Sorry for crossposting. I posted a smaller part on other MLs, so
it's quite the same. Warnings: no lemon or lime, odd family fic.
And yes, someone I knew actually did complain about what Wufei
complained about.

I'm glad a couple more people joined up.

The Ice Cream War

As Mulan scooped out the last of the ice cream for everyone, Wufei
grumbled, "You scooped out too much, just like you always do!
Look,
in 7 days, you emptied out the half-gallon container! It should last
longer than that."
"Fine, I won't scoop anymore and I won't eat ice cream
anymore,
either. Here, Fei." Mulan pushed her dish to Fei, then stormed
out.
"Yum, yum," said Fei as he tried to stick his spoon into the
dish.
Sally took the dish away from Fei. "Mulan, come back here!"
"Let her go without. Let's eat."
"Mom, I want the ice cream."
Sally looked at the dish, then said, "All right, just lost my
appetite for ice cream, anyway."
Fei happily ate the extra.
***
"Mulan . . ."
"What, Fei?"she said as she lay on her bed, staring up at the
ceiling.
"Dad thinks you're crazy."
"I think he's crazy. Yelling at me for scooping out too much
ice
cream. He can have it all as far as I care."
Fei looked puzzled. "But it's ice cream."
"It's the principle of the thing. He shouldn't yell at me
for such
small stuff. I'm never going to eat ice cream with him again."
"Ever?"
"Ever."
Fei shook his head at his sister's stubbornness.
***
Sally chewed the nub of her pen. Why did those two have to be so
stubborn? she thought. No doubt about it, Mulan is the spitting
image of Wufei. She rubbed her temples. Why did they have to pick
such a silly thing to fight about? Emptying out a regular half-
gallon of ice cream in a week between four people (albeit two of them
small) isn't so bad. She thought about the insane ice cream eating
in her Academy dormitory where women would make pints of vanilla,
mango and chocolate mint chip disappear and shivered.
Mulan walked up to her. "Mom?"
"Yes, Mulan."
"Why did you marry him?"
Sally blinked. "Why?"
"Couldn't you find anybody better? I know there was a war going on,
so there was less men than women, but couldn't you have looked
harder?"
"Uh, huh and what is your idea of the person I should have married?"
"How about Trowa or Duo?"
Sally felt a giggle grab her by the throat, and she had to dig her
nails into her palms to keep from laughing. "And how did you come up
with those two?"
"Well, Trowa wouldn't yell at me and Duo seems really fun."
It sobered her up . . . a little. "I married your dad because
despite all his grumpiness about silly things, he's not so bad."
Mulan did not look convinced. Her face radiated skepticism.
Sally got off her chair and crouched down next to her. "Hey, you
know how a dog goes bow-wow, a cat goes meouw-meouw and a bird goes
tweet-tweet."
"Yeah."
"Well, everyone and everything in the world has a way of
communicating. Your dad's grousing is his way of doing it."
Mulan continues to look skeptical.
"I'll talk to your dad, OK?"
". . ." says Mulan.

to be continued

From: Joyce Wakabayashi  <mobiusklein@prodigy.net>
Date: Thu Sep 7, 2000 10:08pm
Subject: (fic) Conclusion of the Ice Cream War
 

Sorry for crossposting. Warnings: gets a bit serious. No lemon or
lime though.

"She's still not eating ice cream with the rest of us," said Wufei,
watching as Mulan walked out before ice cream to watch TV in the next
room.
"This bothers you?"
"Yes, it bothers me!"
"Why, does it bother you?"
"Because her place is with us at the dinner table."
"Wufei, let's discuss this while we're washing dishes."
After putting Fei in the living room with Mulan, Sally and Wufei shut
the door and began washing the dishes together.
As Sally put the dishes into the rack to be wiped, Wufei said, "Why?"
"Why, what?"
"Why is it that I always end up the bad guy? I hate it so much. I'm
always the one who has to lay down the law and say no. When Mulan or
Fei gets the scrape or cut, it's always you they turn to. I could be
right next to them, but they'll search for you."
Sally thought about it for a second, then said, "I guess kids always
look for their mom when they get a boo-boo. Besides, they know I'm a
doctor. But it could also be that . . ."
"That . . ."
"Wufei, maybe they're afraid of you."
"What!" said Wufei utterly aghast. "There's nothing to be afraid of!"
"I mean that they're afraid that you're going to scold them about how
they got the boo-boo."
"I wouldn't do that."
"Really? Wufei, why do you think that when the children need a hug,
they run to me? It's because they know that I'll give it to them.
Discipline's good but . . . Tell me, Wufei, when was the last
time
that you said something nice to Mulan?"
Wufei frowned and thought. "Nice . . . nice. Uh . . ." The fact he
couldn't come up with something surprised him.
"If you can't come up with something immediately, it can't have been
very recent."
"I'm just trying to get them to do their best. If you praise them too
much, it'll make them complacent and think that coasting is enough.
If you make them work for it, then it makes them work that much
harder."
"But, Wufei, if they don't hear it then they figure that no matter
how hard they try, they'll never hear it. That's when they utterly
give up. Mulan's too stubborn to give up and she has her own drive.
I'm glad for her. But I think it's your praise she wants the most."
Wufei was quiet for a while, then a tear trickled down his cheek. He
blinked.
Sally looked surprised. "Wufei, you're . . . you're crying."
Wufei wiped it away. "It's just that this reminds me of my own
father. When I was a child, it was the same way between me and my
father. I remember as a child that I tried to the best at everything
I did: school, hand to hand combat, sword fighting. But he'd
always
tell me that I wasn't good enough to lead the family. I tried
with
all my heart, but I still wasn't good enough. I ran away from
him.
I stayed in the library so I wouldn't have to be near him. I was
so
tired of being criticized that I shut everyone out by hiding in my
books. It was only later that I found out that I couldn't hide
from
my problems. I never thought that I'd end up being just like him. I
used to hate him so much."
"Wufei, why didn't you ever tell me?"
"Because I knew I'd cry if I did and I hate crying in front of
people. I always wanted to be strong. I . . . I . . ."
Sally wrapped her arms around him as he began to cry.
"Mulan, what's going on in the kitchen."
"I don't know, Fei. But I don't think we should barge
in."
***
"Mulan . . ."
"I'm not hungry," said Mulan, staring at the TV.
"It's not ice cream, today."
"What is it?"
"Cheesecake."
"Cheesecake?"
"Lemon cheesecake."
She turned to see her father with a dish in his hand with a bigger
than usual sliver of cheesecake.
"I cut you the biggest slice."
She stared at him warily as if wondering what he had in mind, then
she said, "Well, since it's not ice cream . . ."

The End