Maybe Angels

Title: Maybe Angels Part 19/20 – Not Broken
Author: Makoto Sagara
Archives: the usual suspects; anywhere else, just ask
Category: Supernatural, Angst, Romance
Pairing(s): 2+5, 1+2, 3+1, 4+3, 4+2, H+4, 6+9, S+C, R+OC, 5+R (friendship), 13x5, eventual 2x5x2
Rating: T (13 )
Warnings: Shonen ai, OOC, AU, language, skewed views of a few different religions
Disclaimers: (sigh) No part of Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, or its characters, belongs to me. Any references to Dogma are just made because I adore the movie and Kevin Smith, and are meant only out of love and affection for both. Not a single cent was made off of this piece of fanfiction. Suing would be inevitably pointless, seeing as how I have no money. Flames -will- be used to entertain my rabid muses... All three of them... They live for the things.
A/N: After a deliciously fruitful conversation with the elusive Duo-chan (yay for coming back and gratz again on getting hitched), I’ve finally pegged an end to this fic. Oh, dear God. The ending will probably be followed by an epilogue to tie up any loose ends, so don’t worry too much about how things will end, dearies! Enjoy and remember that in order to get more fic, you need to review more. Just kidding! Also, a special thanks to my dearest Skeren Dreamera, who woke up the muses in the middle of this chapter to get me back to working on it. ^^
Symbols: -- change in scene, POV, or time
- Blah - in mind communication
-Blah- emphasized words

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Has no one told you she's not breathing?
Hello I am your mind giving you someone to talk to
Hello
If I smile and don't believe
Soon I know I'll wake from this dream
Don't try to fix me, I'm not broken
Hello I'm the lie living for you so you can hide
Don't cry
Suddenly I know I'm not sleeping
Hello I'm still here
All that's left of yesterday
~ Hello, by Evanescence
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Not Broken

I wandered around for the rest of the night, avoiding being around Wufei and my friends. I didn’t want to see the man that I loved – yes, I was admitting it to myself at least – in the arms of another. Nor did I want to see the looks of pity, understanding and disappointment from the Angels. I couldn’t handle Quatre’s tears and/or pathetic attempts to make the images of Wufei in Treize’s arms go away. I didn’t want to be around the happy, sappy group up top. I just wanted to not feel – anything.

Self-pity is a strange creature, and I’d been playing with it for far too long. Even resolving to suffer in silence like my human role model hadn’t kept me from giving in and nearly giving up. I’d found myself in the arms of my psychotic ex, being tempted to forego everything but him for an existence of hiding, and ending up as a target for one of The Morning Star’s elite succubii. My current track record with self-pity wasn’t looking so good.

So, when the sun broke the horizon and I could feel the warmth from the first few rays of light, I looked for my charge. I found him still in Treize’s bed, but I also saw Dorothy sitting in one of the chairs, smiling at me like the Cheshire Cat. “Welcome,” she cooed, gesturing to the chair next to hers. “It’s wonderful that you could finally join us, Diachriel. You missed quite a show. Your charge is surprisingly vocal.”

“I wouldn’t know,” I replied, taking the proffered seat.

“Oh well.” She toyed with strands of her long blonde hair. “So, Une tells me that Soliriel appeared again last night. Imagine my delight at finding out that you allowed him to practically fuck you in full view of the humans.”

“Ah, so everyone knows, do they?” That saved me from having to explain things when I got back.

“Oh, yes, it’s all anyone can talk about, apparently.” I thought she was going to burst from joy. My attention was snagged by a photo of a beautiful and refined woman with Treize. Her skin was flawless and smooth, her makeup a perfect compliment to her attire, her auburn hair swept up to accentuate her well-bred face, and her jewelry ostentatious. This didn’t escape Dorothy’s notice. “She’s divine, yes?”

“Not bad. Treize’s sister?” I knew fully well that the European was an only child.

“Fiancée.”

“What?” Insert mock horror at that word.

“Oh, come now. You’re not surprised. Treize is rich and from a noble line. Little indiscretions like Wufei can be overlooked easily by such a woman.”

“I can just imagine.” I scoffed at the widening of her eyes and the way her smile seemed to evaporate. “What’s wrong, Dionyzial? You almost look dismayed.”

