Honor and Justice
Final Chapter
By Aryn
Wufei hit the ground running as soon as the Altron touched the ground. He had barely heard Mei's whisper over the comm, saying she had to break her promise. His memories and nightmares all threatened to take over his mind as he ran towards the fallen Tarsus suit. He had watched it go down. He fought back fearful tears as he jumped up of the wreckage and made for the cockpit. The metal felt the same as in his dream, right down to the slick blood on his hands. He managed to pull the covering off the cockpit and looked down to see where Mei was. He choked back a sob when he saw her. She had be thrown against the side of the window of the cockpit but held in place by the safety straps. Blood flowed freely from a gash in her forehead. She remained unmoving and... No. She couldn't be. Wufei jumped into the cockpit and carefully cut the straps from her frail form and gathered her gently in his arms. Her head lolled to the side and finally rested on his chest as he made his way from the damaged suit. He sunk to the ground a few feet away and cradled her against him.
"Mei?" he said hoarsely. His emotions had overwhelmed his vocal cords and he could barely get out his words. Mei didn't move or respond in anyway.
"Mei? Please, you promised me." he pleaded. Tears welled up in his eyes and ran down his cheeks before he could stop them. He laid his forehead against her bloodied one and sobbed.
"You promised me..." he cried, "Don't leave me."
Mei felt something cold and wet on her face. Why was she asleep? And why was someone crying? She opened her eyes and saw Wufei, bowed over her, weeping. Feebly she raised a hand to his cheek and brushed a tear away.
"What happened?" she whispered.
Wufei's head snapped up at her voice, bewilderment written all over his face.
"Why are you crying?" she said, brushing a hand over his face. He quickly grabbed her hand and kissed it, still holding it against his cheek.
"I thought I lost you." he said.
"Not yet." she whispered. Wufei leaned down and kissed her gently, trying not to worsen her injuries, should she have any. Mei was so thankful to feel his lips on hers again, especially when she believed she was going to die. Wufei drew back slightly and rested his head against hers.
"Wo ai ni." he said.
"Wo ai-" Mei let out a gasp of pain. Wufei quickly checked her body to see what was wrong. Her side was completely drenched with blood. The stitches had broken and the crash had only worsened it.
"Mei, hang on." he said.
"Wufei," she said grabbing his shirt with bloodied hands, "I'm sorry."
"Mei, no, you're going to be fine."
Mei's focus seemed to shift beyond him and her eyes began to dull.
"Mei! Look at me." he pleaded. "Mei, please! Look at me!"
Wufei felt the familiar helplessness as Mei's hand slipped from his and her eyes closed once again.
"What a pity. A casualty."
Wufei turned around to see Shen standing on the beach, katana in hand. Wufei gently laid Mei on the sand. If he was going to lose her, he wanted to go with her and take Shen down with him.
Wufei drew his katana and took up a battle stance. Shen grinned evilly at Wufei and struck a blow. Wufei blocked it easily and attacked. If Mei was going to live, he would have to end this fight soon. Shen began to think that victory was soon to be his and started to get sloppy in his moves. Even with a Gundanium body, his sword skills were lacking.
"Why are you fighting me Chang?" Shen goaded. "Is it because of her?"
"She is worthy to be fought for and avenged." Wufei replied, blocking Shen's attacks with ease.
"She is not worthy of the air she breathes!"
"Then why do you wish to marry her if she isn't worth anything?" Wufei asked, stepping back from the fight.
"Why else? To be rid of her. Deshi was a wise businessman and made sure his lovely little wife would be well taken care of if anything should happen to him." Shen explained, allowing a break to take place in the fight.
"You didn't know?" Shen continued to explain to him. "Mei is worth quite a bit of money. Dead that is."
Wufei had heard enough. During Shen's speech, Wufei pulled out his dagger and hid it carefully behind his back.
