*...* denotes thought or psychic speech
~~~ indicates flashbacks or scene breaks
[1, 2, 3, ...] indicates author's notes at end
Author's notes: okay, okay... yeah, I know that Wufei probably comes across as ooc in this part, as does Meiran... but hey, it's my fic and I can manipulate their relationship anyway I want... it says so in my fic writer's contract!! [mad scrambling to find a copy of said contract]... ano, I know this part is loooonnnngggg since overdue, but even now I'm not perfectly pleased with it and it might undergo revision in the near future... depends on my mood.
Embrace The Night Part 9
Earth, Sank Kingdom, AC 199
Meiran regained consciousness slowly, her mind returning from the hazy plane of sleep. Or so she assumed. For a long time, she stared at the man holding her, her dark eyes quietly assessing and questioning. While her visual world was crowded with the dark visage of the concerned man holding her in his strong grip, her other senses were taking in the wrongness of her surroundings.
She was aware of the soft mattress under her, the very fact that it was a bed startled the young warrior long attuned to sleeping on pallets. The surrounding furnishings of the room spoke of wealth and soft finery, two features that were usually missing from her village home, despite the rank associated with being married to the leader of the clan. Unnatural light gently filled the room, keeping the dark shadows at bay. The light was like the sun that shined through the clouds on a hazy morning; and yet it wasn't the sun at all, rather the glow of lanterns and man made fixtures.
Still, despite all of the internal warnings that were sounding off in her mind, Meiran ignored the clamor and focused her attention on the man holding her... and smiled.
Wufei let out the breath that he had been holding ever since Meiran's ebony gaze had been unveiled. The smile on her face was an expression he had thought never to be privileged to see again. It was a visible sign of the love and devotion that he had fiercely sought after so many centuries ago, and then subsequently lost due to a misplaced trust.
Meiran lifted one hand to his smooth cheek, a light frown marring her smooth forehead. Her fingers lightly played around a rapidly discoloring patch of skin, a visible reminder of their previous battle.
A battle, which she did not remember having, as evident by her next words. "What happened, my Dragon?"
Wufei didn't let his surprise show, his momentary alarm that she did not remember an event that had occurred less than an hour ago. Instead he shrugged his shoulders and said, "It's of no consequence. It's not important."
Concern welled up in her dark depths as she queried, "Does it pain you very much?"
Wufei grunted and said, "Warriors do not fear pain, instead they embrace it."
However, he was quick to add an amendment when he saw Meiran give him a slightly cross and disapproving look out of the corner of her eye. He gulped and included, "But it doesn't hurt very much now." Wufei's frown disappeared and a gentle, sincere smile appeared on his face. He gently whispered, "Especially when you touch it."
Meiran giggled at him, love and adoration shining through her eyes. Her fingers danced across the surface of his cheek as a frown once again made its way across her forehead, turning down the corners of her lips. Her tone was serious this time as she addressed him, "Wufei, I had the most horrible dream."
Wufei's smile slowly ebbed from his face, all traces of humor vanishing in the wake of his beloved's confusion and consternation. He quietly murmured, "Did you, beloved?"
Meiran nodded, gentle wisps of her ebony mane caressing her smooth cheeks. "Mmm huh. I dreamed that you were crying."
Wufei closed his eyes, his voice remaining silent. He didn't deny her statement, rather he held her even more closely, as if he would never let her go.
This didn't fool Meiran one little bit.
Frowning gently, she pulled a little bit away and queried, "What's wrong, Husband?" She took this opportunity to glance around her surroundings with a more alert eye. "Where am I? And where are the..."
Her voice trailed away even as her eyes began to fill with confusion, quickly followed by dawning memories. Then she screamed, her demeanor switching from playful teasing to outright fury in a blink of an eye.
"He killed them! Navarre killed them!" Meiran began to struggle earnestly in Wufei's embrace as her maternal protectiveness and warrior lust for revenge rose in her veins. "Let me go! I'll kill him! I'll kill him!"
"Meiran, stop it."
At the sound of his voice, smooth and powerful, yet tinged with sorrow and grief, she stilled immediately. She was his creature now, thus she would do whatever he commanded. Regret filled his heart, even as he voiced his decrees.
"Listen to me, Onna," he whispered, the tenderness in his voice gentling the verbal label into a teasing pseudonym. "You will never remember our children again, or anything else that happened that night. Do you understand?" [1]
Meiran's eyes had gone blank as Wufei exerted his unnatural power of persuasion over her. Her soft voice uttered a toneless, "Yes."
"You will do whatever I ask, tell me whatever it is I wish to know, yes?"
"Yes." Again the exotic woman answered his question, her voice a flat monotone, the speech of one under control.
