Jade Dragons my Sally P.O.V fic

[Ashy]

<b>Disclaimer:</b> <i>The characters and concepts of Gundam Wing/ Endless Waltz are ? SOTSU AGENCY SUNRISE ANB. Not mine anyway. Any other characters involved in this story other than those copyrighted, I have either invented them or invented names for them.</i>

<b>A.N:</b> <i>This is a story told from the P.O.V of Sally Po, mainly reflective as opposed to action though obviously there will be some. It talks about her past, the years during the series of Gundam Wing and Endless Waltz, the relationships she has with the other characters, and of course, what happens since then in her home life.

Watch out because the fic switches tense in places, obviously because it?s being told by a character who is remembering the past events. So you have to read carefully to stay on track ^_^</i>

<b>Warnings:</b> <i>None Particularly</i>

<b>Pairings:</b> <i>5xS main obviously because it?s from Sally?s P.O.V, but it?s not all a romance fic. Also, other characters? relationships are touched upon too, for example 1xR, 6x9 etc etc (this is a non-yaoi fic)</i>


~*~*~*~



Jade Dragons

By Ashy


1.


<i>?Jade and men, both are sharpened by bitter tools.? ~ Chinese proverb</i>

~*~*~*~


I?m pouring coffee. Dark liquid with a wonderful smell once it hits your nostrils. It makes me feel calm just to catch a whiff of it. My husband argues coffee isn?t healthy when drank by the gallon. He always tells me that pure Chinese green tea is the best for relaxing and relieving toxins in the body. Traditional, he adds. Not that fake high street stuff.

But I don?t really like tea...I can?t imagine how I?d be if I was subjected to a Chinese tea ceremony. I?d spill. I?ve no daintiness about me, no poised elegance and I?m no painted doll. I was in the military most of my life. But I?ve got a good, strong heart. That counts.

I?m what could be classed as a civilian these days. No more army barracks, warships or space suits. Just a normal house on the L-2 Colony cluster, and a garden with an oriental theme. What I mean by that is a couple of pagoda lanterns on our patio and a few of other things from the Garden Center. The inside of the house is much this same; airy and spacious- absolutely no clutter. My husband won?t allow it. And with three children, I suppose that?s a lot to ask, and I myself am not renowned for being particularly tidy.

Over on the mantelpiece in the living room, just visible through the crack in the kitchen door, sits a row of dragon ornaments crafted in polished jade. It?s become quite a collection over the years- my husband used to collect them first. Ever since, he and I have kept adding to the supply. They?re quite a bunch; all different ages, some big ones, some small, one with our names engraved with Chinese characters that we got on the day of our engagement, one we were bought as a wedding present and three for our children?s births. Perhaps our children will keep the collection alive once we?re gone.

I?ve just come in from work right now, it?s the best time of the day. I?m in my first year of teaching at a local school. In this area of the colony, there?s a lot of Chinese citizens, and I teach them English from a young age. Nine and ten-year-olds mainly. It took me a few years of training since I left the Preventers organisation but I already knew some Chinese from when I used to live there, and these kids do know basic English.

My husband, Chang Wufei, still works as a Preventer, and he still gets a mission here and then- more economic and social stuff these days though, as opposed to political threats. Thank goodness.

Wufei claims he needs to have a purpose in life even now. Who doesn?t? Of course he has responsibilities as a husband and a father but he needs something extra, and I can understand that. Keeping the peace of the nation is what he feels he must do, or at least play his role.

Like he played his role in the war; he was a Gundam pilot once, my husband- with four others. It almost destroyed him, the mental and physical pressure of it all. Probably the same for them all. Wufei says he feels he is repaying his debts- all the lives he cut short during the war years. Enemy lives....more specifically Treize Kushrenada. Enemies, allies - it?s all life, though. And it plays on the conscience.

So, while we live on Colony L-2, Wufei remains in the Preventers, though he respected I had to give up my position to make some time for our children- twin boys, and a younger girl. To actually teach at a school in China would mean living there, and it would make Wufei?s job difficult as he?d have to be away from home a lot more than just a week out of every month as he does now. For the rest of the time, he goes into the offices on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. So China has always been out of the question, despite being in his blood, and my birthplace.

