{ The AU meme }

[unrelatedname]

 Ever played out something and then later wondered "What if?" Ever wondered what it'd be like to play your character a different way, but didn't feel like making a full thing dedicated to it? Now's your chance to play it out!

Using RNG you'll roll 1-3 for the level of the change, and 1-6 for the change itself, or if you want, pick your own based on what you wanted to do.


1)  Small Change: The flap of a butterfly's wings can cause tsunami's on the other side of the world.

-1: "A minute too late"- What if you missed something by a minute, or more? You missed the big meeting, the girl, helping that person, all because you were too late, what happens next?
-2: "The nick of time"- Just like the first, only that instead of missing something you got, that if you got something you missed because you were either too late, or just messed up? Congratulations! Let's just hope it's what you really wanted.
-3: "A little too early"- One more, what if you showed up early? It's suppose to be a good thing, is it this time?
-4: "The other choice"- You had two choices, left or right, heads or tails, Coke or Pepsi, now you get to see what would have happened with the other choice.
-5: "Oops!"- You slipped up, and made a mistake. Is it bad, or a blessing in disguise?
-6: Wild card/Pick your own- Thought of a slight change that'd make all the difference, or had one you wanted to play? Here's your chance.

2)  Medium Change: Didn't really see that coming, did you?

-1: Turning point change- That one thing that would have turned things in your favor went against you, and vice versa. How will you handle this critical change?
-2: "A Razor's edge"- That one moment that could have went either way has gone the opposite way of before. Is this a good thing, or a bad thing?
-3: Crossroads- You reached a point in your life where you had several choices before you, now's the time to go down another road and see where it leads.
-4: The Road less traveled- "Two roads diverged in the woods, and I took the one less traveled" Will it make all the difference?
-5: Interference- Something blocked you from getting something you were going for. What do you do once the moment is gone?
-6: Wild Card/Pick your own-Thought of a medium change that'd make all the difference, or had one you wanted to play? Here's your chance.

3)  Large Change: Why do all the people here have goatee's?

-1: Good/Evil- Use to be a good guy? Welcome to the dark side, here's your cookie. Former bad guy? Hand over the cookie tray and join the side of good. How will the change of moral compass change you?
-2: A different person- You're now a completely different person, literally. Are you taller? Shorter? A robot? A pony? Powers? No powers? Your call.
-3: The other sex- Rule!63 is in effect. Now how does this effect your relationships with the other?
-4: A change in history- Something that happened in the past now has completely change or is now gone. One domino toppling the rest. Now that you've changed your past, how will it effect your future?
-5: Giving up- You walked away from something important to you? Do you regret it? Are you happy?
-6: Wild Card/Pick your own- Thought of a large change that'd make all the difference, or had one you wanted to play? Here's your chance.

 

Comments

[maxwellsdaemon]

Wufei would have headed to the bathroom to the sound of Duo's laughter. And when she returned, he was lazing in his seat, arms behind his head and eyes closed. A smile formed when he heard Wufei joining him in the cockpit and cracked a single eye open to peer over.

"Honestly? Nothing." Duo said with a shrug. "I don't need to get paid to help a friend out, Wu. And I definitely don't need to be paid when it's saving you from a dangerous situation. And if she tries to force it..." He shrugged again. "I'll just give it to a charity or something. I don't... Don't think I did this for money, yeah? I didn't."

[pilot05]

Her cheeks went warm as she listened. "I didn't figure you did, but sometimes it's nice to know how valuable your boss thinks you are. Most people can just look at their paycheck for that, but mine is controlled by a parliamentary subcommittee. So if justifying your worth to a bunch of arrogant old white men sounds like the very special hell that it is, never let her get you on payroll," because Duo would end up in the same category, of that she had no doubt at all. She smirked at him, and finished her checks, leaning back in the seat again. "The only nice thing about it is that Yuy always does his right before mine. Scares most of the stupid questions right out of them."

[maxwellsdaemon]

"If it helps... she might have offered. I just wasn't paying attention." He shook his head then in wonder. "I don't know how you guys do it. It'd drive me insane."

He was, for the most part, freelance. He did a bit of everything. Helped with the Sweepers, helped with the Preventers sometimes. Took on missions, played mechanic, even smuggler now and again. A jack-of-all-trades. He went where he was needed most. Which meant he could usually dictate his price. Or if he even wanted payment.

