Honor and Justice

Chapter 9

By Aryn

Wufei had just stepped out of his shower and pulled his shirt on when he heard a knock at his door. Frowning slightly at who it could be, he pulled his hair back into a ponytail and went to answer the door. Mei stood there, a shy smile on her face.

"Good morning." she said.

"Morning." he replied.

"I wanted to thank you for your gift to me." she told him, glancing at the ground.

"You're welcome." he told her, not sure of what else to say.

"I have something for you now." she said.

"What is it?" he asked, getting slightly suspicious.

"You have to come with me."

Eyeing her cautiously, he grabbed his shoes and shut the door. Once they were out on the street, he tried asking her again where they were going.

"You're just going to have to wait." she said. They walked through the open air Chinese market that was swarming with people. It didn't take long for Wufei to get separated from his guide. Under normal circumstances this wouldn't have bothered him, but since he didn't know where they were headed, he was lost. He soon felt a warm hand in his and looked down to see that Mei had fought her way back through the crowd to him.

"Sorry, I forget that I'm not the only one making my way through a mass of people." she smiled. Keeping a firm grip on his hand, she made her way through the market place. Once the crowd died down and they had reached the back streets of the colony, her grip loosened. Wufei's however, didn't. Mei smiled inwardly, wondering how he was going to break this wonderful moment the way he always tended to do.

"When are you going to tell me where we're going?" he asked.

<Well, that could have been said a lot nastier.> Mei thought to herself. "I'll tell you when we get there. If you can be patient for a few more minutes."

Wufei looked down at her with annoyance written on his face, but Mei noticed the amusement in his eyes. Maybe there was hope for him yet. They reached where the parks were and Mei slowed her walk down to a stroll. Wufei looked around at the trees and the playground and the other people that chosen to come out and enjoy the day.

"This is it?" he asked.

"No." Mei said. "That is."

She pointed to a large stone memorial set in the center of the park. She let go of his hand and stood back slightly as he stepped forward to read the names that were inscribed. The fifth name down caught his eye. Chang Merian. He read that the monument stood for the battle where she had died and commemorated all those who had given their lives in it.

Mei stood back and watched his expression go from interest to thoughtfulness and finally sadness. By giving her the bracelet last night, he had given her a sense of closure. She had hoped that this would have done the same for him.

"So this is what is left of my wife?" he asked lowly. "A name carved out of stone?"

"No, far from it." Mei answered. "This was set up to honor those who fought bravely in the defense of the colony."

"A colony that no longer exists." he replied sharply. "Every single one of these names died in vain. So what's the purpose in honoring them now?"

"So why are you fighting now?" she shot back. "The Preventers could be wiped out anytime soon. So why fight for them? And if you fight on your own, what good is that? You'll die anyway and leave no one else to fight." Hot angry tears had welled up in her eyes due from her frustration. It never failed. She would go out of her way to do something nice and he would just dash her efforts with one sentence. "I'm honored that my friend's name is on this monument because she had more bravery than I ever had. And I'm sorry that you do not feel the same as me, and her name has become nothing more than just that."

Wufei was startled by her passion. He hadn't realized the Merian and Mei had been so close. He had come to terms with the loss of his wife, he didn't need to be reminded of her bravery and actions in that final battle. He dreamed about it every night. But it was obvious that this monument meant something to Mei, and she believed it would mean the same to him. But it didn't. It only stirred up bitter feelings inside of him. So why did she bring him here? She wasn't the kind of person that would just do something out of spite. She was a kind woman, he had seen that much by how everyone treated her here and how she treated her daughter. No, she brought him here out of an act of kindness. Maybe he wasn't looking at the monument right. He turned back to smooth stone and softly ran a hand over Merian's name. As he did so, he caught his reflection in the stone. Maybe his focus on the monument wasn't this problem. What if he was problem?

____________________________________

Noin regard the people sitting around the conference table. Nari was back to her normal self and was looking well rested, as was Quatre. Trowa was his usual quiet self, but still suffering from an intense headache due from the time he had spent in stasis. And Duo's humming wasn't helping him any.

"Well, I'm glad that due to some mishaps on the last mission, everything went well and then some." Noin said, staring at Trowa. "But I'm afraid that our resting time isn't going to last for long. OZ has figured out that we now have the disks from Waverly Enterprises and have re-done their plans. From now on, all bases located on colonies have gone to alert and have increased their security. We are going to earth and help Zechs Marquise defend the New Sanc Kingdom."

