Part two
Thursday 2:45pm
The rain pelted the obstacle course; the two senior officers were calmly observing the recruits, until the only girl in the pack fell on her face. Chang Wufei rolled his eyes, but Sally Po marched right over to the fallen girl.
Sally's bristling military bark echoed over the field, " Are you giving up? Are you just gonna lay there? If you think the enemy is going to let you rest you might as well quit now! Are you gonna quit or get up?!? Come on, Lanie, what's it gonna be?"
The girl pushed herself back up, and with a grunt of determination ran the last twenty-five feet to the end marker. One of male recruits was waiting for her; he swung her off her feet and laughed out loud. " Great job Lanie, that was your best time yet."
" Hey, get to the showers!" Sally snapped.
" Yes Sir!" Both saluted, before heading towards the barracks.
Sally started walking away, only giving her partner a slight glance. She had certainly surprised him this morning by not asking for relationship or even mentioning last night. She wondered what was going on in his head, but didn't feel like asking. She attempted to wipe the mud from her face, but since her hands weren't much cleaner, she decided just to head for her shower.
Wufei fell into step next to her matching her stride for stride. " Woman…"
" I'm tired okay? I am going back to my room to take a shower. Don't forget the initiation banquet is tonight, and Lady Une wanted to talk to you."
" I'm not attending that stupid banquet, it's a waste of funds."
" Fine, I'll see you Monday."
Wufei raised his eyebrow as his partner stalked off towards the barracks. She had been acting strangely, but at least she hadn't expected anything of him. He shook his head; he would deal with this after his meeting with Lady Une.
Thursday 5:30pm
Sally Po lifted the shot glass to her lips as Lucrezia Noin crashed unto the barstool next to her.
" You know," Noin snickered as she looked at her younger friend, " it's a little early to be getting drunk."
" I'm not getting drunk. This happens to be my first shot." Sally explained and slammed the drink down, " Happy Birthday; and you know it's not polite to brag."
Noin grinned. " Thank you, and you already knew. He probably came and showed you the ring last night."
" You know him too well, of course knowledge never helped me."
" You shouldn't shoot for the impossible."
Sally sighed, " Don't rub it in."
" I'm not trying I just don't want you to get hurt."
" Okay then stick around while I have a few more shots."
" What about the banquet?"
" I don't feel like it."
" I didn't come here to mention my engagement."
" You just had to say the words didn't ya?" Sally rolled her eyes and stood up to leave.
" Sally, I wanted to warn you that Gregory is going to be here tonight." Noin closed her eyes.
Sally paused in mid-stride, then as if possessed she sprinted out of the bar.
Thursday 6:45pm
"Why? Why? Why?" Sally muttered as she pulled her dress uniform from her wardrobe. It had been years, surely what happened was water under the bridge; she prayed it was. She finished dressing, looked at her reflection and stuck out her tongue. The uniforms were unflattering, a double bested, long white suit jacket, rank metals shining on the right side, gold buttons and a black insert to hide any cleavage. She did however smile at the fact that the skirt only reached the middle of her thighs; she worked hard to keep this figure, might as well show it off to someone. She sat down on her bed and put her shoes on her feet. After checking her hair and light make-up job she took a deep breath. " Ready or not here we go. At least I'll only have one to deal with tonight. Wufei never goes to these things. I'll only have one to deal with."
Sally walked into the officers' club, and sighed in relief she didn't see him. She laughed at herself and accepted a glass of wine from one the waiters. By letting her eyes wander a bit, she easily caught sight of the new recruits they all looked uneasy in the dress uniforms. She took a long sip of wine, letting it wash over her throat as her mind drifted. She was proud of them; they were hard workers and given time would be very efficient.
" I hate to interrupt your mental tirade, but I really must request this dance."
Sally looked into the pair of glittering green eyes she knew by heart; his red hair was neatly styled, and he looked uncharacteristically professional. " Major O'Neil, it's been while."
