The Chibi Files

By Cat

Copyright © Cat 2002

Disclaimer: The Gundam Boys and friends don't belong to me. More's the pity. ~sigh~

This story may not be reproduced or archived elsewhere without permission of the author, Cat. Skippyscatt@aol.com

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Chapter Three – Bedtime For Chibis

I sat on the floor in my living room and stared at the mess. There were bags and pillows and boxes and clothing everywhere. I knew right then that the sooner I found a bigger place the better. And I was probably looking at needing a four-bedroom house. Five bedrooms if I didn’t figure out what was wrong between Wufei and Milliardo. I had to admit though, whatever it was, they controlled themselves and didn’t let it interfere when things needed to be done.

Trowa and Heero were putting together the cardboard dressers we’d gotten to tide them over for the time being. I’d wanted to get them the larger plastic ones but there was no way I would have been able to fit them in the car. But these had been folded flat and stored better in the trunk. Once we got moved into a real house we’d go shopping for real furniture.

Wufei was manning the electric air pump with Miro, filling the six air mattresses we’d gotten. I hated the idea that they would be sleeping on the floor. But they all assured me that they had slept under much worse accommodations. In fact, except when using one of the Winner homes as a safe house during the war, this was the next best thing.

That gave me pause and I turned to look at the little blonde chibi sitting beside me. We were folding clothes into neat stacks to be put away in the appropriate set of dressers once they were all done. “Quatre, why didn’t all of you go to one of the Winner estates?”

The Arabian chibi looked at me like I was crazy and there were snickers all over the room from the others. “You are kidding, I hope,” he replied seriously.

“Well no, I wasn’t,” I stated a little surprised.

“You obviously don’t know my sisters,” the blonde sighed and glared as Heero and Wufei snickered again. Duo who was separating all the other personal items into piles and running medications and toiletries to the bathroom clapped his hands over his mouth to stifle his laughter. Even Trowa’s tiny smile had gotten a tad bigger.

“No, I know you have twenty-nine of them. But the only one I’ve heard anything about is Irea,” I responded.

Quatre sighed and that heartfelt ‘world is on my shoulders’ sigh said everything. “Irea is the best of them. Even though I am now the ‘head’ of the family, I’m am the youngest and the sisters closest to me are still three years older.”

“Aahh, I understand. They tend to play the heavy handed older sister just a bit too much?” I questioned unable to hide a smile.

He shook his head ruefully. “I was always their ‘Sweet little Quatre’ and I didn’t mind, really. But now…”

“Now they’d treat you like a baby,” I concluded.

The blonde chibi nodded. “And everyone else too,” he sighed. “And it wouldn’t just be one or two, they’d all have to be there. And believe me they’d be there. The manager of whichever estate we went to would immediately call my oldest sister to inform her where I was and what had happened. It’s funny, before Father… died… I really didn’t even know but a couple of them. But since then I’ve been almost surrounded by them at times.”

“I understand. The trials and tribulations of being the youngest in a very big and close knit family,” I chuckled looking at his woebegone face. “It’s easier to deal with one person, me, than twenty-nine. And if the Maguanac’s find out, which they probably would through your sisters, the Scientists probably wouldn’t live long enough to find a way to reverse this.”

“Exactly!” Quatre exclaimed. “Though I probably should at some point let them all know. Now that the war is over they’ll be expecting me to pick up the reins of the Corporation. Maybe I should start with Rashid and work my way up.”

I shook my head. I knew that Quatre was very close to the forty man Maguanac mobile unit that backed him. Quatre himself was considered the fortieth member and their leader when he was with them. So it wasn’t surprising when he wanted them to be the first to know. But I wondered what would happen then. I certainly couldn’t afford a place big enough for six Chibis, thirty-nine grown men and myself. And it was a sure bet that the minute they knew that Quatre was this vulnerable they would be on their way to protect him.

“Why don’t we get ourselves settled into a larger place and then we can start contacting the people that each of you want to have know about this,” I said looking around at each of them. “We’ll need to do it one or two at a time.”

They all nodded in agreement and we went back to work on trying to get the living room back in order.

~*~*~*~

I stood in the kitchen doorway and looked at my living room. Even though it was relatively neat it was extremely crowded. There were five, two and a half-foot, cardboard, three drawer dressers sitting side by side and pushed almost right up against my fireplace. It made me glad that I hardly ever used it.

