Young Hearts - Part 8 by Keara
Standard disclaimers apply
Quatre lowered the window of his car as he pulled to
a halt in front of the gates of his estate. He reached out, pressing
the call button and announcing his presence. A moment later, the gates
opened and Quatre drove up the driveway to the front of the large
house, parking it there.
“Come on, we’re here.” Quatre said, speaking to
the two clones in the backseat. Quatre waited beside the car as Treize
and Raberba climbed out, then he started walking, knowing that the
boys were following behind him.
He quickly walked up the stairs to the front doors. Just as he was
reaching out to grasp the door handle, it was pulled open from the
inside. Quatre smiled, looking up and seeing Rasid standing before
him. “Welcome home, Master Quatre.” Rasid said, bowing
slightly.
A startled gasp from behind Quatre, got the attention of both adults.
Quatre turned, smirking as he saw the shocked expression on Raberba’s
face. The child was staring up at Rasid, his eyes continuing upward
until he fell over backwards from losing his balance for looking up
so high. The boy quickly picked himself up, blushing, then hastily
moved behind Quatre’s body, as if afraid of Rasid. Treize did
the same, hiding himself behind Quatre, although he peered out from
behind him.
“Master Quatre . . . what is going on here?” Rasid asked.
Quatre looked up at the older man, smirking at the sight of surprise
that was obvious on his face. “The scientists made clones.”
Quatre said simply, turning and gently urging the two children to
come out of hiding. “Don’t worry, he won’t hurt
either of you.” Quatre hushed, brushing the fingers of his hands
through the hair of each child.
“You were cloned, Master Quatre?” Rasid asked, his mouth
agape.
Quatre smiled. “Not just me. There are ten clones in total.
The Gundam pilots . . . myself included . . . Treize, Zechs, Lady
Une, Miss Noin, and Miss Relena were cloned.” Quatre said, reaching
down and taking hold of Treize and Raberba’s hands, guiding
them inside.
Rasid closed the door behind them. “What is going to be done
with them?” Rasid asked.
“For the time being at least, the four other pilots and I will
be taking care of them here.” Quatre answered. “That’s
why I’ve come here today.”
“Do you need anything of us?” Rasid asked.
“Yes, I’ll need this place to be ready for us tonight.
The rest of the guys are shopping right now, and will undoubtedly
be bringing items with them. I’ll be going shopping as well
once I leave here. How many bedrooms are furnished?” Quatre
said.
“There are twin size beds in each of the bedrooms, and a few
larger, forty beds in total.” Rasid answered.
“Ah, that brings up another topic.” Quatre sighed, looking
down suddenly feeling ashamed that he had to ask this. “I hate
to have to ask this, but will you and your men mind residing at another
of my estates? You can take your pick of them. I wouldn’t ask,
but Trowa’s clone seems terrified of any and all human contact,
and I doubt the presence of forty men will calm him. I’m sorry
for asking this of you.”
Rasid nodded and held up one hand to stop the blonde from continuing
to apologize. “I understand, Master Quatre. We will depart within
the day. You do not have to apologize.”
Quatre smiled. “Thank you Rasid.” He glanced around at
the virtually empty house. “It seems that I will have to buy
a good deal of furniture.” He commented.
“Ah, Master Quatre . . . you should also call someone to repair
your pool. It seems the heating mechanism and the cover controls are
broken.” Rasid said.
“Thank you for telling me. I’ll have it seen to as soon
as possible.” Quatre replied. “If you’ll excuse
me, I really should take these two shopping. I’ll call the other
guys and warn them about the pool.”
“Good day, Master Quatre. If ever you need us, you need only
call.” Rasid replied, bowing.
Quatre smiled, grateful to his friend. “Thank you, Rasid. I
will keep that in mind. And if you or any of your men need anything,
don’t hesitate to ask.” With that said, Quatre left, taking
the children back out to the car. “Let’s go shopping.”
Quatre grinned, buckling his seat belt as the children did the same
in the back seat. He drove around the circular drive, and left the
estate, heading in the direction of the nearest mall.
*****
Wufei grumbled as he slammed his car door closed. He did not like
shopping, not even for himself. This was going to be an awful day.
