FIVE

Sutoomu

Well, here is the fourteenth chapter of FIVE. I'm past that superstitious number thirteen, yay! Thankfully, no bad luck for me on chap 13. It was accepted and loved! By these reviewers.

anissa32, Lady11Occult, Kami Crimson,angel, Duo Groupie, phoenixfirekitsune, summersarebright, Celestia, SanzoGirl,Reikan, drea, ECL, silvertwighlight, Amelia Glitter, allie, Lotus Pixie, katsu, Wing It, PrincessWolfGoddess, Kris, Ien, Sesshy's First Love, snowdarkred, DeadRav, Roxie Faye, robinmaxwell, and MydridFox09! I love all of you! Greatest thanks to all my old reviewers who have stuck by this story and to all my new reviewers!

Theexcuse as to why this chap took me a long time to post is because I was on vacation. That and I hadn't had it written until a few days ago. If that doesn't work for you, then I will admit I am sometimes a lazy writer. My real life distracts me from my fanfic life, I'm sorry to say. I think I like my fanfic life better, though, sometimes. Anyhoo, read on and enjoy. This is the chap whereHeero Figures It Out and Meiran Rants!

To Heero, Trowa, Quatre, and Duo,

I'm sorry for leaving, but I have to. I can't stay with you any longer. It just won't work out anymore. Things have changed, and my mind has been changed. This is the end. Don't look for me. It would be really bad if I found out you've come looking for me. I can't have you following me. You'll just end up hurting someone.

I'm sorry for hurting you. I truly love you all with my entire heart and I hate hurting you like this, but I have no choice. I'll miss you all. Please don't cry over me or think it's your fault, because it's not. This wasn't your doing, you have nothing to be sorry for. It's not our fault.

Please take care of Chibi for me. I can't take her with me to where I'm going, and I had no time to find her a home, so please care for her. She's a good owl and a calm pet, and she doesn't deserve the anger you will feel towards me. The sheets are something to remember me by. I know its not much, but they're good sheets and comfortable. I'll be getting new ones, most likely, so I don't need them anymore. I want you to have my inheritance so I left the briefcase. I don't want to have it with me where I'm going, so you can hold it for now.

I'm sorry. Please forgive me...

With All My Love,

Wufei

Heero sat at the kitchen table, reading and rereading the note over and over again. It was short and to the point like most break up letters, but this one didn't sound like a true break up letter. There were so many areas where the wording made no sense. It was as if Wufei still loved them and wanted to stay when he wrote the note, not breaking up and ready to detach completely. And there were mysterious smudges and stained dots on the note, which made him suspicious that Wufei had been crying while he wrote this note. But that, again, makes no sense. It didn't match. The way the note was written and Wufei supposedly leaving them and the relationship didn't match up correctly. Which meant something was up...but what? He had been sitting at the table for a half hour, now, thinking.

"Heero..."

Heero looked up into the weary yet strong emerald eyes of Trowa. Normally he would have smiled to say 'hi, I love you', but right now both of them were too drained of emotion to smile. Trowa sat down rather heavily in the chair beside Heero, showing again how upset he was as he wasn't as graceful as he normally naturally was. This was taking its toll on everyone. Wufei may not have meant to hurt them, but he had, and badly.

"How are they?" Heero forced himself to keep his voice steady and monotone as he asked.

Trowa inhaled deeply and sighed, his face relaxing, though not peacefully. "Quatre hasn't blamed himself again yet but I'm sure its hovering on the edge of his mind. Duo hasn't gone into anger mode yet, either. He just cried. He just sat there and cried, and Quatre hasn't spoken. He just sits there quietly and cries as well. He just stares at the sheets and cries. They both fell asleep on...his bed...they cried themselves to sleep, Heero," Trowa shuddered as he inhaled deeply, his eyes closing and a look of pain crossing his face. "Our little one and our baka are hurting, Heero. They're hurting so badly."