" Sally, if I'm Major O'Neil again it must have been longer than I thought." He wrapped his arms around her.
Sally allowed herself to be pulled into the awkward hug. Everything about this brought up so many memories, all bittersweet. " Not that long." She whispered.
Gregory pulled away and offered her his hand, " Dance with me?"
Sally smiled, placed the wine flute on a table and allowed him to lead her onto the dance floor.
Thursday 7:15pm
Wufei snorted, he hated these things they were a waste of funds and a waste of time. Lady Une had told him that him promotion to Major would be presented tonight and she would appreciate his attendance. If you spoke 'Lady Une' that meant show up. Wufei wasn't completely satisfied with the promotion, but he was appeased that he would be on equal rank with his own partner. The club was full of people, most of them idiots and the others he held a moderate respect for. He could see Sally dancing with an officer he didn't recognize. She usually danced at these stupid events; he only knew because she complained about people stepping on her toes or trying to dance with her more than once. He didn't care what she did as long as she didn't hurt his reputation. Zechs and Noin were standing off to one side observing the party; they stood far too close together, officers shouldn't be allowed fraternize. Of course it wouldn't be a problem if they did the sensible thing not let women fight in the first place.
He glanced back over to the dance floor noticing Sally was still dancing with the same person. She was far to close to him, and her head was resting on his shoulder. What a disgusting display of her own weakness, didn't she know she was being watched? His mind drifted to the sensations she had aroused in him last night; apparently she hadn't been affected as much as he thought. The officer she was dancing with wasn't that impressive, and if Sally hadn't been glued to him would have been able to see idiot's rank.
Wufei was careful to keep moving through the crowd, he didn't have to talk to anyone, but he had to make sure he was seen. After the fourth dance his partner had shared with the same person, he had to figure out who he was. He had no intention of going up to the pair and introducing himself, but he noticed that Noin was talking to Lady Une, which meant Zechs was probably alone.
Zechs Merquise stood watching the party with mild interest until he heard a voice behind him.
" Who is that?"
Zechs was surprised to see Wufei here; he knew the young Chinese officer avoided these events like a plague. But apparently Lady Une had ordered him to attend. "Whom are you referring to?"
Wufei paused slightly he had to be careful to phrase this in such a way as to avoid any misconceptions. " The person dancing with Sally."
Zechs held in his laughter, " Um, I think that's Gregory O'Neil. He's a good soldier we trained to together for a bit."
" Thank you." Wufei curtailed the conversation and made his way over to his partner, who had apparently excused herself from the dance and was ordering something at the bar. He observed the hesitant expression of the bartender, as he handed Sally a small shot glass. Sally threw shot back, laid a few dollars on the bar and walked away.
Sally smirked at her present situation: still sober or pretty close to it anyway, and looking at making another mistake. She accepted another glass of wine and could only hope that alcohol would brush away her headache.
" You shouldn't get drunk; you'll make a fool of yourself." Wufei advised his partner as he came up behind her.
Sally caught her breath, ' dang-it that's ten,' she thought, before
speaking. " I'm not drunk this is my
second glass."
" Plus whatever you ordered at the bar." Wufei smirked.
Sally stuck out her tongue and started to move away, but Wufei's hand clamped unto her arm.
" What did he say to you?"
" Huh?" Sally questioned, while prying free from his grip.
" That person you were dancing with, he must have upset you. What did he say?"
" Why would you care?"
" I don't; I would just like to know if what he said was correct or not."
Sally gritted her teeth; " He didn't say anything to upset me. He just complimented me. Called me beautiful, and invited me to his cabin this weekend."
Wufei's jaw went slack for a moment, before he caught himself. " Do you have any shame?"
Sally bit her lip and mocked a pensive expression, " No, not a bit. If you'll excuse me." She kept her eyes straight ahead as she walked away; she just had to last a few more hours.
Thursday 9:00pm
Noin smiled at her friend, " Well the our recruits are officially Preventors, your partner got a promotion, you survived seeing Gregory and you aren't drunk, well at least not noticeably."