***

China as it is today is much different from how it was before the age of the colonies. Most areas are still relatively rural, yet an increasing number of citizens are Caucasian....don?t ask why, I never really figured that out. But I think it?s because I never broached the question; in my younger years, I simply accepted that as the norm. So having pale skin didn?t mean I was socially segregated from those who were more Chinese in appearance. There were quite a few children who looked similar to me.

Of course those of true Chinese descent were easily distinguishable, simply by the way they carried themselves. It?s not something you can exactly put a finger on, they were just.....different. Perhaps their families were stricter, teaching them to keep their true emotions buried inside, and to demonstrate serenity and dignity at all times.

Gracefulness wasn?t something one could exactly associate with myself, I was a terrible tomboy. My older brother Ryan and I got up to all sorts. We used to trample through the paddy fields carelessly instead of using the road, or deliberately run out in front of the passing rickshaws in the village.

Chasing the grazing cattle was our main pastime. There was a field behind our house. I suppose the animals were quite docile, but once Ryan introduced a stick to a young bullock were were soon set running. I still remember us now- I was eight and he was fourteen- dashing to the fence with the beast careering after us. We made it, of course, but not without a ?good hiding? from Mr Chieng who owned the animals.

My father just laughed when he heard about it and my mother re-braided my tangled hair whilst muttering something about how Ryan was old enough to find himself some work to pass his time instead of bumming around. We were always in trouble, Ryan and I, but we mere mischievous, not spiteful. Looking back, I think the reason we behaved this way was only because we were given the rein to do so.

My mother, Jennifer Po, was only part-Chinese herself, and despite being brought up with a Chinese father, her American mother managed to subtly dominate her husband in a way that meant her only daughter didn?t quite inherit the ?Chinese? nature. She often dressed like a Westerner, and she couldn?t pour tea perfectly...she drank coffee anyway. I guess that?s where I get it from.

I look much more like my father though; I?m built strong like him. I have his thick hair and blue eyes, though his were paler and if my memory doesn?t deceive me. His hair was paler too- rather like the Gundam pilot Quatre Winner?s. I loved my father. He was an American man, Danny St.Claire from Los Angeles. He had lived in Hong Kong for a few years before her met my mother. His job consisted of teaching English to Chinese students, the way I am doing at the present.

Nowadays, the majority speak English though those from traditional backgrounds don?t always get the chance to learn, and this inhibits them even today. Back then, my father felt it would be beneficial if he transferred to a school in mainland China where there would be a greater portion of pupils needing to learn. And that?s where he met my mother, I guess. She was a shop-girl.

***

Up until I was ten years old, my brother and I were known as Ryan and Sally St.Claire. And that same year, my world fell through. I was betrayed by the man I had always looked up to and I found he wasn?t like superman- flawless and admirable- after all.

My father had always been interested in the space colonies, and was often out there on visits. My mother never went. She wasn?t much of a traveller. My father took Ryan when he was sixteen, but Mother wouldn?t allow me to go, claiming I was too young.

On returning from this particular trip, Ryan whispered to me on our way to school that he had seen our father kissing another woman. I didn?t believe him, of course. I smacked his face and called him a liar. Daddy wouldn?t do that. He was perfect. His name was St.! Didn?t that mean anything?

Mother believed her son. It was only a matter of time before it came out, and the adulterer didn?t even bother to salvage his marriage by denying it. Our father had met a white woman on Colony L-5 who, looking back, probably had bigger breasts and a better figure than my mother. He asked for a divorce, and my mother consented. The two had never really meshed within their marriage anyway, they often seemed to rub each other up the wrong way.

It left me with a negative impression of marriage. My father left for space to be with this new woman, and my mother altered her name from St.Claire to her maiden name, Po. She did this for me, too but by that time, Ryan was eighteen and decided against it. He quit college and went to join the Earth Sphere Alliance, which at that time was called the World Federation.

It surprised me how little my mother moped over Father?s desertion. I cried often in my room because I felt like a vulnerable blossom petal at the mercy of the breeze. Like a little boat rocking alone in the storm.

No more Ryan to make a joke of everything, no more Dad teasing me, telling me I should marry a man called Harry, and giving me a pat on the head. No Western cooking once the protective women of the community got involved; as if a few donated egg rolls would save the day. No normality. I was distraught.

Things got worse when Mother, later that year, hooked up with Mr Wong, some idiotic business man with greasy hair. Mr Wong sounded so close to ?Mr Wrong? that I instantly believed this to be.

