| *sticks head in cautiously* Hello? Anyone still here? Remember me? Dropped off the face of the planet a while ago? Hello? *waves fic* I brought a present�� An 'I-sorry-my-job's-kidnapped-me' fic? Anyone interested? A Children's Series piece? Any takers? Trowa's thoughts on the whole mess? Please? *gets pleading anime eyes* Forgive me? Read? Title: Naptime (11th in the Children's Series) Author: Lady DarkAngel Ladydarkangel_1 @ yahoo.com Category: POV, Sap (?) Pairing(s): Choices, choices�� sorry, no hints in this one. Disclaimers: Gundam Wing or Shinkidousenki Gundam Wing is copyrighted and trademarked by Sunrise, Bandai, Sotsu Agency and associated parties with all rights and privileges. The characters were used without permission for the purposes of entertainment only. This is not meant for sale of profit. Any characters not created by those listed above are mine and hereby considered the sole property and copyright of the author. Anyway, I'm just a poor college student. So can I play with them? I promise I won't break them�... much. Rating: PG Warnings: I think I said hell once�� Minor angst and existentialism. Sappy Trowa (I think). Feedback: Kami-sama, YES!!! Ladydarkangel_1 @ yahoo.com (ignore the spaces); any and all comments are welcome like the sweet ego-sustainers they are. It's the quiet before the storm. I know it. I've been on Earth long enough to feel the treacherous peace that settles down before the winds rage, the blessed silence before the thunder, the calm before Hell decides to pay us all a visit. For you see, it's naptime in the Zoo�� er, the Maxwellresidence. And I do mean naptime. As in set-in-stone timed naps. For *everyone*. At first, it was just a matter of egalitarianism. Duo insisted so that the kids would feel that they were being treated as adults if they all did it. I think he was worried about upsetting them or something during that 'shaky' adjustment period. Nobody bought it. Heero pointed out that adults don't take naps so that logic makes no sense. Wufei rather peevishly declared such foolishness was beneath consideration and that the twins were too old for naps anyways so there was no point. But Duo whined and argued and cajoled and did his very best to look impossible cute and innocent and good as he made his nonsensical case. It worked. Like a thermalscythe through butter (Duo's phrasing), their resolve was broken and 3 PM became the daily Hour of the Nap. I doubt the choice of times was an accident. After all, 3 AM is the Hour of the Wolf, a turbulent time of change and unease. Duo always did have a perverse sense of balance in life, to make the only time peace reigns in this madhouse to be at such a parallel. The Hour of the Nap, however, has become a necessity. This place runs on caffeine, adrenaline, sugar, luck and the ever-present roll of duct tape. It's exhausting to just visit and watch them run around pell mell, doing everything as fast as the structure (theirs or the building's) can take it. The Hour of the Nap is welcome downtime, when there's no screaming, yelling, hitting/kicking/biting/slapping/unacceptable horseplay, flying whatevers, unexplained fires/puddles/smells, missing objects, demands, ringing vidphones, expectations, needs�� anything. Just sleep. Relaxation and calm to frenzy, somnolent order to ever-present chaos. They crash, plain and simple. Now they just have an excuse to pass out on schedule. Which would explain why I'm doing dishes in the kitchen of Duo's home at 3:35 on a Sunday, covered in dirty dishwater with my turtleneck's sleeves rolled up uncomfortably. I've already picked up the living room, careful not to trip over Duo, who's currently sprawled half-on/half-off the couch. I took the garbage out, passing by a snoring Heero on the back porch's swing. I took the twins' toys back to their room, making sure they were still tucked in. I brought in the mail and left it besides a dozing Wufei, slumped over what looks like the bills at the front table. All that's left is to sweep and take out the turkey I'm roasting, and dinner will be ready on time for when the others arrive. I know Relena and Pargan are bringing the dessert, Dorothy's getting the wine and kids' drinks, Sally and Une have the decorations for the table and Quatre out buying something hideously expensive to keep the kids busy when we talk shop. The monthly Family Dinner is upon us once again. Regretfully, the Manguanacs had a mission so they won't be able to