Till Death Do Us Part...

Chapter Five

By Aryn

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Mei saw a figure leaning against a lamppost outside of the bonds office. Her pace slowed slightly. There was another person with her. Mei took a few more cautious steps towards the light and saw that it was another woman. Mei had a feeling that the taller, dark-haired girl was Arys, but she had to make sure.

"Arys."

Sure enough, the dark-haired girl turned glinting gray eyes towards her. The other woman had long, red-gold hair and bright green eyes. Arys apparently caught Mei's slightly confused look and motioned to her partner.

"Mei, this is Nari. She's your friend too."

The red head smiled almost shyly. "It's good to see you're all right, Mei."

Mei looked back to Arys. "You said you could help me."

"Yes. But not out here." Arys pulled a set of keys out of her jacket pocket and unlocked the bonds office. Mei followed the two girls inside and an overwhelming sense of familiarity washed over her. She ran a hand over the filing cabinet and one of the desks.

"I used to work here."

Arys gave Nari a hopeful look. "Yes, you did."

Mei looked over at Wufei's desk. "I was a bounty hunter."

Nari nodded her head. "Yes, you were."

Mei stepped over the desk and picked up the picture frame Wufei had sitting there. She turned it around and saw herself staring back. But unlike the pictures that Deshi had in his house, she could tell it was recent and the smile was genuine one. She touched a hand to her face, where the heat from the bruise could still be felt.

"I worked with my husband." She set the picture back down on the desk and picked up another one. It was the athletic-looking Chinese man she had seen earlier today, with a slight smile on his face and his arm around her. She brushed her fingertips across his face. "Wufei..."

Arys watched Mei carefully. Having already gone through losing her memory, Arys knew that it usually didn't take too much to get it all back once you were put into familiar surroundings. But gaining everything back all at once could be slightly overwhelming. That was why she had asked Nari to meet her. Arys was never one to offer physically support, however Nari never failed to wrap her arms around someone and give them encouraging words.

Mei placed the second picture down on the desk and turned to face her two friends. Arys could already see her dark brown eyes glistening.

"Arys, Nari, I remember now. I was chasing a drug dealer. He bolted across the street and I followed. I was hit by a car. The driver was a young man..."

Arys watched as the joy of finally remembering everything faded quickly. A sudden look of sheer terror replaced it. Nari stepped forward and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"What is it?"

Mei backed up, shaking her head. "No, it couldn't have been."

Arys stepped forward. "Who was it, Mei? Who hit you?"

"It was Deshi. Deshi was in the car."

Nari looked from Mei to Arys. "Who's Deshi?"

Arys pulled out one of the desk chairs and Mei sank into it. "It was Mei's husband that was dead. Or, she thought was dead."

"He was. I saw the body. I saw the death certificate. I saw the grave. He was dead. He has to be."

Arys grabbed a hold of Mei's arm. "Calm down. Did Deshi have a brother?"

Mei shook her head. "No."

"Anyone from his family that looks like him that might still be alive?"

"No."

"Unless..."

Arys turned to Nari. "Unless what?"

Nari shrugged. "A gundanium body is always a possibility. He could look like your late husband, but be someone else completely different inside."

Mei nodded her head, but Arys could still see the fear in her eyes. "That's got to be it."

Arys handed Nari her cell phone. "Could you call Heero and Quatre and tell them that Mei's going to be all right?"

Nari stepped into Ed's office and in a few minutes Arys could hear her talking to Heero. Arys grabbed a hold of Mei's hands that were tightly clasped in her lap. "Mei, why are you so afraid? Deshi can't hurt you now."

"I knew it was too good to be true. Arys, I knew."

"Knew what was too good to be true?"

Mei dropped her head. "Finding Wufei. Getting married again, starting a new life. It was just too good to be true. I was right."

Arys had no idea what Mei was going on about, but she didn't like the way it was going. "About what?"

"Wufei was known as one of the best scholar's on the colony. He had such a bright future in the role of leadership. Merian was known as the best fighter. They were the best out of all of us. They were perfect for each other."

Arys leaned forward. "What are you saying, Mei?"

"I'm saying, I could never stand up next to Merian. She was too brave, too strong. Wufei was too smart, too intelligent. I was the one that couldn't stand in their shadows. So how did I ever get married to Wufei? I knew it was too good to be true. Deshi is still alive. My loyalties have to lie with him."

Arys reached up and touched the bruise on Mei's cheek. "Did Deshi do this to you?"

Mei nodded her head.

