Daisclaimers; Again Sally and WuFei aren't mine.... Gorgeous, elegant, heavenly, stunning, sexy, WuFei.... *sniff* He's not mine.... *sobs*
They both belong to Sotesu.
SINS OF SILENCE
Chapter 2
Leap of Faith, Bond of Trust
*Each day, each day I play the role. Of someone always in control.*
The room was dark.
But that didn't bother him, it was the darkness inside that threatened WuFei. He had entered his house in a semi-daze. Not turning on the lights. Walked to the bedroom and sat on the sill, staring out at the stars.
He used to count them as a child, picking out the constellations he knew.
But not tonight, his mind was too occupied and his heart too injured to stargaze.
They were words...
Meaningless, useless, pointless words. Chang WuFei did not need words.
They did not matter.
But they hurt anyway. Words stung him, they burned in his mind long after Sally had finished speaking, after he'd left. Stronger than any physical blows. More powerful than if Sally had struck him as hard as she could.
Why did what Sally Po thought matter to him....?
She was his partner of course. He had though that she was his friend too....
He had obviously been wrong.
It wasn't the first time WuFei had been wrong. He knew it wouldn't be the last.
She was sick of him? He had never thought.
WuFei's mouth curved in a bitter twist.
He was sick of himself.
Sick and tired.
Sick of life, and tired of living it.
*But at night I come home and turn the key.*
If Sally only knew.
If she could only imagine, how often he had nearly let the mask slip. If his partner could simply conceive of how many times he had nearly confided in her. The staggering amount of times he had wanted to... But to do so would be weak. He would be burdening her as well as himself, weighing his partner down with his own failings.
And so Sally didn't know, he had never told her.
He would never tell her now.
His callousness had shut her out. His indifference had blocked her off. His heartless demeanor had isolated her, as much as he had attempted to isolate himself.
WuFei had hurt her.
He had failed again. Another nonsuccess in a long history of failures He had been brought up to protect women. He had been trained to defend their honor and their virtue. He had failed with Meiran. He had lost his wife as a result.
He had failed with Sally..... And WuFei had never had her...
He was alone, as he had always been. As he would always be.
His friends had left the memories of the war behind them. They had moved on. They were content, they had found what they had lost. They had found happiness, peace, they had found truth.
Heero's truth was regaining his humanity, finding his heart again....
Duo's truth was his freedom to do as he pleased, to be lost in the simple pleasures of life.
Trowa's truth was to realize his own value, to recognize his self-worth through self-sacrifice.
And Quatre's truth was a love of all things, the love of creation and nurturing. No more destruction....
And WuFei's truth.....?
He could not find his, as they had.
He could not find it..... No-one could show it to him; If WuFei did not reach out and grasp it for himself, it would forever be denied him.
WuFei believed he was never meant for friendship or joy - ephemeral things which slipped irretrievably through his fingers. The only things that seemed permanent in his world were the questions - war or peace - life or death -good or evil - past or future...
Love or hate....
And WuFei knew that he was never meant for love as well. Everything he loved had been brutally torn away from him. His grandmother, his father, his wife. His home.
His entire people. Murdered, killed, dead, lost, their memories fading with time
Slipping away, his joy, along with his hope.
His life. His will to live.
And now his partner had no use for him either.....
*There's nobody there...No one cares for me*
He was alone....always detached. Remote....Apart.
Solitary.
WuFei slipped off the sill and onto the floor. He would not watch the stars tonight. They were a thing of the past. It was time to leave them behind. Their light could not comfort him as that had done in his childhood.
It was time he accepted what he had long denied.
There was no place in this world for Chang WuFei. He doubted that there ever had been.
His partner had proved that tonight.
And if there was no place for him... Then why was he still here?
WuFei did not know.
He did know of a way to rectify that, though.
So tired....
The Chinese pulled himself to his feet and made his way to the sword cabinet.....
*What's the sense, in trying hard to find your dreams.*
Chang WuFei had no fear of death. He knew what awaited him beyond the grave. Neither did he fear dying. He was safe in the knowledge that with dying, the pain would fade eventually.
The dim moonlight glinted across his beloved Darn Dao, WuFei turned it over and over in his hands. Memorizing every curved of his blade.
