Young Hearts - Part 20 by Keara
Standard disclaimers apply
Trowa awoke with the distinct impression that something
was missing. He didn’t recall when he had fallen asleep, his
last memory of him being by the bed and watching his clone. He had
been kneeling on the floor, his fingers brushing along the sleeping
child’s scalp. And so, he was still kneeling on the floor, his
head having been laying on the surface of the bed. He rubbed his neck
as he righted himself, stifling a yawn with the back of his other
hand.
Looking to where Triton had been sleeping, he noticed that the child
was no longer there. Trowa did a quick scan of the room and sighed
when he didn’t see the boy anywhere. He had hoped that the boy
wouldn’t need to do this. Trowa calmly stood and stretched,
sighing as a number of his joints cracked. Had it been any of the
other children, he might have worried. But this was Triton . . . and
the only reason that Triton would go anywhere without Trowa was if
the child wanted to find places to hide. Trowa understood the child’s
need, and he knew that he wouldn’t scold Triton for wanting
some aspect of control and safety.
Trowa headed downstairs and noted all the places that he thought
Triton might be without actually checking. There was no danger to
the boy, so he’d let Triton hide for now. Besides, it was time
for lunch, so he meant to make something for himself as well as his
clone, knowing that if he was hungry, Triton would come out.
He reached the bottom step just as someone rang the doorbell. Wufei
was already en route to the door, coming from the kitchen, when Trowa
felt a small hand slip into his. Trowa looked down, only to see Triton
looking back, his green eyes wide with nervousness.
“It’s all right, Triton.” Trowa smiled kindly at
the child. “I’m not angry with you. I want you to feel
safe here. And if finding places to hide, even from me, makes you
feel safe . . . then you can find all the hiding places you want.”
The answering smile that Triton gave him, warmed Trowa’s heart.
Trowa looked to the door and tensed a little as Wufei started to
open it. Seeing who stood just outside the door, he had a feeling
that he would need to catch Triton quickly and calm the child before
he went into hiding and didn’t come out again.
As soon as the door was fully opened, Rasid entered the house and
spoke in that deep baritone that went to the very center of a person’s
being. “Greetings, Mister Chang. I trust that everything is
well?”
Trowa sensed as Triton stiffened beside him and waited until the
last second to pick Triton up to prevent him from bolting. He remembered
his own nervousness when he had first met the members of the Maguanac.
Although he had not shown it outwardly, he had been quite scared.
So he knew that Triton had to be completely terrified.
He held Triton securely in his arms as the boy let out little sobbing
sounds, thrashing and struggling against his elder self. “Sshh
. . . sshh. It’s okay, Triton.” Trowa said, attempting
to soothe the boy with whispered words. “They won’t hurt
you. You’re safe. It’s okay.” He shook his head
at Rasid as the tall man took a step forward. “Don’t.
It wouldn’t help any.” He warned, rubbing Triton’s
back. He continued to talk softly to the child, knowing that he had
to do something to ease his frightened spirit. “I know . . .
I felt pretty much the same way when I first met them. It’s
okay.”
Abdul, easily the least threatening of the Maguanac, took a few cautious
steps forward. “Hey there, little guy.” He said quietly.
Triton turned his head to regard Abdul with wary and frightened eyes,
still pushing against Trowa’s chest in an attempt to get away
from him and all the strange men that stood around the room.
Abdul smiled and took off his sunglasses, keeping his movements slow.
“A peace offering?” He held the shades out for Triton
to take.
Trowa smiled as Triton looked around at the Maguanac in the room.
He knew what the child was thinking . . . that if the Maguanac had
really wanted to hurt them, they could easily have done so already.
“It’s okay, Triton. They won’t hurt you. This is
Abdul . . . that’s Rasid, over there is Ahmad and Auda . . .
they’re friends of ours.”
He watched as Triton slowly reached forward and snatched the sunglasses
from Abdul. Then the child clung to Trowa, digging his small fingers
into Trowa’s skin as he attempted to bury himself.
