Title: Today was different

Author: Bellamortsdaughternesha

Summary: Three and twelve, fifteen and twenty-three, twenty-seven and thirty-five, thirty-nine and forty-seven, and fifty-five and sixty-three where the ages where Laura and Bill’s lives merged, and they forgot every time until the last.

Chapter Summary: Willie meets a little girl intent on putting her life in danger but which rewards him with squeals that light up his heart.

Disclaimer: Any character, situation, or location that is recognizable doesn’t belong to me, at all. Although I wish I could have my personal Adama.

Authors Note: I thought this up today and immediately started writing it before my muse would delete it from my brain. I suppose that it has spoilers for the preview of Caprica and for the miniseries of BSG, however it can be considered AU since I’m dreaming up all this meetings between them. Hope you like them. The character death mentioned is never seen but its hinted or mentioned and it is certainly not Bill or Laura.

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Three and Twelve

~*~

Caprica City

51 years before Cylon invasion

Roslin age 3, Adama age 12

Today was different. It had started like every other day. His mother had woken him, his sister had hogged the bathroom, they had taken a fast breakfast before rushing him off to school, school wasn’t any different either. It was unfair that his sister had the chance to skip class and not him. It was unfair she got to travel but he didn’t. He was learning slowly how life could be unfair and there was nothing he could do about it.

The shift in his day started when he was out of school. The routine was interrupted and it unsettled him, though he wouldn’t show it. Today his mother was not waiting for him outside of school. Today his father was not waiting for him either. One of them was always outside, ready to pick him up and walk him back home, but today neither was there. He hadn’t expected his mother, after all she was with her sister, but his father should have picked him up. He wasn’t there.

Having waited for his father for two hours already he decided to venture into the familiar, yet strangely new streets. He wasn’t scared, after all he was a big boy, but he couldn’t help but walk just a little faster. His mind was running with reasons as to why nobody was there to pick him up yet he refused to allow fear to grip his mind. He would be home soon enough and his father would probably realize his mistake and take him out for an ice cone.

He kept walking; his goal of being home soon was now the only thing in his mind. He automatically took the streets, not even realizing where he was until he heard the sound of water constantly falling. Snapping out of his thoughts he realized that he was now at the Caprica Fountains. For some reason his fast pace slowed down so that he could enjoy the sigh and sounds.

He eventually stopped but it wasn’t because of the fountains. His blue eyes were glued on a tiny form close to the biggest fountain known as the Amalthea after the goat that had suckled Zeus. He snapped out of his frozen moment and quickly ran towards the tiny girl. The child was reaching forward, wanting to touch one of the jets that threw water upward. Her little body was way over the edge, stretching to the point that if she stretched further she would surely topple over. Willie’s heart beat madly against his chest as he rushed forward.

“No!” He screamed just as he made contact with the little girl’s shoulder. He pulled her back, against him and towards safety, not caring to the cry of disagreement that was ripped from the little girl’s throat. He took deep breaths, partly from the run and partly from the lowering of excitement that was going through his body.

“Bad!” The little girl declared before once more pushing herself forward. She was fighting his hold on her but Willie was not letting her go.

“No!” He repeated this time pushing her away a little harder and making her fall on her bottom.

The little girl let out a cry as she felt her bottom burn but Willie was not paying attention to her, at least not to her cries. He was staring, that was the only word for it, and he was staring at the most cute girl he had ever seen. With deep auburn curls that fell down her shoulders and back, with eyes so wise that he wondered if they really were hers, and with a nose and lips that seemed to complement her face, the little girl had all of his attention. The fat, translucent tears that were running down her eyes ripped at his heart, threatening to pull it out.

“Hey, hey it’s alright.” Willie quickly moved to her, gently picking her up as best as he could with the struggling girl. “I just didn’t want you to drown.”

The little girl sobbed, her little lip moving up and down along with her chin. He didn’t know what else to do, he had already moved her out of harm’s way, and he had already picked her up, what else could be wrong?

“I want to touch water.” She said between her decreasing sobs. Her delicate arm, or so it appeared to Willie, was pushed up as she pointed to the jet of water she had been about to touch. “I WANT TO TOUCH WATER.” She repeated much louder and demanding.

“You can’t!” He said looking over at the water jet. “You can get hurt, you can fall in the water!”

How had it come to this? How had he been one second walking towards his home and the next arguing with this child?

She looked up at him, her eyes still watery although her tears were not falling any more. “Pwease.” She said with the tender voice that only a child this age could muster.

He sighed, almost stumped his foot down on the concrete, and rolled his eyes although he knew that the child could care less. “Okay, but just a little.” He told her, his body adopting the stance his father had adopted when he gave in.