"Hey Shen." he said. "How's it feel to be worth nothing. Dead that is." Wufei threw the dagger at the shocked man. His aim was perfect as the point hit it's mark of Shen's eye. The blade made it to the brain, instantly killing Shen. Once the body hit the sand, Wufei calmly walked over to it and grabbed his dagger, wiping the blade on Shen's clothing.
"I wouldn't want to waste a dagger like this on someone like you." Wufei said, replacing the dagger behind his back. He turned to see that Sally was already on the scene, checking over Mei's form.
"How is she?" he asked Sally, as she placed an oxygen masked over Mei's face.
"Not good." Sally responded honestly.
Wufei reached out and grabbed Sally's arm. "Please, save her."
Sally was taken aback by the pleading in his eyes. In all the years she had known and worked with him, he never had pleaded for anything. Till now.
"I'll do my best." Sally promised, climbing into the vehicle. Once they were on the way back to the bunker, Sally assessed the situation.
"All right Miss Ling, help me out here." Sally told the unconscious girl. "If you die, I'm going to have a very upset Chinese man on my hands. So don't die on me."
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The war weary pilots all gathered around Mei's bedside. Due to the amount of blood she lost, Mei had slipped into a coma. Sally hadn't promised anything, but if Mei came out of the a coma within two weeks, she would make it. If she didn't, they might as well just turn the machines off. Wufei had taken up a position closest to the bed and refused to budge. He hadn't moved since she was brought into the room, which was close to three hours ago. Heero put an arm around Arys' shoulders and drew her close to him. He could tell she was upset by the state that her friend was in. Heero wasn't exactly happy about the situation, but he was glad that it was only one person and not more. He was also thankful that it wasn't Arys. He didn't know what he would be doing if it was her in the bed and not Mei. But still, no one deserved to be in that condition. Duo had remained silent during the time they were all in the room, which was unusual, but blessed. Trowa stood against the wall, silently assessing the scene as always. Quatre had arm around Nari as both had concerned looks on their faces.
Sally came into the room and saw the group standing around the small bed. She squeezed her way through the concerned friends and did a quick check of the vital signs.
"Well?" Wufei asked her quietly.
"Well, everything seems to be fine. She just needs to wake up." Sally answered. "I suggest everyone gets some rest tonight. If there's any change, I'll let you all know."
Everyone nodded their head in agreement and followed Trowa out the door. Wufei was the only one that stayed, which was no surprise. He pulled up the chair next to the bed and slumped into it. He gently took her small hand in his and covered it with his other hand.
"I don't know if you can hear me, I hope you can, I don't want to repeat myself. I never thought that I would fall in love again. I went through it all before, including the loss of someone I loved very much. Just when I had given up on finding someone and accepted being alone, I met you. I don't know how you got through all the barriers that I had set up over the years, but you did. And I fought you every step of the way. I'm glad you won. Just don't leave me now."
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Wufei had fallen asleep in the chair, head propped up by his fist. He had been there over five hours and finally exhaustion had caught up with him. Hana crept quietly into the hospital room and over to where Wufei was asleep in the chair. She gently tugged on his pants. Startled, he woke up to find a teary-eyed little girl staring at him with wide brown eyes.
"Aren't you suppose to asleep?" he asked her, checking his watch to see what time it was. Surely she should be sleeping at three o'clock in the morning.
"I can't sleep." she said, starting to cry again. Wufei softened immediately and picked Hana up. She immediately settled into his arms and curled up against his chest.
"Is Mommy going to be all right?" she asked him.
"I hope so Hana." he answered, wrapping an arm around her.
"Wu-Chan."
"What?"
"I'm glad you're here." she said, before laying her head against his chest and falling back asleep.
Wufei wrapped his other arm around her, holding the little girl close to him. He leaned down and kissed her on top of the head. "I'm glad you're here too."
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Mei woke up with the bright sun shining in the window, making the white walls of the hospital room seem much brighter than what they really were. It took her a few minutes to adjust to the brightness. Then she tried to move. All her senses came alive. Every muscle in her body cried out in protest. She groaned as she tried to sit up again. Once she was sitting up in bed, she realized that there was an oxygen mask over her face.
