Disclaimer
I don't own Gundam Wing etc...If you've read my last fic, Gundam Wing-Ghosts of the Past, you'll
know that Reiming, Meilai, and the children are all my creation. In this fic, however, I also
threw in the characters Phillipe and TJ, who are also my creation. This is my second fic; I hope
you like it.
NOTE: I HIGHLY recommend that you read Ghosts of the Past BEFORE you read this one. YES, I
KNOW Ghosts is loooong...but I actually think it's pretty good:) Anyway, there are some
elements in Ghosts that will explain some things in this story, so it should help you some.
Now...on with the story!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Operation: Natural Selection
Prologue
"Useless girl! Is that the best you can do?! You little BITCH!"
SMACK
"You think those eyes are going to help?! Do you want to DIE?! HUH?! If you don't
do better, I'll kill you with my own hands! Now GO and do it again!"
"PATHETIC!" SMACK "Weakling!" SMACK "Useless!" SMACK
FLASH
"NO!!!" Reiming screamed, and jerked up, gasping. She hesitated as she took in her
surroundings. "It was just a dream..."
Reiming was in bed, her husband Trowa next to her. Quickly, she glanced at him, worried that she
had made too much noise. But Trowa merely shifted in his sleep, and gave out a small sigh.
"He's still asleep...that's good..." Reiming murmured, then groaned and tried to wipe some
sweat from her brow, then fell back on bed, sighed, and went back to sleep.
Meanwhile, Trowa carefully opened one eye and regarded his sleeping wife, who was tossing and
turning in her sleep. "It's been three weeks now...she's dreaming about her past..."
elsewhere
"Stop it! Leave me alone!" Meilai cried as she ran down the dark hallway. But
everywhere she looked, there were faces, ghostly faces with grosteque expressions. "Traitor...
murderer..." they murmured, creeping closer and closer. Meilai gasped in horror and ran on,
squeezing her eyes shut. When she opened them once more, there was only one figure, a figure
with steely eyes and a cold smirk on his face. "You know I'll have to eliminate you if you
lose...Veylona..."
FLASH
"MEILAI! Wake up! Meilai!" Wufei cried, shaking his wife, who was thrashing around
in her sleep. "Meilai! It's just a dream! Wake up!"
Meilai's eyes flew open, and she jerked herself up. "Wufei..."
Wufei looked at her worridly. "Meilai...were you having a nightmare?"
"No..."
"You're lying."
Meilai hesitated. "It was...nothing. Just don't worry about it," and she lay back down and
closed her eyes. Wufei frowned as he looked down at her. "It's been so long that she's had
these nightmares," he thought. "It's been at least a month...but what can I do?"
next day
The crowd oohed as they watched the figure on the tightrope above. Reiming walked gracefully
across, then came back and did several stunts. Down below, the Manager, Cathrine, Trowa, and
Giselle were watching also. "She's a natural," the Manager said proudly.
Giselle also watched her mother. "Mommy is so beautiful..." the child thought. "I want to be
just like her when I grow up!"
Suddenly, Reiming misplaced her foot and slipped. The crowd gasped, and several people stood up.
The wire wobbled dangerously, and Cathrine gasped. "Oh no! Reiming!" But Reiming promptly
regained her balance and flashed a big artificial smile. "Oh...she was joking around," someone
in the crowd murmured, and several clapped. But Trowa was watching her with narrowed eyes.
"Reiming has never slipped before, and she's not so stupid as to try to pretend to slip...I have
to do something."
After the show, the Manager pulled her aside. "Really Reiming, you had us all frightened there!
Don't try something like that again, even though it was quite impressive."
Reiming plastered on her fake smile again. "I'm very sorry Manager...my usual routine was
getting so boring; I wanted to try something new. It...won't happen again," she finished,
hesitating somewhat, and went back to the room she and Trowa shared.
Trowa was waiting for her there. "You know as well as I do that that wasn't true," he stated
flatly. "What is wrong? You've never slipped before."
Reiming sighed and ran her hand through her hair. "Nothing...the lights distracted me...I
guess..."
"It wasn't the lights. You haven't been sleeping well, now have you?"
Reiming looked at Trowa wearily. "I...can't seem to hide anything from you, can I?"
"Reiming..." Trowa said, but she cut him off. "Just forget it, okay? I CAN take care
of myself," and she abruptly turned around and walked away.
"Reiming..." Trowa murmured, looking at her.
at the Preventer headquarters
Wufei stared at his wife. She was moving like a zombie, stumbling into walls and throwing
papers all over the place. He winced as she stubbed her toe against her desk, then frowned
as she simply glanced down at it, muttered a half hearted, "Ow," and continued her work.
Finally, after watching her for fifteen minutes, he had enough. Standing up, he paged Lady
Une. "Meilai and I will be taking the rest of the day off," he called.
"That's good...she doesn't seem to be herself today, now doesn't she?" Lady Une asked.
"I...I don't know...what's going on with her. She hasn't been sleeping well," Wufei
sighed.
"Meilai can take an indefinite vacation. Don't let her back in here until she's well,
okay Wufei?" Lady Une said, frowning. "I don't know what's the matter with her, but see to it
that she gets well."
Wufei terminated the connection, then strode out of his office...and nearly ran into Meilai.
She glanced at him, surprised, and dropped all her papers. "Oh crap..." she said wearily,
stooping down to pick them up.
"Meilai, we're going home," Wufei said abruptly. Surprised, Meilai looked up at him.
"Why?"
"You need rest."
Meilai's eyes grew flinty. "I do NOT need a babysitter, Wufei!" she growled.
"Too bad."
Meilai stood up, her eyes flashing. "Oh, so now you're going to try and tell me what to do now,
is that right?" she spat angrily. "Well, it's not going to-Hey! Put me DOWN!"
During her tirade, Wufei had taken a firm grip on his wife and, in an undignified manner,
thrown her over his shoulder like a sack of flour. She beat on his shoulders futilely, but
Wufei stoically ignored the pain and walked out of the headquarters, daring anyone to laugh.
From her office, Lady Une raised an eyebrow. "Well...that's something you don't see
everyday..."
at the Chang residence
Wufei carried Meilai through the door. Meilai was no longer struggling, but was maintaining a
blank mask of rage on her face. He walked into their bedroom, dumped her unceremoniously on
the bed, and walked out of the room. Meilai sat up and waited, knowing that he HAD to come
back sometime, and when he did...
