Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Past Meets Present ❯ Chapter 4 ( Chapter 4 )

It was a good thing Meiran wasn’t holding her cup at the moment because she would have dropped it. She looked at her guest in shock and asked him if he was kidding.

“No, I am not,” he replied after taking another drink.

“Why?” Meiran questioned. He looked at her, setting the cup down. “I don’t like to see people hurt especially not children.”

“I thank you from the bottommost parts of my heart. The Long clan will be forever in your debt,” Meiran bowed to him.

“Long?” He asked, slightly confused. Meiran nodded and explained. “Long means Dragon. I am the clan head with my husband’s death and my daughter the heir.”

“You were married,” Quatre stated slightly shocked.

“Yes, when I was just thirteen and my husband Wufei fourteen. It was an arranged marriage,” she told him. Looking at him, she saw his face paler than normal.

“Your husband’s name is Wufei,” he repeated.

“Was,” she corrected. Before either could say a word, Meiran heard someone knocking on her door again. She got up and opened it, finding her landlady on the other side.

“Ms. Chang, I need that money today,” she reminded the woman. Meiran hung her head, knowing that she could never pay her long overdue rent.

“Yes, ma’am,” she replied. The other woman left quickly, heading across the hall to yell at a couple of new tenants about playing loud music after ten.

“You know my friend Wufei is out of town at the moment. I’m sure it would be fine if you stayed in his room while he’s out, you know, just until you can find another place,” Quatre spoke up. Chang Meiran turned to face him and asked him why he was helping her out so much.

“I already told you, I don’t like to see people hurt,” Quatre replied. He finished his tea and asked her how long it would take to pack her and Xin Xin’s things.

“Not long, we have only little” admitted the mother. “Then I will wait here, if you do not mind,” he told her.

“Not at all.”

“Hey, what’s with all this stuff?” Duo called out, sprawled on the hallway floor. Propping himself up, he noticed Wufei’s door was open. Just then, he saw Mei walk out and pick a few of the things up. “What’re you doing in there?” He asked curiously as he watched her.

She stopped and turned to face him. “Mr. Winner told me it would be all right if I were to stay in this room until I can get another apartment. Or until your friend comes back.”

“The Wu-man’s not gonna be happy about this,” he whistled. “Wait a minute, what do you mean until you can find a new apartment?”

Mei, who had just gone back into the room, carrying the last of her stuff, popped her head back out. “I was overdue on my rent and was evicted.”

“Major bummer,” Duo replied, standing up. When he was on his feet, he added, “I doubt he’ll be back soon though, so you may be gone by then.” Mei nodded and watched the braided man leave.

Looking around at the room, she found that there were quite a few phoenixes and a few dragons. She was pleased to see both creatures. Born a dragon and after her marriage, she had become a phoenix as well. Mei walked over to the small dresser and found a frame. A dragon was on one side, a phoenix on the other. And inside, on the photo, stared a young Wufei and, and.

The picture and frame crashed to the floor.

“Names?” Asked a tall Chinese man. He stared at Wufei and Sally like his was trying to see into their souls.

“Chang and Po,” Wufei answered. The man wrote the two down.

“Given names?” He asked them.

“Wufei.”

“Sally.” At her name, the man slitted his eyes. “Sally?” He repeated.

“Yes. My father was an American and gave me the name,” she explained. That seemed to satisfy him.

“What are your clans?” They were asked.

Wufei answered first. “Fèng-huang and Lóng.”

This caught the man’s attention. Could this young man really be of those two clans? If so, that put him as the most powerful Chinese man.

“How so?” Asked the man.

“The first by birth, the second by marriage,” Wufei answered calmly. “Is there a problem?”

“I need proof,” replied the man taking their personal information. Wufei pulled out two rings and showed them to the man.

“Now do you believe me?” Asked Wufei. The man nodded, putting down what he had found out. He turned to Sally.

“What clan are you from?” He questioned her.

“I don’t know,” she admitted, making him and Wufei frown. Wufei turned to his partner.

“Think, don’t you remember seeing any large amount of one animal growing up?” The information man asked her.

“Well,” she began. “My dad always seem to have monkeys on everything.”

“A Hóu-zi, then,” Wufei informed her.

“Is that a good thing?” Sally Po asked, unsure. This whole clan thing was new to her and she felt way in over her league.

“It could be worse,” was the response she got. The man wrote this new piece of information down and asked them a few more questions before allowing them through. After they passed him, Sally turned to her partner.