The workmanship and quality of the metal, an art that had been almost lost after his parents time. The twenty-eight inch blade, long and deadly. Curved and flaring towards the tip.
The talent and skill that must have gone into the creation of the handgrip. Fine bone ivory with an intricate filigree dragon of pure ebony, curving along and around it's length. The ferrule and pommel were made of solid silver.
It was a magnificent sword.
He already knew it by heart, every scale on the dragon, every tiny scratch in the blade. He had know it by heart since he had been four years old. That was when he first set eyes on it.
Sitting high in a shelf in his fathers reading room. He had wanted it then. He had craved for it for ten years, until the day that his father had handed him the sword.
His wedding day.....
It seemed a lifetime ago, when his only worries had been how to avoid Meiran....
*Without someone to share them with.*
bang, bang, bang
His head whipped around, his thoughts scattered at the knock on the door. WuFei frowned at the intrusion. The lights weren't on. Perhaps whoever was there would simply give up and leave him in peace.
That was all he desired now.
To be left alone, and in peace.
"WuFei... open the door! I know you're in there!... Please WuFei!"
Sally.
The Chinese youth glanced at the blade curving in his hands, then back to the door. His partner was outside. But what did she want, she had already said everything WuFei wanted to hear. She had made that clear earlier on.
More knocking. Louder now. Sally was growing impatient. WuFei could sense that even thought the solid wood door. The insistent pounding of his partner had not lessened. Her anticipation was apparent, as was her growing exasperation. And there was something else in her voice as well...
"Please.... Let me in, we need to talk.... I need to talk to you... Please WuFei!"
His frown deepened, that almost indiscernible note in her voice. It was worry... with a hint of desperation..
Another glance at the sword. It would have to wait.
Sally would say her part, then she would leave. And then WuFei would be alone again.
And he would finish what he had been about to begin.
With an almost silent sigh, he placed the Darn Dao reverently back in it's case and walked to let his partner in.
*Tell me what that means*
To say that Sally looked disheveled would have been an understatement. WuFei started, surprised at his partners appearance. Her breathing was coming in short gasps and she looked as though she had run the entire way to his house. The light rain was enough to leave her looking bedraggled and thoroughly wet.
Though a glance told him her car was parked down the street.
"Can I come in?"
WuFei looked at her carefully, critically and Sally couldn't help feel resentment surging up. It seemed as though he was examining her to decipher whether she was worthy enough to enter his house.
But after a moment he nodded shortly and stepped aside.
Closing the door behind her, WuFei turned away and said, "Stay there."
He disappeared into the darkness for a while then returned with a large towel. Handing it to the startled woman he stood back, leaned against the wall with his arms folded and ordered, "Now talk."
I... I wanted to say I'm sorry."
"For what...?"
Suppressing a groan, Sally gathered herself. He always did this. She had been expecting it. Chewing her lip, she plunged on.
"For what I said earlier on.... I was out of line."
He frowned.
Why should she apologize.... Out of line or not, it was obvious she had been speaking from her heart when she'd said those words. She was tired of him. And as cold as he appeared to be, even WuFei could pick up the underlying ire and passion that had laced her voice. There was no need for apologizes. There would be no further need for them. He had seen to that. Sally would get the partner she desired.
*I want to run to you.... I want to run to you.*
"Apologies are unnecessary."
Sally halted in her movements in surprise, she had been expecting anything but that.
WuFei continued, "You were obviously convinced at your words. You should not apologize for your convictions...... Or your regrets."
His voice was cold and neutral and Sally shivered at it's tone.
So impersonal, it was as if he had been talking about the weather. Not their relationship.
Sally frowned as she gently toweled her hair.
Maybe he really didn't understand. She would explain it to him then. Her voice was slightly muffled beneath the towel.
"I have regrets WuFei...." She lowered the towel for a moment and caught his eyes.
"I regret my words..... Not only because I was out of line, but because I didn't mean them."
WuFei's posture against the wall did not change, but she saw his expression cloud slightly. He did not believe her. So she would have to prove it to him.
Holding the towel in one hand, she reached into her pocket and pulled out several scraps of torn paper. Then she crushed them in her hand and let them fall to the floor.
"That was the request you gave to Une tonight.. Before you left."
