Author's Note:
This story was spawned from a bizarre conversation I had with two of my friends about ghosts. I have a ghost that walks around in my attic and a demon bike, Tsuki has a demon phone, and Bara has a possessed CD player.Warnings: Lemony freshness somewhere in the center, because I'm a dirty little hentai, yes I am, my precioussssss....
Disclaimer: I own them all!!! BUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! *gets struck by a bolt of lightening from above* Alright, alright. I may have sinned, but there's no need to push me around.
Wufei leaned over the railing of the balcony he was standing on, watching the festivities below. He always hated these assignments, and Sally knew it. Why in hell would she do this to him? But it was his job, and he had to do it. Given his background, Wufei should have pounced on this job, security for the L3 Chinese New Year festival. But Wufei had avoided gatherings like these since becoming a pilot. Too many faces. It seemed everywhere he looked, a face of an old acquaintance long since dead from the massacre of his colony stared back at him. Elders, schoolmates, his family. And every once in a long while, some young girl would turn around and Wufei would see Meiran again. Then she faded and it was some stranger looking at him.
Luckily, Wufei had gotten the general survey. He was high enough above the crowd that he couldn't see faces, but not high enough that any suspicious movement would escape his attention. He rested his hands on the balcony railing and immersed himself in hi thoughts, while keeping an eye out for trouble. He was jolted out of his thoughts by a door opening behind him. He whirled around, but it was only Sally.
"Good job, Wufei." She said. "I'm here to relieve you." Wufei didn't reply, but his relief must have shown in his eyes, because Sally softened her gaze and said, "Listen Wufei, I'm sorry to do this. Normally I would have found a way to weasel out of it, but HQ insisted on it."
"I'm fine." Wufei replied gruffly. "Good luck." He walked stiffly past her and down the stairs, trying not to break into a run to get away from the faces. He forced himself through the crowd, keeping his eyes down, to where his car was parked. He climbed in and drove away, still trying to keep his flight instincts under control.
Wufei arrived back at his apartment with relief. He flicked on the TV and plopped down on the couch with the mail and glanced through it. Bills, bills, bills, postcard from Duo the annoying baka, a letter. Wufei ignored the former and turned his attention to the letter. He flipped it over, looking for a return address. The postmark said it had been mailed here, not too long ago in fact. There was no return address, just his address printed in pencil on the front. Curious, he ripped it open. The only thing that fell out was a small slip of paper with the words, Missing you, printed in the same hand as that that had addressed the envelope.
Wufei got up and pulled a beer from the fridge. He sat down at his small kitchen table to puzzle over the enigmatic message. The writing, though neat, was faint and slightly shaky, as if the writer didn't have a very good grip on the pencil. The paper and envelope were dime-store, nothing distinguishing. The short message gave Wufei the impression that it was someone he knew. Duo playing a trick? No, this wasn't his style. Quatre, maybe? If it was, then the postmark would probably be a resource satellite. Wufei took a sip of beer and continued thinking. He puzzled and puzzed till his puzzler was sore, then Wufei thought of something he hadn't before. It's late and I have work tomorrow.
******
Wufei yawned the next morning as he said good morning to Sally. She looked at him critically, her doctor persona taking over.
"Did you sleep okay last night?"
"No," Wufei replied shortly. "The neighbors were walking around upstairs last night. I couldn't sleep a wink."
She looked at him curiously. "I thought your apartment was on the top floor. You don't have any neighbors above you."
"So I thought, too," he replied, stiffling a yawn. "Apparently I was wrong.
That night, Wufei had almost forgotten about the strange letter and the footsteps in the night. He came as usual, checked his email, watched the news, and went to bed. Before he went to sleep, he popped in a CD to keep himself company. It was one of those pop-rock compilations, nothing truly inspiring. He was half-asleep when the CD finished. He dropped into an uneasy sleep.
Much later, Wufei was awakened by music. He rolled over, thinking, Stupid kids, partying at all hours. Then he remembered that there were no teens on his floor, or the floor below for that matter. He listen to the music. It was similar to the music he had been playing, but had a weird demonic quality to it. It was quite frightening actually. Wufei sat up in bed and the music stopped. He lay back down and tried to get back to sleep, but it was impossible. The music (although he hated to admit such a weakness in himself) had terrified him.
******
Sally looked at him the next morning when he dragged himself in two hours late with huge bags under his eyes. She immeadiately put a hand to his forehead to check his temperature. He waved her off with a yawn.
