Ok, before you all chop my head off for writing something new, I would like to apologize.

It has been forever since I have made my appearance back on I lost my inspiration, so my stories remained untouched. HOWEVER, Toxicity will be updated soon!

I wrote this to get my creative juices flowing again and remove writer's block.

So, anyway, thank you for being patient!

Xx Lady Xiao xX

DISCLAIMER: I don't own GW or SM.

Summary: Set back in the times of the Great Depression, five friends just try to stick together through the hard times.

Pairings not being stated. Some are obvious though.

Ages: Rei and Lita: 17, Ami and Mina: 16, Serena: 15.

Trowa and Heero: 18. Duo, Wufei, and Quatre: 16

Roses

Prologue

December 14, 1929

-Raye-

I think watching him walk away, brown bag and savings in hand, is what made me realize that my mother was right… everything was getting bad. She had told me a few months ago that things were beginning to take a turn for the worst, but I had just assumed that she was just overreacting again. Sadly, I was the one who was mistaken.

Looking back on everything, the time we had spent together and the promises we shared, it took all I had not to scold myself. I knew I shouldn’t have trusted so much into one man, especially one who knew my past. I gave my soul to him after the betrayal of my father, thinking that maybe he would be different.

I was wrong again.

Now I am sitting on the roof of my tenement home, my best friend Lita King to my right. We sat in silence, breathing in the smoky air whilst thinking about the future. Both of us were sure things were bound to get worse, but that would be ok. We were best friends, and we were going to stick together.

“Raye?”

I turned my gaze toward Lita, my face resting against my knees as I waited for her to continue. I couldn’t help but smile when I thought of Lita. She was always the tomboy, the only girl in the tenement who wore pants and her hair in a ponytail. Sometimes, on rainy days, she would get in fights with our neighbor, Wufei Chang. I found them amusing, even when no one else would.

Lita had moved into my home about a month ago. Since our mothers were both single, it was hard for them to make rent on their own. The change was nothing difficult for either Lita or myself. We enjoyed having the company.

“No matter what, we are going to stick together. I’m not going to leave like he did.” Lita reassured me, turning her eyes to me with a smile. “Friends forever?”

I nodded and turned my head to the horizon, the sun setting beneath the skyline. This is where I would spend most of my nights with him. But, that was no matter, he would never be back.

“Friends forever.” I whispered back, meaning every word that poured from my mouth. Unlike some people, I meant what I said.

I don’t know what the future holds in store for us, but now I don’t really care. It is because of him that I feel so vulnerable and weak. It is because of him that I am going to lock everything inside.

Thank you, Trowa Barton, for ruining my life.

January 3, 1930

-Mina-

As soon as we walked into the lobby of the tenement, I felt the bile in my stomach churn.

It wasn’t that it was bad; it just wasn’t as good as my previous home. I think my mother displayed the same facial expression I did, while my father just held his head high. I knew he was trying to make the best of things.

We met with the owner of the apartments, Robert Winner, who like my family, used to hold a stable financial account. His son, a cute, blonde boy, made a short appearance before disappearing into his dad’s office again. During my observance of his son, Robert gave us the home on the top floor, considering it was the best they had and we could afford it. My father took the keys generously, nodding to him in thanks as we trudged up the wooden steps.

I didn’t like the feeling of carrying my own bags. For one, my arms were not nearly strong enough to haul them up the stairs alone, and secondly, it made me feel poor, which was something I wasn’t used to yet.

Before the depression, my father was the owner of a steel company in Maine. Apparently something happened between now and then, which made my family lose all of our savings. So, we took what we had left and came to New York, where my father had landed a job in a factory and my mother as a cashier at a grocery store. I am going to continue schooling, which is at least the plan anyway, while my parent’s work.

I hope things get better soon.

“Mina, dear? I am growing awfully tired. I am going to leave my bag here and go rest in the apartment. You don’t mind bringing mine up too, do you?”

Before I could respond, my mother dropped her suitcase and went up the stairs with my father, leaving me alone.

I didn’t get two more steps until I set everything down and began to cry. I felt so low, so degraded. I was once the rich, prominent daughter of Jeffrey M. Archer. Now I am nothing more than the common street dweller. I had my marriage arranged to Darien Shields, son of a wealthy stock broker. But, when my family lost all of our money, his father broke it off, saying that the union was no longer profitable. That is when I lost all of my pride.

“Are you alright?”

I turn my head up to look at three faces, all of which are new to me. The one who spoke, a brunette girl wearing a pair of pants, had taken a seat beside me on the steps, her auburn hair tumbling around her face from her ponytail in luscious curls. Her two friends a black haired boy and girl, stood around me, the boy leaning against a wall and the girl against the stair rail.

“I’m Lita King.” She stuck out a hand, which I shook, even though it was something I had never done before. Most girls ignored me, so I stuck with entertaining the male population. “These are my friends, Raye Hill and Wufei Chang.”