She began to towel her hair again, so she missed the look of utter surprise on WuFei's face. The L5 pilot stared at her for a long moment, trying to understand her actions. Her actions which completely contradicted her words earlier on. Actions that seemed to counter what WuFei had seen and felt coming from Sally. He tried to comprehend why, if she was so sick of him.... Then why just not get a new partner....
When he could not, he said.
"I thought.... That was what you wanted."
She lowered the towel again and gave him a hard stare. He seemed completely unaffected. Holding his gaze, Sally sighed. How could he know what she wanted? He never asked her. He never talked to her, unless he had to.
"What I want, WuFei..... Is my partner to trust me."
WuFei tensed and Sally resisted the urge to sigh again. She was not accusing him. But he would not understand that.
"And trust is based on knowledge. You're my partner, and I don't know anything about you......"
*Won't you hold me in you arms, and keep me safe from harm.*
Her partner remained silent at that and Sally could feel the tension radiating from him. Nothing showed on his face, or at least what she could see of it. He was partly concealed by shadows. She tried explaining it another way.
"You need to trust your partner completely, WuFei. And it helps to know something about them to do that."
"You know all you need to know about me."
"All I know about you, is you're a former gundam pilot and you love mandarin oranges."
An elegant eyebrow rose at that remark. Sally shrugged sheepishly but continued anyway, "And you know nothing about me-"
"That is untrue. I know you."
"No, WuFei.... You don't. How could you? You hardly speak. You never ask about me... How could you know me?"
A frown. "I do not need to 'ask', woman. I have eyes. I can see."
Sally threw him a skeptical look and placed her hands on her hips. It was impossible that he knew half as much as he assumed he did. And Sally was going to prove that.
"Really? So then tell me... What have you observed?"
WuFei looked as though he wasn't going to answer that remark. His eyes darkened and he frowned, but before Sally could say 'I told you so', he answered her.
"You eat a bagel every morning and act irrational unless you get one. You love coffee, though I cannot see why. You're desk has to be arranged the way you like it, or else you cannot find anything. And when you can't find your keys, you mentally retrace your steps to get them. They're nearly always in a pocket of yours somewhere. You have an uncanny sense of direction, and you rarely get lost. You love lavender, the fragrance and the color. When you are nervous you chew you lip, you also-"
"Stop.... Stop... WuFei..." Sally was staring at her partner in amazement. Not quite able to believe the litany she had just heard.
How did he know all those things? WuFei knew more about her than she had dreamed possible. And he wasn't finished! Sally had a niggling sense that her partners perception was a whole lot stronger than she gave him credit for. To see and observe was one thing. But WuFei also understood. He seemed to comprehend Sally, he appeared to know her far more than she had believed possible from him.
But still he acted so cold.
*I want to run to you, but if I come to you..*
He was watching her, in the semi-darkness his expression was unintelligible. Sally took it to be expectation though.
"Okay," she conceded. "You seem to know me.... a little."
She could make out his eyes narrowing.
"But I still don't know you."
WuFei's expression had definitely darkened at those words. Sally could see the door slamming shut as he prepared to tell her to mind her own business. His voice, when he answered her was low and soft. "There is nothing you need to know."
Before he could turn away, Sally had reached forward and grabbed his arm. The youth stilled and gave her hand a pointed look before directing his dark gaze to her. But Sally was not about to be deterred. She had seen something for an instant, there had been a quality to his voice and she was not going to let that go.
"Yes, WuFei. Yes there is. You had to be somebody before you were a pilot. I don't..... " She sighed and released him, looking away. She worried the damp towel in her hands for a moment twisting it around her hands, trying to think of the words, how best to say them.
"I don't... understand you, WuFei. I barely know you. And I don't understand you."
When he did not move she continued.
"I want to, WuFei..... I want to understand you."
His eyes and face were unreadable, but inwardly Chang WuFei was reeling. How could she ever understand him, when he did not understand himself.
He could see sense to her words, but that was all. He could not tell Sally what she wanted to know. Simply because he did not know it. He had always strove to understand, the search for truth, but he had never found it. Which was why they were both here.
Now.
*Tell me. Will you stay? Or will you...Run away....?*
Pushing his self-pity aside, he concentrated on his partner. She was trying to understand, she was trying to help him just as she had always done. And he would not push her away anymore. He could not do that to Sally. His partner had already been through too much at his expense. It was time for him to face his fears.