In another room, Wufei was making a phone call. "Hello?"
"Trowa? This is Wufei."
that evening
Trowa turned to look at his wife, who was getting ready for bed. He thought about the
conversation he had had with Wufei earlier, then resolutely, headed for his wife.
Reiming watched her husband curiously. "He's plotting..." she thought suspiciously. "What is
he up to now?"
Trowa reached Reiming and sat down next to her. Neither said anything for awhile, then Reiming
said, "What are you up to Trowa?"
"You know, Meilai hasn't been sleeping well either."
"She hasn't?" Reiming asked, raising an eyebrow. "How would you know?"
"Wufei called today. He's worried about her, as I am about you."
Reiming groaned and threw up her hands. "I'm just fine. Leave me alone!"
"Sorry no. I'm not sitting by and watching you torture yourself. Regardless, Wufei and
I had a long talk, and we've decided that we're going to make you two tell us what happened."
Reiming stood up abruptly. "Trowa...that's cruel," she said coldly. "You know that I don't
want to even think about that time in my life."
Trowa stood up also. "Well then, if you won't talk about it..." and he produced a laptop and
handed it to her. "Write it down, at least. Get it off of your chest. I've already told the
Manager that you need some time alone. Take as long as you need." And with that, Trowa
went back to bed and fell asleep.
Reiming stared at the laptop in her hands, then, hesitantly, went over to a desk and put it on.
She stared at the screen in front of her, and began to type.
elsewhere
"...you had NO right...can't believe you did that...I'm JUST FINE...leave me alone..."
Meilai snarled furiously as Wufei sat there, more or less ignoring her. He knew that she had
to wrap it up...eventually. After another thirty or so minutes, Meilai finally finished and
she glared at her husband. "You didn't hear a word I said, now did you?!"
"No...I heard...some."
Meilai glared some more, then turned around to flounce off to the bedroom. "You're sleeping on
the couch tonight!" she growled. Wufei smiled thinly, and reached out and grabbed her elbow.
"Now what?!" she spat. In response, he shoved a laptop at her. "Trowa's forcing Reiming to do
the same," he said simply.
Meilai stared at the laptop in her hands, completely bewildered. "What's this?"
"I want you to write down everything that happened. It'll let you vent some steam
that way."
Meilai looked at him oddly. "Wufei...I have WORK tomorrow. I can't stay up all night and then
some pouring out over ten years on this thing."
"Lady Une had already insisted that you stay home until you're ready to come back to
work," Wufei said, shoving her towards the couch. "Now start typing."
"You just don't want to sleep on the couch," she muttered after he left. She sighed,
then began to type.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sooo...what do you think?? Any and all feedback is welcome, just email me at
lilangel4u@yahoo.com. thanks for reading!
Chapter One
~Reiming~
"You are no daughter of mine...of mine...of mine..." The voice echoed through my
head as I ran through the rain. Choking back a sob, I gripped my sword tighter and
continued running, not knowing where to go, but just knowing that I just had to run. Suddenly,
I tripped and fell face down into the mud. This was too much for me, and I finally broke
down crying. "I HATE YOU ALL!" I screamed futilely through my tears, and angrily beat
my fists on the ground. "I...hate...you...all..." Curling up miserably into a ball, I
cried myself to sleep.
later
"Who is this girl?"
"Chang Reiming, of the Dragon clan. She ran away."
"Ran away from home now, did she?"
"Yes...worthless girl child! Of course, the patriarch has already spread word that
she will be disowned, of course...Can't have insubordinate females go unpunished, now can
we?"
"Disowned by the Dragon clan? Dragon clan..."
At the sound of the voices, I wearily opened one eye. I could barely discern two
figures standing above me. One seemed to be a local merchant, the other was wearing foreign
clothes that I had never seen before. As soon as I stirred, the two figures stared down at
me.
"So if she is disowned, it doesn't matter if she simply disappears, right?"
"Of course not! She may as well be dead."
The figure in foreign clothes nodded, and he removed some money from his pocket. "You never
saw me," he muttered quietly. The merchant nodded, and quickly walked away. That done, the
man looked down at me and quickly jabbed me with a needle. The last thing I remembered before
I fell asleep was being dragged to my feet and being carried away.
several hours later
"Ugh..."
I opened my eyes wearily, completely disoriented. "Where...where AM I?" Looking around, I
seemed to be in a large room with hundreds of other children. "Is this an orphanage?"
After my head stopped spinning, I climbed to my feet, then realized with horror that my
sword was gone.
"Are you looking for this?"
Quickly, I turned around. Standing in front of me was a round faced girl with wide eyes, and
with braided hair in loops. She wore Asian clothes, just like me, and she was holding two
swords, one of which was mine.
"Yes...that is my sword..."
The girl smiled shyly and gave it back to me. "You were out cold, and some boys wanted to take
it. I convinced them otherwise," and she brandished her own sword, giggling. I smiled thinly.
"What is your name?" she asked. "I'm Ron Meilai."
"My name is...my name is...Lillith," I stammered, spitting out the first name that I
thought of. "Lillith? But...aren't you Asian?"
"Well yes...I'm Chinese, but I was given a foreign name," I lied. Even though this
girl seemed friendly, I wasn't about to take my chances; I had been taught to be wary, and
I did not like the situation I was in right now. "So, where are we?"
At that, Meilai's smile vanished. "I...I don't know, but I don't like it. I haven't been here
any longer than you have, really...maybe only and hour or so more. Anyway, be on your guard."
I nodded. "Of course. Are you a fighter too?"
Meilai smiled proudly. "I'm a member of the Ron clan. My older sister is the great Ron
Meiran. She is the betrothed of Chang Wufei, of the Dragon clan. It is a great...honor to be
her sister," she finished uncertainly, speaking as if she had memorized a script. But at the
moment, I wasn't thinking too much of that. "Dragon clan...Wufei..." I thought to myself, then
forced it out of my head. "No! I don't want to think about it!"
"Think about what?"
Oh. Great. Just great; I'd said that last part out loud. I just shook my head. "It's
nothing."
