"Hurry up!"

"I'm glad to see you too," Mei-Wan said with a frown as her sister waved her into the house and out of the early afternoon gloom of a typical San Francisco Winter day.

Li-Na peered outside a moment, looking to and fro before closing the door with a solid slam. "We don't have much time. Just put your things down and come on."

Mei-Wan complied as Li-Na hurried her through the halls of the immaculately kept Lau home.

"They'll be back soon," Li-Na said as she opened the door at the far end of the hall.

"Mom and Dad?"

"They're at the market downtown, getting some things for this evening."

Mei-Wan followed into her mother's study. But instead of the perfectly ordered room of the revered Cal Tech physicist, Mei-Wan found a space crammed with packages and ornate objects from every corner of the Federation.

"What the hell is this?"

"Hell is exactly what it is," Li-Na said, still jittery, but a little calmer. "Your hell."

Mei-Wan shifted her eyes from the mountains of packages to her sister. "Me?"

"You don't think they'd leave me here alone if this was for me, do you?"

"But... aren't these for my birthday?"

Li-Na frowned. "Try wedding."

Mei-Wan couldn't help but laugh. "Good one, Li-Na. You almost had me."

"I wish I was joking, Mei."

A stabbing chill rose up the length of Mei-Wan's spine. "No... they can't be serious." She sank into a nearby chair. "How long have they been..."

"I only put it together a couple of days ago, but based on some of the communications I hacked into, it seems it's been in the works for years. I tried to reach you, but no one knew where you were."

"Who is he?"

"His name is Jian Xiào. His family owns a space transport business and they live in Yueyang."

"That's where I was born, and where Mom and Dad grew up." Mei-Wan slid further into the depths of the chair.

"There was a message I found referencing some meeting about all of this back in March of 2359."

"My god... I was only ten," Mei-Wan whispered to herself. "When is this... thing supposed to happen?"

Li-Na sat in a chair across from her sister. "In a month."

Mei-Wan felt like screaming, but held a tight rein on her emotions. "So that's why Mother rambled on so much about duty."

"That's all she's talked about since you last left. I just thought she was pissed about you running that institute on Kel-j'na." Li-Na paused. "But wait, how could they have planned this? You were married to Jack McCall for the last couple of years."

"Knowing Mother, she spent that entire time scheming ways to end my marriage." Mei-Wan forced a smile and looked at Li-Na. "Maybe we should find a way to return to your timeline."

Li-Na sat back, thinking a moment. "I don't believe it would do any good."

"Why?"

"Ever since I found out about this, a lot of what Mother was doing in my version of reality started to make sense. This is why they didn't want you involved with Nakano. They must have had this same marriage to Jian Xiào planned there too."

"Have you spoken to them about all of this?"

"No, I figured it would only make things worse. That and I wanted to get a chance to talk to you first."

"Probably better that way," Mei-Wan said. She stood and walked to the door. "We'd better get out of here before they get back."

Li-Na followed. "Mom told me to be available for dinner this evening. She said we were going to have guests from out of town."

"They're coming here," Mei-Wan said, frozen in place at the door. "They've put me in the position of being forced to embarrass them in front of Xiào's family if I don't go along with this, knowing how difficult that would be for me. That was the plan all along."

"You have to stand up to them, Mei."

"Weren't you the one who kept trying to keep me and Nakano apart?"

Li-Na sighed. "I've learned a lot over the last several months. Having a baby gives you perspective."

Mei-Wan nodded. "You know this is how Mom and Dad were married."

Li-Na shook her head. "An arranged marriage? Really? The practice is barbaric."

"Maybe... maybe not. There are advantages." Mei-Wan looked out a nearby window. "Ones I've never considered before now."

"For good reason. The very idea is inhuman."

"And if we were discussing the marriage customs of some species on a world a hundred light years from here?" Mei-Wan asked.

"They wouldn't be human, so my calling it inhuman would apply," Li-Na said with a grin. "Anyway, it would still be wrong there too. People should be free to choose who they spend their lives with... someone they love."

Mei-Wan turned from the window. "Jack and I had love, but it wasn't enough."

"Where are you going?" Li-Na asked.

"Outside... to think."

***

Mei-Wan watched the tall sunflower plants in her mother's garden sway back and forth to the rhythm of an invisible breeze. Despite what she'd just been told, it was good to be home again.

Good to be back in the garden.

She closed her eyes and took in the aromas of her mother's garden. Everything here was so alive.

Except for me.

She wished she had discovered her mother's plans before now. It should have been obvious for years given how her parents had married. But for some reason Mei-Wan had always assumed this particular family tradition wouldn't apply to her. Looking back, it had been foolish on her part to believe otherwise.

And if I had known? She considered that a moment. I'd have simply avoided it by making sure I was away.

No. Better to face this head on. Better to finally make a choice rather than hide like I usually do.

Her parents, their parents, and all the generations before had gone through this... what was it Mother had always called it? Xiangqin?

How could she turn her back on a tradition which had defined her family for centuries? But the very thought of this arranged marriage made her feel as if an important part of her was dying.

Like a shadow from some far off giant she could not see, inevitability descended upon Mei-Wan as if her entire life had been building to this moment, eclipsing all that had come before and all that she might have dreamed would came after this day. The totality of it threatened to overwhelm her very existence so much that it nearly sent her running from the garden.

But another thought restrained that urge.

Maybe this is what my life is truly about. Perhaps it is time I...

“I see you arrived on time.”