Instead of answering me, she disappeared with a growl. Despite my worry for Wufei and his feelings for Treize, a part of me was happy to see that this beautiful woman existed. A very big part. I know how cruel and selfish that sounds, but it’s true. She represented, to me, the very thing what would make Wufei leave Treize – and get me one step closer to my truest desire.

Treize’s tall, lean form stirred from the bed first. He seemed to be perfect at all times, and that morning was no exception. He rose gracefully, took one look at my gorgeous charge, grimaced, and left the room. I could hear the water from the adjoining bathroom’s shower and suppressed a shiver of desire and fear as Wufei began to stir.

The sun was shining through the windows and was striking the muscles of his back and ass. One could tell what the benefits of his martial arts training had been right then and there. Looking at his nude form caused that constant nagging spark of lust to flame up. The slow, sexy smile he threw at me when he turned around didn’t help things either. “Morning, Duo,” he said thinking, while the carefully rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

- So it is. -

- Rough night? You look like Hell. - Before I could respond, his cell phone rang. “Yes, this is he.” A pause. “Yes.” Another pause, accompanied by a stab of fear and anguish. “Thank you,” he practically whispered into the phone as he hung it up. “Tsao!” (1)

- Fei? -

- My stupid sister nearly killed herself and Hiroshi, - he answered angrily. – If she lives, I’m killing her myself! - As he raged, he was hastily putting on the previous day’s clothes and gathering the rest of his things. When he was ready, he ran out of Treize’s house as fast as he could, never bothering to tell the other man anything.

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Relena, Yukari, and Hiroshi’s parents greeted Wufei dismally at the hospital. The way the two girls clung to one another and my charge told us more than either of Hiroshi’s parents could manage. However, Relena did get out that she’d gotten a hold of Wufei’s parents and that they were coming back as soon as they could. They moved as a group over to a seating area to await any news.

It was then that I noticed there were no other angels to be found. Following my better instincts, I walked down the hall to find the other five angels grouped together in one big huddle. Noin and Hiroshi’s angel were quiet, but I could tell that Hilde wasn’t far from tears. The other two looked like they were past that part and at the place where all you can do is wait and pray. Silently, I joined them, looking into the ICU rooms to get a glimpse of the girl and boy who were a good chunk of my charge’s world. But, with all the wires and the nurses and doctors running around, I couldn’t even see the beds that they were supposedly lying in.

We remained there the rest of the night. Somewhere along the way, Yukari managed to drift off to sleep in one of the extremely uncomfortable plastic chairs in the waiting area, but the others just sat, looking as if they were card carrying members of the walking dead. Wufei was starting to go stir crazy as he’d been sitting, doing nothing, the whole time. He couldn’t sleep. His brain was as restless as his body, and every time he attempted to pace in the hallway, Relena or Mrs. Takai would suggest he sit down and join the rest of them. Finally, he got up and moved down to the windows in front of his sister’s room and waited there. Needless to say, everyone was more than just a little relieved when Xu and Tao-Mee arrived. Their added presence seemed to lighten the air again, just a bit, until the doctors approached the two families to update them on the condition of the two teens.

One doctor pulled Hiroshi’s parents and Yukari to one side of the waiting room, while the other joined Wufei and his family. Relena stood next to her friend; almost seeming too afraid to find out what happened to the other boy. Tao-Mee grabbed the hands of both teens as the doctor looked at his clipboard and avoided looking the family fully in the face.

“Is she okay?” Xu asked, the worry making his otherwise strong, musical voice sound hollow.

“She’s stable now. We’ll be moving her to a recovery room soon enough,” the man replied, settling his eyes over Wufei’s head.

“What happened?” Tao-Mee managed.

“The car that…” he consulted his clipboard “Meiran and her companion were in hit a tree. Luckily, their seatbelts were on and saved them from flying through the windshield of the car. However, both of her fibulas are broken in multiple places. Her left foot was crushed and the right side of her collar bone was fractured. She also had a tree branch go through her abdomen, so I’m afraid there was nothing we could do for the baby…”

“What baby?” Xu shouted.

“Mr. Chang, your daughter was four months pregnant at the time of the accident,” the man replied, finally sparing some compassion for the astonished family. Relena gave out a gasp and broke out into tears on Wufei’s shoulder. My charge just stood there, his face a stone mask with his hands balled into fists. I could feel the pinpricks of his fingernails digging into the palms, breaking the skin and letting the blood seep from between his knuckles. “Unfortunately, her injuries were so severe that we couldn’t save her baby.”