Heero redirected his eyes to the tabletop and the note again, and he beat down the instinctive urge to become the protective, I'll-kill-whoever-hurts-you lover he had been with Duo originally. That personality of his really didn't work, and it tended to hinder more than help in the long run. Besides, he wasn't about to kill Wufei. He loved the chinese boy deeply...but he also loved Duo and Quatre, and they were currently in great pain because of Wufei. A sudden thought came to him as he thought of this, another concern he had to deal with. He looked back up to Trowa.

"How are you, Tro?" he asked softly, taking Trowa's long fingers in his own.

Trowa took his free hand and rubbed his eyes, dragging his hand through his hair after. He gave another shuddering sigh and gripped Heero's hand. "I'm trying, really, I am. You can't handle three of us going hysterical on your own. You need help."

"And you need to let your emotions out, Trowa," Heero suggested softly. "Keeping it all bottled up inside won't help." That had been one of Trowa's issues which had been worked through as a group. He used to be much quieter and stoic.

Trowa smiled weakly for Heero's sake, then spoke. "What about you? Wufei supposedly loved you, too."

"He didn't supposedly love us, Trowa, he did love us," Heero corrected, the words an order, but not a sharp one. "Think about it. Was everything we've all done in the past weeks empty of love? There's something wrong here and I just have to figure it out..." Heero's brow furrowed in concentration as he picked up the note again. "As to grieving...not yet. I'll grieve when I know he's gone for sure. And I don't know that yet..." He bit the corner of his lip in a moment of deep thinking. He couldn't, no, wouldn't let himself fall apart. It was just a note. Wufei wasn't dead. He had no reason to cry, no reason to feel sad. Not yet.

"It seems you're a little out of practice," Trowa mentioned. "It's been a while, hasn't it?" Heero nodded and tried to glare the paper into revealing its secrets.

"This note...it's just wrong. It seems wrong, somehow...its the way he wrote it," Heero tried to explain. "It doesn't fit. Something is definitely off, here."

Trowa opened his mouth and took a breath, then shook his head and closed his mouth again. Heero caught the movement out of the corner of his eye and turned to look at him. "What?" he grunted.

"Nothing," Trowa shrugged.

"Don't nothing me," Heero ordered. "Anytime you open your mouth to speak, it has to be worth speaking. What were you going to say?"

"I...," Trowa hesitated. "Well, I was just thinking that maybe Tao Shen did this...but that's crazy, isn't it? He doesn't have the power to make Wufei do something like this, does he?"

Heero blinked as Trowa spoke, completely surpised. Tao Shen. Why hadn't he thought of that earlier? He really was out of practice. "Trowa, you're a genius," Heero praised, in a monotone like way. "I can't believe I didn't see it."

"See what?" Trowa blinked.

"I'll bet my entire bank account that this was done by Tao Shen!" Heero crowed triumphantly, slapping the paper down on the table.

"How do you know for sure?" Trowa asked, a little unsure.

"This note has been nagging at my brain for the last half hour," Heero explained. "It's not written properly. Supposedly, he doesn't love us anymore and doesn't want to stay with us anymore. A typical break up. But the letter...the way it's written...it's as if he still loved us while he wrote it. And from what I gather, still loved us deeply. Look here." Heero positioned the note so Trowa could see what he was referring to. "He apologized, said he didn't want to hurt us. That could be typical break up note, but the rest of it makes it more. Here, he says 'I can't have you following me. You'll just end up hurting someone.' How would anyone get hurt if we went after him? And here. 'This wasn't your doing.' That implies that something caused him to leave, and if it wasn't us, then what?"

"Or who," Trowa mumbled, frowning as he thought.

"Exactly," Heero said, his eyes shining with discovery. "Then he says 'It's not our fault.' If we're not to blame for his leaving, and Wufei isn't to blame, then..."

"Tao Shen," Trowa said, his eyes dark and bitter with anger.

"Yes," Heero smirked, the sort of superiour smirk he got when he knew he had out-thought someone or found what he was searching for when those who had hidden it didn't want him to. "He told us to keep his sheets. Said he'd probably be getting new ones. He left his inheritance here, because he didn't want to have it on him. Because of Tao Shen! And," Heero's eyes softened and a small smile of happiness shone through his expression. "He signed it 'with all my love'. Why would he sign a break up note that way?"

