Words like this: ~ hello!~ Are words spoken in another language.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR: A Meeting

"You're his what?" Zechs asked blankly.

Heero just stared.

"His Birth-Guardian," General Athar repeated himself, pacing nervously. "It's an Exotic tradition; the parents ask someone they trust to care for their child if anything ever happens to them." He stopped to look at their blank faces and smiled ruefully. "It's a great honor, and I failed miserably."

"You knew Wufei's parents?" Heero asked suddenly.

"Yes."

"What happened to his mother?"

The General paused in his restless pacing and gazed at him. "I don't know. She's dead - I don't know exactly how. They were - they lived in Gallia Township, on the North Border."

"Not in Helia?" Zechs voice was surprised.

"No, not in Helia. I know most Exotics seem to live there, but Xiong... Wufei's father... he wanted to have his Clan in the country. He didn't think cities were healthy." The General smiled briefly. "Very stubborn man, he was. Went up against their entire group of Elders when they tried to make him stay where he was." He paused again, gazing at Heero. "How stubborn is Wufei?"

Heero frowned. "It's very hard to make him eat. Or talk to us."

"He wouldn't have had much of a chance to be openly stubborn," Zechs pointed out, "not with the life he had after his father died."

"That's true," the General said, frowning. "I suppose I'm just trying to see the friend I lost, instead of the child I've found. Of course he'll have his own personality." He shook his head slightly, reminding himself to get back to the subject at hand. "Anyway, what I called you here for - I need you to know that while I have a responsibility to the boy, and I fully intend to live up to that responsibility, I have no intention at all of coming between him and either of you."

Heero and Zechs exchanged a long look, then Zechs nodded.

Heero reserved his opinion until later. He didn't know the General well enough to just trust him with one of his Others.

"What exactly do your responsibilities entail?" Zechs inquired, trying to get more information in hopes of seeing some of the tension leave Heero's shoulders.

"If I had been there to take him after his father's death? Food, clothing, shelter. Love, if the parents chose a good Guardian. I should have been like another father to him. Instead, I thought he was dead and never tried to find him. I looked for Xiong Ru, but..."

"Then you did try to find him."

Athar looked at Heero, frowning. "What does that mean?"

"If you had found his father, you would have found Wufei. So in a way, you were looking for him."

"You just didn't know it," Zechs clarified.

The General stared at them for another long moment.

Then he smiled.

*

"So, when do you think we'll find out what's going on?" Duo groused, thumping down to sit beside Quatre.

The General had ordered a short rest while he spoke to Zechs and Heero, and most of the army had dismounted to stretch their legs.

"I'm sure it won't be too long," Quatre soothed.

"Hope you're right - I hate waiting. Hee-chan saying anything to you?"

"No."

"Trowa? 'Fei? He talkin' to either of you?"

Both of the quieter boys shook their heads, and Duo snickered.

"You guys did that in sync. Already actin' like an old married couple!"

Trowa's lips turned up in a small smile. Wufei flushed and found something on the other side of the temporary camp to become fascinated with. Duo snickered again, and Quatre laughed. Trowa just shifted a little closer to his new koi, and smiled again when Wufei didn't move away. Definite progress - maybe in a year or so, he'd actually be able to put his arm around him without Wufei running away screaming.

Trowa smiled yet again. It was good to have a dream.

"Tro - you're scaring me with all the smiles," Duo said, ducking behind Quatre and peering out with wide violet eyes.

"Trowa!" Quatre said reproachfully, "don't scare the children!"

"Oh, no..." Trowa easily recognized the signs of another of their 'silly' moments. He loved his Others dearly, but sometimes their antics made him want to cringe.

"Daaaadddyy..." Duo warbled in a sweet voice, "save me from the scary smiley man!"

Trowa winced.

Then Wufei edged closer to him, gazing at Quatre and Duo with wide eyes. His hand reached out and wrapped around Trowa's belt, and all was right with Trowa's world.

"Are they always like this?" The Fire Talent whispered.

"Yes," Trowa whispered back, "but sometimes, it's worth it."

*

The man shifted impatiently.

Why had they stopped? The carriage was hot and stuffy; when they were still, no refreshing breeze came through the open windows.

Completely unacceptable.

He opened the door, wincing at the hot, dusty air, and called out for a servant. As soon as the man appeared, he blasted him.

"Why have we stopped? What's going on? I demand answers! This is unthinkable!"

"The General has called a halt..."

"Why?! I am most uncomfortable! There is no excuse for this!"

The harried servant started to open his mouth, to attempt to placate the man, but was interrupted.

