Disclaimer: Don't own Gundam Wing. I have nothing to do with the creation of that series. sigh

Chapter 2:
Kiss and Make Up

A sixteen year-old boy, dressed in all in black walked up to a typical Chinese house. As he was about to knock on the door, he heard some yelling coming from inside. He brought his ear up to the door and listened for a moment. "They're at it again," he muttered to himself. In an instant, the door swung open and he found himself quickly straightening himself out again. WuFei looked at the older boy surprise. He hadn't expected anyone to be at his front door so early in the morning.

The older boy simply smiled "Master Long has asked for your presences", he informed. He looked past WuFei and waved. MeiLi was standing in the hallway, her small face flushed and puffy with tears in her almond shaped eyes. "Hi mèi mei," he said in the happiest tone he could muster. "How have you been?" The small girl simply wiped her tears away, saying nothing.

"Mèi mei," WuFei turned speaking to her, "I might be back late. Close all the doors and-"

"Just go!" she yelled at the top of her lungs. "You selfish pig! Just leave! I don't want to see you again! I hate you Chang WuFei! I HATE YOU!" she turned into a room and disappeared from sight. WuFei gave a slight sigh as he closed the door behind him and without another word the two boys began their walk to the Temple of the Long Clan.

"Do you think she'll be all right?" the young man asked. "She did seem a little more upset than usual."

"She'll be fine," WuFei replied. "Do you know what Master Long wants of me, Yao?"

"I liked it better when you used to call me 'gēge' " the older boy was looking forward.

Wufei frowned. They most certainly weren't brothers and he hadn't called the other youth that in months. "You didn't answer my question," he replied rather annoyed.

"No," Yao answered. Mimicking Master Long, he hunched over and continued, "He just said 'Wong, may you please go and fetch Chang WuFei? I must speak with him', then he hobbled away." He laughed to himself.

"You are being disrespectful", WuFei glared.

"Man," Yao replied. "Your sister is right. You have to loosen up a little. You used to be easier to talk to before... now you're just so... distant…" his voice trailed off.

The two continued without saying a word. WuFei had always been known to be a warm, caring person before and Master Long had always admired his strength to continue and endure just about anything set before him, even when the odds were against the boy. He was smart, well-spoken, and a great martial artist. Maybe it was for these traits that Master Long had seen something in the young man and personally chosen him to be his granddaughter's husband. However, soon after Long MeiLan's death, WuFei changed dramatically. He became reserved, rarely showing what he was feeling, and much less what he was thinking. He had changed so much that even his little sister didn't seem recognize him anymore.

"Hey," Yao began softly, "you shouldn't be so closed off towards your sister. She needs you and you need her. Going cold the way you did all of a sudden seems to scare her."

WuFei didn't answer. He kept walking at the same pace.

Yao stopped. "Hey!" he yelled, "I'm talking to you! I'm serious, WuFei, you need to act a little more human every now and then. I don't think Nataku would have wanted you to stop caring about everyone around you, especially not your sister!"

WuFei stopped in his tracks and turned to face his childhood friend. Just mentioning either MaiLan or MeiLi was about the only way anyone knew to get his attention nowadays.

"I don't need your company anymore, Yao," WuFei finally responded coldly. "I know my way to the temple." He turned and started to walk away.

Yao started in disbelief. "Dìdi!" he called out, but got no response from the other boy. He huffed in frustration as his friend ignored him and continued on his way alone. "Open up again, WuFei," he said softly to himself as he watched his childhood friend walk away, "I hate this new you."

###

As WuFei opened the door to his house, the small clock in the hallway began to chime the time. He listened to each ring. It was eleven. He had been gone all day. He closed the door and locked it. Slowly, he made his way to the kitchen and flicked the lights on as he entered. The table at the corner had been set. A pot of rice was set on its center along with a plate of sweet meat and a jug of water. He walked over to the table. The food had gone cold a long time ago. "At least she already ate", he mused looking at what would probably had been three bowls full of rice missing. He heated his food and ate quietly. After his lonesome meal, he washed all the dishes that his little sister had failed to even try to wash.

The small clock in the hallway chimed again. This time it was midnight. WuFei made his way to the back of the house and took a seat outside on the veranda overlooking the backyard. The walls of the colony were dotted with many small lights that they almost looked like the stars one could see from the huge glass observatories that line the outsides of the colony.

"I'm sorry," a soft voice said, "I didn't mean to call you a pig."

"It's all right," he answered without turning around, "I know you didn't."