Trowa's eyes flashed as he angrily swore, an unusual thing for him to do. "Damnit, that fucking bastard!"

Heero mirrored Trowa's sentiments, grinning dangerously and flexing his fingers so his knuckles cracked. "Now, it's time to get serious." He stood up, grabbed his laptop from the livingroom table, and returned to the kitchen. Powering up the high tech gadget, his fingers began to fly, searching.

"What are you doing?" Trowa asked.

"Finding Wufei," Heero replied simply. "If Tao Shen did do something or say something to influence Wufei, then he had to have told Wufei to go somewhere. He wouldn't want to come here, in case we'd be home, so Wufei most likely had to call for a ride...a cab or something..." Heero trailed off, looking at the latest screen his hacking had brought up.

"Our phone records," Trowa inhaled, understanding.

"It would be on the past day or two...here!" Heero pointed. "Someone made a call from this address to Lightning Cabs at two forty seven today. None of us were home at that time, so it had to be Wufei."

"Now what do we do?" Trowa asked. Unlike Heero, he wasn't an automatic investigator. Heero, however, had a lifetime of experience at hacking and finding people. Most often to kill.

"Now we call the cab company and see who was dispatched to this address at two forty seven. Then we find the driver and interrogate him. If we do this fast, then the driver should be able to remember if he picked up a dark chinese boy. And he should remember where he drove said boy to."

Trowa watched Heero pick up the telephone and call the company. It only took a few minutes of talking to former assassin Yuy for him to get his information, and Trowa let a full fledged smile on his face as Heero told him what he had learned.

"A man named Eric Jovins picked up a chinese boy today at these apartments. He's still on duty, so I'm going to go and have a little chat with him. If Quatre and Duo wake up, go ahead and tell them what we've discovered."

"I will," Trowa said, the idea seeming very appealing. Anything that would brighten their little loves' spirits would be wonderful. "Heero?"

"Hn?" Heero grunted absently as he grabbed his coat and slipped it on.

"Have I told you how brilliant you are and how much I love you?" Trowa asked. It was an uncharacteristic sentence for him to say, but he was in very high spirits right now. Just the thought that Wufei hadn't purposely left them brightened his mind.

"About the love, yes. About my brilliance, not lately, no. But I wouldn't protest if you said it more." Heero's eyes shone with teasing. He set a hand behind Trowa's neck and embraced him deeply in a kiss of hope and love. "I'll see you later, bang boy." Heero winked, a remarkable sign of hyperness, or perhaps a very happy adrenaline rush. It had been a long time since Heero had felt the successful feeling of a search, a chase, a hunt. "We'll find our Dragon yet."

"Yes," Trowa agreed as Heero left and closed the door. "We'll find him."

/> /> /> /> />

"I told you, Meiran," Wufei repeated for the sixth time in the past ten minutes. "Can we please just drop it?" He sighed as he sat down in one of the livingroom chairs, rubbing at his temples with his forefingers, feeling that the looming headache he had all day was going to hit any moment now. It didn't help that he had to wear his hair so tight. After years of wearing it loose to his shoulders, having it pulled back as one of Tao Shen's conditions was skull stretching. And his dress! Traditional chinese outfits. Not his classic black. He couldn't wear his makeup, he couldn't wear his jewelry, he couldn't wear his style. Wufei felt as though everything that made him him was being destroyed.

They had flown straight to China and Tao Shen had brought him to a large house where they were all staying until the wedding. Wufei hadn't spoken a single word to Tao Shen the entire trip, answering anything with either a nod or a shake of his head. As far as he was concerned, Tao Shen didn't deserve to be acknowledged. Wufei wished the slimy rat had never been born. The world would probably be three times better if he was dead. As it was, Tao Shen was, regrettably and unfortunately, alive and corrupting happiness. As soon as they arrived, Meiran cornered him and brought him into the library, where she had proceeded to ask him what the hell was going on. It had started somewhat calmly, but had escalated into an angered rant for Meiran as Wufei continuously refused to answer her questions. If he did, it was very vague. But it wasn't as if he had a choice. What was he supposed to do, say 'my uncle is holding my aunt hostage as blackmail so I'll marry you and be out of his hair'?

