Tears of Despair

Chapter 4: Clarity

By: Liewe

Standard disclaimers apply, I only own Christof and Damien, and of course icky LeFave, please don’t sue me….

 

Ariane watched as Wufei emerged from the shadows, his gun still trained on her heart.  His expression made her smirk; he was not taking LeFave into account.  She wouldn’t either, not if she hadn’t seen him in action first hand.  On more than one occasion she had been the cause for LeFave’s rage, she thought with sardonic amusement, it was funny really the way he had tossed her like a rag doll.  The point had been made clear though, he was master and she was his toy, she obeyed, that was her duty, her mission.

 

“What are you laughing at woman?” Wufei snarled as he watched the corners of her mouth twitch up in an almost feral impression of a smile.

 

“Your own stupidity.  Do you really think I’m your only threat,” she questioned with a wry chuckle as she saw LeFave scowl at her from the corner of her eye.  She would be in pain in the morning but it was more than worth it, she was going to watch someone else get tossed around as a rag doll.

 

“You don’t mean that this skinny specimen of a woman, is a threat,” Wufei asked, merely glancing at the ‘woman’ in question.

 

“Of course,” Ariane said, desperately trying not to snort from the suppressed gales of laughter.  This just keeps getting better, she thought, first he fails to think of LeFave as a threat, and then he mistakes the bastard for woman!

 

Wufei took another glance at the ‘woman’ and his face turned pale; it wasn’t a woman at all, only a very effeminate and angry noble.  The long hair and sleek curvaceous form had lied to him, and he knew from experience that one could be strong and lanky, leaving no one the wiser as to your strength.  He barely managed to dodge the first blow sent by the man, he was also successful in dodging the second blow, but on the third he tripped and went stumbling into the blow.  His world turned dim for a moment, before he crouched, years of martial arts training reasserting themselves. 

 

Ariane watched the battle, a strange feeling of deja vu falling over her as she studied the Chinese man’s features.  She felt she knew, she felt she had faced off with the arrogant man before, but he didn’t know her.  Her mind was playing tricks on her that was the only option.  She still couldn’t help but feel sorry for the Chinese man, LeFave was being ruthless, his heavy blows landing on their target in quick succession.  She could only watch in horror, as LeFave threw his opponent against the wall, and the opponent fell to the ground in a crumpled heap.

 

“Take care of that,” LeFave bit out tersely as he left the room, his gait not as graceful as it usually was, his breath coming in labored gasps. 

 

“Yes sir,” Ariane said quietly, waiting for LeFave to leave before she moved to assist the fallen man.

 

“You shouldn’t have provoked him,” she whispered, guilt gnawing at her conscious as she thought of the hand she had played in pummeling the young man.  “He’s particularly nasty if you insult his looks, he’s so proud of his beauty,” she scoffed, gently brushing the sweat soaked ebony locks from Wufei’s forehead.  “I wouldn’t call it beauty though, his black heart ruins the effect, he’s like the dark and evil prince in the fairy tales we all hear when we’re younger.” Ariane said with a groan as she lifted Wufei from the floor supporting his weight on her shoulder as she leaned him up against her side.

 

“Chang Wufei, a long way from home aren’t you,” she said tucking his dog tags back into his shirt from where they had fallen as she maneuvered him to her office.  She needed to gather everything together before they left, she couldn’t leave anything behind, she wouldn’t be coming back to work in the morning.  She had what she needed, and the feelings of suspicion had only been intensifying, it would be best to leave her job never to look back. 

 

“What am I going to do with you?” Ariane asked the unconscious form of the proud warrior.  “I could just leave you in a ditch somewhere, but I feel responsible.  I could take you to the hospital, but then when LeFave found out he would kill us both.  I guess you’re coming home with me, I can be a good nursemaid, when needed.”

 

“That’s what I’ll do,” she said softly as she packed the last of her belongings into the large duffel bag she always kept hidden in her draw.  There weren’t nearly enough possessions to warrant the duffle bag, but the bag was most practical.  The sound of keys tapping pervaded the office as she erased all signs of her employment, no one had seen her, so why should they remember her, she asked herself, as she stood.

 

Wonderful, Mariemaia thought as she watched the males bond, their guttural grunts traveling through the house from the living.  The perfect way to end an evening of good food and companionship, watching football, she hated that sport, she really did.  The way the males would gather around the big screen TV, can’s of beer and bags of pork rinds with in easy reach.

 

“Who’s playing who?”  She asked as she crept into the room.

 

“The L2 Devil’s against the L4 Knights,” Christof answered, his eyes fixed on the screen.

 

“Well then move over you oaf’s, this should be interesting.  It’s the Colony Cup right?”

 

“Yeah,” was Damien’s quick reply as he moved over, leaving a small space between himself and Christof, just enough for Mariemaia to squeeze into.

 

“Now come on, that was obviously a foul!”

 

“The ref’s an idiot, we already took that into account,” Christof said softly to the young woman sitting beside him.

 

“Even an idiot could have made that call, it was so obvious, I mean…” Mariemaia began her answer cut off by Damien.

 

“Yeah, but he’s more than an idiot, or even a moron, that must be the 10^th call that he’s missed, it’s getting to be a joke.”