Wufei closed his eyes and took a fortifying breath. He released the pent up air and stoically began his interrogation of his recently reclaimed wife, knowing that he and the others needed to have as much information on the person that had sent her to assassinate them.
"Where have you been staying, Meiran?"
"In the headquarters of OZ and the Romefeller Foundation."
"What happened to Navarre Khushrenada?"
"My former Mistress destroyed him in a fit of rage."
"And who is your former Mistress?"
A tiny frown made its way across Meiran's face, even as her eyes remained blank and unfocused. "I - I do not know. She is the Vampire Master, but she has never revealed her name to me."
"Is she the one who sent you here?"
"Yes."
"Is she going to come back for you?"
Meiran shook her head slowly, even as she spoke her answer. "No. After I destroyed you and the other vampires, I was to destroy myself." She spoke the word without feeling, as if they meant nothing to her.
Wufei mentally cursed the still unknown mastermind of this game, his dark brows furrowed together in his displeasure and disappointment. It seemed that Zechs and he were still no closer to finishing their quest for justice. *Although,* he ruefully pointed out to himself, *The loss behind my quest has been miraculously restored to me.*
Shoving away the thoughts of the long centuries of seeking justice, Wufei returned his attention to the entranced woman in his embrace. He murmured, "Are you all right?"
"I don't know," she answered as she looked up at him, her dark eyes becoming wrought with confusion once more. "Am I dead?"
"No." Wufei wasn't sure what she exactly was now. In the taking of her blood and the giving of his, he had broken the Vampire Master's hold over her. She was bound to him now, until the day he was destroyed. Unless he took the next step and brought her over the threshold of immortality, making her into the same creature that he was now.
*And that,* he thought, *is the only real answer. It's the only way Meiran will ever be in control of her own destiny and life again.*
Wrapped up in his own personal thoughts and demons, Wufei only held Meiran tighter in his grasp and closed his eyes, as if by that action alone he could keep the rest of reality at bay. Meiran, although confused and disoriented, trusted the man who held her. She trusted him with her life, although for some imbedded reason, she feared letting him out of her sight. Feared it so much that the very thought of not being with him caused terror and anxiety to shoot through her system.
These emotions were foreign to her, and that very fact made her frown slightly in consternation. However, this was neither the time nor the place to be questioning her emotions and thoughts. She felt tired and soul weary; eagerness for rest raced through her conscious mind. Content to sit on the bed, her nose nuzzled in the golden toned crook of Wufei's neck, she allowed her eyes to close.
Secure in the love emanating from the man holding her close, Meiran fell into a natural slumber, unaware of the growing shadows in the mind of her vampire husband.
~~~
Noin's head jerked in the direction of the chamber's door as a solid, assured rap sounded on the thick barrier. She carefully placed her book down on the table, keeping her place marked, and gracefully rose from the tall, wing backed chair. She glanced once over at the slightly grumpy girl sitting on the canopy bed before she made her way to the door.
Noin cautiously called out, "Who's there?" The sounds of battle had long since died down, but she knew from experience that some battles weren't always concluded when the noise stopped.
However, in this situation, it seemed that the battle was finished as Zechs' deep tenor rumbled. "It's Zechs. May I come in?"
Noin swiftly undid the safety bolt to the double doors and opened the left side. A sincere and happy smile crossed her face as the platinum blond vampire was revealed in the room's soft glow. Her eyes quickly ran over the tall man's figure, noting that his composure and finery didn't seem rumpled in the least.
"Is everyone all right?" she asked, her deep eyes reflecting her concern as she backed up to let him enter the room.
Zechs nodded even as he answered, "Yes. It turns out the enemy this time was only one assassin. She managed to wound Heero, but Wufei quickly and efficiently disarmed her."
"Is Heero okay?"
"Yes. Duo's with him now."
"Ah." Noin's eyes practically glowed as understanding soaked in. A comfortable silence fell between the two adults when Noin's mind suddenly latched onto something else Zechs had mentioned.
"You said she. Do you know who the assassin was?"
Zechs looked away for a moment before he answered her. "The assassin was Meiran Chang."
Noin's eyes went wide with surprise and shock even as her voice uttered, "Wufei's Meiran?"
Zechs nodded his head once in affirmation.
Noin's shock and dismay was gone as quickly as it had appeared. Her forehead was suddenly marred by lines as her mouth settled into a thoughtful frown. Her surprise over this turn of events was shockingly brief, although her past history has given her plenty of opportunities to learn to roll with the proverbial punches, so to speak.
Noticing the frown for the first time, Zechs queried, "What's wrong?"
Noin sighed even as she continued to think, her mouth set in a grim line. "I'm not sure. It's just that this new twist of events seems wrong somehow."
"Wrong?"
"I don't know. Almost like it's... unnatural, you know? I can't place it, but it almost feels like everything that's happening is being manipulated. Like we're the pawns in someone's twisted game."
