Ronin Warriors Fan Fiction / Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Warrior Children ❯ Mama Fan and the Painful Memories ( Chapter 27 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Chapter 27: Mama Fan and the Painful Memories

Fan Family Restaurant-
Mama Fan-

Mama Fan was not in a good mood as she stood at the mantle of the fireplace in her apartment. It wasn’t unusual for her to admire the photos of her family, but since the butchery of the colony that had taken most of her children, Mama Fan had spent more and more of her time at the mantle. It was worst that day, she couldn’t seem to stop looking at the pictures on the mantle.

With a sigh, Mama Fan stepped away from the mantle and went to the window. She looked down at the busy street below for a familiar mop of black hair. Nothing. She listened for the roar of a motorcycle. Nothing.

‘They have to come back. I can’t lose them, too.’

Xiulei and Wufei were two of her three children left. That they had just left so suddenly hurt. Now, there was only little Lai left and the house was so quiet.

Except for three of them, her family was gone. The rest of her precious babies were dead in a sudden storm of energy beams that had reduced an aging colony to Hell, her babies had died alone and terrified. ‘I wasn’t with them. I should have been there. I should have at least been there.’ But she wasn’t. She’d chosen to have tea with the head of the Long clan and leave her children in the care of others.

The pictures were from family trips and school pictures, all of them just moments out of everyday life and all of them precious. Amongst the faces of her children were a few images of a strong faced man with an easy smile.

Mama Fan's eyes paused on the face of her husband. He’d always hated having his photo taken, but a family photograph needed the whole family so there he was, right beside Mama Fan with his arm over her shoulder. He had been taller than Mama Fan, but just as stout. It was an old picture taken when Xiu had been just a little tot and was sitting on his papa's shoulders. Papa Fan was making a face at the camera while his hair was being pulled by little Xiu, at that time, the only child of the family.

She ran a fingertip of the face of her dear husband. It had been almost exactly two years since his death. That thought brought her eyes back to Lai, the baby...no, not a baby anymore. Lai had turned into a plump, rosy cheeked toddler and could get into almost anything. The little girl was, at that moment, trying to figure out how to climb the cabinets to get into the cookie jar that had been put up, out of reach.

Mama Fan smiled and looked back at the pictures adorning her mantle. Lai wouldn't be able to get into anything, not yet. Mama Fan figured it would take Lai another two days before she figured out to push the chair to the cabinets and climb up that way. Xiu had figured it out in about an hour once he'd realized where the cookies were stored.

Another photo, taken a few years later showed more of the children as the family grew. Mama Fan took a deep breath, trying to choke down tears that were threatening to over run her eyes. She scanned the rest of the photos more quickly, seeing that the number of children grew until the one where she was holding newborn Lai in the hospital bed and her husband was at her side.

That was the last photo he would ever be in and Mama Fan had to pause again at his ever smiling face. "Oh...my love. I wish you were here. I need you. I feel so broken." She could never express how deeply she'd loved her husband. It just wasn't something one could put into words and when he’d died a part of her heart had been burned away. The day after Lai had been born, Xiu had come to the hospital...

Flashback-

"Mama?"

Mama Fan woke, trying to push the drugs out of her system. They'd given her something to get her to sleep, but she couldn't quite remember what. She’d half expected her husband to arrive today to take the newborn Lai home, but it wasn’t he who called out to her. Xiu with his baseball cap in his hands and looking strangely pale stood in the doorway, shifting from foot to foot. His eyes were puffy and red.

"Baby?" Mama Fan held out one hand to her eldest and he came at her silent request, taking her hand before he sat on the side of the hospital bed. "What's wrong, baby?" It was something she hadn't called him in years, not since he'd grown old enough to be embarrassed about his mama giving him cute nicknames.

Xiu licked his lips and looked down at his lap. Mama Fan could tell he didn't want to tell her, but that it was important. Only then, did she notice the clock on the wall. "Xiu," She said, confused. "It's noon. Why aren't you in school?"

"Some...something happened, mama. I kinda thought I should come and..." He swallowed hard, trying to control himself and mama felt warning bells blaring in her mind. "Mama, when papa went to pick up Qwan at kindergarten...the police said..."

"Police?" Those warning bells were getting louder and louder.

Xiu nodded, still unable to meet her eyes. "Yeah. They came to my school today and wanted to talk to me. They tried coming here, but you were still asleep and they needed someone to take Qwan home from school." Xiu ran a hand through his unruly hair and took a quick look around the room before looking back at her with tears in his eyes. "Mama, papa got hit by a car when he was on his way to pick up Qwan. I...I don't know what happened, exactly. No one will tell me." His mouth trembled and Xiu put a hand over his mouth to try and stop it before he continued talking.