"I would..... tell you.....I also wish to.... understand." His eyes to met hers.
Sally was struck by such naked emotion in them, yet he was trying so hard to keep it in check, to keep his dignity. She swallowed a lump in her throat.
She took a deep breath, looking at WuFei.
"Then tell me." She reached out a hand to him.
He lowered his gaze to her hand, he felt his posture becoming brittle. Any minute he knew he would shatter into a thousand pieces. His hands were fisted to keep from showing how much they wanted to tremble.
Sally's hand inched closer.
"Not everything.... But... just something, WuFei, a start. Help me understand."
WuFei held himself still by sheer will. Still silent.
Sally closed her eyes and sighed softly, "I hate words."
WuFei looked up with that and nodded to the last remark. And when he lifted his eyes to hers again, they were completely open for the first time, and vulnerable. So unguarded and exposed. Sally saw for the first time the sea of emotion that was usually so carefully hidden. So closely guarded by the dark youth.
She felt the tears well up in her eyes at the sight.
She realized the great strength it was taking him to stand there. How had she ever though him to be indifferent and unconcerned? When his eyes showed such a tumult of passion.
WuFei slowly extended his hand, reaching out, encircling her own. Holding Sally's gaze he said softly, " Maybe.... We can understand... eachother..."
She blinked and the tears in her eyes rolled down her face. Sally did not bother to wipe them away. She favored him with a trembling smile.
Nodding, she whispered, "I'd like that.... I'd like that very much."
*I need you here. I need you here to wipe away my tears.
To kiss away my fears....
If you only knew...If you only knew....
How much, how much I want to run to you...*
End of Part 2.
It's not over yet..... There's another few parts to go.
I tried to keep WuFei acting how I imagined he would act in the series, or after it. It was harder than I though. And I'm not sure I pulled it off....He's got that quiet dignity that's hard to portray. (And he's so kawaii!! ^_^)
Anyway I hope all those WuFei/Sally fans like it.
Both fics are a continuation of the same song 'Run to You' from Whitney Houston. It's on the Bodyguard soundtrack.
Ja Ne!
Orin.
They both belong to Sotesu.
SINS OF SILENCE
Chapter 2
Leap of Faith, Bond of Trust
*Each day, each day I play the role. Of someone always in control.*
The room was dark.
But that didn't bother him, it was the darkness inside that threatened WuFei. He had entered his house in a semi-daze. Not turning on the lights. Walked to the bedroom and sat on the sill, staring out at the stars.
He used to count them as a child, picking out the constellations he knew.
But not tonight, his mind was too occupied and his heart too injured to stargaze.
They were words...
Meaningless, useless, pointless words. Chang WuFei did not need words.
They did not matter.
But they hurt anyway. Words stung him, they burned in his mind long after Sally had finished speaking, after he'd left. Stronger than any physical blows. More powerful than if Sally had struck him as hard as she could.
Why did what Sally Po thought matter to him....?
She was his partner of course. He had though that she was his friend too....
He had obviously been wrong.
It wasn't the first time WuFei had been wrong. He knew it wouldn't be the last.
She was sick of him? He had never thought.
WuFei's mouth curved in a bitter twist.
He was sick of himself.
Sick and tired.
Sick of life, and tired of living it.
*But at night I come home and turn the key.*
If Sally only knew.
If she could only imagine, how often he had nearly let the mask slip. If his partner could simply conceive of how many times he had nearly confided in her. The staggering amount of times he had wanted to... But to do so would be weak. He would be burdening her as well as himself, weighing his partner down with his own failings.
And so Sally didn't know, he had never told her.
He would never tell her now.
His callousness had shut her out. His indifference had blocked her off. His heartless demeanor had isolated her, as much as he had attempted to isolate himself.
WuFei had hurt her.
He had failed again. Another nonsuccess in a long history of failures He had been brought up to protect women. He had been trained to defend their honor and their virtue. He had failed with Meiran. He had lost his wife as a result.
He had failed with Sally..... And WuFei had never had her...
He was alone, as he had always been. As he would always be.
His friends had left the memories of the war behind them. They had moved on. They were content, they had found what they had lost. They had found happiness, peace, they had found truth.
