Gods.
She was alive.
Wufei sat on his bed, attempting to meditate, to center himself. Beside him, one arm curled around her chest, attempting to ward off attackers, even in her sleep. Still beautiful. Still untrusting.
The clock ticked slowly, counterpoint to the sounds of his breath, rushing in and out of his mouth. "I had thought you were dead," he whispered softly, reaching out with one hand to brush the hand of his wife's cheek. "Now I find that you are alive, and everything changes."
"You always said I was weak for not fighting. But I was fighting in my own way; you just couldn't see it, then." He had to go *now*, before he did something he would regret for the rest of his life. An emotional wave was cresting inside of him, crashing down upon the torn remnants of the person he thought he was. What was left was barren, smooth, untouched.
"I'm sorry for not respecting you, though. I'm sorry for a lot of things--but men do not apologize in our society. We never have, we never will. The old ways of China are not for you, Meiran." One tanned hand reached out to brush over her red lips, over the slanted curves of her eyes.
"You told me a long time ago to find peace."
An image of the bluest waters of the Mediterranean stretched out in his mind's eye, taking a panoramic view of the shore. Perhaps he should take time out to see that before he left. There had not been much room for beauty in their lives, and what they could manage to snatch was forbidden.
It was decided, then. He'd leave in the morning, departing for L-4 where Quatre had implored him to come visit him, and he'd leave her here, with the man who had saved her. Zechs, who truly deserved her. But for now, he would just lie down beside her, not touching but feeling her breath on his skin, stealing away that last night they should have had, which might have changed everything.
Wufei reached out with one slender arm and turned the light off.
End Epilogue Two
Ariana
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