Trowa sighed deeply, the child held in his arms finally giving up
his futile struggles, latching to Trowa out of pure terror. “Yeah.
I know. Had I been small enough the first time I met them, I would
have done the same thing.” He rubbed Triton’s back, feeling
as the trembling set in.
“Will he be okay?” Rasid asked, keeping his distance
from both Trowa and Triton.
Trowa nodded, holding his trembling clone and feeling as the child
wept against him. “He’s just frightened. He’ll be
fine. Just keep your distance from him.” He turned to go into
the kitchen, only to stop as Heero blocked his path.
“Does this belong to him?” Heero asked, holding out a
stuffed bear.
Trowa nodded. “Yes, it does.” He lightly shook the child
in his arms, hoping to gain his attention. “Look, Triton . .
. Heero found your bear.”
Triton raised his gaze, blinking at Heero with reddened, teary eyes.
With a shaking hand, he reached out and timidly took the bear from
Heero, then clutched it to himself as he buried his face against Trowa’s
chest.
Trowa sighed. “Come on . . . let’s get some food into
you, okay?” He smiled a little at Heero, nodding slightly. “Thanks.”
Heero simply nodded in reply and headed upstairs, probably to check
on Duo or the kids.
Trowa watched as Heero left, then turned and walked to the kitchen,
deciding to get Triton away from the crowded entranceway. He was glad
that this room was unoccupied. “Okay . . . let’s see what
we have here.” He opened the refrigerator and sighed at the
lack of food inside. There was very little to work with in there.
There were some salad items and some milk and juice on the almost
empty shelves, but little else. Trowa spied a couple packages of cold
cuts and nodded. If he could find a loaf of bread, then he could start
Triton on the very basics of cooking.
Still holding Triton in his arms, Trowa reached in and pulled out
a package of sliced turkey and spoke softly. “Hey, you think
you can get that jar of mayonnaise for me? It’s that white stuff
there on the middle shelf.”
Triton pulled back away from Trowa a little and blinked at him before
looking in the open fridge. After a moment, the child reached in and
pulled out the jar that Trowa had requested.
“Great. Now . . . let’s find a loaf of bread.”
He put the turkey on the counter and smiled as Triton put the jar
of mayo down as well. Then he turned and started looking through the
cabinets. ‘Come on . . . I KNOW we have some . . . ah!’
He found a loaf of bread and returned to the counter. Then he set
Triton down on a nearby stool and smiled as the child clung to his
bear. “Now . . . do you want tomato on this?”
Triton nodded.
Trowa motioned toward the fridge. “You can go get it. If you
see anything else you want in there, bring it to me.” He watched
as Triton climbed down, still holding his bear, and walked to the
refrigerator. He waited while the child looked around. After a moment,
Triton walked back to the counter. He had a tomato in one hand, his
bear in the other, and a head of iceberg lettuce under an arm. Abdul’s
sunglasses were hanging from the neck of his shirt . . . the boy probably
didn’t want to lose them.
Trowa chuckled lightly as he got two plates, the cutting board, a
butter knife, and a sharp knife to cut the tomato with. Then he helped
Triton back onto the stool. “Okay, will you put everything on
the bread?” At Triton’s look, he nodded. “I like
to cook. I started cooking when I was a little older than you are
now. It . . . it helps to do something, doesn’t it?”
Triton frowned in thought for a few moments, then nodded as a tiny
smile came to his face.
Trowa handed the butter knife to Triton and stood beside the boy,
supervising the child as he made two sandwiches. While Trowa watched
the boy’s progress, he kept himself busy, cutting a few slices
of tomato. When the top piece of bread was set on the sandwiches,
Trowa and Triton sat at the kitchen table. Both drinking a glass of
milk, they ate their lunch in silence. Trowa was glad to see that
Triton had calmed.
*******
TBC
*******
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