"Sally, I'm fine. I just didn't get much sleep." He tried to put as much sincerity into his words as possible, but Sally raised an eyebrow at him.
"This is two days in a row you've had little or no sleep. What was it this time?"
"My neighbors were having a party."
"Oh, which ones, the couple next door celebrating their seventieth anniversary?"
"Hn." Wufei brushed by her to his desk. He buried himself in a mountain of paperwork from the assignment before last. He hated the paperwork, but at least it kept his mind off the mysterious letter, the footsteps, and the eerie music. In fact, he managed to bury himself in tedium until the middle of that afternoon, stopping only briefly for a sandwich from the vending machine. He had almost managed to forget the odd happenings when Sally called him from the other room. He got up and stretched, walking towards Sally's office. He poked his head in to see her bent over a spreadsheet.
"Yes, Sally?"
She looked up. "What, Wufei?"
Wufei blinked. "But - you just called me."
Sally shook her head. "Wasn't me. I haven't spoken to anyone since Noin called two hours ago. Maybe it was someone else."
"But, it was definitely a woman, and you're the only woman in the general vicinity." Wufei frowned, struggling with it. "Maybe I'm just hallucinating."
"Maybe so," Sally looked concerned. "You haven't been getting much sleep lately. Paired with the amount of work we've had over the past three days and the stress of that celebration, I'd say that hallucinations might be possible. You should take the rest of the day off and go home to sleep."
Wufei shook his head. "No, I'm fine." Silently, he added, I am not going to succumb to weakness! Ignoring another concerned look from Sally, Wufei turned and went back to his own office. He continued working, but soon -
"Wufei! Wufei, I need you!" It was Sally again, or sounded like her at any rate. Wufei froze. He didn't wish to humiliate himself again by going to her office if he was just hallucinating, and if it was really important, Sally would come get him. Now that he thought about it, the voice didn't really sound like Sally at all. He ignored it, but again the voice called out, "Wufei!" Wufei rose from his seat, then sat back down firmly, intent on ignoring it. The voice tried one more time. "Wufei." She sounded sad. There were no more calls and Wufei put it out of his mind until he arrived home that night.
Jittery about any more odd noises in the night, Wufei tried to relax with some meditation and exercises. It almost worked, but he was still rather jumpy that night when he finally crawled under the covers. He slept more deeply and peacefully that he ever remembered having slept, waking only once.
Wufei rolled over and opened his eyes part way. Moonlight was pouring in the window, pooling on the carpeted floor. Wufei could vaguely see the shape of a girl sitting in the pool of moonlight. A small, somewhat delicate girl who gave off the impression of hidden strength. She was wrapped in some diaphanous silky material that floated around her. When Wufei first saw her, she was looking out the window. As he kept watching, she turned to face him. Her features were Oriental, and there was a sphinx-like smile hovering on her lips. She winked at Wufei and faded out; he rolled over and promptly fell asleep. The next morning when he awoke, he remembered nothing, but had the warm glow of someone who'd just dreamt the best dream of his life.
******
"Well you look happy," Sally remarked at Wufei almost bounced into the office. "Had a good sleep for once?"
"The best." Wufei almost smiled. "Now bring on the paperwork."
Wufei was still in an excellent mood that night, so instead of driving down to the grocery store, he decided to walk (yes, happy people like to walk. Shut up.). He strolled down the street humming to himself, when a voice cut the air.
"She's coming for you." Wufei whirled at the raspy, cracked voice. He saw a little old homeless lady curled up in a doorstep, grinning up at him toothlessly. He blinked.
"Beg pardon?"
"She's coming for you," the old woman repeated. "I can see her following you. Come for you, she has. Hee hee hee!" She sounded like a slightly insane Yoda. (A/N: How come Yoda shows up on spellcheck, but Jedi doesn't?) Wufei decided to back away slowly.
"I'll take your word for it," he assured her. "I'll make sure she doesn't get me."
"Come for you she has, hee hee hee!" the old woman continued cackling as Wufei quickly walked away. He got his groceries and hurried home, being careful to take a detour around the crazy lady's doorstep.
That night, the girl appeared again. Wufei watched her for a while before she noticed him watching her and faded out. He couldn't shake off the strange feeling that he knew her, but in his half-awake state, nothing really registered. The next morning, he remembered her, but only as a half-vague dream that faded before he got to work. Sally looked at him oddly again when he cheerfully accepted an assignment that would have had him screaming 'INJUSTICE!' if he had been acting normally.