[pilot05]

She laughed warmly at that, watching the earth looming in the viewscreen. "I think Heero likes intimidating them, but it is by far the least pleasant part of my job. Even worse than that last mission."

It was a nice view, and good company, and being safe after several days of captivity was always a welcome feeling. Enough that she let her mind wander, back to that spacer bar Duo mentioned. "How formal would I have to dress, do you think, to get somebody to try starting something with me at that bar of yours?" And her smile said that kicking just a little bit of ass might be exactly what she wanted out of that question.

[maxwellsdaemon]

"Oi, don't dare be going to my bar to pick on my friends!" Duo wiggled a scolding finger in Wufei's direction. "... Unless Murnaghan is there. Then you can kick his ass. He owes me money."

But if a fight was what Wufei was itching for, there were places he could take her. He was sure, once the weekend came, he could show her a good time. At least good way to relax after the hellish week she'd suffered through.

[pilot05]

She laughed again, relaxing more with him than she had since, well... since she was a little girl. "Well, you'll just have to point him out to me, then. It's been a long time since I've had the pleasure of ensuring the little punk I was beating knew I was a girl. In fact," and she smirked now, "the last person I did it to was Wufei himself."

[maxwellsdaemon]

"... So there was an actual Wufei?" Duo couldn't help asking and turned his seat a bit more so that he could look over at... the other Wufei. It was still a little odd calling her 'Wufei' knowing that wasn't really her name. But she'd said she preferred it so who was he to argue?

"What was he like? I'm guessing... he'd not alive now?"

[pilot05]

She hummed and nodded. "I call him Nataku, because he died protecting me. He was my husband, for a few short months," she replied, her smile turning sad. "He was very strong. Smarter than me, and with an ego the size of the sun. We were always arguing, and after he'd run off to this little meadow of flowers behind the palace to read and watch the birds. He loved to study, especially philosophy, and pick fights about Operation M. It's because of him that we didn't drop our colony the day we all arrived on earth. If he hadn't made me think so deeply about what we were doing, I would've accepted the order when it came from the Barton Foundation."

[maxwellsdaemon]

"He sounds... like a tough act to follow." Duo smiled, his own a little sad too, because while he had never met this man, he could be upset about a loss of life. Especially someone important to Wufei. And especially someone who had been so influential.

"You're plenty smart though. And strong." His smile widened just a little. "Pretty big ego too."

[pilot05]

"He taught me the value of appreciating what I have before it's gone, so you might say he's a very easy act to follow," Wufei replied lightly, and when he said she had a big ego, she laughed. "I suppose I'd have to, to fancy myself a modern day Mulan." And it had worked surprisingly well, until quite recently.

[maxwellsdaemon]

"You said that before. Mulan? Who is that?" Duo felt he'd heard the name somewhere before that but honestly couldn't place it. But he was curious. So he leaned forward and grinned. "I wanna know more."

[pilot05]

"The Ballad of Mulan," she replied, and her smile got a little wistful. "It's an ancient Chinese poem about a woman named Hua Mulan. She disguised herself as a man to take her elderly father's place when her family was ordered to send a male to join the army. She was such a great warrior that when she returned from years fighting the nomadic hordes beyond the northern borders, the Emperor offered her a position of high status in his court, but she refused and returned home to her family. Only then did she reveal to her brothers in arms that she was a woman. She was one of the greatest warriors in Chinese history."

[maxwellsdaemon]

Duo listened attentively, smiling and seeing several parallels between this Hua Mulan and Wufei. He understood the reference now and agreed with it.

"Did she get forced into marriage as well? Your elders should be grateful for what you've done. You're the greatest Chinese warrior of the modern world. You're a damn hero no matter what your gender." So Duo honestly didn't get where the idea of shacking her up with some random guy came from. Where was the rewards and offerings of a high status or...whatever the modern day equivalent was.

[pilot05]

She blushed darkly at the high praise, even though she knew it was true. "I'm sure she was required to marry, but there's no record of how much sway she had over the match. It's likely she was married to a high ranking official, given her service to the Emperor. Though I suppose if it comes to it, I'll argue the point about getting to choose," but she wouldn't hold her breath.

[maxwellsdaemon]

Duo nodded slowly. It was a shame they didn't know any high ranking officials who were decent people.

"We'll like I said, if they come after you about that, you know where I am." He flashed a near feral grin. "They won't get near you with me around."