“I… I… understand,” the twins’ father managed after a few moments of what appeared to be false starts. Tears could be heard from the other side of the waiting room, but they seemed to be tears of relief, instead of pain. “When will she… wake up?”

“She should be conscious fairly soon. We have her sedated to help her get through most of the pain.”

“Will… will she ever be able to…” Tao-Mee asked, unable to finish that thought.

“It’s unlikely. The damage to her uterus was…extensive.” With those words, Wufei shrugged off Relena and stomped to the elevator, unable to deal with what he just heard.

- She will never be able to have children, - he thought bitterly.

- Do you think that’s the only thing that’s important, Wufei? - I asked, surprising myself at the vehemence with which I was speaking to him. - She's alive. Hiroshi is alive. You should be grateful for that and praising whatever deity you believe in for that miracle. -

- I don’t need some moody angel to tell me what I should and shouldn’t be doing, Duo. Where were you when this happened to my sister?! -

- I’m not her Personal Angel, Wufei. She has her own, and things like this happen for a reason. I’m not going to try to explain and justify the way God does things when I don’t fully understand them myself. - I stopped myself before I said something really mean and spiteful. It wasn’t his fault that I was in love with him and had obviously forced my feelings through our connection in a way that wasn’t even supposed to be possible. - My job is to make sure that you are safe. You are. -

- Just leave me alone, - he spat at me, leaving me by the elevator while he zipped down the chute to God only knew where.

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It turned out that Hiroshi had a broken left arm, a couple of broken fingers on his right hand, a broken nose and a few cracked ribs from the accident. Considering the shape that Meiran was in, and Xu’s car (completely totaled), I’d say the kid came out on the winning side. The doctors were only worried that he’d nearly punctured his left lung with one of his cracked ribs, but they couldn’t find any proof of that and swore that he’d mend up right as rain after the cast came off of his arm.

A few hours after Wufei took off, Hiroshi woke up, questioning everyone around him about Meiran and what was wrong with her. When told that she hadn’t woken up yet, the boy gave his sister a guilty look and refused to talk to anyone since Wufei wasn’t there. Relena seemed to be even more wounded by his silence than anyone else and with a few kind words to the Takais and the Changs, she went home. Not having anywhere else to really go but to Wufei, who most definitely didn’t even want to see me, I followed Noin and Relena to the girl’s house, holding hands with my friend the entire time.

I stayed the night with Noin, watching over Relena as she cried and then grew silent. I could tell that she was debating how much longer she wanted to go on with her unrequited love, and that she was about to give up on the whole thing. So, when Noin turned to me in the morning and said that Relena was calling to her for the first time in a long time, I understood and left the two ‘girls’ alone. Besides, it was beyond the point where I found my charge and made him face the problem his family was going through.

I found him in his school’s library, pouring over many large tomes – which in and of itself wasn’t out of the ordinary. However, after taking a look at the titles, most of them being about demons and religion, I couldn’t help but wonder what was going on with the Chinese boy.

- You never really believed me before about the way that the world works, and yet now I find you here reading these books, - I sent, slightly miffed that he hadn’t come to me first.

- What did you expect me to do after all this time? I can’t just sit here and believe that your demon ex-lover had nothing to do with the attempted murder of my sister and friend, - he sent back, his voice bitter and pained.

- This time, Solo wasn’t behind it. It was your sister. - I braced myself for his angry outburst that I could feel building up inside of him. So, when he got up and stormed out of the cavernous library, I was more than a little astonished, but I followed him nonetheless. He was stomping out to the campus’ forest by the quad, his small frame shaking with repressed anger. I watched him silently as he reached the copse of trees and then turn on a young sapling. When he was done, the tree was kindling.

“Don’t you think I know that,” he sobbed when he was done destroying the innocent plant. “I know what she was trying. I… can feel it. Inside…”

Not knowing what else to do, I materialized into a human form, careful to make myself as human-seeming as possible. I slowly wrapped an arm around the shaking form of my charge, and walked with him to a nearby bench. I was surprised when the boy seemed to sag into my arms and rested his head on my shoulder. It was such an intimate moment, and if I had had a heart, I think it would have broken. Instead of trying to smell him, like some creepy stalker, I realized that the one human that I actually loved - instead of thought of as only a part of my job - was in my arms.

