[Gundam Wing] [Blood and Tears: Reunion] (Ch 2 - Bittersweet Memories)
Disclaimer: As usual, GW isn’t mine, and suing me would get you nothing.
A/N: Gomen nasai for taking so long! Writer’s block and depression do not mix well. Also, we get a good dose of Kiara’s past in this chapter - but not all of it. That would ruin the fun. :)
Warnings: AU, angst, maybe OOC, (I hope not) implied yaoi, not much of a timeline to speak of, a vampire (there should be more later - at least they‘re mentioned in this chapter), and blood. Gore too, so I apologize in advance. Blame my muse Hope. She’s really weird. ^-^;;
Pairings: 1x2x1, 3x4x3, 5x no one
‘Blood and Tears: Reunion’ by Manic Grasshopper
Chapter Two: Bittersweet Memories (2/?)
Duo blinked, surprised, then sat back down.
“Tell me.”
Kiara drew in a breath, then slowly released it.
“I must be insane. This will only get you killed.”
Duo forced himself to grin. “No it won’t. I’ve survived a hell of a lot. Tell me how I can help.”
Kiara raised a hand and pushed her bangs out of her eyes, then began to pick restlessly at her bedspread. She lowered her head and began to speak.
“I’m not even sure how to start this - from the very beginning, I guess. When I was still a fifteen-year-old human girl, I had a four-month-old son. His name was Cale - I loved him more than my own life. My parents didn’t approve of the fact that I was raising him - they said I was too young to be a good mother. My father told me that I should give him up for adoption, to a family that could give him a better life. I refused. I should have listened.”
Kiara fell silent, and Duo let the information she’d just told him sink in before speaking.
“Something terrible happened to him, didn’t it?”
Kiara sucked in her breath in a hiss and nodded. She still didn’t look up at him.
“There was a boy I was acquainted with at the time - his name was Kevin. He was seventeen. Very handsome, black hair, green eyes. About 5’ 11” or so. He was a jerk - my parents didn’t like him, and I didn’t either, but I still hung out with him. I couldn’t explain why - I just felt drawn to him. I even invited him over after school one afternoon when I knew my parents would be out. I had just put Cale down for his nap when he arrived. I never should have answered the door...”
Kiara’s voice broke as she tried to choke back a sob. Duo rose from his chair and crossed over to the bed, sitting down in front of her.
“Ki -”
She shook her head violently.
“Let me finish. I have to tell. Now that I’ve told you this much, I have to finish.”
Duo quieted and waited for her to regain her composure enough to continue.
“After we talked for a little bit, we headed up to the nursery so I could look in on my son. Kevin was very interested in Cale - too interested, I thought, so when he asked if he could hold him I said no. I thought he would be mad, but he just smiled and said it was all right - he’d get to hold him soon enough. And then, he - he grabbed me, and shoved me onto the floor. I thought he was going to rape me, and I remember screaming for help and struggling - and then he smiled again.”
Kiara shuddered. “He had fangs, Duo, and he wrenched my head to one side and bit me in the neck, hard. I tried to fight, I really did, but he was so strong, and I was bleeding all over the floor - I think he ripped open an artery. I hardly remember what happened after that - just Kevin cutting open my wrist and his own with his nails and letting our blood mix. Then I passed out. When I woke up it was several hours later - the sun had set and the room was dark, except for one small lamp that was on. Kevin was standing over me, holding Cale - and he gave me a choice. I was a vampire now - go with him, and he’d leave Cale unharmed. If I didn’t -”
Kiara shivered, and Duo wrapped his arms around her.
“I was a fool to believe him, but I honestly didn’t think anyone could be so cruel to a little child. I said I’d go, if it meant he wouldn’t hurt Cale. Kevin smirked, and told me it was amusing how gullible I was. Then he - he -”
Kiara broke into sobs and buried her face in Duo’s shoulder. He patted her back helplessly, already knowing the end to this horrifying tale.
“He pulled Cale apart,” She whispered through her tears. “Like he was nothing more than a stuffed toy. How my baby screamed... Then he just dropped Cale’s body on the floor, and held his bloody hand out to me. Was I ready to leave, he asked, because my parents were home now. It would be a shame to have to kill them too. I could hear them coming in the front door, and I knew they’d eventually come upstairs to check on Cale and me. I couldn’t let them die. I took Kevin’s hand and went with him out the nursery window. We were already a block away by the time my mother found her grandson, but I could still hear her scream... Kevin dragged me off to an old shack in the woods nobody used and left me there. Said to sleep until he came back with food. I didn’t want to, but I was so weak I passed out almost immediately.”
