The rest of the day seemed to pass peacefully. It was quiet, much to everyone's surprise. Outside, the weather looked to be clearing up and would give them an early spring. The group just kind of dispersed across the house.
Walking around, bored, Meiran decided to explore the house. She hadn't done that yet and since she was restless, the woman figured she might as well.
Going past the hall that held all the bedrooms, she heard loud moaning coming from one. A loud yell told her who was in the room. She quickened her pace, face red.
Continuing on her way, she found a door. Not knowing where it led, she opened it to reveal a dusty room. Sneezing, she stepped inside. It was a small room. There was just the one door and a window. Next to the window was a large armchair. Dusting it off lightly, she sat down. Outside the window, she could see the sun shining but further out, she could see a small flower field. Already little red blossoms were starting to bloom.
"It looks like the one back on the colony," she said to herself. "I'll have to show him."
"Happy birthday Wuffie!" Duo proclaimed the next morning as his friend walked into the room. The Chinese man scowled, hoping that people would have forgotten. Luckily, it was only the two of them and Trowa up at the moment. He managed to get a cup of coffee over to the table, spilling only a little. Of course, now that he was getting good at using the damned things he would have to give them up.
"Just two more days," he muttered to himself. Sitting down, he took a nice big drink out of his cup. Draining almost half of it, he felt the caffeine hit his system. After eating a cinnamon roll, he left. Bumping into Quatre, he heard those words again.
"Happy birthday!"
Wufei scowled and headed off into the house's library.
"Man, what's his problem?" Meiran heard Duo complain as she walked into the kitchen. Duo, Quatre, and Trowa were seated around the table. Sitting down, Meiran asked the American what he was talking about.
"Wuffie. He's acting like a jerk just because I told him happy birthday."
"He did that to me too," Quatre added. Duo turned to face her. "Mei, you have any idea why he's been acting like an ass lately?"
She thought for a moment. She couldn't think of anything. Actually, she could. But she didn't know what to name it. It was on the tip of her tongue, so to speak.
"I want to say something happened, but I'm not sure," she finally answered. They didn't say any more but after the four were done eating, they went their separate ways.
"Mei, we're going into town. Do you want to come with?" Quatre asked her a few hours later. Trowa was standing nearby, apparently the other part of the we.
"Sure. Just let me tell my daughter," the woman agreed. It took her a few minutes to hunt the child down and tell her where she was going. Of course, this only made the girl want to come.
"Niáng, why can't I go too?" The little girl asked.
"Because, you can't," Meiran told her daughter. The young girl started to whimper.
"But, but," Xin Xin began. "No, Xin Xin," Meiran replied firmly. Duo walked by at just that moment. "What's going on?" He asked, looking at the scene.
"I want to go with Niáng but she says no," Xin Xin told him. The braided man ran a hand through the girl's hair and answered, "Well, why don't you and I go watch a movie or something?"
"Okay," the girl agreed. Meiran looked at him and mouthed thank you.
"Not a problem," Duo mouthed back. The duo of Duo and Xin Xin walked away, leaving just the Arabian, his clown, and Meiran standing in the hallway.
"Well, now that that's settled, why don't we go?" Quatre said. Trowa nodded, slipping an arm around Quatre's waist. Meiran followed them out to the car garage.
"Too hard." She heard Trowa say to his lover as they walked over. Quatre shook his head, obviously disagreeing. By the time they reached Trowa's car the two had finished their conversation.
The trio didn't speak as they went to the store, but when they got out, Quatre turned to Meiran and began to speak.
"So, Mei, what do you think you will do after everything's over?"
She sighed, and replied, "I really don't know."
"Where will you and Xin Xin live?" He asked, concern filling the blonde's eyes. Meiran turned and gave him a sad look.
"I guess wherever we can," she finally answered. They didn't say anymore for a few minutes while following Trowa who was pushing the grocery cart.
"When's my Niáng coming back?" Wufei heard. He had been aware of the child walking into the room while he had been reading a report sent to him by Lady Une. Looking up to see her, he asked the little girl what she was talking about.
"Niáng left," the little girl answered. "Where'd she go?" Her father replied with a question.
"I dunno," Xin Xin shrugged. She crawled up onto the couch next to him and peered over her shoulder to see the papers he had. "Whatcha reading?"
"Papers," he told her. "Why?" Questioned his daughter.
"Because, I need to."
"Oh," she said in a quiet voice. After a few minutes, she spoke again. "So, do you know when Niáng will be back?"
"No. I was not even aware she had left," Wufei answered. A thought hit him. "Who's watching you?"
"Duo," the little girl said. "And where is he?" The man asked.
"Gone," Xin Xin answered, moving closer to her father. "Whatcha you reading about?"
"Stuff you don't need to know about and where did Duo go?" He replied, killing two birds with one stone. Just then Duo walked into the room.
