She left a jade dragon on his desk. A dragon for the last man of the dragon clan. She had bought it last night, searching the closing shops for a birthday present to make up for all the ones she had not known about. They hadn't been together long enough for her to find out before. Or perhaps someone had told her but at the time it hadn't mattered to her. She'd thought she'd have time to learn the date later.

WuFei came in, precisely on time. His uniform was precisely buttoned, the wrinkles ironed out to military perfection. He looked good that way, the color set off his skin tone. With ease born of practice and precision, he sat down at his desk and reached for the computer.

It was then that he noticed the green statue on his desk. Or let himself notice, Meiran wasn't sure which. Curiously he picked it up, letting his fingers explore it, checking the bottom for a note or other form of identification. Meiran knew there was nothing there but the stamp of the manufacturer. He put the statue back down with a puzzled frown and turned to meet her.

"Did you see who left this?"

"Perhaps it was one of your friends." She'd intended to say no but somehow she couldn't add one more lie to her slate.

"No." He mused softly and then shook his head as though to clear it. "What do you have on Madam Hwung?" He was back to business now, focusing once again on the head of the suspicious Chinese corporation. The jade dragon sat proudly in the center of the otherwise empty desk.

She went to the gym again that night, killing the dummy-man with the carefully patterned attacks she had learned eagerly as a child. She knew peripherally when Trowa came and left. When she heard the door open again she did not look up but continued. After awhile though, when her muscles were warm and loose like butter she looked up and saw Trowa watching her, WuFei at his side. She wondered if he was trying to help her or have WuFei figure it out and make her leave.

"Would you care to spar?" she asked, seeing WuFei's curious testing gaze.

That look in his face vanished with her words and he took on a closed, blank expression. "I do not fight weak onnas."

"I'm not a woman!" she shot back angrily. "I'm N-"She realized in time what she was about to say and stopped.

"You're what?"

"I'm the protecting spirit of peace. I'm a Preventor." She didn't think he would accept. "Surely you've fought women before."

He gave her an appraising look. "No. But I accept your challenge."

It only made her more angry, that he would deny he had ever known a girl named Nataku, ever fought her for Justice. He stepped onto the mat and they bowed to each other. And then, no holds barred, she took her frustration out on the lifelong object of her stress.

She actually held her own for a while, blocking his moves and having hers blocked in return. But after all too short a time she misjudged and overbalanced and before she knew it, she was on the floor looking up at him dazedly.

A fine sheen of sweat clung to WuFei's glowing skin and she was glad she had lost her breathe fighting or she'd only have had to loose it again from the way he made her heart stop. She wished though that his hair had fallen out of the ponytail. She'd liked it down.

He didn't offer her a hand up. Instead he stood looking down on her. "Maybe you can be the protecting spirit of peace."

"But I lost." She was confused. She had expected him to scorn her. And for some strange reason she had expected it to start raining.

"Sometimes the soul knows when it does not have to fight too hard. I once knew a woman who was like that, who was like you. When she was fighting for something that really mattered she could not be conquered."

"What happened to her?" She was curious now about this other woman. The woman she did not know.

"You honor her memory."

She couldn't help the surge of relief that there wasn't some other woman. She knew it was unworthy of her. She didn't deserve WuFei and she wouldn't try for him but still it hurt to think of him with someone else. Who in the wide universe could ever be good enough for him?

But she still wondered who the other woman was.

Author's Note: Thanks so much for all the reviews! It's really meant a lot to me. Anyway, I'm sorry for the long wait and hope this chapter was worth it. Please review some more and let me know what you think!