 

“More than a joke, it’s ridiculous,” Mariemaia grumbled before settling back into the plush cushions of the couch, her eyes straying to the strong frames of the two men she was sandwiched between.  Hmmm, not a bad view though.

 

“The stars are always so peaceful,” Trowa yawned as he leaned back against the tree trunk, his emerald gaze drinking in the night sky.  He could hear the loud voices of his co-workers emanating from the illuminated tent behind him.  He hadn’t felt like enjoying the raucous company of his fellows in the circus troupe since he had returned, three years ago. 

 

His heart wasn’t in anything anymore, he only searched for her, that was all he wished to do, but he was a Preventer, the peace she had risked her life for was to be kept, he just wasn’t as active as he had been before. He came to the circus to forget his worry’s, his troubles, but it was so different without Catherine around, the new knife thrower, retained the same alarmingly accurate aim, yet her eyes where dead like his as well. 

 

“To many people were hurt in the war,” he said softly, stretching his longs legs, a hand running through his unruly brown hair. 

 

She ran her fingers through his loose ebony hair, trying to get the sweat soaked strands to relinquish their hold on his bronze forehead.  To get him to her apartment had been hard, a petite woman, wasn’t the strongest person around.  She was stronger than most would take her for, but to carry a well muscled average size man up three flights of stairs and down countless corridors, had been too much for her.  She winced thinking of the numerous times she had dropped the fallen man.  

 

“Thank you Timothy,” she called out as she heard the door close. 

“You look peaceful like this you know? Knocked unconscious, your mind wandering through the realm of dreams, you need to loosen up.  I’ve seen your picture on the news, you must be one of those Gundam Pilots,” Ariane said softly, looking at Wufei’s relaxed face as she cleaned his cuts with a flannel cloth, the white material already died a delicate pink from his blood.

 

“LeFave went harder on you than I expected, he doesn’t usually get that mad.  Not even with me, and believe me he’s gone postal on me before, I’ve discovered the average sound my body makes hitting the walls of his office, needless to say I’m thankful my co-workers never saw me.  They would have thought I had an abusive boyfriend or something don’t you think,” she asked quietly.

 

“I’m not usually this talkative, I don’t know why I’m even saying this.  Oh well, I get to use my voice, and talk to someone other that LeFave, though this is a rather one-sided conversation, and if you were awake right now, you would think my completely insane.  I know I would,” she chuckled, the mask of the heartless spy dropped.

 

“I’m sorry for getting you beaten up this way, if I hadn’t opened my big mouth, then he wouldn’t have been so harsh on you.  I just wanted to see someone else feel his wrath for once, my ribs needed a break…”

 

“You talk a lot,” came a hoarse voice and Ariane jumped, her eyes wide with surprise.

 

“Give me a heart attack why don’t you?”

 

“Where am I?”

 

“In my apartment, he told me to take care of you, I don’t think this is what he had in mind, but I wasn’t going to leave you for dead.  The blood of too many innocents already stains my hands,” Ariane said softly, avoiding Wufei’s gaze.

 

“I’m not an innocent,” Wufei almost whispered his eyes trained on the young woman’s profile.

 

“Yes you are, you’ve already sacrificed so much for peace Mr. Chang, to survive the war and to die by the hands of a nameless spy isn’t a worthy death for you.”

 

“I was a traitor.”

 

“We’ve all been traitors at one point in time, it depends on the severity of our crimes as to whether we are forgiven or not.  Plus you have to atone for your crimes, whatever betrayals you committed have been atoned for in the eyes of the populace and in my own,” she said, her voice soft yet serious.  “You just have to realize it, that’s all Wufei.”

 

“And what about you?”

 

“I am a repeat offender, I don’t know who I am, or where I cam from, all I know is the identity which LeFave gave me, I am Ariane Rougier, for now.  And my crimes are despicable, I can only guess how I received this scar and lost all knowledge of my life.”

 

“You don’t seek atonement,” Wufei questioned, as he eyed his surroundings, it appeared as if this young woman had cared for his wounds.  She looked so familiar, the soft voice, the sad eyes, the memory was just barely out of reach.

 

“I have no right to do such a thing.”

 

“So then you are a weak and honor less woman.”

 

“I am not weak, and I do have some shred of honor, if I didn’t you would be lying in a ditch somewhere,” Ariane growled as a sense of déjà vu washed over her, those words seemed so familiar, as if she had said them once before.  “I would advise you to stay still, LeFave had a field day with you.”

 

“I am a warrior,” Wufei said through gritted teeth as he struggled to his feet, tottering unsteadily as the pain threatened to overwhelm him.  The last thing he saw as he fell to the floor was Ariane’s face, but it wasn’t Ariane, it was Midii Une, the woman who had defeated him.

 

“Who’s Midii,” Ariane asked softly, as visions of a green-eyed child in a snow-covered meadow drifted through her mind.  Absently she fingered the cross, which hung, around her neck, the perfect circle cut from the middle easing her mind. 

 

“Wufei? Who is Midii?”

 

“You are,” was the off hand reply as Wufei’s world went completely dark.

 

-To Be Continued…