10-June-2001
Note: The quote Duo refers to is from the children's book "I'll Love You Forever." by Robert Munsch.
Warnings: Angst?
Pairings: None in this chapter.
Disclaimer. I own nuffin, luv. I'll get out me spoons.
Flashback:Duo hoisted the little boy out of the bathtub, ignoring the puddle of water around his feet. A toy boat drifted over the end of the tub lazily and crashed to the floor.
"They found the dragons, Pops." the child pointed to the boat.
"Yup. Just like on the map. Go to the edge of the world, but if you fall off 'here there be dragons'."
Duo grabbed up an enormous blue bathtowel that had once been a fluffy and new wedding present. Now it was faded and threadbare, and stained, and perfect for drying off a little boy who was no longer three but, "three and a half!"
He wrapped Jazz up in it until only his face was poking out and rubbed him down until the boy collapsed in giggles. He lifted the boy into his arms and started for his room.
"Order up! Hey, who ordered the little boy?" He said in a Brooklyn accent.
"I'm NOT a little boy." Jazz protested.
"Oh you're not, eh? What are you then? A little girl?" Duo deposited him on the edge of his bed and went to hunt down a pair of clean pajamas.
"NO!"
"Are you... a little goblin?" Duo returned with Jazz's favorite "Adventure League" pjs in hand.
"No! I'm a BIG boy."
"A big boy, huh?" Duo smirked. "Too big for a bedtime story?"
"No."
"To big for me to sing to you?"
"No."
"Big enough to get a job so I can retire?"
"No, not THAT big, Pops."
"I see." Duo nodded. "Makes sense now." He removed the towel and pulled Jazz's pajamas onto him. "I think you're right. Those aren't going to fit you much longer."
He sat down on the bed and pulled Jazz onto his lap. "You are getting big too fast, you know that? But you know something else?"
"What?" Round violet eyes were full of curiosity.
"No matter how big you get, even if you get bigger than Daddy, you will always be my little boy."
Jazz snuggled back in his arms to digest this. "Like the story?"
"Like the story." Duo agreed.
" 'I'll love you for ever, I'll like you for always, and as long as I'm living, my baby you'll be' "
They sat in silence for a while, just enjoying the closeness. Duo's fingers gently combed through Jazz's damp, wispy hair. He wasn't sure how it ended up blond; his own was chestnut and Hilde's had been black, but somehow he'd ended up with a tow-headed son. It was one of life's great mysteries, he supposed. Although he had often teased Hilde about a mix-up at the hospital (no real child of his could possibly be THAT cute), there was no mistaking that the eyes gazing up mischievously at him now were his own.
"Can we play with my cars?"
"Tomorrow. I have the day off and we can play cars as much as you want but right now it's time for little boys and big boys to go to sleep. Nice try, though."
Jazz giggled. "Sometimes, you gotta try. Right, Pops?"
"Right. Even if know you don't have a ghost of a chance, you have to keep trying anyway. Sometimes you might surprise yourself. And sometimes, you find those dragons." He tucked his son into bed and reached for a story book from a near-by stand.
"We'd fight um together, though. No dragon would stand a chance against us!"
"Got that right, kiddo. As long as you and I stand together, not even dragons can knock us down"
Osmar was a heavy weight on Jazz's bed and he stared up the ceiling. One hand lazily stroked the dog's ears.
This was harder than he had expected.
Oh, not the investigation part. He hadn't even started that yet. Jaf had been great, and Osmar was cuddly, but... he missed his family.
In a house with so many people, it was seldom quiet. Someone was always getting up to walk to the bathroom, or sneak something out of the refrigerator, or play with the VR station at the risk of a week's grounding. And it wasn't a real night unless you heard "Whoever just turned on the computer better be a burglar because if it's a kid it's about to be an unhappy one!" Followed by the sound of footsteps racing back down the hall, a door closing, and fake snores.
He had taken those night noises for granted, he realized. They were annoying at times but they always made him feel safe. Sometimes Duo and Heero would go off by themselves for a few days and Wufei and Denea would come to stay with them. The kids knew not to sneak around the house at night with Wufei there, because there was always the chance he could decide just on general principal it was a trespasser and run out ready to attack.
He hated this, he realized. He wanted Linra to be asleep in the next room over. He wanted his father and Ojisan to be right down the hall. He wanted to be able to pretend to be asleep when his father snuck in and pulled the blankets up tighter around him and whispered "Goodnight, Sweet Prince." He wanted to be able to grumble to himself that he was too big for his father to check up on during the night.
Sleep slowly overtook him and he did not hear the words escape from his lips. "Not THAT big, Pops."
This was harder than Linra had expected.
Going with her mother on memory walks had been one thing; controlling one herself for herself was quite another. She felt like she was on a bike without training wheels for the first time. It had LOOKED easy enough to do.