Sally laughed, " And thankfully Wufei and Gregory have stayed far apart. I may survive this yet."
" I don't mean to open an wound, but would you be my maid of honor?"
" You're just loving every minute of this." Sally responded dryly.
" And why shouldn't I?" Noin smiled innocently.
" Well, I mean just think about it, the rest, of your entire life with him, and only him." Sally placed the back of her hand over her forehead in a dramatic motion.
Noin bumped her friend, " There goes that jealously again."
Sally gave an un-ladylike snort, " Over Zechs, I think not. But just for the pleasure of seeing his face when I tell him I'm throwing you the bachelorette party to end all bachelorette parties, I would happy to stand with you."
" You are impossible."
Wufei bumped into someone; he muttered an apology and started to move away.
" Don't I know you?" The red headed officer inquired.
Wufei thought, 'Leave me alone; I'm walking away.'
" You're Major Chang Wufei, Sally's partner. Congratulations on the Promotion."
'Injustice! He identified me by that woman.' Wufei thought more intent than ever on leaving.
" I'm Major Gregory O'Neil. Pleased to meet you." Gregory extended his hand.
Wufei returned the handshake; he needed to figure out what this person wanted with Sally.
" We may have a slight problem." Zechs stated coming up behind Noin and Sally.
" What?" Sally said slightly startled.
Zechs pointed over towards Gregory and Wufei.
" Oh, no."
" That's not the only thing she got good at." Gregory snickered.
Wufei raised his eyebrow, but didn't say anything.
" You've been her partner how long?"
Wufei closed his eyes, " About three years."
Gregory smirked, " Then you only have another few months, then it'll be easy to get her to sleep with you."
" I don't think he's said anything yet." Noin had no sooner got the words out of her mouth before, it happened.
Chang Wufei sucker punched Gregory and the red haired officer dropped to the floor, with an impressive thud. A few of the Preventors grabbed a hold of Wufei and started dragging him away. He didn't really counteract their actions; he had already accomplished justice. He smiled as he saw them picked up Gregory to take him to the infirmary. That smile faded as he watched Sally follow Gregory out. 'Woman, don't you know what he thinks of you.'
Sally ran her index finger slowly down the unconscious man's nose; " He broke it in three places."
Noin shook her head, " How do you do that with one punch?"
" It's all in the wrist." Sally responded cocking her head. " He'll be fine when wakes up in a few hours. Well, fine except for the splitting headache, the black eyes, and the throbbing pain."
" And how will you be in a few hours?"
" I don't know. Maybe I'll drown myself." Sally lamented as she buried her face in her hands.
" I wouldn't go that far."
" Whatever minor respect he may have had for me, I just lost it."
" It might not be that bad. You really don't know what Gregory said."
Sally looked at Noin like she'd lost her mind.
" Just go get some sleep, it'll look better in the morning, you do have the weekend off after all."
" All right. Goodnight."
" Goodnight."
Thursday 11:50pm
Wufei banged on Sally's door for the third time, he twisted the knob and to his surprise it opened. As he entered, he was almost fearful that she might be dunk and not in her right mind, but the room was silent. To her credit, the place was spotless; in fact it was almost too clean, even for a temporary living space. He wandered about miniature apartment looking for his partner, assuming she had either passed out or was asleep. Finally after searching the entire place, he discovered his partner wasn't there. His eyes scanned the living room; taking in the details he had missed last night, a few pictures, mostly personal photographs that had been framed. He picked up the first picture; it was obviously the last family portrait she had been apart of. Her father looked Chinese so did the younger girl in the picture, but apparently Sally had inherited her western features from her mother. There were several pictures of the younger girl, progressively getting older; somehow Sally had managed to keep in contact with her or at least someone who knew her. There were some of her, Noin, Zechs, and Gregory at their graduation from Victoria. One of her and Gregory alone; he tipped the picture over so he didn't have to look at it. " This is pointless." He announced before leaving the room and stalking out into the hallway.