“What’s the whole clan deal?” She asked him.

“There are fifteen clans. The most powerful is the Lóng clan. Or, as you would know it, the Dragon clan. Following them in power is the Fèng-huang, or Phoenix, clan,” he began.

“So, wait, you’re said you were from both. So, does that make you the most powerful person of all the clans?” Sally asked him. Wufei shook his head.

“No, there is one that’s more powerful than I am. Meiran, just because she’s a Dragon by birth,” he told Sally.

“Who’s she?” Sally asked, curious. Wufei didn’t reply. Instead, he began explaining about the clans again.

“After my birth clan, there is the Hè clan, or Crane clan. The Lángs, Wolves, and then the Silver Fox clan, the Yín hú clan, follow them. After that, it goes in the order of the Zodiac. Láo-shu, Yan niú, Hû, Tù-zi, Shé, Mâ, Mián Yáng, Hóu-zi, Gong ji, Gôu, and the Yê zhu clans.”

“What do all of those mean?” Sally asked. She didn’t know the Chinese Zodiac. Out of all the ones Wufei had just said, she only recognized the monkey one.

He sighed and began to list off the names in English this time. “Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Boar.”

“Isn’t the Dragon part of the Zodiac?” She asked. He nodded yes, but explained to her that the Dragon’s had been able to worm their way up to the top thousands of years ago. Sally nodded, understanding what he was saying. And then she realized something.

“That’s only fourteen clans. What’s the last?”

“The last clan is the Mao clan. The Cat of the Zodiac who was left out of the race and thus, became the weakest clan.”

“Oh.” She walked beside him for awhile as they were lead to their rooms. “What is the story of the Zodiac?”

Wufei stopped and looked at her. “You’re kidding me, right? You don’t even know the story? It’s one of the most important ones that our culture has, if not the most.”

Sally shook her head. She really didn’t know any of this.

As they walked, Wufei began to tell her the story. “Jade Emperor of the Heavens decided to celebrate his birthday. He invited thirteen animals, each with their unique personality. Whoever was first to the party the emperor held would get to be first in the zodiac. Because of this event the mouse and his good friend, the cat, trick the gullible and kind-hearted ox to bring them across the river. Yet just before they arrived at the shore, the mouse pushed the cat into the water, therefore eliminating his last opponent to get first. Jumping off the ox and ran to the party first, winning first place.

Then came the ox in second place, and then the powerful tiger. Fourth place was granted to the creative rabbit, which was jumping on floating logs in the river to get to the other side. The considerate and kind-hearted dragon, which can both fly and swim across to the other side. The reason for the dragon not being first was because he stopped to help stop a drought; and when he saw the rabbit clinging on to the log, that was stuck in the river, for his dear life the dragon gave a windy huff and blew the rabbit to shore before himself.

Next came the horse that came after the snake. The snakes had slither between the horse’s legs and startle him, so that the snake got sixth place and the horse seventh place. The next three animals included in the zodiac worked as a team. The sheep, monkey, and the rooster were those three animals. The sheep and monkey row the threesome to shore, they used a raft the rooster spotted. The eighth animal became the sheep, the monkey was granted ninth place, and then came the rooster in tenth.

After awhile the dog had finally reached the shore. He have taken longer than he have, since he can swim. The dog came in late because he stopped to take a bath, afraid to pollute the clean water in the river with his muddy body.

As the emperor was about to dismiss the eleven animals, a squeal was heard. The emperor was surprised to see that the pig has made it across. According to the pig he would have been there sooner had he not stop to take a rest. The emperor laughed as he made the pig the last and twelfth animal in the Chinese zodiac.”

A/N: Okay, I know it’s somewhat shorter than the other chapters have been, but there is quite a bit in this chapter. I think it’s kind of obvious what Meiran found. But hey, what real better way to break the news to her? I mean, could you just imagine how uncomfortable the two would be around each other if he had to tell her? But now, they have a little time to get used to the idea without being around each other.

But, the Zodiac story did take up almost half of the chapter. This is the most common version of the Zodiac I have found. There are lots of versions of it and I suggest you run a search on the Chinese Zodiac to see what you get.

If you want to know what your animal is, just tell me in a review and make sure you leave me your email address. I will need your birth year to tell you but after that, I can give you a small profile and you can see how you match up with it. In case you’re wondering, I am of the year of the Horse.

I own nothing in this fan fiction but Xin Xin.