Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Past Meets Present ❯ Chapter 32 ( Chapter 33 )

Wufei looked back at Xin Xin, who had fallen asleep in the backseat. He picked her up and out, finding the task easy because the girl weighed almost nothing. He took her up to her apartment. It took several minutes for him to gather the courage to knock.

Meiran set down the phone. She had just received a call from Quatre telling her that her husband was on his way with their daughter. Sighing, she wondered how long it would take for them to arrive. She did not know if Wufei would take a longer route or not just to spend a few extra minutes with Xin Xin.
She would not blame him if he did.

Someone knocked on the door. Meiran stood up and walked over to the door of her apartment, wondering if it was Wufei already. She opened the door and found him standing there, Xin Xin in his arms.

“Come in,” she said quietly. “Her room is this way,” she continued, leading him to the young girl’s bedroom.

From the doorway of the room, the Chinese woman watched her husband lay their daughter down on her bed and pull the covers over her small, fragile-looking body. He turned and just stood there, almost like he was daring her.

“Do you want something to drink?” She asked, keeping her voice quiet so as not to disturb her slumbering daughter.

“Yes,” Wufei heard himself answer the question that Meiran had asked. He followed her out of the room and into the kitchen of the apartment. A small table sat against one wall, appliances and counters pretty much covering the rest of the room’s wall space. He took one of the seats at the table, watching her.

“How have you been?” She asked while her back was turned. He did not answer immediately and Meiran brought over two cups. She set one down in front of him, taking the other seat for herself.

“Do you want the truth or a lie?” He finally answered Meiran.

“Give me the truth,” she requested, unable to keep a little smile off of her face. Wufei sighed, and then began, “To be honest; this has been the worst month of my life.”

“What do you mean?” The other person wondered.

“Well, I have been searching for you two for this past month and found nothing,” he continued. “It was a fluke, what happened tonight.”

“Hmm, not a fluke. Fate,” Meiran replied.

“You believe in fate?” Wufei mused. “The great Nataku?”

“Humph, I haven’t been called Nataku in a long time,” Meiran laughed lightly. “It’s strange to hear someone say it.”

“I called my Gundam Nataku, both of them,” he answered. “Yeah,” she broke in, “I was told that a long time ago. But I never learned why.”

“In your honor. I thought you had died to protect my suit and myself and believed for a very long time that your soul resided in it.”

“Wha?” Meiran wondered, not quite sure what she was hearing. “You’re serious, aren’t you?” She asked, after looking at him for a few minutes. Wufei did not answer, but rather looked straight at her.

She kept her eyes trained on his, knowing full well that if she turned away, it would be disrespectful to not only him, but to Xin Xin, and everyone else, both dead and alive. “I am honored to know this,” she finally told him. They finished their drinks and Meiran asked if he would follow her. Wufei did, and so, they went to the living room area of the apartment.

She sat down on the couch like she had been sitting earlier. Seeing as there were no other spots to sit, Wufei sat beside her since she had taken the middle seat.

Taking a risk, Meiran leaned against her husband, using him as kind of a giant pillow. He did not speak, but he did move his arm around her. She let out a breath that she had not known she had been holding.

“You’re staying, right?” She asked, her voice showing just how unsure she was.

Wufei looked down at her. Her face and eyes had been screaming that question since he had arrived with Xin Xin. “Only,” he began, “only if I am wanted here by everyone.”

“Then, you are staying,” she replied, a tone of finality in her voice. “That’s good,” she murmured. “Your family missed you.”

A small, very small almost miniscule, smile flitted across Wufei’s face. His family, she had just said that her and Xin Xin were his family. And they were all the legal documents and DNA made it so, but that meant nothing when compared next to Meiran’s words.

“It,” he paused, not sure on just how she would react, “it is good to be home.”

“And it’s good to have you home,” Meiran murmured sleepily. A few minutes later, Wufei found that she had fallen asleep.

“Again? Am I just boring or something?” He asked himself. As Meiran was nowhere near as light as Xin Xin was, he decided to leave her on the couch. However, when he went to stand, he realized that his wife’s sleeping body was keeping him pinned to his current location.

The littlest Chang stretched and yawned when she woke up. Her stomach rumbling, she wondered if Niáng was up and had started to make breakfast. When she passed through the living room, she stopped.

