You've been waiting for it and finally here it is! Yes, after what? 2 years? Chapter 9 is finally out! I hope you'll enjoy it as things get intense between Sally and Wufei. As always, thank you for reading! But most of all, thank you for your patience!

Part VIX

Sally was sitting in the kitchen. She could see the early golden sun caress warmly the red tiled floor of the room. The house was silent. Sally liked these early hours. It made her feel that she belonged in this place. She let her eyes wander on the bamboo forest. So green. So quiet. She wished she could attain such internal peace. She sighed. Waking up with the first ray of sun, she found Wufei's bed empty, and undone, something surprising for the always-tidy man. She went around the house, silently looking for him, but he was nowhere to be found. Maybe he was outside taking a walk, though she did not remember telling him about the trails in the forest. She just hoped he was alright. Slowly, she walked to the stove and poured herself some more of her special flu mix. Coca-Cola, ginger and lemon; sure tasted weird, but the efficiency of this Chinese remedy had been proved more than once. Sally bit her lip. Where was Wufei?

Wufei was sitting on a secular stone bench on the side of a trail overlooking the raging river. The breeze still carried the scent and coolness of last night's rain and played softly in Wufei's undone hair. Still wearing the interior clothes he had slept in, he was a real mess. After being caught by Meilan last night, his mind had been a battlefield and he had not sleep a minute without waking up in sweat. This had to be a sign. The spirit of Meilan could not rest in piece because of him, because of the way he had conducted himself towards Sally. Wufei sighed deeply and bit his lower lip. He should have known from the beginning that staying away from that woman was the best thing to do. He should have known that his feeling for the opposite sex were not dead as he had supposed. He should…. He should…

Wufei stood up.

"I should have protected Meilan" he exploded with frustration.

He clenched his fist and walked to across the trail to the rickety wooden railing. His heart was racing. With a stoic calm, Wufei fought the tears that welled up in his eyes. He did not know what to think or how to act. He did not know how to feel or what to say. All he knew was that it all summed up to infinite sadness. But it was an unmanly feeling, and he intended to fight it with all his might. No matter what he was feeling, traditions had to be protected and he needed to honour them. He needed to honour Meilan's soul. Thus, any relation to Sally was to proscribe. No matter what.

Wufei nodded to himself and with this new self-made reasoning, he walked back home convinced of the righteousness of his thoughts. In the distant sky, clouds started to overcome the light of the sun and the day turned grey by the second. The wind howled in the bamboos.

In the house, most people were now awoken and eating breakfast or getting ready for the day in their respective room. The day's schedule was pretty simple; everybody was to leave the house to follow Sally's father's body to the Buddhist temple where a ceremony would be held and the body cremated. As of a result of yester night's display, Sally had been assigned the task of keeping the house while everybody was away; another of her mother-in-law's tricks. Sally had been shocked by the decision but did not have much time to think about it since she was busy with breakfast. Her only satisfaction of the moment had been to see Yuen ecchymosed as blue as a grape.

As the last guests left the dining room, Sally was finally able to clean up the table when Wufei showed up, at last. Sally gave him a weird look.

"Still wearing that?" she asked.

"None of your business, woman." he grunted. "Now serve me breakfast!"

"Yes, your majesty" replied Sally annoyed. Where was the Wufei of last night?

Sally went back to the kitchen and prepared two plates, one for him and one for her. She decided that she would eat with Wufei, just to annoy the hell out of him.

Back in the dining room she handed him his plate and sat in front of him ignoring him deliberately. Wufei lifted an eyebrow but returned to his plate, too hungry to care. For a moment, the only noises that could be heard in the room were those of mastication and of the utensil on the plates. Unable to hold it anymore, Sally broke the silence.

"Today they're seeing my father's body to the temple where it will be cremated." She said flatly.

Wufei lifted his eyes from his almost empty plate.

"'They'? Why they? Aren't you going too?"

Sally sighed.

"Unfortunately I was assigned the task of keeping the house while everybody is gone… How convenient!" she said sarcastically. "Could you go for me?"

"No" replied Wufei, going back to his plate.

"What?" replied Sally. "What did you say?"

Wufei looked in Sally's eyes. She was in deep pain, he could see it, but he had to keep his promises to Meilan, it was for their best interest. He would not weaken anymore.

"I think it was pretty clear. I said no. Why should I go? It's none of my relatives and plus you're not going. I have no reason to go. I'll stay here."

Sally was growing angrier with every of the words coming out of his mouth. Suddenly, she stood up, knocking over her chair.

"I can believe you! I can't believe this. You don't have reasons to go? Let me give you ONE FUCKING REASON! I CAN'T GO! Do you know what it means to me? Do you have any idea of what this ceremony represents to me? For Christ sake Wufei! Are you Chinese or what?" she yelled at the man.

"I thought I had been clear Woman. I am not going, period." Wufei repeated calmly.

Losing what was left of her temper, Sally threw her plate against the wall behind Wufei. In a flash she was on the table holding her colleague by the collar.

"You know what Wufei?" she hissed "Just go back to the Headquarters. I don't want to see your fucking little face here anymore. I thought you were different from all the phonies here but you're no special man. Just a little bastard. Well you know what? Fuck you. Fuck you Wufei." Her last words were accompanied with a strong right punch in the man's face.

Wufei, far from expecting this fell on his back, stunned. Sally got of the table, threw her apron at his face and rushed out of the room. In the opposite doorway stood Li-Han who had witnessed the whole scene. Slowly she got closer to Wufei and helped him to get back on his feet. Silently he accepted her help. His nose and his lower lip were bleeding.

Outside, the sky started to cry.