The Chibi Files

By Cat

Copyright 2002 © Cat

Disclaimer: The boys from Gundam Wing don’t belong to me. I’m just borrowing them for a little while to play with. I promise to return them almost exactly the way I found them. ^-_-^

This work is not to be reproduced in any way without the express written permission of the author. Skippyscatt@aol.com

Chibis are courtesy of the ‘Heero is not Toast’ website and adoptions agency. You can find the link to the site on the adoption page of Cat’s Bishounen Garden.

Warnings: None really. Okay yeah this could technically be considered a Mary Sue. But hey she’s not a suddenly out of nowhere new Gundam pilot and she sure as heck won’t be getting any of the boys. Yes this is going to have a Yaoi flavor but mostly shonen ai, I mean come on guys they’re Chibis. I don’t think I could do something totally gen if my life depended on it. And het is totally out of the question. I got bored with that… years ago. Oh and does anybody know what is OOC for a chibi???

Summery: A little problem turns up on Cat’s doorstep.

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Chapter One – Surprise, Surprise, Surprise

When I opened my door that morning, I was barely expecting to find my paper, which as usual wasn’t there. ~Sigh~ But I was absolutely not expecting what I did find….

…Six pairs of big anxious eyes all staring up at me. And a tiny brunette with his fist raised to knock on the door.

After finally making my mouth close and getting my eyes back in their sockets I just sort of ushered them all in. It was too cold to let them stand on my doorstep. Especially with Heero in just that darn tank top and those spandex shorts. And what would the neighbors say if I just left them there, not that I would have anyway. There was no way I could have resisted those sad little faces.

Once I had them all inside I started to ask why they’d come when Chibi Heero handed me a folded piece of paper. I took it and opened it up. At first I didn’t think I’d be able to read the terrible scrawl but gradually I was able to make out what it said.

Ms Cat

“We’re very sorry to do this but a new experiment went totally wrong and we Scientists just aren’t equipped to handle Chibis right now. Trowa said that he thought you wouldn’t mind taking care of them. And I’m almost afraid to send them to the Maguanacs. Those men would hunt us down. As soon as we find a way to reverse the situation we’ll come back and get them.

Dr J

I read the note again not sure that I’d read right, then looked at the uni- banged chibi that I knew was Trowa. His one visible eye looked back at me calmly. But I could just barely see a tiny bit of tenseness in his shoulders.

“Why did you think I wouldn’t mind looking after you, Trowa?” I asked gently, not wanting to upset the chibi, if that was even possible, knowing the stoic little soldier. I wasn’t sure what the true behavior was for a chibi. Were they really as childlike as their appearance? Or would they act like the bishounen I was used too?

“I meant to tell them Catherine,” he said solemnly looking up at me.

I nodded in understanding. His sister, which I wasn’t sure if he knew about yet or not, with the circus, would have been a good choice. “But they didn’t pay attention, eh? But still how did they come up with me. I don’t even know them.” Granted I was also still trying to figure out how they were running around in my universe as living breathing Chibis, but was afraid that might give me too much of a headache and gave up.

The chibi pilot of the Gundam Heavy Arms scuffed one foot on my carpet and I saw little Quatre take his hand for reassurance. “I got half way through her name and realized that the Manager probably wouldn’t want all of us hanging around,” he muttered. “He’s always going on about how it’s a circus, not a carny.”

Chibi Heero sighed. “They heard Cat and wanted to know where you lived and everything. Duo saw your website on the Internet while he was surfing and had the address memorized cause he liked it. He knew that you liked us and said you had a great adoption page. So I hacked into the server and got your name and address for them.”

I sat down on the chair in front of my computer as at least some things fell into place. “You know it’s going to be a little crowded until I can find us a new place to live. This is only a one bedroom apartment.” I watched them closely trying to hide my smile until it sank in for them what I was saying.

Finally Quatre looked up at me. “You don’t mind? You’ll let us stay?” he asked with big anxious blue eyes.

How could I ever resist that face? I knew I was in trouble right then. Quatre already had me wrapped around his little finger and the others were less than a step behind.

“You can stay,” I told him, finally letting my smile slip through.

“Yay!” Chibi Duo cried bouncing up and down.