The ghostly apparition appeared that night, and the next, and the next, and the next, for weeks on end. Wufei gradually began to remember her during the days, and miss her on the rare occasions he would wake up and she wouldn't be there. Sally continued to give him odd looks, as did Quatre when he came for a visit. Wufei wondered if he was going crazy, if it was just an odd recurring dream. One day, months after the footsteps on his roof had kept him awake, Wufei was walking home from work.
He was walking past a little flower vendor and, on impulse, bought a tiger lily (A/N: I know, a rose would have been more appropriate, but the whole Trieze thing and I like tiger lilies more. So there.). The vendor, a wizened old man, smiled up at the Chinese youth.
"Got a sweetheart, heh?" he wheezed.
Wufei' mouth twitched in three sixteenths of a smile. "I guess you could say that." He walked away with his plan forming in his head.
******
Before Wufei went to bed that night, he placed the tiger lily in the spot where the moonlight hit and where the girl always sat. He fell asleep wondering if she would take it. That night, he woke to see her bent over the tiger lily. She picked it up delicately gazing at it for a moment. Then, seeming to come to a decision, she turned and glided over to Wufei. He quickly shut his eyes, knowing that she would fade if she knew he was looking at her. He peeked out from under lowered lids as she bent over him. He felt ghostly lips brushing over his cheek and heard her say softly, "Thank you, Wufei,"
He couldn't resist temptation any longer. He open his eyes and gazed at her face. He had never seen it clearly; the moonlight had made it pale and indistinct. She opened her eyes wide and jerked back. She faded out quickly, dropping the lily to the bed. Wufei sighed and placed it on the low bedside table. Baka, he thought, I scared her away. But as Wufei fell back asleep, he knew his lily ploy hadn't been in vain. Now he knew who this mysterious nighttime apparition was, why she was haunting him. It was Meiran.
******
When Meiran saw Wufei open his eyes, she was so startled that she had faded out, not even taking the lovely lily with her. AS she settled onto the roof, her favourite hiding spot, she cursed herself.
Baka, baka, baka! You should have taken your chance!
As she thought about the flower, she realized, Wufei is very sweet. I never knew he had it in him. She gazed over the rooftops. When we were married, I never gave him a second thought. I brushed him off as a stupid, weak, uncaring scholar. But he's changed. Now he's strong and sweet. And good looking. She bit her lip as she realized that he had always been handsome, she was just too arrogant to notice. But she had noticed that night, when she bent over him. So much time wasted. . .
Meiran's thoughts roamed back over the years since she had died. When she had died in that battle, her spirit hadn't gone far. She had thought that it was because she had wanted to finish the battle, but now realized that that wasn't true. Meiran had watched as Wufei had held her body and cried out his revenge - and his love. She had watched as he trained, became stronger. She had watched as he was helpless as the colony was destroyed. She had watched him throughout his missions, the battle with White Fang, the almost fatal fight with Wing. She had watched him as a Preventer, and slowly, very slowly, had realized that the reason she hadn't fully died was that she hadn't wanted to, not yet. She still had to find a way to make up for lost opportunities, to reassure Wufei, to tell him she loved him. And slowly, she had been doing that. She sat in his room every night, disappearing when he saw her. She knew that she could do it now, knew she could become real - real enough to touch him, to kiss him, to love him. And she would. But first she would get her flower.
******
The next morning when Wufei woke up, he remembered seeing the girl - seeing Meiran. He quickly sat up and looked for the lily on the bedside table. It was gone. Wufei smiled, a real smile, and got up to get dressed (A/N: I'll bet Meiran as watching THAT, too).
That day at work, he was quiet; even though he was usually quiet, this was more of a subdued quiet as opposed to a Heero-quiet. Late that afternoon, Sally came into his office to talk to him.
"Listen, Wufei." She started. "You've been extremely happy for the past few months, before that extreme exhaustion. Then today you appear to have had a major mood swing. What is going on?"
"Nothing's going on, Sally, I'm fine."
"So you keep telling me. Something happened between the time you left work yesterday and the time you walked in this morning. It has something to do with your exhaustion and elation."
"Listen, Sally," Wufei said, starting to get slightly angry. "I said I'm fine. Nothing happened! Why do you have to doctor me?"