MeiLi walked up to her brother and sat down right next to him. She leaned over on him, taking his arm and wrapping it around herself as she curled herself up in his arms. "Nataku wouldn't want you to be so mean," MeiLi said softly, half asleep, "I miss my old brother... I want him to come back..."

WuFei could hear her beginning to cry. "I'm sorry for being a horrible brother," he began softly as his guilt finally consumed him. He felt her tiny arms tighten around him. What had they even been fighting about that morning? He really couldn't remember. He stroked her head gently to soothe her. Yes they fought all the time, but he loved her. One could even say he was overly protective of her. After a while she fell asleep in his arms. He drew his breath softly as he sat there with his sister a while longer, looking at the lights that flickered on and off on the colony wall.

###

"Well that's a nice sight for a change," came a voice.

WuFei's eyes shot open. He had fallen asleep with MeiLi on the veranda. He sat up as quietly as he could, making sure not to wake her. His eyes searched for the source of the voice that woke him. Hanging on the back wall of the yard was Yao, a broad smile on his face as WuFei took notice of him. "She's so cute," he said, "it's a huge change from seeing her cry all the time."

"What are you doing?" WuFei asked rather annoyed as he rubbed the sleep out of his dark eyes.

"Nothing," he replied. "I just thought it odd that it was six in the morning and I hadn't heard a single scream coming from your home." The older boy pulled himself up on the wall and sat with one leg hanging over each side of it. He glanced at MeiLi. "You're so mean to her," he said. "Just because Nataku died, doesn't mean you have to be an asshole around your sister." He jumped down into the yard. "She still needs you. You're everything she knows. You're everything she's got left."

"I don't need you to be telling me what I should and shouldn't be doing," WuFei snapped back.

"No complaints here about that," Yao said as he sat down on the edge of the veranda. "I'm just saying that a girl's death ruined you," he stopped himself. Most of the boys from the training hall hadn't really liked MeiLan because of her over barring nature and overwhelming self-confidence. She had been rather intimidating to say the least. But be it as it may, Yao couldn't help but notice that his friend may have had some feelings for the girl well before they were betrothed. "Anyways," he continued, "you're still admired and looked up too. But if you keep acting like an ass everyone is going to end up hating you." He took off his jacket, placing it on the still sleeping MeiLi.

The two stared at each other for what seemed to be an eternity. WuFei Chang and Yao Wong had always been the closest of friends. They were so close that they had always addressed each other as "older brother" and "little brother". And they were like siblings. Their homes were back to back, and as children they would always be jumping the wall that separated the two lots just to play with one another. They were inseparable. WuFei was the brains, quiet and always plotting while Yao was the more troublesome and outspoken of the two. Even though they were so different in personalities, they always got along, helping one another out in anything they could. However, when WuFei's parents died he had taken more to his studies, taking MeiLi with him to a private institution on the other side of the colony and returning home once a month. Now, though, they were home all time because he had decided to become the gundam's pilot and needed to train for the upcoming mission of rebellion.

"Dìdi, do you really want to pilot that mobile suit?" Yao asked turning to look at the wall he had jumped moments earlier. "I mean, you've trained pretty hard for it. But do you really think this is going to bring peace to outer space?" He paused for a moment gathering his thoughts. "It just feels like Mr. Barton wants to use us in order to overthrow the Alliance and gain control of both the Colonies and Earth."

"That is his intention." WuFei's voice came almost in a whisper.

Yao spun around, "What!" his voice was filled with disbelief. "But I thought... I mean, haven't you said that you're going to be fighting for the colonies? You mean this entire time the plan has been to overthrow the Alliance in order for him to become ruler?"

"Yes," WuFei looked up at his friend. He rose from this spot slowly and began stretching.

Yao could hear his back crack as he twisted from one side to the other. His eyes slowly narrowed on his childhood friend. He swallowed hard, as he processed the new information that had been divulged. He wouldn't allow such a thing to happen.

WuFei sensed his friend's hostility towards him and cleared his throat. "I have no intention of following through with Barton's plans. That's why I have to pilot that mobile suit. No one else in this colony would dare to go against the Barton Foundation. I can't let them have their ways." He paused for a moment, looking up at the colony wall again. "Gēge," he turned his attention back to his friend who seemed to have calmed with that last statement, "what I'm going to tell you right now, you must keep a secret on pain of death. If the Foundation gets word of this, they'll kill us all and everyone involved."

Yao looked stared at his friend confused. "Find out? Find out what?"

"Operation Meteor is going to change."

A/N:
STAY TUNED FOR THE NEXT INSTALLMENT OF THIS EXCITING TALE!