Like Glass

Disclaimer: I don't own the Gundam Wing Characters so please don't sue me for borrowing them

"Is now really the time to be talking about something like this?"

Wufei sighed as he stared out the open window of the truck watching the scenery pass him by. Sitting beside him in the driver's side, Sally glanced at her younger partner out of the corner of her eye. She hadn't wanted to speak of something like this but the ride back to H.Q would be a long one even without her overly silent and often brooding partner. Two years had passed since the events with Mariamaia's army and the boy—she really couldn't see him as anything other than a child even at this point—remained as silent now as he had the day he'd shown up at Preventer's H.Q asking to be given a code-name.

"I'm just trying to make conversation," She replied calmly, "If you don't want to answer then you don't have to."

Wufei's silence was about the only answer she was likely to get at this point, or at least that's what she figured would happen. After all, she'd asked him a random question seemingly out of thin air. The boy shouldn't be asked to answer questions like that but the truth was that curiosity had gotten the better of her. She wanted to know something about her partner other than that his entire clan had died during the war and that he was a former Gundam Pilot.

"How'd you find out about it?" Wufei whispered in that monotonous voice of his.

"Well . . . it was a long flight back to Earth with Duo and Trowa." She replied almost hesitating over the words.

"He talks too much." Wufei replied with his usual bluster whenever it concerned Duo Maxwell.

"If you don't want to answer then you don't have to." She repeated as the truck bounced over a small pot-hole.

Wufei grunted in answer and the two descended back into silence. Well, she wondered, what else did she expect? Her question certainly had been random after all, innocent but random. Though Duo's story remained still in the back of her mind—of the week Wufei had been captured by the enemy only to mysteriously return with no more that a scowl and a grunt. The question—what had happened to him during that time? It plagued the back of her head almost as much as the notion that Wufei might be gay. The silence stretched on for what seemed like hours before Wufei finally spoke again.

"I'm not gay," The blunt answer left her speechless for a moment her mouth gapping open and close like a fish out of water.

"I—I never said that you were—Wufei," She stuttered shaking her head, "But you have to admit, spending a week with the same man who was your enemy during the war—then suddenly reappearing without any answers . . . ." She shook her head leaving the rest unsaid.

"It wasn't like that." Wufei sighed, "I spent the week healing, Trieze wasn't the kind of man to take advantage of an injured person. And he most certainly wasn't that kind of man."

"Then if that's all that happened, why all the secrecy—why didn't you just tell the others what'd happened?"

"It wasn't important." He answered simply.

"Huh, I guess that answers that little mystery—for me anyways, Duo on the other hand." She let a smile spread across her face at the words.

"Yeah . . . ." Wufei whispered not really paying attention to what she'd said.

"Wufei?" Sally whispered just loud enough so that he turned to stare back at her, "What is it? Something had to have happened or you wouldn't be so—silent about things."

"Nothing—I just remembered something I'd forgotten," Wufei answered looking back out the window, "Trieze had his god-daughter living with him at the time, a girl about the same age as me. She was half-Chinese, the daughter of a close friend of his who'd been killed when the girl was five. He'd taken her in since he was the only family she seemed to have left in the world."

"I never knew about that." Sally frowned slightly, "Maybe we should ask Lady Une where she lives."

"She died." Wufei whispered calmly.

"Oh—sorry . . . ."

Wufei shrugged, "It doesn't matter, and I didn't really know her well enough to care either way. According to the report she was killed by accident before the war ended, about two days after I escaped."

"Oh, Wufei—You can't think this was your fault."

"I don't." Wufei replied placing his head in his chin, "Her death was ruled an accident and filed away in the back of my mind until now. I thought her death was about the only way she could be free so I didn't care."

Sally remained silent staring at her partner out of the corner of her eye. Was he really serious about what he'd just said? That the girl had meant nothing to him and that he'd forgotten about her up until this moment. She hated to admit it but she didn't know the boy well enough to know if he was lying or not.

"Okay then." Sally whispered. They drove on in silence over the bumpy road, each in their own thoughts.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"What was her name?"

The question hung in the air between the two of them as Sally wandered around the comforts of the living room. She turned to see Heero staring at her with one eyebrow raised slightly in what she thought was his own personal curiosity. She cleared her throat as she looked away.

"He didn't tell me, I figured you would be the only person on the planet that could go on what little I found out."

Heero sniffed at the complement as he turned back around to face the computer, his fingers flashed over the keyboard imputing data with swift precision. He had to admit, he was curious to know what had Sally—a woman he considered to be sturdy and calm, so riled up that she would show up at his home in the middle of the night with nothing but questions seeking questions.

"You want me to confirm her death?"

"I want you to tell me what you can about her." Sally sighed, she felt slightly uncomfortable about going behind Wufei's back on this one but there was something about this that made her curious. The sound of Wufei's voice when he'd spoken about this girl, it said more to her than anything else in the world.

