Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Past Meets Present ❯ Chapter 22 ( Chapter 23 )

As it turned out, Meiran did leave Duo’s bed and end up sleeping on the couch. She was awakened early in the morning by a loud crash. Getting up, she investigated. Heading to the kitchen, which is where it seemed to come from, she felt scared.

A rock was sitting in the middle of the floor. A tag was attached to it. Outside, wind blew inside. The wind was a bit chilly and made her shiver. Turning, she left the room and headed upstairs.

First, she went to her daughter to make sure Xin Xin was all right. Meiran breathed a sigh of relief as she saw the young girl sleeping peacefully, sucking her thumb. Tucking the girl in, though she didn’t need to as Xin Xin was already tucked in, she left the room quietly. The next room she headed to was Wufei’s. It wasn’t that she didn’t like Quatre and Trowa, but she had definitely gotten much more comfortable around her husband. That and she felt it was wrong to barge into someone else’s room in the middle of the night.

He was sleeping, his face as peaceful looking as Xin Xin’s. At that moment, it really hit her how much their daughter took after him. It was a shame, she thought, to wake him up and she almost did go to the guys’ room.

“Hey, wake up,” she said quietly in his ear. He didn’t do anything to respond, so she repeated it, a little louder. When he still didn’t respond, she sighed. Maybe this was a bad idea, Meiran wondered in her head. Just then, her ears caught the faint sound of more glass breaking. Shaking her head, she shook Wufei now. He groaned and she did it again. This time, his eyes snapped open.

“What do you want, woman?” He asked crossly, a glare on his face. She didn’t answer. She heard footsteps, glass crunching underfoot. She knew it couldn’t be either Quatre or Trowa since she had just passed their room, the door open. She had seen two sleeping figures when she’d passed. And she had just been in with Xin Xin.

“Someone threw a rock through the kitchen window. And just now, something else glass broke,” she informed him. She looked at the open doorway, feeling very out in the open. But she heard more footsteps. Judging by the look on Wufei’s face, he had heard them too.

He got out of bed and walked over to his dresser. He opened the top drawer and pulled something out. From where she stood, Meiran couldn’t see what it was but if she had to guess, she would say it was something dangerous around children. Or, in laymens’ terms, she thought he had a gun. Which, when he turned around, she found that he did.

Wufei didn’t speak to Meiran and she didn’t speak to him. He headed for the doorway with her right on his tail. The wall blocked the bottom of the stairs, much to both of their frustration. The moonlight, which had been bright when she’d entered his room, was gone, leaving the hallway in an almost pitch black nothingness.

Meiran knew something was up. Something was definitely wrong. And she had an uncontrollable urge to run over to the room Xin Xin was sleeping in. Well, barely controlled since she didn’t go barreling down the hall to her daughter.

“Hey,” she heard Wufei mutter. “Get Quatre and Trowa up. Tell them safe room and get Xin Xin. I’ll come as soon as you have her.”

Meiran nodded even though she knew he couldn’t see her and slipped out behind him. Glancing back, she saw a shadow move. Who the shadow belonged to, she had no idea. Quietly sprinting, she entered the two guys’ room, all thoughts about it being wrong out of her head.

Skipping straight to shaking them awake, she told the guys what Wufei had ordered her to say. They looked at each other, sharing something in that gaze that she didn’t catch. “I’ll get it open,” Trowa told Quatre. “You bring the girls.”

The three split ways. Not even bothering to wake the child up, Quatre grabbed her. Meiran paused and grabbed a bag, throwing a few of Xin Xin’s things in it while Quatre told her to hurry. When it was half full, she followed Quatre who led them back to what she thought was a closet. Trowa had the door open and she could see someone moving closer to them.

“Fei?” Meiran couldn’t help but ask. Trowa had a flashlight and shined it at the figure. It was Wufei but he was sprinting down the hallway. Heavy footsteps were heard from behind him. Trowa stood to the side as his friend barreled into the place, pushing Meiran in as well. As soon as they were past, Trowa closed the door. A click resonated.

“Niáng?” Xin Xin’s sleepy voice broke the silence. Quatre still had her, and Meiran noted the blanket she’d been wrapped up in. Moving from her spot near the wall, she sat down next to them. The girl didn’t say anything else, just changed laps. Meiran rocked with the girl, finding that it made her feel better. Xin Xin yawned and leaned her head against her mother’s shoulder. Before long, the child had gone back to sleep.

Shooting a glance at the mother and daughter, Quatre asked his own question. Meiran kept her voice low as she explained what had happened. All the while, Trowa kept shooting glances at the door.

“What’s wrong?”

The brown haired man turned to look at Meiran. “This isn’t the real safe room. This is just the stairwell,” he explained.

“What?” She exclaimed softly.

“I’d prefer we move to the real room,” Trowa continued. “Though this is supposedly just as safe.”

“Here, let me carry her,” Wufei offered as their friends went down the stairs, which were just barely lit. He took the girl before Meiran could say a word so instead, she followed him, clutching the bag she had grabbed to her chest.

There was another door at the bottom of the stairs. This one was open and lights were on. They were dim ones but Meiran could tell that they could be set to various settings. Sitting down on the floor, she wondered where Wufei had disappeared with Xin Xin. She got her answer in a few minutes when he appeared out of a darkened doorway. Someone did something and lights brightened some so that she could see.