The girl was looking directly at me now, her amethyst eyes boring into my own. I could see betrayal deep within them, sadness forever staining her heart. She wore a dress, not extravagant by any means, but classy. It was white and brown, clashing with the worn boots on her feet. Behind her I could see long, black hair tumble to her thighs.

The boy was Chinese, that much I could see. He wore a pair of trousers, with a tattered shirt, his black hair slicked back into a ponytail at the nape of his neck. Out of the three, he looked the least pleased to be here.

“Mina Archer.” I offered, giving them the warmest smile I could muster. Then as if we had been friends all out lives, Lita and Wufei grabbed the bags and Raye helped me up, all of us walking together.

“We know what it feels like, Mina.” Raye whispered to me as we trudged along, my tears running down my face the entire way.

January 25, 1930

-Lita-

After Mina moved in, things seemed to get more difficult. Our friends Serena, Heero, and Duo Maxwell were all having a difficult time, and after the many unsuccessful searches to find jobs, Heero and Duo left. Their parent’s could no longer support them, so they left one morning, saying they would be back eventually. Serena was constantly being badgered about marriage, her mother wanting her only daughter to inherit a little money. However, during this time of trials, it was hard to find your true love.

Amy Anderson, daughter of Dr. Anderson, moved into the floor below Mina’s. She was very quiet, but Raye, Mina, Serena, and myself, managed to get her out of her shell. Every night we would all meet on the roof of the tenement, Raye being so generous as to give her old romantic getaway to our meetings. Eventually, Wufei and his friend Quatre Winner, son of Robert Winner, the tenements owner, joined us too.

Things eventually settled down at my home, the money situation and rent panning out with my mother and Raye’s teaming up. My father had caught the flu a few years ago, and he didn’t make it out. So, I knew how it felt not to have a father. Maybe if he had survived we would be better off. I know we would. My father was one of the hardest workers I have ever known.

Now I am lying in the dark of my room, Raye sleeping soundly beside me on our big bed. It is hard for me to think about the times before us. I know that it will only get harder. Our parent’s keep saying we haven’t seen the worst of it yet, and I believe them. Otherwise, Trowa would still be with Raye and the Maxwell brothers would still be with their sister.

Listening to the crickets outside our window, I drift lightly to sleep, thanking God I at least have my friends here with me.

February 10, 1930

-Serena-

It’s hard waking up everyday, knowing that the two people you love the most in the world aren’t there anymore.

I still remember the day Heero and Duo left. They woke me up one morning, each of them giving me a kiss on the cheek, and leaving without a word. At first I didn’t understand, but I do now. I heard them fight with my parent’s about money. So, they left to make things easier.

Except, it isn’t easier at all, at least for me. My mother is always harping at me about getting married, which I know isn’t about my own happiness, and we are still poor. The only joy I get now is when I am with my friends.

The first person I met here was Raye Hill, her best friend Lita King, in tow. She introduced herself and Lita, and then invited me to hang out on the rooftop with them that evening, at sunset. I found this odd at first, but I went. What I figured would be another set up for failure turned out to be the greatest thing that has ever happened to me.

“Serena?”

I heard Mina’s voice on the other side of the front door, her hand knocking on it quietly. Unlike Lita and Raye, who always just let themselves in, Mina still kept some of her polite manners from when she lived in high society.

“Serena, hurry up! Lita’s mom got paid extra and made cookies! We all know you love ‘em!”

That was a fact that wouldn’t change with time.

-Amy-

I don’t think I have laughed this much in a long while.

Of course, it was impossible not to laugh at the scene before us. Serena, who had taken majority of the cookies in the first place, had tricked Raye into getting her a cup of water, taking Raye’s cookies as soon as she left the table. Upon returning, Raye was furious, dumping the contents of the cup onto Serena’s head.

So, Serena was now soaking wet, and Raye was short two cookies. It was times like these that made me forget the hardships I have faced and will continue to battle.

Prior to the stock market crash, my family was well off, both of my parent’s successful doctors. My mother, four years after my birth, died of an unknown disease she caught from a patient, leaving me with my father. He has done a good job at raising me while working, but I have missed out on some childhood memories and endured ones I wish to forget.

“Hey, Amy…” Lita nudged me with her elbow, her glass of water in her hand. “Can you meet at the rooftop tonight?”

The rooftop, our secret hideaway to escape the bad things in life. When they first invited me up there with them, all I could think about was the possible dangers lurking up there for me. What if there was a hole in the roof? Or what if someone accidentally shoved me off?

However, I got myself up there eventually.

I brought my school stuff and a book holding the collection of Voltaire’s works, all snug in a bag to keep me occupied. I had never had friends before, so I didn’t know what to expect from them. Instead, for the first time in my life, I didn’t need to look to my books for a way out of the conversation. They kept me involved and genuinely cared about my contributions to the talks.

“Yeah, I’ll be there.” Was all I could answer, before Raye and Serena sent us into another fit of hysterics.

End of Prologue

This story isn't meant to be very long. Just something to get me going again. Drop your comments by if you feel like it.

Xx Lady Xiao xX