Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ The Hidden Self ❯ Part 2 ( Chapter 2 )

Animal fic 2

 

Wufei had been to more cheerful funerals. Why, the last time Great aunt Matilda had died of old age, just after her hundred and fifty-sixth birthday, they'd thrown her a farewell party and Wufei had even seen his father smile while the guests had gotten drunk on fermented catnip and milk. And this was supposed to be his wedding day.

 

Wufei kept his head down, letting his hair that had been carefully combed, by a maid of the long family, fall down like a black curtain - on either side of his face, wishing it could cover his face completely. He stood in stoic silence while his aunt, Lady Une, muttered under her breath as she finished the final touches to his clothes.

 

Lady Une had married into a good family and, after the death of her husband, had moved back home to be by her brothers side. Her brief marriage had not produced any children, rather a title and a waspish temper that that her relatives could have done without. In the entire family, she was the one whose Cheetah origins stood out most strongly, giving her human form a long legged slenderness and a feral edge which tended to come out the most inconvenient times.

 

“Your father is a good man, you understand,” she snarled as she tugged the hem of his shirt down. “A concubine* has no business producing a male kit before the wife. A singlet at that and a runt on the top of it.” She huffed as she pushed back his hair and scowled directly into his eyes. “Runts like you should have been drowned in the river - that's what we did in the olden days. Kept our pack nice and healthy.” She gave Wufei's bony shoulders a shove as if to remind him of his smaller stature, and then, failing to get a reaction from him, continued with her mumblings.

 

“The Longs are a good match, their bloodline is good even though they lack financial backing. They were willing to overlook your shortcomings -“She was talking about Wufei …entire clan of course. Wufei being the son of the fifth concubine even though he was the only male child in the entire clan. Even his name, put together hurriedly, spoke volumes about the fact that no one gave much thought about him. “All you have to do was lie with their daughter and produce a decent litter,” Lady Une continued as she tried to stop his shirt from sliding down his shoulders.

 

 

The Longs had been kind enough to provide Wufei with his wedding apparel - of some generic size which was too large for him. Even his shoes were too large but after all the trouble he had caused everyone, Wufei was in no position to complain.

 

Wufei could feel anger warring with guilt inside him. He knew he had betrayed his clan. His parents, mostly his mother since is father probably did not care about his existence, had refused to even see him after Heero Yuy had challenged Meiran the previous day. The shock had been evident - especially since he had not protested against the challenge. The fact Meiran had agreed to give up Wufei without a fight had not meant much in the eyes of the family. Wufei had soiled his family's name with his actions. He was going to be an outcast for the rest of his life.

 

“Thank the Ceiling Cat, the wedding didn't go through,” said a cheerful voice as Meiran showed up at the doorway. With a clap of her hands, she dismissed the maid and walked up to Wufei, ignoring Lady Une as if she was also a maid. Up closer, Meiran was pretty, bordering on beautiful. Her long hair was combed back and held in place with gold clips and her face was done up expertly. “You may leave,” she told Lady Une dismissively and his aunt had no other choice but to walk out, with the expression of someone sucking on a lemon. Meiran was almost the same height as Wufei, which made her shorter than his aunt but, having gown up in the Long household as the next heir, she was more used to ordering people around than he was. “Did you think I wanted to get married?”

 

“You didn't say anything,” Wufei said, ignoring the way that Lady Une was glaring at Meiran ineffectively from just outside the doorway.

 

“You didn't say anything, either,” Merian pointed out cheerfully. Wufei refrained from pointing out that neither of them had much choice in the matter. “You just brought home a big thug to make mincemeat out of me.” She was less forceful that Lady Une but her gaze was just as scathing. “Did you hate me that much?”

 

Wufei floundered under the new information. He did not even know Meiran well enough to decide if he hated her or not. Though they lived on neighbouring estates, Wufei was not exactly a social person and Merian had spent most of her childhood in a finishing school in Switzerland, giving them very little chance to interact. He had seen her for the first time from across the room while seated on a small cushion while their respective fathers had sealed their wedding four year ago. He had not even understood the seriousness of the concept until the wedding day had started looming closer and closer. “I…” he said a little weakly. “Don't even know you,” he admitted finally.