Just then, a door opened, and everyone turned around expectantly. Stepping out from the
shadows were two men, one old and one fairly young...but both with equally cold eyes. Next to
me, Meilai gripped my arm uncertainly as I watched them with narrowed eyes; I did not like nor
trust either of them. "Everyone, form two lines!" the old one barked.
"Why?" a young boy called out. "Why should we listen to you, old man?"
At this, the old man's eyes glistened, and he walked up to the boy. "Boy, my name is Meyer
Himmler, and this is why you should listen," and he pulled out a pistol and shot the boy in the
head.
Immediately, all activity ceased. Everyone stared in horror at the dead boy on the ground.
Several started to cry, but silently. Next to me, Meilai gripped by arm so tightly I thought
that she would bruise it. "Form two lines," the younger man said coldly. "Now."
Everyone hurried to do as they said. Meilai and I headed towards the line closer to the
younger man who had just spoken. "Let go of my arm," I hissed. "They'll think that you're
weak!" Meilai nodded, and immediately let go and held her head high. I did the same, though,
as we passed the body, I felt like throwing up. Resolutely, we stood in line and waited.
Finally, the two men nodded and barked out, "Follow us."
The two monsters led us outside to a field, where they separated us into fours. Meilai and I
were put with another boy and another girl. Himmler pulled out a stop watch, and ordered the
first quartet to run. Next to him, Atkins recorded some numbers. When it was our turn, I
whispered to Meilai, "Run as fast as you can." She nodded, and the two of us easily outdistanced
are other two partners. When we stopped and came back, we noticed that the two were
scrutinizing us and muttering. "I hope that's a good thing," Meilai whispered, trying to move
her lips as little as possible.
that evening
After the run, all of us milled around uncertainly. The dead boy's body had long been removed,
though the place where he had lain was conspicuously unoccupied. Finally, Himmler came back.
"Those who I call out, come with me!" he snarled, and began calling out names. When he
was done, at least a hundred boys and girls were obedientely standing in front of him. At his
nod, all of them filed out.
After he left, the other man came in. "I am Rolf Atkins," he said. "From now on, your lives
are in the hands of Himmler and me. Is that understood?" It wasn't a question; it was a
statement, and we all nodded our heads mutely. "Good," he said. "Now, follow me."
The rest of us followed Atkins out, and we were separated into fours once again, though
Meilai and I both noticed that our previous partners were gone. Then, we were each sent into
a room with four cots...and not much else. "Breakfast tomorrow is at seven. Don't be late,"
Atkins said, and left.
I vowed to be up at six.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Author's note: Special thanks to Sara, for her feedback on my last story:)
Chapter Two
~*Meilai*~
SMACK
WHISH
THUMP
"Ouch!"
I sat on the hard ground, where I had landed, rather unceremoniously, and glared up
angrily at the smug expression on my older sister's face. "You're so pathetic," she sneered.
"Oh shut up Meiran. You're only a year older than I am!"
My sister's eyes bulged. "The name is NATAKU!" she snarled, swinging at sword at me in an
effort to make me flinch. I rolled my eyes. "Now THAT is pathetic," I sang out.
SLAP
"Ow!" I yelped, holding my cheek. Meiran laughed in my face. "You baby, you're
lucky to be MY little sister. Elsewise, you'd be useless!"
I rolled my eyes again. "How stupid. You think you're so cool, well, you're not! Big deal,
so you're betrothed to some guy named Wufei, who you've never even met! At least I'LL be able
to pick who I get to marry, unlike you!" Leaping to my feet, I continued to taunt her. "I
bet he's some ugly boy with cooties that's really mean and nasty and yucky, just like all boys
are!"
As Meiran dashed forward to hit me again, I dodged her. Laughing, I continued. "And you know
what? I'll bet that he's a way better fighter than you, and once you two are married, all
he's going to do is control you and lord over you and boss you around! And you...can't...do...
a...thing, so HA!"
"Take that back!" Meiran snarled, still lunging at me.
"Oh no I won't! You'll have to make me!" I said gleefully. "Oh yeah, and HE won't
call you Nataku, 'cause it's a stupid name anyway and you're just a girl, and he doesn't
have to listen to you. Hee hee! A stupid name for a stupid person!"
By this time, Meiran was nearly blind with rage. "You little brat!" she screeched. "I'll
show you!"
Meiran continued to chase me around as I continued to laugh, relishing the fact that since I
was somewhat smaller than her, I could dodge her easily. I continued to run as she chased me
along a ravine. "Ha ha! You're too slow!" I started to say, but suddenly, the ground by my
foot gave way. "What?!"
"Meilai!" Meiran shouted, her eyes wide with terror and our arguement forgotten.
"Watch out!"
It was too late, and the ground completely crumbled. Screaming, I slid down towards the
rushing river below. "Meiran, help me!" I cried, nearly petrified with fear.
Meiran ran towards me and grabbed my hand. "Don't let go of me!" I cried, tears running down
my face. "I won't!" she cried, crying also. But she was only a six year old girl, and I was
only a five year old girl, and soon, my hand slipped out of hers. "MEILAI!!!" Meiran screamed
as I tumbled down and fell into the river.
later...
I shifted around, and pain shot through me. "What...happened...?"
I was washed up on the bank, and someone was standing over me. "What, I only got one?!" it
said, disgusted. It bent down towards me and snorted. "Huh, it's the younger one too. Well,
better than nothing," it muttered, and threw me over its shoulder and walked away.
several hours later
I had long gained consciousness, and was looking around at my surroudings: a large room that had
been fairly empty a while ago, but was now filled with children. The one who had carried me
here, a fairly young man with steely eyes, was looking around the room with a disgusted
expression on his face. After he had dumped on the floor, he had tossed my sword at me,
which had also been washed up with me, and had left. More and more children were brought in
by him and another man, this one old and ugly. Finally, the steady stream stopped. But then,
the old man came back once more, this time with a girl my age who was unconscious. But still,
even as she was out cold, she was maintaining a tight grip on a very impressive sword.
"What? One more? We only need two hundred," the young man said coldly.
"This girl is a member of the..." and the old man leaned towards the other man and
whispered something in his ear. The younger man's eyes widened, and he nodded. "Fine, last
one then," and the old man dropped her on the floor with a thud. She groaned slightly, and
her grip relaxed somewhat.