Linra had a few things working against her. Her mother had invented the process, and devoted a good chunk of her life to perfecting it. She knew how to ride the system and skate around any flaws. The girl herself was young, inexperienced, and lacked the self-discipline she now realized was the most crucial part.
Her mind was a vast place, full of Linra's lifetime memories and buried ones from generations of her family. Without a strong mind to guide the memories in a clear direction it was chaos. It was a huge tangled mass of colors and shapes and sounds and smells, and it overwhelmed her. Quickly she retreated into the between room to regain her bearings.
"Mother, help me. Let me do this." she said softly. "I know you came to Rosie to tell her I was in trouble. I KNOW you did, just like Jazz's mother came to him when Vire took him, even if no one else did believe him but me. You know how to do this. Guide my mind. Help me remember."
She felt warm and her confidence returned. It was HER mind and she was going to control it. Time to try again.
She forced the room to fade away and tried to think about the night she had almost been taken. The images around her swirled, and she saw herself laying in bed, the covers tangled over her legs.
She watched herself sit up suddenly, her eyes blank. Wordlessly she got up from her bed and walked out of the room, through the living room, and out of the house, heading toward the ocean.
DAMN IT! Linra returned to the between room. She had been so sure she'd find an answer there, that surely someone must have entered the bungalow, told her something, drugged her with something. Nothing. It looked like she'd just gone out for a stroll on her own.
She replayed the memory again. Nothing changed.
Furious now, she tried to start up the memory again, but she was too upset to concentrate. Once again the images became jumbled and blurred, and she found herself watching something she did not remember. And she could not look away.
She was staring at what appeared to be a prison cell, or a cage of some sort. Rows of them were attached side by side, lit only by a few dim wall lights. The floor was damp, chipped stone, and both insect and mammal vermin scurried everywhere.
She could hear voices, she realized. Singing, crying, a baby's wail. The sound of someone vomiting. Her stomach churned and she approached the nearest cell.
A young woman sat huddled against the back wall, rocking something against her chest and crooning at it. She was so thin Linra could see most of her bones through her sallow skin. Her hair had probably been blonde at one time, but now it was a dull dishwater color, and matted with sweat and filth. What was worse, in Linra's opinion, were her eyes. There was no fear in them, no resignation, no anger. No nothing. She looked like a machine.
The woman did not look up as footsteps approached her cell, but continued rocking what Linra realized was a baby. The girl glanced at the jailers.
They were beautiful. It seemed odd to describe men as beautiful but these men were. They both had short brown hair in identical cuts, framing flawless features. They were tall and broad across the shoulders.
There was something wrong about the way they looked, however. Not fake wrong, but wrong. It wasn't anything she could describe any better than she could describe why a man's face looked different than a woman's face. It just was different.
"She bred four moons ago. The child is female. No health problems." The first man spoke with a clipped accent.
"This is her third offspring."
"Yes. Both previous children are well, the elder a boy, the second female."
"When is she slated for termination?"
"Tomorrow."
The second man studied her. "Too bad. I like this one. She doesn't complain or whine like the others."
"Her sanity fled the first time we seeded her. A process I wish we could repeat, I agree with you."
"I'll handle the prep for tomorrow. I'll need her name for the termination records."
His partner glanced down at his chart. "Sashi."
Linra's knees buckled and she sank to the floor. "No... oh no. Sashi? Jazz's Sashi?"
Maybe it was a common name, but she doubted it. She knew, beyond any doubt, that the woman in the cage, oblivious to the men calmly discussing murdering her, was the woman Jazz's ancestor had loved and lost so many years ago.
She pulled the VR helmet off her head and sat panting at the computer, her eyes wide.
Why do I have Sashi's memories?
It was obvious. She was descended from that poor young woman.
No wonder she and Jazz had been so drawn to each other. No wonder it felt like she had known him forever. In a way, she had. They both had the memories of their ancestors in them, ancestors who had adored each other. It was almost like being reincarnated and finding each other again.
The rest of what she had seen sunk in. No wonder those men had looked wrong to her. They were aliens! Almost normal looking but not quite. It was they who had raided the caravan all those years ago, they who had stolen the women.
Stolen the women!
She rocked herself in the chair suddenly. Was it possible they had come back, whoever they were?
"He knew!" Linra breathed. "That son-of-a-bitch KNEW! That's why he went after Jazz, that's why... Mother..." Her eyes filled with tears. "Is that why he killed you, Mother? Because soon you would have known too?"
"Linra?" She snapped her head up to see Denea in the shadows. "Who are you talking too, sweetheart? Is someone else there?"
"Oh, Denea!" The girl ran across the room and embraced her mother's best friend, sobbing. "I know now. I know why Mother and Father were killed."
"What?"
"I have to contact Heero and Duo." Linra ran for the communicator. "I'll explain everything later, but if this means what I think it means, they have to find Jazz FAST!"
End Chapter 10
(:./lasha/dragons10)