"What about Heero and his team?" Quatre asked.

"They're going to met us there." Noin answered.

"When are we leaving?" Duo asked.

"We're already on our way."

_____________________________________

Arys stood on the balcony of their hotel room, watching the people walk by on the street below her. She had never realized how much fun it was to people-watch; Mei had introduced her to the pastime yesterday. A couple, obviously in love, slowly strolled by, their gazes on each other. Arys smiled to herself. Had she and Heero looked like that when they had first fallen in love?

Warm arms slipped around her waist from behind, and she leaned back against Heero. He kissed her right below the ear and then hugged her tightly. Arys closed her eyes and sighed contentedly.

"You're up early," Heero said, his lips close to her ear.

"We're leaving, Heero, remember?" Arys was disappointed that they had to leave. To her, this mission had felt like a vacation, one that they both had sorely needed.

"But not for another five hours..." Heero kissed her again, this time on the cheek.

"Oh, and just what did you have in mind, Heero Yuy?" Arys turned in his arms and grinned up at him.

"Breakfast." Heero smiled back at her roguishly.

Arys loved it when he smiled like that. She laughed. "Oh, really, Heero?" She shook her head helplessly at Heero's teasing. "Breakfast sounds good. But if you want breakfast, you'd better get dressed."

The smile faded from his face, replaced by a sober look. "Oh, but first, I have to give my wife a good morning kiss."

Arys nodded. "I can't argue with..." She was cut off as Heero kissed her a third time, on the lips.

One hour later, the couple sat at a sidewalk cafe. Arys sipped at her coffee as she again resorted to people-watching. Heero had brought a mission report with him and was making frustrated sounds as he read it over.

"Sir, breakfast is not for doing work." The waiter told Heero politely. He glanced at Arys. "Especially when you have such a lovely breakfast partner."

"Hmph." Heero's response was less than kind, then Arys realized that Heero was completely ignoring the waiter and was actually hmphing at the paper in his hands.

"Heero? Is everything all right?"

Heero actually put the paper down, much to the waiter's relief as he refilled their coffee mugs. Heero muttered a quick thank-you to the waiter, which surprised Arys, and drank some coffee before replying to Arys' question. She could tell he was also waiting for the waiter to leave. The waiter swayed away, answering a call from another table.

"This mission report reads like we were on vacation." Heero looked displeased. "It isn't..."

".. your style?" Arys finished for him, setting her mug down. "I know that you're used to our life-or-death missions, but for me, this mission was a breath of fresh air."

Heero sighed. "Yes, it was." Heero reached across the table and took one of Arys' hands, his face serious. "Arys, do you like being married to me?"

Arys was completely taken aback by the question. It was so unlike him to ask her something so serious and with so many people around. She looked down at the table for a few moments, wondering why there was a lump in her throat. Maybe she was disappointed that Heero even had to ask her such a question. She glanced up at Heero to find him studying her face thoughtfully. Arys took a deep breath and answered his question. "I don't like being married to you, Heero Yuy." When Heero's eyes saddened at her words, Arys put her other hand over their clasped ones and gazed at Heero seriously. "I love it."

At her words, the light returned to Heero's eyes, and Arys could tell that he wanted to kiss her right then and there, but didn't dare with so many people present. Instead, he raised her hands to his lips and kissed the palms of both.

"Ai shiteru, Arys."

Arys smiled at him, knowing now why he had asked her. He had been wondering if she regretted the danger she put herself in by being married to him. Now he knew that it did not matter to her one bit. "I'm yours forever, Heero."

For a few more moments, they just stared at each other, lost in each other's eyes. Arys smiled inwardly. Perhaps they had been like that couple she had seen from the balcony just that morning. Heero suddenly stood to his feet.

"Let's go," Heero said, pulling Arys to her feet and tossing some money onto the table.

Arys looked at her watch. "But we still have two hours..."

"There's a lot more to see here, Arys. And," Heero paused and gave her a tender look. "this is probably one of the few times in the next few days that I'll have you all to myself."

"You're a selfish person, Heero."

"Can't blame me for wanting to spend time with my wife, can you?"

The couple left the cafe, chuckling softly. The waiter watched them leave, a pleased look on his face. "Ah, now that is the way breakfast should be!"

_____________________________________

Wufei found Mei sitting on one of the park benches, gazing wistfully at the playground where children were playing. She was so lost in thought that all her masks that she tended to wear had been stripped away and a lonely, sad woman was left.