My little blonde Arab was grinning from ear to ear and the others all looked quietly relieved. I looked towards the back of the group where a little platinum blonde was trying to hide. Shooing the others away for a few minutes to go explore, I walked over and sat on the floor beside him.

“What’s the matter Milliardo? Or would you rather I called you Zechs?”

The chibi pilot of Tallgeese shrugged his shoulders and continued to stare at his feet. “Doesn’t matter,” he whispered finally.

“Yes it does, I want you to be happy while you stay with me,” I told him, wondering what was wrong.

“Why don’t you have any pictures of me up? You have lots of pictures of the Gundam Pilots,” the longhaired Chibi asked in a hushed voice, waving his hand at the frames that adorned the walls of my apartment. “Is it cause I was part of OZ?”

“I have lots of pictures of you on my computer. But I’m almost out of photo paper and I am out of frames as you can see.” I motioned to the couple of Weiß Kreuz pictures tacked over my computer desk, sans frames. “Not to mention wall space,” I replied. “Come look.”

I took his hand and led him over to the computer. With one arm wrapped around his shoulders. I quickly used the mouse to work my way into my Gundam Wing folder. Once there I paused as his small chibi hand came up and a finger came to rest on my glare screen cover.

“My own folder?” he asked turning to look back at me.

“Your own folder, just like the others. See even Treize has a folder,” I told him pointing it out. I clicked on his folder so it opened up so he could see all the picture files inside. “When I have more photo paper and frames would you like to help me pick out two or three of the best ones to print and put up?”

He grinned and nodded. “I didn’t think you liked me,” he explained, the relief in his eyes and voice strong.

“I always liked you,” I stated giving his shoulders a squeeze. “Wars are hard things. But I could see you were good man. And I liked how much you cared about your men. So tell me,” I asked changing the subject. “How did you get caught in an experiment with the other pilots and the Scientists?”

The Tallgeese pilot sighed. “We were all trying to figure out what to do with our Gundams now that the war really is over. The scientists said they’d developed a machine to shrink the Gundams to be easily stored away until they might be needed again.”

“Oh, what happened?” I asked in surprise. It sounded like a solid plan to me.

“The ray bounced off the Gundanium like light off a mirror right onto us. Now we’re ‘children’. I don’t think this was exactly what Dr. J and the others were expecting, since it made us younger and didn’t actually just shrink us,” he muttered. “And the Gundams are still as big as ever. I guess it’s just a good thing that it didn’t hit the scientists too.”

“I would say that is a very good thing,” I told him seriously.

I shuddered, realizing what might have happened if the experimental machine had actually shrunk them to the proportions that it had been set to for the Gundams. Of course, thinking about it, maybe it had. They were all roughly a little over half their original height. Zechs was the tallest at what I figured had to be about three and a half feet. And he looked to be maybe six or seven years old, while the Gundams pilots seemed to be about five, meaning they had been reduced to just about a third of the original ages. If the ray was supposed to have set the Gundam Suits at a third their normal height and half their normal width they’d easily store in a normal warehouse or even a barn.

“As nice as it might be to get the chance to be a kid again, I’m sure it must be hard too,” I commiserated.

“You have no idea,” he replied with a frustrated sigh.

“So what do you want me to call you?” I asked him. “The war is over and you’ve got a second start… for the moment anyway. Who do you want to be?”

He thought about that for a minute and smiled at me. “Milliardo, but you can call me Miro. That’s… what my family called me.”

His voice shook slightly as he finished and I pulled him up on my lap and hugged him tight in comfort. That at least partially answered my question, adult memories they might have or at least young adult memories anyway. But they were at the mercy of the more volatile childlike reactions. I wondered if it would depend on their level of control before being changed as to how they would act now. I would just have to watch them all and be prepared for anything.

“Miro it is then. Why don’t you explore a bit while I check on the others,” I said giving him a conspiratorial wink.

He grinned back at me and turned away to start studying my video and DVD collection. Watching him I realized there were several Anime ones that needed to become scarce. I’d just have to hope they weren’t noticed before I had the chance.

I’d barely stood up to find out where everyone else had gone when an earsplitting scream erupted from the bedroom. I rushed in followed closely by four concerned Chibis to find Duo sitting on the floor in front of the closet clutching his left hand and crying hysterically, which surprised me greatly. I knew that Shinigami was excitable but he’d always seemed as stoic as the others when it came to something like this.