Mei-Wan turned to the source of that always so sure of itself voice.

Bao-Yu Lau made her way down the path from the house, using a cane to steady her deliberate stride.

“Hello, Mother.”

Bao-Yu stopped at the bench where Mei-Wan sat. “May I?”

Mei-Wan gave a short nod.

Her mother joined her, being careful to brush away the few leaves and dirt that had been on the bench before she sat down.

She sat so perfectly, it made Mei-Wan want to scream. Everything about her mother was always in its place. Her clothes, her hair, every detail was precise. Even the fine streaks of gray in her hair were perfectly aligned.

Nothing was left to chance.

“How was your trip?” Bao-Yu asked.

“Fine.” Mei-Wan knew this game. It always began with the most innocent of questions.

“Where was it you said you went to?”

Mei-Wan frowned. “I didn't.”

“I could have sworn...” Bao-Yu smiled. “No matter. You're home now.”

Mei-Wan began to respond, but was interrupted by the haunting wail of a creature overhead.

“Those damn loons have returned again,” Bao-Yu said.

Mei-Wan watched several of the birds sail through the air some hundred feet above toward the bay. “I think they're beautiful.”

When she was younger, Mei-Wan would often trek down to the bay during the Winter months to watch the wonderful creatures dive into the water to catch fish. It always excited her so to see one of them rise up out of the depths with a fish in its bill. While everyone else called them Loons, Mei-Wan had researched them and discovered they were also called Great Northern Divers.

A much better name for such an astounding creature.

While they had trouble moving about on land, their grace when swimming always had impressed her.

“You don't have to clean up the mayhem they cause,” Bao-Yu said with a frown. “This garden is one of the few joys I have in my life, and I can't stand those animals treating it like some forest to use as they please.”

“They're living things, that's what they do.”

Bao-Yu rolled her eyes. “Someone should train them to show more respect.”

Mei-Wan took a deep breath, knowing that note signaled the next stage where the real battle would come.

Every word, every glance from her mother brought the burden of obligation to settle on her shoulders.

“Your father and I ask that you make arrangements to stay with us for the next four weeks.”

“I can't. I have...” She gave it only a half-hearted effort. No point in trying to avoid it any longer.

“You must.”

Mei-Wan turned to her mother. “Does this have anything to do with all those packages in your office?”

Much to Mei-Wan's surprise, Bao-Yu smiled.

“Good. Li-Na did as we expected.”

“You wanted me to see all of that? To find out what you had planned for my life?”

“I wanted you to have time to think about your future before we talked.” Bao-Yu looked about her garden. “And I am glad you came out here. When you became defiant as a child you would always come into my garden. Soon you would calm down and we could discuss your poor behavior.”

“You're playing me,” Mei-Wan murmured.

“I am helping you to see where your duty lies.”

“Duty?!” Mei-Wan said with a laugh. “How can I possibly be duty bound to go along with this?”

“You are just as apprehensive as I was when the time came to marry your father.” She turned her gaze back to Mei-Wan. “But you will learn to understand how right this is just as I did.”

“I don't think I could ever understand this.”

“It has been the tradition of our family for generations that marriages are arranged in this fashion. You know this,” Bao-Yu said. “Surely the failure of your marriage to Jack McCall has pointed out that you are not capable of making a proper choice in this area of your life.”

I knew she wouldn't be able to resist playing that piece.

Mei-Wan stared at the ground. “We had problems, but that's not a...”

“Isn't it? A marriage is too important to be left to the affections of the moment, or to base desires.”

“And what if on occasion I like to indulge my base desires?”

Bao-Yu smiled. “You are not like that.”

“I was exactly like that a little over a week ago,” Mei-Wan said. She immediately was surprised by her admission. She would have never mentioned, let alone boasted of, having sex in the past... especially not to her mother.

Bao-Yu shook her head. “Mei-Wan... you are better than that.”

“Better than what? A woman who makes love to men of her own choosing?”

“Better than a Starfleet whore,” Bao-Yu said. “I share a bed only with my husband. Can you say the same?”

“My sexuality belongs to me, not you, not a husband, and not family tradition,” Mei-Wan pleaded.

Bao-Yu placed her hand on Mei-Wan's arm. "You are my daughter. I have only ever wanted the best for you. Those who came before us provide the traditions which govern our lives, giving them a discipline and order we need each day. When the universe goes mad, those traditions provide the stability we need to continue on.” She rose from the bench. “They make the path before us clear.”

“I see no clarity in this.”

Bao-Yu nodded. “Confusion is to be expected. You are being asked to set aside the willfulness of childhood for the responsibilities of an adult life.”

A part of what her mother said sounded so right, but none of it felt right.

“Jian Xiào and his parents will be here for dinner this evening,” Bao-Yu said. “Doctor Xiào has shown nearly infinite patience with our family. More perhaps than we deserved. I expect you to show him the proper respect.”

“It is not my intention to embarrass you this evening,” Mei-Wan said with a glance at her mother.

“Good.” Bao-Yu smiled. “Now, we have much to prepare before they arrive. Come with me, daughter.”

Mei-Wan wanted to defy her mother on at least this small request, but she couldn't. Something was withering inside her, falling into a darkness without end, and she simply didn't have the will to fight any longer.

Or maybe her mother was right. Could I finally be growing up?

Mei-Wan rose from the bench and followed her mother into the house.

***

Mei-Wan sat in her room, watching storm clouds build in the west. She wanted to cry, to mourn her life and the shadow she feared it would become.