Zechs huffed and said, "If someone thinks this is a game, they need to get their heads examined." However, even as he uttered the joke, a slim chance at dispelling the gathering sense of foreboding, the blond vampire recalled similar words spoken by his partner just mere hours ago. Giving himself a mental shake, he returned his full attention to distracting the attractive, if somewhat agitated, witch in front of him.
Noin let her exasperation manifest itself in her voice as she protested. "Zechs, I'm being serious here! Doesn't it feel like everything is coming together just too conveniently? I mean, Duo just happens to be partnered with a pilot that resembles his dead husband, and everyone who was involved in that skirmish last century has been brought back together again, not to mention the fact that now Wufei has been reunited with a wife he believed to be dead for more than 1500 years!"
Zechs nonchalantly shrugged in the face of Noin's concern, causing the White Witch to throw her arms up and howl in frustration. "Arghh!! Men! I don't know why I even bother sometimes!"
Zechs grinned as he captured Noin in his strong embrace, twirling her around to face him. He smiled down at her slightly flushed countenance, her lavender eyes alive with a spark of exasperation. He spoke in his pleasant murmur, "It's just coincidence. Remarkable coincidence, but coincidence just the same."
Noin just shook her head as a rueful smile made it's way across her face. "I hope you're right."
Zechs raised one eyebrow as he asked, "Have you ever known me to be wrong?"
Noin smirked right back as she answered, "Well, actually yes. Don't you remember that little scene a few decades back when you and Wufei went to that bar on L4 and you -"
Zechs cut Noin off with a slender finger on her soft lips even as he winced and said, "Ouch, don't remind me!"
Noin simply smiled behind his finger, her dark eyes twinkling with merriment.
Zechs' pale eyes suddenly got heavy, a deep, slumberous look entering the luminescent depths. He removed the restraining finger from Noin's lips, only to use the long digit to gently caress her smooth cheek.
Noin's lips parted in a soft gasp as she whispered, "Oh Zechs..."
Zechs leaned his head forward as he actively began to initiate a kiss with the dark haired witch.
A kiss that was unfortunately destroyed before it was even created by one blonde haired girl who was tired of being ignored.
"Oh Brother!!!"
Zechs closed his eyes in quiet frustration even as he felt Noin's slim frame shake with suppressed laughter in his arms. Forcing himself to put a halt to his seduction, Zechs answered his sister. "Yes, little sister?"
"Can we play a game now?"
Forcing himself to drop his arms from Noin, Zechs forcibly stepped away from his temptation and turned to address his sister formally. "I'm sorry, Relena, but now is not the time to be playing games. You have a big day ahead of you and you need your rest. I apologize for keeping you awake."
Relena pouted as she continued to sit on her bed, her arms crossed across her chest. "But I'm not tired!" she whined. "I want to play a game!"
Noin quickly jumped in as she observed the spasmodic twitching of Zechs' left eyebrow. "Miss Relena, you need your rest and we should stop disturbing you. We'll play a game in the morning after breakfast, okay?"
The two adults quickly bowed and scooted out the open door before the young queen could protest. Their exit efficient and well executed, they shut Relena's chamber door before heading off to Noin's suite to continue their little tete - a - tete. Relena was left in her bedchamber, alone and more than a little put out, as evident by her conclusive wail.
"BBBBBBBBRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOTTTTTTTTHHHHHHHHEEEEEEERRRRRRRR!"
~~~
Duo allowed a small smile to cross his heart shaped face as Wufei briefly touched his mind to let him and the others know that Meiran was fine and showed no ill side effects from the battle before. Although he was not as close to the Chinese immortal as some of the others, Duo was sincerely glad that Wufei was reunited with his loved one. Their situations were too closely similar for the braided man to not appreciate a happy ending.
*Although this is hardly an ending. Especially since nothing ever truly ends.*
As he looked at the mortal man lying on the bed before him, he sighed and wistfully wished that his plight would resolve itself as easily.
Duo reached forward to carefully brush the unruly bangs out of his partner's closed eyes. The even, steady breathing from the handsome soldier before him indicated that he was in a deep, if not peaceful slumber. Duo's violet eyes swept over the inert form, memorizing every limb and muscle. The form in front of him was familiar and foreign both, the past and present both apparent in the unconscious man.
With a sigh, Duo rose from where he was kneeling beside the bed and silently walked over to the large, floor length window of the spacious bedroom suite. He parted the curtains slightly, just enough to allow the moon's pale light to seep into the darkened bedroom in a small, silver arc. His eyes swept over the shadowed landscape of the palace to the land that lay beyond the palace walls.