Mama Fan felt herself gasping for breath. 'This can't be happening!' That thought ran over and over in her mind. "Xiu, where is your papa?" The words came out as a whisper and Mama Fan knew if she tried talking loudly, she'd end up screaming.

"Here." Xiu wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. "The doctor said he's still in surgery and in critical care. The nurse seemed awful busy and didn't tell me. It...it's bad, isn't it?"

Mama Fan nodded, sinking into her pillow. "Yes, baby. It's bad." 'Very bad. He might not...NO! He will live. He promised he'd always be with me!' Mama's attention was brought back to her son when he took her hand again and squeezed it tightly. He suddenly had a determined look on his face.

"Don't worry, mama. I'll take care of everything."

"Fan-san?" They both looked up to see a doctor standing in the doorway. She wasn't familiar, so Mama Fan knew this wasn't about the baby. It must be about her husband.

"Yes?" Mama Fan gave Xiu's hand an extra squeeze before sitting up in bed a little straighter. "Xiu's told me my husband..." Her voice trailed away, unable to finish the sentence.

The doctor bowed her head sadly. "I need to talk to you about a few things, Fan-san. I've just come from the operating room with your husband, but I'm afraid it's not good news." When the doctor came into the room and closed the door behind her, Mama Fan knew it was about as bad as it could get.

Xiu was rubbing Mama Fan's hand, as much for his own comfort as hers, and Mama Fan didn't dare look at him. Xiu was the spitting image of his papa . His eyes, his nose, even the shape of his face and cut of his hair, were all exact duplicates of his papa. "He was hit by a car?"

"Yes, ma'am. During the surgery, he lapsed into a coma .”

Mama Fan felt coldness washing over, like her bones were growing numb.

"His brain experienced sever trauma and his lungs were damaged. When the car hit him, his skull was fractured in several places. His spinal cord was severed. If he wakes up he'll be a complete invalid from the neck down."

"You said if?" Xiu spoke up. "What do you mean?"

"It's not likely that he'll ever wake up." She gave Xiu a sympathetic look. "If he comes out of the coma, he probably will never be able to so much as open his eyes." She looked back at mama who'd gone pale and was shaking as tears ran down her face. "He's stable, for now. But, you'll have a decision to make soon, about heroic measures."

"Heroic measures?" Xiu asked. "What's that?"

Mama Fan looked at the doctor, horrified as she realized exactly what decision she was going to have to make. She didn't want to talk about this in front of Xiu. He was going to hurt enough by this and he didn't need to hear the details. "Where's Qwan?”

"Huh?" Xiu looked at her, surprised in the change of topics. "She's at Sing-san's house. He said he'd look after the kids for us."

Mama Fan wanted to flinch. Xiu was already distancing himself from the children and putting himself with the adults. Soon, he'd be playing the part of an adult whether or not he wanted to and she didn't want him to lose his childhood so quickly. She didn't want him to have to be the man of the house. "Be a good boy, baby, and go check on Lai for me. Then I need you to go pick up the kids from school and taken them home. Don't open the restaurant. We're closed until...well. We're just closed."

Xiu nodded and stood up. Before he left, though, he took a last look over his shoulder at her. "Are you sure you don't need me here, mama?"

'Need? Of course I need you here!' Instead, she smiled as much as she could. "I need you to take care of the little ones. That's the most important thing you can do for me, right now."

Xiu nodded and left without another word.

"I think he understands." The doctor whispered when Xiu was gone. "Children always know more than they're given credit for."

Mama nodded. "But he's still my baby. I don't want him to hear this. How long do I have?"

"It's up to you, Fan-san. Your husband could live for years on life support."

"But he'll never wake. He'll never be...him again, will he?"

The doctor paused a moment before shaking her head. "I don't believe so. There is always a chance of a miracle, but..." It was clear she was upset by this, also. "Is there someone I can call for you, to talk to? A priest...?"

Mama Fan shook her head. "There's no choice. I know my husband would never want to be dependent on machines. I know what he'd want."

"Would you like it to be done as soon as possible?"

"No!" Mama Fan said sternly. "I want to be there. He deserves that much, at least. I will be with him when he leaves."