 

“I didn't know you either,” she replied somberly. “Who knows, I might have even liked you … a bit.”

 

“I'm sorry,” Wufei said looking down at the expensive shoes he was wearing. “I didn't mean for this to happen.”

 

“Don't look so miserable,” Meiran said cheerfully. “It's your wedding so you might as well look a little perky. Thanks to what you did, my parents will have to look for a suitable husband for me again and in the meantime, I can do something I want. Perhaps go off to one of those mountain side retreats where they teach women to fight.”

 

“Who told you about those?” Wufei asked, his head jerking up in surprise.

 

“Treize,” Meiran replied. “He's here for the wedding.” She looked around the room and smiled a little. “I also met Relena Peacecraft who invited me to come back with her to Sanc. Said something about spurned love having to stick together.” Meiran shrugged. “She's rather bland at times - so earnest in what she says it makes your teeth hurt but her maid Dorothy is interesting - I think.”

 

Wufei remained silent. From what he knew, Dorothy was not Relena's maid but rather, her friend; but Meiran did not understand the concept of friendship between two people with different social standings.

 

“I have to go. A lot of guests to attend to and to tell them that the wedding is going to take place, there's just been a change of the bride.” She gave a giggle and bounced out of the room, all cheer and rose-scented perfume. She stopped by Lady Une, who was still hovering outside the door and said something to his aunt which had her standing straighter and following Meiran, her face showing just how much effort it took her to bow to the younger girl.

 

Wufei walked to the door and pushed it shut when something landed heavily on top him from the chandelier. “Duo,” he said tiredly, too down to even appear startled. “I was wondering where you were.”

 

“Scary woman,” Duo muttered, and as he ran down Wufei's shoulder, Wufei noted that one of his cheeks was puffed as if stuffed with something.

 

“My aunt,” Wufei inquired. “Or Meiran?”

 

“Both,” said Duo as he landed on the floor and shifted to his human form. Wufei looked away politely while Duo rooted around the room to find something to wear. “I can see why you don't want to marry her,” he said seriously. “She's pretty, lively and seems to be extremely spirited.”

 

“What am I to do?” Wufei wailed as he abruptly turned around, looking for his friend. Then he turned away just as quickly when he noticed that Duo was still in the process of scrambling into a pair of jeans that belonged to Wufei. “How was I to know that the Longs would insist that I marry Heero today - “

 

“All the wedding preparations were in place and the guests were already here,” Duo pointed out, voice sounding muffled. “It'd have been a waste to throw away all that food.”

 

“And considering that fact, Long was saving face because I refused to marry their daughter. This way, they'll at least have some political standing,” Wufei concluded. ”It was political marriage to start off with.” He eyed his traditional wedding costume and grimaced. Red was never his best color - it made him look as if he was on fire - but everyone had come to see two people get married in their traditional clothes so it was what they were getting. It was, Wufei had to admit, a costume party; a western wedding done with everyone dressed in an Eastern style, something to please everyone, even the Peacecrafts. It was a joke on everyone, including himself who seemed to have stepped from the frying pan to the fire. “I don't want to marry Heero,” he said loudly, to no one in particular.

 

“I don't think you'll find someone to fight him,” Duo said a little dryly as he stepped into view. The borrowed jeans rode low on his hips, weighed down by the nuts stuffed in its pockets, and the black tank top he'd chosen wasn't long enough for him to be able to tuck it into the waistband. The effect, coupled with the long braid and purple eyes, was rather eye catching. “Unless this Treize person you play chess with would…”

 

Wufei had a sudden image of Treize challenging Heero in his animal form with his rapier and shook his head.

 

“Is Treize a monkey … I mean, human?” Duo asked.

