A Lapse in Reason: The Sequel to Soul for a Dragon

By: Liewe

Standard disclaimers apply…

 

It had been three months since the attack, and Wufei's declaration of love.  Things had changed so drastically since then.  Wufei refused to look at her, avoiding her every step of the way.  Dodging her.  She couldn't take this anymore, she wanted to be with him but he kept pushing her away.  It had been so right when she woke in his arms the morning after the attack.  She had been so content and peaceful, her life perfect in every way.  She winced slightly as she leaned back against the pillar of her balcony.  Her wounds were healing but they still hurt.  The wind rustled her hair as she looked out over the horizon, taking in the sight of the twinkling stars and the velvet sky.

 

Heero exhaled as he watched the pained expression cross over Relena's expression once more.  It had been like this way too long.  He grimaced at the thought of Wufei's cowardice.  It was too easy getting them together; he should have known things would change.  He cared for Relena like a sister; he loved her in a way.   His heart contracted when he saw the silent tears course down her porcelain cheeks.  She had lost weight, and her eyes had lost their spark.  He smiled a soft sad smile as he saw her wistfully gaze in the direction Wufei had taken so long ago, the day that the Chinese coward left her.  The sudden feelings of two arms encircling his waist brought him back to the present. 

 

"Heero, love, there's nothing you can do.  Heartbreak takes time to heal," she whispered in his ear.  Her warm breath causing his untamable hair to dance slightly in the breeze she had created.

 

"There is, I can go the Chinese baka and make him realize that he loves her," Heero said vehemently while turning around in the embrace.  His lips seeking out the ones of the woman who had held his heart for so long.

 

"No, Heero, this must be worked out by them, and them alone.  There is nothing we can do, to go to him now would only ruin things."

 

"How do you know that," Heero said softly gazing into her violet eyes.

 

"Call it woman’s intuition.  Wufei will either realize that she is the one for him in time or someone else will take the prize from under his nose," she said before extricating herself from his embrace and vanishing into the shadows.

 

Heero stood there staring after the enigmatic figure of the woman who had held his heart since the first day he saw her.  The day when he had groggily succumbed to the pleas of the world around him and resurfaced in the land of the living; to find himself laying in Trowa’s trailer, a beautiful young woman offering him soup.  The way her hair had fallen softly around her face, the deep red color accentuating her violet eyes, the questions and fears, which had lurked in their brilliant depths, had claimed his heart almost immediately.  Slowly as if coming out of a daze he moved to follow his beloved sparing one glance back at the girl whom he had grown to consider his little sister, a dear friend who held the world in the palm of her hand.

 

 

Relena continued to gaze toward the stars her heart in her throat as the weight of the world settled on her shoulders once more, something that could not be ignored by those around her.  She smiled wryly at the thought of the world looking to a mere slip of a girl a weakling to save them from the horrors of world, to bring peace to the ravaged land.  The stars shone so brightly in the vast expanse of space, each one symbolizing another soul, another wish.  She had always believed that once you succumbed to the land of the dead your soul would rise to the heavens to be reborn as a star.  To be left to forever watch over those you cared about, your family and friends.  She could see her fathers standing there side by side watching over her and the thought warmed her heart, momentarily replacing the helpless feeling which had filled her since Wufei had left without a word.  She didn’t see the shadow, which watched her through hungry eyes; she only saw those onyx eyes gazing at her with warmth and compassion.

 

He watched her sit there with no regard for her safety, her leg curled under her as she gazed at the stars, what could she possibly find so interesting about them.  The way the wind toyed with her hair brushing the loss strands across her face begged for him to tuck it gently behind her ear.  He sighed softly before slinking back to the shadows from whence he came, he had to see her but to face her was impossible.  He had left without a word, running from his feelings, acting the role of the coward he was.   He had promised not to hurt her and he had, he had hurt her deeply, and for that he was ashamed.  His onyx hair pooled over his shoulder as he vanished into the night to return to the hole he had dug for himself.  He had thrown away his chance for happiness, his chance for redemption.  Her soft smile haunted him; her oceanic eyes plagued him, her voice, her scent.  She was constantly in his mind, firmly entrenched in his memory, in his heart.

