CHAPTER 4: SEEK AND YOU SHALL FIND

Lady Une had received requests from Wufei and Duo for their much-awaited vacation leave. It's been a while since they had experienced such privilege. The former OZ colonel shook her head. Yes, it was a vacation leave all right, but it was a time for Wufei to search Sally's whereabouts. He indeed had wanted to see her and ask her why she left without him knowing.

"Man, it's good to be back home!" Wufei said as he stretched his arms after they disembarked from the plane. Duo smirked. He had wanted to see China for himself. He wanted to see the land of kung-fu, of such delicacies he only reads in Hilde's books. Ah, the place was nice as it gets. The air was clean, the people were friendly…it was just heaven here on earth.

The duo decided to lodge at a cheap pension house near the air base. It, after all, was also the Preventers HQ, China-based. They decided not to lodge in the apartments since they were supposed to be on vacation leave and not having some business to deal with.

They then went to a local pastry shop where they heard the best pastries in town where served. Duo found a place near the window. He then called on a waitress and made their orders. After the dainty Chinese girl left, Duo turned to Wufei, his façade serious.

"Hey, Wu-man, are you really set on finding Sally?"

"Yeah…I guess," Wufei sighed as he said this. It has been five years, and he didn't see her when the team had arrived from North America.

"Guess? Why'd you say you guess? I thought you're too bent on finding her. Is there something between the two of you that I don't know? Oh! Does it mean that you two had history?" Duo smirked again, his grin spreading from ear to ear.

"Shut up, Maxwell. I just…missed her…"

"So…Heero was right!"

"What about him?"

Duo scoffed and shook his head. Heero had told him once of his observation between the two ill-fated, infamous former Preventers agent-partners. He noted that though Wufei and Sally fought too many a time, they would settle their differences there and then, with Sally ending the fight with another cajole for the Chinese pilot. And though Wufei would be hot-headed again, Sally would manage to smile and offer her peace. By the way she smiles, Heero can sense that it was way too different than when she smiled towards him, the other Gundam pilots, or even around other people.

"Xie xie ni. Please come again."

Wufei was struck at hearing the source of the voice. When he turned his head towards the sound, he saw the lady standing near the door, waving her customers goodbye. Her golden hair was in a bun held fast by chopsticks. The skin of her nape was flawless and few strands of stray hair flowed down it. Her arms, though showing some muscles in them, were flawlessly beautiful. The lady was wearing a pink tank top. Her tight-fitting bootleg jeans accentuated her sensuous butt. But she was wearing an apron, a uniform which meant she worked there.

"Hey, that girl's a cutie, Wu-man. And she's damn hot! I think I'd like to take her out for beer tonight and get to know her better!"

"That…that can't be!..." Wufei hissed nervously under his breath, unable to believe the person he saw. Cold sweat streamed down his face. He then stood up and went towards her. Duo looked his friend in astonishment.

"Sa…Sally Po?"

The lady turned toward Wufei.

"Excuse me?"

Then, she recognized him, her eyes wide with astonishment.

"Chang Wufei! Is that really you?"

"Ye…yeah, it's me…"

And Sally hugged him. Duo was agape. The girl he wanted to take out that night was none other than Sally Po herself! How embarrassing!

"My, how you've changed! You've grown taller and more mature! It's a surprise that you came to this pastry shop! Oh, so it's Duo Maxwell, all right! How you've been doing, Duo? It's such a long time since I last saw you…"

"Why did you leave without me knowing?" Wufei asked, the demand in his voice clear. Sally led him to the table where they were seated and recounted her story. She told them that she went home to recuperate. And she didn't want to go back to becoming a soldier again. But with regards to her talk with Lady Une, she decided not to tell them, especially Wufei. The two pilots listened to her story, but especially Wufei. He had wanted to hold her hand, even if Duo was there. He had wanted so much to hug her and return the little love she had shown for him.

"Ohayou, Sally." A voice cut through his thoughts.

"Ah, Shinichi-kun!"

Shinichi-kun? Who was this guy?

"Guys, I'd like you to meet my fiancé, Takeda Shinichi."