 

“Boa constrictor,” Wufei replied tersely as he remembered that Trieze was probably outside, mingling with the guests while waiting for the bride, that is Wufei, to emerge. He'd never live it down.

 

“Cold blooded and non-venomous, very insistent, tends to swallow people whole.” Duo nodded understandingly. “Not exactly your type... Heero is more your -- flavour, I guess.”

 

Wufei turned around and stared at Duo who was blithely walking around, examining the contents of the room. He wanted to ask what Duo meant by that comment but he was not sure if he wanted to know the answer. “You have another hour before you make your appearance so how about finding something to eat?”

 

There was a knock on the door. They both paused and looked at each other in puzzlement. No one knocked on the door of the room Wufei was in. The servants of the Long family tended to just waltz in and out, since Wufei ranked a little lower in the hierarchy than they did, having incurred the wrath of both the Longs and the Changs. Lady Une probably did not care enough about him to knock, and Meiran was hardly the type to knock and wait patiently outside for someone to answer.

 

Wufei shrugged and started towards the door, hitching up his loose red pants so they would not trip him as he walked.

 

“I'll get it,” Duo said suddenly, looking serious. “Not many people here are pleased with you. Better if I deal with whoever is outside.” Wufei opened his mouth to protest, then nodded gratefully. Duo might look and sound flaky, and might have ran at the sight of Lady Une, but he could be counted on to defend his territory. Duo was, Wufei had noted before, rather a fierce little creature when surprised". Perhaps it was why Wufei had not eaten him the first time he'd stumbled upon the small squirrel during one of his walk-abouts.

 

Duo strode to the door his bare feet, probably because Wufei's shoes did not fit him, and pulled it open, just as Wufei wondered if Lady Une had learned the art of knocking and was now standing on the other side with a long hilted axe, waiting for Wufei to open the door. “Duo …don't…” he called out just as a fist lashed out through the partially open doorway and caught Duo, who was in the process of looking at Wufei over his shoulder, in the jaw.

 

Duo reeled backwards but managed to find his footing just as Wufei took a step forward and had to stop before he could trip over the hem of his trousers. He watched with wide-eyed fascination as an unfamiliar naked man pushed Duo backwards and jumped into the room.

 

The newcomer was taller than either of them, slender, and had a wild look in his single visible eye. His other eye was covered by a thatch of long hair falling over it, contrasting with the rest of his body, which was mostly hairless.

 

“What did you do to him?” the one-eyed youth demanded even as he tried to hit Duo again. “He is not the type to do anything like this -“ Duo danced back lightly on his feet, missing a flying fist by a couple of millimeters “… Heero is stable, levelheaded and calm. Do you know what kind of political ramifications this will have…” Another fist drove Duo to the wall in front of Wufei's staring eyes,. “… the Peacecrafts are livid … Heero came here as their guest and now…” another fist just missed Duo's head but only because he had slid down the wall to the floor in the last minute “…Do you think you can have him just because you look pretty and can bat your pretty eyes and walk around half dressed…?” Duo shifted to his animal form, probably planning on running away in his more agile body, but then the other man shifted as well. His face elongated into a snout and his eyes pushed up to the sides of his head and when he fell on all fours, he became a wolf. A feral looking wolf that could give Lady Une a run for her money on one of her bad days.

 

Wufei realized that the newcomer, in his animal form, was probably going to be extremely agile the same time as Duo realized his mistake. The clothes he had been wearing flopped on top of him, trapping the small squirrel before he could get away.

 

As a great shaggy paw started to descend on his friend, Wufei reacted, diving forward where the other two were, and kicked the wolf squarely in the middle. Both the wolf and Wufei's left shoe went flying to the corner of the room, and thudded against the wall. The wolf growled and struggled to his feet even as Wufei cursed his inability to shift. After hours spent getting into his clothes, he did not want to get out of them fast, or damage them while shifting.