Regardless of what he’d done with Treize the night before, he was mine right then, and I didn’t care why. My spirit jumped as it felt as if he chose me over his human lover. Heaven be damned, if he’d asked me to stay with him right then, I wouldn’t have thought twice, and I nearly considered going back to request that. However, the one thought that held me back was that Solo was still running loose, and was madder than ever about Wufei. I knew that nothing was going to be okay between the human and I until Soliriel was taken care of – permanently. So, I stayed as his Personal Angel and tried to keep my feelings and interference with his life as low as possible.

After a few minutes of having my charge cling to me for dear life, I could feel the familiar, and completely unwelcome, tugging on my soul that could only mean that I was being summoned to Heaven. I tried to get him to gently let me go, but Wufei had a death grip on my arms and his hands were tangled in my loose hair. “Don’t leave me,” he whispered sadly, and I tried not to cry in response.

“I have to go. I’ve been summoned,” I said gently. “I promise that I’ll return to you.” I placed a chaste kiss on his cheek. “No matter what, I’ll be back.”

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I returned to Heaven, only to find that my group of friends was in an upheaval. It seemed that Relena’s group of Angels had separated themselves from Meiran’s. A look at Noin and Hilde told me that the two had been arguing and that Quatre and Zechs were torn between both Angels. Heero and Sally were sitting as far from one another as possible as well, with their companions the only ones daring to get near them. The Muses were nowhere to be found, and, to be honest, this was the last place that I wanted to be myself.

“What’s going on? Why was I summoned back?” I asked Trowa and Heero, since they seemed to be the least emotionally charged of the nine of us.

“Gerindial and Hildariel got into a very big argument. It seems that Soliriel visited the girl Meiran while she slept,” Trowa stated coldly.

“Is she…”

“No, the girl lives,” Heero answered me, sounding as cold as Trowa. I wasn’t sure if their attitude was covering up the anxiety that I could feel from the others in waves, or if I had done something that they disapproved of. They weren’t exactly known for telling me what they thought about my actions, unless it directly affected them or their jobs.

“No, he just tried to make sure that she wouldn’t be waking up,” Hilde screamed, Quatre trying to hold her back as her normally pretty face took on an extremely ugly scowl.

“It isn’t Diachriel’s fault that Solo’s unhinged,” Noin yelled at the other Angel, from her own blond captor’s arms.

“Wait! This fight is because Solo tried to kill Meiran? How did this happen?”

“It’s all your fault, Duo,” Hilde accused, before crumpling up in Quatre’s hold and curling into a little ball.

“Wha- How?! I refused to go with him. I refused to sit back and let him kill my charge and those around him, but somehow this is my fault? That’s pretty screwed up, Hilde. Even for you,” I yelled, walking away before I said something to the other Angel that would really hurt her.

She acted like I didn’t understand what it was like to have a hard charge to deal with. Meiran was spirited, stubborn, impetuous, and didn’t even really believe in Hilde’s existence – not even at the time of the accident had the Chinese girl thought to call on her Personal Angel or God or any kind of divine protection to save her. She’d been almost glad. Over the many millennia as a Personal Angel, I’d had fun charges and the hard to handle ones. Quite a few of them had committed suicide or killed someone else. I don’t think any of us had been exempt from one or the other types.

But for Hilde to put all her anguish and anger on me was totally unacceptable. Truth be told, if it hadn’t been for Hilde, Noin, Jean-Paul and Giselle, I don’t know if I would have contacted Solo at all. I might have just gone on being tortured by the lost of my soul companion and the torment of being in love with Wufei until he died. Not that I wasn’t sort of grateful for the assistance my friends had given me to figure out my feelings, I wasn’t going to sit back and take the blame because Solo was a raving lunatic and was stalking my charge, his family and me. It just wasn’t happening; no matter who was doling out the blame.

Not when I finally had a moment with Wufei like I had had earlier. No one was going to take that from me – not even God.

Despite my mutinous thoughts, I still sought Her out to speak about what was going on. Metatron signaled to me to wait until her audience with the Cherubim was over. As patiently as I could, I sat down and began to go over what was happening with Wufei, Solo and I. The most I could come up with was that in order for everyone to have any kind of peace, either the demon or I would have to die. And to be honest, I wasn’t ready to die yet.

“Diachriel, you may approach,” the Voice said, snapping me from my reverie. I got up from my position outside of the throne area and walked to where God was talking to Metatron and Michael. I could kind of hear what they were saying on my way to them. “Michael, are you saying that you lost the demon again?”

