CHAPTER 2: THE AFTERMATH OF WAR

"Welcome back, Mr. Chang Wufei," Col. Lady Une greeted the 21 year-old ex-Gundam Pilot. He had been assigned on a mission to hunt down an assassin who was believed to be an ex-OZ soldier. This person was gathering the scraps of war in AC195 in order to build his organization of underground terrorists.

Wufei had joined the Preventers after the Mariemeia Incident. Sally asked him to join them. Then he went on the journey to hunt the assassin. It took him 5 years to track the criminal before justice was served. All the while he was on a mission, he stayed in Canada. Meanwhile, Sally Po resigned from her position because she suddenly became sick. She returned to China and decided to work at a coffee shop. Everyone in the Preventers knew of her dismissal from work except the five Gundam pilots who were assigned to different places.

"I'm happy to be home, Col. Lady Une. I haven't had news from here in years. Say, I haven't seen Sally Po around," Wufei said.

Lady Une's face fell. She sat down again on her seat and clasped her hands.

"Sally Po…Sally has long been gone from the organization—"

"Why? What has she done?"

"She hasn't done anything wrong. It's just that she suddenly became sick that she frequently absented herself from work. She decided to call it quits for her carrier as a soldier."

"Where is she now?" Wufei asked. Suddenly, he didn't like the tone of his voice. Like he was too…concerned for Sally.

"God knows where she is now. I don't know if she has an e-mail address or so, or any form of communication. Ever since she left, she never even bothered to ask us how we were here. It's been five years—"

"Five years? It's about the same time me and the guys had gone off!"

"Yes, that's right. But she left two months after you left."

Wufei's face fell. He felt sorry for Sally. Moreover, he remembered the fight he had with Sally one night at Peacemillion. And he never even had given his apologies. He was such a misogynist, she was right. He was also too selfish, too confident and too self-righteous. And he suddenly missed her. Then he left the office and head back to his room.

He had occupied the same room he had left five years ago. He had shared that room with Sally since they were partners. Now, he was alone. He had no one to share his mission with. All the other ex-Gundam pilots each had their own partners, except that Quatre and Trowa were partners. Wufei walked over the window facing the garden. Five years before, he and Sally usually had their coffee break near that window. They would be joking around and telling stories about anything and everything under the sun. Sally's witchlike giggle irritated Wufei, but he kept laughing with her.

"Baka! That was not what I meant!"

"Hahaha! It seems like it, Wufei! You're really an old man now! Look at your receding hairline! Nyahahahahahhahahahah!"

"GRRRR! ONNA, I'M GONNA SHAVE YOUR HAIR TOO!"

"Try doing it and I'll turn Nataku into a neko!"

"NOT MY NATAKU!"

"Well, you irate one, you lose! Why can't you be just cool about my jokes, ne? They're just jokes! Don't take it too hard. Well, come here…"

Wufei went near Sally. He was astonished when she grabbed him and hugged him tight. She caressed his hair and smiled. His shampoo smells like lavender. Sally chuckled to herself. It's weird for a guy to have a shampoo that reeked of lavender. Wufei couldn't be that gay. And she knows he isn't gay.

"Well, that's not so bad, right? I'm sorry if I always pick on you. I really like seeing you irritated…!"

"You really like making fun of me, Onna. I'm no clown. I'm not like Trowa…"

"So? Do you have to be like Trowa for me to really adore you this much?"

"Why did you hug me, Onna?"

"Does that matter much to you? I just like doing it. Among the ex-Gundam pilots, you're closest to me. We're friends, right?"

Wufei withdrew from the hug to look up at her, looking straight to her eyes. "I don't hug my friends. The only time I hugged my wife was on her deathbed."

Sally looked thoughtful. So she also withdrew from the hug and smiled. "Let's get back to work, shall we, Chang Wufei?"

Wufei hugged himself. The room was cold as the air conditioner's temperature was 3°C. He remembered that hug. He can still remember the smell of Sally's cologne. It reeked of strawberry. She was a tough lady, but she still maintained her femininity. He didn't understand till now why she hugged him. As memories of them both returned to him, an arrow seemed to pierce his heart. He felt now the pain of losing someone important to him. First, it was his wife, Meiran. Now, it was Sally. And she never even said goodbye. She didn't even say why she was leaving.

"Sally, why did you have to go away without me knowing?"

TO BE CONTINUED