“Don’t worry he does this to get attention. When he’s really hurt he jokes about it and pretends it’s nothing,” muttered Chibi Wufei, who had already been in the room, but he stood close by just in case his teammate wasn’t just looking for attention.

“Okay,” I replied. I wasn’t quite willing to accept that as fact yet either, especially knowing Duo and his past. “What’s the matter, Duo honey?” I asked kneeling down next to him.

“He bit me!” he whimpered turning tear filled eyes to me.

“Who bit you?”

“He did!” he cried pointing into the closet.

It dawned on me immediately what he meant. “Chancy bit you,” I stated.

Chibi Duo nodded and sobbed loudly.

“Let’s take a look.”

I knew that I wouldn’t find anything but a little red mark. Chancy, my five- year-old longhaired blue Ragdoll, never bit. He would nip to warn you away if you ignored his other signals. But he’d never been known to actually bite or scratch not even strangers. He was just too gentle natured. As I suspected there was a small red mark on one finger but no broken skin. My little Chibi was just scared and a little angry. I pulled him into my lap and held him until he stopped crying.

“Better?” I asked.

The braided pilot nodded sniffling.

“Chancy is the original scaredy kitty,” I told him. “He doesn’t like strangers and it takes him a while to warm up to you. Didn’t he hiss at you to warn you away from his hiding place?”

Duo nodded again not meeting my eyes this time.

“Baka,” Wufei muttered and stomped off to the living room now that he knew his teammate was okay. The others were still standing around watching carefully for further developments.

“You’ll have to give Chancy time, Duo honey. But once he’s gotten used to you he’ll sit in your lap if you’ll pet him. But until then just leave him alone okay?” I explained.

“Kay,” he mumbled embarrassed now that his scare was over.

I looked over at the clock by the bed and saw that it was almost eight thirty in the morning. “Have you all had breakfast yet?” I asked trying to take everyone’s mind off of what had just happened.

“Not yet,” Chibi Quatre told me.

“Are you all hungry?” They all nodded and I smiled and set Duo on his feet and stood up. “So does French toast, with maple syrup and bacon sound good to everyone?” Everyone nodded except my little golden blonde.

“I can’t have the bacon,” the little Arab said looking up at me hesitantly.

I grinned at him. “Yes, you can. I use the turkey bacon, no pork,” I promised him and he grinned broadly back at me.

We all trooped out of the bedroom to find Wufei sitting on the floor watching the Fox News Channel. Heero, Miro, and Trowa immediately joined him and I sighed realizing I might never get my tv back again. Duo hopped up on the couch and sat gazing at the life size cloth doll sitting there.

“Who is he?” he asked looking back at me.

I walked over and situated the braided pilot on the doll’s lap and brought the arms down to wrap around him. Duo immediately snuggled in. “His name is Nick. I made him about nine years ago.”

“He has a funny face,” the braided pilot stated looking up at him.

“Duo that’s not nice,” Quatre admonished.

“No, he’s right. His face is different. He’s a lion man like Vincent or the beast from Beauty and the beast. That’s why he’s got long shaggy hair too,” I informed them.

“Cool,” Duo breathed and settled back into the doll’s arms to watch tv with the others.

“Can I help you cook?” the Sandrock pilot asked.

“That would be nice,” I told him.

I opened up the step stool that I used to help myself get to the top shelves and set it close to the stove for him. I got a thick towel from the towel rack by the washer and drier and put it on the top step, which also served as a seat, for him to kneel on. Out of a cupboard I got a big bowl and let him hold it while I put eggs in it for the French toast. I couldn’t help smiling as I watched him carefully clutching the bowl with the eggs to his chest as he climbed up on the step stool.

“Why don’t you break the eggs into the bowl and then beat them all up with this fork for me while I start the bacon?” I asked him. He flashed me a big smile his aqua eyes shining and I knew I’d never be able to say no to that face.

“Is there anything we can do?”

I looked around to see Trowa and Heero standing in the kitchen doorway. Wufei was loitering a bit in the background looking uncomfortable. I wondered if he was worried about being seen as weak by helping with such a mundane task as breakfast, but still wanting to help.

