Previously

Quatre never mentioned what had happened between he and Mr. Darlian to anyone. Even though the incident had made him very uncomfortable, he wasn’t certain if Relena’s father’s intention had been to hurt him and didn’t want to risk offending any of his new friends by bringing it up. Plus he was terrified of any possible repercussions from Mr. Darlian if he was correct. Instead he kept quiet, opting to stay as far away from the man as he could.  Continue Reading…

Previously

The next afternoon the doorbell rang. Since it was Pagan’s day off, Eliza was the one to answer it. And she was sure glad she was. On the Darlian’s doorstep towered a burly Arabian, sporting a thick beard. She smiled up at Mr. Hopefully-Right-or-at-Least-Right-For-Now and was about to commence drooling when she became distracted by a small voice from below.  Continue Reading…

Previously

Relena didn’t want to be there. There being the formal gathering her father was holding in honor of their newest neighbors, the Winners. She was surrounded by grownups who wanted to do nothing more than pinch and poke and point out to the other guests what an ‘adorable little hostess’ she was. To make matters worse, Duo wasn’t there to take his share of the abuse. Nice of him to get grounded this weekend.  Continue Reading…

Previously

The next morning began with a loud wail. Thinking someone was hurt, Sister Helen immediately left her post as cereal pourer and made her way upstairs to the room where the distress call was being made. There was Duo sitting on his bed, surrounded by some of the other boys in his room, tears streaming down his face. In his outstretched hand he held the black scrunchie that had been in his hair the night before.

The Sister dismissed the crowd and sat down with the boy, taking him in her arms. “It’s alright Duo. We can fix it,” she soothed. But still Duo sobbed.

After her conversation with Relena’s nanny the previous night, Sister Helen had an inkling as to why Duo seemed to have such a fondness for the young girl. ‘Poor Duo,’ she thought, ‘you must think she’s all you have left.’

She held the boy tighter, running her fingers through the now loose strands of his hair. “Duo, honey, I know it won’t be the same, but I can braid it back up for you.”

Duo shook his head.

“Are you afraid Relena will be angry?”

Nod.

“I’m sure she would understand it was an accident.”

Snuffle.

“And from what Eliza has told me, Relena might enjoy braiding your hair again, when you see her today.”

“I pway wit’ Rewena?”

“Yes, you will. After school. Surprise!”

Smile.

Sister Helen returned the smile, gently wiping the tears from Duo’s damp face. “Do you think you can get yourself ready for school now?”

Nod.

“Good,” she said, patting him on the back. “When you come downstairs for breakfast I’ll explain everything to you.”  Continue Reading…

Previously

When Milliardo confessed that Duo Maxwell was missing, the Sister flew into a panic. She had never lost a child before and the feeling was the most distressing. The first thing she did when she could think straight again was alert KidSafe, a child locating company founded by one of her friends, to the youngster’s disappearance. In the past she had received much criticism about her faith in what some considered a waste of good financial resources (and that was in addition to the comments that she was tagging her children like animals), so right now she was praying to her god that she hadn’t made a drastic mistake by becoming the company’s first client.  Continue Reading…