"Kid, why'd you run off?" The American questioned. "'Cuz, I wanted to know when my Niáng was coming back," the little girl replied.
"She'll be back in a little bit," Duo sighed. "Now, let's go watch that movie."
"Okay," the small child replied reluctantly. Duo turned to his friend with a twinkle in his eye. "That is, unless you want to stay here with this guy."
Wufei shot his friend a dark look and said, "That's not a good idea."
A few hours later, Wufei was playing chess with Heero. He had long given up trying to read those papers and was now doing other things. Trowa, Quatre, and Meiran had yet to reappear and the group that was left was starting to wonder what was taking them so long. Hearing feet thunder towards them, both men looked up to see Hilde sprint into the room, breathless.
About an hour ago, she and the other two had decided to play hide and seek. They had been hearing feet wander into the room on a few different occasions, so this was nothing new. Turning back to the game, both men stared at the board for a few minutes.
"Well, make your move already;" Wufei growled lightly, getting annoyed. Heero looked at him and answered, "I thought it was your turn."
"Oh great, so we might as well quit," the Chinese man said, his voice expressing his annoyance. Reaching for his crutches, he stood up, muttering to himself, "Just a few more days."
"Hello, we're back!" Quatre's voice rang through the house at that moment. A little blue blur came running out from behind the couch. Duo, who had been searching the room, caught the girl.
"Found ya," he said, tickling the girl on her neck. She giggled and squirmed until he put her down in which she promptly ran off. Duo wandered out of the room. Having giving up on their chess game, the other two men went their separate ways. Heero went to wherever Heero went. The guy was excellent at not wanting to be found. Wufei, having nothing better to do, hobbled off to the kitchen in hopes of finding a small snack.
"Out," Quatre said when Wufei opened the door. "You can't come in;" the Arabian went on to say. Wufei looked at his friend critically and asked, "Why not?"
"Because," the blonde man answered, shutting the door. The Chinese man went to open it and found the door would not open.
"Why that little blonde imp," he muttered to himself, going off to another part of the house.
"I am so tired," Meiran yawned as she and Quatre finished their project. The two had been working together for three hours now. And finally, they were done.
It had been hard keeping everyone out of the kitchen. The door was locked and had a chair blocking it, which helped, but still, they could hear the complaints. And yet, at the same time, the duo would be laughing.
Perhaps the funniest was when Duo came around looking for something to eat. He had taken his lock picks and actually unlocked the door. But, that didn't help him much because the door wouldn't open all the way. In fact, all he saw was the open refrigerator. He begged for them to give him something, especially once he smelled what they two had made.
But, he didn't get any of it and now, three hours after the two had started, it was done. Meiran yawned and looked at Quatre. "Feel's like forever," she said. The Arabian nodded and sank into a chair. Laying her head down on top of her arms, the woman sighed. The two had half an hour before they were technically done, but all the hard things were done. They just had to wait.
"Mei," Quatre began. The woman looked up and asked what. He squirmed uncomfortably, not looking at her.
"What is it?" Meiran asked once more. "Well, uh, this is, well, it's kinda hard," the Arabian tried to say. She waited for him to continue.
"Well, the thing is, lately;" Quatre stopped for a moment. "Trowa and I, we've kind of been thinking, well that, maybe, maybe it's time we settled down."
"So?" The Chinese woman asked. "Aren't you two already engaged?"
"Well, yeah, we are," he admitted, biting his lip. "But," he added, pausing. He seemed to be at a loss for words.
A/N: Okay, last chapter, no the last scene of the last chapter, turns out to have been quite controversial. I thank everyone for their reviews regarding it and I would really like to thank one individual in particular, you know who you are, because with all your comments, I have gained a better understanding of how everyone else sees things in Past Meets Present. On the whole Duo/Mystery Person whom most said Heero issue, I have not said it was Heero. Looking back, I realized that it could actually apply to a few other individuals. And I do realize there seems to be something between Duo and Hilde. I stated in the very first chapter they had a sibling like relationship, but now with the way things are going, I realize those lines are starting to blur quite a bit.
As for the individual who I have emailed about his/her review, you've given me a whole new perspective to work with. I hadn't really thought of a pairing for those you mentioned. These next few chapters are going to be used to work on the lesser characters in the story, such as Quatre/Trowa and their relationship, as well as Duo and his mystery man.
Oh, and one last thing to that same reviewer, I view Duo as someone who, while he may be in love or lust with one person, to still go out and have fun with someone else. I do also feel he is bisexual. We will learn much about Duo in the next couple chapters.
I do not own a thing in this fanfic except for the ever adorable Xin Xin. And speaking of Xin Xin, just out of curiousity, who is your guys' favorite character? In the beginning it was Meiran, and then Xin Xin, but as this story progresses, I'm feeling myself turn more towards Quatre.