Nearby, some boys were staring at her sword. Finally, one crept closer and tried to take it.
"Stay back!" I snapped, moving in and drawing my own sword. The boy sneered at me, "Try and
stop me."
"I will," I shot back, and when he lunged, I tripped him and flung him back towards his
friends, bowling them all over. They all stared at me. "Beat it!" I snarled. I turned back
around to the girl and carefully tugged away her sword. I figured that when she woke up, I'd
give it back, but for the time being, it was safer with me.
Sure enough, the girl woke up ten minutes later, and the first thing she did was look for her
sword. I gave it back to her and introduced myself. "I'm...Lillith," she stammered,
her eyes darting around. "Where are we?"
I knew no better and told her so. Then, the old man came back and ordered us to form two
lines. When the boy who had tried to steal Lillith's sword refused, he shot and killed him.
I nearly fainted at that sight, and held onto Lillith's arm so tightly that later, I thought I
probably could have broken it. But Lillith was obviously trained to be a fighter, and she
maintained a stoic mask, staring at the old man, Himmler, with narrowed eyes, sizing him up and
down.
After that unpleasant episode, we were taken outside and separated into fours, and then forced
to run while we were timed. "Run as fast as you can," Lillith whispered, without moving her
mouth, so we did. Lillith ran like a gazelle; she was as fast as Meiran, if not even
faster. I managed to keep up with her, though I was a little out of breath. Afterwards,
Himmler and the other man were studying us. "I hope that's a good thing," I muttered
to Lillith, talking the same way she had earlier, not moving my lips. She nodded grimly.
Finally, we were taken back to the room, and at least half of the children were led out of the
room by Himmler. Later, Atkins, the younger man, came back and separated us into fours once
again. Lillith and I remained together, though we were paired with two different people than
before. Glancing at Lillith, I knew she had noticed it too. We were taken to a room with four
cots, and told that breakfast would be served tomorrow at seven. I promised myself that I would
get up at six, and looking at Lillith out of the corner of my eye, I could tell she was probably
thinking the same.
Chapter Three
~Reiming~
Though I had promised myself to be up at six, I was up at five. I had not had a very good rest
the night before. Everytime I closed my eyes, I saw the dead boy on the floor, and I would
immediately wake up, sweating. Finally, at five, I decided that I probably wasn't going to
get much more rest as it was, and I got up.
My feet had hardly touched the floor when Meilai jumped up also, eyes wide. "Sleep well?" I
asked somewhat sarcastically. Her mouth twitched. "What do you think?"
I shrugged. "Guess I had that one coming." Meilai smiled. "Let's wash up and get ready then."
"Okay, but let's be quiet."
The two of us crept towards the bathroom in the corner of the room. We both used the toilet,
discretely closing the cover instead of flushing it, since we didn't want to wake anyone up, and
we washed our faces and rinsed out our mouths. When we finished, it was 5:30, and our
room mates still hadn't gotten up yet. Meilai turned to me.
"Should we wake them up?"
I shrugged. "Let's leave them alone for now," I said. Then I asked, "So...now what do we
do?" I said, trying to keep the quiver out of my voice.
Meilai's eyes filled with tears. "I...I don't know," she whimpered. I sighed; it certainly
wouldn't help to cry; that was one thing I had certainly been taught well...Finally, in a burst
of boldness, I straightened my shoulders and said, "I'll go out and see what's going on."
"Be careful!"
"I know..."
I headed for the door, feeling that I was heading towards a funeral. Finally, I carefully
gripped the doorknob and turned it.
"It's unlocked!" I said, surprised.
"Should we try to run for it?"
"...No...They're probably watching us somehow. Let's wait a little longer."
The two of us sat there for a long time, neither of us saying much. Finally, I said, "Why do
I get the feeling that we've been kidnapped?"
"I...I've been thinking the same...What will happen to us?"
"Well...I'm sure your parents will look for you, right?"
Meilai hesitated. "I...I don't think so..."
"WHAT?!"
"I fell into a river. They probably think that I'm dead."
I felt the air rush out of me. "You know," I said slowly, "I'm a runaway. I've probably been
disowned by now, so they won't miss me. But don't you think that it's just a little bit
weird how you're supposedly dead, and I'm disowned, so I may as well be dead?"
Meilai's eyes widened as she understood what I was saying. "Do you think...they took us on
purpose? Because we wouldn't be missed?" Then she gasped. "I remember something! When I
washed up on the river, I heard Atkins say that 'he only got one,' like he had planned it all!
Like he had purposely made it so I would be thought of as dead and not missing."
I groaned and put my head in my hands. "Then...that means...we have no escape then," I said
dully. "There's no way out..."
Meilai looked like she was on the verge of tears. "I want to go home!" she cried. "I don't..."
I muttered, but quietly, so she wouldn't hear me. Then to distract her, I said, "Look...it's
6:45. Should we go out and try to find wherever breakfast is?"
Meilai nodded and blinked back her tears. "I won't cry I won't cry I won't cry," I heard her
mutter to herself. I went to the door and opened it. Instantly, I saw the barrel of a gun in
my face. "Where do you think you're going?" a voice said coldly.
"I...I..."
"Leave them alone," a voice called, and Himmler strode down the hallway. "These two
have been up since five in the morning, and they could have left at around 5:30, but they
didn't."
Behind me, I heard Meilai gasp at that, though I didn't turn around, since the gun was still
about an inch from my face.
At her gasp, Himmler smiled cruelly. "Yes little girl," he said, addressing me, "we ARE
watching you. We saw every move you two made. Now, where ARE you two going?"
"We...didn't want...to be late...to breakfast," I choked, still staring at the gun.
Himmler frowned at me. "Put away that gun!" he barked to the soldier. "And you," he sneered,
and smacked me on the head. "Stop that pathetic stuttering. Now, where were you two going?"
"We didn't want to be late for breakfast, sir," I added, hoping not to sound overly
eager, but not wanting to be shot either. Himmler smirked at the sound of my sir. "Very well
then...You two brats have passed the first test. But as for your little friends..." and he
turned to the soldier. "Shoot them both," he said coldly. The soldier obliged willingly, and
we couldn't help but stare at the two limp bodies lying in the cots. Himmler laughed. "Now
you two, follow me."