 

Instead, he kicked away the other shoe and rushed forward, aiming for another kick. The wolf moved sideways, Wufei jumped back crouched …looking for an opening. His hands were shifting to claws and he could feel his face fur growing. He might not shift completely but he could use some of his more natural weapons to parry. When he snarled, Wufei knew his fangs had also made an appearance. The wolf seemed to take in Wufei with wide eyes, as startled by his appearance was Wufei and Duo had been by the wolf's. Taking advantage of the situation, Wufei kicked pushing the wolf to the floor.

 

Duo darted out from between the furniture, trailing a tassel with elaborate design, probably from a curtain, and started tying up the wolf's paws with a couple of complicated knots that had him looking as if he was a pig trussed up for dinner. A rather furry pig…

Wufei watched bemusedly as Duo ran up the wolf, landed on top of his head and jumped up and down excitedly, “Me got big bad wolf, wolf, wolf, bad wolf…”

 

“So you did," came a new voice from the direction of the door. All three turned towards the doorway, where a carefully dressed blond stood. He was perhaps a few inches taller than Wufei, carefully groomed, and looked amused by the scene.

 

Wufei stood straighter, letting his body shift to human and tried to look dignified. The wolf stopped struggling and Duo made an `eep' sound and darted towards the clothes he had worn previously that now lay in a pile on the floor.

 

“Trowa, stand up,” the blond said with a roll of his eyes. “You look ridiculous. What were you thinking running off like that?”

 

The wolf shifted and the tassels fell off easily. The wolf could have done that before, Wufei realized, but had decided to stay that way. Wufei frowned, trying to process it. This was the second time the wolf had hesitated; the first time had been when he had been just about to attack Duo in his animal form. When Duo had gotten tangled up in his clothing the wolf could have crushed him easily. But he had held back - so the wolf had not intended to inflict grievous bodily damage.

 

There was a rustling sound as Duo got dressed hurriedly in a corner. A duffel bag landed on the ground in front of the naked wolf - Trowa - thrown there by the blond. “Get dressed, Trowa,” the blond continued while Wufei was occupied with discreetly pulling his clothes into some order and looking for his shoes. ”I'm sorry for the disturbance - Trowa is a little …”

 

“Feral,” Duo suggested from across the room and Wufei watched the blond turn towards the former squirrel, take another look and blush. Oh!

 

“Who are you?” Wufei asked with as much dignity as he could muster.

 

“I'm…” the blond turned back to Wufei, taking in his clothes and then managed an awkward bow. “Uh…sorry for the intrusion, I'm Quatre Raberba Winner and this here is Trowa Barton. Trowa is Heero's cousin and you must be…”

 

“Chang Wufei,” Wufei replied politely, the name Winner making an impression on him even if the boy did not look like much. Winners industries was famous even if this boy was not. “I'm …I'm the one …” he gulped. “…marrying Heero Yuy,” he told the wolf - Trowa who was putting on his clothes in the middle of the room. “This is Duo Maxwell, my friend.”

 

“Oh,” said the wolf, taking in Wufei carefully. “Red doesn't suit you.”

 

Wufei blushed while Quatre groaned. “I know,” he snapped defensively.

 

“Still don't see what Heero saw in you,” Trowa continued bluntly as he zipped up his pants after tucking in his shirt. “What are you anyway - a black …cat?”

 

“Panther,” Wufei said with a growl.

 

“You are too small to be a panther",” Trowa said dismissively. “And you have a squirrel in your room.” 'Squirrel' was said with the same infliction as someone would say `earth-worm', making Duo snarl.

 

“He's a friend.” All four turned around as Heero appeared at the doorway, took in the room's occupants and nodded in recognition. “You made it to the wedding,” he said to Trowa, sounding pleased.

 

“I came to stop the wedding,” Trowa corrected him. “This is insanity - you can't marry someone you've just met…”

 

“Stop the wedding,” Heero repeated, probably never having heard the second line in the conversation.

 

“By beating up the bride,” Duo chipped in.

 

“I'm not the bride,” Wufei snapped.