On the couch were Niáng and Die. Niáng was leaning against Die, who had his head on top of Niáng’s. The young girl smiled, knowingly. She knew, a long time ago, that Niáng and Die would be together. It just took the two of them a long time.

The girl went on to the kitchen area and opened the refrigerator door. She looked up and down and all around. Finding nothing that struck her interest, she closed the door and took one of the chairs from the table. Dragging it over to the cabinet, she opened the thing up and looked for something to eat.

When she found nothing, she sat on the counter and sighed. “I wish that one of them would wake up,” she murmured, brushing a lock of black hair behind her ear.

Hearing footsteps a little bit later, she looked up. It was both Niáng and Die, looking very sleepy and not at all awake. She just sat there, watching them and how neither of them seemed to notice her sitting on the counter. It was hard to keep from giggling when Die hit his foot on the table and did not seem to notice.

Finally, it was Niáng that noticed her when she, that is Niáng, went to look in the cabinet that Xin Xin was perched in front of. Xin Xin could not help but laugh when her mother jumped back, startled by the young girl. The noise and action drew the male Chang’s attention. He just seemed to watch the two of them for a moment before looking away to his coffee mug.

“We’re a family now, right?” She prompted a little bit later when the three of them sat down to eat. She looked to her parents, who were sitting next to each other. They exchanged a glance before nodding at the same time.

The young girl sprang up and cheered. She stopped in mid-dance though and looked at her parents. “We aren’t moving, are we? I mean, we are goin’ to stay here, right?”

“Of course, Xin Xin,” both adults answered at the same time.

“Woohoo!” The black haired girl whooped.

Meiran sat on the picnic table at the park. Xin Xin was playing with her friends. The girls were chasing down the boys, proving to be quite hilarious. Nearby, she could see the guys. Heero was sitting beneath a tree, almost looking like he was asleep. If it had not been for just the tiniest of slits that showed Prussian blue, she would have thought that he was dozing off.

It was still hard to believe that he was the bastard child of the Japanese empress and her lover, a man named Odin Lowe. The woman was so enraged about him that she had ordered his death. That had been what the last adventure had been, when they had been forced to hide in the safe room. The empress’s assassins had been ordered to do anything and everything to eliminate Heero.

Of course, they would never have found any of that information out if it had not been for a woman who had vanished. Apparently, she had met Duo and when she went home, had heard about people out to kill someone who sounded like a boy she had known and betrayed long ago.

She had sent a letter to Trowa, the full contents of which he had never spoken off, just the information about the assassins. He would not speak on the subject of the girl, who Meiran and the others later learned was named Midii Une from Duo.

Speaking of Duo, Meiran smiled, the man was currently helping set out the food on one of the other tables.
Quatre was doing the same, both chatting happily about something or other. She watched Duo through his arm over the blond man’s shoulders and laugh. The look on her Arab friend’s face was one that made Meiran want to laugh. Quatre had a goofy, spaced out grin on his face.

Of course, that could have been due to the fact that he and Trowa had started to adopt a young boy. The boy was a newborn whose mother had not wanted him, saying that the boy looked like his father. Apparently, the father of the boy had dumped the child’s mother, saying that he did not want or like kids.

Her gaze now fell on Trowa, who was talking to Wufei. The two were standing over the grill, which was busy cooking hot dogs. It had seemed like lately the two men were speaking with each other more than they used to. She had no clue why but figured that it probably had something to do with Trowa and Quatre adopting.

Even if Wufei had not been around when Xin Xin was little, he still was going to get to experience what it was like. Her hand rested briefly on her abdomen. She had yet to tell anyone yet but she figured that she would later on, during her daughter’s birthday party. The woman sighed, was her daughter really nine already?

A car pulled up, the driver honking the horn. The person opened the car door and popped her head out. The German woman started walking over towards Meiran, who was now taking a drink from her glass of water. Hilde plopped down next to Meiran after dropping her present for Xin Xin off at the other end of the table. The two talked for a bit until Wufei announced that the hot dogs were done.

Those few words brought an avalanche of partygoers over. Taking her spot at the head of the table, Xin Xin’s eyes were open and eager. The cake was brought out first. Nine candles adorned the top of it. After the mandatory song and opening of presents, the children ran off to play some more.