 

“Good-bye Relena, my love,” he whispered to the night, hoping to remain in her memory and in her heart, but knowing that he could never hold a candle to the man she deserved.  She deserved someone who wasn’t plagued by the demons of his past, someone who could always be there for her, to care for her.  She deserved someone who wasn’t constantly running off to laugh in the face of danger, to taunt death.  She deserved a Prince, and he Chang Wufei was not a Prince.  He was the last of the Dragon clan, an exiled clan with proud honor and nothing more.  No relatives, no land, no power, no security.  All the things she deserved. 

 

“You know, you should at least tell her what you think,” Catherine whispered to the brooding man. 

 

“I can’t.”

 

“You can’t, or you wont, now I told Heero not to get involved in this, but he wont stay out of it forever.  Wufei, you love her and she loves you, what’s the problem.”

 

“I don’t deserve, I can’t give her everything she deserves, but you wouldn’t understand.”

 

“You’re right I don’t understand, if there’s one thing that I learnt from Heero is that you should act on your emotions… Wufei go to her…” She said before disappearing again.

 

“I can’t go to her, I’d never be able to leave,” he said to the night before he too disappeared.

 

Two weeks later Relena sat in the same position, her eyes glazed over from tears as she turned to face the approaching footsteps.  The footfalls were so familiar, they were Heero’s she was sure.  She sighed before turning quickly to glance in the direction from where he was most probably approaching.  In a moment of insanity, she chose to flee, over the past two weeks, Heero had become more and more overprotective, similar to the way he had been after the war.  Her bare feet, padded down the stone path, the slight breeze rustling the leaves in the garden around her.  She stopped when she came to the fountain, her eyes misting once more when she saw the man she had been searching for, Wufei.  His form was silhouetted by the moon, his hair loose and floating around his shoulders.  A twig snapped under her weight as she moved closer, the sound alerting Wufei to her presence.  He didn’t turn around to face her, just motioned for her to join him.

 

“We need to talk,” he whispered to her.

 

“Yes we do,” she replied while moving to stand next to him, her heart in her throat.  “Wufei, where did you go, why did you go?” She asked softly her eyes turned towards the moon as silent tears fell from her eyes.

 

“I… Relena… what I said was a mistake, a lapse in reason,” he said, while silently cursing himself and his lack of tact.

 

“So all that you said was a lie,” her voice came out sounding shaky as she uttered the words, which would end up confirming her worst fears.

 

“Yes woman, all I said was a lie, I’ve never felt anything other than contempt for you,” he said his posture stiff as he silently pleaded for forgiveness.

 

“Is that all you can say for yourself, Chang Wufei, you have no honor then,” she whispered as her voice caught on his name, a soft heart wrenching sob escaping her lips. “I thought better of you, that you had some shred of dignity, a tiny smidgen of real honor but you don’t.  You’re just like the rest of them, a liar.  You’re a LIAR,” she screamed before turning on her heel to run from him, the shadow lost to her tear filled eyes.

 

She did not see the shadow struggle against another as her sobs became louder and more defined, in the end punctuated with a sharp cry of agony as she fell to the ground… 

 

Wufei’s head turned the moment the cry escaped her lips, the agony evident in the almost demonic screech.  His legs propelled him forward, his heart in his throat as he saw her sobbing uncontrollably on the ground her head hung in defeat as her honeyed hair hid her face from his view.  He watched in pain as her shoulders shook with her violent sobs, her small frame shaking violently.  His heart contracted when he saw the pain he had caused her.

 

“Heero, do not interfere,” Catherine hissed in his ear as she held onto him, only the fact that Heero did not wish to hurt her allowing her to keep him at bay as he snarled at the injustice Wufei had committed.

 

“I just want to break his legs,” Heero growled out as Catherine continued to hold onto him, her arms and legs straining to hold him in place.

 

“No you won’t,” she whispered in his ear, before moving to nibble on the lobe in an attempt to distract him, a plan, which worked.  Heero was no longer paying attention to the scene, which was playing out before them, he allowed Catherine to drag him away from the private moment.

 

Relena bit down on her lip in an effort to control her endless sobbing, her heart lay in ruins around her feet as she cried to the world about her sorrows.  She could feel the cool seep into her legs as the pain shot through her ankle, ignored for the moment, the pain in her heart taking precedence. 