Beside that was a short four-shelf bookcase that I had been using for videos. I’d cleaned it off and the boys had used it to store the books and games and other leisure time items that they’d gotten. Their stuffed animals sat in a row across the top.

The air mattresses were neatly stacked on their sides in the space behind the little dressers. The boys’ sleeping bags and pillows were stacked on top of those to keep them off the floor. All in all everything had fallen together fairly well, better than I’d expected anyway.

After getting everything settled, we’d all been too tired to want to do much more work. I didn’t feel up to cooking and the boys weren’t in the mood for table setting and clearing. But when I asked them what they were in the mood for none of them was very forthcoming. I had a feeling that in some cases they really had no idea about fast food and in others they were afraid their choice wouldn’t be appreciated by all.

Finally I ordered pizza, it was the one thing that I knew almost no child or teenager would ever turn down. The only person I was afraid might not like it was Wufei. Since I had no idea what they might like I ordered two large ones and had them put different toppings on the different halves. I knew it was more than we probably needed but it froze well and would work for another dinner soon.

As I suspected Wufei was skeptical, Quatre was ‘willing’ to give it a try, Heero and Trowa made no comment at all, but Miro and Duo were practically pacing in front of the door waiting for the delivery person. I hoped that they wouldn’t jump on the person the minute I opened the door.

In the end the pizza was a hit and I got a good idea of the boys’ likes. Wufei and Quatre shared the veggie lover’s half of one pizza, with Quatre also sharing half a piece of pepperoni with Trowa. Zechs and Duo tried a piece of each kind and I was afraid that they were going to make themselves sick they’d eaten so much.

Heero and Trowa and I shared the pizza that had pepperoni on one half and sausage on the other. The plain cheese half was barely touched but I knew that Quatre and Wufei would probably enjoy it later when the veggie half was gone. And I could get toppings for it that the boys could put on with extra cheese and reheat.

We watched movies while we ate dinner sitting on the floor. My little Arabian and Shinigami had been fascinated by the covers on the three Jurassic Park movies so that was what we watched. I was just glad that I’d finished eating fairly quickly. While they continued to eat I ran and took my shower. Each of the boys took a turn after me and I started hoping that I’d be able to find a house we could move into quickly. And it was going to have at least three bathrooms.

Now the baths were all done, the pizza was put away and the boys were curled up with blankets and their big pillows that were for around our makeshift ‘dining table’ watching the last movie. They looked so cute I couldn’t help smiling. At that moment I didn’t care what kind of problems that we’d be facing as time went on. It was all worth it, I just hoped the boys might think that too at some point.

“Good night,” I told them quietly and they looked up at me saying their own good nights. “Just shut off the TV when this movie is finished. I’ll put the DVD away in the morning.”

Heero who had been manning the players all night nodded silently before going back to the movie. I shook my head at how rapt their attention was and headed to the bedroom, more than ready to sleep the night away.

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Chance jumping down off the bed woke me up. It was a normal occurrence he was usually up and down, off and on all night, so I started to roll over and go back to sleep when I realized that the door that I’d left only slightly open was now completely open.

Turning onto my back I looked towards the left side of the bed and saw a small figure standing there. The light from the nightlight I kept in the bathroom let me see that it was Milliardo. He was clutching his white stuffed pony in both arms while he stood there watching me.

“What’s the matter, Miro honey?” I asked softly not wanting my voice to carry into the living room less than twenty feet away and wake the others.

“Nothing,” he mumbled and turned away like he was going to leave.

Rolling to my left side, I snaked an arm around his waist and tugged him up on the bed with me. Close up and with my eyesight more adjusted I could see a suspicious dampness under his eyes.

“Nightmares?” I asked drawing him a little closer.

He nodded and brushed one small fist across his face. “Stupid huh?”

I kissed his forehead and brushed the hair back out of his face. “Milliardo, with everything that you have been through in your life and the kind heart you have inside you.” I paused and tapped his chest gently. “I would be surprised if you didn’t have nightmares. I’m sure the others all have them too. Would you like to sleep here for a little while until you feel better?”

“I feel like such a baby,” the Tallgeese pilot muttered. “I usually handle them better.”

“It’s one of the side effects of the age regression,” I explained to him. “I’ve been watching you guys all day. Your emotions are running a little bit higher than normal. You’re all still more controlled than most people are, for the age you appear to be. But not as controlled as you used to be.”

