Thanks to those who reviewed!
Sorry for the long wait for this chapter. My computer died, so I had to wait for it to be fixed.

I do NOT own Gundam Wing or any of its characters. Just Lian.

Gift From the Sea

Chapter Twelve

Sally parked in front of the foster home Lian was staying in. It was a nice two-story home run by a couple in their mid-forties. About eight other children were living in the home besides Lian.

She went up onto the front porch and rang the doorbell. Soon a boy around twelve came to the door and let her in. Once inside she was greeted by Mrs. Quan, the woman who ran the home with her husband.

"You're here to see Lian again?" Mrs. Quan asked with a smile.

"That's right," Sally answered. "How is she?"

"I would be lying if I said she was happy," the woman said. "She misses her father and often cries because she wants to see him and wants to go home. She doesn't understand that it's not possible right now...She's upstairs in her room. I'll take you to her."

Mrs. Quan led Sally upstairs and down a hall. At a door she stopped and knocked before sticking her head inside. "Hi there, Lian," she said kindly. "You have someone here to see you."

She moved aside and let Sally inside. Lian was sitting cross-legged on her twin bed. She was looking at a picture book with a few words on each page. She was also holding a stuffed frog she had recieved from her father for her birthday.

Lian looked up to see who it was and her face instantly brightened. "Sally!" she squealed and jumped up and leaped at the woman who caught her out of reflex.

Mrs. Quan smiled and slipped quietly out the door.

"Are you here to take me home, Sally? Please say you are!" Lian said with her huge pleading eyes. "I want to see Daddy! Why can't I see him?"

Sally sat down on the bed and let go of the girl. "I can't take you home just yet...Don't look at me like that!"

"Where's Daddy?" she asked now near tears.

"He's...still staying in town..."

"He's in jail, isn't he? Because he did something bad," she said looking at the floor.

"What? What makes you say that?"

"Tei told me that Daddy did something bad and he's in jail..." she said. She grabbed Sally's hands in hers and stared up at her with tear filled eyes. "Why did he say that? Did Daddy really do something bad!"

Sally stroked the little girl's hair soothingly. "...Yes, your father is in jail. But he didn't do anything bad."

"If he didn't do anything, then why is he-"

"He just made a mistake is all. Once the mistake is cleared up he'll come home and you'll get to go home with him," she said with a gentle smile.

"Promise?" Lian asked crawling in her lap.

"Promise," she smiled.

Sally then picked up the book the girl had been looking at. "Baby Frog Has Lost His Mother," she read the title. "Are you reading this?" she asked.

Lian shook her head. "The words are too big for me..." she said. "Daddy read it to me sometimes, though."

Sally smiled and flipped through the book. It was still a bit hard for her to picture Wufei reading bedtime stories.


"Plead innocent!" Duo cried a few days later during his and Heero's visit with Wufei at the prison. "Dammit, Wufei! You didn't do anything wrong, so you shouldn't be punished for it! If it wasn't for you then Lian would be dead! If anyone should be punished, they should punish her mother!"

Duo sat back, fuming. He glared at Heero, who had been quiet ever since they had arrived. "Well, Heero? Don't you have anything to say?"

"No, you were loud enough for the both of us," Heero said in a neutral voice. "Besides, you've already said what I was going to say."

Wufei smiled a little. "Thanks you guys," he said softly. "I appreciate you coming all the way here to see me."

"It's nothing! We're pals, Fei! That's what pals do." Duo looked around the room suddenly with an odd look in his eyes. He leaned in closer to Wufei and whispered, "I noticed coming in here that the security is pretty lax, so if you're convicted we can bust you out!"

"Are you insane?" Wufei cried jumping back from him.

"I'm joking!" he said shaking his head. His eyes then narrowed slyly. "But hey...If you ever decide you want to..."

"Idiot," Heero said and smacked him dismissively. He looked at Wufei. "Do you get an allowance here?"

"Yes, I get paidforty-one Yuan (1)a day. I'm saving it all up to buy Lian a gift. It's been almost a week since I've seen her last..." he said and sighed sadly and looked at the floor. "Dammit..." he said softly in a near whisper.

Suddenly he felt an hand touch his shoulder softly. He looked up and was surprised to see it belonged to Heero. "It's going to be all right," he said a bit awkwardly. He wasn't used to comforting anyone. "Everything will work out."

Wufei stared at him until Heero removed his hand from his shoulder, cleared his throat, and sat back in the couch.


For two hours the next day, Wufei sat in a room with his lawyer discussing the upcoming trial.

"From the evidence against you," Lia said gravely. "you look extremely guilty."

"What can we do?" he asked in concern.

"Well there's two options."

"I'm listening," he said.

"The first thing you could do is to plead innocent and try our hardest to make you seem so," she said. "And the other thing you could do is to plead guilty and explain to the judge why you did what you did. If your story goes over well with the judge, he may let you visit Lian in her new home."

"But there's also a chance that I may never get to see her again. I can't lose her," Wufei said. He shook his head. "I can't plead guilty."

"Well, then we have a lot of work ahead of us..."


(1) 41 Yuan 5

R&R, please! Constructive Criticism is welcome with open arms!