"I'm not doctoring you, Wufei, I'm just worried!" Sally's voice rose somewhat.
"Oh yeah, you're worried that you might have to get a new partner!"
"That's a load of bullshit, Wufei! I'm worried because I'm your friend!"
"Friends would leave friends alone when they ask!"
"No, friends try to help their friends!"
"How would you know, I doubt you've had a friend in your life!"
*SLAP* Wufei blinked and pressed a hand to his stinging cheek. Sally's voice was low and controlled. "Wufei, there is something wrong with you. Until you can trust me enough to tell me, you are fired." She spun and walked out of the little office. Wufei sat there with his jaw hanging in the wind, one hand still pressed to his cheek.
"F-f-fired?" he blinked. Seeming to move in slow motion, he walked out of his office, down the hall, into the elevator and out of the building. In a haze, he walked back to his apartment. He went through the motions of living, still numb, and sat down to watch TV, not caring what was on. As the sun began to sink, he came out of his haze and turned off the TV. He wandered through the small apartment, finally sitting on his bed and burying his face in his hands.
"I yelled at Sally, the closest thing to a friend I have. She slapped me. I was fired. What have I done? Oh, Sweet Nataku!"
"Yes?"
Wufei snapped his head up. Standing, or rather floating, in front of him, was Meiran, or her ghost anyway. She smiled at his confusion. "You called me," she said, "Or at least I hope you did. You did say that I was Nataku, right after I died."
"Meiran!" Wufei breathed, not believing his eyes.
"Yes, Wufei, it's me," she glided over to the bad and sat down. "I'm sorry about your fight with Sally. It's really my fault." She rested her head on his shoulder.
"You knew about that?" Wufei asked.
Meiran nodded. "I followed you today." She reached up and touched the fading red mark. "That bitch shouldn't have slapped you."
"She was justified. I insulted her badly." Wufei shook his head. "I can't believe I'm having this conversation. I mean, you're, well -"
"Dead?" Meiran supplied. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"But, then you must be a -"
"Ghost. Right again."
"But you're not real, are you? I mean, solid and . . . stuff . . ."
"You're so cute when you stutter." Meiran smiled. "I'm real - at least, real enough to do this." she reached up with one hand and pulled Wufei's face towards her. She kissed him firmly on the mouth. "I've regretted all the times I could have done that but didn't," she murmured.
"Me too," Wufei agreed, going in for another kiss. He pulled away. "You kissed me before, when I left you the flower. You're still a ghost."
"That doesn't change a thing. I'm still real enough to feel this," she kissed him again. "Not to mention this," she took his hand and moved it up to her breast, holding it there. "And this," she said, bringing her other hand down to stroke the growing bulge in his pants.
Wufei inhaled sharply. "I believe you," He lowered his face to hers for another kiss. He flicked her lip with his tongue and she opened her mouth to let it in. He broke away and looked down at her, now no longer filmy and indistinct. "Nataku…" Dot. Dot. Dot. You hentais.
******
Wufei awoke the next morning with dawn peeking red through the window. Meiran was still lying beside him, and he relished the feeling of her smooth curves lying along him. Her eyes were open and she was looking at the dawn with trepidation. Wufei squeezed her gently and kissed the top of her head. She looked up at him.
"Good morning, airen," she said in a trembling voice. "It's almost dawn."
Wufei remembered her saying she would fade with the dawn. "Yond light is not daylight; I know it, I. It is some meteor that the sun exhales."
Meiran laughed. "Trust you to quote Shakespeare at such a time as this. Yon grey is not the morning's eye, 'tis but the pale reflex of Cythntia's brow. Come, death and welcome! Wufei wills it so!" She sobered. "I really must go. Goodbye for now, airen."
"Wait!" Wufei said. "I still have to say -"
"Say what?"
"Wo ai ni, Meiran. I love you."
"Wo ai ni, Wufei." Meiran caught his mouth in one last kiss as the dawn flooded fully into the room. Wufei's arms sank as Meiran faded out. Her lips grew fainter and fainter until he was kissing air. Wufei was alone. He opened his eyes and sat up. He watched the dust motes swirl around in the beam of light from the sun that was now crawling up the sky. He looked around, hoping that Meiran had left something, but even the wrap she had been wearing was gone. He sat for a bit longer, stunned by the second loss of his wife.
