Honor and Justice

Chapter Five

By Aryn

Mei sat the breakfast table in her quarters, blankly staring at the coffee mug in front of her. Hana was happily eating her cereal, singing between mouthfuls.

"Mommy?" the little girl asked, when her song was done.

Mei looked up from her coffee. "What?"

"Are we going to stay in space forever?" Hana asked in all seriousness.

"No, I don't think so. Why do you ask?"

"We've been in space a long time now."

"Hana, it's only been two weeks." Mei laughed.

"That's a long time Mom."

There was a knock on the door and Hana was already on her feet running to answer it before Mei could even stand up.

"Hana!" Mei called out sharply before the little girl could open the door.

"Who is it?" Hana called out.

"Chang Wufei." a disappointed voice said from the other side. The door swung open and Wufei just stood there, ready to be assaulted by the little child. With an annoyed look on his face that Mei had grown accustomed to seeing, the mighty warrior pried the girl off his leg. Much to his dismay she clung to his neck and tried to bounce in his arms, all the time saying jubilantly, "Wu-Chan's here!"

"Typical woman, never listens." he grumbled as he made his way over to the table.

"Good morning Chang Wufei." Mei greeted, standing to her feet.

"Good morning Ling Mei." he responded, setting Hana down on her chair. Or at least attempting to. He leaned over, but she held on tightly to his neck. "Sit down." he told her firmly. Knowing when he meant business and when he was teasing, Hana immediately obeyed and sat back down in her chair.

"Would you like anything?" Mei offered, "Coffee, tea, fruit?"

"No thank you." he declined. "I just came to tell you there is a meeting at nine this morning."

"I know, Noin told me yesterday." Mei said, hiding a smile behind her coffee mug. Wufei had made excuses for stopping by her quarters at least once a day. Petty as the excuses may have been, she looked forward to his visits. He would never stay for long, just deliver his message and make small talk for five minutes, which was the record, and then leave. Mei believed she looked forward to his visits just as much as Hana did, except she just behaved herself.

"Well, would you like to sit down at least?" Mei offered.

Wufei glanced at the vacant chair at the table and actually thought about staying.

"No, I can't." he finally said before heading back towards the door. "I'll see you at the meeting."

Mei heard the door close and looked over at her daughter with an amused expression. "One of these days, Hana, he's going to actually sit down and talk to us."

Hana smiled brightly and took another spoonful of cereal. "I know."

_______________________________

Quatre tapped the conference table nervously. Everyone was here except for Nari and Noin. Nari had not been sleeping well for the two weeks, so when he got up this morning and she was sleeping, he let her do so. Even though she had to be there for the meeting, he desperately hoped she was sleeping at the moment.

Trowa leaned over to his friend seated beside him.

"Quatre, I need to ask you something."

"Sure." Quatre replied, shrugging his shoulders.

"Have I done anything to offend Nari?" Trowa asked, concerned.

"No, she hasn't mentioned anything whatsoever. But she hasn't been feeling well lately, so that might be it." Quatre explained. "Why do you ask?"

"She been avoiding me like the plague. I just wondered if she might have said anything to you."

"She's been exhausted, so she's avoided everyone."

Trowa mutely nodded he his head and went back to staring out the window. Quatre couldn't figure out what was wrong, not only with his wife, but with his friend too. Trowa had made quite a few trips back to his home colony to visit Catherine, but never mentioned why. And ever since Nari's nightmare, things just seemed to get strained between the two friends. Whenever Quatre would try to bring it up to Nari, she would always dismiss it one way or another. They were growing apart, all of them, and it frightened Quatre. But he had to help Nari first. She was his responsibility and under his protection. It practically killed him to see her in the state that she was in. Noin walked in, disrupting Quatre's thoughts and worries.

Noin glanced around the room to make sure everyone was there. Mei was quietly conversing with...Wufei?!

<Well, anything can happen.> Noin thought to herself.

Heero and Arys were passing glances between each other, Duo was off in his own little world, humming happily, Trowa was staring out the window and Quatre had a very concerned look on his face.

"Where's Nari?" Noin asked.

"I don't know." Quatre answered timidly.

"Well, we'll start anyway." Noin answered. "From the disks that Mei has given us that OZ is about to attack a Preventer base on the L-5 colony cluster. Since the base is a small one, we're only sending a small group. However, while we're there, I'm sending out another group to dig up any rumors about OZ and their factions. The first group is Wufei, Mei, Heero and Arys. The second group is Quatre, Nari, Trowa and Duo. Heero, you're in charge of the first group." Noin said, handing him a computer disk. "Quatre, you're the leader of the second group."

Quatre took the disk from Noin.

"All the information you need is on your disk. Any questions let me know. You all leave tomorrow morning." Noin finished. As soon as she had ended, the door quietly opened and Nari slipped into her chair beside Quatre. Noin was about to remark on the girl's tardiness, but one look at the haggard look on her face, Noin decided against it.

"Nari, Quatre can fill you in on what was discussed." Noin told her quietly. Nari nodded her head.

"Okay, dismissed." Noin said. Everyone except for Nari and Quatre stood up. Duo came up behind Arys.

"What's wrong with Nari?" he whispered to her.

"I don't know." she answered.

"Maybe he should throw her in the brig so they can have a heart to heart." Duo remarked, which only gave him death glares from Arys.

Once everyone was gone, Nari turned to Quatre with tortured eyes.

"I overslept, I'm so sorry." she apologized.

Quatre reached over and grabbed her folded hands. Nari looked up at him with startled eyes. She was surprised at the strength of his usual gentle touch.

"Are you all right?" he asked her. She could hear the panic in his voice.

"Quatre, I'm fine." she answered.

"Don't tell me what is wrong. Just tell me if you are all right." he pleaded.

Nari found herself about to tell him about the dreams of Javin who looked like Trowa, and of the computer chip that was active. But she couldn't, not yet. She broke eye contact with him and stared down at their hands. She couldn't even tell which fingers were his and which were hers. How could she keep something like this from him? He was her husband, her friend and her confident. But how could she put into words that she thought their best friend was a traitor? How could she explain that?

"Nari?" Quatre said quietly. "I don't know what to do."

Nari bowed her head in defeat at his gentle words. She had to tell him. She had pushed him away for too long. "You don't have to do anything." she told him quietly. "Just listen."