Friday 3:15am
Sally felt the wind whip at face as she reverently fingered the cement rail, which ran along the steps of the shrine. Her mouth formed the words of the plaque:
" Bless the innocent who died without protection, those warriors who died in battle and those who still walk on this sphere although they are alone."
The inscription marked the entrance to the shrine it was written in both English and Chinese, and scrolled with gold. She noted that the temperature had dropped again, and the rumble above her, ominously foretold of a coming storm. After walking up the steps, Sally took note of the names that graced the wall. She came here whenever she got the chance, the shrine was dedicated the inhabitants of Colony L5. An eerie sort of peace encircled the whole area. The shrine was a couple hours from the Preventors base; and the drive consisted of traveling up one mountain and down another, but after the way last night had gone Sally had been grateful for it. She had left from the infirmary, changed her clothes, packed a few things, driven to the shrine and slept a few hours in her jeep. She didn't feel the need to talk with anyone right now, so spending the weekend visiting the local villages would be a nice change of pace. The Chinese countryside that surrounded shrine was breathtaking, lush trees and flowers of every variety. From beneath the protective roof, Sally could hear the now pouring rain. She sighed, and started her way out when she saw a flash of blue.
Her military instincts kicked in as she rounded the corner cautiously. The only person Sally could see was a young girl who was bowing in one corner. The blue coat she was wearing must have been what caught her attention, but why was the girl in such a hurry. It looked as if she'd come from the shrine.
The girl turned and looked at Sally, her black eyes flashed with a strange light and the hood of the coat had fallen away revealing her long black hair. Her petite Chinese features were pronounced and her face held a look of defiance.
Sally was about to say something when she heard a gunshot and a car alarm; her car alarm. "Not the jeep." She cursed mentally.
After carefully creeping along the outside of the shrine, she took careful note of the two men tearing up her green jeep. Both not much taller then six feet and they didn't look that strong, there wasn't any reason to assume that she couldn't handle them herself.
" Excuse me, but that is property of the Preventors, please step away."
Both men jerked their heads in the direction of Sally's voice. One of the men smiled as the lightning flashed across the sky, momentarily illuminating the area.
Sally gritted her teeth, the last flash lightning had exposed two other vandals, and before she could get in a better position a hand clamped around her waist.
" Maybe we don't feel like it." The voice rasped in her ear.
Friday 9:30am
Wufei growled as he banged on Sally's door, he jerked the knob and once again it flew open. Surely, she was back now, unless of course she actually went up to Gregory's cabin. Not that he cared if she had gone. That was a lie. He did care, he cared far too much, but he wouldn't ever admit it to anyone, not to her and not himself. He walked back into the apartment, taking note that nothing had moved from the night before. He had just finished the futile search, when someone knocked on the door. He opened it, to his confusion Gregory was standing at the door.
" What are you doing here?" The red haired officer growled.
Gregory's nose was still swollen and his eyes were both black, Wufei had to fight to keep the smile from his face. He had thrown a better punch than he had originally thought. He crossed his arms over his chest, " That isn't any of your business."
" I just want to see Sally. So move out of my way."
The ex-Gundum pilot didn't budge an inch; " She isn't here."
" Then why are you here?"
" I was looking for her."
Gregory looked at him a moment longer, before deciding it probably wasn't in his best interest to stand toe to toe with this man again. " If you find her tell her my offer is still open." He stalked off without another word.
Wufei clenched his fist at the thought; but if she hadn't gone with him, where was she?
It hadn't taken Wufei long to get to the vehicle depot, the girl walking at the moment looked up at him a bit nervously.
" May I help you sir?" She asked timidly.
" I need to know if Major Sally Po, left the area." Wufei adjusted the bag on his shoulder.
The girl looked up at him, and then back down at her computer, " One moment," Her fingers played over the keys in a rhythmic fashion before she reached up and traced the computer screen with her finger. "It says she left in a Preventor jeep at 10:57pm last night."
