Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or any of it's characters... *pout* I only own the plot line and this abandoned plastic fork I found next to the Burger King drive in...
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Another year has gone by... A whole other year... It seems as if it passed all too quickly... I know the others know what this day means to me. They all know to stay out of my hair. But I think they couldn't handle watching me sulk any longer.
It was Quatre's idea to get us all out of the house. And to tell you the truth, I think we needed it. He decided we all go for a drive and the others agreed, dragging me along to cheer me up. I would have preferred to stay at home but if I had today's events might not have happened.
We all squeezed into Quatre's new car and he began to drive. We had no destination, only the huge empty stretch of road that lay before us. Duo tried to make conversation but was only answered by Quatre while I was content at only staring out the backseat window, not paying attention to anything being said.
As hours passed by, it grew more and more uncomfortable to convene in that tiny car. You could tell everyone wanted to get out and stretch for awhile. I hadn't even noticed how far we had traveled until Duo said he wanted us to pull over. And so we decided to stop at the next eligible place we found, and found one right in front of a little shop on the side of the road.
Duo led the way into the shop where just about every piece of junk in the world could be found. I went in last, not wanting to do anything but go back home. I walked around the small store aimlessly, pretending to be interested in everything I saw so we could leave sooner.
I looked at a glass bottle shaped in the oddest way, with holes and twists and a lot of bubbles covering it‘s surface. Then I glanced past it and saw something that really did catch my eye. It was an oil painting of a field, every square inch of it riddled with flowers.
It looked so familiar... I walked around the shelf where the weird bottle sat and towards the painting. Then I just stood there and stared at it, transfixed. But why was I drawn to it so much...?
Then it hit me. It reminded me of what happened exactly 4 years ago. It was a piece of my memory that had not yet been faded. It was that same field of flowers that sent me so much pain. The same one that I had cried to after she had left me. It was exactly the same.
I felt my face become hot and the burning begin in my eyes. But I know that boy's don't cry. So I tried to hold it in and not let anyone see. If I dropped my tough visage, even for just a second, she would have called me a weakling. That's the only reason I keep it in. All my emotion and pain. I hold it all in for her. Only for her.
I reached out to touch the painting. I couldn't help myself. I just felt the urge to. My index finger came in contact with a beautiful yellow flower. I somehow felt connected to her by that. Somehow...
"You're not supposed to touch that!" I heard someone shout.
I dropped my hand and turned my head to a little girl around the age of four. "I'm sorry," I said. "I didn't know."
The little girl smiled and pointed at me. "Hey! I know you! You're that boy from my dream!"
I just stood there, perplexed. What could I have said to someone who had just said that to me? Someone I had never met before.
"Mommy!" she called. "Mommy, come look!"
A young Chinese woman came up from behind her. "Honey, what is it?"
The little girl smiled, still pointing. "That's him! That's the boy from my dream!"
Her mother gasped. "Him? He came?"
"I knew he would come back for me, Mommy."
The woman looked up from her daughter and into my eyes. "My daughter has been waiting to meet you," she told me. "She has reoccurring dreams of a young man who she was married to that struggles to fight to protect her. He always takes her to that place in the painting, where she dies."
I stood there speechless and looked at the painting. "There?" I managed to choke out.
"Yes. He always takes her there."
I faced the woman then looked at her child. Tears began to well up again. "I am that boy."
The little girl smiled even bigger. "See, it IS him Mommy! It IS him!"
"My wife," I explained, "had passed away in a field of flowers just like this one. I tried to save her but... She was dying and wanted me to take her there. It was our place."
The woman had a sympathetic look about her. "I'm sorry," she said.
"It's okay."
"If you want the painting, you can have it."
"I didn't bring any money."
"It's okay," she told me. "You don't have to pay me."
"Yes, I do."
"Please," she begged, "just take it." She took it off the wall and handed it to me. "Please."
I sighed and took it from her. "Thank you."
Duo came and grabbed me by the arm. "C'mon, WuFei. Quatre's gonna leave without us."
"Okay," I told him. I turned to leave but looked back at the little girl and her mother. "Good luck," I said, although I wasn't sure if it was for them or for me.
They both waved good-bye at the window as we drove away.
On the ride home I couldn't stop thinking about the little girl. She had known me before we even met. It was too weird.
Quatre pulled into the driveway, signifying the end of our journey. Everyone got out of the car and went into the house, then resting once they found a suitable place.
I sat on an armchair with the painting lying across my lap. I began to speak to them for the first time that day. "Can I barrow your car tomorrow, Quatre?"
Of course Quatre allowed it and the next day I found myself back at that little shop in the middle of nowhere.
When I first walked in the door the little girl ran to me and gave me a big hug all the while shouting, "You came back! You came back!"
I hugged her back then gave her something I had picked up on the way: a beautiful yellow flower. When I looked up again I saw her mother standing there, a big smile across her face.
The little girl took my hand and pulled me to a table. She took a seat and told me to sit next to her. I obeyed, with a little smile across my face, and then I put up with her childhood games.
Sometime during the day I asked her, "Would you mind if I gave you a nickname?"
She smiled. "You can! And what ever it is, I'm sure I'll like it!"
I nodded. "Okay. How do you like the name MeiRan?"
Fanfiction Unforgotten Memories
Some man: Hey that's mine! *takes plastic fork*
*Pout* Let's just start the fic... My poor forky!!!!