The doctor patted Mama Fan's hand and stood up. "We'll wait until tonight, then, when you're able to get out of bed. I'll send a nurse in to give you something to rest." With that she left and, thankfully, closed the door behind her. Mama Fan stared into space for a moment and tried to comprehend what she'd just done.

"I...I'm going to kill him."

Mama Fan screamed at the top of her lungs once and burst into tears, sobbing wildly until a nurse came running in with a syringe. Mama Fan barely knew the girl was there and she didn't feel the jab of the needle in her arm. She was only aware that, as she sank into oblivion, something most precious had been taken away from her and she didn't know how she was going to survive without him.

End of Flashback-

Of course, she did survive. She had to, for the children.

Mama Fan smiled at the next photo, a picture of Xiu and Wufei together for their first day of school together. Wufei was scowling, as he normally did, and wearing a neatly pressed blue uniform with a book bag hanging off one shoulder. Xiu had his fingers up in a victory sign and one arm around Wufei's shoulders, oblivious to Wufei's bad temper. In the background of the photo, Mama Fan’s younger children making silly faces and jumping up and down, trying to get into the action. Yes, Wufei had definitely been a blessing to her family.

Wufei's own pain had helped the family work passed the loss of their papa and the children had latched onto him quickly.

That last one was the most recent photo. None had been taken since... since she'd seen Xiu filthy from digging out the corpses of his brothers and sisters. Mama Fan swallowed hard. Then Xiu had vanished. Runaway, the police said. Mama Fan didn't want to believe that. Xiu had never runaway from his responsibilities, especially to his family. He'd looked so scared the day he'd disappeared. She'd only asked him to hold Lai for a moment and he looked like he'd faint from fear before running out of the house.

Mama Fan felt something tug on her dress and she looked down at Lai. "'Fei? 'Fei?" The little girl asked softly. "Where 'Fei?"

Yes, Lai's first word had been the name of her only cousin, Wufei. It seemed Wufei had magnetism for children. Yet, Wufei had left, too. Gone out the night before and hadn't returned or called yet, which was very unlike him.

"I don't know." Mama Fan patted her little girl on the top of her head. "But I'm sure he'll be back soon."

Personally, Mama Fan had at first thought it was the Yagiyu girl who was preoccupying Wufei, despite the fact that he'd only been a widower a short time. But now, as she thought back, his face had been deadly serious when he’d left, not the look of a young man going to visit his sweetheart. He did blush a lot around Yagiyu-san, but that didn't seem to be foremost in his thoughts. There had been something else.

Mama Fan had seen, when Yagiyu-san had come to visit, that Wufei liked her and possibly more. It couldn't be easy for him as he was still in love with Meiran who'd died so tragically. If Mama Fan knew Wufei as well as she thought she did, he wasn't going to admit to any kind of emotion to any girl, not for a long time, and she found herself hoping that Yagiyu-san would be able to wait for Wufei.

Mama Fan's mind went back to when she'd been upstairs with Yagiyu-san, talking and trying to get to know the girl. Mama Fan had heard strange voices coming from the restaurant after it had closed

Flashback-

Wufei was talking angrily. She couldn't quite tell who he was talking to, but as she listened for a moment, Mama Fan knew they weren't fighting, exactly. Wufei was just extremely angry.

"...betrayed...!"

"...mission..."

"...I will not...!"

Mama Fan had wished her hearing were better, as she couldn't make out the whole conversation. She was about to go into the restaurant and ask what was going on when she heard the front door open and close. Whoever had been here had left.

She peeked into the room and saw Wufei sitting on the floor, looking cross, trying to fix a destroyed chair. She paused only a moment before going in. "Wufei, sweetie. What are you doing?"

Wufei looked up and tried to smile at her. "I...er...had a bit of an accident, auntie."

"Don't bother. We have plenty of chairs in storage. That one's pretty well done for." She went closer and sat at one of the tables. "What was all that shouting about?"

Wufei looked at her with a guarded expression, though she thought she saw a glimpse of fear in his eyes. Now, what could make the little warrior afraid? "What did you hear?" He asked carefully.

Mama Fan sat back in her chair and they examined each other. "Not much. Something about betrayal, though. Is there something I should know?"

Wufei seemed to relax. "No, auntie. It's not all that important. There's someone I know and they did something they shouldn't have done. That's all." His voice was deliberately calm and controlled, so mama knew he was lying.

"Wufei?" Nasty poked her head into the restaurant. "I have to go home, my brother will get worried if I don't show up soon. Thank you for your hospitality, Mama Fan." When she came fully into the room, Mama Fan saw that Lai was holding Nasty's hand and walking carefully. Nasty seemed to take to the baby without any hesitation.

