A Dorothy story. I wrote this mainly because the one offputting thing about her (to me, anyway) was how she kept on smiling despite almost everything that happened. It really bugged me because I thought to myself, "Why is she smiling?" when the situation was inappropriate. I think the duel with Quatre and Trowa's remark when he picks up Quatre puts it into a kind of perspective. Hmmm, maybe Dorothy & Duo have something in common. -_-;;
"When I grow up, I want to be just like you," said the little blonde girl with the forked eyebrows. She had just seen him from the window, passing by in the military parade, resplendent in the finery of his dress uniform. He was sitting in a car, waving at the crowd. To her, he looked just like a prince from a fairy tale.
"Really, now?" said the man, sliding off the jacket to his dress uniform. A servant took it and went out of the room to give it to another to send to the cleaners.
She nodded eagerly, a happy smile on her face. "I want to be a soldier."
"It's not all parades and dinner parties, Dorothy," said the tall, aristocratic man. He then sat on the bed and wiggled his weary toes and unbuttoned the cuffs to his shirt. "Not that parades don't have their downside as well. Oh, those dress boots weren't made for human feet."
"But if I were a soldier, I could be with you more. I wouldn't have to go away to school. All the kids make fun of me because of my eyebrows." She self-consciously played with the already apparent forks.
He got up and lifted her up and carried her to the mirror. "I think you look just fine. Don't listen to what other people say. Did you know that Treize has eyebrows just like yours? Your mother had the same eyebrows but she trimmed them. You look just like her, you know. Look in the mirror."
Dorothy looked in the mirror. She did look like the pictures father showed her of the blonde woman she barely remembered. She saw her father smiling at her, holding her up in his big strong arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck. "Can't I just go with you instead?"
"It's too dangerous. Dorothy, I'm a soldier so you don't have to be. Remember I took you on a tour through that base. Those big machines I showed you, you remember them? My men and I use them to fight other people. They're not toys, Dorothy. People get hurt, some people even... " He paused. "When this is all over, I'll end up in some office, doing paperwork like some bureaucrat and cutting ribbons in ceremonies. Then you'll grow tired of me and meet some dashing young man at some debutante ball and... "
"Uh-uh," she said. "I'm always going to be with you." Her eyes began to shine and her lips began to tremble.
"What's with the sad face? Don't cry, don't cry. If you really want to be a soldier, then you should smile for me because then I can go out and do my best. That's part of what a soldier does is put on a brave front even if they don't feel it themselves. Sometimes, I'm afraid but I try to cheer the other soldiers up by acting as brave as I can. That's what makes my job so hard sometimes."
Dorothy reluctantly smiled.
"I'll come back and I'll bring back something you can really smile about. I know! Want to go out for some ice cream?"
"Yeah!"
"Why didn't she cry at the funeral?"
"She's got this freaky smile on her face."
"It's weird. It scares me a little."
"Maybe there's something wrong with her? Maybe she doesn't realize that it's real."
I'm smiling because I know that's what he wants me to do. I'm smiling because I'm a soldier and I have to be brave. I have to be brave... I have to be...
The End
(:./mk/smile)
