"Trowa!!"
"Uh-oh...I guess she found her sweater..." Trowa mumbled. His chestnut brown hair fell over his face, covering half of his features. His emerald green eyes darted to the staircase not far from him and he attempted to hide before his sister could catch him.
Trowa hurried to the living room where his father was situated on the couch, reading his newspaper and drinking his coffee. His sister, Catherine, flew down the stairs and glared at her brother. Her curly brown hair flew wildly around her face and her green eyes raged with fire.
"Trowa..." she growled through gritted teeth.
"Uh, hi Cathy. Is there something I could help you with?" Trowa fidgeted under his sister's death-glare.
"What in the world did you do to my sweater?!" she hollered holding up a piece of shredded cloth.
"Ummm...it's a new style..."
"GET OVER HERE!" Catherine lunged towards her brother. Trowa evaded her attack and ran around the couch with Catherine hot on his trail. They circled the couch about five times.
"Now, now kids," Mr. Barton said calmly, not once glancing up from his paper. He took a sip of his coffee. "I don't want you running around in the house. Take this squabble outside."
Trowa, obeying his father's wishes made a run for the front door. He stumbled down the steps and ran down the sidewalk with Catherine still following closely behind.
"Trowa Barton! Get over here so I can do to you what you did to my sweater!" she cried with one fist in the air.
Trowa picked up his pace before running across the street and turning in the opposite direction. Catherine didn't let this slow her down so she picked up the pace as well, slowly closing the gap between her and her brother. Trowa glanced over his shoulder to see Catherine not far off.
"Ack!" he shrieked before crossing the street and turning directions once more.
When she was close enough, Catherine lunged at her brother causing them to both collapse onto a neighbor's lawn. She pinned him down under her weight. She raised her fist in an attempt to sock Trowa in the face when the sound of a large truck caught her attention.
"New neighbors?" Catherine asked, forgetting the beating she was about to give her sibling. She got off and stood to watch the truck pull up into a driveway. Trowa stood up next to her, curious to see their new neighbors.
A car pulled up next to the truck. From the driver's seat, a man dressed in a suit stepped out and looked at the house. His brown hair was gelled back away from his face, revealing brown eyes behind a pair of glasses. From the passenger seat, a girl at the age of 15 stepped out and followed her father. Her dirty blonde hair was held back in a headband revealing her brown eyes. The door behind the passenger seat opened and a boy at the age of 5 stepped out, carrying an instrument of some kind. He had platinum blonde hair that fell over his aqua eyes.
"How cool! Finally, a girl!" Catherine squealed. "Come on, Tro. Let's go meet them." She grabbed her brother by the arm and pulled him towards their neighbors.
"Now kids, stay out of these men's way. The sooner they finish, the sooner we can get situated here. Go play or do something out of the way." The man in the suit said.
"Yes father." The kids said simultaneously. Their father turned to go into the house while the kids walked onto the sidewalk.
"Hey!" Catherine called out as she reached them. "I'm Catherine!" she smiled, holding a hand out to the other girl. The girl smiled back and took her hand. "I'm Iria. This is my brother, Quatre." She said, patting the boy's head.
"Oh yeah. This is my brother Trowa." Catherine announced, shoving Trowa in front of them. He simply nodded.
"So how old are you Iria?" Catherine asked. "I'm 13."
"So am I."
"That's so cool! Do you like ice cream?"
"Yes..."
"Wanna come over and have some? I can show you my room and you can meet my dad."
"Uh, sure. But I can't leave my brother."
"Then bring him along, silly." Catherine looked at Quatre. "You like ice cream too, right?"
"Yes." Quatre replied quietly, taking his sister's hand.
"That's great! So let's go!" Catherine grabbed Iria's other hand and led her to the Barton residence.
Trowa rolled his eyes and followed his sister's lead. They made their way to the house and walked into the kitchen where Catherine reached into the freezer and pulled out some strawberry ice cream. She pulled out four cones and an ice cream scooper and began making treats for her and her guests. And Trowa too.
Catherine and Iria were in a deep conversation about the mall and what the boys in town were like. Quatre and Trowa listened to the chatter, not once speaking to the girls or to each other.
"Catherine, did you-oh hello there." Mr. Barton said as he stepped into the kitchen. "And who might you be?"
"These are our new neighbors, dad. They moved in a few houses down." Catherine responded.
"I'm Iria."
"Well, hello Iria." He said walking up to the girl and shaking her hand. He looked down at the blonde-headed little boy below him. He squatted down and smiled. "And who might you be? Hmm?"
"Quatre." He replied clutching the case in his arms.
"Hello Quatre. I see you have an instrument there. May I ask what it is?"
"It's uh-a violin, sir."
"You know how to play a violin?"
"Just a little, sir."
"May I hear you play, Quatre?"
Quatre glanced at his sister. She smiled at him and nodded.