“Actually there is, Trowa,” I said giving him a warm smile of gratitude. “My dining room table isn’t really big enough for all of us even if I did have enough chairs and it wasn’t pushed all the way into the corner.”

I could see them leaning a little around the wall and looking at my round, glass topped dining room table. I’d never needed it for just myself so it had really become kind of a decoration center if anything. As they studied the situation, I pulled my skillet out of the oven where I stored it and set it to warming for the turkey bacon. For once I was glad that my health kick was coming in handy.

“The coffee table is more than big enough for all of us, though. Could you boys’ get it all cleaned off and then pull it a little further away from the couch so we can all sit around it. We’ll sit on the floor eastern style and then this afternoon we’ll go and get some big throw pillows to put on the floor around it.” I went over to the set of shelves that held my linens and pulled out a tablecloth and handed it to the chibi Heavy Arms pilot. “I’m sorry,” I told him, casting a furtive glance at Wufei. “But it’s pretty heavy, so it will take you strong men to move it.”

“We can do it,” Wufei replied from where he was standing by the edge of the couch.

“Thank you Wufei,” I beamed at him. “I know with your help that it will go nice and smoothly.”

I almost laughed when I looked down and saw Heero smirking at me. Trowa had a definite twinkle in his eye too. They weren’t fooled for a minute about what I was doing. I looked up and saw Duo starting to open his mouth a wicked glint in his eye. I gave him a small glare and he subsided pouting with his arms crossed over his chest.

“Duo would you like to be my gopher?” I asked him, not wanting Shinigami to feel left out.

“What’s a gopher? Don’t say it Heero!” he snapped at the Perfect Soldier, who was just opening his mouth. He bounced off the couch nearly making Zechs drop the glass vase of flowers he was clearing off the table.

“Watch it!” the Lightening Baron exclaimed angrily as he frantically juggled the vase, sighing as it finally settled in his hands firmly again.

“Sorry,” my little braided chibi muttered and rushed into the kitchen away from the others to stand close to me holding his long braid with both hands as if to keep them out of trouble.

I couldn’t help chuckling. I knew life was never going to be the same again. “It’s okay, Honey. We know you didn’t mean it. Right Miro?” I looked into the living room where the Tallgeese pilot was now helping the others move the coffee table.

Zechs looked at me and sighed a tolerant smile on his face. “Yeah, it’s okay, Duo. Just be more careful okay?”

Shinigami returned the smile with a small one of his own, his spirits coming back up. I had a feeling he was going to be my little one that needed the most hugs and kisses. I knew that he and Miro had some very painful memories from when they were this small. Zechs because of the loss of his family and home and Duo because he’d not even had a home at this age. Heero and Trowa, even with all I knew about them were still mostly mysteries in those early years. So I was simply going to have to watch them and take things on a day to day basis. I wondered if the regression in age made those past memories stronger.

“So what’s a gopher?” the Deathscythe pilot asked again drawing me away from my musing.

I looked down at his inquisitive eyes, just a little deeper than dark lilacs, and grinned. “A gopher is someone who does all the running around and getting things for people. And I figured you had more than enough energy to be a perfect gopher.”

He laughed. “It’s just to keep me busy and out of trouble.”

Quatre laughed beside me. “We do it all the time, he’s used to it.”

I shook my head. “I should have known. But actually you will be a big help cause you can take stuff into the living room for me and get me stuff out of the fridge.”

“Okay. What do you want first?” he asked bouncing up and down on his toes.

“Can you get the bacon out of the fridge? It’s in the bottom drawer. Then you can get the milk and the bread for Quatre,” I told him.

He brought me the turkey bacon and I gave him a big smile, watching as his smile got bigger and the bounce returned to his step. Through the opening between the living room and kitchen I could see that the boys had the table ready and the cloth on. I opened the utensil drawer beside me and took out spoons, forks and knives for all of us.

“Quat, honey will you hand me the napkin holder beside you?”

The chibi pilot of Sandrock nodded and handed me the wooden holder on his side of the counter. I turned and handed everything to Duo. “Will you ask Miro to lay out the silverware?” I asked him.