"It's not like you was invited along," a passing soldier drawled, "you asked."

The Lord in the fancy carriage turned angry eyes on him. "I beg your pardon?!"

The man had been walking away; he stopped and turned. "Said you asked to come along, so you got no right to be complainin' when our General orders somethin', do ya?"

"Do you have any idea who you are speaking to?" The Lord demanded, his complexion taking on an ugly purple shade.

The soldier nearly grinned. "Don' know, don' care. Army, you know? Fancy titles don' mean much here." He turned on his heel and sauntered away, leaving the fuming man behind.

"Find out that man's name," the Lord ordered his gaping servant. "I'll be registering a complaint about him."

"Yes, sir," the man replied quickly.

"And see if you can find some shade to move the carriage into. I have papers to go over and this heat is making my head spin."

"Yes, sir."

The Lord watched as his servant hurried away. "Incompetent. I would bet even money that he comes back complaining there is no shade to be had." He turned to the opposite seat of the carriage, lifting the cushion to reveal a small, hidden panel. Opening it, he took out a heavy sheaf of papers. The first was a list the names of Royalty and Nobility - specifically, a list of younger Talents who had noble blood.

There was a mark next to the name Lord Hallet Keyton.

*

'Duo.'

The word echoed in the Water Talent's head and he abruptly stopped teasing Trowa. 'Yeah?'

'Bring everyone to the General's tent.'

'Gotcha. What's going on? Something bad?'

'No.' Heero abruptly opened the link to the rest of his Others, allowing his words to spill into everyone's mind; allowing them to hear each other's thoughts, as well. It was the first time he'd done this with all five of them, and although it would be easier than normal speech once they had their Full Joining, right now it took him a moment of intense concentration. He wouldn't be able to keep it up for long.

'The General has just been explaining a few things. It's not bad news.'

'Can you tell us?' Quatre asked, quickly getting over the surprise at feeling that link open. He noticed Wufei's shock, and the gentle reassurance Trowa immediately gave him. He shared a quick grin with his own koi.

'I would, but the General requested to do so, himself.'

'Is something wrong?' Trowa echoed Duo's earlier question.

'No. It's a surprise, but it's nothing bad. I hope.'

'Oh, way to reassure us, Hee-chan,' was Duo's sarcastic response, 'what do ya mean, 'I hope?'

'I'll just tell you this much,' Heero 'said' softly, 'it's about Wufei. About his father.'

'What about him?' Wufei spoke for the first time.

'Nothing bad,' Heero repeated.

Wufei was frowning. 'Did he know my father?'

'...yes.'

'Oh. All right.'

The others were surprised at Wufei's sudden calmness.

'Wufei?' Quatre questioned gently.

'My father was a good man - an honorable man,' the Fire Talent replied softly. 'If this General knew him, then he should also know that.'

'Ah... gotcha.' Duo grinned.

They felt Heero release the link; their thoughts were their own once more. They didn't talk; they just continued on until the General's rather small Conference Tent - always set up as soon as the Army paused - was in front of them.

Duo took a deep breath. It wasn't a small thing to be called before the General - they'd met the man only once, when Zechs had formally introduced them at a long-ago meeting. They hadn't even had Quatre, it was so long ago. "C'mon," he gently urged his Others, and they all filed inside.

Heero was immediately standing with them, and they could all see the tense set of his shoulders. Despite the reassurance of his earlier words, they knew he was prepared for something to go badly.

They immediately went on full alert.

And it was no accident that Wufei was suddenly in the exact center of a casual ring of Others.

The General had eyes for no one but the small, dark boy in the neat Fire uniform. He took a step closer, his eyes searching. "Chang Wufei?" He asked, and they all noticed the hope in his voice. He knew this was the right child - but he had to ask.

Wufei's dark eyes widened. It had been a long time - a very, very long time - since he had heard another voice speaking his family name. He nodded solemnly, waiting to see what the man would do next.

General Athar took a deep breath. "~Dragon of the Chang Clan~," he said, in the formal speech of the Exotics, "~I am honored to call myself your Birth Guardian.~"

Heero's link to Wufei allowed him to instantly translate the words, and he quickly shared their meaning with Duo, Trowa and Quatre. He - and the others - expected different things from Wufei. Shock, confusion, anger...

...but not what they got.

Wufei stared solemnly for a moment, then stepped forward. He bowed gracefully, and in a confident tone completely unlike his usual hesitant speech, he replied, "~Honorable Athar, friend of my father. I am pleased to finally meet you.~"