Meiran knew that someone had sat down beside her. Using her peripheral vision, she saw that it was her husband. “Nine years old,” he sighed. “It’s been only about two years though,” he added.

“Yeah,” Meiran answered, trying to figure out just how she wanted to tell him her news. “Wufei,” she began her voice hesitant.

“Hmm?” Was his reply. She noticed that he had his head cocked to the side so that he was looking at her. Meiran turned to face him. “Well?” He prompted.

“Well, I have something really important to tell you,” she answered, still trying to figure out just what to say.

Her hands were one step ahead of her brain, however, as she reached out and grabbed his hands. She then placed them on top of her abdomen.

The look he gave her was one of confusion. At least, it was one for a few moments before the gears in his head started to turn and click into place. She watched the look of confusion just melt right off of his face and be replaced by one that held a mixture of joy and hope.

“You’re?” Was all he could manage to ask. Meiran nodded her head, a small smile gracing her face. “How far along?” Wufei asked next, when he had recovered, that is.

“About two and a half months,” Meiran answered, noticing that she was still holding his hands.

“Hey, you two look awful lovey dovey!” Duo’s voice called out.

“If it weren’t my daughter's birthday, I would not even acknowledge you, Maxwell,” Wufei answered back, the American coming closer. But Duo’s comment had gathered the attention of the other adults. Xin Xin, always aware of what was going on around her, looked over at the picnic tables.

“Xin Xin, come here. I have some big news to tell you!” Meiran yelled at her daughter, who came running towards her.

“What is it, Niáng?” She wondered, standing beside the table, keeping an eye on her friends.

“Well everyone, I am pregnant,” Meiran announced. She trained her eyes on Xin Xin, whose eyes widened in shock.

“I’m gonna be a big sister?” She asked, her face showing her shock. “Woohoo! I’ll be like Timmy and be the oldest and have someone to boss around! I gotta go tell my friends!” And with that, the birthday girl was gone.

A round of congratulations went around the group to the couple. “Hey, I want pictures,” Duo said, pulling out a camera. “Hey, will one of you girls take a picture of the five of us?” He requested.

Hilde took the camera from him. The five men sat down together in a group. Trowa leaned against a tree; an arm slung over Quatre’s, who had sat down beside him. Heero was seated next to the couple. In the front, Duo sat beside his male Chinese friend.

After that picture, Duo took one of Quatre and Trowa. Xin Xin and the other kids had insisted on him taking a few of them. The man then decided that he wanted a Chang family picture.

Seeing that he had only two pictures left on his camera, Duo decided that one would be a big picture that would have him, the other pilots, and the girls.

A random woman was stopped and asked. As she was just out for a stroll, the woman obliged.

Seated in the very front were the girls. Hilde sat to the left of Meiran, and Xin Xin to the right of her mother. Wufei had his hands on his wife and daughter's shoulders. Heero stood beside him, with Duo on the Euro-Japanese man’s other side. In the very back, the couple of Sandrock’s pilot and Heavyarms’ pilot were standing together.

At the end of the day, Duo had just one picture left in his camera. All the kids had left, as had Heero and Hilde. Quatre, Trowa, and himself, not to mention the Changs, were all getting ready to leave as well. As he walked to his vehicle, the American stopped.

He spied Mei and Wufei standing together. They were speaking quietly to each other when he saw his friend embrace his other friend. But what was even better was when he saw the two kiss.

A flash went off, followed by a click. Years later, this would be a day that would be remembered as a day that no one would ever forget.

A/N: And now, the sequel. I like a few of the titles people have suggested, so I’ll have fun choosing which one.

So, the ending. I think that I’ll talk more about that in the AN of the sequel. That thing may not come out right away though. I have this idea for a short fic I want to do at the same time. The short fic won’t really be short, but it won’t take long to write because it’s based off of a play, so I’ve already got the script to work from. I won’t give away any details right at this minute because I want you guys to be surprised. It’s quite a bit different from what I normally write, but then, so was this thing. I suggest that you read it though.

Oh, and I’ve created a Gundam Wing Wordsearch. Check out my website to print it out and do it.

Until next time, and here’s something I won’t have to say for a long time: I own only Xin Xin, and that’s all.