 

“Neither am I, but I'm the one who got hit,” Duo pointed, out rubbing his jaw.

 

Trowa had the decency to look embarrassed as he looked at Duo's reddening face. “I'm sorry,” he said, actually sounding as if he meant it. “I heard the bride was in this room and you opened the door and…”

 

“You hit him.” Heero sounded shocked.

 

“I didn't mean to,” Trowa said, probably little ashamed of his actions.

 

“Just like you didn't run all the way here when you heard of the news,” Quatre chipped in, looking displeased.

 

“How did you get here?” Trowa asked the blond, taking in his unruffled appearance for the first time.

 

“I took a taxi from the spaceport,” the blond replied dryly. “Some of us are not built to run miles across the plains.”

 

“You're the deer,” Wufei blurted out before he could help it. “You're the deer who's being courted by a…” he looked at Trowa who was looking at Heero with an inscrutable look.

 

“You told him about us?” Trowa asked disbelieving.

 

“You're family,” Heero said with a shrug and that gave Trowa a pause. Something seemed to relax inside him and he nodded.

 

“So,” said Quatre, turning towards Wufei. “You're going to be our new addition.”

 

“Addition,” Wufei parroted weakly.

 

“We have to leave,” Heero injected firmly. “Relena is out to stop the wedding and we don't have time to argue.”

 

“Stop the wedding?” Wufei asked, wondering what was going on.

 

“Eloping,” Duo quipped. “Ah, young love.”

 

“Relena still hasn't given up on you, has she,” Quatre observed Heero, making Wufei wonder if he was missing something.

 

“I guess he is better than the peacock.” Trowa seemed to have come to a decision. “Fine.”

 

“Peacock,” Wufei felt as if he was live echo.

 

“You had the balls to stand up Relena Peacecraft? …Or… Wait a minute… is it her brother, the golden peacock?" Duo wagged his eyebrows suggestively. “They are both peacocks though I think she's a peahen, right?”

 

“The Taxi I came with is still standing outside,” Quatre said, ignoring Duo. “I told the driver to wait a little, incase I had to drag Trowa out. We can leave with that.”

 

“Fine,” Heero nodded.

 

“We can't leave…” Wufei protested, feeling reality slipping out of his grip.

 

“We'll have a wedding else where,” Heero said, misinterpreting his hesitation.

 

“But…”

 

“And you can wear something that is not red,” Quatre offered helpfully

 

“You look like an overripe strawberry, wearing that.” Trowa it seemed was not the sort of person who knew a lot about the art of speaking politly.

 

Wufei opened his mouth to explain the situation but stopped. His aunt would be glad to see him go. His parents would not care and the Longs … they'd celebrate. “This Peacecraft woman wants you,” he said instead to Heero.

 

“Hn,” Heero responded, evading his gaze.

 

“Relena is obsessed with him,” Trowa corrected. “And she is very persistent.”

 

“Alright. Let's go,” Wufei said. He knew all about domineering women. But then it occurred to him that he did not know what he was getting himself into. All of a sudden, a panicked feeling overwhelmed him. He looked at the total strangers in the room with whom he was supposed to leave.

 

Then there was the weight of arms around his shoulder. “Me come too,” Duo whispered in his ear and he relaxed.

 

[footnote to shoes] In ancient China, different shoes were worn to suit particular occasions. Wedding shoes were either pink or red, and embroidered with auspicious bird and floral patterns. In the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-A.D.220), brides wore wooden sandals painted with floral patterns and tied with five colorful silk straps, and Manchurian brides of the Qing Dynasty wore blue cloth shoes embroidered with the red double "happiness" characters.

http://www.chinavoc.com/life/focus/shoeshistory.asp

 

http://www.beijingmadeeasy.com/beijing-history/concubines-o f-ancient-china

article of concubines

 

http://www.chinabridal.com/etiquette/dress.htm - Chinese Wedding Dress

 

(Ok, I realize the links don't show up in ff.net but you can google for them if you're interested. )