Apparently, the room was more than just a room. It was a set of rooms. The place Wufei had just come from must have been a bedroom. Next to it were two more rooms, one with an open doorway and the other had its door closed. The room she was in turned out to be a joint living room and kitchen.

“Umm, aren’t normal safe rooms just bare rooms that aren’t, well, second houses?” She questioned.

“You forget. The five of us,” Quatre froze. “Well, I guess it’s the three of us now,” he corrected himself, “and people are always going to be after us. And for various reasons. So, when the house was built, it was specially made.”

“It was setup to be a mini house in case we had to be down here for a long time. Self reliant, there’s no way anyone can get in from the outside once the doors lock,” Wufei continued. Meiran nodded but didn’t say anything, yawning before she could catch herself. “There’s a second bed in there, you know,” he told her.

“No, I can’t go to sleep now,” she answered. From her vantage point, she couldn’t see much but she could hear someone doing something over around the kitchen area. She would have moved but when she went to stand up she couldn’t. Meiran’s body wouldn’t let her leave the floor so that’s where she stayed.

“Hey, want some?” She looked up and saw Quatre holding a steaming mug. “It’s hot chocolate.”

“Thanks,” she answered, taking the drink from him. She swallowed a little, barely able to taste it. When she was done, Meiran set it on the floor next to her and shivered. Trowa had gone back to bed and Quatre had disappeared. Wufei sat looking at the stairwell, or rather, the door to the stairwell. He was watching it like he expected someone to burst through it.

“What happened to your gun?” She realized it was missing. He looked and shrugged; “I must have dropped it somewhere. I’ll have to report it missing.”

Meiran shivered again. This place was cold, she thought to herself. “Cold?”

“A little,” she admitted truthfully. He snorted, “Well then get off of the floor.” She tried to and got about halfway up before her body gave out and she slumped back down onto the ground.

“Hey, something wrong with you?” Wufei questioned, finding it odd that she was unable to get out. She shook her head; “I’m just tired.”

But he found it weird. Walking across the room, he knelt in front of his wife. Her face was pale. Most people wouldn’t have thought that but he knew. He felt her forehead. It was warm. Not a healthy warm either.

“You need to go to bed, now,” he ordered. Meiran shook her head. She didn’t want to leave her spot on the floor. She couldn’t.

“Don’t wanna,” she whined.

“Woman,” he told her.

“No,” she protested. “My name is not woman.”

“Go to bed,” he ordered again.

“No.”

“Meiran,” his voice said warningly. “You need to go to bed. You’re sick.”

“I’m not sick,” she argued.

“Then explain why you’re pale and have a fever,” he pointed out. She didn’t answer this time. Her eyes had closed and she slumped over. This seems oddly familiar, Wufei told himself in his head.

“Wake up. You need to get into a bed, Meiran,” he continued. She mumbled something but his ears didn’t catch what she had said. “Hey,” he began again, “wake up.” Grabbing her by her shoulders, he shook her lightly. “Open your eyes, Meiran.”

Suddenly, the sense of the deja vu he had been feeling disappeared as he realized why this seemed too familiar. He had said almost he same exact words years ago when he thought she’d died on A0206. It was creepy, Wufei thought.

“‘Fei?” She asked sleepily, her eyelids fluttering open. He could tell just by looking in her eyes that she was having trouble concentrating on anything.

Practically lifting her up, he led her over to the couch. She laid down and shivered. Going into one of the bedrooms, the same one that held Xin Xin, he took a blanket off of one of the other two beds. Taking it back to the other room, he set it on Meiran.

He now turned back to face the stairwell door. He had an odd feeling. Something about this all struck him as wrong. But just how, he had no idea.

First, that message. Just who had sent it anyways? And why was the person speaking in Chinese? Did it have any connection with Heero’s sudden leave? Why was this all happening now? He had just gotten reunited with Meiran and got to meet Xin Xin. Why did they have to get involved anyways? Both of them were innocent of anything. And who would want to hurt them?

Xin Xin was such a sweet child. He had yet to see the girl misbehave. The girl was cute. Adorable he guessed some to say. His daughter, he was getting used to thinking of the girl in that manner, was polite, too. He found that odd, but in a nice way. She was a good child unlike her mother, who had been notorious for getting into trouble.

Sure Meiran had a temper but she was a good person. She was a good mother who loved her daughter and would just about anything for the girl. She made mistakes but she also made up for them. She was strong, both mentally and physically. Looking at her, you wouldn’t think so. She was short and petite. Her hair was just past her shoulders when she let it down. Her facial features were delicate. In short, her looks made you think she was weak and defenseless. Which was definitely not true.

Somehow, everything seemed wrong. Not finding Meiran. But just about everything else that had happened. He couldn’t help but feel like it was all connected. Just how, he had no idea. Wufei felt like he had bits and pieces of the puzzle but he was missing a good portion. And it was frustrating him to no end.

A/N: Wow. A little bit earlier than expected but Saturday, the day I’m writing this, I really got into a writing mood. It might have something to do with this depressed mode I’m in. I set up a forum for Past Meets Present so check that out. I’ll explain more there and having the forum will cut down on the size of these A/N’s. So, there should no longer be giant ones like last chapter. One last thing before the disclaimer. I have a new C2. It’s called The Dragon and Nataku. I think that should tell you what you will find in it.

I own nothing but Xin Xin.