"No!" Meiran exclaimed. "All I want is an explanation!"

Wufei sighed. He wasn't angry with Meiran for being this way, for arguing with him and getting angry. She had the right to be, with how he had suddenly changed his mind. He was just feeling very stressed and very tired and very depressed. All in all, he didn't feel in any condition to deal with a ranting woman. He didn't even understand the calm, sane ones. How the hell was he supposed to understand an angry woman?

"Just tell me why, Wufei!" she demanded. "All I want to know is why! Why did you suddenly change your mind? You were happy with the emancipation! I was happy with the emancipation. And now you suddenly want to marry me? We still barely know each other."

"Meiran..."

"And you said you already had a love! What happened to her? Did you just drop her?"

"The Chang Clan must be revived...," he said weakly, grasping for anything he had at his disposal. It wasn't much. Tao Shen had explained very presicely how he was to act and what he was to do.

"That's a bullshit excuse and you know it!" Wufei glanced up at Meiran in surprise. He had never heard her use foul words before. Then again, she had never been this mad before. "Why would you file an emacipation claim and then cancel it just when it's about to be approved? Wufei! Please, just tell me why! This is so unlike you..."

Wufei felt a growing anger rise in him. It was the anger he had been feeling towards the whole situation surfacing in the heat of her words. Everything she said reminded him again and again about his predicament, and he hated it! "Why don't you just drop it!" he yelled, standing up in the heat of his sudden anger. "God, woman, do you never know when to stop? I said, drop it, and I will not explain myself to you!" He stopped, his chest heaving with heavy breaths. Meiran stood across the room, gaping at him in shock, her expression one of surprise and hurt. Wufei saw her swallow with some unrecognized emotion and his anger melted, draining away from him as he regained his control. This wasn't Meiran's fault, he had no right to direct his anger at her. This was all Tao Shen's fault. He collapsed back into the seat and held his head with his hands, groaning with regret. "I'm sorry, Meiran. I shouldn't have yelled at you like that, and I apologize. It's just...I'm a little stressed out right now and I really can't deal with this. I can't explain my actions to you, and I'm sorry that I've ruined your chance for finding true love and having a family..."

"Wufei," Meiran's face softened as he said this, and she came to him, stroking his back soothingly. "Wufei. You didn't ruin anything, and don't you ever think you did. I'm not angry at you for deciding to marry me. I was just...surprised, and I wanted to rant...but I'm sorry, too. I shouldn't be yelling at you. If you've chosen to marry me, then it must be the best thing. So," she inhaled deeply and let it all out in a rush. "We'll be married as planned, and we'll make this work. We're good friends, after all, aren't we?"

Wufei couldn't help letting a smile come onto his face as Meiran consoled him, thanking the heavens that his would-be wife was at least someone he got along well with. Meiran was a compassionate, caring person, and he was lucky to have her as a friend. Compared to how the rest of his life was going, having Meiran was a lucky twist. "Yes, we are," he replied softly. "Good friends."

"We'll make it work out, Wufei," Meiran said, giving him a short hug. "Everything will be fine. I promise."

Wufei didn't reply, as he couldn't bring himself to agree with her. If only she knew how empty her promise was. Nothing would be fine. Everything would be horrible, for the rest of his life, as long as Taia was in danger and he was living a forced life. But at least she tried. He gave her credit for that.

"Well, then," Meiran broke the soft silence. "I suppose we have wedding plans to make." She gave a softly amused smile and Wufei returned it, but it didn't reach his eyes. The windows to his soul were still saddened. "Come on, then, fiance." And Meiran nudged him to his feet, determined to make it all work out. If only it would. Please, if the heavens existed and the gods cared, let it somehow work out!

There you go. I hope it wasn't too bad and still lived up to expectations. Review, and I'll love you even more! I can't know when the next chap will be out, but let's all hope it's soon! Writing muse don't fail me now!

Storm