He nodded nervously and I watched him make his way out to where the others were. I was worried that he was so nervous, I was sure none of the others would hurt him. Again I wondered if somehow being reversed like this had made his old memories stronger. I knew his early life on the street before Solo found him had been very hard. And not much better after Solo had died except for his short stay at Maxwell Church. I sighed as Zechs gave him a friendly smile and took everything with a nod. When Heero stopped him on the way back to the kitchen to look at the wounded finger, patting it gently, I couldn’t help the proud smile at how the boys took care of each other. When my little chibi came back, he was all smiles again acting as if the earlier near accident hadn’t even happened.

“Now the milk and bread?” he asked as he stopped beside me.

“That’s right now the milk and bread please. And can you put the bacon away?” I handed the package in its big ziplock baggie down to him and watched as he skipped over to the fridge.

“Your good,” Quatre whispered leaning close to me.

“Thank you,” I smiled at him. “I’ve had lots of practice. Wait until you meet my niece and nephew.”

“How old are they?” he asked taking the bread from Duo.

I took the milk and set it beside the bowl of well-beaten eggs. “Sarah is five and Alan is only a couple of months old,” I told him proudly.

“Oh, he’s little,” Duo said quietly.

“Yes he is. If you go out and look on my printer you’ll see a picture of Sarah and her Mommy, who is my sister, and her Daddy. I don’t have a picture of Alan yet.”

I watched as both of my little chibi helpers ran around to look at the picture. The others crowded around wanting to know what they were looking at, so Quat explained. While they looked at the picture I quietly made up the dip for the French toast. As soon as I added the vanilla and cinnamon to Quatre’s well beaten eggs, six little noses turned my direction.

“What did you do?” Miro asked looking up at me.

I just smiled back at him. “You’ll see. Don’t worry it will be good.”

My little helpers came running back and I handed Duo three plates and Trowa four plates because they were heavy. Then I passed Quatre the first piece of bread and showed him how to dip it and then carefully put it on the long cast iron pan that spanned two burners. I saw Wufei come in and stand in the kitchen door beside Quatre.

“Do you have some…”

I handed him two sets of wooden chopsticks out of the silverware drawer. “One for you and one for Heero if he wants them. While we’re out today getting other things we’ll pick up a real set for both of you.”

He gave me a pleased smile and hurried back to the table handing Heero one of the sets. It made me wonder when I saw the Japanese pilot give them a funny look and shrug before setting them on the table.

“How did you know that he was going to ask for them?” the blonde beside me asked.

“Just a guess really, I’m kind of surprised that I was right. But Wufei has always seemed very traditionally minded to me,” I explained as I put all the bacon on a paper towel covered plate and gave it to Duo to take out to the table. I stepped to the doorway. “Do you boys want milk or juice?”

“Can’t we have coffee?” Miro asked his face falling.

“Or tea?” Wufei added anxiously.

I sighed. I’d been afraid of this. “I’m a little concerned what kind of an affect it might have on you,” I answered worriedly. “I don’t want to do something that might be bad for you if you have to stay this way for a while. Let me talk to some people and see what they say okay? Can you live for one day?”

“Okay,” Zechs muttered unhappily and plopped down on the floor in front of one of the plates. For a moment I thought he was actually going to throw a temper tantrum, but he calmed after a minute and sighed. “I guess juice would be okay.”

“Is that okay with the rest of you?” They all nodded sadly, then I got an idea. “How about juice and cups of hot chocolate?”

“With Marshmallows?” Duo asked from behind me, his eyes wide and sparkling.

“With marshmallows,” I grinned seeing them all perk up. Six little heads nodded and I sighed with relief, another crisis averted. Then a small voice reached my ear.

“Uhm, Cat.”

I looked back at where Quatre was kneeling on the stool looking at me. The pan was full and I didn’t think any of the pieces of toast were ready for flipping yet. But my little Arabic chibi looked decidedly unhappy.

“What’s the matter, Honey?” I questioned moving to stand beside him. That’s when I figured it out.

“I made kind of a mess,” he murmured looking sadly at the big drips and downright puddles of the egg and milk mixture on the counter and edge of the stove.

“That’s okay. I do it all the time,” I chuckled. “That’s what paper towels are for anyway. “

I moved the bowl out of the way and brought him a nice damp paper towel to wipe up the spills. Then I handed him a dry one to finish with. When he was done I laid out the mostly dry towel and set the bowl back on its edge.