The two clones quickly followed behind him as he strolled across the
parking lot and into the department store. Once inside, he stopped
dead in his tracks, his eyes wide as he looked around. He had no idea
where to start.
He looked around, feeling lost, then saw a sign for apparel. Wufei
shrugged, then sighed, thinking that it would be as good a place to
start as any. With the two clones following close behind him, Wufei
walked over to the section of young boy’s apparel. He frowned
as he got closer, noting the various cartoon characters decorating
many of the garments. He didn’t like these, they were not something
he would permit his clone to wear.
Wufei’s clone stopped, picking up the sleeve of a colorful
T-shirt. He looked confused. “Sir, what are these strange clothes?”
He asked politely, looking up at Wufei.
“They are the most common fashions of the people who live in
this area. I do not particularly like them . . . perhaps we will be
able to find a store with more familiar looking clothes for you to
wear.” Wufei said, then he looked at Zechs’s clone. “I
am afraid that I will be unable to help you choose most of your clothes
. . . try to choose appropriate clothing in your size.”
“Okay.” The young boy nodded, turning and heading into
the racks of clothing with a smile on his face.
Wufei smirked, thinking that perhaps Zechs had not chosen much of
his own clothes as a child, basing that guess on the way his clone
had reacted to being given the freedom to do so now. As Wufei thought,
he came to the conclusion that he truly shouldn’t be thinking
of this boy as Zechs’s clone . . . the child did have a name
to call his own, one that wasn’t being used by his older self.
He mentally reminded himself to call the boy Milliardo from now on,
deciding that both he and the boy had better get used to it.
“Do not stray too far, Milliardo.” Wufei said, heading
into the clothes as well, deciding that he should look around a bit,
perhaps for something suitable for his own clone.
“Okay.” Milliardo called back, not sounding at all surprised
to hear that name.
Wufei wandered around, picking up a few garments for his clone to
wear. He chose a few T-shirts, some sweat pants and sweatshirts, even
a couple pairs of jeans for him to wear. He also picked out underwear
and socks for both his own clone and Milliardo, doubting the blonde
boy would pick out his own.
While Wufei was picking out a dress shirt for Milliardo, already
having found one in his clone’s size and adding it to the pile
of items in the cart he had found, his own clone tugged on his jacket.
Wufei looked down. “Yes, do you want something?”
The young Asian clone nodded. “Yes, um, I think it would be
beneficial for me to have a name to call my own.”
Wufei nodded, seeing the reasoning in that statement. “Yes,
you have a point there. Is there any particular name you wish to be
called by?”
The clone shook his head. “No . . . I do not wish to change
my surname. However, we both cannot go by the name Wufei anymore.”
“Yes, I see.” Wufei replied, taking a moment to think
over the situation, trying to come up with a suitable name. Then he
thought of one. “How about Tian Bao?”
The boy blushed a little and Wufei smirked at the reaction. “I
guess that is an acceptable name.” He whispered quietly. “Chang
Tian Bao.” He said, repeating his own name to himself and smiling
slightly.
“Come, let us find Milliardo. I think we are ready to move
on to a different department.” Wufei said, ushering Tian Bao
to where he had last seen Milliardo.
They found the blonde boy standing over a pile of garments, dropping
a T-shirt onto it. When he saw Wufei approaching, he looked up and
smiled. “I picked out some clothes.” He said proudly,
gesturing down at the pile of clothes.
Wufei nodded, seeing several shirts and multiple pairs of pants mixed
in together. “They are all your size?” He asked.
Milliardo smiled again. “Yes, sir.” He said. “Are
we leaving now?”
“Not just yet. There are many more things I will need to buy
for you two.” He said, refolding the clothes that Milliardo
had picked out and adding them to the cart with Tian Bao’s clothes.
Milliardo picked up the dress shirt that Wufei had picked out for
him. “You’re not going to make me wear this sissy shirt,
are you?” He asked, his face set in a frown.
Wufei sighed, depositing the last of Milliardo’s chosen clothes
in the cart. “You might need one or two of those more formal
clothes, but you will not be forced to wear them every day.”
Wufei stated.