Somewhere, beyond the gates of nobility and privilege, past the walls of society and fortune, lay the small grounds where Heero and he had made a life together for more than half a century. Their small house, more than likely by now occupied by another loving couple or family, had been the place where the happiest memories of his life had been made. It was ironic that he once again found himself in this place.
With a rueful smile, Duo allowed the heavy curtain to fall back into place, shutting out the outside world. After all, there was nothing that remained out there for him. Everything was just memories, graying shadows of times long lost. What counted now was the present and the new chance at happiness that lay before the vibrant immortal.
Duo padded over to the bed, his silence and grace lost on his insensible companion. As he rejoined his partner, Duo dragged a chair over to the side of the bed and resumed his vigilance over the Asian man. He was not sure what the result of his impromptu infusion of blood would do to the young mortal, but he needed to be prepared to answer any and all questions his partner was sure to have. And yet, even though he warned himself not to expect anything, his heart still hammered with hope. He wasn't even aware that he was unconsciously rubbing the rings he wore around his neck, twirling the thin gold bands amid his long, graceful fingers. His eyes were fixated upon his partner's peaceful countenance, the only action, the rapid movement of his eyes beneath eyelids graced with an abundance of dark lashes.
*I wonder what he's dreaming about?* Duo thought, a wry smile in place.
~~~
Heero's mind was active, busy with the influx of new visions and memories that his mind didn't understand. Images and thoughts were flooding his senses, too surreal to be fake, but out of place in the life he was currently leading. Confusion wracked his subconscious as it sought to deny the visions it was seeing.
And yet, a part of his being cried out in dismay, pleading with his will to allow the images to continue. An unknown part of his soul, disguised and hidden before this night, fought the 'perfect soldier' within to allow the drama within his head to conclude naturally. This part of his psyche whispered soothing promises of... fulfillment... and perhaps satisfaction should the dreams he was seeing finally finish.
Although discontent and disgruntled, the 'perfect soldier' within conceded the battle of wills, melting within the shadows of his mind to allow the other part of his psyche control. With a mental shudder, Heero shut down his barriers of self protection and allowed the dreams to proceed without hindrance. With a gleeful shout of triumph, the visions continued to run, becoming clearer and more vivid as they raced to finish.
Unaware of the monumentous turn of events he had just initiated, Heero took comfort in the light, pleasant voice that echoed through his head, whispering, "Remember... please remember, my love... my beloved..."
~~~
Relena sat on her rather large and extravagant canopy bed, her arms crossed across her chest as she pouted in privacy. As upset as she was about being woken up in the middle of the night by her semi frantic secretary, she was even more irked by the fact that said secretary and her brother had ignored her and then left her completely alone! Hell, she was awake now and she wanted to play, not sleep! Relena grumbled and stared at her closed bedroom doors, as if she could will them open and that playmates would appear from her stares alone. However, such was not the case.
*Hello.*
Relena was startled as a feminine and friendly voice suddenly echoed in her mind, disrupting her already jumbled thoughts and granting some order to the chaos. Quitting her pouting session, she decided to talk to this new friend, even though she couldn't see her.
"Hello!" she chirped, her voice once again bright and cheery, her foul mood already dissipated and forgotten.
*My name is Dorothy. What's yours?*
"I don't remember my name, but everyone calls me Relena. So, I guess you can call me that."
*Relena. That's a pretty name, and I bet you're even more beautiful. Why, you'd have to be, since you're the Queen of the Sank Kingdom.*
Relena preened under this shameless flattery, completely ignoring the fact that the bodiless voice knew she was Queen of the Sank Kingdom despite not knowing her name five minutes ago. She smiled at her invisible companion and nodded her head, not thinking that the voice probably couldn't see her actions. She giggled, pleased with her new friend.
*But I don't think I will address you by that name. Highly inappropriate, don't you agree?*
Relena frowned, displeasure streaking across her face. Churlishly she asked, "What's wrong with it?"
*Why, I wouldn't be addressing you with the proper respect you deserved. I think I'll call you... Miss Relena.*
Relena's face quickly melted back into a happy smile, her displeasure mollified. She giggled again and said, "As you wish." She didn't even think to ask the invisible voice if she wanted to be called Miss Dorothy. However, if her companion noticed the slight, it wasn't evident.
*So Miss Relena. Do you enjoy having fun?*
Relena answered with a bright and cheerful, "Of course!"
Relena didn't even blink when the voice suddenly chuckled, a low, spine-tingling laugh that echoed in her mind. Nor did she react when her bodiless companion suddenly purred out, *Excellent. Then might I suggest we play a little game?*
The young monarch's reaction to this was to simply cock her head to the side and query, "What kind of game?"
The voice laughed once more before answering. *My favorite kind. The one where the winner takes all.*
TBC...
[1] okay, I know it's evil to have him tell her not to remember their children... but it'll eventually work itself out in a later chapter... you'll see ^_^;
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