I don't own Gundam Wing etc...If you've read my last fic, Gundam Wing-Ghosts of the Past, you'll
know that Reiming, Meilai, and the children are all my creation. In this fic, however, I also
threw in the characters Phillipe and TJ, who are also my creation. This is my second fic; I hope
you like it.
NOTE: I HIGHLY recommend that you read Ghosts of the Past BEFORE you read this one. YES, I
KNOW Ghosts is loooong...but I actually think it's pretty good:) Anyway, there are some
elements in Ghosts that will explain some things in this story, so it should help you some.
Now...on with the story!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Operation: Natural Selection
Prologue
"Useless girl! Is that the best you can do?! You little BITCH!"
SMACK
"You think those eyes are going to help?! Do you want to DIE?! HUH?! If you don't
do better, I'll kill you with my own hands! Now GO and do it again!"
"PATHETIC!" SMACK "Weakling!" SMACK "Useless!" SMACK
FLASH
"NO!!!" Reiming screamed, and jerked up, gasping. She hesitated as she took in her
surroundings. "It was just a dream..."
Reiming was in bed, her husband Trowa next to her. Quickly, she glanced at him, worried that she
had made too much noise. But Trowa merely shifted in his sleep, and gave out a small sigh.
"He's still asleep...that's good..." Reiming murmured, then groaned and tried to wipe some
sweat from her brow, then fell back on bed, sighed, and went back to sleep.
Meanwhile, Trowa carefully opened one eye and regarded his sleeping wife, who was tossing and
turning in her sleep. "It's been three weeks now...she's dreaming about her past..."
elsewhere
"Stop it! Leave me alone!" Meilai cried as she ran down the dark hallway. But
everywhere she looked, there were faces, ghostly faces with grosteque expressions. "Traitor...
murderer..." they murmured, creeping closer and closer. Meilai gasped in horror and ran on,
squeezing her eyes shut. When she opened them once more, there was only one figure, a figure
with steely eyes and a cold smirk on his face. "You know I'll have to eliminate you if you
lose...Veylona..."
FLASH
"MEILAI! Wake up! Meilai!" Wufei cried, shaking his wife, who was thrashing around
in her sleep. "Meilai! It's just a dream! Wake up!"
Meilai's eyes flew open, and she jerked herself up. "Wufei..."
Wufei looked at her worridly. "Meilai...were you having a nightmare?"
"No..."
"You're lying."
Meilai hesitated. "It was...nothing. Just don't worry about it," and she lay back down and
closed her eyes. Wufei frowned as he looked down at her. "It's been so long that she's had
these nightmares," he thought. "It's been at least a month...but what can I do?"
next day
The crowd oohed as they watched the figure on the tightrope above. Reiming walked gracefully
across, then came back and did several stunts. Down below, the Manager, Cathrine, Trowa, and
Giselle were watching also. "She's a natural," the Manager said proudly.
Giselle also watched her mother. "Mommy is so beautiful..." the child thought. "I want to be
just like her when I grow up!"
Suddenly, Reiming misplaced her foot and slipped. The crowd gasped, and several people stood up.
The wire wobbled dangerously, and Cathrine gasped. "Oh no! Reiming!" But Reiming promptly
regained her balance and flashed a big artificial smile. "Oh...she was joking around," someone
in the crowd murmured, and several clapped. But Trowa was watching her with narrowed eyes.
"Reiming has never slipped before, and she's not so stupid as to try to pretend to slip...I have
to do something."
After the show, the Manager pulled her aside. "Really Reiming, you had us all frightened there!
Don't try something like that again, even though it was quite impressive."
Reiming plastered on her fake smile again. "I'm very sorry Manager...my usual routine was
getting so boring; I wanted to try something new. It...won't happen again," she finished,
hesitating somewhat, and went back to the room she and Trowa shared.
Trowa was waiting for her there. "You know as well as I do that that wasn't true," he stated
flatly. "What is wrong? You've never slipped before."
Reiming sighed and ran her hand through her hair. "Nothing...the lights distracted me...I
guess..."
"It wasn't the lights. You haven't been sleeping well, now have you?"
Reiming looked at Trowa wearily. "I...can't seem to hide anything from you, can I?"
"Reiming..." Trowa said, but she cut him off. "Just forget it, okay? I CAN take care
of myself," and she abruptly turned around and walked away.
"Reiming..." Trowa murmured, looking at her.
at the Preventer headquarters
Wufei stared at his wife. She was moving like a zombie, stumbling into walls and throwing
papers all over the place. He winced as she stubbed her toe against her desk, then frowned
as she simply glanced down at it, muttered a half hearted, "Ow," and continued her work.
Finally, after watching her for fifteen minutes, he had enough. Standing up, he paged Lady
Une. "Meilai and I will be taking the rest of the day off," he called.
"That's good...she doesn't seem to be herself today, now doesn't she?" Lady Une asked.
"I...I don't know...what's going on with her. She hasn't been sleeping well," Wufei
sighed.
"Meilai can take an indefinite vacation. Don't let her back in here until she's well,
okay Wufei?" Lady Une said, frowning. "I don't know what's the matter with her, but see to it
that she gets well."
Wufei terminated the connection, then strode out of his office...and nearly ran into Meilai.
She glanced at him, surprised, and dropped all her papers. "Oh crap..." she said wearily,
stooping down to pick them up.
"Meilai, we're going home," Wufei said abruptly. Surprised, Meilai looked up at him.
"Why?"
"You need rest."
Meilai's eyes grew flinty. "I do NOT need a babysitter, Wufei!" she growled.
"Too bad."
Meilai stood up, her eyes flashing. "Oh, so now you're going to try and tell me what to do now,
is that right?" she spat angrily. "Well, it's not going to-Hey! Put me DOWN!"
During her tirade, Wufei had taken a firm grip on his wife and, in an undignified manner,
thrown her over his shoulder like a sack of flour. She beat on his shoulders futilely, but
Wufei stoically ignored the pain and walked out of the headquarters, daring anyone to laugh.
From her office, Lady Une raised an eyebrow. "Well...that's something you don't see
everyday..."
at the Chang residence
Wufei carried Meilai through the door. Meilai was no longer struggling, but was maintaining a
blank mask of rage on her face. He walked into their bedroom, dumped her unceremoniously on
the bed, and walked out of the room. Meilai sat up and waited, knowing that he HAD to come
back sometime, and when he did...