“Would you like to trade places with me, Voice, to see how easy my job is?” the Archangel said, almost sounding as annoyed as I was.

“I don’t want either of your jobs, but you can’t have my job either,” I said as I joined the other three.

“Ah, Diachriel,” God said, putting up Her hands to silence both of the Seraphim, “we were just wondering if you would join us after this latest event. I’m glad that there was no need to call you.”

“Yeah, yeah, I came up here to find my friends about ready to pull each other apart. Then, Hilde blames me for everything is doing because Meiran tried to kill herself. And now I find these two bickering like two year olds. What’s up with all that?”

“We were not bickering like children,” Metatron said, sounding like a little kid to me.

“We were discussing how to take care of Soliriel,” Michael said coldly, miffed by my comment as well.

“We’ll have to kill him,” I said matter-of-factly. “We either kill him, or he continues to run loose. I don’t know why this is such a big thing. We weren’t going to be able to capture him. The Morning Star isn’t just going to let live in some little pit in Hell. He’s going to let Lilith kill him, if the she-devil can even stop lamenting the bruise to her ego the last time the two of you paired up. She’s going to rip him from limb to limb and bathe in his blood.” Both Seraphim gave grim faces at the mental image that no doubt brought. “And stop being so squeamish. Soliriel has to die or he’ll continue to stalk and kill my charges.” I looked at God. “You have a choice here. You can either agree to the fact that Soliriel has to go, or you can remove me from my position as Personal Angel, permanently. I’ll tell you this, though, if you remove me from Wufei, I’ll transubstantiate on my own and let Solo kill me.”

“Diachriel!” Both Seraphim yelled my name at the same time, which compelled me to look at them.

“If you don’t think I mean it, Voice, Archangel, just try me. I’m sick of his constant threatening, begging and torture,” I said, my voice cracking from all the strain. “Neither of you have to deal with the fact that your former soul companion wants to kill your charge and everyone around him. I want this over with, and if I have to do it my way, I will.”

“Playful One,” God interrupted, “there is no need to sacrifice yourself to be rid of Soliriel. Besides, I seriously doubt that he would kill you once you became a human. If nothing else, he would come to possess your body and mind, making it so you would harm Wufei. And that, I cannot allow, for both of you are far too important to me and…” She stopped talking, as if She was actually saying something She didn’t want me to know. I think that was the first time that God had said more than She wanted at any point in time. I’ll admit that it amused me just a tiny bit. “Now, do you have anything in mind as to how Soliriel should be… eliminated?”

“I do.”

Michael took one of the cloud chairs near the throne and gestured for me to do the same. “Please, continue.”

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As soon as I was done in Heaven, I went back to where I left Wufei, but I wasn’t surprised that he’d left as well. A quick calculation told me that I’d been gone for about eight Earth hours (stupid time difference), and I couldn’t blame him for leaving. Reaching through to our connection, I found that he was at Relena’s house, trying to make sense of everything there. Smiling in spite of everything that had happened, I followed my heart to him.

- I’m sorry I was gone so long, - I sent, before I even let him know that I was there.

- Is everything okay? – He sounded so worried and it tugged at me. We both knew that with the way things were, for me to go away for so long could be a bad thing. It wasn’t like the last time I was summoned like that was for a really great thing.

- In a situation like this, it’s as good as it’s going to get, - I said wryly, trying to not get too serious. The talk with God and the Seraphim had me on edge and Noin was giving me a very “what happened” sort of look.

- That was supposed to be comforting? -

- How’s Relena? – I wanted to avoid actually talking about what was going on, and even a small part of me was avoiding the scene in the park.

- She’s doing better. Hiroshi will be going home soon, - he said sadly, making me wonder if anyone had talked to his sister.

- And Meiran? -

- She’s awake, but she refuses to speak to anyone. The police showed up at the hospital to question them both, and she sent Mother and Father out of her room. -

- So, no one knows why she…. Why that happened? -

- No, Hiroshi is covering for her. I can just tell. His parents have asked that she and I stay away from their children though. -

- And Relena? – The girl was fast asleep, but her eyes were puffy and her breathing was ragged.

