Here's chapter 2 guys! Thanks for the reviews!
Flay will be good and bad, much like Yzak but I won't pair them up. Cagalli will manage and mess up.
I will not drop this or else I'll die! Lolx…!
Please bear with me and please review. Thanks again!
"Secrets And Lies"
Chapter 2: One Step Closer
Kira was pacing the floor, redialing Flay's number in his phone, over and over again but he just couldn't get through.
"Where the hell is she when you need her? Damn it!" he yelled at the phone.
"Earlier she had the time to wake me up in the middle of the night just to irritate me and now I can't even contact her! She's really done it this time! Just wait 'till I get my hands on you!" he was gritting his teeth. Then, he thought about calling their other friends and dialed Sai's number.
"Hello, Sai?" he said as someone picked it up.
"Hey, Kira. What's up?" Sai answered.
"Uhmm, hey Sai… Listen, do you by any chance, happen to know where Flay is? I can't contact her." Kira said calmly.
"Well… Not really… No. What makes you think I do?" he asked in a curious tone.
"Oh, nothing really…" Kira hesitated.
"Is there something wrong? Did she cause some trouble again?" he sounded worried.
"Well… No… I don't know yet. See you later, bye!" he hurriedly hung up.
Kira was about to give up when he suddenly got a call.
"Hello, Flay!" he was eager.
"Uhmm, no, it's Mir, Kira." she answered.
"Oh, hello, Mir. Is there anything I could help you with?" he sounded disappointed.
"Well, I just wanted to ask if the rumors were true?" she said.
"What rumors?" he got curious.
"You know… that Cagalli's been kidnapped…" she continued.
"You know about that?" Kira was starting to get a bad feeling.
"Yeah, news is spreading like a virus here in HQ." she explained.
"Damn those nosy butlers."He murmured. "We can't let this get out."
"So, it is true…" she said.
"Yeah… so, do you happen to know where Flay is?" he tried.
"Flay? Well, actually I'm meeting her up in the airport." she said.
"Really? That's great! Wait… Why the airport?" he was curious.
"Well, she invited me and Stella to have a vacation somewhere in Eurasia." she explained.
"What? A vacation?" he was surprised. Then he said. "Hey Mir, could you call me again once you get to your destination? Please…! This is really important."
"Okay, no problem! I'll call you." she assured him.
"Thanks a lot… and please… don't tell Flay." He had a stern voice as if threatening her.
"O-kay, bye." Mir was disturbed but didn't mind it.
After hanging up, Kira gave out a big sigh then he thought: "What in the world is she up to?"
Cagalli was sitting at the back of the car beside Miss Lenore. Her eyes were fixed outside the window, staring at the streets, houses and buildings. She thought of how similar the Plants was to ORB. Almost everything was the same then, they entered an estate.
There was quite a long drive on the way to the main mansion. The place was surprisingly huge as there were trees everywhere. Cagalli thought that it was a bit awkward for them to have a place as big as that. She thought that the Plants wouldn't want to waste much space for infrastructures because it was located in the middle of outerspace. She wanted to inquire about it but she decided to keep quiet, considering the fact that she'll be staying there as a servant.
When they got there, Cagalli followed Miss Lenore out of the car. She gazed at how big the mansion, it was also very beautiful and well-made. Then she wondered about what kind of people lived there, how wealthy they were for having a house like that and how she'll live as a servant in a house like that. She was lost in her thoughts for a moment until Miss Lenore called for her attention.
"Miss Calla, please come over here." she called.
Cagalli hurried towards her and said, "Please don't call me 'Miss Calla', Miss Lenore. I will only be here as a servant and nothing more." she explained.
"Oh, that's right. I will no longer call you 'Miss' if you'll do the same with me. To call me Lenore is fine." she said calmly with her eyes softening on Cagalli.
"But Miss Lenore, how do you expect me to do that when you're the owner of the house?" Cagalli exclaimed.
"That's right again; I am the owner of the house… So, could you please stop arguing with me?" she asked in an amused tone.