" I need a vehicle; one that can track the one she left in." He stated slamming his card down on her desk.
" Very well sir," She ran his card and typed a few notes into the computer. She laid a key and a piece of paper in front of him. " You need to sign this."
" Why?"
" So we know who took the vehicle out."
" Fine." He angrily scrawled out his name on the appropriate lines.
" Thank you sir, you vehicle is number 345, it's a black truck, parked in section 14 level 5." She handed him a map and returned to whatever she had been doing before.
Friday 12:15pm
Wufei turned the truck down the road that led to the L5 shrine. He wondered why the tracking signal was still so weak. Surly, she wouldn't have gone any farther than this. He couldn't think of anything out here that would have caught her interest. As he rounded the corner, he saw the jeep, or what was left of it. The roof had been torn off, the windows were smashed, panels were bent in and one the seat lay 20 feet from the vehicle's body. He shut off the truck and sprinted over to where the jeep sat. " Sally! Sally!" He screamed out her name, before he skidded to stop. He found her on the other side of green wreck; the sight took the breath from his lungs. Sally was curled up in ball, trembling from the cold. Her body and clothes were soaked with mud and rainwater and by the sound of sky the storm system wasn't finished. Her uniform was ripped in several places, exposing parts of her arms and stomach. There was dried blood on her arms and on her forehead. How long had she lain there? Had she been thrown from the car or had someone attacked her?
He knelt beside her and took her pulse, she was still breathing, but her forehead felt hot. The roads would be too dangerous, and he couldn't patch her wounds in the truck; it looked as if they were going to be seeking shelter in shrine. He was a bit nervous to leave her, but he wasn't going to let his sentimentality stop him from helping her. He climbed into the truck, ripped his own items from his bag, and cursed out loud, while trying to get the emergency kit out from under the seat. Finally he pulled it free, stuffed it into his own bag and threw the bag over his shoulder. The rain started falling again; he reached his partner, and he could see she was shivering violently. He hoisted her body up and cradled her as gently as he could as he made his way to the shrine.
He looked down at his shivering partner, then at the gates, and slowly made his way up the stairs, praying all the way. He found the hidden room that the priests would have used to hide fugitives; apparently it was a part of this shrine's design, much to his relief. He laid her down on the cot and peeled off her shoes, pants and shirt. Her lips already had a bluish tint to them. He had no clue how long she had lain there, or what had happened to her. He sat her up and wrapped the blanket around her middle. He positioned himself in front of her, and started cleaning the cuts on her arms and face. She winced instinctively as the antiseptic soaked cloth made contact with her forehead. Generally head wounds bled a lot, and the deep cut along her forehead was no exception. It didn't look deep enough for stitches, but that was only his guess. He wiped the cloth over the cuts on her arms and legs thankfully most were only surface abrasions. The main issue was the fever, and the hypothermia trying to overtake her. He carefully pulled the blanket away so he could check for more injuries; his fingers traced along her stomach he could tell the welts there had been caused by someone kicking her. When he checked her back he found similar marks, but what momentarily caught his attention, were the black Chinese characters scrolled between her shoulder blades which read: Live Free or Die. He torn his own shirt off, put it over her body. He started rubbing her body trying to force her circulation to improve. Finally he knew his effort wasn't doing much to help; he wrapped the blanket around her legs and pulled her onto his lap. He wrapped the other blanket around her shoulder and cradled her to his chest. He didn't know what else to do besides conserve her body heat. " Don't die, Sally." He pleaded with her.
Friday 3:20pm
Wufei sat with her for what felt like hours; she still shivered, and had begun twisting in her sleep. " You will not die." He told his partner. He shifted her gently against his chest and wrapped his arms tightly around her. Sally's fever was getting worse, as storm outside beat against the shrine. She shifted again, this time she pushed away from him, tears running down her face as her features contorted in pain. Wufei tried to wake her up by gently shaking her, but the fever held her in sleep.