make it, hence the party being here insisted of at one of Quatre's places that could fit them all. On the other hand, Sally and Une hadn't been able to make it to the last three times, so they'd be a welcome addition to this dinner. I look out the window and admire the yard as I reach for another dish to scrub. The gardens have turned out well. Better then expected, really. Duo's wildflower bed is positively bursting with all sorts of vivid colors and shapes scattered all over ever which way. Wufei's carefully tended herbs and exotic plants are in neat little orderly rows, blooming and scenting the air in a nice counterpoint to the chaos next to it. Heero's garden (and there's something I never thought I'd see) has a collection of vegetables close to ripening. Within a space of thirty feet, three separate identities have merged to create a cultivated stretch of eclectic and lovely design. The children have claimed the grass, ALL of it but in particular the seventy or so feet in the extreme back by the tall trees... It has mud trails running crisscross in strange patterns. This yard has seen a lot of activity lately. It's seen a lot of life. I revel in the quiet as I tend to the silent household. This is the time I feel I get to know them best. Like snapshots, frozen in time for me to view at my leisure and examine down to the minute details to let me evaluate their progress. To see how this little family's developing. I like what I'm seeing. This semblance of normalcy they're trying to tweak to perfection�� I like it just the way it is. Little bright eyes twinkling with joy, laughter echoing from a young heart. Pride and care radiating from world-weary eyes, the words that would have never thought to cross a Gundam pilot's lips before flowing now with ease. Things like "Let's go down to the playground now" or "That was a beautiful picture" or even the heartfelt "I really liked that." We're all growing here: physically, mentally, spiritually, socially, personally. Damn Duo, but he was right. We needed this. We needed this like machines need oil. They can run without but it's destructive and potentially dangerous to all things involved. It makes for substandard workmanship, faltering efforts and easy breakdowns. No one in their right minds runs any piece of equipment without making sure it's lubricated properly. That's just common sense if you want to preserve your apparatus and get the best result possible. We were the machines of war, not expected to last. We were not meant to live so who cared if we slowly destroyed ourselves so long as the job got done? We were not given the 'oil' we needed to run properly, things like love and human compassion, because in the eyes of all that 'mattered', we were utterly replaceable. Unimportant. Not worth it. But to those kids? Dai and Van? We're the world. We're not machines on the verge of breakdown; we're wildflowers bursting out of the ground however we want. We're not lacking in oil; we're the ones giving it out in spades. We're not cold, shapeless things to use; we're warm, caring people to play with and spoil them rotten. We're not dying, we're beginning to live. So stick that up your exhaust pipe and blow, all that 'matters'. We've found what really matters. Duo's lead the way. We're good as we are. We're happy. We're�� family. And I've got proof right here. The timer dings, startling me out of my reverie. The first sound I've heard in almost an hour, save for snores and sleep mummers. The turkey needs to be checked. I still have to sweep. It's 3:49. The Hour of the Nap is almost over. And my family will wake, rise to begin the chaos anew and wait to greet the rest of our number. My favorite time of the day draws to a close. Ah well, there will always be another naptime. Now to tend to dinner�� I can hear Duo stirring already, asking what smells good. Heero will come in, Wufei will get the twins and all my cleaning will be for nothing in about ten minutes flat. Quiet before the storm, indeed. The best time of the day. ~ ~ Owari ~ ~ *sighs* Back to my hellhole�� er, job. That is, unless anyone wants me to stay? Maybe write more? Fishing for comments, here�� Lady DarkAngel ---------- Lady Protector of POVs in Hentai Onna-Gumi Moderator of Duo's Sugar Intake Keeper of Duo's Nice Rear-end Keeper of Heero's Homicidal Intentions Want the rest? Whole sig's at my site! Lady DarkAngel's Gundam Wing Fanfiction Library www.geocities.com/ladydarkangel_1/index.html |