I do not own Gundam Wing, Escaflowne, Pizza Hut, Wal-Mart, or whatever else you think I might own. I don't make any profit from this, it's just for fun!

This story is dedicated to Dark Angel for getting me interested in writing again, and to my sister who really helped me with my writer's block when I needed her. Thanks!!

 

The Trouble With the Truth Part Two: Time Marches On.

By: Msmelanie

Chapter Six: Lies and Punishment Go Hand-in-Hand.

The kids hopped into the car first, everyone except Rei.

"Relena?" Heero asked Relena. "Could you get your daughter off my hand?"

Relena looked down at her daughter and saw her lightly holding Heero's hand. "It doesn't  look like she's holding on that tight, Heero."

"Looks are deceiving." Heero said as he tried shaking her off his hand again, but Rei continued to cling on.

"Perhaps she'll let go if you ride with her instead of me?" Wufei recommended.

Heero glared at Wufei, but Rei looked at her mommy. She shined the sweetest sad smile she could show her mother. "Please?"

Heero looked at Relena and shook his head no. Relena looked down at Heero's hand. "She really wants to ride with you, Heero. Please?"

Heero shook his head no again.

Duo came walking up to Heero and Relena. I know this is stupid, but it'll be fun to torture Heero so..."You know what?" Duo began. "I'll take Rei's place in the girls vehicle, and Rei can have mine."

Heero just glared at Duo as he hopped into the girls' vehicle.

Relena just smiled as the girls got into their vehicle along with Wufei.

"Heero, let's go now." Trowa ordered.

Heero moved to the red car the guys were driving. Quatre and Trowa got in the back, while Heero tried to get in the front.  That was easier said than done though.

"You have to let go of my hand to get into the car." Heero tried explaining to Rei.

Rei shook her head no and got into the driver's seat on the driver's side door. She crawled over to the passenger seat, pulling Heero behind her. Before Heero knew it, he was in the driver's seat with his daughter next to him. Rei flashed a simple grin that seemed to say I-told-you-so while Heero started to drive off the lot.

To the girls' ride...

"Mom, I'm hungry." Dominic complained to Dorothy.

"Well, we need to get the christmas tree before we go back home." Dorothy replied.

"That's weird." Hilde said. "Michael? Why aren't you complaining yet?"

"Oh, I'm fine. I got a truckload of candy to keep me full!" Michael answered.

Duo hit his forehead.

Hilde looked at him like she couldn't believe it. "A truckload of candy? Where did you get that kind of candy from?" she asked.

"Ummm...nowhere." Michael replied.

Duo just looked out the window as if he wasn't even listening to the conversation.

Dominic looked at a sack Michael was carrying. "Wow, Michael! You really do have gobs of candy!"

"Sshhh!" Michael shoo'd Dominic.

"Oh, young man..." Hilde said as she stopped the car.

To the guys' ride...

"Hey, what are the girls stopping for?" Quatre asked as the guys watched the women and Michael hop out of their own vehicle.

"I don't know." Heero grumbled as he slowed down. The guys got out and went up to the girls.

"What's going on?" Quatre asked the girls.

Hilde looked down at Michael. "Michael, where did you get all this candy from?" she asked as she looked inside Michael's bag.

"I'm not supposed to tell." Michael replied.

"Who told you not to tell?" Hilde asked.

"Did you pick that up from a stranger?! Did an old man give it to you?!" Quatre asked Michael.

"Oh, yeah right." Dorothy responded to Quatre sarcastically. "Do you think the scientists would actually give the kids candy? To do what, poison them?"

"No, it wasn't an old man." Michael interrupted. "Duo told me not to tell."

 Why, I wonder..."Duo!"   Hilde shouted.

Duo came out of the girls' vehicle. "Hey, Hilde." Duo laughed nervously. "What's up?"

Hilde just looked at Duo. She had a way of looking at Duo that always made him tell her the truth.

"Okay!" Duo shouted. "I gave him the candy to be quiet about me losing him."

"Lost him?" Hilde said. "Lost him! Duo, he's four years old! How can you lose something that's only four and noisier than anything on earth!" Hilde sighed. "When did you realize you lost him?"

"Oh, about 1:30." Duo replied.

"When did you leave Duo?" Hilde asked her son.

Her son shuffled his feet. "Oh, about 1:20."

Hilde couldn't believe her ears. "You had 'lost' Michael for ten whole minutes! How is that even possible?!"

Duo shrugged his shoulders.

Dorothy interrupted. "How is that possible indeed. Wouldn't your first clue be....the silence?"

Duo shrugged his shoulders again.

"It's Duo, what did you expect!" Wufei shouted as he stuck his head out of the girls' vehicle window. "Can we hurry up and go already! These kids are driving me crazy!"

Everyone got back into their cars.

To the girls' van in mid conversation...

"I think that's an excellent idea, Hilde." Dorothy answered back to Hilde.

"No, I completely disagree!" Wufei shouted at the girls.

"It will teach you to pay attention!" Mae Linh scolded.

"Besides, we need to go back to the Manager." Catherine replied. "Someone needs to take care of things at home. Plus, you need to learn sometime."

Wufei glared at Duo. "There punishing us because of you..."

"I didn't mean for that to happen!" Duo shouted back.

"Yes, you did!" Wufei replied.

"No, I didn't!" Duo protested back.

"Kids-oh, I mean guys-be quiet! We're almost there." Relena replied.

"Gee, and I thought we were bad." Dominic whispered to Michael.

After about a mile...

"There it is, the Optomist Club!" Hilde shouted.

The girls turned into a lot that had many types of trees. The guys followed the girls' vehicle. Everyone got out and headed for the trees.

"Howdy, folks!" A man in overalls called out. "Can I help you?"

"No, we're just looking." Dorothy replied.

"Okay, let's break apart and find the best tree." Relena replied.

"I'm guessing 'break apart' means get with our families again?" Quatre asked Heero.

"What do you think." Heero answered back as his daughter pulled him up to Neo and Relena.

Later on as the families started to find some trees...

"I found a good one!" Dominic shouted out.

"I did too!" Michael shouted out.

Everyone came to where the children were. Dorothy and Hilde picked up the two trees the children picked out.

"I don't know Michael, this trees fifty dollars...." Hilde said as she looked at the price tag.

"What about yours, Dominic?" Dorothy asked. She picked up the tree and realized it was only twenty dollars. "This price tags a lot nicer than the other."

Heero sneered. "As if you and Relena could ever put a dent in your checkbooks."

Dorothy sneered back. "You'd be surprised how paying a circus and feeding eleven people can dent a checkbook."

Heero continued to sneer.

"Stop that, Heero." Relena replied. "Let's not get into this now. I think Dominic found a pretty good tree."

Everyone walked up to the man in overalls. They paid him the money and had him put a fresh cut on the bottom of the tree. They stuck the tree in the back of the guys' car and moved out.