“Good.” Milliardo said, nodding his head as he dropped
the shirt back into the cart. “I never liked wearing those stuffy
clothes.” He flipped his loose hair over his shoulder, getting
it tangled in his fingers and groaning as he freed his hand and finally
got his hair to stay back.
Wufei chuckled lightly. “Perhaps we should buy something to
restrain your hair, Milliardo.” He said.
“I’m not used to having long hair. As far as I know I
never had so much hair. So why is it so long now?” Milliardo
asked, looking up at Wufei as they walked through the store.
Wufei hadn’t realized that before. Zechs had not had long hair
as a child, at least not in any of the pictures that Wufei had seen
of the Peacecraft monarchy . . . he must have grown it later in life.
Perhaps the scientists had let the child’s hair grow early.
It wasn’t as if the clone had been scheduled to awaken until
a much later date anyway. “Your older self has hair like that.”
Wufei commented, stopping when he found a rack of winter clothes.
“Oh, what’s he like?” Milliardo asked, allowing
Wufei to get him into a thick winter coat to see if the size was right.
“He was a soldier, goes by the name Zechs Merquise. He is a
Preventer now, on a mission to Mars last I heard.” Wufei said,
trying a different coat onto the youth.
“Mars? Cool!” Milliardo exclaimed happily.
Wufei smirked, depositing the coat that Milliardo had just tried
on into the cart. Then he found one to fit Tian Bao before they moved
on again, grabbing some gloves and hats to further keep them warm.
They stopped next in the shoe department and finding several pairs
of footwear for each boy.
For a moment, Wufei lost sight of Milliardo. He looked around, eventually
finding him standing in the middle of the toy section, running his
hand over a stuffed animal with a gentle smile on his young face.
His cheeks turned pink when he noticed that Wufei and Tian Bao had
found him and he ducked his head shyly. “I had something like
this . . . but it was destroyed in the fire . . .” He whispered,
his voice trailing off.
Wufei stepped over, picking up the stuffed animal that Milliardo
had been looking so fondly at a moment ago. It was a monkey, with
small patches of velcro on the hands and feet so that they could be
put together. Wufei found it a silly thing, never having had anything
similar when he had been a child. However, it looked as if the one
Milliardo had owned as a child had held a great sentimental value
to him.
Wufei handed the monkey to Milliardo and sighed. “I suppose
it would be acceptable to purchase this for you.” Wufei stated.
Milliardo looked up at Wufei and smiled brightly, taking the monkey
and holding it close. A moment later, Wufei blinked as Milliardo hugged
him. “Thank you, sir.” He said cheerfully before pulling
away.
Wufei smiled a little, watching as Milliardo looped the arms of the
monkey over his head, letting it hang from around his neck as if it
were some odd necklace. He shook his head, then looked around the
toy section, deciding that perhaps he should buy something to occupy
the children’s minds and well as their time. He picked out a
few puzzles and games . . . allowing Tian Bao to pick a toy for himself.
Tian Bao didn’t seem interested with most of the objects, choosing
a handheld quizzing game with changeable cartridges.
Wufei left the toy department rather quickly, not knowing how anyone
could buy some of the frivolous things he had seen in there. He shook
his head as he walked away, Tian Bao walking alongside him, Milliardo
running ahead with that stuffed monkey draped around his neck like
a cape.
Next stop was in the health and beauty aides section. Wufei walked
along the isles, tossing various things in the cart like soap and
shampoo, toothpaste and toothbrushes. He found a hairbrush and called
Milliardo over to him, running the brush through the boy’s hair
so that it was neat. He tossed the brush into the cart along with
another one, then found the elastic bands, pulling Milliardo’s
hair back into a ponytail and doing the same with Tian Bao’s
hair, although Tian Bao’s was a good deal tighter, then tossing
the remainder of the package of elastic bands into the cart.
As soon as he was sure that he had gotten everything, he made his
way to a checkout, sighing as he had to discourage Milliardo from
asking for candy. A headache pounded at his temples and he was greatly
relieved when they finally left the store, Tian Bao and Milliardo
both bundled up in their new winter outer garments, heading back to
his car with several full bags.
Note: Tian Bao roughly means “Treasure from heaven”
or something very close to it. Got it from a Chinese baby name book.
*******
TBC
*******
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