But what surprised her was how little she was upset at her mother.

Mei-Wan had seen cousins and other relatives go through arranged marriages, so she knew what was to come. In fact, she had been envious of one family member and the attention she had received on her wedding day.

What had ever happened to Xiu?

Mei-Wan was fourteen at the time, but when Xiu arrived in her bright red and intricately detailed wedding gown, Mei-Wan would have done nearly anything to change places with her cousin that day.

At least that wish could be fulfilled now.

What the hell is happening to me? she asked herself. How can I even be considering this?

Her parents had asked something of her, and it would bring shame to them if she balked at it. That's what it finally came down to.

Was that all it was?

There was a part of her that wanted to do this, that believed this was indeed the path her life should take.

It's as if this is the way things were always supposed to be.

Given what she'd learned not more than a week ago about this planet of her birth, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to remove the burden of all that knowledge and finally have something resembling a normal life.

Let someone else carry the problems of the galaxy for a change!

The window curtains billowed into the room, caught on a gust of wind they could not resist. The fabric snagged several chess pieces on the desk in front of the window, knocking them over onto the board.

Mei-Wan set them to standing again, and pulled the window closed.

She looked down at the board, all the pieces now back in their assigned positions, silent sentinels awaiting the first move.

Mei-Wan longed for one last game.

“Are you here?” she whispered, hoping for some response, but all she heard was the wind outside.

She looked down at the board again, placing a finger upon the white king.

“I guess this, like everything else from my childhood, has come to an end.”

She wrapped her finger and thumb around the king and forced back tears. Mei-Wan tipped the chess piece over onto its side.

“I resign.”

***

An hour later, Mei-Wan walked out of her room, wearing the red dress her mother had suggested she put on for the evening. Bao-Yu had said it looked stately enough to convey a serious attitude, but emphasized Mei-Wan's figure in a pleasing way for the male eye without any suggestion of lewdness.

Only Mother could plot out intricate tactics for choosing one dress over another.

She was about to head downstairs, but hesitated when the sound of a baby crying floated past Li-Na's open door.

Mei-Wan peered inside to find her sister holding the baby in her arms, gently patting him on his back.

“Everything okay?”

Li-Na smiled. “Just trying to get him to burp.”

“Sorry to intrude,” Mei-Wan said, about to leave again.

“Please... don't go.”

Mei-Wan hesitated, unsure about staying. She didn't want to face...

“Come and say hello to... your nephew,” Li-Na said.

Even Li-Na's hesitation damned her.

My son...

Li-Na turned the child around to face Mei-Wan. He had a patch of pure black hair on the top of his head. His face seemed puffy, but in an oddly cute way.

Mei-Wan walked up to them.

“There's your auntie Mei, Enlai.”

More lies.

Mei-Wan brushed her hand over his head, feeling the warmth of his skin. He reminded her of Todd Nakano. But then he should, the man was the boy's father.

“I haven't told anyone,” Li-Na said. “I never will.”

“I know,” Mei-Wan said, watching the baby reaching for her hand.

“You don't plan to change your mind, do you?”

Mei-Wan was so startled by the question, it took her a moment to compose herself. “Why would I do that?”

“Just all this talk about marriage, I thought you might reconsider our arrangement.”

“No. You have nothing to worry about, Li-Na. He's your son.”

Li-Na pulled the baby into her arms, hugging him. “I didn't think I'd ever feel this way about him. I did this more for... for my Mei-Wan. But after carrying him, and giving birth to him, I love him more than my life.”

Mei-Wan could see the tears in her sister's eyes, wishing she could feel the same way about this child, but the only thing he made her feel was regret at the life she could never have.

“You're his mother,” Mei-Wan said, forcing a smile. “He belongs with you.”

“Thank you, Mei.” Li-Na placed Enlai in his crib. “But I want you to be a part of his life. To be his aunt. No matter how Mom and Dad act, family still means a lot to me.”

“Family...” Mei-Wan whispered. “Maybe it's time that meant something to me too.”

“I don't think I like the sound of that,” Li-Na said.

“When did liking something ever really matter?”

Li-Na placed her hand on Mei-Wan's arm. “You aren't thinking of actually...”

“As an archaeologist I always do my best to show respect for the past lives I'm digging into. It wouldn't hurt for me to show some respect for my own past for a change, would it?”

“Yes, if it means selling your soul.”

Mei-Wan released a sad laugh. “That transaction was completed when I brought your timeline to an end.”

***

Mei-Wan stood in the dinning room, staring out at the garden beyond the large picture window. Dark heavy clouds billowed across the sky, but there was still a small patch of sky where the sun burst through, sending streaks of light down to Earth... as if heaven were trying one last time to touch the world.

“I like how you've done your hair,” Bao-Yu said, as she set the table with immaculate precision. “It looks shorter which has always been a better style for you, little one.”

Mei-Wan didn't even cringe at her mother's condescension this time.

I feel so numb. I should be screaming about this. Shouldn't I?

She thought through what she could remember of the various stages of the marriage process. Keeping her mind focused on details like that might help her get through the evening with her sanity intact.

A thousand details... what's a safe one to bring up?

“Has the wedding date been determined yet?” Mei-Wan held out hope she might at least have some input on that.

“Of course,” Bao-Yu said. “The day chosen is very special.”

“Please tell me you didn't consult an astrologer to set the wedding date.”

“That is the tradition, little one.”