In another room, Wufei was making a phone call. "Hello?"
"Trowa? This is Wufei."
that evening
Trowa turned to look at his wife, who was getting ready for bed. He thought about the
conversation he had had with Wufei earlier, then resolutely, headed for his wife.
Reiming watched her husband curiously. "He's plotting..." she thought suspiciously. "What is
he up to now?"
Trowa reached Reiming and sat down next to her. Neither said anything for awhile, then Reiming
said, "What are you up to Trowa?"
"You know, Meilai hasn't been sleeping well either."
"She hasn't?" Reiming asked, raising an eyebrow. "How would you know?"
"Wufei called today. He's worried about her, as I am about you."
Reiming groaned and threw up her hands. "I'm just fine. Leave me alone!"
"Sorry no. I'm not sitting by and watching you torture yourself. Regardless, Wufei and
I had a long talk, and we've decided that we're going to make you two tell us what happened."
Reiming stood up abruptly. "Trowa...that's cruel," she said coldly. "You know that I don't
want to even think about that time in my life."
Trowa stood up also. "Well then, if you won't talk about it..." and he produced a laptop and
handed it to her. "Write it down, at least. Get it off of your chest. I've already told the
Manager that you need some time alone. Take as long as you need." And with that, Trowa
went back to bed and fell asleep.
Reiming stared at the laptop in her hands, then, hesitantly, went over to a desk and put it on.
She stared at the screen in front of her, and began to type.
elsewhere
"...you had NO right...can't believe you did that...I'm JUST FINE...leave me alone..."
Meilai snarled furiously as Wufei sat there, more or less ignoring her. He knew that she had
to wrap it up...eventually. After another thirty or so minutes, Meilai finally finished and
she glared at her husband. "You didn't hear a word I said, now did you?!"
"No...I heard...some."
Meilai glared some more, then turned around to flounce off to the bedroom. "You're sleeping on
the couch tonight!" she growled. Wufei smiled thinly, and reached out and grabbed her elbow.
"Now what?!" she spat. In response, he shoved a laptop at her. "Trowa's forcing Reiming to do
the same," he said simply.
Meilai stared at the laptop in her hands, completely bewildered. "What's this?"
"I want you to write down everything that happened. It'll let you vent some steam
that way."
Meilai looked at him oddly. "Wufei...I have WORK tomorrow. I can't stay up all night and then
some pouring out over ten years on this thing."
"Lady Une had already insisted that you stay home until you're ready to come back to
work," Wufei said, shoving her towards the couch. "Now start typing."
"You just don't want to sleep on the couch," she muttered after he left. She sighed,
then began to type.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sooo...what do you think?? Any and all feedback is welcome, just email me at
lilangel4u@yahoo.com. thanks for reading!
Chapter One
~Reiming~
"You are no daughter of mine...of mine...of mine..." The voice echoed through my
head as I ran through the rain. Choking back a sob, I gripped my sword tighter and
continued running, not knowing where to go, but just knowing that I just had to run. Suddenly,
I tripped and fell face down into the mud. This was too much for me, and I finally broke
down crying. "I HATE YOU ALL!" I screamed futilely through my tears, and angrily beat
my fists on the ground. "I...hate...you...all..." Curling up miserably into a ball, I
cried myself to sleep.
later
"Who is this girl?"
"Chang Reiming, of the Dragon clan. She ran away."
"Ran away from home now, did she?"
"Yes...worthless girl child! Of course, the patriarch has already spread word that
she will be disowned, of course...Can't have insubordinate females go unpunished, now can
we?"
"Disowned by the Dragon clan? Dragon clan..."
At the sound of the voices, I wearily opened one eye. I could barely discern two
figures standing above me. One seemed to be a local merchant, the other was wearing foreign
clothes that I had never seen before. As soon as I stirred, the two figures stared down at
me.
"So if she is disowned, it doesn't matter if she simply disappears, right?"
"Of course not! She may as well be dead."
The figure in foreign clothes nodded, and he removed some money from his pocket. "You never
saw me," he muttered quietly. The merchant nodded, and quickly walked away. That done, the
man looked down at me and quickly jabbed me with a needle. The last thing I remembered before
I fell asleep was being dragged to my feet and being carried away.
several hours later
"Ugh..."
I opened my eyes wearily, completely disoriented. "Where...where AM I?" Looking around, I
seemed to be in a large room with hundreds of other children. "Is this an orphanage?"
After my head stopped spinning, I climbed to my feet, then realized with horror that my
sword was gone.
"Are you looking for this?"
Quickly, I turned around. Standing in front of me was a round faced girl with wide eyes, and
with braided hair in loops. She wore Asian clothes, just like me, and she was holding two
swords, one of which was mine.
"Yes...that is my sword..."
The girl smiled shyly and gave it back to me. "You were out cold, and some boys wanted to take
it. I convinced them otherwise," and she brandished her own sword, giggling. I smiled thinly.
"What is your name?" she asked. "I'm Ron Meilai."
"My name is...my name is...Lillith," I stammered, spitting out the first name that I
thought of. "Lillith? But...aren't you Asian?"
"Well yes...I'm Chinese, but I was given a foreign name," I lied. Even though this
girl seemed friendly, I wasn't about to take my chances; I had been taught to be wary, and
I did not like the situation I was in right now. "So, where are we?"
At that, Meilai's smile vanished. "I...I don't know, but I don't like it. I haven't been here
any longer than you have, really...maybe only and hour or so more. Anyway, be on your guard."
I nodded. "Of course. Are you a fighter too?"
Meilai smiled proudly. "I'm a member of the Ron clan. My older sister is the great Ron
Meiran. She is the betrothed of Chang Wufei, of the Dragon clan. It is a great...honor to be
her sister," she finished uncertainly, speaking as if she had memorized a script. But at the
moment, I wasn't thinking too much of that. "Dragon clan...Wufei..." I thought to myself, then
forced it out of my head. "No! I don't want to think about it!"
"Think about what?"
Oh. Great. Just great; I'd said that last part out loud. I just shook my head. "It's
nothing."