Dimly, a thought floated up to his conscience. You should get ready for work, followed immediately by, It's way too early, then Sally fired you, remember? Wufei sighed and got up, rummaging around for some clothes. He got dressed and dumped his clothes from last night in the laundry basket. Then he made breakfast. He ate slowly, wishing there was someone he could share this with, someone to talk to about what was in the paper, to scold him for burning the toast (his toaster was on the fritz), just someone, period. When he thought the time was right, he picked up the phone and dialed a number he had memorized but never called.
"Sally? Hi, it's Wufei. Did I wake you? Good. Listen, can I talk to you? Thanks, bye." Wufei hung up the phone. He mentally ran over what he would tell her. Sweet Nataku, give me strength, he thought, and smiled as a stray gust of wind from the open window tousled his hair, imagining that it was Meiran. Maybe it was, he thought.
******
". . . So that's what's been happening," Wufei finished. He glanced at Sally to see if she believed him. She was looking at him with one eyebrow raised and a skeptical smile on her face. Wufei wasn't quite sure that that was a good thing.
"So you're saying your dead wife has been haunting you for the past few months, so you bought her a flower and then slept with her?" she said.
"Um, yeah." Wufei said.
Sally shook her head. "If it were anyone else, I would accuse them of making it up. But I've never heard you tell a lie, so I actually kinda believe you." She leaned forward. "I'm glad you decided to tell me. I hope I'm your friend, even if you seem to believe I don't have any."
Wufei gave two twenty-ninths of a blush. "I was just angry, that's all. I'm really sorry about that comment. It's me who's never had a friend in his life, not you."
"Glad to hear you say that." Sally smiled. "So are you coming back to work?"
"When can I start?"
"Here's your mission." She handed him a print-out.
******
Epilogue-y Thing
It was five years later. Wufei had been in a raid on the Canadian mafia (Established by in the year 2012, old time, now run by Don Kauri, a ruthless mob boss operating out of a summer camp in Nova Scotia) and had sustained major injuries. More like fatal injuries. Sally sat by his hospital bed as he lay barely breathing. He had clung to life for the past three weeks, even though by all rights he should have died right then and there during the raid. Sally held his hand, one of the only parts of him untouched by scarring, and watched him struggle to breathe, even though he was hooked up to a respirator.
"God, Wufei, can't you just die and get it over with!" she said, angry at him for keeping them all hanging by a thread. She didn't actually mean it though.
"I can't," he rasped, startling her. She had thought he was asleep. "I can't die yet." He said again. "I have to wait."
"What for?" she asked, but Wufei had already slipped back into sleep. A nurse bustled over and started checking the various machines keeping the Chinese pilot alive. She glanced at one and gasped.
"What?" Sally asked immediately. She hadn't checked any of the machines, even if she knew what they were for. Her mind wasn't functioning properly.
"I'm afraid," The nurse swallowed. "I'm afraid we're loosing him."
"Oh God, no! Wufei!" Sally tightened her hold on his hand. "I didn't mean it Wufei, God, don't die!"
"Wufei . . ." Sally whirled around, looking for the source of the voice, but the nurse had left and there was no one else in the room. She looked back at Wufei and gasped. He other hand had been lying on the crisp white covers listlessly; now it was rising slowly into the air as if someone was lifting it. Sally blinked, and when she opened her eyes, there was someone else in the room - a filmy, indistinct, pale, but definitely there someone. The apparition was holding Wufei's other hand and bent over him. It glanced up at Sally and Sally did a double take. It was a girl, Oriental like Wufei. Suddenly she remembered the odd story he had told her five years ago.
The ghost gazed at Sally levelly. "Thank you for taking care of my husband so well." she said, the words echo-y, like she was shouting down a long hall. She looked back down at Wufei. "Wufei!" she called. "Wufei, come on, follow me, airen. Wufei . . ."
Wufei stirred in his sleep he open his eyes and turned his head towards the ghost. "Meiran," he sighed. The ghost bent down and kissed him, once. Behind her and through her, the heart monitor flat-lined. Sally dimly made a note of that, even though to her Wufei was still moving. He sat up, still kissing his wife, and stepped away from the bed and his body. Sally watched the two ghosts embrace and then she blinked. When her eyes opened again, they were gone.
With tears in her eyes, Sally glanced down at the limp hand in her own. Wufei's body's eyes were closed, but there was a beatific smile on his face. Sally put down his hand and went to tell the other Gundam pilots, who were waiting in the lobby. ~Owari~