Mei-Wan rolled her eyes. “But you're a scientist, how can you believe such...”

“It is not a matter of believing. Do I run experiments to determine which fork should go where? No. There are some things which are done in certain ways simply because that is the way they are done.”

No point in arguing the matter. The date was set.

“Just tell me one thing, Mother.”

“Yes?”

“Why did you keep all this from me? Why not tell me years ago this was what you had planned for my life?” Mei-Wan asked.

Bao-Yu stopped and turned to her daughter. “A wife should not blame her husband. That is something you must remember.”

“What? Why another life lesson when...” Then it hit her. “Daddy?”

Bao-Yu nodded. “For years he resisted this. He only reluctantly allowed it to even be discussed.”

Mei-Wan couldn't help smiling. But after a moment, reality set in. “What changed his mind?”

“Just before she died, your grandmother, his mother, insisted that he follow our traditions when it came to your life. He gave her his word.”

Mei-Wan looked down at the floor. “When I was ten...”

“Yes, why?”

“Nothing,” Mei-Wan said.

That's why he changed.

For the first decade of her life, Mei-Wan's father Sheng Lau had doted over her and them some. He had opened her eyes to the wonders of the universe and encouraged any and all questions she could muster.

But one day, there was a noticeable change in his enthusiasm. At the time she had simply assumed it was the loss of his mother.

Now she knew the truth.

Once again, the dead stretched forth their dry bones out from the depths of the grave to suck the life out of the living.

Sheng Lau entered the room dressed in his best suit. “Is everything prepared?”

Bao-Yu smiled, proud. “Yes.”

Sheng turned to Mei-Wan. “You look beautiful, Mei.”

“Thank you... Father.”

Sheng Lau's bright eyes narrowed. “Why so formal?”

“This is a formal occasion, is it not?” Mei-Wan asked.

Sheng only nodded.

“Yes it is,” Bao-Yu said. “Mei-Wan is behaving as a daughter should.”

The door chime sounded, causing Mei-Wan's heart to skip.

Bao-Yu walked toward the front hall, calling for Li-Na to come downstairs.

“Are you as prepared for this as you appear?” Sheng asked, an uncertain expression on his face.

Mei-Wan stared into his eyes. “How could you of all people do this to me?”

She saw the pain those words inflicted upon him, striking his soul in ways no physical force ever could.

“Mei, there are some things we have little choice over.”

“I'm learning that... but you, Daddy? Is that all I've ever been to you--- a daughter to marry off?” Mei-Wan asked through the tears she fought back.

Sheng swallowed hard. “I am sorry, Mei.”

“If that were true, we wouldn't be having this conversation.”

He took a long breath. All the life his face had shown up to that point drained away into some deep abyss. “Our guests have been kept waiting far too long because of us.”

Mei-Wan followed him into the front hall. She stopped as her mother helped a towering, gray-haired man remove his coat.

Must be the father.

He stood with the kind of erect posture that told all around him this was a man who demanded respect simply due to the number of years he had lived. He didn't glance at someone, he bore in on them with a gaze that drilled its way through all pretense of equality. He was a man used to getting what he asked for, and then some.

Behind him stood a woman with half dark and half gray hair. Everything about her was average--- her height, her build, her looks. She would have had to be painted in five different bright colors to even begin to stand out in a crowd. She was the kind of person you could spend hours with, then after turning away from her for only a few seconds, forget what she looked like.

Her husband introduced her, and she offered only a bow, no words.

Mei-Wan suspected she rarely spoke to anyone, instead taking the commands of others with a silent, selfless obedience. After being introduced, she was summarily forgotten.

Mrs. Xiào was a quiet, rutted corpse, acting only on, and for, the will of others.

Behind them, Mei-Wan caught sight of a somewhat shorter, younger man behind the father. It was in that moment, Mei-Wan felt her world collapse.

It certainly wasn't an overwhelming sense of desire, nor of love, nor excitement that slammed into her soul.

It was recognition. It swallowed all the remaining resistance she had and digested it slowly, until nothing was left but the excrement of hopes she no longer could grasp.

It can't be!

But it was. Here was the man she'd seen in the visions she had suffered from while in Tehran.

Every feature, every line on his face, every hair in exactly the same place.

He had been standing in front of a large window, and beyond was space. He had asked about their children.

I saw this... this future.

He smiled at her.

But how can I know this? How can...

But then why not? She had experienced time travel, a journey to another timeline, and more. Were visions of her future life so strange in light of that?

“At last you meet,” the older man said. “This is our son, Jian.”

“And our daughter, Mei-Wan,” Bao-Yu replied, pointing to Mei-Wan.

It took her several seconds, but Mei-Wan finally regained her composure and returned Jian's bow.

Jian then handed Mei-Wan a box.

“Open it, Mei-Wan,” Sheng Lau prompted her.

She lifted the top of the box and found six ornate cakes inside.

“Bridal cakes,” Jian Xiào said with a smile.

“And the Gift Letter,” the older Xiào told Mei-Wan's father, handing him an envelope adorned with a wax seal.

“Welcome to our home, Doctor Xiào, Mrs. Xiào,” Sheng said. “We ask that you join us for dinner.”

“Of course,” Doctor Xiào said.

Mei-Wan ignored the rest of the obligatory banter between the heads of these two families as everyone walked to the dinning room.

So this is my life, the one I had a glimpse of last week?

Finally it seemed everything had fallen into place... like a mountain crashing down on her.