"May I sit down?" he asked quietly. She moved over to the end of bench silently.

"You miss Hana, don't you?" he tried again.

"Yes, I do." she finally replied.

"So do I." he said. Mei gave him a surprised look. "Annoying as she may be." he tried to regain himself. "Look, I'm sorry. I didn't realize Merian was that close to you. I'm sure it was hard on you bringing me here."

Mei looked down at her folded hands. "I shouldn't have though. I should have known better than to make you face that loss again."

She saw a hand close over her two folded ones and hold them tightly.

"Thank you." he told her, leaning over towards her.

"For what?" she asked, looking up at him. His black eyes held such an intensity that she had never seen before.

"For your kindness." he replied, leaning towards her more. Mei smiled and inclined her head, attempting to met him halfway. But just as his lips were about to touch hers, a voice called out across the park.

"Mei Ling!"

Mei quickly drew back and looked to see who had called her. Wufei sat back on the bench, attempting to hid his annoyance and embarrassment at the situation. What in the world had possessed him to act like that?

Mei stood up and shielded her eyes against the sun to see who it was that was walking towards her. Quickly the hand dropped to her side and a look of uneasiness passed over her features.

"Oh no." she murmured.

A tall, well built Chinese man came jogging up the hill with a wide smile on his face. Wufei regarded him, arms crossed over his chest and a scowl on his face. He didn't like the guy from the start.

"Shen, how are you?" Mei greeted, a forced smile on her face.

"Mei Ling, I don't believe it's you." the man said, hugging her unexpectedly. Wufei stood his feet when he noticed Mei was not exactly thrilled about this man.

"Uh, Shen, this is Chang Wufei." Mei introduced.

Shen extended his hand to Wufei who just regarded the man with distrust and kept his arms folded.

"Right." Shen smiled slyly as his gaze went from Mei to Wufei and back to Mei again. "How's Hana?" Shen asked, changing the subject.

"She's fine." Mei answered shortly.

"Is she here?"

"No, she's with friend's."

"Oh, do you still live in the colony?" Shen asked.

"No, I moved."

"Again? You're a tough person to keep up with. So how long are you here for?"

"I leave this afternoon."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that." Shen said with a hurt look. "There isn't anything I can do to change your mind and make you stay?"

"No, I'm afraid not." Mei answered.

"That's a shame. I would have liked to take you out for dinner."

Mei shrugged her shoulders, the fake smile still plastered on her face. Wufei looked down at his watch. They still had four hours before their shuttle left. But since Shen didn't know that, Wufei decided to use it as an excuse. He reached over and took Mei's arm, getting her attention.

"We need to get going if we're going to make it to our shuttle on time." he told her. Mei looked at him with thankful eyes.

"You're right Wufei. I didn't realize it had gotten so late." she replied. "Shen, it was nice seeing you again. Take care of yourself." she said, walking away with Wufei, who still had a firm grip on her arm.

"It was nice seeing you as well Mei." he called after her. "Maybe our paths will cross again."

"I sure hope not." she mumbled when they were out of earshot. Wufei let go of her arm and smiled down at her.

"Old boyfriend?" he asked.

"No, I wish it were that simple." she said. "My parents and Shen's parents were very close friends. And when Shen and I were born, they promised each other that we would be married, bringing the two families together. But my father caught Shen's father in the middle of a dishonest business deal and called off the vow. The man that had pointed out the dishonest business deal was Deshi's father."

Wufei nodded his head in understanding. "I don't like Shen." he stated bluntly.

Mei laughed delightedly. "Really? I never would have guessed."

"What do you mean by that?" he asked her.

Mei stood back and crossed her arms in front of her and over emphasized a scowl, attempting to impersonate Wufei. He had to laugh at the picture she made.

"I hope I didn't look like that." he said, continuing to walk.

"You probably didn't. You looked worse." she commented with a laugh. Wufei looked down at her and she caught his gaze and returned it. Yes, she could definitely fall in love with this man. Oh, who was she kidding, she already had. She wondered if he felt the same about her. Whenever she would see some sign of hope that he did, he would always mask it and continue on in his harsh gruff manner. Only time would tell.

"Would you like to have lunch?" he offered.

"I would love to have lunch." she replied.

"Mr. Wu's?" he questioned.

"You like it that much?"

"It's the only restaurant I know."

Mei laughed and shook her head. "Mr. Wu's it is."