<I must be worse off than I thought.> she said to herself as she removed it and hung on the oxygen machine next to her bed. She looked over to see Wufei and Hana, curled up in a chair next to her bed, sound asleep. It was the most adorable and precious thing she had ever seen. She covered her mouth to stifle a joyful sob, but the sound woke up Wufei. He looked around with bleary eyes till he saw Mei awake and crying. Carefully he laid Hana back down in the chair and went over to Mei.
"Are you all right?" he asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.
Mei just nodded her head as tears rolled down her face.
"Then what are you crying for woman?" he asked. Mei could see he was fighting back tears himself. But that only caused her the cry harder. She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly.
"I love you, Chang Wufei." she sobbed.
"I love you too." he replied, holding her carefully. He let her go, only to lean forward again and kiss her tenderly, thankful that he could feel her in his arms again.
"Thank you." he whispered.
"For what?" she asked.
"For coming back to me."
"Are you two going to get married?" Hana said, now fully awake and jumping up and down on the chair.
"Hana!" Mei said. Even though her voice was stern, the look in her eyes were not.
"Maybe if he asks nicely, you'll say yes, won't you Mommy?" Hana said.
"Hana!" Mei repeated. "Hush!"
"Mei," Wufei said softly.
Mei took her focus off Hana and watched Wufei. The intense look in his eyes that she had seen on rare occasions had returned. He opened his mouth to say something when Duo burst through door.
"Hey guys, she's up! And obviously she's feeling better cause she's kissing Wufei!" he shouted down the hall. Mei could hear the footsteps of the others coming down the hall. She turned to Wufei who had silently retreated back to the chair and picked up the bouncing Hana.
"I'll take care of Hana." Wufei said quietly before he left. Mei just stared at him as he walked out of the room in confusion and then turned to Duo.
"Did I miss something?" Duo asked her.
"You and me both." Mei replied.
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Wufei sunk into Mei's couch and closed his eyes. Hana was happily watching a cartoon on the television which allowed Wufei some peace and quiet. He was so upset with himself. What in the world was he thinking back there? What was he going to do, propose marriage, then and there? Yet as preposterous as that sounded, when he thought about it, it didn't seem that way. He opened his eyes and watched Hana for a little bit. The little girl turned around and saw Wufei staring at her. She got up and climbed on his lap. Hana wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him.
"Are you going to marry Mommy?" she asked.
"I don't know." Wufei answered honestly.
"Why?"
Wufei tried to come up with a reply, but he really couldn't come up with anything. She was a worthy warrior, an independent woman and a kind person. He looked back down at Hana, who was still hanging on his neck.
"Maybe I will." he answered.
"Maybe you will what?"
Wufei and Hana turned around to see Mei leaned against the doorway.
"Mommy!" Hana yelled jumping down off Wufei's lap and running over her mother. Mei carefully got to her knees and hugged her child tightly.
"Wo ai ni, Hana." Mei said happily.
"Wo ai ni Mommy." Hana replied. Mei let go of daughter and found that she was still a little too weak to get up.
"Um, Wufei?" Mei said trying to hide a smile. Wufei walked over to her and carefully picked Mei up and set her on her feet.
"Thank you." she said.
"For what?"
Mei just smiled. "What were you going to say to me in the hospital room?"
"What do mean?" he tried to feign confusion, not exactly ready to voice his thoughts.
"Wufei I did not just skip out on the hospital staff, and stumble my way here to have you back out of something you were going to say to me. Now, before an irate Sally Po comes looking for me, I want to know what you were going to say."
Wufei realized that there was no way out of this now. With a defeated smile, he asked her, "Would you ever consider marrying again?"
"If the right person asked me, yes." she responded. "Would you consider marrying again?"
"If the right person accepted my proposal." he answered. "Would you marry me?"
Before Mei could answer, Wufei's attention was directed to a small hand tugging on his shirt.
"Say please." Hana whispered.