***

Mei-Wan picked at her food, having no appetite for the meal or the conversation going on at the table which was setting the course for the rest of her life.

“We acknowledge Mei-Wan's great achievements, and understand the need for her to take this position on Kel-j'na. In fact, we see this as an asset.”

Sheng raised an eyebrow. “How so?”

Doctor Xiào took a short sip of his wine. “We have decided to expand into the luxury transport business and the Kel-j'na Region is the perfect location for a new remote office. Jian will manage this new office, allowing him to not only build this aspect of our company, but providing him the opportunity to make a name for himself before taking over the entire enterprise upon my retirement.”

Bao-Yu smiled. “We are pleased to hear that Mei-Wan's new position will not be a detriment to your plans.”

Doctor Qiang Xiào returned her smile. “It was most fortunate that you contacted us again after Mei-Wan's prisoner of war experience, and after...” He paused a moment, revealing the first instance he had been unsure of anything all evening. “When Mei-Wan's prior commitment had concluded.”

You mean my divorce, don't you? she thought.

“It is quite difficult to make the necessary arrangements with the Kel-j'na bureaucracy. When we informed them of the upcoming marriage between Jian and Mei-Wan, our difficulties came to an end.” Doctor Xiào looked at Mei-Wan. “She will be quite a compliment to both our business and our family.”

Mei-Wan caught a glimpse of Li-Na rolling her eyes. She almost laughed at her sister's relative outburst of defiance, but kept herself in check.

Maybe I should laugh.

She took in a long breath.

No. Thinking that way will only poison everything. I have to make this work. This is my one chance at a normal life. A life of children, a husband, a...

The laughter between Sheng, Bao-Yu, and Doctor Xiào broke into her consciousness. But it was the restrained laughter of people acting their part, playing the roles assigned to them.

It sickened and saddened Mei-Wan.

“Of course,” Doctor Xiào began. “After five years they will return and take up residence at our new headquarters on Titan. At that time, I will resign, and Jian will take my place as the head of our family business.”

“And what about Mei?” Li-Na blurted out.

“Daughter, mind your place,” Bao-Yu said under her breath.

But Doctor Xiào was not deterred. “Mei-Wan will of course leave her position on Kel-j'na to stand at her husband's side.”

“And what if she has other ideas?” Li-Na asked with a grin.

Doctor Xiào smiled. “I am sure Mei-Wan understands her place.”

Li-Na was about to offer an impassioned retort, but Mei-Wan held her hand up to stop her.

“Please, Li-Na,” Mei-Wan said. “Don't.”

“But do you hear what they're saying? What they're planning for your life?”

“I'm fully aware of all of it, Sister.”

“But you can't just...”

“It's my choice to make, Li-Na,” Mei-Wan said with a finality that ended her sister's interference.

Mei-Wan turned to their guests. “If you will excuse me. I'd like to show Jian my mother's garden.”

“Yes, please do, Mei-Wan,” Bao-Yu said, glowing with pride. “He should see the place where your wedding will take place.”

Feeling queasy at that thought, Mei-Wan held herself with the grace and poise which was expected of her.

She stood and motioned Jian to the door. “Shall we?”

***

They walked together in silence for nearly five minutes as the twilight dwindled to a faint glow, painting the living things in the garden in unearthly color.

Finally, Jian turned to Mei-Wan, breaking the calm. “You may think this strange, but I have had dreams about you,” he said. “Even before anyone showed me a photograph of you, I knew exactly what you looked like, what your voice sounded like.”

Mei-Wan stopped walking, the shock of his words making real what might yet have been merely an illusion in her mind. “I have had dreams of you as well. Dreams of us together on Titan.”

“Yes!” he almost shouted. “I have seen us there too.”

Mei-Wan couldn't catch her breath. She searched for the nearest bench before she passed out.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

She sat down. “Yes. I'll be fine.”

He joined her on the bench. “When I finally met you tonight, I knew we were meant to be together.”

Mei-Wan couldn't help but remember the last man who had told her they were meant to be together--- Kyle Hoffman.

“In my dreams we had two children,” Jian said.

“Jia and Qiang,” Mei-Wan murmured. “We name our son after your father.”

He nodded. “I promised Father that years ago.”

“But we weren't happy,” Mei-Wan said, unable to look at him.

“All marriages go through difficult times, I assume ours will be no different. The important thing is we know this is exactly what we're supposed to be doing.”

“Do we?” Mei-Wan asked more for her sake than his. “We have no idea where these visions come from. Do we really know this is the path we are meant to take?”

“How could it be otherwise?” Jian asked in reply. “Your marriage to McCall ended. You were awarded the position on Kel-j'na. The universe intends for us to be together.”

“And what of happiness? What of... love?”

Jian put his hand on hers. “Happiness is up to us. Love is something we must work toward.”

Mei-Wan stared at a rabbit which had crawled out of a patch of ferns across from the bench. It looked directly at her, turning its small head to one side then the other. A few seconds later, it crawled back into the hole it had emerged from.

She couldn't help smiling at that moment, but didn't know why.

Jian leaned back on the bench.

“Have you ever felt like you held the future in your hands?”

“Far too often,” she said, glad their conversation had left the topic of their impending life together.

“I envy you,” he said with a brief smile. “Just once... I wish there could be something I did that really made a difference, that was more than simply making sure people were getting from point A to point B. I feel like, like a train conductor who takes everyone else somewhere, but never goes anywhere himself.” He turned to her. “Do you know I've only been off world three times? Isn't that funny given what my family's business is? And none of those trips were more than twenty light years from here.” He smiled again. “But you've been to so many places, so far away. You've walked where the Ancient Progenitors walked.”

