Snapshots:

Reminiscence

By Starling

 

                Arys pulled up to the front of the elementary school, scanning the crowd of children emerging from the front doors like bees out of a hive.  There was even the accompanied hum as the children anticipated a weekend of play.  Arys unbuckled her seat belt and peered out the passenger side door, looking for Satoru.  Finally, she spotted her son’s head of black hair, and Arys hopped out of the driver’s side and leaned against the car, waiting for Satoru to spot her.

                He saw their black Eagle Talon and walked toward her, a slight smile on his face. 

                “Hi, Mom.”  The smile turned lopsided, tempting Arys to give him a hug right there.  But she knew he would not appreciate such a public show of affection.

                “Hey, honey.”  Arys watched as Satoru tossed his backpack into the backseat through the open window.  She slid back into the car.

                “Hey, Satoru!  Don’t forget the game tomorrow!”  A boy with a shock of red hair waved goodbye to Satoru as he ran off with a couple of other boys.

                Satoru waved back.  “I won’t!”  Arys started the engine as Satoru got into the passenger seat.  As soon as his door was closed, Arys pulled out into traffic. 

                “What game, Satoru?”  Arys asked, frowning as another parent pulled out right in front of her.

                “A baseball game.”

                Arys smiled.  Satoru had inherited Heero’s precise use of words as well as his blue eyes.  “Sounds fun.”

                Satoru shrugged.  “Yeah, I guess.”

                Arys glanced over at her son.  He seemed pretty thoughtful today, even more introspective than he usually was.  His eyes were fastened on the moving scenery outside his window and he had his chin propped up on one fist.  She decided to wait and see if he would talk to her on his own.  And knowing Satoru, Arys could expect the rest of the ride home to be silent.  So she concentrated on her driving, humming to herself as she drove.

                “Mom?”  Satoru’s quiet voice interrupted her humming, and Arys glanced at him again.  Now, he was looking at her, and there was a gravity in his eyes she had never seen before.

                “Yes, dear?”  Arys purposely turned onto the wrong street.  She was not going to pass up this chance to talk to her son.  As soon as they got home, she knew Heero would steal him away from her.  Arys shook her head.  She had to admit that she loved watching Heero and Satoru interact. 

                “How did you and Dad fall in love?”

                Arys was so shocked at the question that she almost stepped on the brake.  Someone behind her honked, and Arys quickly depressed the accelerator.

                “Um, well…”  Where to start?  How could she explain the beginnings of her and Heero’s relationship?  Arys shrugged inwardly.  Better to tell the truth.

                Arys swallowed and tried again.  “Well, Satoru, when I first met your father, we were enemies.”

                Satoru’s eyes widened.  “Enemies?  You mean…?”

Arys nodded.  “Yes, we tried to kill each other.  I thought I hated him, but somehow he changed my mind.  You’ve heard of the Zero System, haven’t you?”

                “Of course.  I’ve heard that it drives pilots crazy, so they outlawed the use of it.” 

                “Well, when I was fifteen years old, it was still in the experimental stages and I was permanently hooked up to it.”

                “I remember you telling me about that.”

                Arys briefly wondered why she and Heero had never told Satoru how they had met.  Perhaps they were secretly ashamed of it?  No, that could not be it. 

                “I was testing the Zero System using a simulator while your father and a few other people monitored me.  At the end of the simulation, I found out something that showed me how wrong I had been about my life.  And your father was the one who helped me out of the cockpit afterwards.  I think that’s when I fell in love with him.  Although I wouldn’t admit it to myself for a long time.  The next day, your father tried to kill me.”

                Satoru was staring at her, eyes wide with amazement. 

                “But I managed to convince him not to.”  She winked at him.  “Persuasion is a powerful tool.”

                Arys turned into the parking lot of their apartment complex and she deftly slid the car into a parking space.  She put the gear into park and turned off the ignition.

                “We were both only fifteen years old, so we had to wait a while to get married.  At eighteen, we eloped, and three years later, you were born.”  Arys leaned back and looked over at Satoru.  “And the rest is history.”

                Satoru was still staring in her direction, but this time his eyes were slightly glazed over.  She knew that he was pondering what she had told him.  She reached out to touch his hand, which rested on his seat.  His eyes refocused on her face.

                “Satoru, I think it’s my turn to ask you a question.”  She grinned at him teasingly.  He rewarded her with a bright smile of his own and a nod.  “Why did you want to know?”

                She was surprised to see Satoru’s cheeks flush a little.  “Today in class, Mrs. Eaves asked a few of my classmates how their parents met.  Sara said her parents met at a dance.  Gary’s parents fell in love when his dad saved his mom’s life.  Then, she asked me.”  His cheeks flushed even brighter red.  “I said that you met at school.  That’s what Dad told me.  But I knew there was more to the story.”

                Arys could not resist ruffling Satoru’s black hair.  She gave him a sympathetic look.  “And you were right.  In fact, there’s even more than what I told you.  Sometime, your father and I will have to sit down and tell you the whole thing.”

                Satoru’s eyes lit up.  “Can we do that now?”

                She had never seen Satoru so excited about a story.  Usually, he was content just to read his books.  When he was a toddler, he had hated bedtime stories.  He would yank the book away from her hands and tell her to teach him to read “the funny black pictures on the page.”  And she did.  By the time he was five, Satoru was reading second-grade level books.

                Arys nodded.  “I suppose your father wouldn’t mind.”  She reached for the door handle.  “Now, are we going to sit here in the car all day, or are we going to go home?”

                Satoru reached for his backpack in the backseat.  “Let’s go home.” 

                Once outside the car, Arys was surprised to feel a hand slip into hers.  She looked down to see Satoru trudging along beside her.  He was smiling up at her.

                “Mom, I like your story the better than the others.”

 

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