She pushed harder and started to whimper, " I didn't want you to know. I wanted you not to hate me. It was a mistake; I was young. I didn't want you to know. Now I can't tell you how I feel, because you won't want me." Then just as suddenly as the tirade began she was silent except for her breathing.
Wufei must have stared at her for a full minute, his mind a complete blank. He merely pulled her close to him and closed his eyes as he tried not to think.
Friday 5:30pm
The shrine was almost silent, except for the two living souls who took shelter. The dust swirled across floor as the wind continued to howl. Small footprints marked the floor, yet they seemed to appear from thin air. Wufei hadn't noticed, because he had dosed off. The footprints drew closer to the officers on the cot, and a girl of fourteen or fifteen appeared in front of them. She cocked her head to the side, and her black hair swished against her blue coat. She looked at the male officer, then at the woman tucked safely in his arms. She brushed her fingers over the man's cheek; he flinched and shivered. The girl looked at her hand like it had betrayed her then she smiled. " I hope you are happy. I can rest knowing that you well taken care of."
Saturday 7:35am
Sally winced as she tried to move, she felt as if she had been hit by truck then shoved into a box to recover. When she tried to move a second time, she noticed that not only was she not lying in the mud, but also she was somewhere warm and someone was holding her. She smiled at the irony, she didn't even have to open her eyes, she knew by the scent who had rescued her. But how had he known how to find her? 'Must have been the tracking system, on the jeep. Those things can take an awful lot of abuse. Well time to wake the sleeping giant,' She opened her eyes and wished she hadn't, her partner was looking down at her with unreadable expression. Sally opened her mouth to say something and stared coughing.
Wufei leaped off the bed and picked up the canteen and cup, he poured some water into the cup, and offered it to her. As she gulped the water down she was surprised by the concern in his voice, " How are you feeling?"
" Sore; really sore. Did you use the jeep the tract me? Last thing I remember is being thrown to the ground." Sally finished off the water and sighed.
" Yes, but the signal was very weak, and when I got here, I found you lying on the ground. I was…" Wufei trailed off, trying to collect his thoughts. " I was afraid that you might be dead."
Sally allowed the phrase to catch in her mind, he never admitted to fear. Never in all the time she had known him, yet he just said that he had been afraid for her life. She couldn't think of any response except to observe her clothes or rather the lack there of, "Oh, where are my clothes?"
" They aren't useable. Your shivering again, are you cold?"
" Yes." Sally shifted and kept her eyes away from her partner.
" I can go get something out of the truck."
" It's raining outside why don't you stay here, the blankets are fine. Besides, I'm not the only one shivering."
Wufei sat next to her on the bed, and touched the side of her face. It wasn't fair; he wasn't supposed to be confronted with this. He dropped his head and his hand fell limp.
Sally looked at him in shock; it looked as if his mask of indifference was cracking. " Wufei, what is it?"
He couldn't help it; couldn't take the pain anymore. For the first time in his life he didn't care if he appeared weak. He wrapped his arms around her and buried his head into her shoulder. She wasn't supposed to love him, no one could. He had failed everyone his entire life. He hadn't even been allowed to die in battle. Now he didn't care; he wanted the pain to go away like it usually did when his partner was with him.
Sally could feel the tears on her shoulder, and strength of his embrace. " Shhh, it's all right I'm not leaving. I'm not leaving." Sally determined to stay as long as took, even if he was hurting her. Her sides were throbbing in pain, but she didn't care.
His voice was completely broken by sorrow, " I failed. I failed." He chanted over and over.
Sally just sat with him until he was completely silent; after another few moments he pulled away and turned away from her. Sally rubbed his back gently, praying he wouldn't reject the contact, " Are you okay?"
He moved slightly as Sally leaned against him, " I failed them."
" You mean your family?"
" Everyone. I couldn't save my wife, and I was supposed to protect her. I failed my colony, they all died."
" You've never failed me. You rescued me more than once." Sally forced her partner to face her; then she kissed his forehead. "Wufei, listen, you drive me crazy, you act like you don't care about anything, but you have not ever failed me as a partner."