His face was unattractively flat like a pancake, and his smile was insincere. But he had money, that made him handsome to my mother I reckon. Chinese meals forever since meeting the ?Flat-face? as I called him ; Mother wanted to make a good impression. She even stopped smoking.

I suspected later she?d been seeing Mr Wong before the divorce came through. And it turned out she was also pregnant with a child- a girl- that once it was born, came from an obviously Chinese father. But I wasn?t there when it was born; I was on a World Federation training scheme. Mother sent me a photo. My half-sister was called Ling. Mother didn?t really seem to acknowledge the ?half? and thought I?d be delighted.

?You should marry a Chinese man when you?re older,? she had said to me when I was still living at home. She was trying in vain to drag a comb through my tresses.

?I won?t,? I answered obstinately, gritting my teeth. ?Never. Why should I do what anyone else says??

I had no-one to put my trust in then. Perhaps that?s when I started being a rebel. When I was twelve.

I just came out with it over dinner, right in front of Mr Wong; ?So are you two sleeping together then??

My dear mother almost choked on a spring roll. Her face blanched, then her eyes narrowed, ?Sally! How rude!?

Mr Wong just laughed and his forehead sparkled. ?Your mother and I were meaning to tell you when the time was right. We?re getting married.?

I shot a glance at my mother then smacked down my chopsticks. ?I?m getting a fork,? I announced.

"What's wrong with your chopsticks??

?Dad never made me-?

?I told you we don?t talk about that man in this family.?

?What family?? I said, scowling. ?You call this a family? You, me and your fancy man.?

My mother was enraged, and she reached across the table to strike me. Mr Wong looked repulsed, his plastic smile melting away rapidly like candle wax.

?You know you should teach your daughter to behave like a lady.?

?No,? I said, rising from the table. ?I don?t want to be a lady. I want to join the World Federation and be with Ryan. He?s my family. Not you.?

?He?s a boy,? my mother snapped.

?So??

?I don?t want my daughter shooting things and getting involved in a brewing war.?

My mother sounded so stupid and ignorant.

?She could train as a medic,? Mr Wong suggested hastily. Why did I get the distinct impression he wanted rid of me? ?She?s only twelve, she can go to the academy young, and she?ll be into the military at a younger age. In these times, they need all the force they can get.?

My mother looked dubious.

?And,? Mr Wong continued insincerely. ?Sally?s shown herself to be a very well-mannered and intelligent, practical girl. I?m sure she?d make a wonderful addition to the Federation forces.?

What did he know about the World Federation? Probably nothing at all, my young mind decided. I squinted at Mr Wong, knowing he was only saying these things to convince my mother, then I could be swiftly sent to military school and out of the picture. But that suited me. I didn?t want to be in the picture anymore.

After my application was accepted, I packed my bags and went. An old friend of my father?s, Isaac McCoy, offered to drive me to the shuttle bay. His nephew Shayne McCoy who was a good few years older than me, and a man named Jonathan Zheng came along too for the ride. They seemed a bit sad I was going. Of course I was a little apprehensive, but it?s not like I wanted the kind of life my mother had anyway. It seemed to me like it would be quite an adventure, a permanent holiday away from her and Flat-face. And I knew next to nothing about wars. Or justice. That was all to come.

***

I?m not going to get into great detail about my time with the Alliance. It wasn?t a very enjoyable experience for me. I never found my brother. I think he?d been posted elsewhere. I found his name on a list of people missing in action, long after the Eve Wars ended. It soon dawned on me a few years into the Alliance training that I had a compassionate heart that just somehow couldn?t agree with cold-blooded killing, as I saw it.

Since then, my best friend Lucrezia Noin has admitted to sharing the same feeling working in Oz. She only joined for the chance to see outer space. A lot of the soldiers with the Alliance were like the ones in Oz- just brutes. The guys more so but some of the girls were not much different. Once they had a uniform on and a gun in their hands, they thought they ruled the world.

I was glad to train as a medic, I suppose. Because at least amongst all the vicious and rigorous training, I felt as if I was helping to heal too. And I found it interesting. They didn?t teach me heart surgery, no. It was just how to stitch a wound, extract shell fragments, issue sedatives. Stuff like that. I vomited a few times looking at the injuries but after the rough treatment I received, I soon hardened up to it. Blood- we all have it.