“But Heero and Trowa don’t seem to be having this problem,” he complained.

“Honey, most of their early years are still a mystery to me. I know more about you and Duo and Quatre. I think Wufei’s early years were pretty normal. But Heero and Trowa,” I sighed sadly. “I think they’d already been hurt and programmed so much by the age of five that this is normal for them at that age too. And remember earlier today? Heero had his own emotional outburst, quiet as it was.”

“Oh,” the platinum blonde whispered and I could hear the sadness in his voice. “He was really upset wasn’t he?”

“Yes he was. He even scared me a little. I’ve never seen him so desperate for reassurance,” I answered. “But it just shows that even he’s been effected by what’s happened.”

“If I really was six years old right now, I’d still be with my parents,” he told me. “Playing with Treize and Dorothy when they came to visit and Noin. The attack didn’t come on the Kingdom until almost summer.”

“I didn’t know that you’ve known Noin that long,” I whispered letting him talk, feeling him relax against my side. I steered clear of the more outward mention of the downfall of Sanq. I didn’t want to stir up his bad memories of that time any more than I had too. And I’d already suspected that he’d known Treize for a very long time.

Miro nodded. “Her Father was the Captain of the Royal Guards. The ones that protected us personally. He was the one that saved me when Sanq was attacked, while Minister Darlian took Relena. They thought it would be safer to split us up, hoping that at least one of us would survive.”

“So did you and Noin grow up together?” I asked him.

“Yeah. Treize’s parents paid for me to go to the same boarding schools as Treize when we were old enough and got the false documents for me that I used to become Zechs. But I always went back to the Noin’s during the summer,” he explained then yawned as he relaxed even more.

“Why don’t you roll over and go back to sleep,” I murmured sitting up and slipping out of the bed. “I’m just going to go out and check on the others real quick. If something jumps on the bed it is just Chancy. He likes to hog the foot space at the bottom.”

“Okay,” he chuckled and cuddled his pony tighter as he settled down more comfortably.

I tucked the covers around him and padded out of the room to stand just in the entrance of the living room. I immediately understood why Trowa was the only chibi not to get a stuffed animal to sleep with. He and Quatre had stacked their air mattresses one on top of the other between the coffee table and the couch. And they had zipped their two sleeping bags into one. They were curled up together in the larger sized bag sleeping back to front. Trowa’s arms were wrapped around Quatre and the little blonde’s were wrapped around his own striped tiger. Even being chibis didn't seem to have dampened the way they felt for each other.

Heero and Duo had set their mattresses side by side on the other side of the coffee table, between it and the entertainment center. They were each snuggled up with their stuffed animals, a polar bear for Heero and a black panther for Duo. But they were lying face to face, as if they’d fallen asleep watching each other or talking.

Wufei’s bed had been set up at the foot of the coffee table and he was curled on his side, one hand resting on his panda that lay beside him. The other tucked underneath his cheek where it rested on the pillow and I couldn’t help but smile at how cute he looked. It was then that I realized that three pairs of eyes were watching me. Wufei, Heero and Trowa were all awake looking at me expectantly. I put a finger to my lips.

“I just wanted to make sure you were all okay,” I whispered hoping I wouldn’t wake Duo or Quatre.

“Is Zechs alright?” Heero asked easing up on one elbow.

I nodded. “He just had a nightmare that was a little bit more severe than normal. So he’s going to rest in my bed for a little bit until he’s more relaxed.” I noticed that where as the five Gundam pilots were sleeping relatively close together, Miro’s bed was over by my dining table. I didn’t like that he was isolating himself or feeling like he had too and wondered if he were closer to the others if he’d be less disturbed by the nightmares. “Maybe tomorrow night, see if you can get him to sleep closer to the rest of you. It might help.”

They all nodded in understanding and I smiled at them and slipped back into the bedroom. My little ex-OZ Chibi, was sound asleep and I found Chance curled up against his back. I decided not to move him just in case my big kitty was helping him rest easier. Slipping into my bed, I shook my head smiling wryly. Here I had one of the sexiest men in Anime in my bed and all I wanted to do was give him a hug, kiss his forehead and tell him to have sweet dreams. Ahh well, his heart belonged elsewhere anyway.

~*~*~*~

Don’t ever let anyone fool you into believing that Colorado weather is predictable. In this State even though we may gripe and complain we do tend to feel sorry for the weatherman. One day might be sunny and sixty, as it had the day before. Then be snowing and well below freezing the next, which is exactly what my Chibis and I woke up to.