"Listen to me, Mei Chang. You said youself that you saw the death certificate and the body. You have legally seen the death of your husband, Deshi Ling. Your marriage to Wufei is legitimate. Deshi is the one that left you. He's the one that caused you to lose your memory while he tried to reprogram you. And he's the one that raised a hand to you. That makes him worthless, not you."

Mei looked up at her friend. "Thank you."

"That's what friends are for."

Nari quietly cleared her throat. "The guys are on their way down. I couldn't talk them out of not coming."

Arys took the phone back and slipped it into her pocket. "We need to figure out why Deshi wanted to get you back so bad. Do you have information of any kind that he might want?"

Mei shook her head. "Not that I know of. I have nothing of value. Except..."

Mei bolted to her feet. Arys and Nari asked their question at the same time.

"What?"

"Hana. He must be after Hana."

Arys tried to run through the things that a man like this might want with a child. "How does Hana fit into all this? Aside from being his daughter."

Mei shook her head and stared out the window. "I was hoping this could be one secret I could take to my grave with me."

"What?"

Mei looked back to both her friends and stared them in the eye. "Hana isn't my daughter."

Arys heard the words but couldn't quite comprehend what Mei had said. Hana was her daughter, ever since the first time Arys had met the girl, the child had been with her. Nari was the one that had found her voice.

"What do you mean? I thought you said when you first met us that Hana was your daughter?"

Mei nodded her head and ran a hand wearily over her face. "I did say that, and more or less, Hana is my daughter, but not by blood. There was a young couple in the Dragon clan, Lin and Lea. I was good friends with Lea, we had grown up together. They were married around the same time that Deshi and I were. About a month after our marriage, Deshi took off on a business trip and was gone for a year. During that year, Lea found out that she was pregnant." Mei paused and took a shaky breath. "She died in childbirth. Lin didn't know what to do with the child. He didn't want it."

Nari's eyes narrowed. "Why?"

Mei shrugged. "Well, in our clan's culture, women don't carry on the family name. That's a very important thing in the clan. Lea's child was a girl and Lin didn't want to be burdened with a baby. He was getting ready to give the child over to a group of wandering gypsies that were in a nearby colony. By that time, I had grown fond of the child. And since Deshi was away, I was lonely. But Lin wasn't about to let the child go for free. While Deshi was gone, I had filled my time by rebuilding an old ground car. It was a beautifully restored vehicle that Lin had always admired. I gave the car away and gained a baby girl. Everyone knew how I gained Hana, but no one ever said anything. I never wanted Hana to find out how she came into my hands."

Arys laid a hand on Mei's shoulder. "She doesn't have to find out. At least not now."

Mei looked up at Arys. "You won't tell anyone?"

Nari stood by Mei's other side. "It will be our little secret."

The door to the bonds office opened as Quatre and Heero walked in. The Japanese pilot had caught Nari's last comment and turned to the Arabian.

"I told you, Quatre, leave two or more girls in the same room and they start telling secrets."

Arys turned and put her hands on her hips. "And you spend the rest of time trying to figure out what the secret is."

"Hm."

"Well," Mei broke in, "I'm going to go home. Deshi is going to come looking for me when he realizes I'm not there in the morning. It's almost six now. I don't have much time."

"We'll walk with you." Quatre told her, as he slipped an arm around Nari's waist. Mei followed the blond and his wife outside but was stopped by Heero.

"Welcome back. You were greatly missed."

"Thank you, Mr. Yuy."

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Wufei laid down on the couch and stared at the ceiling, listening to the steady beat of the clock. This had become his nightly habit ever since Mei had been gone. He had used to lay in bed, staring at the ceiling and listened to the steady beat of her heart. He had much preferred that nightly habit. But his new case of insomnia had worked out for the best. Hana and Li kept waking up in the middle of night with nightmares. At least he was already awake to calm them.

Someone knocked on the apartment door. Wufei sat up and started for the door. If this was Ed "checking up" on him again, he was going to put a bounty on the bondsman's head. But it wasn't the middle-aged man that greeted Wufei at the door. It was a ghost.

Mei watched as typical annoyance quickly gave way to astonishment in Wufei's ebony eyes. Figuring he wasn't going to be able to vocalize anything soon, she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him. It didn't take him long to have her in a crushing embrace.

"I don't believe this."

"I'm so sorry, Wufei."

"What happened?" he asked, still keeping her close to him.

She buried her face into his shirt and clung to him tighter. "It's a long story."