" I haven't been honest with you."
Sally didn't speak she just waited, for him to explain.
" I…" He cleared his throat and took a deep breath. " You were talking in your sleep. Sally, I have a deep respect for you. And I …" His mouth and throat wouldn't cooperate, he wanted to tell her so much, but he couldn't.
" It's all right I understand what you're saying." Sally hugged him; then she whispered. " I love you." She bit her lip, 'well there I said it, now he can push me away or accept it.'
Monday 7:45am
Sally stretched lazily as she breathed in the scent of her own bed. She was still stiff from her beating, among other things. A smile crept over her face at the thought, before a yawn took over her features. Her eyes slowly opened and she caught sight of the alarm clock. She eyes widened in shock, "Wufei, we slept in!" She hollered leaping out of bed, and sprinting to the shower.
Wufei scrambled out of bed behind her and dashed to the shower on the other side of apartment.
The couple was ready in thirty minutes, and rushed out the door.
Sally sighed from the passenger seat, " You can slow down we don't have to be there until 8:45."
Wufei didn't reply for a moment then he smirked at her, " Let's not do this again."
" You got my vote." She responded while her mind raced over the events of the weekend. 'Noin's gonna freak.' Sally thought with hint of pride, as she slyly added. "Although this weekend wasn't a total loss."
" True." Her partner smirked as he kept his eyes on the road.
Monday 8:45am
"Well, how was I supposed to know the overpass was crammed?!?" Sally's angry voice shot through the quiet Preventor office.
" Woman, you're making a scene." Wufei growled.
" Like I care! And another thing, this," Sally pointed at her name plate on their office door, " has got to go!" Several of the other officers leaned out of their workspaces to watch the irate Preventor tear her nameplate from the door.
" I don't care!" Wufei stormed through the door behind her and slammed it behind them.
Sally crashed in her chair trying to mask her laugher, " I think that worked."
Wufei snorted, " I suppose it may be successful. All this subterfuge, it's an insult to my honor if you think…"
" Shhh." Sally brushed her finger over his lips causing him to stiffen significantly. " We need to talk to Lady Une about this, among other things." Sally snapped her fingers, " I've got to go down to vehicle depot and report the Jeep."
Wufei rolled his eyes, " I suppose; and gab with Noin."
Sally tired to glare him, but couldn't keep the smile off her face. They just knew each other far too well. She was almost out the door when his hand captured hers for just a moment and Sally squeezed his back, before letting go and slipping out of the office.
Lucrezia Noin was busy typing in the paperwork from her and Zech's last mission, when she saw her friend walking down the hallway. " Hey Sally, come here and chat for a minute."
Sally sauntered into the office, "Where's Zech's?"
" He's having breakfast with Relena. He won't be in until 10:00."
" That's nice. What did you want to tell me?"
" Nothing, I know that you didn't go with Gregory, I was just curious about where you were." Noin smiled at Sally, who promptly stood up and place both hands on the desk.
Noin's smile to instantly faded to shock; Sally smiled at the reaction, " Just decided to catch the impossible."
" When did you…But I thought… I mean the argument…." Noin stuttered.
" Saturday night. I have no clue what you were thinking. The argument was staged to distract from the ring." Sally motioned at Noin with her left ring finger.
" How did you do it?"
" I didn't. Oh, and I'll be needed a new name plate, I'm pretty sure you can guess how it should read."
" You always have to beat me." Noin laughed.
Sally winked at her friend and walked out her office.
The End
Well… Um that's it. I hope everybody liked the end. I want to thank everybody for their encouragement. This is also my disclaimer: I don't own these characters and I'm done now so I'll return them, only slightly bent and upset (of course not all of them are mad). Oh yes, and " Can't Fight the Moonlight" belongs to LeAnn Rimes and or the people who produced "Coyote Ugly". So song isn't mine either. I just got the idea for a story so I wrote it up. Again I hope you enjoyed it.
- Ambrosia