- Reluctantly they’ve allowed her to still speak to Hiroshi, but Yukari has made it plain that she disagrees with her parents’ decision on both marks and threatened Relena’s well being. -

- She still doesn’t like Relena? That girl can hold a grudge. Too bad she probably doesn’t know why you kept turning her down… -

- Yes, a shame for her that I’m gay. – His voice took on a whole new level of sarcasm and I had to laugh. He glared at me, and I must admit that instead of the intended intimidation, I felt shivers of excitement dancing up and down my back. However, his whole “I’m a badass” aura was ruined by a very large yawn.

- You stayed up to talk to me? - He nodded in response and I shook my head. - Go to sleep. I’ll be here in the morning. - I got a warm and tender smile for that, and he obediently went to sleep next to his best friend.

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The sound of Wufei’s cell phone ringing woke all of us – the boy, Relena, Noin and me – up from our fitful rests. He grumbled as he pushed the girl off of him, and opened the phone up with a curt “What?”

“Well, Son, I was going to say good morning, but I think that we are well past that,” Xu said, trying to sound chipper and failing. “Come to the hospital today. You may want to bring Relena as well.”

“As you wish, Father,” Wufei said reluctantly. After a few moments of strained small talk, they hung up. “Get up,” he shoved Relena onto her side, “you’ve been awake as long as I have.”

“I wanted to give you time to speak to your dad,” she said behind a yawn. “You two really don’t know how to talk like normal people, do you?”

“Normal? We communicate with one another just fine.” He stood up to find his shoes.

“Yeah, yeah… What did he want anyway?”

“He told me to head over to the hospital, and to bring you if you want to come.” He slipped his cell phone in his pocket and smoothed down his hair in the mirror.

Relena got up and looked at her reflection behind her friend. “Ugh, I suppose so. Hiroshi went home yesterday and with the way Yuka’s being, I’d rather not go over there.” The grimace on Wufei’s face wasn’t easy to miss and the girl wrapped her thin arms around him. “Don’t worry about it, ‘Fei. They’ll get over all this once Hiro and Mei tell what really happened.”

“What if…” He stopped and closed his eyes. “What if it wasn’t an accident?”

“You… mean… that she might have…” Relena shook her head vehemently, smacking Wufei with her blonde hair. “I don’t believe that she would.” When Wufei didn’t join her in denying the situation, she moved to the door. “I’ll go make sure that breakfast is ready and we can go to the hospital after that.”

“Okay,” he said weakly as she left. He looked into the mirror again as I materialized. “I don’t really want to go, but I have to be there.” I didn’t respond and he just sighed. “There is also something else I must do.”

“Oh?” I raised an eyebrow at his reflection and gave him an encouraging smile.

“Treize.” He didn’t sound happy, and I’m sure the scowl on my face didn’t help much. Yes, I was still jealous, even though I had a pretty good idea of why he was bringing the European into the conversation. I turned and flexed my wings as they rested against my back. “Duo…”

“You don’t have to explain anything to me, Wufei.” I must have sounded like a petulant child, but I couldn’t help it around him. He made me behave in ways that I never had before him.

“Whatever,” he said angrily. He reached into his pocket and dug out his phone. He waited for the other end to pick up, and I strained to hear what was said. It went to voicemail, and the Chinese boy didn’t bother to leave a message. “I’ll try later.”

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Wufei and Relena went to the hospital, and on the way there, the boy tried his human lover a couple of times on the phone. Again, they went to voicemail, and he refused to leave a message. Relena had tried to be supportive about the situation, but she was under the impression that Wufei was mad because he was being ignored. I could tell that he was irritated because he wanted to get what he wanted to say over with and because I was acting like a jerk over Treize. Yes, I admit it! I was being a jealous little jerk.

Their arrival at the hospital wasn’t really all that life-altering, but Meiran was ready to leave it after three days of being awake and questioned and cooped up inside. Her doctor reluctantly agreed to letting the girl going home, but only because Xu had promised to hire twenty-four hour special care for her. Tao-Mee told her new husband that she was more than willing to look after her step-daughter herself, but Meiran flat out refused to that proposition. It was amazing that even with two broken legs, a crushed foot and a cracked collar bone that she could put up that much of a fight. I couldn’t imagine how much pain she must have been in, but if the looks on Hilde’s face were any indication, it was a whole hell of a lot.