Wufei stood up, abandoning the ruined chair. "I'll give you a ride. My motorcycle's just outside. There's something I want to talk to you about."

Nasty smiled, though she didn't quite blush, and handed Lai back to Mama Fan. "It was nice visiting, ma’am."

"It was nice to have you, dear. Come back and see us anytime, won't you?"

Nasty nodded and headed to the door with Wufei.

End Flashback-

When Mama Fan looked back on the incident, something just didn't seem quite right to her mind. 'Well,' Mama scooped Lai up in her arms. 'I'm not about to be losing another of my children. What did the girl say her name was? Yagiyu Nasutei. Shouldn't be to hard to find an address.' Mama Fan went to the telephone book and started flipping.

About a half an hour and a taxi ride later, Mama Fan stood at the end of a very long driveway. “You could at least get us a little closer.” Mama Fan complained to the taxi driver.

“Not on your life.” He rudely told her with a fearful look at the distant houses. “You’ll be lucky if you get ten feet up that driveway.” He sped away without another word.

Mama Fan, though a little worried about the driver’s ominous words, wasn’t deterred. She pulled Lai up onto her hip and started walking. There were two houses at the end of the tree-lined driveway, one a modest home, but the other a mansion. The sight of it made Mama Fan swallow hard. It wasn’t what she’d been expecting.

When the guard stopped her, Mama Fan had second thoughts. She held Lai a little tighter, though the uniformed guard didn’t so much as raise her gun at Mama Fan. “May I help you, ma’am?”

“I hope so.” Mama Fan knew that the best way to deal with people was to act confident and polite. “I’m Fan-san. I’m looking for Yagiyu Nasutei. I was told she lived here, but I’m not sure I have the right house.”

“You do.” The guard answered, cautiously. “You can’t just walk in, however. Allow me to escort you to the door. I’ll ask she has time to speak with you.” She took out a communicator from her pocket and spoke into to. “Yagiyu-san, I have a woman outside the manor with a small child. She claims to be a Fan-san and would like to speak with you. Yes. Yes, miss. I understand.” She put the communicator away and smiled at Mama Fan. “Yagiyu-san has asked that you go to the front door. She says she’ll be down as soon as she can. Just knock.”

The Kushranada manor house wasn't as large as the mansion that was currently under repairs, but it was far bigger than anything she'd ever seen. 'Well, no sense in standing out here like a fool.' Mama Fan closed her mouth and rapped sharply on the door. It was getting late and she had every intention of bringing Wufei home tonight. She didn't want another lost child to worry about.

She waited a minute and then knocked again. There was a loud crash and Mama Fan would have sworn that she heard something going on behind the door. There was a loud thud and a crash. Mama Fan listened for a moment and then rapped on the door, again.

"Hello?" A young man with auburn hair and a slightly rumpled appearance answered the door. He seemed surprised to see her there and blinked at her before turning on a charming smile. "May I help you, ma'am?" He pulled the tie a little tighter on his red bathrobe, if the silky, expensive looking thing could be called a bathrobe. It didn’t look very warm.

Mama Fan put on her best smile. "Hello. I'm looking for a young man, my nephew, named Chang Wufei. Have you seen him? He's about sixteen with dark hair and eyes."

The man raised an eyebrow. "Chang Wufei?" He opened the door a little wider and Mama Fan knew he recognized the name. "May I ask why you're looking here for him?" He gave her a polite smile, but spoke in a haughty manner.

Mama Fan didn't like the tone this man was using with her. Man? Well, boy really. He couldn't be much more that twenty-two at the most. He sounded arrogant and suspicious, though he did have a charming smile. "Wufei left our home the other night with a young lady name Nasutei and hasn't been seen since. I looked her up in the phone book and this was her address."

"I'm sorry, but there's no one here by the name of Chang Wufei." The boy told her, his smile never slipping.

"Well, may I speak with Yagiyu-san?" Mama Fan was trying to stay as polite as possible even though she knew the boy was trying to deceive her somehow. She had no idea why, but she knew he was lying about something.

"I'm afraid she's indisposed." He smiled tightly.

Mama Fan scowled. 'So, this little puffed up poppin jay wants to make things difficult, does he? He wants to play games with me?! We'll see about that...'

A few moments earlier-
Trieze-

"There's someone at the door, Trieze." Millardo shook Trieze awake and Trieze grunted, burying his face in the pillow. “Someone’s knocking.”