“That's not the honor some would have you believe it is.”

He nodded and turned to look at the garden. “Yes, I heard you had proposed contrary ideas about them. Do you really believe they might not have had the best of intentions in some areas?”

Mei-Wan spun about to face him. “The Ancient Progenitors were genocidal maniacs who exterminated untold billions of lives!”

“I understand they fought wars, but that doesn't make...”

Mei-Wan had reached her limit. “No, they were destroyers! They killed anything different from themselves! That's who we come from! You can't whitewash it!”

Jian looked down at his hands.

Her anger subsided, Mei-Wan put her hand on his. “I'm sorry. You didn't deserve that.”

She stood and walked up to the path leading back to the house. “My god... Is that what I've come to? You share your wonder about the universe and I take a sledge hammer to it.”

He rose to stand next to her. “My apologies. I should not have expressed such exuberance for things which will never be a part of my life.”

“Please, don't apologize.” Mei-Wan turned to face him. “They should be a part of your life. Why not seek out those things you enjoy?”

He frowned. “We have our duties, Mei-Wan. The time for childish indulgence is past. I will build my family's company and you will stand at my side as wife. Then one day, our children will take our place and do the same. And on and on... for the rest of time. That is what gives our lives meaning.”

Mei-Wan took a step back from him.

Jian looked at her. “What is it?”

She shook her head. “I don't know if I can do this... do that to any child of mine.”

“Our children will follow our example. All we need do is raise them with an understanding of life's most important principle: Authority is to be obeyed. Once they have learned that value, everything else will fall into place for them just as it has for us.”

“I don't want to become a silent phantom like your mother,” Mei-Wan said.

“A wife should...” Jian began.

“No... I'm a person, I...”

He stepped onto the path back to the house, extending his hand to her just as a single drop of rain fell onto the lapel of his jacket. “Come back with me.”

“No,” she whispered as two drops of water splattered against her cheek. Mei-Wan couldn't believe she had said it, but suddenly she felt an excitement, the excitement that comes when engaging in the forbidden.

“It is beginning to rain, Mei-Wan. We need to go inside.”

She closed her eyes, and thought back to that time years ago when she had sat outside in this very garden... in the rain.

Mei-Wan smiled. “No. I'm staying.” Her heart pounded away as the joy of the moment grew.

“Don't be ridiculous,” Jian said with more than a little irritation in his voice. “You'll get soaked.”

“And what's so wrong with that?” she asked, finally opening her eyes as a crack of thunder churned the air about them.

“You can't stay here.” Jian held his hands over his head to protect him from the increasing sprinkles of rain. “Why won't you come in?”

Mei-Wan spun about slowly. “I'm hoping a friend stops by to see me.”

“What are you talking about?!” Jian asked.

“When I was little, a friend and I sat in the rain all afternoon.”

“This is foolishness! I'm going to be your husband, Mei-Wan. And as my wife, you must obey me. You shall come inside!” he demanded.

“No,” Mei-Wan said with a giggle. She hadn't felt this alive in years.

***

They stood at the window, watching Mei-Wan dance in the rain.

"My apologies," Bao-Yu said.

"Not necessary. While Mei-Wan has much spirit, all will proceed as we have planned."

"But we thought..." Sheng began.

Doctor Xiào smiled. "That her display might cause us to give up on this marriage?"

Sheng nodded.

"Not in the least. What she does now is the last step of her defiance. It will pass, and she will assume her given role. I have seen this before."

"You're an idiot," Li-Na said.

"Li-Na!" Sheng shouted. "How dare you?!"

The elder Xiào took a sip of his wine. "She rebels now, but she will do her duty when the time comes. She knows the consequences to herself and her family if she does not. In her mind, Mei-Wan has already accepted the inevitability of this marriage."

"You people are monsters," Li-Na said. "I'll never submit to this madness."

Bao-Yu returned to the table and her food without saying anything.

“You will follow your sister's example,” Doctor Xiào said. “It is the nature of things.”

***

Mei-Wan spun about again, feeling the cold rain pelt her. The dress, now soaked, clung to her skin.

Maybe I should take it off.

She came to a stop. Through the curtain of rain, she made out a figure at the edge of the flower bed.

One of the loons Bao-Yu hated so much stood across from Mei-Wan, peering into her eyes from dark orbs that glistened each time lightning flashed in the sky. There was grandeur in this creature, a certainty in its attitude toward the world. But another side of it was present as well, an unpredictability which was actually more alluring to Mei-Wan than its majesty.

The bird paused a moment in the rain, then stepped off the concrete ledge surrounding the flower bed. Its wings opened and spread to a span of nearly five feet.

It can't possibly have enough room to take flight. Not in this rain... could it?

While not intelligent in the way most humanoids were, this creature knew more about its world than she did.

The Great Northern Diver gazed at the dark sky above, hesitating. Finally, it took a step forward, barely keeping its balance.

Another step, and another.

The black and white feathered bird picked up speed as it crossed the open grass toward the gate at the far end of the garden.

Go... go... you can...

But it wasn't enough. It couldn't seem to get past its natural clumsiness on land to produce enough speed for flight.

Mei-Wan had seen some of them get stuck on the ground because of the flaw in their physical design which placed their legs too far to the rear. At the time she had wondered how nature could be so cruel to such a amazing being.