Kiara stopped speaking, and for a long moment there was no sound, crying or otherwise. Then Duo spoke.
“That’s not the end of the story, is it?”
“No. It took a few days of Kevin bringing me locals to feed on - and God help me, I liked it - before he said I was strong enough to meet a couple of his friends.”
“Vampires.”
“Yes. His vampires. Alice was one hundred and one at the time that I met her. Blonde hair, blue eyes. She could pass for a nineteen-year-old. Then there was Terran. He was one hundred and eight. Brown hair, brown eyes. He only looked seventeen, like Kevin.”
Duo interrupted for a second. “How old was Kevin?”
“Two hundred and forty-three.”
Duo swore under his breath. Kiara continued.
“I was pulled into their group, and we all followed Kevin’s orders. There were rules we weren’t allowed to break, under any circumstances. The most important one was that humans were food, nothing more. If you were caught helping a human, it was an automatic death sentence.”
“But you helped me anyway.”
Kiara pulled back from Duo and smiled at him, then brushed her fingers through his bangs.
“I had to. You have Cale’s eyes, and his hair. When I saw you - it was like God had given me a second chance to save my son.”
“How’d ya end up on L2, anyway?”
Kiara sighed. “Same as anybody else, I guess. We just emigrated. Kevin said L2 was our best bet, ‘cause nobody would care about a bunch of dead people from the slums. He was right. We had our choice, day or night. Nobody cared. Then the plague hit.”
Duo flinched. “I remember.”
Kiara smoothed his hair. My poor Duo...
“Kevin didn’t keep such a tight reign on me after the first fifty years, so I was able to hunt on my own. One day I came across the little band of kids your friend Solo was taking care of, and I saw you for the first time. A lot of the kids were sick, and you were coming down with it too. I wanted to help everybody - I didn’t know my limitations then - but I wanted to start with just a couple at first, in private, so I wouldn’t be overwhelmed with pleas for help. I was planning to swear each child to secrecy - remember, Kevin and the others couldn’t know about this.”
“You were going to help Solo too, weren’t you?”
“Yes. I followed you two whenever I could, but your friends were always with you. By the time you and Solo were alone, it was too late for me to help him. He was too far gone.”
Duo’s eyes misted over. Salvation had been so close...but it had come too late for Solo.
“So you helped me instead.”
Kiara nodded. “It was pretty close...another day and I wouldn’t have been able to save you either.”
“After I went back to the kids, Kevin found out what you did, didn’t he?”
Kiara smiled bitterly. “Of course. I knew he would. It’s one of the reasons why I was crying when you left. I felt like I was losing my son all over again, and Kevin was going to kill me for saving your life. I wasn’t going to be able to watch you grow up, and I really wanted to...”
She sniffled a little, and Duo gave her shoulders a gentle squeeze.
“But you’re here now, alive. Kevin didn’t kill you. What happened?”
A faint smile touched her lips. “Terran happened. He wouldn’t let Kevin or Alice touch me. He gave me a chance to run away, and I took it. I’ve lived in a lot of places over the years - other colonies, back here on Earth - but before I left L2 I tracked you down. I wanted to see you just one more time, even if I couldn’t speak to you. You were doing an excellent job of running things for someone your age and the circumstances you were in. I was very proud of you...and I still am.”
Duo’s throat closed and he couldn’t speak. She was proud of him?
“I left L2 right after that, and came home to Earth. I’ve been here almost three years now.”
Duo found his voice again. “But you’re always moving.”
“I can’t afford to stay in any one place too long, and it has little to do with my being a vampire. I think Kevin and the others have followed me here to Earth. They might even know where I am right now. That’s why I need your help, Duo. I can’t fight them alone.”
“You think you’re gonna have to fight Terran too?”
“God, I hope not. I have to take it into consideration though, just in case.”
Duo was silent a few seconds, thinking it over. He shook his head. “You and I can’t fight them. We’re gonna need the other guys in on this. Heero knows what you are - I told him this morning in the bathroom. I don’t know how Quatre, Trowa, and Wufei are gonna take it, but they’ll adjust. They’ll help, I promise. Then it’ll be six to three. Much better odds, dontcha think?”
He grinned as Kiara hugged him, but inside, he was mad as hell. Let’s see how tough this bastard Kevin is when he meets Shinigami.
Kiara released him, smiling happily. “Okay. Let’s go talk to your friends.”
TBC