"Let them. They'll go away soon." He rolled over in bed and pulled the blankets further over his head.

"Get up." Millardo ran a hand over Trieze's ribs, causing him to squirm.

"As your commanding officer, I command you to let me sleep." Trieze mumbled into his pillow as he tried to escape Millardo's hands.

"You command?" Trieze heard a giggle and realized that he probably should have gotten up the first time. "Very well. Then I'll go answer the door, shall I? I wonder who it is? Perhaps one of the world leaders would like to see your right hand man answer your door in his birthday suit? Wouldn‘t that make for an interesting headline of tomorrow’s paper?"

Trieze's eyes sprung open and he sat up abruptly. "Don't you even think it! That body is mine! No one else gets to look at it!"

Millardo laughed and jumped out of bed, still bare assed naked. "Then you'd better hurry." He started for the door.

"You wouldn't!" Surely, Millardo wouldn't go parading around like that?! Before Trieze could blink, Millardo dashed out of the bedroom.

Apparently, he would.

Trieze grabbed his dressing gown from where it had fallen on the floor and threw it on as he ran out after Millardo. "What if Nasty's home?" He shouted. "She might see you!"

"Are you afraid I'll corrupt your little angel?" Millardo's mocking voice teased from down the hall. "Sweet little Nasty?"

Trieze rounded a corner to see Millardo at the front door, reaching for the handle. Trieze let out a little squeal of horror. As if he needed anyone to know he let a naked man run around his house! Trieze made a flying leap for Millardo and together they crashed to the floor in a heap.

Millardo didn't even bother to wrestle, but let Trieze sit on top of him. "Get out of my living room and get dressed." Trieze hissed, praying that whoever was at the front door hadn't heard anything. "You can come back when you're decent."

"As my commander commands." Millardo whispered submissively before putting his arms around Trieze's neck and pulling him down till they were touching noses. "Will you miss me?"

Trieze let himself relax and he instantly forgave Millardo's teasing. "You'll only be gone a few minutes."

Millardo shrugged. "My heart will break each moment I'm parted from you." Then he kissed Trieze lightly and rolled Trieze over onto his side so he could make a graceful exit. "Next time, get up when I tell you to."

Trieze blinked after the man for a moment with a foolish smile on his face. The knock on the door was enough to bring him back to Earth and he stood, making himself as presentable as possible.

"Hello?" He swung the door open to see a large Chinese woman with a small squirmy child balanced on her hip. She smiled at him and Trieze's mind went into overdrive. 'Do I know her? Why's she here? Am I going to regret answering the door?' "May I help you, ma'am?"

The conversation went quickly down hill and Trieze wasn't sure why. No, that wasn’t quite right. He knew exactly where it had gone wrong. He‘d answered the door. He'd done his best to be civil to this complete stranger, as he always had excellent manners, but the woman just insisted on talking about Nasty.

At first it wasn't so bad, but then she started hinting that there was something going on between Nasty and that Chang boy.

No mistake, Trieze thought Chang-san was a very nice young man and brave for what he'd done for Trieze's family. None of that mattered when it came to Nasty, though. She deserved only the best and it was yet to be proven that Chang-san was the best. Trieze had been intending to find out all about Wufei, but he just hadn't had time. After Une's death Millardo had effectively kept him busy and, well, he just didn't have time to research Wufei.

"I just want some answers!" The woman said. "I know Wufei came here with Yagiyu-san, he drove her home. She must know where he went afterwards."

'Nasty brought a boy home without telling me?!' Trieze fumed, silently deciding to have a long talk with his sister. "I'm sorry, but my sister..."

"Is right here! What's going on?" Nasty was suddenly behind Trieze and peeked over his shoulder. Her smile brightened when she saw the woman at the door. "Sorry to keep you waiting, Mama Fan. Trieze, don't be so rude. Leaving a lady at the door! Please, come in." Nasty shoved Trieze gently to the side and took the woman, Mama Fan's, arm to guide her into the house.

"Nasty?" Trieze stared after the two women for a moment before following. So...Nasty really DID know the woman. Trieze followed a bit more slowly to where Nasty was having Mama Fan sit in the parlor. Yes, a long talk with Nasty was in order. She really shouldn't hide important things like this from her own brother. "What this about you seeing that Chang boy?"

Nasty didn't answer, but looked over her shoulder and winked saucily at him with her arm still around the Chinese woman.

