The Heart Never Forgets

Chapter 3



A few weeks later, the incident between Sally and Wufei was old news. Consequently most of the vicious teasing had died down, as word of new trouble had arose in a neighbouring city.

Une was still remarkably cold towards Sally and didn't even attempt to see reason with Wufei. He had been put on training duty for the new recruits, where as Sally was heading for a mission, accompanied by Noin and Zechs. They were staying undercover in a hotel, whilst monitoring the growing reports of hostility in a particular town. There had been threats of rioting and civilians had been concerned it may lead to something more serious.

So far, for the first few days, there had been no cause for apprehension. The three Preventers were wondering whether it would be best to return to the headquarters, regarding it as a false alarm.

" Okay, we're leaving this place today!" Zechs announced in a growling tone, walking into Sally and Noin's shared hotel room. " There's obviously no need to remain here."

" I certainly looks that way," Sally agreed.

Zechs seemed particularly irritable as he slouched down on the sofa, brushing his long flaxen hair out of his eyes. He clutched his stomach every so often and held his breath.

Sally suspected something was wrong with Zechs. This morning, Noin had gotten out of bed and had spent the last half hour throwing up in the bathroom. She was still inside there and unpleasant noises could be heard through the wall.

Zechs suddenly began to retch. " Lu! Quick, get out of the bathroom!" he demanded, drumming on the door. " I'm about to....!"

Noin showed no signs of evacuating the bathroom, so Sally guided Zechs to the garbage can, in which he vomited heartily. She brushed her hand over his forehead and felt the prickly heat of his skin.

" Looks like you two have caught a bug of some sort," Sally said sympathetically. "Perhaps it's a good thing we have no further demands here."

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Once they had returned, a few days later, Zechs and Noin seemed to have fully recovered from their sickly ordeal. Sally felt it was only by good fortune that she had averted it. This really brought no consolation to her current state of affairs., though.

Whilst on her mission, the whole dilemma with Zechs and Noin had prevented her from thinking much of her former partner. She had spotted Wufei a few times at the headquarters but she had not been within communication distance of him.

She wondered whether she ought to have visited his apartment to smooth a few things over, tell him to stop feeling guilty, tell him it was all her fault. The problem lay in the fact they hadn't reached a conclusion as to where their relationship was heading. Maybe they never would.

Sally pushed all these kind of thoughts out of her mind. She knew that she and Wufei were avoiding each other for the sake of their careers. That and the fact neither of them could face another confrontation with an acutely angry Lady Une.

She lay outstretched on her bed, sighing into her pillow. Shafts of morning light lit up her carpet. A hard days work at the Preventers office lay ahead of her. Sally detested staring at a computer screen dawn till dusk, save for when she ate lunch with Noin. It made her feel sick...

Sick! As if the thought had triggered something inside her, she felt her stomach lurch and blood pound in her ears. Reading the signs that told her she was going to vomit, she launched herself from where she was laying and almost dived into the bathroom.

Sally never did make it into work. Cursing herself for succumbing to the stomach bug of her friends, she ducked her head into the toilet bowl where she threw up for the rest of the morning....an action repeated the next day....and the next....and the next......and all the following week.....



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Two weeks later, Noin secured the lock on her apartment door and casually headed towards Sally's apartment. She hoped Sally was feeling better and would be well enough to accompany her to work. The two friends usually freely went in and out of each other's residences and owned a key for both.

Noin tapped on Sally's door just to warn her she was going to enter. There was no answer. She knocked again, this time a little louder. Nothing.

Noin finally took advantage of her liberties and unlocked the door, fearing Sally's condition might have deteriorated - either that or she'd slept in.

" Sal? Are you there?" she called, trying to inject some cheeriness into her voice. There was still no answer.

Preventer Fire noticed her companion's bedroom door was tightly closed and she was sure she could here the muffled sound of crying. Gulping, she took a chance and gingerly eased herself into Sally's bedroom. The curtains were still drawn and the room was dim, save for a small ray of morning light poking through the cracks.

There, Noin found her friend laid crumpled on her cot, staring at the ceiling. Her blue eyes were wide and vacant and the small beam of light illuminated her cheeks, on which were the definite tracks of tears.

A little startled by Noin's sudden appearance, Sally turned her face towards her. Sympathy glowed in Noin's eyes as she saw how deathly pale and sick Sally looked. Noin wasn't sure whether it was just the light but Sally's face looked almost green. It didn't seem fair that she had nursed Noin and Zechs back to health when they had been sick, then suffered afterwards for so long herself. Injustice, Wufei would have said.