This guy was Sally's fiancé? Wufei could feel his heart being torn to pieces. Duo looked at him in shock. The search for his long lost partner turned out to be a futile.

"We…well…that's good to know!...eh, when will the wedding be?" Duo asked nervously.

"We just have to make the final adjustments, but we decided to wed by the end of the year." Sally announced

By the end of the year? Wufei couldn't believe it. He had not much time left! It was already…October? Heck, he's got only 2 months left! He didn't know what to do. Suddenly, he found himself standing up.

"I…I'm not feeling well, Duo…just eat the cake I ordered, ok? I need to go home." And Wufei dashed out of the shop.

"What's his problem?" Sally asked.

"Dunno…well, you didn't even tell Lady Une you'd be getting married! She'll be in a fit if you didn't invite her to be one of the primary sponsors!...or even a guest for that matter!

Sally chuckled. She then formally introduced Takeda to Duo.

Takeda Shinichi was a former OZ soldier who was a fierce Treize loyalist. When the Longfeller Foundation decided to arrest the insurgent Treize-faction, Takeda's team in Japan resisted. So as long as the Treize faction had arms, they weren't worried. He even had a team procure, or "steal", some Longfeller Mobile Dolls and use them to their advantage. Even so, with the collapse of the Longfeller Foundation and the rise of the White Fang, Takeda still remained loyal to Treize.

When Treize died, he switched his loyalty from Treize to Lady Une. She, after all, was his right hand all along. So during the Mariemeia Incident, Takeda still showed his loyalty. After that war, in order to prove his loyalty to Lady Une, he decided to join the Preventers, but he was based in China. He went back to Japan every now and then to settle disputes with his clan.

He first met Sally when she was abroad a private plane heading for China, for they were on the same plane. They were even seatmates. They chatted all the time on the plane, and then Takeda found that he liked her. He asked her about her occupation, and when she told him she was a former Preventers agent, he was more than amazed. That was about five years ago when Sally got sick and retired from office.

They had been going steady since then. Though they had some misunderstandings, they easily patched things up. Sally lived a happy life. She had introduced him to her parents, and vice versa. Then, she eventually forgot about her feelings for Wufei.

Wufei slammed the door of his room and sat on his bed. He didn't know what to do. When he thought he'd get close to victory, it drifted away from him. He wanted to see Sally badly, and the news he got was Sally getting married. It hurt him too much to think more about it. It suddenly hit him. Fate had turned a cruel turn for him. How many times had he hurt Sally till she cried? Was he that dense towards her feelings? Why was she so sensitive about his insensitivity towards her? What was Sally hiding from him? Was this the price he'd pay for always setting her feelings aside? What did she feel for him? Was Heero right all along?

Was Heero right? He remembered asking 01 about Onna's constant pestering, and whether she pesters 01 or the other pilots the way she pesters him, 05. He even remembered Trowa insinuating something that girls, when their feelings get unrequited, get weary and resign from that feeling.

"Does…Sally had feelings for me?" he asked himself, unaware that Duo had entered the room and heard his query.

"Yes, she does."

"Then…why didn't you guys tell me?" was Wufei's exasperating question.

"I thought you'd get the message, Wu-man. You're a guy. You're supposed to get the gist of her actions…or you just decided to be dense about it and bury it at the recesses of your mind. Trowa's speech should've made you open your eyes to that fact. Yet, you still didn't get it."

Wufei closed his eyes in regret. The woman who gave meaning to his existence is about to be married to someone else. A few years back, he'd imagine himself settling down…with Sally as his wife. He didn't know how the thought dawned to him, but he liked the idea. He found her special. He was waiting for the day when he'd return to the Preventers HQ and tell her his feelings for her. He emailed her constantly, asking about her condition, how things were going on while he's away. Yet, she never answered his email. Maybe she was just busy. Yet, he never lost hope that one day he'd open up to her.

"What am I gonna do?" he asked hopelessly.

"Why, you should tell her how you felt!" was Duo's suggestion.

"I don't think that'll help…"

"When are you gonna tell her? When she's already in church dressed in her wedding gown? When she's already settled? Come on, Wu-man, don't be such a sissy! Go tell her before it's too late!"

TO BE CONTINUED