 

“It hurts so much, why can’t I just let him go,” she murmured to herself, rocking her frame her arms protectively held around her body, trying to ward off the pain. “Why do I have to love him so much? Why? Why? WHY?” She cried her voice choked as the tears began anew, flowing freely down her face.

 

“Oh Relena,” Wufei whispered from his vantage point in the shadows, his resolve strengthened and his heart soared when she said she loved him.  Before his courage had a chance to desert him, he stepped forward to take her in his arms.  At first, she resisted his touch before burying her head in his chest, her tears soaking the silken material of his shirt.

 

“Why do you always have to push me away…”

 

“Relena… I’m not good for you, a soldier with the Princess of Peace is not plausible… It wouldn’t work,” he whispered into her hair, his face hidden from her searching eyes.

 

“Don’t! Just Don’t!” She sobbed, her face red and puffy a testament to the tears she had shed.

 

“Don’t what?” He asked a shaking finger reaching up to push a strand of wheat colored hair behind her ear, as his fathomless eyes searched hers for the answers that they held.

 

“Don’t tell me what’s best for me! Don’t tell me, what I should and shouldn’t do, who I should or shouldn’t be seen with! I don’t care about any of that, I want to be with you,” she sobbed into his chest, her hands balled up into fists against his chest.

 

“Relena… I only want the best for you… something which I can never be.”

 

“Don’t! How do you know what’s best for me, how do you know that! Are you saying that this pain in my heart whenever I think of you, will just go away, that it means nothing!”

 

“I never said anything of the sort.  Relena, I’m not good with my emotions, I can never be what you need…”

 

“Wufei, I love you, you know that, I love you for the man you are on the inside, I know there is a caring and considerate soul hidden deep down.  I know that the chauvinistic and egotistical bastard you portray day in and day out isn’t who you are.  I can help you work on your emotions, together we can break through your barriers.  Isn’t what we can have worth working on?”

 

“Relena… I can’t live without you,” he said, finally breaking down in the face of her tears and determination, his arms moving to pull her against him as he held onto her as if his life depended on it.

 

“See I told you they would work it out,” Catherine whispered to Heero as they watched Wufei and Relena stare into each other’s eyes.

 

“You and your women’s intuition,” her whispered in her ear as he continued to watch, a low growl escaping his lips when he saw Wufei move in to kiss Relena.

 

“Come on soldier, I think it’s time for us to go, eavesdropping isn’t polite,” she whispered gently tugging him back into the shadows of the garden.

 

Heero turned to glance one more time at the heart warming scene which was playing out before him… a soft smile spread across his lips as he turned to follow Catherine’s disappearing form.   Sounds of laughter reached his well-trained ears as he left the garden, his minx in his line of sight.

 

“Relena,” Wufei asked breathlessly as he gazed into her eyes, his hand moving to his pocket.

 

“Wufei,” she replied her eyes full of love for the man who held her in his arms.

 

“I love you,” he whispered as his fingers brushed against the velvet covering of a small square box.  Will she accept me, his mind queried, his heart leaping around frantically in his chest.

 

“And I love you.”

 

“I don’t deserve you,” he whispered as he leaned his forehead against hers, his eyes searching hers while his fingers clumsily extricated the box from his pocket.  He had never thought he would ever be able to promise her anything, but he had always entertained that one hope.  The ring had called to him one evening when he had been meandering through the mall with the other pilots.

 

“Don’t start,” she reprimanded softly her fingers moving to stroke his strong cheek, and her eyes remaining locked with his.

 

“Relena, one day I will ask you a question, that will change our lives forever, but for now, I want to promise my heart and soul to you. This ring it’s a promise ring,” he paused trying to think of the words as he opened the box, revealing it’s contents to her eager eyes.

 

“Wufei, it’s beautiful.”

 

“Relena, I promise to always be yours, and one day I hope we can finalize these vows,” he whispered, his eyes shining with suppressed emotion.

 

“Wufei, I will always be yours, I will never leave you,” she whispered her forehead against his as the cool metal caressed her finger.

 

“I love you,” he whispered as his lips captured hers and the sun rose on the dawn of a new day and the first chapter in the beginning of their lives together.

 

-The End…