“There now, that will catch anymore drips,” I told him glad to see the happy smile return to his face. “Why don’t you and Duo carry the glasses in to the table while I start some milk warming for the hot chocolate.”

“Okay,” he beamed at me and for a moment all I could do was just stand there and bask in the glow.

Finally I shook myself and turned to get the juice glasses out of the cabinet beside me. While they scampered into the living room to place them on the table I got the orange juice out of the fridge.

“He’s got a nice smile doesn’t he?”

I turned around to see Trowa standing behind me. “Yes, he does. But I bet you have one just as nice in there too,” I told him squatting down in front of him.

“Not for a long time,” he replied quietly taking the juice out of my hands.

“Maybe we’ll see what we can do about helping you get it back,” I answered sadly touching his cheek lightly for just a quick second wanting to comfort him, but not making him uncomfortable. “It’s still in there, I know it. I’ve seen it a little. We just have to coax into coming out again.”

“You’ve seen it?” the Heavy Arms chibi asked surprised.

I nodded. “It’s only a tiny thing right now, just a little Mona Lisa smile sometimes. But I bet we could make it feel safe enough to get bigger. Don’t you?”

“I don’t know,” he answered despondently. “Sometimes, I wish….”

“I know honey,” I told him softly when his voice trailed off. “Sometimes the heart buries itself so deep to get away from the pain you don’t think you’ll ever find it again. But we’ll try. That’s all we can really do, just try as hard as we can.”

He nodded and turned away to take the juice into the living room. I had to take a minute to pull myself back together because his pain was so deep and sad. Two sets of little arms went around me and I looked up to see my little helpers back.

“Come on you two we better get breakfast finished or they’ll eat the plates,” I said finally, standing up and taking their hands. They laughed and I smiled glad that the mood had lightened again.

I flipped the French toast and started the milk heating. My helpers took coffee cups to the table and we were finally left with nothing to do but wait. I heard the telltale tapping of the computer keyboard and slipped around to stand behind Heero. I realized that if I ever wanted to get back to my computer I would have to do something fast.

“Heero, can you contact Dr J using my computer?” I asked.

“That’s what I’m doing now,” he explained. “Letting him know everything is set.”

“Good,” I grinned. “Can you ask him to have a delivery made tomorrow?”

Heero pushed on the computer desk to turn the computer chair and look at me questioningly. “A delivery?” he asked.

“Uhm hmm. I’m sure there are personal things that all of you would like to have. Like your laptop,” I turned and looked at Duo, Quatre and Wufei. “No that doesn’t mean the Gundams.”

Wufei snorted a small smile playing on his lips, Duo pouted and Quatre laughed.

“Quatre why don’t you make a list for Heero of the personal items that everyone wants or needs while I finish breakfast,” I requested handing the Sandrock pilot a little notebook and pen then heading back into the kitchen. “Oh and Heero, tell Dr. J I won’t take no for an answer. Delivery of everything you ask for tomorrow or he’ll wish that he only had the Maguanacs after him.” ‘I want my computer back,’ I mutter silently to myself. I heard a slight snicker and looked up to see the perfect soldier looking at me and remembered that he read lips. I grinned at him and rejoiced when he grinned back.

I took the first batch of toast off the griddle and stacked it onto a plate. “Okay, boys. Here’s the first round. Come eat while it’s hot,” I told them as I placed the first slice on each of their plates.

“What about you?” Duo asked following behind me into the kitchen.

“Don’t worry about me, Honey,” I reassured him. “I sometimes don’t eat until lunch.”

“Is it because you don’t have enough?” he asked, his eyes growing bigger, if that was actually possible.

Remembering that he’d spent a large portion of his childhood on the edge of starvation I just hugged him tight. Then I opened the different cabinets to show him how well stocked we were. Finally I sat him on the edge of the counter while I made up more French toast.

“No, honey. As you can see we have lots of food. Now granted we’ll need to get more milk and lots more bread today but we’re fine. I’ve just never been all that concerned with food. I’ve never had to go without like you have so I don’t think about it the same way. Right now I’m not even hungry, but I know someone who is.” I gave him a pointed look and he smiled shyly and hopped down from the cabinet. I gave him the syrup, which we’d forgotten and shooed him into the living room to eat. I blinked to clear the tears and cursed the fates that had heaped so much on such small shoulders.

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End Chapter One