Heero's truth was regaining his humanity, finding his heart again....
Duo's truth was his freedom to do as he pleased, to be lost in the simple pleasures of life.
Trowa's truth was to realize his own value, to recognize his self-worth through self-sacrifice.
And Quatre's truth was a love of all things, the love of creation and nurturing. No more destruction....
And WuFei's truth.....?
He could not find his, as they had.
He could not find it..... No-one could show it to him; If WuFei did not reach out and grasp it for himself, it would forever be denied him.
WuFei believed he was never meant for friendship or joy - ephemeral things which slipped irretrievably through his fingers. The only things that seemed permanent in his world were the questions - war or peace - life or death -good or evil - past or future...
Love or hate....
And WuFei knew that he was never meant for love as well. Everything he loved had been brutally torn away from him. His grandmother, his father, his wife. His home.
His entire people. Murdered, killed, dead, lost, their memories fading with time
Slipping away, his joy, along with his hope.
His life. His will to live.
And now his partner had no use for him either.....
*There's nobody there...No one cares for me*
He was alone....always detached. Remote....Apart.
Solitary.
WuFei slipped off the sill and onto the floor. He would not watch the stars tonight. They were a thing of the past. It was time to leave them behind. Their light could not comfort him as that had done in his childhood.
It was time he accepted what he had long denied.
There was no place in this world for Chang WuFei. He doubted that there ever had been.
His partner had proved that tonight.
And if there was no place for him... Then why was he still here?
WuFei did not know.
He did know of a way to rectify that, though.
So tired....
The Chinese pulled himself to his feet and made his way to the sword cabinet.....
*What's the sense, in trying hard to find your dreams.*
Chang WuFei had no fear of death. He knew what awaited him beyond the grave. Neither did he fear dying. He was safe in the knowledge that with dying, the pain would fade eventually.
The dim moonlight glinted across his beloved Darn Dao, WuFei turned it over and over in his hands. Memorizing every curved of his blade.
The workmanship and quality of the metal, an art that had been almost lost after his parents time. The twenty-eight inch blade, long and deadly. Curved and flaring towards the tip.
The talent and skill that must have gone into the creation of the handgrip. Fine bone ivory with an intricate filigree dragon of pure ebony, curving along and around it's length. The ferrule and pommel were made of solid silver.
It was a magnificent sword.
He already knew it by heart, every scale on the dragon, every tiny scratch in the blade. He had know it by heart since he had been four years old. That was when he first set eyes on it.
Sitting high in a shelf in his fathers reading room. He had wanted it then. He had craved for it for ten years, until the day that his father had handed him the sword.
His wedding day.....
It seemed a lifetime ago, when his only worries had been how to avoid Meiran....
*Without someone to share them with.*
bang, bang, bang
His head whipped around, his thoughts scattered at the knock on the door. WuFei frowned at the intrusion. The lights weren't on. Perhaps whoever was there would simply give up and leave him in peace.
That was all he desired now.
To be left alone, and in peace.
"WuFei... open the door! I know you're in there!... Please WuFei!"
Sally.
The Chinese youth glanced at the blade curving in his hands, then back to the door. His partner was outside. But what did she want, she had already said everything WuFei wanted to hear. She had made that clear earlier on.
More knocking. Louder now. Sally was growing impatient. WuFei could sense that even thought the solid wood door. The insistent pounding of his partner had not lessened. Her anticipation was apparent, as was her growing exasperation. And there was something else in her voice as well...
"Please.... Let me in, we need to talk.... I need to talk to you... Please WuFei!"
His frown deepened, that almost indiscernible note in her voice. It was worry... with a hint of desperation..
Another glance at the sword. It would have to wait.
Sally would say her part, then she would leave. And then WuFei would be alone again.
And he would finish what he had been about to begin.
With an almost silent sigh, he placed the Darn Dao reverently back in it's case and walked to let his partner in.
*Tell me what that means*
To say that Sally looked disheveled would have been an understatement. WuFei started, surprised at his partners appearance. Her breathing was coming in short gasps and she looked as though she had run the entire way to his house. The light rain was enough to leave her looking bedraggled and thoroughly wet.
Though a glance told him her car was parked down the street.