"I can give you her name," Heero replied calmly.

"You can? That was fast." Sally replied in surprise.

"If it's the same girl then I can tell you anything about her," Heero turned to look at her, "Wufei asked me the same thing two years back. He wanted me to find her, something about thanking her or something like that."

"Oh," She should have known that was what the boy had done, but it honestly hadn't occurred to her until that moment. Wufei always seemed so—sure of himself that the thought that he might actually seek someone out to confirm something seemed—off.

"Her name was Wumei Charles, both her mother and her father were killed in a drive by when she was five years old. She was sent to live with her god-father soon after her parents deaths were confirmed, the gunners were never found and the attack was ruled a random killing. She lived with her god-father for ten years before she was reportedly killed by a rogue shot aimed at Trieze."

"Reportedly?" Sally blinked at the words.

"None of it was ever actually confirmed, though there is a grave with her name on it in the same cemetery her parents were buried in."

"Then we don't actually know if she was killed or not?"

Heero shrugged, "No one ever cared enough to confirm if it was Trieze's god-daughter or not. Apparently she was just that kind of person. No one could confirm if it was her or not since no one could really remember seeing what she looked like."

"What?" His words didn't make sense and she frowned as she leaned back tapping her lower lip with her finger, "Then if it wasn't confirmed then how do we know it's real? How do we know she's really dead?"

Heero shrugged, "I asked Wufei the same thing when he asked me to look it up, but he didn't answer me. He just walked out without speaking."

"And you didn't think that was strange?"

He shrugged again, "It didn't matter. Wufei wanted to know something, I told him his answer and he left."

"But—how do you confirm her death? How do we know Wumei is really dead if there's no proof?"

"Dig up her grave, though I have to tell you there's no photo of her to confirm that the body in the grave is hers. Apparently Trieze never kept photos of her, Wufei's the only person left alive who could accurately identify her if you ask me."

"It doesn't make sense, if it wasn't confirmed then why—?" She suddenly didn't want to know the answer to her question.

"You'll have to ask him that."

Sally shook her head; no she wouldn't bring up such an odd question—not for her sake. Whatever had happened to the girl—it was obvious that Wufei wouldn't appreciate her digging any further than this.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Are you ready for this?"

His question floated in the darkness over her head like a chime echoing down a long corridor. Standing in the warmth provided by the sunlight shining into the room, she turned in the direction of his voice. A pair of sightless eyes stared blankly past him with a sad smile pasted on a pale face. In her hands, she held a long thin red and white rod that had become her eyes for the past two years. Learning had been difficult, the most difficult thing she could ever imagine but everything had paid off in the end.

"I suppose I don't have much of a choice now do I?"

A hand took hold of hers, firm and warm as if the man she could never see were attempting to transfer his bravery into her unwilling form. Her fingers shook as they often did whenever someone held them, and for a moment a memory played clearly in her mind. But, like all memories of her past—this one slipped away before she could firmly grab hold of it. Just as his hand slipped out of hers before she could take firm hold of it. She sighed, folding her fingers around the length of her stick leaning slightly on it as she brought it close to her forehead.

"You won't even let me touch your face, and yet you come every day to visit me." She shook her head staring at where she hoped his face might be, "Why do you care so much for someone like me? Did—did you know me?"

"I was paid to take care of you," The blunt answer struck at her heart and she gripped the stick tightly as if she might take solace in its smooth presence.

"Is that the only reason?"

"Yes."

She heaved another tired sigh, "Then I suppose that now your—duty is over there's no one left to pay you anymore and I certainly won't pay for your company."

She straightened as she took a step forward her face a picture of stone. The tip of the rod rolled across the floor hitting the tip of his feet and he took a step back as she found her way past him. He watched her make her way out of the room that had been her home for the past two years with a slight tinge in his chest. Don't fall for her; it'll only bring you heartache. The warning of two years seemed to ring dully in his ears as he watched. Too late, he thought as he followed after her.

She stumbled some steps ahead of him and he stiffened at the sight of it, though she quickly regained her footings before she could fall it still startled him to see her like this. A moment passed and she continued on as if nothing had happened. She's changed, you know, the thought flowed unbidden into his mind as he watched. Of course she'd changed, it'd been two years already—he should hope she had changed. Two years since the accident, two years since her life—at least the life she could not remember, had ended.

Like glass shattering, he thought with a slight shake of his head. The metaphor seemed appropriate, given her past life.

"Lafayette, you should slow down—take things easy, the world isn't going to leap out from beneath your feet." He cautioned when he noticed her stumble a second time.

Her head twisted around to stare sightlessly in his direction and a scowl spread across her face. "I think I can take care of myself, sir. I do not much care to have you lecture me on—the proper way to walk."