Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Past Meets Present ❯ Chapter 10 ( Chapter 10 )

Trowa leaned back in the seat of his car, waiting. The girls were finally being released after a week. Apparently, Xin Xin’s condition had disappeared, though the threat that it might return was there. Quatre was with them and Trowa was out in the car, waiting.

His car was too small for them all to come so Duo and Heero had stayed home. When he and Quatre had left, Heero was mentioning something about forcing Duo to do some housework. Needless to say, Trowa was interested as to what their home would look like when they returned.

Wufei was still missing. They feared him dead. If he wasn’t then he was sure taking his sweet time coming home. But, after a week it seemed like the Chinese guy was gone for good.

Trowa sighed, and then saw his boyfriend walking his way. Mei was standing to the side and behind Quatre and Xin Xin was between them. The little girl was happy, a goofy grin plastered to her face. When the three of them were settled in his car, Trowa started it up. Watching the lot, he pulled out and drove them to their home.

At an intersection, Trowa had to slam on his brakes. Some jerk tried making a left hand turn in the right lane. Trowa, being in the left lane, was almost hit. Honking his horn a few times, he suppressed the urge to flick the guy off. Some people truly were idiots.

Luckily, nothing else happened and he pulled into their driveway with relative ease. That is, once Duo moved out of the way. Getting out of his car, he watched in amusement as Heero chased Duo around and through the house, gun tucked in his hand.

“Hey, Heero, what did he do now?” Trowa asked, curious. Heero stopped and turned to the group that was watching him.

“He ruined my laptop;” Heero replied calmly, not sounding out of breath one bit. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I am going to catch him and make him pay.”

Trowa nodded and followed Quatre into the house. Mei and her daughter were already inside.

“Niáng, why are we here?” Xin Xin turned and asked her mother. Mei looked at her daughter and replied, “We just are. This is where I have been living while you were in the hospital.”

“Why?” The young girl questioned. It was quiet for a few minutes when suddenly; Duo came tearing through the room. Spotting Trowa, he hid behind the guy, holding his friend’s shoulders to hang onto the clown.

“Duo Maxwell,” a cool voice said from the doorway. Xin Xin looked and saw Heero standing there, guns in hand. He pointed it just to the left of Trowa’s head. Slowly, the Japanese man walked over to his two friends.

Before either could react, Duo was in Heero’s grasp and Trowa had been moved to the couch. “Now, come with me,” Heero could be heard saying as he dragged Duo upstairs to their room. The other four blinked for a few moments.

“Well,” Quatre clapped his hands. “Would you guys like something to eat?”

“Yeah, if it’s okay with my Niáng,” Xin Xin eagerly answered. She looked to her mother, who nodded. The young girl followed the Arabian heir into the kitchen.

“Well, what would you like to have?” He asked the Chinese girl. The little girl put on a serious face that looked just like Wufei’s while she thought.

“Hmm, do you have peanut butter?” Xin Xin finally asked. Quatre grinned. Of course they had peanut butter. Duo practically lived off the stuff as crazy as it sounded.

“I think we do,” he told the girl, going over to pantry. He came out a few moments later, jar in hand. Xin Xin’s smile that she’d had grew more. “Where’s your bread and knives?” She asked Quatre. He automatically walked over to the breadbox and pulled out a loaf. “The knives are in this drawer,” he told his little guest, pointing to the drawer he was standing in front of. Taking a butter knife out, he set the things down in front of Xin Xin.

“Thank you,” she told him, making her sandwich. Quatre watched her with a smile. Mei was really lucky to have such a treasure of a child. But, seeing Xin Xin eat made Quatre hungry. As he made his own sandwich, Xin Xin watched him.

“Where’s my Die?” Xin Xin suddenly asked. Quatre dropped the knife he held and it clattered onto the counter.

Not really knowing what to say, he sighed. After a few moments, he turned to the girl and gave her the best reply he knew.

“So, you don’t know where he is?” She asked, wanting confirmation. Taking a bite of her sandwich, she watched Quatre nod. Finally, he asked her a question.

“Why do you want to know?” Quatre questioned Xin Xin as he got out a couple of cups. “What would you like to drink?”

“Do you have milk?” The young girl wanted to know. He nodded yes and pulled out a carton. “I want to know because all my life, I’ve wanted one. And he promised me he’d be there.”

“Such sad words coming from such a small girl,” the Arabian said to himself as he watched the small child finish her milk. “So,” he began. “Would you like to have a tour of the house?”

Xin Xin nodded. Hopping off the chair she sat on, the child took her cup over to the sink. Stretching her arm as far as she could, Xin Xin tried to turn the sink faucet on. “Want some help?” Quatre offered, noting her polite manners. She nodded and he turned it on for her. When the cup was full of water, she dumped the liquid down the drain and turned to her tour guide.