Just then, a door opened, and everyone turned around expectantly. Stepping out from the
shadows were two men, one old and one fairly young...but both with equally cold eyes. Next to
me, Meilai gripped my arm uncertainly as I watched them with narrowed eyes; I did not like nor
trust either of them. "Everyone, form two lines!" the old one barked.
"Why?" a young boy called out. "Why should we listen to you, old man?"
At this, the old man's eyes glistened, and he walked up to the boy. "Boy, my name is Meyer
Himmler, and this is why you should listen," and he pulled out a pistol and shot the boy in the
head.
Immediately, all activity ceased. Everyone stared in horror at the dead boy on the ground.
Several started to cry, but silently. Next to me, Meilai gripped by arm so tightly I thought
that she would bruise it. "Form two lines," the younger man said coldly. "Now."
Everyone hurried to do as they said. Meilai and I headed towards the line closer to the
younger man who had just spoken. "Let go of my arm," I hissed. "They'll think that you're
weak!" Meilai nodded, and immediately let go and held her head high. I did the same, though,
as we passed the body, I felt like throwing up. Resolutely, we stood in line and waited.
Finally, the two men nodded and barked out, "Follow us."
The two monsters led us outside to a field, where they separated us into fours. Meilai and I
were put with another boy and another girl. Himmler pulled out a stop watch, and ordered the
first quartet to run. Next to him, Atkins recorded some numbers. When it was our turn, I
whispered to Meilai, "Run as fast as you can." She nodded, and the two of us easily outdistanced
are other two partners. When we stopped and came back, we noticed that the two were
scrutinizing us and muttering. "I hope that's a good thing," Meilai whispered, trying to move
her lips as little as possible.
that evening
After the run, all of us milled around uncertainly. The dead boy's body had long been removed,
though the place where he had lain was conspicuously unoccupied. Finally, Himmler came back.
"Those who I call out, come with me!" he snarled, and began calling out names. When he
was done, at least a hundred boys and girls were obedientely standing in front of him. At his
nod, all of them filed out.
After he left, the other man came in. "I am Rolf Atkins," he said. "From now on, your lives
are in the hands of Himmler and me. Is that understood?" It wasn't a question; it was a
statement, and we all nodded our heads mutely. "Good," he said. "Now, follow me."
The rest of us followed Atkins out, and we were separated into fours once again, though
Meilai and I both noticed that our previous partners were gone. Then, we were each sent into
a room with four cots...and not much else. "Breakfast tomorrow is at seven. Don't be late,"
Atkins said, and left.
I vowed to be up at six.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Author's note: Special thanks to Sara, for her feedback on my last story:)
Chapter Two
~*Meilai*~
SMACK
WHISH
THUMP
"Ouch!"
I sat on the hard ground, where I had landed, rather unceremoniously, and glared up
angrily at the smug expression on my older sister's face. "You're so pathetic," she sneered.
"Oh shut up Meiran. You're only a year older than I am!"
My sister's eyes bulged. "The name is NATAKU!" she snarled, swinging at sword at me in an
effort to make me flinch. I rolled my eyes. "Now THAT is pathetic," I sang out.
SLAP
"Ow!" I yelped, holding my cheek. Meiran laughed in my face. "You baby, you're
lucky to be MY little sister. Elsewise, you'd be useless!"
I rolled my eyes again. "How stupid. You think you're so cool, well, you're not! Big deal,
so you're betrothed to some guy named Wufei, who you've never even met! At least I'LL be able
to pick who I get to marry, unlike you!" Leaping to my feet, I continued to taunt her. "I
bet he's some ugly boy with cooties that's really mean and nasty and yucky, just like all boys
are!"
As Meiran dashed forward to hit me again, I dodged her. Laughing, I continued. "And you know
what? I'll bet that he's a way better fighter than you, and once you two are married, all
he's going to do is control you and lord over you and boss you around! And you...can't...do...
a...thing, so HA!"
"Take that back!" Meiran snarled, still lunging at me.
"Oh no I won't! You'll have to make me!" I said gleefully. "Oh yeah, and HE won't
call you Nataku, 'cause it's a stupid name anyway and you're just a girl, and he doesn't
have to listen to you. Hee hee! A stupid name for a stupid person!"
By this time, Meiran was nearly blind with rage. "You little brat!" she screeched. "I'll
show you!"
Meiran continued to chase me around as I continued to laugh, relishing the fact that since I
was somewhat smaller than her, I could dodge her easily. I continued to run as she chased me
along a ravine. "Ha ha! You're too slow!" I started to say, but suddenly, the ground by my
foot gave way. "What?!"
"Meilai!" Meiran shouted, her eyes wide with terror and our arguement forgotten.
"Watch out!"
It was too late, and the ground completely crumbled. Screaming, I slid down towards the
rushing river below. "Meiran, help me!" I cried, nearly petrified with fear.
Meiran ran towards me and grabbed my hand. "Don't let go of me!" I cried, tears running down
my face. "I won't!" she cried, crying also. But she was only a six year old girl, and I was
only a five year old girl, and soon, my hand slipped out of hers. "MEILAI!!!" Meiran screamed
as I tumbled down and fell into the river.
later...
I shifted around, and pain shot through me. "What...happened...?"
I was washed up on the bank, and someone was standing over me. "What, I only got one?!" it
said, disgusted. It bent down towards me and snorted. "Huh, it's the younger one too. Well,
better than nothing," it muttered, and threw me over its shoulder and walked away.
several hours later
I had long gained consciousness, and was looking around at my surroudings: a large room that had
been fairly empty a while ago, but was now filled with children. The one who had carried me
here, a fairly young man with steely eyes, was looking around the room with a disgusted
expression on his face. After he had dumped on the floor, he had tossed my sword at me,
which had also been washed up with me, and had left. More and more children were brought in
by him and another man, this one old and ugly. Finally, the steady stream stopped. But then,
the old man came back once more, this time with a girl my age who was unconscious. But still,
even as she was out cold, she was maintaining a tight grip on a very impressive sword.
"What? One more? We only need two hundred," the young man said coldly.
"This girl is a member of the..." and the old man leaned towards the other man and
whispered something in his ear. The younger man's eyes widened, and he nodded. "Fine, last
one then," and the old man dropped her on the floor with a thud. She groaned slightly, and
her grip relaxed somewhat.