She watched it disappear toward the rear of the garden sure it would hit the back gate.

Mei-Wan forced her eyes shut, not wanting to watch.

But instead of the loud crack of flesh and feather against wood, there was only the rain.

A moment later, the familiar cry of the Great Northern Diver echoed above the garden. Soaring through the pounding resistance of the water falling from above, the bird's wings fought against the rain to stay aloft.

“Fly! Fly! You can make it!” Mei-Wan cried, feeling as if she had some stake in this creature's battle against the elements.

The bird struggled past the sheets of blowing rain, finally picking up enough velocity to soar away into the clouds and out of Mei-Wan's sight.

Something had come alive in her, something she didn't recognize until now, but one thing she did know about it was that it was unmistakably a part of her. Not duty, not tradition, not pretense, not some assigned role.

“I will not marry Jian. Not now, not ever. I choose another life,” she said with a smile. “I know who I am.”

She understood why the dark-skinned man wasn't coming. He didn't need to. If she was going to stand on her own, she had to actually do it.

Mei-Wan took the first step toward her parent's house. Despite what she knew awaited her inside, she had found the peace she'd been seeking for so long.

A part of her had died in the rain this night, but it was the part which had been afraid for far too many years to claim this life as her own. The rain had picked the dead flesh of that person away in whispers, allowing the whirlwind of her beckoning life to finally be heard, not in her mind, but in her heart.

Mei-Wan's opportunity to live had come.

***

The sliding door opened, and Mei-Wan stepped into the dining room. Water dripped from her, pooling on the carpet around her feet.

Everyone at the table turned to look at her except one.

"Now, daughter,” Doctor Xiào said, driving home how he now saw their relationship. “Go clean yourself up and join us for the dessert your mother has prepared. We have much to discuss."

Mei-Wan took several deep breaths in a row.

"No."

The others looked at Xiào.

"This rebelliousness does not reflect well on your upbringing or the position you are about to take. Go upstairs and change and we will continue our planning of your marriage to my son."

"No."

Xiào sighed and folded his hands in front of him. "You will."

Mei-Wan turned to Bao-Yu. "Mother, I'm leaving. I'll be at an apartment in the city for the next two weeks. After that, I'll be going back to Kel-j'na."

Xiào only smiled.

"Doctor Xiào, I'm afraid you came all this way for nothing,” Mei-Wan said. “I will not marry your son. Goodbye."

“You are behaving like a child,” Xiào said, his solid demeanor finally showing a crack in its facade with a frown. “This is the time for you to become an adult who understands her duty.”

“Being an adult means you chart you own path, and take responsibility for your own choices,” Mei-Wan said. “It means having the courage to go where no one has before.”

“Please consider what it is you're doing,” Bao-Yu pleaded, turning in her chair to face Mei-Wan. “You are breaking the chain of tradition which has defined our family for thousands of years.”

“Then it's time those chains were broken,” Mei-Wan said. “Your tradition no longer guides, but has become a task master to be obeyed without question. Time to rebel against it as should be done to all such masters.”

“Who are you to break that which has been followed for millennia?” Xiào asked.

“Who do I have to be?” Mei-Wan asked, not expecting an answer.

“The traditions of our ancestors are not something to be tossed away on a whim!” Bao-Yu cried.

“Those who came before us fumbled about in the dark just as we do, Mother. It does us no good to follow the same lives they did if we ever want things to get better,” Mei-Wan said. “This is my life, not theirs... and not yours. I'm going to live it my way. And if you don't like that, you can go to hell."

“A daughter should not speak that way to her...” Doctor Xiào began.

"I have things to do, places to explore." Mei-Wan smiled, feeling as if she'd stepped out of some dark cave. She realized no one here held any power over her. “And maybe along the way I'll get lucky enough to find some happiness.”

“This is foolishness!” Doctor Xiào said.

“Following your dreams is never foolish.” Mei-Wan headed for the stairs.

"Mei-Wan..." Sheng Lau called out, walking toward her. "You have obligations to..."

“The only obligation I have is to my own conscience.”

Sheng took hold of her arm. “Come back to the table now, Mei-Wan!”

Doctor Xiào walked up to them. “End this insanity and return to our meal. You will marry my son.”

Mei-Wan cast a glance at Jian, feeling more sadness than anger toward him. “Let the dead marry the dead.”

She pulled away from her father and headed up the stairs, not caring what was said afterward.

After Mei-Wan was up the stairs, a smiling Li-Na turned to the now fuming Doctor Xiào as he sat back down at the table. "Like I said... you're an idiot."

Li-Na thought she caught sight of the briefest smile on the face of Mrs. Xiào.

***

Li-Na bounded into the room just as Mei-Wan finished changing into a shirt and jeans.

"You headed out?"

"Yeah," Mei-Wan said. "I have to go through with this or they'll still think I can be talked into this insane marriage."

"Don't worry about that. After some choice words directed at Mom and Dad, Doctor Dumb-Ass just stormed out of here. I don't think he'll be back."

Mei-Wan couldn't help smiling. "While I do relish that mental image, this really wasn't about him."

"Mom and Dad?" Li-Na asked.

"Yes." Mei-Wan watched her sister. "What about you and the baby?"

"I can't see us staying here much longer. We'll get an apartment and live life."

"I could probably arrange for you to get the place I'll be at for the next two weeks."

Li-Na smiled. "That would be great."