"Um, okay." Quatre placed the case onto the floor and opened it.
"Is he any good?" Catherine whispered to Iria.
"If he's any good is your opinion, but I think he is."
Quatre pulled the bow against the string once before playing a bit of The Marriage of Figaro.
"I didn't get a chance to learn the rest..." Quatre whispered when he had finished. The whole Barton family was speechless. Their jaws were wide open with astonishment. Iria simply smiled.
"He's not good, he's awesome!" Catherine declared.
"My, my. That was great. How old are you Quatre?" Mr. Barton asked when he found his voice.
"8..."
"8? You seem younger than that." Quatre blushed.
"Same age as Trowa." Catherine added.
"Well, young man. I can see that you have a very interesting future ahead of you. Keep this up and you'll be famous one day." Mr. Barton winked at Quatre before ruffling his hair. "Catherine, be sure to clean all this up before doing anything else. Got it?"
"Yes dad."
"I'll be in my office if you need me. Iria, Quatre, it was nice meeting you. I hope you'll like living here." Mr. Barton stood and walked towards his office.
"I'll help you clean." Iria said as Quatre put his violin back into its case.
Just then the doorbell rang.
"Go answer that, Trowa." Catherine ordered and Trowa obeyed. He walked up to the door and opened it to see his friend Richie standing there. Richie was eight, just like Trowa and Quatre, with wild red hair and earthy brown eyes. He had a shit-eating grin on his face, a jar in one hand and a small net in the other.
"Hey Trowa. Wanna come with me and the guys to the river?" Richie asked.
Trowa shrugged. "Sure."
"Bring a jar. We're gonna collect tadpoles."
"'Kay." Trowa walked to the kitchen with Richie following behind him.
"Hey, who's the dweeb?" Richie asked pointing to Quatre.
"He's not a dweeb!" Catherine glared at Richie, followed by Iria as they finished washing up.
"Coulda fooled me." Richie shrugged.
"Richard Parks, learn some manners before stepping into this house ever again." Catherine growled her fists clenched.
"C'mon Richie." Trowa said, pulling his friend towards the door.
"Bye, bye girls." He said to Quatre. Quatre just looked away.
"C'mon Quatre. Don't pay attention to that little brat there." Iria said, taking her brother's hand in her own.
"Geeuz, Trowa. Why was that runt in your house?"
"Leave him alone. Catherine invited him."
"Ugh."
Quatre watched the two boys walk out the door and turned to his sister. "I wanna go back to Maine. I miss Heero…"
Iria walked over to her brother and hugged him. "Awww, Quatre."
"Don't let him get to you, Quatre. Not all people are jerks like Richie Parks. Just stay out of his way." Catherine said, trying to comfort Quatre. She gave him a reassuring smile and he gave her a little one in return. "C'mon. I'll show you two my room."
"If you don't mind, I think I'll go home now." Quatre said, picking up his violin.
"Quatre, dad told us to stay away for now."
"It's okay. I won't be in the way. Thanks for being so nice and for the ice cream, Catherine." Quatre bowed slightly before Catherine before walking to the door.
Iria sighed.
"I'm real sorry about that, Iria."
"It wasn't your fault. Quatre's usually so outgoing. This move was pretty hard on him…he had to leave all his friends…"
"Oh, I hope he feels better soon. That must be horrible."
Iria sighed again. "I wonder how he'll do at school."
* * *
Quatre found his way to his backyard. There was a huge willow tree whose branches reached the floor. Quatre crawled into the tree and leaned against the trunk. He slid down the trunk to a sitting position, and wrapped his arms around his legs. There, he cried.
* * *
"Trowa, I don't want your stupid friend coming here anymore."
"He's not stupid." Trowa replied placing his jar by the sink. He didn't catch any tadpoles since they all scattered the moment he and his friends stepped in the water.
"'Coulda fooled me.'" Catherine countered, mocking Richie. "Because of him, Quatre's had a horrible first day here."
Trowa scoffed. "That's not my fault."
"Richie's your friend!"
"I don't control him."
"Arrrrg!" Catherine launched herself at her brother.
Trowa barely had enough time to dodge the attack before running away from his assailant. Mr. Barton stepped out of his office in time to pull Catherine away from Trowa.
"Now, kids. Take a deep breath. Inhale. Exhale. Now what's the problem?"
"Trowa's friend insulted Quatre."
"That's not my fault."
"Now, now. Catherine, Trowa has no control over his friend's actions."
"See." Trowa stuck his tongue out at his sister.
"Ugh. Fine. Whatever. I'll be in my room." Catherine stamped her foot and hurried up the stairs.
"Girls..." Trowa rolled his eyes.
Author's Notes: Okay. This is only the beginning but I'd still like to know what you think. Should I continue this or just quit while I'm ahead? Oh and please don't sue me. Gundam Wing belongs to someone other than me and I have no money anyway.