Speaking of Hilde, she hadn’t talked to me since her scene in Heaven. Any time we locked eyes, she’d start glaring and then ignore me until the next time. It stung that my friend was punishing me for something that I couldn’t help, but I did understand how she felt, I guess. Well, I do now anyway. At the time, it just stung and Noin and Zechs were the only ones who didn’t treat me as if I had brought this all on myself or helped it escalate to the point that it was at. But, perhaps the strangest thing of all was the absence of both muses. They were normally such busybodies and I hadn’t seen them at all. I guess that would make them like the rest of my Heavenly friends – distancing themselves from me because of either Solo or my feelings for Wufei becoming even more evident than they were before.

The Changs and Relena hadn’t even made it to the car before Meiran was trying to get both of her parents to leave her alone. Her brother was deathly quiet, but the look in his eyes was enough for both me and his best friend to know that he was only holding his tongue while they were in public. I was on edge as I looked between Noin and Hilde, the first looking pained and the second looking as pissed as her charge. I was just stuck in the middle of their private war with no clue how to act.

When they finally got Meiran home, the only person she would let touch her was Relena. To say that the blonde girl was surprised would have been an understatement considering their history, but she hid it with amazingly little difficulty. Noin and I used to joke that she was destined to be a politician. Tao-Mee and Xu had turned the first floor study into a makeshift sick room so that Meiran wouldn’t have to fight with the stairs to her room. Cautiously, Relena convinced the Chinese girl to let her father move her to the pull-out couch from her wheelchair and her step-mother to bring her food, drink and painkillers. Truth be told, it really didn’t take much cajoling from her to get the patient to acquiesce – the pain she was in was written all over her face.

When she had been presented with her meal and pills, Meiran banished everyone from her sight. This sat okay with Fei, because it kept him from blowing his cool with his sister. It wasn’t such a bad thing for me either, as it meant I didn’t have to see Hilde’s accusatory looks every five seconds.

My charge followed his parents into the kitchen, where Tao-Mee proceeded to burst into tears. Both males struggled to comfort her, Xu by hugging her fiercely and Wufei by speaking kindly, but the woman proved to be inconsolable. Relena hovered in the kitchen doorway, her unease chipping away at her diplomatic cool. When she saw the very evident turmoil of her best friend, she ran over and wrapped her arms around him, burying her head in his hair to hide her own tears.

I don’t know how long they stayed like that, but somewhere along the way, Noin and I had joined hands, offering each other as much solace as we could. It might have been easier if we had been soul-companions, like Xu and Tao-Mee’s Angels, but it was enough that we had the other’s presence. Eventually, the four humans straightened up from their moment of grief. Tao-Mee began making lunch for them all, with Xu assisting, while Relena and Wufei sat down at the table to stay out of their way. No one seemed to want to be the first to speak, so the house that had formerly been filled with happiness and excitement over the wedding just three days before became as solemn and suffocating as a grave.

After the rather depressing meal, Wufei excused himself and went out into the backyard. The anger was radiating off of him profusely. I could feel it boil inside of me, and, to be perfectly honest, the intensity of it was terrifyingly close to what I felt for Solo. Carefully, I followed him to the backyard, but kept a distance that wouldn’t be seen as hovering.

- I know you’re there, - he sent.

- Do you want me here? - He paused before answering me.

- Y-yes… - He seemed to be trying to gather his thoughts, so I gave him his privacy. – Duo, have you ever made a really dumb mistake? -

- You mean besides angering a psychotic demon and making enemies out of pretty much all of Hell by just existing? - I was having trouble understanding what the boy was getting at, but had a feeling that he’d tell me if I waited long enough.

- You’re talking about that demon I saw years ago? -

- Yep, that would be the one. - Just thinking about the last time I’d been with Solo made me feel angry and guilty.

- Why does he hate you? - I was glad he couldn’t see me then, because I was blushing rather embarrassingly.

- Because I love y- - I could feel his heart pounding in -my- ears, - you. -

He nodded his head, and I could see his cheeks redden a bit. - I see… Okay then. - Before I could ask him anything else, he whipped out his cell phone and started dialing.

“Hello, this is Treize Emille Khushrenada speaking.”

“Treize, it’s Chang Wufei. I…” Whatever Wufei was going to say was cut off by a cool, but sweet, feminine voice.

“Treize, darling, who is it?”

“No one, sweetheart,” the European responded away from the receiver and then the line went dead. I couldn’t place either my charge’s emotions of his expression, but the harsh, ironic laugh he gave wasn’t lost on me at all.