The change was instant; her face brightened as a grin appeared on her lips, her eyes instantly cleared of moisture and shined with the sun rays catching it. “Yay!” She exclaimed jumping up and down making her curls move with her and her small red dress bounce.

Willie reached for her hand and the little girl stretched hers. Carefully he brought her as close to the edge as he thought it was safe. He then sat down at the edge of the fountain, not caring that his shoes were getting wet, and reached for her to sit on his lap. The little girl was delighted as she reached for the water, his arms tightening around her little waist, her hands threading through the water in the motions that only signaled the pressure the water was receiving.

A wave of her scent quickly invaded his nostrils and he smiled. Pure baby scent.

It must have been hours of him holding her securely, hours of her delight filled squeals, and hours of splashing water against his face. What felt like hours were only minutes though, minutes in which a mother and a father realized their three year old daughter was not by their side, and minutes in which they started searching for her.

“Laura!” A male voice exclaimed out loud but Willie didn’t mind it since he didn’t know any Laura.

He continued holding her, laughing along with her as the water splashed on them.

“Lau?!” A woman’s voice exclaimed this time, much close to Willie which eventually made him turn around. His turning only moved the little girl away from the water and she quickly protested.

He noticed the couple, who were searching for Laura, looking directly at him. He frowned, not understanding why they were looking at him with confusion. That’s when he realized that he didn’t even know the name of the little girl he had saved and helped and he came to the conclusion that iLaura/i and iLau/i was probably the little girl he was holding.

He turned towards the little girl who was still protesting and now actually pouting at him. “Laura?” he asked trying to judge her reaction. Since she smiled at him he knew that it was her name. “So in trouble.” He murmured to himself.

The man and woman finally got to his side, their figures and shadows looming over him and iLaura/i. Noticing her mother and father Laura grinned up at them and threw her arms up for her mother to pick up. Once she was off his lap Willie slowly got up as well, his wet shoes splurging water over the concrete. He stared at his shoes, the weight of his backpack finally being too heavy for him. “I’m sorry sir, ma’am.” He said in a monotone voice.

“Don’t be son.” The man said laying a hand on his shoulder. “It wasn’t your fault, we know our little Laura.”

He finally looked up, sneaking a glance to see if the man was really telling the truth. He noticed that the man’s eyes were brown, unlike the little girl’s so he sneaked a glance at the mother. Her eyes were as green, although not as wise, as Laura’s.

“Yes, we know the fascination Laura has for fountains.” The woman continued what her husband had started saying. “She must have wandered off while her father and I were looking at the flowers; I hope she didn’t bother you.”

“Oh no ma’am.” He quickly told her, shaking his head. “She was reaching forward, and she was very close to the edge, so I thought it wasn’t safe… somehow she coaxed me into allowing her.”

“She’s very smart.” The woman said leaning forward to rub her nose against Laura’s.

As if noticing that the boy was all alone for the first time, Laura’s father looked around once more. “Son, what is your name?” He asked him.

“Willie… William Adams, sir.” He answered almost nervously. Was he in trouble even though they knew it wasn’t his fault?

“Where are your parents William?” Laura’s father asked him.

“They aren’t here sir.” Willie answered. “My mother is with my sister in a trip, and my father probably forgot to pick me up from school.”

The man and the woman exchanged glances and there was even a little nod from the woman’s part. “We can walk you home, is it far?” She asked him.

Willie looked around, as if he had suddenly forgotten where he was. “No, no sir… two blocks away.”

“Well then, come along William, we will walk you home.”

The walk back home was relatively slow, compared to the time he had done from his school to the Caprican Fountains. There was small talk where Laura’s parents introduced themselves and where Laura managed to pull at his hair from his mother’s arms. He didn’t feel in danger so he walked at their pace; slowly and leisured.

When they stopped at the gate of his home he turned towards them and thanked them. They in turn thanked him for worrying about their daughter and allowing her to touch the water of the fountains. Finally he went through the gate and up the walkway to his front door. He turned just as Laura waved over her mother’s shoulders. “Bye bye Willie!” She called out.

He smirked, turned the knob of the door, opened it, and walked in. “Dad?” He called out.

His house was dark. He quickly let his bag fall on the floor by the door and moved upstairs. “Dad?” He asked again. His eyes fell on the light that was reflecting on the floor. His now damp feet carried him towards his father’s study. His life changed completely the second he saw his father; Joseph Adams was holding a frame with her mother and sister’s image in it, his body rocked back and forth as tears fell down her face nonstop. “Dad?” he asked this time, his voice shaky.

Today was different and the rest of his life would be different. From then on he wouldn’t remember the little girl he had held so that she could touch the water; he wouldn’t remember the deep auburn hair and the very wise eyes, all he would remember was the pain of losing his mother and his sister.

Today was different.