“Let’s go,” she said. Quatre nodded and began to walk out of the room. Feeling warm skin touch his hand, he looked and saw Xin Xin slipping her hand into his. Quatre gave the young girl a smile, the action reminding him of his nieces and nephews. Speaking of which, one of his nephews, Primero, he wanted to say, had a birthday coming up in the near future. And then, after that would be twin nieces Tri and Enta. And then his sister Nichi. And then Iria. Then more nieces and nephews and sisters. Too many birthdays, he thought with a smile.

“Well, this is obviously the kitchen,” began the Arabian, getting a giggle out of the girl. As he led her out of the room and into the hallway, Quatre began to point out bedrooms. Heero’s and Duo’s was easy to figure out. It had on the door a sign that read: This room is the home of God of Death! Stay out unless Heero because this is your room too.

“What’s that say?” Xin Xin asked, pointing to the sign on the door. Quatre told her getting another giggle out of her. “Is he crazy?”

“No,” Duo’s voice suddenly interrupted. The door they were standing in front of opened to reveal the braided pilot standing there. Patting the kid on the head, he looked and acted like nothing had happened between him and Heero. Crossing the hall, the God of Death winked to the house’s newest and smallest resident.

Not catching the act, Quatre wondered why she was trying not to laugh. Chalking it up to a kid thing, he moved on, showing her where Quatre and Trowa’s room was located. The door had no distinguishing features besides the long deep scratch that had been there since before the men had moved in. And finally, he came to the final room.

“This is where you will sleep with your mom,” he told her. Xin Xin looked at the man and asked him whose room it was.

Sighing, Quatre replied. “Well, it’s Wufei’s.”

Just then, Duo came out of another room. Seeing the two in front of Wufei’s room, he headed over to them. “So, whatcha doing?” He asked.

“Just showing Xin Xin around the house,” Quatre answered. Just then, the door they were standing in front of opened and revealed Mei on the other side.

“Hi Niáng,” Xin Xin said to her mother. Mei just smiled at the young girl and watched as her daughter and Quatre went downstairs. A cough startled her a little. Turning to Duo, she found him just standing there.

“She’s a great kid, isn’t she?” Duo smiled. Mei’s small smile grew. “Yes, she is and I thank the Dragon that I have her.”

Breathing heavily, the young man stopped. He had suffered injuries before but this time it felt wrong. He was driven by the need to return home. He didn’t know what waited for him there. Back a few days ago, something, a piece of debris, had hit him in the head. But he was going to get home.

Sally Po stood in the doorway of her apartment. Lucrezia was gone. The woman had returned home the same day as Sally and Wufei had. Zechs had also come home that day, Une wanting none of them to stay. And so, with all that had happened, Wufei had just disappeared from her life and everyone’s. Zechs Merquise or Millardo as he also went by, had also left.

The reason was he and Lucrezia had decided to move into their own apartment with their wedding date nearing. The event would be small. Sally was the Maid of Honor and the Best Man was undecided. Relena would be the other bridesmaid. There was no flower girl or ring bearer. Lady Une and Mariemaia were supposed to come. Of course, all the Gundam pilots were told to attend as well as Dorothy Catalonia. And then there were the few odd relatives that they had. Lucrezia had some cousins on her mother’s side, which was German. The Schbeikers’, Sally wanted to say. And of course, other friends that the two had made while working.

But now, with no Lucrezia Noin, the place felt so big and empty. It was odd, not seeing her friend’s things lying all over the place. The apartment felt so clean and bare. Both women were neat, but Noin had always been the messier of the two. Something in the slight mess made the apartment look better; more lived in and homey.

Sitting down, Sally began to watch TV. There was nothing on, not a channel. Just as she was about to turn the thing off and read a book, her phone rang. Getting up, the half-Chinese woman answered the ringing machine.

“Hello, Sally speaking,” she said automatically. No one answered. All she heard was someone breathing heavily.

A/N: That’s the end of this chapter. This thing was hard to write, I will admit that. Oh and the names of Quatre’s family, Primero, Tri, Enta, and Nichi are all plays off of numbers. Primero means first in Spanish. It should only be used to describe 1am or pm, or like the first day of a month. Ex.: Hoy es primero de julio. Today is July 1st.

Tri and Enta go together to make Trienta, which is 30 in Spanish. Nichi is a little harder to figure out. Ichi is 1 in Japanese and Ni is 2 in Japanese. So, I combined the two to get Nichi. It’s made up, just so you know.

Why the number puns? Well, most of the main cast of GW have names which are derived from numbers. Heero is Japanese and is supposed to be a form of Hiiro which I believe means one or first. Not quite sure on that. Duo’s name is pretty obvious. Trowa’s comes from trois which is three in I want to say French. Not too sure on that though. Everyone knows Quatre’s name come from Quat(sp?) which is four in French. Wufei’s name somehow comes from five in Chinese. I think it’s the Wu part of his name. Zechs comes from the Russian would for six. Trieze is derived from triece(sp?) which is 13 in Spanish. Veinte and Noventa mean 20 and 90 in Spanish. There’s also other, just in case you were wondering.

Oh well, I own nothing in this fic except Xin Xin, isn’t she so cute!