"Can I come in?"
WuFei looked at her carefully, critically and Sally couldn't help feel resentment surging up. It seemed as though he was examining her to decipher whether she was worthy enough to enter his house.
But after a moment he nodded shortly and stepped aside.
Closing the door behind her, WuFei turned away and said, "Stay there."
He disappeared into the darkness for a while then returned with a large towel. Handing it to the startled woman he stood back, leaned against the wall with his arms folded and ordered, "Now talk."
I... I wanted to say I'm sorry."
"For what...?"
Suppressing a groan, Sally gathered herself. He always did this. She had been expecting it. Chewing her lip, she plunged on.
"For what I said earlier on.... I was out of line."
He frowned.
Why should she apologize.... Out of line or not, it was obvious she had been speaking from her heart when she'd said those words. She was tired of him. And as cold as he appeared to be, even WuFei could pick up the underlying ire and passion that had laced her voice. There was no need for apologizes. There would be no further need for them. He had seen to that. Sally would get the partner she desired.
*I want to run to you.... I want to run to you.*
"Apologies are unnecessary."
Sally halted in her movements in surprise, she had been expecting anything but that.
WuFei continued, "You were obviously convinced at your words. You should not apologize for your convictions...... Or your regrets."
His voice was cold and neutral and Sally shivered at it's tone.
So impersonal, it was as if he had been talking about the weather. Not their relationship.
Sally frowned as she gently toweled her hair.
Maybe he really didn't understand. She would explain it to him then. Her voice was slightly muffled beneath the towel.
"I have regrets WuFei...." She lowered the towel for a moment and caught his eyes.
"I regret my words..... Not only because I was out of line, but because I didn't mean them."
WuFei's posture against the wall did not change, but she saw his expression cloud slightly. He did not believe her. So she would have to prove it to him.
Holding the towel in one hand, she reached into her pocket and pulled out several scraps of torn paper. Then she crushed them in her hand and let them fall to the floor.
"That was the request you gave to Une tonight.. Before you left."
She began to towel her hair again, so she missed the look of utter surprise on WuFei's face. The L5 pilot stared at her for a long moment, trying to understand her actions. Her actions which completely contradicted her words earlier on. Actions that seemed to counter what WuFei had seen and felt coming from Sally. He tried to comprehend why, if she was so sick of him.... Then why just not get a new partner....
When he could not, he said.
"I thought.... That was what you wanted."
She lowered the towel again and gave him a hard stare. He seemed completely unaffected. Holding his gaze, Sally sighed. How could he know what she wanted? He never asked her. He never talked to her, unless he had to.
"What I want, WuFei..... Is my partner to trust me."
WuFei tensed and Sally resisted the urge to sigh again. She was not accusing him. But he would not understand that.
"And trust is based on knowledge. You're my partner, and I don't know anything about you......"
*Won't you hold me in you arms, and keep me safe from harm.*
Her partner remained silent at that and Sally could feel the tension radiating from him. Nothing showed on his face, or at least what she could see of it. He was partly concealed by shadows. She tried explaining it another way.
"You need to trust your partner completely, WuFei. And it helps to know something about them to do that."
"You know all you need to know about me."
"All I know about you, is you're a former gundam pilot and you love mandarin oranges."
An elegant eyebrow rose at that remark. Sally shrugged sheepishly but continued anyway, "And you know nothing about me-"
"That is untrue. I know you."
"No, WuFei.... You don't. How could you? You hardly speak. You never ask about me... How could you know me?"
A frown. "I do not need to 'ask', woman. I have eyes. I can see."
Sally threw him a skeptical look and placed her hands on her hips. It was impossible that he knew half as much as he assumed he did. And Sally was going to prove that.
"Really? So then tell me... What have you observed?"
WuFei looked as though he wasn't going to answer that remark. His eyes darkened and he frowned, but before Sally could say 'I told you so', he answered her.
"You eat a bagel every morning and act irrational unless you get one. You love coffee, though I cannot see why. You're desk has to be arranged the way you like it, or else you cannot find anything. And when you can't find your keys, you mentally retrace your steps to get them. They're nearly always in a pocket of yours somewhere. You have an uncanny sense of direction, and you rarely get lost. You love lavender, the fragrance and the color. When you are nervous you chew you lip, you also-"
"Stop.... Stop... WuFei..." Sally was staring at her partner in amazement. Not quite able to believe the litany she had just heard.