Nearby, some boys were staring at her sword. Finally, one crept closer and tried to take it.
"Stay back!" I snapped, moving in and drawing my own sword. The boy sneered at me, "Try and
stop me."
"I will," I shot back, and when he lunged, I tripped him and flung him back towards his
friends, bowling them all over. They all stared at me. "Beat it!" I snarled. I turned back
around to the girl and carefully tugged away her sword. I figured that when she woke up, I'd
give it back, but for the time being, it was safer with me.
Sure enough, the girl woke up ten minutes later, and the first thing she did was look for her
sword. I gave it back to her and introduced myself. "I'm...Lillith," she stammered,
her eyes darting around. "Where are we?"
I knew no better and told her so. Then, the old man came back and ordered us to form two
lines. When the boy who had tried to steal Lillith's sword refused, he shot and killed him.
I nearly fainted at that sight, and held onto Lillith's arm so tightly that later, I thought I
probably could have broken it. But Lillith was obviously trained to be a fighter, and she
maintained a stoic mask, staring at the old man, Himmler, with narrowed eyes, sizing him up and
down.
After that unpleasant episode, we were taken outside and separated into fours, and then forced
to run while we were timed. "Run as fast as you can," Lillith whispered, without moving her
mouth, so we did. Lillith ran like a gazelle; she was as fast as Meiran, if not even
faster. I managed to keep up with her, though I was a little out of breath. Afterwards,
Himmler and the other man were studying us. "I hope that's a good thing," I muttered
to Lillith, talking the same way she had earlier, not moving my lips. She nodded grimly.
Finally, we were taken back to the room, and at least half of the children were led out of the
room by Himmler. Later, Atkins, the younger man, came back and separated us into fours once
again. Lillith and I remained together, though we were paired with two different people than
before. Glancing at Lillith, I knew she had noticed it too. We were taken to a room with four
cots, and told that breakfast would be served tomorrow at seven. I promised myself that I would
get up at six, and looking at Lillith out of the corner of my eye, I could tell she was probably
thinking the same.
Chapter Three
~Reiming~
Though I had promised myself to be up at six, I was up at five. I had not had a very good rest
the night before. Everytime I closed my eyes, I saw the dead boy on the floor, and I would
immediately wake up, sweating. Finally, at five, I decided that I probably wasn't going to
get much more rest as it was, and I got up.
My feet had hardly touched the floor when Meilai jumped up also, eyes wide. "Sleep well?" I
asked somewhat sarcastically. Her mouth twitched. "What do you think?"
I shrugged. "Guess I had that one coming." Meilai smiled. "Let's wash up and get ready then."
"Okay, but let's be quiet."
The two of us crept towards the bathroom in the corner of the room. We both used the toilet,
discretely closing the cover instead of flushing it, since we didn't want to wake anyone up, and
we washed our faces and rinsed out our mouths. When we finished, it was 5:30, and our
room mates still hadn't gotten up yet. Meilai turned to me.
"Should we wake them up?"
I shrugged. "Let's leave them alone for now," I said. Then I asked, "So...now what do we
do?" I said, trying to keep the quiver out of my voice.
Meilai's eyes filled with tears. "I...I don't know," she whimpered. I sighed; it certainly
wouldn't help to cry; that was one thing I had certainly been taught well...Finally, in a burst
of boldness, I straightened my shoulders and said, "I'll go out and see what's going on."
"Be careful!"
"I know..."
I headed for the door, feeling that I was heading towards a funeral. Finally, I carefully
gripped the doorknob and turned it.
"It's unlocked!" I said, surprised.
"Should we try to run for it?"
"...No...They're probably watching us somehow. Let's wait a little longer."
The two of us sat there for a long time, neither of us saying much. Finally, I said, "Why do
I get the feeling that we've been kidnapped?"
"I...I've been thinking the same...What will happen to us?"
"Well...I'm sure your parents will look for you, right?"
Meilai hesitated. "I...I don't think so..."
"WHAT?!"
"I fell into a river. They probably think that I'm dead."
I felt the air rush out of me. "You know," I said slowly, "I'm a runaway. I've probably been
disowned by now, so they won't miss me. But don't you think that it's just a little bit
weird how you're supposedly dead, and I'm disowned, so I may as well be dead?"
Meilai's eyes widened as she understood what I was saying. "Do you think...they took us on
purpose? Because we wouldn't be missed?" Then she gasped. "I remember something! When I
washed up on the river, I heard Atkins say that 'he only got one,' like he had planned it all!
Like he had purposely made it so I would be thought of as dead and not missing."
I groaned and put my head in my hands. "Then...that means...we have no escape then," I said
dully. "There's no way out..."
Meilai looked like she was on the verge of tears. "I want to go home!" she cried. "I don't..."
I muttered, but quietly, so she wouldn't hear me. Then to distract her, I said, "Look...it's
6:45. Should we go out and try to find wherever breakfast is?"
Meilai nodded and blinked back her tears. "I won't cry I won't cry I won't cry," I heard her
mutter to herself. I went to the door and opened it. Instantly, I saw the barrel of a gun in
my face. "Where do you think you're going?" a voice said coldly.
"I...I..."
"Leave them alone," a voice called, and Himmler strode down the hallway. "These two
have been up since five in the morning, and they could have left at around 5:30, but they
didn't."
Behind me, I heard Meilai gasp at that, though I didn't turn around, since the gun was still
about an inch from my face.
At her gasp, Himmler smiled cruelly. "Yes little girl," he said, addressing me, "we ARE
watching you. We saw every move you two made. Now, where ARE you two going?"
"We...didn't want...to be late...to breakfast," I choked, still staring at the gun.
Himmler frowned at me. "Put away that gun!" he barked to the soldier. "And you," he sneered,
and smacked me on the head. "Stop that pathetic stuttering. Now, where were you two going?"
"We didn't want to be late for breakfast, sir," I added, hoping not to sound overly
eager, but not wanting to be shot either. Himmler smirked at the sound of my sir. "Very well
then...You two brats have passed the first test. But as for your little friends..." and he
turned to the soldier. "Shoot them both," he said coldly. The soldier obliged willingly, and
we couldn't help but stare at the two limp bodies lying in the cots. Himmler laughed. "Now
you two, follow me."