Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ New Beginnings ❯ Homecoming ( Chapter 3 )

Title: New Beginnings

Author: Something Like Human

Rating: PG

Warnings: YAOI (2x5x2), slight spoilers to GW, EW, and EpiZero

Disclaimer: Human doesn't own Gundam.

A/N: Again, I have really only read the manga. Although, my artificial little sister, juu, has acquired the DVD of Endless Waltz and we have drooled over that a few times. But regardless, my knowledge of the series is vastly different than one that has watched the entire anime.

At five till five, my over-exuberant partner is already trying to push me out the door. He sent the other Preventers home early, saying they needed a Friday night off for once. We go through the motions of locking up the office for the night and meet each other by the front door. But before we can leave like we normally do, Maxwell proceeds to straighten my clothes, smooth my hair back, and kisses me gently on the lips.

"There, you look good!" He exclaims. "I wouldn't want you to go out there not looking your best."

I smile at him again and then take a step out the door. I take a deep breath and wait for the door to be locked. I must be lost in thought because I feel Maxwell tugging my arm to guide me down the street. He lets go of my arm when I start to move on my own accord. I keep thinking about what will happen when we reach my brother's home. I call it thinking, Maxwell would call it worrying.

I am pulled out of my thoughts when we stop in front of a door. I look at the number and see it is our destination. There is no more time for me to worry; this is it. We climb the few steps onto the porch and Maxwell drops behind me but still remains close enough that I am aware of his presence. I lift my hand slowly and knock on the door. I wait for someone to answer the door and I am vaguely aware of holding my breath. I almost gasp though as the door opens partway and a little girl looks up at me. That cannot be who I think it is.

"Um…Hello? Can I help you, sir?" The child asks me. She is just a petite little thing; her dark hair cut level with her chin and bangs hanging down to her dark eyes. She is wearing a school uniform to one of the local private schools. It is one of the best ones in the city if I am correct.

"Um…" I am at a loss for words. I don't exactly know what to say; do I ask for my brother or do I just tell her who I am.

"Are your parents home, sweetie?" Maxwell asks bailing me out.

"Uh, hold on," she replies while taking a long look at my partner and I. I do admit, we are a rather strange pair. She turns her head slightly at a noise inside and the door comes open a little bit more. I can see the person that has come up behind her.

"Who's at the door, Jai Li?"

"Um…two guys in uniforms, Mama."

Looking up at the same time, our eyes meet. On the other side of the threshold of the house, is my mother. Time seems to stand still as we look at each other. She takes a few tentative steps forward to get a closer look.

"It can't be…" she gasps. I merely nod my head slightly before I bow to her. By the time I straighten up, she is practically on top of me and is pulling me into her arms. In the past, my family has never been very affectionate and never prone to public displays. I think this is an exception to the rule because it is not every day your family seemingly comes back from the dead. So, I hug her back as tightly as she is hugging me.

"Mama…" I murmur into her hair. She is slightly shorter than I remember her but then again, I have grown a few inches since the war. I have not grown as much as my partner for he is almost a head taller than me now but I am at least about average sizes for someone my race.

She pulls back to look at me at arms length. I can see tears glistening in her eyes just as I try not to let my own show. We are both smiling more at each other than I ever remember us doing. I do not think that either of us knows where to start.

We do not get a chance when I hear a deeper male voice from another room. "Who was at the door?"

"I dunno, big brother, but Mama is hugging one of them."

It seems that my little sister does not recognize me but I did not think she would. I look up just in time to see Seung's face as he walks into the foyer with us. He has the most bewildered look about him until he sees me. Then shock is predominant on his face. His mouth hangs open and his dark, slanted eyes are about as big and wide as Maxwell's. Somehow this is too much for my emotionally stressed body and I start laughing.

"What…WuFei?"

I bow at my brother while I try to stifle my amusement at my brother's reaction. "Hello, Seung. May we come in your home?"
He nods mutely as our mother pulls me in with her. I am vaguely aware of my partner following me in and silently closing the door behind us. I kick off my shoes and allow my family to direct me into a nicely furnished living room. I am sitting on the couch with my mother beside me and brother is across from me in another chair. Maxwell makes himself comfortable leaning against the doorway.

