Disclaimer: I do not own GW or anything cannon associated with Gundam Wing. I do own Takai.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 1
Evening
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wufei trudged down the dark road. He yawned, and he pulled his long robe closer around his body. The road was half-lit by stars and the waxing crescent moon. He wasn't usually walking home so late, but he'd been busy doing research on one of the local library's computers. Not the best source, granted, but the only one he could access right now. He couldn't even get anywhere else without fixing Nataku—which he didn't have the supplies for.
Wufei stopped. Someone was sitting beside the road, a little ways away. The person's pale clothes shone slightly in the faint light, and low sobs echoed in the clear air. Wufei pursed his lips and considered finding another way back to the warehouse. The crying stranger sat between the road and the shadowed woods, the best way for Wufei to go if he didn't want to be detected. He started towards the trees. As he stepped off the road, though, the sobs broke off, and he felt the stranger's gaze fix on him.
The stranger stood suddenly and brushed off his robes, sniffling. He was taller than Wufei and very slender. In fact, Wufei began to suspect he wasn't a "he" at all. The crying had been so low as to leave it in doubt, but the stranger's build was too slight for a man. The woman started for the woods herself. Wufei grumphed and continued down the road.
The woman paused at the edge of the trees, her pale face turned towards him. Then she vanished.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wufei was sweating when he reached the warehouse. He had walked back very quickly after seeing the white woman, and now he wanted to take off his outer robe and cool down. But he kept the white robe wrapped around him as he walked in. "Good evening, Nataku."
The silent machine rested against the warehouse wall, beside the small room where Wufei slept and ate. He looked over the mecha. A light layer of dust had settled on it during the day, dulling its looks. Wufei sighed. "Tomorrow, Nataku."
His throat tightened. He had noticed the date at the library, when he'd glanced at a calendar by the door. No matter what, tomorrow he'd get something done.