Zechs was the only one who had ever seen a lot of snow before and knew what to expect. Duo and Quatre were so excited I almost had trouble getting them to wait long enough to have breakfast before they ran outside. I had discovered something the day before while talking to them over breakfast. That contrary to what most people thought, the pilots’ diet was not mostly wrapped around Japanese fare. In fact Heero who was Japanese had never had any as far as he knew.

I wasn’t all that surprised honestly. He’d grown up on the colonies in the company mostly of people of non-, or only partial Asian descent. Wufei and Zechs were the only ones that I knew of that had really grown up within their own cultures. Quatre's I had learned was more eclectic, with much of his cultural heritage intermingled with that of the colony. Accordingly they were all basically open to whatever food choices were available.

Wanting to cater at least a little to the boys, I made up steamed rice for Wufei. Then added milk, sugar, cinnamon and raisins for the others. Miro beamed and I knew that it was because for him it was like getting dessert for breakfast. Wufei surprised me by asking me to add some of theirs to his and then sat happily at the table with the others eating his half and half breakfast with his brand new pair of chopsticks.

I had to laugh because Duo and Quatre finished as fast as they could then spent the next ten minutes urging the others to eat faster so that they could all go out. I think Heero actually ate slower on purpose because every now and then when Duo wasn’t watching I’d catch a small devilish smile on his face. But finally they were done and bundled up for the cold.

Miro, Quatre and Duo ran out eagerly, ready to experience the winter wonderland that had developed overnight. Trowa followed, more because he wouldn’t allow the little blonde to go without him I think, than the fact that he really wanted to go out into it. Heero followed them after he had gotten me in contact with Dr. J. I really needed to ask him some questions. I watched him from the doorway as he stepped out from under the covered porch and turned his face up to let the big fat flakes settle on it. The look of awe on his face was amazing. Wufei was my straggler and I think the only reason he went out was because he refused to give Duo any ammunition to tease him with. That and the fact that he didn’t want to look weak.

I opened the floor to ceiling diagonal blinds that covered my patio doors all the way so that I could see the boys if I looked out. My patio like all the others in the apartment complex looked out onto the big open central area and the boys had promised to stay within visual range. I wasn’t too worried, it wasn’t as if they were really children, but still things could happen. Then I sat down and started talking with J.

Twenty minutes later I broke the connection and leaned back in my chair with a frustrated sigh. I turned so that I could watch my Chibis while I thought about everything I’d just learned. I smiled sadly watching the boys. They were having a snowball fight of sorts. I say of sorts because it was obvious that Quatre hadn’t gotten the hang of making the snowballs and Duo was flinging it too fast to make any effective snowballs. They both looked like little snowmen even though they had the taller more efficient Trowa on their side trying to help them.

J had confirmed that for all intents and purposes the pilots were literally children. Blood samples, DNA, and brainwave patterns all indicated that the boys ranged in age from five years and a few months with Duo, who was actually the youngest, to six and a few months with Zechs who was the oldest. Age wise they actually ran Zechs, Trowa, Quatre, Heero, Wufei and Duo. That surprised me I had expected Quatre to be the next youngest after Duo, but actually he and Heero were less than a month apart in age development.

J had also told me that nutrition was at my discretion. There was coding in their DNA that looked as if the old physical makeup had been mapped, coded and stored for use as the boys aged which would insure that as they grew they would stay the same as they had been. But still there was nothing to say that couldn’t be changed with better nutrition, medical care and living conditions. I just threw up my hands at that, because the hot chocolate at breakfast hadn’t gone over as well this morning as yesterday.

The scientist confirmed that they were working on a way to reverse the situation but that they had no idea how long it would take, if there even were a way to reverse it. None of their original projected outcomes had included this so they were almost starting from scratch trying to figure out how it had happened.

He also assured me that I shouldn’t see any further degradation in the pilots’ behavior. They would be a little more at the mercy of their emotions but they wouldn’t regress to the behavior that was normal for their age. Also they wouldn’t lose any of the memories or training that they’d had. I didn’t think that was all that much of a plus, especially if they had to stay this way. The chance to truly start over would have been good for most of them.