Mama Fan-

Without even having to be asked, Nasty made introductions. "This is Mama Fan, she's Wufei's aunt, Trieze. Mama Fan, this is my brother, Trieze. Would you like some tea, ma’am?" Once in the parlor Nasty did her best imitation of a hostess.

Trieze was sulking.

"Thank you, Yagiyu-san. Have you seen Wufei? He didn't come home last night when he was with you." Mama Fan set Lai on the sofa beside her and strictly told her not to move.

"He was with you?" Trieze demanded again. He didn't want to get side tracked from this line of questioning, apparently. "Nasty, what's going on? Is he hounding you?"

'Ah,' Mama Fan thought wisely. 'The infamous OPBBS (Over Protective Big Brother Syndrome) rears its head.' She was well acquainted with it, having both Xiu and Wufei around. Xiu was notorious for it, as was Wufei, though he shifted it to his younger female cousins instead of sisters, especially after the incident at the colony.

“Mama Fan, please, call me Nasty. Trieze," Nasty said finally. "You need to relax a bit. I went looking for Wufei, if you must know." She looked at Mama Fan. "I'm sorry, but he just came here to borrow a video we were both...er...interested in. He left quite quickly. I'd assumed he went straight home."

Trieze broke in again. "He came here? I didn't see him."

Nasty rolled her eyes, but didn't bother to look at Trieze. "You were a bit busy. With Millie."

Trieze flushed. "I just don't want to see you get involved with someone who isn't up to your standards, Nasty."

"What?" Mama Fan growled, her left eye twitching. She carefully put down the teacup she'd been holding. "Are you suggesting that MY nephew isn't good enough for your sister?"

Trieze's face-hardened. "My sister is one of the most precious people in the world to me. I have been looking for a long time to find someone worthy of her, and I haven't found any. I don't want her to end up with some boy who doesn't appreciate her or can't take care of her properly."

"How dare you?!" Mama Fan fumed.

"I don't mean any offense, madam, but I want only the best..."

CRACK!

Trieze-

"Owww!" Trieze put a hand to his head where Mama Fan had whacked him. No one had EVER hit him before! "You...!"

"How dare you assume that because we're a hard working family that we're not as good as you?" Mama Fan loomed over Trieze and all the fury he'd felt vanished instantly to be replaced by fear. This woman was a lot bigger than she'd looked five seconds ago and her anger was almost tangible. "My nephew is a brave and intelligent young man! He's at the top of his class, making nearly the highest grades in his entire school. He works hard two hours every morning before school and five hours after school every day in our family's restaurant. I'll have you know that my family is from a long line of honorable warriors and Wufei married into a noble clan. How dare you think you're any better than he is?!"

Trieze slunk back against the wall, shamed. Somehow, Mama Fan made him feel trivial and worthless with just a few words. The thought briefly crossed his mind that he should call the guards, but how could he look them in the eye when a short, fat, unarmed Chinese woman was threatening him?

Still, Trieze pulled himself together. He was never one to back down from a threat. "Madam, I assure you..."

"Are you back talking me, young man?" Mama Fan asked in a dangerously quiet voice.

Trieze blinked. "Er...no...it's just..."

"I didn't raise my brood of children by allowing back talk, so don't you even start with me, child! As far as I can see, this conversation doesn't involve you, and you're only causing trouble. Nasty and I are talking so if you have nothing useful to say, sit down and shut up!"

Trieze wisely sat down and shut up. ‘How did she get control of the situation? I thought I was supposed to manipulate...er...control things.'

"Did you say he’s married?" Nasty continued, her voice calm and even as she pretended not to see or hear Mama Fan’s outburst.

"Yes, but he's a widower now." Mama Fan sighed sadly. "It was a great loss to us all when Meiran left us.”

Nasty said nothing at that comment, but looked around suddenly. "Where's Lai?"

Mama Fan turned away from Trieze and looked around frantically. "My baby?" Nasty was right, there was no sign of the little girl anywhere in the room and the door to the front room was wide open. All three jumped up and ran to look for her. Even Trieze went to help search. He certainly wasn't going to let a child be hurt in his house.

Lai-

'Wow, big!' Lai wandered around the big house while mama was talking to the other grown-ups. No one was paying attention, so it was safe to go looking around. Everything seemed so much bigger than it did at home. She was having a very good time looking at all the new things when she came to a door that opened onto a big garden. It looked like the park big brother and 'Fei took her to sometimes, but it was all walled in.

Lai walked out onto the grass and smiled happily. There was no place like this at home and she liked the smell of the grass. The tall pretty trees and the bright colored flowers. The big white and black kitty cat.

