slowly along the terrace. His room was at the far right end near the garden, but he paid no attention to the beautiful oasis and pushed onward. He made it down the first set of stairs before falling down them the rest of the way. He coughed and got up again with a pained grunt. ‘I fucked up the mission . . . don’t need him to come rescue me.’

A shadowed figure sitting in a patio chair started from his trance like state focused on the shimmering surface of the pool. He observed the T-shirt and boxer clothed youth sway dangerously toward the pool and then knock over several chairs before colliding with the wall. He winced sympathetically and sat up when the boy kept moving forward. The chair creaked under him at his slight movement and he held his breath when the boy stopped.

The observer checked his visibility, noting the position of the moon and the boy’s position. He kept his breathing shallow, mindful of the last time he’d happened upon the boy in this state. The cuts on his side ached in remembrance. The moon was full but the chilled air kept many of the Inn’s inhabitants inside. He grumbled, forgetting himself, about the unfairness of being the one to get pool duty. He pursed his lips in annoyance. The boy started moving again with a more noticeable limp. The observer wondered what he was trying to get away from as he walked without masking his steps toward the boy laboring against the wall.

“Hmm, you need to get somewhere in a hurry?” He queried watching the boy stumble onward, mumbling under his breath. He tried again. “Drew was it? It’s not the best idea to go off on your own wearing only that.” The man gestured towards Duo’s lack of clothing then ran his hand through his short blonde hair and cursed, things were not going to go as he had hoped in the beginning.

He grabbed Duo’s arm, tense and ready for anything the boy would throw at him, pulling him from the wall. He looked at the boy in mild shock. He hadn’t expected this outcome. Duo was like a rag doll in his hand, his shoulder length hair spilling over his face and his too big shirt sliding off of one pale shoulder.

He glanced around, looking up in the direction of the boy’s room on the terrace when he heard voices from above. He picked up Duo, glaring when he saw the light spill onto the terrace and he ran into the building. He couldn’t let Cedric see him with Duo, he stuffed the long limbed boy into a connecting side closet, briefly looking around to see if anyone had seen him before he running back outside. He ended his mad dash in a calm walk to stand collected at the pool’s edge.

He lit a cigar and took a long draw of it. He let the clove mix fill him and then exhaled the smoke out languidly as he listened to the voices up above. “3... 2... 1.” He whispered, repeating his earlier actions.

“D!”

“Cedric! You’re going to wake everyone up. Calm down. Fred?” She admonished in a harsh whisper.

He looked up at the cute red head with a bar piercing in her left eyebrow and waved. “What’s wrong?”
“Is Drew down there?” He watched Alice look at Cedric incredulously.

“There’s no way he could have made it down there from here.” She said crossing her arms and looking at the thirteen-foot drop then over at the barely visible stairs.

Fred scratched his head and glanced around the area. “No one’s come through the door or down the stairs, but I’ll check the pool house to be sure.”

“Thanks.” He smirked when Alice blushed and started to pull Cedric away from the railing. “C’mon, he’s probably wandering around inside. Don’t go yelling at Doctor Campbell, he wouldn’t know where Drew went because we were both coming to check on him.”

“Fred, what’s all the commotion?”

Fred clasped Tom’s arm so they were elbow to elbow in greeting and released him with a clap on his shoulder. “Cedric’s brother wandered off again.”

“Oh?” Fred gave Tom an inquisitive look but Tom ignored the question there. “You can tell him that the boy didn’t come downstairs and Andy didn’t have anything to do with it this time.”

“Kay.” He shrugged, making a show of checking the pool house before going to the only lit, open room at 2:32 in the morning. He kept close to the rail and watched as Tom began the first check around the pool’s perimeter. He cursed when he realized he forgot about the chairs Duo had knocked over. ‘We can’t afford any slip-ups, not like the last time.’ He leaned over the rail and smiled in relief. Tom righted them with a shake of his head and went toward the garden. Fred walked into the only room with the terrace doors open, noting that the closet and bathroom doors were wide open before continuing to the hall where he heard startled hushed, sounds.

‘I wonder if he checked under the beds too.’ He mused, catching up to a very frustrated looking Alice who was pulling a stiff looking Cedric away from another door.

“He didn’t slip behind me to the pool house and Tom said that no one was on his end or the lower level.” Fred offered a contrite smile wondering if Alice would get him under control before he woke everyone in the Inn.

Alice gave him a grateful look, startled when Cedric abrupt/suddenly jerked out of her hands. Fred watched the doctor sidled up behind him.

“No! We need to . . .”

“You need to be more concerned about yourself.” Doctor Campbell stepped away from Cedric when Cedric’s hand whipped out toward him.

“Cedric!” Fred went to her side when she crumpled to the floor with Cedric half out of her arms. Alice glared at the smug looking Doctor who replaced the safety cap back on the needle and put it in his pants pocket where it clanked with something else. “Do you always carry such strong sedatives on you Doctor?”

“As a Doctor, one must be prepared for any given situation. It is for his own good.”

“What’s wrong with him?” Alice demanded.

Doctor Campbell stared at the wall, a smirk fixed on his kindly, aged face. “I’m not at liberty to say. Perhaps when he wants you to know he’ll tell you.” He narrowed his eyes at Fred and turned his back on Alice when she started to protest. “You should take him to his room. The boy won’t turn to dust if he’s left alone for a night.”

“Doctor-” She frowned at Fred, pulling her hand away from his and then glared at him when he stopped her from pursuing the doctor.

“He’s not looking too well.”

She nodded and let Fred help her get him to his room.

“Do you need anything else? I can wa-”

“No, I’ll be staying here for a bit.”

“Thanks.” Fred heard through the door after he closed it. He went downstairs and paused in thought on the bottom stair. He looked around, shook his head as if disagreeing with someone and then smiled as he made his way back to the pool.

Tbc...