Woah! Chapter 16 got a bigger response than I thought it would! (4... and a PM... FFN is a lot slower than it was 5 years ago...) ahem So, thank you, everyone.

As I said, there are a bunch of chapters already written just waiting to be posted. Actually, they're waiting to get the red pen before posting. I had one of those, 'Wait, that doesn't make sense...' moments. I hate those!! ...sometimes being a critical reader/writer sucks. Le sigh.

I know, I know, I know... I owe y'all.

-Lady

Chapter Seventeen

Luckily, the school seemed ready and willing to help Wumei catch up. They enrolled her in a supervised study hall where she could get help from fellow students, teachers, and eventually the bilingual aide, when she returned from Dear Aunt Millie's. Wufei was relieved, even if his charge protested mightily.

"It's like a preschool in that room! You know they have cardboard dinosaurs on the wall? Those kids are dumb! I am not dumb, Chang!"

To which he would reply with an open stare. "What grade did you get on last night's homework?" All she could say to that was to huff and stalk back to her room.

It was Wednesday night before Wumei's eye fell once more on the book bearing her maternal family name. The Saga of the Long Clan, Journey From Earth to the Stars. Wufei was reading in the living room, classical music swelling from the stereo. She listened at the door for several minutes before drawing the courage to silently close her door and creep back to the bookshelf.

Her presence could now be felt in the room. Space had been made in the closet to hold her clothes, her shoes piled neatly at the bottom. Wufei had generously donated two shelves from his bookcases to her use, where she now kept her schoolbooks and personal possessions... which weren't much just yet, but the new alarm clock and a stuffed turtle from China made her feel in control when she saw them.

She pulled the book from its shelf and settled onto the futon, which was now quite a bit more ruffled than when it had first arrived in the apartment. It was her preference not to bother turning the thing back into a chair every day, as it would just have to become a bed at night, but Wufei insisted. "Discipline, Mei. You need to learn some. Your bed will be made, your clothes will be hung, and you will help make at least one meal every day." That was a minor list compared to what Wufei wanted her ultimately to do: he wanted her doing chores that would help her get used to functioning on her own. It was his fear that she would be taken from him, or leave, before she was ready to take care of herself. At Sally's wise insistence he had agreed to phase Wumei into those many tasks, but he did require that she did the few chores he had given her well.

Right then, she didn't care. She was going to learn something about her maternal family's history.

She opened the heavy cover and paged to the table of contents. Her heart skipped with delight. It began in China's ancient history, thousands of years ago, and moved through time to the present. Six hundred and fourty-nine pages of history. Her kin. Eagerly, she dove into the introduction... and soon found herself lost in the complex words. Genealogy? Biogeographical? Calendar synchronisity? What were they talking about? The author appeared to be saying that gathering the information for the book had been difficult. Well, with all those words thrown in, it must have been! Sensing a headache in her near future, Wumei skipped a few paragraphs, to the point where the family name was mentioned more often.

The Long clan rose to power in the late 21st century (Common Era). They held political sway over much of Eurasia, and were influential in China's rejection of the growing movement toward a unified Earth government. However, this did not save them in the years to come. The new era (After Colony) brought about radical changes in Chinese thought, and the Longs became an object of fear and suspicion. In AC174 they were exiled to the aging colony A0206, and isolated from their previous allies and funds. Only a few other clans chose to go with them, but their dreams of re-establishing the Longs as a powerful force in the Earth sphere dwindled quickly, as no heir has been born to the surviving generations. It is unlikely that a suitable male will be born, and the clan may effectively die out before the end of the century--

Wumei stopped reading, and stared across the room, unable to believe what she had just read. The clan was dying? When was this book written? She flipped back to the very beginning and found the copyright date. AC178. That seemed rather soon to be writing off an entire generation! Wasn't it? Worry chewed at her gut. She knew the clan was gone, but this book treated their fate with civil cruelty. Somehow, the distanced tone made her feel the pain as she never had before.

With trembling fingers, she turned to the last few chapters, dated After Colony era. There she found a more detailed account, highlighting the clan leaders, their allies, and the shifts in power that had occurred. After their move to the colony, the clan had been broken back to basics. The colony was old, one of the originals launched in the early days of space colonization, and in need of desperate repairs. Most of the clan's funding had gone to making the colony livable. The pre-existing inhabitants were grateful, but the Longs and their supporters felt stunted, wronged. As she turned the pages, Wumei felt their anger and frustration rising within her. As she reached the last male heir's name, one Long Yukun, she felt a shiver pass through her tensed and frail frame. Surely, a voice in the back of her mind whispered, surely he was young enough to have a child, still... In AC195...? With trepidation, she ran her finger to his birth date and a pained howl escaped her. Born AC134! He would have been an old man when she was born! How could a man in his 60s have sired her? She threw the book to the ground, repulsed and confused.

"Mei? Wumei!" It was Wufei, stopping his music, coming to check on her.

She kicked the book under the futon and leapt for her homework. "Uh--Aaaaugh! I hate this homework! Biology... sucks!"

He opened the door and stuck his head in, concern wrinkling his forehead. "You're having trouble?"

"Yes! Yes! Lots of trouble! This homework. I can't do it!" Belatedly, she picked up her textbook and let it drop to the floor with an anticlimactic thud.