I chuckled as I watched a very frustrated Duo finally attack Heero bodily, letting his slight weight carry them both down into the snow. The Wing pilot had been relentlessly pelting him with snowballs while dodging the braided pilot’s haphazardly thrown snow showers. And I wondered if he hadn’t been intentionally trying to goad the big eyed chibi into doing just that.

In a split second the dark haired boy had the smaller one rolled over underneath him. As I watched he slowly lowered his face towards Duo’s and the trapped chibi watched him with wide-eyed surprise. At the last minute, instead of the kiss that both Duo and I were apparently expecting, Heero tilted his face and rubbed his nose against the American’s. Shinigami burst out laughing and all I could do was grin.

Trowa was gently trying to brush the snow off of a hysterically laughing Quatre. But the smaller boy kept falling down he was laughing so hard. I finally turned my eyes towards my last two Chibis and my smile slipped. Wufei and Milliardo were now bombarding each other with snowballs and it wasn’t fun and games. I had to get to the bottom of their problem and soon.

Sliding open the glass door I leaned out and called to them. “Okay boys come on in and get warmed up. Come around to the back door okay?”

Heero sat up and helped Duo do the same. The braided pilot pouted at me unhappily. “Do we have too?”

“I’m fairly sure that Shinigami would hate having a cold. The stuffy nose and fever and cough and not being allowed out at all. Don’t you?” I asked casually.

It was amazing how fast that pout went away. I had to cover my mouth to stop the laughter as Duo practically dumped Heero on the ground getting up. Quatre fell down again rolling with laughter and I finally gave up trying to contain my own. I watched a moment longer then closed the door. I pulled towels for them to dry off with and set a large pot full of milk on the stove to heat up for hot chocolate. I knew it would be ready about the time they finished changing out of their wet clothes.

It was too early for lunch but I knew they’d be hungry, so I got two loaves of bread and the tub of margarine out of the fridge. I’d gone very early that morning to the grocery store close by and stocked up on bread and milk and a few other things I knew would get used quickly with six little boys. But let me tell you it sure would have been easier if they really had been little boys.

Duo didn’t care what kind of bread I bought. He would eat anything he told me. And the others all nodded in confirmation. But Heero and Wufei insisted on multigrain, wheat just wouldn’t do. Trowa asked if it would be all right if he could have sourdough for sandwiches, but that wheat or white was fine for toast. Milliardo looked up at me through his bangs with those pale blue eyes and all the charm that a six year old going on twenty-one could muster and asked for pumpernickel for sandwiches and Kaiser rolls for breakfast. Quatre was willing to try anything but really would like to have pita bread especially for sandwiches.

It began to sink in, exactly what I had gotten myself into and as bad as I felt I started to be glad that Quatre had given me the credit card. I didn’t want to spoil the boys, then again I knew that most of them had had rough enough lives up to this point and deserved to be spoiled. But I realized that if their variation in tastes was this broad in just bread. Then I was looking at some major grocery bills in the future.

The back door opened and the boys began trooping in. “Okay boys. Boots, coats, hats and gloves stop right there. Just set the boots by the wall and everything else on the drier. I’ll dry them up so you can go out again later,” I told them. “There’s towels there for you and I’ve got hot chocolate started and we’ll have some cinnamon toast with it.”

I got a couple of questioning looks from Heero, Quatre and Wufei, but huge smiles from Duo and Miro. Even Trowa’s eyes brightened at the mention of the toast, so I knew those three understood the treat that was in store. While they got out of their outdoor clothes I got started buttering the bread. I’d decided that for this, I’d make equal portions of wheat and white and they'd have to like it or lump it.

As they slipped by me to go change out of their wet pants I caught Quatre’s hand and drew him back towards the washer and drier. Trowa looked back for several moments then nodded and went on. Once everyone else was out of ear and eyeshot I knelt down next to my little empath.

“What’s the matter Cat?” he asked worriedly feeling my concern.

“Honey do you or the others know what’s the matter between Wufei and Milliardo?” I asked him.

The blonde shook his head. “They’ve been fighting like this ever since Zechs came back and the Mariemaia war ended. We think it might be about Treize but we’re not sure.”

I nodded. “Thank you Quatre. I think you all may be right. I’ll see if I can talk to them and find out. Because we may be in this little apartment for a month and it’s going to be hard if two of us are always fighting.” Standing up I started back over to the stove to finish the toast when the blowup I feared would happen came sooner than I expected.

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End Chapter Three