How did he know all those things? WuFei knew more about her than she had dreamed possible. And he wasn't finished! Sally had a niggling sense that her partners perception was a whole lot stronger than she gave him credit for. To see and observe was one thing. But WuFei also understood. He seemed to comprehend Sally, he appeared to know her far more than she had believed possible from him.
But still he acted so cold.
*I want to run to you, but if I come to you..*
He was watching her, in the semi-darkness his expression was unintelligible. Sally took it to be expectation though.
"Okay," she conceded. "You seem to know me.... a little."
She could make out his eyes narrowing.
"But I still don't know you."
WuFei's expression had definitely darkened at those words. Sally could see the door slamming shut as he prepared to tell her to mind her own business. His voice, when he answered her was low and soft. "There is nothing you need to know."
Before he could turn away, Sally had reached forward and grabbed his arm. The youth stilled and gave her hand a pointed look before directing his dark gaze to her. But Sally was not about to be deterred. She had seen something for an instant, there had been a quality to his voice and she was not going to let that go.
"Yes, WuFei. Yes there is. You had to be somebody before you were a pilot. I don't..... " She sighed and released him, looking away. She worried the damp towel in her hands for a moment twisting it around her hands, trying to think of the words, how best to say them.
"I don't... understand you, WuFei. I barely know you. And I don't understand you."
When he did not move she continued.
"I want to, WuFei..... I want to understand you."
His eyes and face were unreadable, but inwardly Chang WuFei was reeling. How could she ever understand him, when he did not understand himself.
He could see sense to her words, but that was all. He could not tell Sally what she wanted to know. Simply because he did not know it. He had always strove to understand, the search for truth, but he had never found it. Which was why they were both here.
Now.
*Tell me. Will you stay? Or will you...Run away....?*
Pushing his self-pity aside, he concentrated on his partner. She was trying to understand, she was trying to help him just as she had always done. And he would not push her away anymore. He could not do that to Sally. His partner had already been through too much at his expense. It was time for him to face his fears.
"I would..... tell you.....I also wish to.... understand." His eyes to met hers.
Sally was struck by such naked emotion in them, yet he was trying so hard to keep it in check, to keep his dignity. She swallowed a lump in her throat.
She took a deep breath, looking at WuFei.
"Then tell me." She reached out a hand to him.
He lowered his gaze to her hand, he felt his posture becoming brittle. Any minute he knew he would shatter into a thousand pieces. His hands were fisted to keep from showing how much they wanted to tremble.
Sally's hand inched closer.
"Not everything.... But... just something, WuFei, a start. Help me understand."
WuFei held himself still by sheer will. Still silent.
Sally closed her eyes and sighed softly, "I hate words."
WuFei looked up with that and nodded to the last remark. And when he lifted his eyes to hers again, they were completely open for the first time, and vulnerable. So unguarded and exposed. Sally saw for the first time the sea of emotion that was usually so carefully hidden. So closely guarded by the dark youth.
She felt the tears well up in her eyes at the sight.
She realized the great strength it was taking him to stand there. How had she ever though him to be indifferent and unconcerned? When his eyes showed such a tumult of passion.
WuFei slowly extended his hand, reaching out, encircling her own. Holding Sally's gaze he said softly, " Maybe.... We can understand... eachother..."
She blinked and the tears in her eyes rolled down her face. Sally did not bother to wipe them away. She favored him with a trembling smile.
Nodding, she whispered, "I'd like that.... I'd like that very much."
*I need you here. I need you here to wipe away my tears.
To kiss away my fears....
If you only knew...If you only knew....
How much, how much I want to run to you...*
End of Part 2.
It's not over yet..... There's another few parts to go.
I tried to keep WuFei acting how I imagined he would act in the series, or after it. It was harder than I though. And I'm not sure I pulled it off....He's got that quiet dignity that's hard to portray. (And he's so kawaii!! ^_^)
Anyway I hope all those WuFei/Sally fans like it.
Both fics are a continuation of the same song 'Run to You' from Whitney Houston. It's on the Bodyguard soundtrack.
Ja Ne!
Orin.