--------------------------

When Wufei returned to the house, he was informed that Relena had left. Instead of leaving or locking himself in his room, he went straight into see his sister. She greeted him with vulgarities, which he ignored as he sat at their father’s desk. Hilde had taken up guard behind her charge, and was hovering right on the verge of human visibility. I kept myself invisible, but made sure that my love (so strange that I should think of him like that so soon after declaring my affections) could feel me near him. He waited patiently until his sister was only glowering at him to speak.

“I know what you have done, Chang Meiran.” He held up his hand to silence her protestations. “I need no outside help. You are my twin sister, whether you choose to acknowledge the bond or not. I understand, somewhat, why you have done this. Hiroshi may keep your secret, but Mother and Father suspect something. As for what I will do, you need not worry. I’ll keep your dirty secret till death, but I suggest you at least take Mother into your confidence.

“As for your… complication,” he couldn’t bring himself to speak about her pregnancy, but he felt he must acknowledge it, “I grieve with you.”

“You know NOTHING,” Meiran snarled, and Hilde’s face matched the vehemence of that of her charge – directly squarely at yours truly.

“To be sure,” he said calmly, expertly masking his temper. “However, sister dear, I know of the phone calls to Relena, of your abrupt break up with Hiroshi, your behavior at the wedding, and what happened in that car before it impacted with the tree. I’m giving you the option to come clean to our parents, as I did, or you can live with the shame and pain alone. Either way, it is your decision.” He stood to leave, and I followed him as his love-sick puppy.

“Get back here, you sanctimonious bastard!” Cold, hard eyes slid over to freeze her where she lay.

“Yes?” I didn’t know that he could be that unfeeling until that moment with her.

“I will not be talked to like this by some filthy duàn bèi. [2] You are -not- better than I am.”

“Meiran, you dishonor both the Long and Chang clans with your actions, and your words dishonor the memory of our Revered Mother. I will pray that the ancestors forgive your insolence.” With that, he’d turned his back and was gone from her. I knew nothing was going to repair the damage to their relationship until Meiran healed, emotionally and physically. I just wish she’d been given the chance.

--------------------------

After the argument with his sister, Wufei made his excuses to his parents and went directly over to Relena’s house to check on her. When he walked into the girl’s room, he found her brushing her hair out after a shower. She gave him a weak smile, but anyone could tell that the day with her rival in love had taken a lot out of her.

“You look like hell, Rel,” Wufei said, sitting down on her bed and kicking off his shoes.

“You don’t look much better, Fei. You and Treize have a fight?”

“We’re over.” His voice was flat and emotionless.

“What? Why?”

“Well, it might have something to do with the female in the background when I called him today that he called sweetheart. Or it could have to do with the fact that my “mysterious lover” that you’ve been heckling me over for a couple of years now finally made his feelings known.”

“WHAT? TELL ME EVERYTHING!”

--------------------------

They stayed up that night talking, and Relena let Wufei know about the phone call she’d just had from Hiroshi, telling her everything. When she heard how the Japanese boy hadn’t even bothered to stop Meiran from crashing the car into the tree, she just kind of hung up on him. The look on Wufei’s face was priceless. I must admit that seeing Relena finally putting a stop to the leaking in her heart was the moment that I was proudest of her.

However, Wufei telling her about me was strange. I wanted to make myself corporeal to talk to her then about everything that I’d witnessed in Heaven and as an outside observer, but that was strictly forbidden. I had crossed too many lines at that point and I didn’t want to risk another action that would separate Wufei and me again. Wasn’t happening. Nope. Nada.

She seemed to take it all in stride, and Noin hugged me fiercely when she could react again. She mentioned something about missing me, but I must admit that I was too captivated by the soft look in his eyes and the easy way he smiled as he talked about me. I was so putty in the human’s hand, and neither of us minded one bit.

So, when they fell asleep in her bed in one another’s arms, it wasn’t jealousy that gripped me. It was anxiety over Solo, fear of the future with Wufei, and envy that Relena could sleep so peacefully next to him while I had to watch. The phone ringing shocked us all, as it was only a few hours after the teens had fallen asleep. The news that it gave was enough to firm my resolve over the demon.

Wufei’s house was on fire…. And no one could find his family.

Notes:
1 – Tsao – Mandarin, curse word
2 - Duàn bèi – Mandarin, homosexual; fag