“You know, you don't have to leave just because I am.”

“What? And stay here and be put through the same thing?”

Mei-Wan nodded as she packed the last of her things.

“Do you want me to wait until you've gone back to Kel-j'na?” Li-Na asked.

Mei-Wan thought a moment, and realized that Li-Na and the baby were probably the only family she'd have for a very long while. “No, come whenever you're ready. It would nice to have some time to spend together before I head back.”

“Great!” Li-Na said with a grin. “How about in a couple of days?”

“Perfect,” Mei-Wan replied, putting the strap from her bag over her shoulder.

Li-Na smiled and walked out the door.

Out of habit, Mei-Wan took a last look around her room to check for any items she'd forgotten, but then it sank in. This might be the last time she'd be in this room.

There was one thing she forgot.

She walked over to the chessboard about to pack it up when she noticed something out of place. But it was only out of place because it wasn't out of place.

“What the hell?” she whispered.

The king she had earlier placed on its side was now standing upright... exactly where it was supposed to be for the beginning of a new game.

“Maybe you were here after all.” Mei-Wan laughed. “Or maybe I really am losing my mind.”

She carefully packed the game away in her bag, wondering if he had been here, why the dark-skinned man hadn't shown himself now that she had made her choice.

It doesn't matter. I'll figure out if he's real or not some other day.

Mei-Wan smiled and left the room of her childhood.

***

She stepped outside, her bag over her shoulder, and walked toward the bench she and Jian had sat in an hour earlier. The rain had stopped, but the aroma of moisture filled the garden.

Sitting on the bench was Sheng Lau. He had changed out of the suit he'd worn during dinner and was now wearing his daily casual clothing, including his favorite brown jacket.

“You have shamed this family.”

Mei-Wan stopped in front of him. She could feel her heart racing, but did her best to remain calm. “I know that's how you see this.”

“It is how things are, not merely a matter of perception.” He placed his hands on his knees. “I made a promise to my mother that you would follow our traditions. But now you have broken that promise.”

“Do you know how crazy that sounds?” Mei-Wan asked, doing her best not to sound sarcastic.

“Watch your tongue and your place... daughter!”

She was about to reply in kind, but thought better of it, knowing it would destroy what little was left between her and this man she had loved and respected all her life.

“You have brought shame to generations of the Lau family,” Sheng continued. “You have mocked our ancestors.”

“By insisting I make my own choices?”

“You can still make this right, Mei-Wan,” her father said, motioning to her to join him on the bench. “We can call Dr. Xiào and...”

“And what?” Mei-Wan asked as she sat down. “Have me join in this conspiracy to murder my soul?”

He frowned. “Stop being so melodramatic. After a few years you will...”

“Be so dead inside I won't know the difference any more?”

He took a long breath and turned to her. “You have no idea of the consequences of what you've done, do you?”

“In terms of you and Mother, no I don't,” she said. “But I couldn't do this, not even for you.” Mei-Wan tried looking into her father's eyes, but he looked straight ahead again. “How can a man who teaches an Academy course on Parzival where you show your students the importance of following the call of one's heart now tell me to set aside my own to follow the requirements of family duty?”

He let out a light chuckle. “The Romance Tradition is a part of European cultural history. It would be a little difficult to explain why a teacher of that history avoided the subject.”

“You don't believe any of it?” Mei-Wan asked, her eyes wide.

“I can teach something, even enjoy studying it, without believing in it,” Sheng said. “I doubt you believe all the myths of the cultures you've studied.”

“But they were your students. You changed their lives, I've heard them...”

“I taught and reinforced their traditions,” he said. “I see no hypocrisy in that and what I have done here today. In fact, just the opposite.”

“In what twisted way can that be possible?”

Sheng's smile continued. “The majority of my students come from a human, Western mindset. I enjoy helping them reconnect with the traditions of their ancestors.” He turned to look at her. “But I believe in my traditions.”

“All this time, I thought...”

“You assumed.”

Mei-Wan closed her eyes. She couldn't comprehend what she was hearing.

“You do realize they are your traditions as well, don't you?” Sheng asked.

“Not as far as I am concerned,” she said. Mei-Wan watched for several moments, and then it hit her like a bolt of electricity. “My god... your dreams are defined and bounded by those traditions, aren't they? You don't know who you are.”

“We are destined by our upbringing to become certain people. Your ancestors are in your very blood, Mei. They determined how you were raised,” he said. “They will show you how to live your life if you will but listen.”

“I rejected that life tonight, Dad. And no amount of talk will make me return to it.”

“You will eventually come to regret this,” her father said.

“I know who I am.” Mei-Wan rose from the bench. “I will live my own life free from those traditions you hold so dear.”

He gave a short nod, and without a moment's hesitation said, “Then I have no daughter.”

Mei-Wan felt her heart break as if she had fallen onto the rocky shore of some unknown island far from everything and everyone she'd ever loved. Her father had been the one constant in her life, his love and admiration unwavering... until now.

“Daddy, please... you can't mean that.”

He faced forward again, and leaned back on the bench. “Get out of my sight.”

Tears filled her eyes, but Mei-Wan refused to let them fall as she turned away from her father.

She walked the path away from the house to the back gate facing San Francisco Bay. She could smell the salty ocean air carried on a soft night breeze. Without looking back, Mei-Wan took her solitary way, leaving her mother's garden, never to return.

* * *

Dark Horizon Story and Characters Copyright ©2009 Michael Gray

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