"How can this be?" Seung starts. "We thought that…that…"
I look down and try to prepare my answer when Jai Li's voice draws everyone's attention to her. "Who are you anyways?"

My mother draws her near and stands her in front of me. I try to smile warmly at her to reassure her but she still does not seem to know what is going on. "He is your brother, WuFei," my mother tells her.

"WuFei?" The little girl asks.

"Yes, Jai Li, it is me," I reply. "You were just a tiny little thing the last I saw you."
She bows to me in apology. "I think I remember you. You had to leave with a girl."

I nod in response to her bow. "Yes, you remember well for being only four."

"So where have you been?" My brother cuts in. He still has as much patience as I remember him having. "The last we heard from you, it was right after Long Meilan's funeral after the attack. Where have you been for four years? As far as we knew, you were dead with the rest of the Long Clan. There are no records of you from that point on. It's like you disappeared completely."

I can hear Maxwell chuckle slightly. Unlike himself, Yuy, and Barton, Winner and I had pasts and families that could be used against us during the war. With some tricks in paperwork and tampering with records; neither of us existed during the war. Winner picked his life back up after everything was over but I never saw the need. I had thought that there was no need. And besides, Une put blocks on all our files to prevent information about the Gundam pilots falling into the wrong hands. Only a really talented hacker can get into those files, which delights my partner to no end when he can get through Yuy's program and change his file. I will never forget the look on Yuy's face when he noticed his file said that he was female.

"You could say for a while I did disappear," I finally responded. I did not want to go into my experiences in the war just yet so I tried to change the subject. "I could say the same for all of you. I thought you were all dead!"

"You knew I was working on Earth, brother, when you left home."

"Things were a little stressful with the Long Clan, so you will forgive me if I forgot a few things," I explained. "Anyways, the last I knew, you were all on the Colony. How did you end up here?"

"I left the colony to Seung," my mother explained. "I sent a message to you that we were visiting your brother and his wife on Earth. You must not have received it. I never got a reply back, it was like you had disappeared right after your wife died."

"You could say I did. There were things I had to do for her and her family," I reply. I know I am evading telling the truth but I do not know if I want them to know of my involvement in the wars.

"Seung!" A feminine voice calls from upstairs. "Did I hear someone at the door?"

"Is that Mei-Ling?" I ask. I always thought fondly on my brother's wife. She was gentle and quiet which was the exact opposite of my wife.

My brother nods at me and calls his wife to come down for a minute. When she enters the room her eyes are first drawn to Maxwell standing by the door. He smiles and bows to her with as much decorum as he will ever have. She responded by bowing deeply to him as a woman should to a man she does not know.

"How may my family help you, Preventer?" She asks my partner cordially as she notes his uniform. Somehow I had forgotten that we were both still dressed for work and that it might lead to some difficult questions. Sure enough, my mother and brother look first at Maxwell and then at me. Then back at Maxwell as if it is the first time they are seeing him.

"Oh, I'm not here for your help, ma'am," He replies and nods towards the couch. "I'm here helping your family."

My sister-in-law gasps as she sees me for the first time in four years. She whispers my name in surprise. I stand and bow to her as she does the same. I stand straight and look around for a moment.

"I am sorry, I have been very rude. This is my partner, Duo Maxwell," as I speak, I mentally let them choose how to take the word 'partner'. "And Maxwell, this is my family."
We continue introductions with lots of bowing from my family and smiling from my partner. He bows quite deeply to my mother to show respect. But surprisingly, he actually gets Seung to shake his hand like an American. When things quiet down, it is Seung that seems uneasy. He looks at Maxwell and I for a moment and then asks, "Is Mei-Ling correct? Are you both Preventers?"

I mentally smack my own forehead. This was one of the topics that I had wanted to avoid for a while. I should have thought about wearing the uniform. I have been wearing it for so long that most of the time I forget about it. How do I explain to my family how I, at eighteen, have gotten to be a high-ranking Preventer in only two years.

Tbc…