"Maybe I can help--"

"No! It's--it's stupid. I just can't read it."

"We could call Sally..."

"Aiya, don't bother her! I'll be fine, really. Just--frustrated. You know." She gave him her best 'I am a silly teenager with crazy mood swings, whoo!' smile. He didn't look reassured. "I'll try to be quieter. I promise."

"Call if you change your mind," he said warily, and pulled the door shut again.

Wumei let out her breath with a whoosh. So close! She tipped her head against the futon's high back and sighed, letting her muscles relax one by one. Why hadn't she wanted him to catch her reading? Was it just because it was his book? No, if he hadn't wanted her to touch them, he would have said something--right? Most people would have. Maybe because it was this book? Well, it was important to her, but did that necessarily mean it had special meaning to him as well? She ran her eye over the shelves again, trying to find a pattern. Like her troublesome homework, none emerged. He seemed interested in everything to do with history, China, and the recent wars. Well, then he shouldn't be upset about her looking at a book that dealt with those things, should he?

Tenderly, she lifted the book from its hiding place, apologizing to it for the maltreatment. Never had she felt so protective of anything before. She felt this book held a key to something significant, if she could only figure out what.

This time she skipped around throughout the thick volume. The Longs had originated far from her home in Beijing. They migrated there as they gained more influence; she wondered if her parents had ever spent time there. Perhaps that was too much to ask. That old man, on the other hand... She shuddered once more. Wicked curiosity forced her to return to those pages, and she found herself facing a photograph of Long Shirn. His face was round, young, and imperious. Defiant. It was dated AC156. She sighed, shifted position on the futon, and the pages at the back, too light to stay in place, fell across to the left, leaving her facing a long and intricate tangle of lines and names. She leaned in closely and squinted.

Ah! A family tree! Eagerly, she searched for the names highlighted throughout the book. Yes, there was the man who made the Longs famous across China... There was the first Long to become an advisor to the Emperor. There was the Long who defied the Romefeller Foundation... and there was Long Yukun, right at the very bottom of the tree. She brought the heavy book closer to her face to read the small text. His name connected horizontally to another's, a woman's. So he was married. That bode... well. But there were no vertical lines coming from their union: no children.

Wumei bit her lip. No children. The last Long heir had been too old to sire a child... and so they had created one in a lab on Earth, in Genji Ma. And died before they could see her emerge, a disappointing girl-child.

She closed the book. She had had enough skulking through dusty archives for one night. As she replaced it on the shelf, she resolved not to do any more poking around. So far she hadn't liked anything she had found, and Wufei hadn't liked her insinuations, either. She returned to the futon to give her biology homework another shot, when a white paper square on the floor caught her attention.

I was exhausted. I wanted nothing more of investigation or dark pasts. Wufei could keep his stupid medal on his stupid shelf for a thousand years for all I cared. But the paper hadn't been on the floor before, and so I needed to pick it up, if only to throw it away. The paper was thin in my hands, like rice paper, with one sticky strip along its back. And on one side were words in careful, precise English.

Long Meiran, b. April 7th, AC180, Colony A0206.
m. Chang Wufei, January 18th, AC194.
d. June 23rd, AC194.

I flipped it to its other side, looking for an explanation, but there was none. Long Meiran. I knew that name. Like Chang Wufei, I had seen it a thousand times on official forms, tucked into a box with no real meaning behind it. Chang Wufei. His name was here as well. I hauled the book off the shelf again and compared them to the tree. Aiya. It stopped at 178, remember? If Meiran was born in 180, she wouldn't appear here. New hope fluttered in my chest. Couldn't she be Yukun's daughter, at a reasonable age? Yes! Yes, and--

"Dad? …if you are my Dad… and- I know that's not really likely… But- you-"

The book slammed closed of its own volition, and I shoved it back into place. It slipped in my sweaty hands; my throat pulsed with every beat of my heart. I backed away from the shelf, eyes darting between the book and the little tab of paper sticking out of its top. Suddenly, I didn't want to learn anything more about the Longs, or Yukun, or myself. I didn't want to learn about the people with names like my so-called parents'.

All I wanted right then was a shower, and homework be damned.

My things already had a space in the bathroom. I grabbed my pajamas and a clean pair of panties and barreled across the hallway, slamming the bathroom door behind me. I ignored the muffled sound of Wufei calling my name. What did he know, anyway? The water needed to be hot. Very, very hot. Hot enough to steam up my reflection in the mirror, so I couldn't see the eyes that looked back at me from his face every day. So I wouldn't have to think about the woman named Meiran, and whether I had her chin or her hands.

I couldn't strip fast enough, but I was careful to keep my back to the mirror. It stared at my shoulders, at my buttocks, daring me to ask. I plunged behind the shower curtain and stuck my face beneath the stream of hot water, needing that cleansing bite.

It was so hot that when the tears began to come, they actually felt cool against my cheeks.

Author's Notes: Yes, I played around with the dates. Stupid canon manga only gives years, not months or days.

BONUS: I'm working on a rather lengthy GW doujinshi with a friend... I write the script, she heads the art. And we need more artists to help get this thing done. Capiche? If you know of anyone, or are interested yourself, head over to the info blog: http://post-war-chronicles. No art yet, will let you know when that does go up. Yes, it will have Wufei! (No Mei, though... :( Totally different ideas.)