[pilot05]

The only one she knew was Quatre, and that wasn't going to happen for a multitude of reasons. Most of which were Trowa. The rest of which were that she would rather die than see him naked.

"One day, I'm going to take you up on it," she replied lightly.

Little did she know it was today.

[maxwellsdaemon]

"I'll be ready." Duo laughed, already planning their escape. There were a multitude of safe houses they could go to, or he could just fuck off in a shuttle and hide out in the stars until things cooled off. Or those Elders all died and forgot about Wufei. He was sure if he asked, their friends would help too. And wouldn't ask too many questions. But Duo held off on suggesting that for now.

"We're almost there." He sighed, glancing at the console and slowly turned back to face it. "Should prep for reentry."

[pilot05]

She straightened up in her seat, pulling out the reentry checklist and going down the whole thing with him. It was nice, to have the structure, the familiarity. It felt like the world was settling after the upheaval of the last mission.

When they finally touched down and started rolling to a stop, she let out a sigh of relief. "I think I'm going to take a vacation when I crawl out of the paperwork hell that's waiting for me," she decided lightly.

And then she saw it as they taxied to their designated parking area. Three black cars with gold trim instead of silver. She shrank in her seat, swallowing heavily as she watched them get bigger and bigger as they approached. "It's them."

[maxwellsdaemon]

"Them?" Duo looked where she did and frowned. He saw the cars and contemplated turning the shuttle to crash right into them.

"Relax." He soothed and gave her a wide grin. "I told you. They won't do a damn thing to you." they'd have to go through him first.

When the shuttle came to a stop Duo unbuckled his harness and climbed out of the pilots seat, but he didn't leave. He waited for Wufei. "C'mon. Stick by me. Okay?"

[pilot05]

"Them," she agreed, grateful that years of training meant her only outward sign of panic was the increase in her breathing rate. She took a deep breath, tried to steady herself as she nodded. "I can fight them off if I have to, but they'll come back." Over and over again.

They would wear her down, eventually. She closed her eyes, thumping her head back against the headrest for a few seconds, gathering up her composure before releasing her harness and getting up to follow him.

[maxwellsdaemon]

"We'll fight them off." He corrected her cheerfully and waited for her to stand before clapping her on the back and laughing. "You're not alone, Wu. Don't forget about me. Those old bastards'll gave to get through me if they wanna get to you."

With that, he hooked his arm around Wufei's shoulders and walked with her through the shuttle. He slapped the release for the hatch door as he passed. Only then did he let go so that he could be the first one out of the shuttle. Shielding Wufei with his own body from what waited for her outside.

[pilot05]

She managed a smile at that. "Thank you," she said softly, walking with him through the shuttle, and leaning on him more than she would've, before he knew her secret. It was far more liberating than she'd expected, and when the hatch opened, she took a deep breath.

And then she followed him down, head held high, face that carefully controlled arrogance from during the war. And from the middle car, the driver emerged, then went to open the rear door for an elderly man who walked out to the tarmac to greet them, in traditional Chinese garb, clearly expecting her to just walk over and surrender.

"Long Meilan," the elder called. "It is a blessing that you are still among us."

[maxwellsdaemon]

It really was an old fart. Duo didn't know what to think about that. Laughing probably wasn't the best idea so he managed to tone it down to a smirk as he moved a step to the side and made sure he was in the old guys way.

"Don't know who you're talking to, Gramps. But there's only Wufei Chang around here. Think you've got the wrong shuttle. Maybe take your shiny cars somewhere else, huh? We've had a hell of a long couple days."

[pilot05]

"That foolish boy has been dead for many years," the elder replied without batting an eye. "We are grateful for your efforts to rescue her, but it is time for the Empress to give up this little game and come home. With her still living, there is hope yet to restore the clan. Come, Meilan."

Wufei came to stand next to Duo, standing straight as a plumb line as she met the elder's gaze. "I have no intention of returning to the estate," she said firmly, but left it at that.

[maxwellsdaemon]

Duo looked to Wufei and silently mouthed the word 'Empress?' and hoped she realised that after they dealt with these guys, he was probably going to tease her relentlessly about this. He wondered if his bowing game was on point. Or should he curtsy? Did you use Your Majesty for empresses or was that just King's and Queens? Duo was going to have to do a little research!

"My efforts?" Duo asked with a laugh. "I actually rescued her. Didn't see you or any of your people back there helping to save your Empress. Must mean so much to you, huh? Well get in line. You're not having her."