" Oh, still not feeling any better?" Noin asked, knowing it was a silly question, though she wasn't quite sure what to say. Sally only shrugged. This woman was behaving so unlike Sally. It wasn't like her to wallow in her misfortunes or indulge her sickness. She was a fighter, so what had caused her defeat?

Noin pondered on what else could be wrong. " Look, Sal, I know Une was pretty hard on you about the incident with Wufei but - "

" Shut up! SHUT UP and leave me alone!" Sally hissed, turning her face towards the wall and burying herself under her quilt like a child.

Noin was stunned. She backed towards the door and felt a number of emotions - anger, hurt but most of all confusion. As soon as the bedroom door was closed, Noin heard her friend resume her sobbing.

Suddenly, a thought entered Noin's mind: maybe Sally was taking something - some kind of drugs - anti-depressants maybe, that were having an effect on her. But why would she be taking any drugs? Despite being in poor health, she'd seemed fine only yesterday. She was probably pining for Wufei. They hadn't exactly spoken much lately.

Anyhow, Noin was determined not to leave the apartment when her friend was in such a state. She headed for Sally's bathroom, hoping to find the culprits in one of the cabinets.

As she entered the small bathroom, Noin was struck with horror at what she saw lying next to the sink. She picked up the small empty box and stared at it with a growing feeling of dread. Worse than any drugs. Worse.

" Sally!" Noin called, sternly, marching back into Sally's dorm. Sally turned momentarily and cringed when her eyes caught sight of what her friend was holding.

" It's not..."

" I want the truth from you," Noin replied, gently, but still retaining her firm tone.

Sally's mouth hung open as if she wanted to say something but could not frame the words. Instead, she pulled the quilt over herself again and turned away.

Noin's voice softened. " You're pregnant, aren't you?"

Sally began to weep again. Noin saw the body under the quilt trembling as it was racked with sobs. She didn't even bother to deny it.

" I guess I don't even need to ask who the father is, do I?" Noin continued, trying to keep her voice from quivering. The dark-haired woman perched herself on the edge of the bed and pulled the quilt back a little to reveal the other woman's tears. " Oh, Sally, why? Why? I thought you were the sensible level-headed one!"

Sally pulled herself up to a sitting position and snatched a pillow to cling onto. She leant her head forward and cried into the material.

" I'm a wreck," she admitted. " What am I going to do? If Une finds out she'll - "

" I promise not to tell her," Noin stated.

" Not Zechs, either!" Sally added. " If you do, I shall never forgive you. I'm biding my time. And I am NOT going to tell Wufei."

" I promise not to say a word," Noin sighed. " But how long do you expect to keep this up? Une's already began to notice you've been slacking off work and coming in late, claiming to be ill then behaving perfectly well the rest of the day. Morning sickness, isn't it?"

" I ...don't...know what I shall do."

" You know you don't have to do this, Sally," Noin reminded her. " I could cover for you. You could go have - "

" An abortion. That's what you were going to say," Sally replied, sneering.

" It's not that I exactly support these issues but it might be the only way - "

" Answer me this, Noin," Sally cut her off. " Would you EVER consider aborting Zechs' child?"

Noin was silent. Then she shook her head. " No. Never. I'd rather die myself than deliberately lose Zechs' child."

" Well then you know how I feel," Sally answered, choking back her sobs. " If I did that, I would never forgive myself. It would just kill Wufei. I couldn't live my life knowing I'd caused him the potential for an extra heartache whether he knew of it or not."

" But what about you?" Noin said. " I know you always put him first and I know you've always cared for him, even when he was a teenager, even if it was in a different way. But you can't keep nurturing him and forgetting your own needs."

" And you think getting an abortion is what I need?" Sally replied curtly.

" I didn't say that - ."

" No. I can't, Noin and I don't want to. I want to keep the baby. And I only want the two of us know about it and no-one else," Sally pleaded.

" You have to tell Wufei, you can't keep something like this a secret from him. He's the father for goodness sakes," Noin urged.

" I don't expect him to play the role of the doting father....he's too spirited to be tied down with a child," Sally answered. " He has too much still to accomplish..."

" Sally, stop letting him off the hook - he IS NOT a kid anymore, he's an ADULT who has done something very irresponsible. You do not owe him a free life," Noin said.

" Don't tell him, I'll tell him when I feel ready," Sally said quietly.

Noin reached out and hugged her friend. " It's okay, I respect your wishes. We'll get through this somehow. I'll stick by you, like always, huh?"

Sally knew in her heart of hearts that Noin's words were sensible ones and that Wufei should face the consequences of his actions as well as her. He had told her to judge him as a man and that's exactly what she knew she must do.

End of part 3