One particular problem I found, was that a lot of the teenage male recruits were often willing to take advantage of their female colleagues. That made things difficult. I learned fast, became a shrewd judge of character and worked hard to avoid them. And when I did get into difficulties, I soon learned how to fight for myself. I became quite tough. Femininity went right out of the window.

I found myself, towards my later teens, taking more and more interest in world events. I read the newspaper and watched more TV, trying to form my own opinions on politics. I realised war wasn?t as black and white as my childhood had taught me. There were so many issues surrounding it....sometimes defence was necessary, no justice was served without a fight.

You had to fight for rights, for freedom. Like I?d had to fight for mine. The idea of justice became very important to me- but it was a personal thing. Because what?s right and wrong is only ever your own opinion. And in war, there?s so many opinions not everyone can be right, and not all can be wrong. My head ached a lot during my time in the Alliance, I suppose.

By the time I quit at age nineteen, I?d been promoted to the rank of Major. It?s wasn?t like how it used to be in the traditional military. You got promoted for anything in the Alliance, and no doubt Oz. It was easy. They used recruit people younger and younger. Sillier and sillier. Just blood-thirsty kids.

Nowadays there's a law against that; Relena Dorlian and a few other ministers managed to get legislation passed expressing that the armed forces of each country should not recruit youngsters below the age of sixteen. That went for the individual colonies too. The ESUN didn?t mean each country could not have an army, it would be foolish to disregard the need for protection and peace of mind. But the armies these days simply work as peace-keepers within their nations, much like the Preventers who work on a more universal level.

***

My time in the Alliance gave me a wonderful opportunity, though. I, Sally Po, managed to meet the Gundam Pilots. And later aid them. Those five boys thrown into being soldiers from an early age, piloting machines that could easily crush them, being hated initially by the colonies. They were working for peace, but being branded as the enemy.

The first ever pilot I came across was what they called 01. He wasn?t just a number, no - his name was Heero Yuy. Fifteen, wiry, brown-haired with intense glaring blue eyes, he was then. Now he?s twenty-seven almost, married, and a father, I think. I saw a flash on the news recently of Foreign Minister Dorlian - his wife- clutching onto a tantruming toddler who I presume was their son. She was celebrating her promotion. I?d love to get in contact with them these days, I used to get on well with the pair of them. But hectic life-styles do tend to take it out of you....and if Wufei wanted to see Heero, I guess he?d make the move.

Anyway. Heero. AC 195. He was a complete enigma. A real little killer. He seemed almost unreal as he was tied down there on the medical table. He?d been found wounded in the water near a Federation Navel base. My colleagues were ready to pump numerous drugs into him, also half-forgetting he was actually a human being. Though it was hard to believe, the fact the only injuries he?d received were minor broken bones, no scarring other than his gunshot wound, no nothing. I forbade the use of drugs, nonetheless. He?d been through enough having just been dredged out of the sea.

Since that rogue managed to escape the South JAP Point Alliance Medical Center, I had another brief encounter with he and his fellow pilots. On his first escape, he jumped straight out of the window on one of the top floors with his comrade Duo Maxwell. (It still makes me quiver thinking back, and poor Relena, a schoolgirl as she was then- her heart was in her mouth as he failed to open his parachute!!) And he survived, believe it or not. I had this notion ever since then that Heero Yuy was invincible, and could achieve anything. He was superhuman. All the pilots were. Until I met Chang Wufei....

TBC (i got another 4 parts written yet....)

[Jannbond]

Hey... (looks around for the other parts) I was quite enjoying that! I want the other parts. (pouts) ^_~

Seriously, that was a nice read. I enjoyed how you expressed an older Sally's voice and how you're just slowly going through her past and her views on things. I haven't read anything like it before, and that's a huge plus. So, please put out more parts! Or, if you have and I'm just blind, point me in the right direction. ^_^


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Jannbond on 2002-08-23 20:23 ]</font>

[Ladydevimon0280]

S is this Sally's life story or something :-?

[silent muse]

more....now....



hehe, me like!

-muse-

[elyra-chan]

This is great! Very rarely do people write about Sally's life, and even among those few, there are only a couple that are really good. Yours has managed to fit in that category. Please hurry up with the other parts! I love this!