Writing Children of the Stars- A Duo Maxwell Fanfic

[Guest Shinigami_kun]

Children of the Stars

Comments-Mmkay, well, here goes nothin'.. it's just a short little fanfic about Duo musing over his thoughts and memories. I wrote something like it a while ago, but my computer ate it, and now it's all gone. :( I would have posted on Fanfiction.net, but my stupid computer won't let me post it there.. so I figure might as well put it here. It's all fluff, kinda sad and sappy. Tell me whatcha think, and enjoy!

Disclaimer- I figure I should put this here. I don't own Gundam Wing, unfortunately.

~*~Flashback

"SOLO! SOLO!!" The shriek filled the city's normally serene and calm air as Duo sobbed, having just witnessed the death of his best friend and co-leader of the orphaned gang right before his eyes. It was the first time he'd cried in a long time. As a street urchin, you had to be tough. No crying, that was like an unwritten rule among the orphans. Boys don't cry, after all.

~*~End Flashback

Duo felt tears spring to his eyes as he remembered the feeling of helplessness that had overcome him when Solo had first shown signs of being extremely ill. The boy couldn't have moved if he'd wanted to. His muscles had frozen up, and there had been nothing anyone could do. People even had the nerve to walk past, and say something like, "Oh, look at that poor war orphan, he looks so sick.. too bad." And then they would walk away. Yes, it was too bad, wasn't it?! Too bad for him, too bad for Solo. Too bad for everyone. It was a good thing that the rest of the boys were out. Quatre was out getting supplies, while Heero, Trowa, and Wufei were off on some mission, happily blowing things up. Duo let the tears fall from his eyes, watching as they splashed onto his lap.

The braided boy suddenly remembered something, and shifted slightly, digging around in his pocket and pulling out an old newspaper clipping. He unfolded it, and smiled as a photograph of his old gang slid out of the old, yellowed newspaper. His group, all of them wild-haired and grinning, giving each other rabbit ears and pulling faces at the camera. The pilot smiled as he saw his young self farther towards the back as he was one of the taller orphans in his group, standing next to Solo and sticking his tongue out at the camera. Solo was smirking and giving Duo bunny ears.

The article that went with the photo was entitled "Children of the Stars". Duo smiled as he remembered the day that the photo was taken.

~*~Flashback

"YOU BRATS!" The call of the vendor roared as Duo, Solo, and their gang made away with their latest theivings. The man waved a fist after them, and Duo only stuck his tongue out at the man, only succeeding in infuriating the vendor more. They all laughed and dashed away before anyone could catch them, back to the abandoned building where they lived.

They hadn't noticed that someone had followed.

A woman, dressed in casual pants and a T-shirt picked her way through the rubble of the building and straight into the boys' circle.

"Ah.. hello.." She sounded a bit nervous, but she wasn't nearly as bad as the circle of shocked and surprised faces that met her.

"..who are you?" Duo finally demanded, setting down the food he'd stolen on the old, worn-down table in the center of their little circle.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to turn you in or anything," the woman said, laughing and holding her hands up, "I'm a reporter from the local newspaper.. I'd like to do a story on you all, if you don't mind."

The gang shot glances to one another. Finally, after much discussion, they agreed. The reporter interviewed them each, one by one, and took notes, before waving a goodbye as she picked her way out. She promised them each a copy of the photo and a copy of the newspaper where the article would be published.

Solo had died two days later of a virus, before he'd had a chance to see it. They all recieved it, as promised. The reporter even helped them bury Solo and give him a mildly-proper funeral. They'd placed the photo and newspaper saved for him inside the grave, and then covered him up. Duo and the others had made a cross out of two branches they'd found in the park, tied together with a piece of old string, and stuck it in the dirt to mark the grave. Duo opened his copy of the newspaper and read aloud, while the other orphans and the reporter surrounded the grave and bowed their heads. Duo felt tears sting his eyes as he read quietly.

"With war comes tragedy, but not many have experienced as much tragedy as these war orphans we've come to see on the streets daily. They are forced to stealing to survive, considering no one in the colonies seems to have enough heart left in them to donate. It is was with this in mind that this article was written. Interviewing a group of these war orphans, I discovered that there was more to them that meets the eye. Each has their own story. Some have come from Earth, or other colonies, for varying reasons. Others have been emotionally scarred from watching their parents murdered before their very eyes. Some do not know what happened to their parents, having watched them go off to war and never come back, and still others do not even remember their parents. Such is the life of a war orphan. The children have been horribly forced to endure the ordeal of growing up before they have to, of maturing far beyond their years. Each night, these children are forced to go to sleep without someone to tuck them in, without a teddy bear to hug, without a place to go if they have a nightmare, and with only the night sky to bid them goodnight. Perhaps it is for this reason that these war orphans can be known as the 'Children of the Stars'."

~*~Owari~*~

Whatcha think? Excellent? Good? Okay? Bad? Terrible? Tell me! Please? :D