The Greatest of These

All previous disclaimers apply.


It was quiet. For the first time in what had to have been days, Wu Fei awoke completely aware. He took a moment before opening his eyes, knowing that the light he could feel shining through his lids would probably be painful. His head hurt enough as it was. It felt like it took him forever just to move his hand to his own forehead. He was cool, normal, not sweating. The fever had broken. That was a good thing. But, he felt so weak, and couldn’t help it when the cough tore apart his chest. It didn’t feel as deep any longer, but it hurt more. That was good, too. The illness that had settled in his chest was finally breaking up. How had he allowed himself to get so ill? He wondered idly as he tried to work up the energy to open his eyes. He had always taken such good care of his body.

But, when Sally had . . . No. He didn’t want to think about Sally. She was dead. Death was the end of all things, there was no purpose in thinking about her now. But, it hurt. The fact that she was gone did not change how much it hurt that she was gone. She had been the best friend he had ever had. And so, when he found her laying on the bathroom floor of the small apartment they shared out of convenience he had done the only thing he been able to do.

“Wu Fei?” Wu Fei opened his eyes as Duo’s voice permeated his thoughts, “Good to see you’re awake. How are you feeling?”

“Weak,” he answered, closing his eyes when it hurt his throat so to speak.

“To be expected. You’ve been sleeping almost constantly for almost three weeks. Your fever finally broke late last night. But, I’m sure you realized that. Relena was here a couple of days ago. Do you remember that?”

“Yes.” Wu Fei smiled at the memory of the woman he had once thought weak now one of the women he admired most, taking care of him, “She brushed my hair.”

“So she said. She left us a recipe for chicken soup and I made some this morning. It’s not bad. I’m sure hers would have been much better, but it tastes okay, all in all. Think you could keep it down?”

“I think so,” he answered.

“Good. Be right back.”

“Maxwell,” Wu Fei called out as Duo was at the door, “We weren’t in love, you know.”

“Who?” Duo asked, confused.

“Sally and I. We weren’t in love. I just thought. With you taking such good care of Sheira . . . you ought to know the circumstances behind her birth.” The reason sounded hollow, even to himself, but somehow Wu Fei could not admit at all the real reason he needed Duo to know the circumstances behind Sheira’s birth.

“Okay, Wu Fei,” Duo sat back down in the chair, “So tell me about Sheira’s birth.”

Wu Fei closed his eyes for a moment, lost himself in the memories, and began.

“Sally?” She had been in the bathroom for hours, since they had gotten home from their latest mission. He had heard the shower start, waited for her shower to end so that he could grab one himself. She was usually so considerate when they got back from a mission. Something had to be wrong.

They had decided to get an apartment together six months into their partnership. It just seemed so much more convenient. Neither of them had to pay as much, they enjoyed each other’s company, and they always knew where the other was when an emergency call came through. They had been living together for nearly eight years and everyone assumed that they must be romantically involved. They weren’t. They never had been, aside from a few desperate encounters when neither of them had anywhere else to turn. Those were mutually beneficial times in which they would take physical satisfaction from each other and it would mean nothing in the morning. It never had and the times it had happened they could count on less than five fingers. Only their closest friends knew that neither was in love, but that they just got along so well and splitting the rent was so easy, that they had never really considered moving away from each other. They assumed it would change when one of them fell in love, but neither had been planning such a thing anyway. Wu Fei, he had never found any one other than one he knew he could never have to tempt his heart, and Sally, when her lover had died at the tender age of sixteen, she had sworn that she would never love again. She never had.

“Sally?” he called again as he pushed open the door. She was curled into a ball around herself, completely nude on the bathroom floor, her hair damp and loose. As he entered the room, she looked up at him and he could see the desperation in her eyes, the grief he couldn’t place. He had gotten to his knees and pulled her into a tight embrace. He didn’t have to know why she was hurting to know that she needed comforting. She hugged him to her desperately and the whole of the story came out in spurts and cries, some of it he didn’t understand, but her message was clear. She had loved him so much. She wanted him back, needed him. how could it hurt so much still after all of these years? But, more than missing him . . . she wanted a baby. She had always known that she would be a mother, that she would carry her child in her womb, but now it was so expensive to go to an artificial insemination clinic and she wanted the baby to have a father. But, she could never love like that twice in a lifetime. But, she wanted a baby so badly.

“Mei-Mei,” he whispered in her ear as she calmed slightly after her outburst. Since they had started living together he had always used the term of affection for her, despite the fact that she was five years older than himself, “Mei-Mei,” he had kissed away the tears on her cheeks, pressed a chaste kiss to her lips, “I’ll do it. I’ll have a baby with you, Mei-Mei. I’ll raise a baby with you.” To this day he could not figure out why he had offered, but as soon as he had, he could not bring himself to take it back. Instead, he had carried her to her bedroom, laid on the bed with her, and made love to her until she was too tired to move.

They had shared a bed every night for nearly four months before she had conceived and after she had things had gone back to normal. She had her bedroom, he had his. They laughed together like the old friends that they were and there was no discomfort between them. They were best friends and they were going to have a baby together and raise a baby together. As long as they understood it they didn’t care what anyone else thought of it or them. He had surprised Sally and himself with how much he had anticipated the baby’s birth, taking delight in decorating their guest room with her, reading up on every stage of the growth of their child in her womb. He had come to classes with her, had even come to sappy movies when she was in the mood for one. And they had laughed and stayed up talking for hours the first time they were both able to feel the child move in her. She had told him just after Sheira was born that the look on his face as she slipped into the world, his hair, her eyes, ten fingers and ten perfect toes, would be something she would remember for the rest of her life.

Nothing changed in their relationship after Sheira was born. They were still the best of friends, their child was just another thing they had in common. There was no animosity, no tension. They got along better than most married couples. Trowa, Quatre, Heero, and Relena were all so happy for them. Wu Fei had asked that no one tell Duo. He would tell him, but he never seemed to get around to making the call. Not even he understood his reluctance to tell his good American friend about the baby.

Then, everything had changed. Sheira had been five months old when Sally had gone on her first mission with the Preventers after her maternity leave. Wu Fei had stayed with Sheira because she had a little bit of a cold and neither parent wanted her to have to stay with a sitter for two days. Then, Wu Fei had gotten the call. There had been complications with the mission. Sally had still been in the building when it had exploded. In one single instant, and a sentence from a dispassionate voice, Wu Fei’s whole world had changed. He’s lost his partner and his best friend. The mother of his child, and his sister, all in the same woman. Gone in less than a second.

He didn’t know what had possessed him then, but he hadn’t been able to stay any longer in the apartment they shared. He packed up everything Sheira would need and left for Earth. When they had arrived, he had stayed in motels that barely passed for civilized while he tried to figure out what to do. It hadn’t even been a conscious choice, when he was barely able to hold Sheira anymore, but he had somehow ended up on Duo’s doorstep.

“And I’m glad for that now, Maxwell. I need to . . . I need to thank you. We’ve disrupted your life and I’ve put you in a position that wasn’t fair. I shouldn’t have asked it of you.”

“Hey, stop that,” Duo smiled, “Sheira’s a joy. And if you can’t turn to your friends, who can you turn to, huh? I’m going to go get you some soup.”

“Duo,” Wu Fei leaned and touched a hand to Duo’s shoulder when he was about to stand. He had promised himself that he would never again, but he needed something purely for him at that moment. He pulled the front of Duo’s shirt until the American’s lips were just an inch from his, “Thank you.” And the sweet, chaste kiss was everything they had both hoped and imagined it would be.