Wufei appears again after a few minutes, and Trowa has to admit that he's relieved. He wasn't sure if Wufei could ever separate from his grandfather's body again after possessing it. Wufei actually seems a little stronger than what Trowa would have thought he'd be after doing something like that. Not completely solid, but much more substantial.
"Are you alright?" Trowa asks without thinking. Meilan and Relena look around at his question, and while Relena still looks confused, Meilan also looks relieved to see that Wufei is okay.
"I'm fine," Wufei answers. He doesn't seem fine as he clenches his hands into tight fists, visibly upset, but Trowa doesn't call him out on that. Wufei shifts, looking uncomfortable suddenly, and then clears his throat. "I'm going to leave now."
Meilan jumps up and lunges for him, grabbing his shoulders. "Do you really have to?" she asks. "Is that how it works?"
Wufei snorts in amusement and shakes his head. "I don't know how it works," he says. "I just know that I don't have to stay anymore. You're safe now."
Relena is intently watching the space in front of Meilan, her brows furrowed. "Who are you talking to?" she asks. She's a lot less skeptical about the appearance of an invisible person than Trowa would be, but then again, Meilan does clearly look as though she's holding onto and talking with someone.
Meilan gestures for Relena to move closer, and then whispers something in her ear. A moment later, still highly confused, Relena unclasps a bracelet from her wrist and holds it out in the air. She's the only one surprised when Wufei's hand wraps around hers, tangling the bracelet between their fingers.
"Oh," Relena utters. She looks shocked, and then very, very sad. "Oh, Wufei, I'm so sorry," she says.
"Not your fault," Wufei answers while looking between her and Meilan, obviously speaking to both of them. "I just wanted to say goodbye properly this time."
Relena nods, and wraps an arm around Meilan's shoulders. "Goodbye," she says softly.
Meilan looks like she wants to protest. Trowa knows how she feels. Suddenly, it occurs to him that he might not mind being haunted by a ghost for a little while longer. Maybe it's for the best that Wufei's planning on leaving now, then. Saying goodbye after a longer time spent together would probably hurt even worse.
"I'm going to miss you so much," Meilan admits, stepping just a little closer to Wufei and wrapping her arms around him again. "I'm so sorry you had to do that, Wufei. I-"
Wufei tilts his head and whispers something into her ear, cutting off Meilan's apology. She listens intently, and then her expressions turns determined, and she nods. He kisses her forehead, and then lets go. Though Meilan obviously wants to keep on clinging to him, she lets go, too.
Trowa feels a sense of loss and anticipation well up within him when Wufei looks his way. He wonders what the ghost is going to say to him, and what he's going to say in return. What can possibly be said between them that will encompass everything that's happened?
"Thanks for helping me," Wufei says. Trowa nods. "Goodbye, Trowa."
Trowa waits for whatever he's going to say next, but Wufei only lets go of the bracelet that he and Relena have been holding onto together, and then he reaches up and unhooks the necklace from around his neck, handing it back to Meilan.
And then he disappears, just like that. Trowa blinks at the empty space where Wufei used to be, and has to admit that he feels let down. Was that really all that Wufei wanted to say to him? Apparently, yes.
Meilan sends him a slight smirk, even though she looks exhausted and sad, and her cheekbone is swelling up horribly. "He always was shy about showing affection in public," she says in explanation.
Wufei didn't seem all that shy about being affectionate with Meilan, but Trowa understands what she means, and nods. "I see," he says. The thought of Wufei feeling too shy to kiss Trowa in front of his cousin is kind of entertaining, he admits.
They wait for the police, though Trowa's going to insist that Meilan and Relena both get to the hospital as soon as possible. Especially Relena. The bruising appearing around her neck looks horrific.
Trowa stays with Meilan and Relena for hours, even ends up getting dinner with them much later, and helps them pack their belongings into an endless number of boxes. He talks about how he first met Wufei, and everything that's happened since then. Both Meilan and Relena are clearly interested in his story, and ask a million questions, and Trowa feels exhausted but happy by the end of the night.
He doesn't think that he'll be able to sleep very well that night, but drops off rather quickly when he finally crawls into bed.
Wufei's there in his dream, and somehow, Trowa isn't surprised. He'd thought about it earlier, while waiting for the police to show up, and while helping out Relena and Meilan afterwards. Of course Wufei is going to appear in Trowa's dreams one last time.
"You haven't left yet," he says. Trowa's not sure how else to begin the conversation.
Wufei smirks. "You looked so disappointed earlier," he says. "I can't have you pining once I'm gone."
Trowa laughs. "I'm okay," he says, reassuring Wufei. "This whole week has been absolutely insane. Everything going back to normal will be a nice change of pace."
"I wish we could have met before I died," Wufei says, sighing. "Real sex with you would have been nice."
Trowa snickers. "I'd prefer not ruining my sheets again, yes," he replies. "Or you could just wish you hadn't died in the first place," he points out, because that seems like the obvious wish to him.
Wufei rolls his eyes, but concedes the point with a chuckle. "Well, I'm saying goodbye for real now," he says.
Trowa raises an eyebrow. "You sure about that?" he asks. "How do I know you're not just going to haunt me until the next time I do something ridiculously embarrassing?"
He means it as a teasing joke, and Wufei's lips quirk up slightly at the corners, but then he takes off Trowa's coat. Reaching forward, he lays the fabric over Trowa's shoulders gently, mirroring Trowa's own actions several days ago.
Suddenly, nothing's funny. Trowa reaches up and cups the side of Wufei's face, and kisses him one last time. "Bye," he says against Wufei's lips.
Wufei slowly lets go of the coat, and the second his fingers leave the fabric entirely, Trowa wakes up. His coat is wrapped around him like a second blanket, and Trowa knows that he'll never see Wufei again. He feels oddly calm about that, though. This is the only way that everything could have ended, after all.
Trowa brings the coat up to his face, and smells the faint hint of a cologne that's not his. After a minute, he rolls over, making sure that the coat is still covering him, and then drifts off again into a deep, dreamless sleep.