Lai's mouth fell open and she smiled again. Sing-san had a kitty cat, but this kitty cat was MUCH bigger. He was standing in a corner of the garden and sniffing around on the ground. This kitty cat was taller than Lai and looked, to her, like it was as big as a horse she'd once seen.

"Here, kitty, kitty, kitty." She called out and the kitty cat's head swung towards her, seeing her for the first time. "Nice kitty."

Byakuen-

'Can I help it if the foolish female ran away when I was taking a nap?!' Byakuen growled as he walked around Noin's empty house. He'd taken a short nap and when he'd woken up the woman had gone, leaving only her scent behind. He was fully recovered from giving blood to Anubisu and looking forward to the steak Noin had promised him when she'd thought he was sleeping. Byakuen also smelled traces for the other two males she seemed to like the company of, Trieze and Zechs. 'I'll just have to go find her.'

Noin was one of his pack and he was supposed to protect her, not let her wander around unattended! Byakuen found her scent outside her home and started to follow it. The scent led him not too far away to a couple of large houses where there were lots of humans working. For a long while Byakuen just watched the house. He wasn't sure why Noin would go there, but the place reeked of Trieze and Zechs. Perhaps she had come to find a mate. That would be a pity since he was unwilling to let her mate with either of them and he would kill both before he would allow her mate with them. They were unsuitable.

Eventually, when Noin didn't appear in any of the windows and she didn't leave the house, Byakuen started looking around, peering in the various windows of the house. He didn't see much of interest until he came to one of the bedroom and looked in to see the two males, Trieze and Zechs, mating.

Byakuen watched for a moment and then walked away, content. Now he didn't have to worry about one of them trying to mate with Noin. Still, there was no sign of Noin anywhere and her scent died outside the house. If she wasn't here, he had no idea where to look.

The tiger ended up in a garden, disgusted with himself. 'Some cat I am! I can't even protect my own pride!'

"Here kitty, kitty, kitty."

Byakuen looked up at the strange voice and was surprised to find a tiny human cub walking towards him. 'What the...?'

"Nice kitty."

The little cub wandered closer and Byakuen lowered his head to get a better look at it. Female, probably. No more than two years old, if that. She did smell vaguely familiar, like one of those boys Ryou was now associating with.

There was a gasp and Byakuen looked up to see three more humans, including the alpha, Trieze. Byakuen narrowed his eyes at the three newcomers. With Trieze stood a young female with long auburn hair who looked slightly like Trieze and an older female who was staring in horror at the little cub now scratching Byakuen's chin. Byakuen stepped back, so he could look at the cub better, then looked back at the older female. Yes, there was a definite resemblance.

Byakuen's opinion was confirmed when the cub looked at the older of the two females and started chanting happily, "Mama, mama, kitty, kitty, kitty!" She laughed and then went back to examining Byakuen.

It would have been almost funny if, at that moment, Byakuen suddenly hadn't heard a familiar voice. BYAKUEN!

KOKUEN-OH? Byakuen was aware of his twin calling to him over their link and turned away from the humans slightly. It gave the older female a chance to rescue her cub. After being shut out for so long, it was good to hear the Kokuen-Oh's voice. WHAT'S GOING ON?

Kokuen-oh appeared next to Byakuen, no great flash of light or anything, just appeared carrying three children on his back. He gave Byakuen a familiar nuzzle before looking at the three astonished humans. WHO ARE THEY?

Zechs-

Millardo was happy. He'd finally gotten what he'd wanted, Trieze. Even as Millardo dressed in the clothes he'd abandoned when he'd managed to, um, convince Trieze to spend some time with him, Millardo hummed cheerfully. There was absolutely nothing that could put him in a bad mood right now.

Still, there was work to do. He'd have to find another aide for Trieze now that Une was out of the picture. Someone trustworthy and that he could count on. Once he was fully dressed, Millardo looked around for the helmet that would protect him. When he found it wasn't on the table by the bedside where he thought he'd left it Millardo started to get worried. It was one thing to be around friends and family without the helmet, but how could he possibly go into public without it?

He made an almost frantic search around the bedroom. "Where is it?" Millardo muttered. "Where? Where? Where?" By the time he was done, Millardo had over turned two chairs, pulled all the blankets off the bed, pulled all the drawers out of the dresser and emptied them, and finally found the helmet when he knocked over the side table. "Oh, thank God!" Millardo clutched his precious helmet to his chest and collapsed to his knees. If he hadn't found it...Millardo shook his head, unwilling to deal with that thought. He slipped the helmet on and felt himself slowly turn back into Zechs.

Calm. Rational. Controlled.

Zechs stood up and straightened his clothes, ready to go meet whoever had come to visit Trieze, when he noticed what had been under his helmet. It was Trieze's communicator and must have been knocked off the table at the same time Zech's helmet had been. When he picked it up, Zechs was surprised to find Noin's security number flashing on it. Why would she use the communicator? They were only for missions and she could have just used the telephone.

He immediately started to get a foreboding feeling in his stomach. Noin never called unless it was something important. He punched numbers into the communicator that should have connected him directly with Noin, but there was no response. Zechs looked at the door and then at the open window. He could go and stay with Trieze for a little while, but...what if Noin needed him? She certainly wasn't one to play pranks. As he didn't want to disturb Trieze or his company, Zechs chose to go out the window.

He'd just make a quick trip over to Noin's house and see what was wrong. It was probably nothing anyway and by the time he got back, Trieze might even have finished with his company.

Mama Fan-

Mama Fan didn’t know what was real and what wasn’t, anymore. Two impossibly huge tigers - one white and one black- and one of them with three children on its back stood not ten feet in front of her. Though her own baby was safe, she couldn’t ignore the danger to the other three. She handed Lai to Nasty and steeled herself to make a rescue if necessary.

However, the one boy who was awake doesn't seem bothered by the tigers. He was holding the other two children very protectively. The boy looked around cautiously from under his shaggy bangs and his sharp blue eyes took everything in calmly. For a moment he studied the three people watching him. Perhaps it was Mama Fan’s imagination, but she could have sworn that she saw his gaze harden into a glare when he looked at Trieze.

The brown haired boy easily jumped off the tiger's back, completely unafraid, and patted its head. “Thank you.”

The black tiger nuzzled against his hand.

The boy turned back to Mama Fan and opened his mouth to say something, when a groan interrupted him. His eyes never left the adults, though he did close his mouth to listen. It was the other boy, this one with an incredibly long braid, who was trying to wake up.

"Ahh," He complained, putting a hand to the top of his head and rubbing a sore spot. "Heero, what happened?" This boy slowly looked up and blinked, looking all around before sliding off the black tiger's back and coming to stand beside the first boy, Heero. He staggered slightly, before Heero caught his arm to hold him steady. When he realized they weren‘t alone, he smiled sweetly at them. “Hi.”

Mama Fan smiled back. He reminded her of Xiu. "Hello. Are you alright?" They all look like they've been through a war what with how beat up and filthy they are. Then her eyes fell to the little girl who still hadn't woken up. "Oh, the poor baby!"

The braided boy picked the little girl up and cradled her close to his chest. "Can you help my sister. She's been have a rough few days."

Trieze nodded. "Bring her on in. I'll have a doctor sent for."

Well, Mama Fan couldn’t fault Trieze for that. At least the boy knew his manners. Mama Fan went closer to the braided boy and put her hand on his face to get a closer look at his injuries. Such a pretty child!

"I'm okay, ma'am." He told her with a weak smile. "I think I just got kicking in the head by a horse, though."

"That was Anubisu."

It was the first time Heero had spoken, even though he was still glaring at Trieze. It wasn't hate, Mama Fan was pretty sure of that, but just an incredible intensity in Heero's eyes that Trieze seemed to be easily ignoring.

The braided boy looked shocked. "Why would my own brother hit me?"

"He wanted you, Kay, and I out of the way for the final battle, Duo."

Duo paled. "What about them? What about Ryou?" His voice was raising hysterically.

Mama Fan took the girl, Kay, away from him. She was surprisingly light, and dressed in only a simple cotton dress. Mama Fan didn't think Duo should have been holding her in his state as he might drop the child. Duo turned on Mama Fan angrily.

"Don't worry." Mama Fan told him, softly. "We'll get it all sorted out, young man. Let's get you two and this little lady cleaned up and seen by a doctor and then we'll find out about your family." Mama Fan put on her most comforting voice and started walking toward Trieze's house. If Duo wanted to stay with his sister, he would have to keep up.

Both Duo and Heero followed behind her and Mama Fan heard Heero whisper to the distraught Duo, "Don't trust that man."

Duo asked, in a whisper, "Why not? He seems nice enough."

"He's the enemy."

Mama Fan frowned, but said nothing. Now, why would Heero say such a thing?


To be continued...