Cagalli blinked twice before answering, "Yes Ma'am, I'm sorry." then she looked down.
Her reaction only made Lenore more amused and fond of her. Then, the main door of the mansion opened and as they made their way inside, they were greeted by a man in a black and white suit, and a fat lady in a maid uniform of the same color.
"Arthur, Myrna, this is Calla. She will be staying with us from now on. She is a new maid." Then, Lenore faced Cagalli and said, "This man is Arthur, the head butler and she is Myrna, the head maid." Cagalli bowed her head in response, which surprised Lenore for it seemed so natural to Cagalli to bow like that even when she was only introduced to mere servants. Lenore was very pleased and delighted. She never expected for the young princess to act so humble and courteous. Of course, she didn't think of her to be spoiled either.
"Myrna, take Calla to her room. She must be exhausted." Lenore told the maid. Then she turned to Cagalli, "I understand that you just got here so, you may rest for the entire day but tomorrow, you will have to start working as the new maid, is that all right?" she asked her.
"Yes, I understand completely. Thank you very much!" Cagalli replied and she looked very determined, it made Lenore smile.
Athrun was sitting in a lounge of Zaft HQ while drinking coffee by himself when Shinn suddenly barged in and surprised him.
"ATHRUN!" Shinn was yelling at the top of his lungs.
Athrun turned to him and gave him a weird look before saying: "What the hell is wrong with you, Shinn?"
Shinn quickly ran to his side and shouted: "WE'RE GONNA HAVE A VACATION!"
Athrun blinked twice before reacting: "What?"
Later, the entire top elite team was summoned to Le Creuset's office. The Team consists of five members: Athrun Zala, Nicol Amalfi, Dearka Elsman, Yzak Joule and Shinn Asuka.
Le Creuset was standing while looking out the window when they entered. They saluted in line but Le Creuset didn't even turn back. It was quiet then he finally started speaking: "I've got some good news… and some bad news. Which do you want to hear first?" Then he turned back to look at them.
Shinn raised his arm and said: "The good news, Sir."
Le Creuset smiled and continued: "The good news is… you boys will get out of this place for two weeks…"
They all looked at each other then, Shinn and Dearka held their fists with a "Yes!"
"…the bad news is, you boys have to come with me as bodyguards." He finished with a grin.
The huge smile from the lips of Shinn and Dearka became smaller.
Then Nicol asked; "If we are going with you as your bodyguards then, where would we be going for two weeks?"
With a huge smirk on his face, he explained: "I'm not really sure as to where we would be going but no, you boys won't be my bodyguards this time rather, you would be bodyguards of someone else."
"What? Of whom?" Shinn asked.
This time Le Creuset's smile grew even bigger as he answered: "My niece."
They all looked at each other. Yzak raised an eye brow.
"He has a niece?" said Shinn.
"Yes, I do, and you will all get to meet her and be her bodyguards as soon as she arrives." He explained.
"I see, so, will she be here for some important business?" Athrun asked.
"Well, not really… she actually just decided to come here on a whim…" He said with a smile.
They gave out a weird look.
"But don't worry; I'm sure you boys will have a lot of fun with her." he turned his back on them again.
"Pardon me Commander, but that doesn't sound like a valid mission to me." said Athrun.
"It's not… but I just can't rest knowing that my niece is touring around the Plants by herself and I have already received permission from Commissioner Durandal regarding this matter so all is well." he explained.
"So… what's her name?" Dearka asked.
"Her name is Flay Allster." he said proudly.
Nicol suddenly got the feeling that the name was somehow familiar and wondered about it, putting his hand under his chin. Le Creuset noticed his reaction.
"Is there something bothering you, Nicol?" he asked.
"Uhmm, well… I think I've heard that name somewhere before." He said with a sigh since he couldn't point his finger on the answer.
The other guys looked at him with curiosity.
"Yes, well, I'm sure you've heard of her… after all, she is your fiancée, right?" he said plainly.
All of them were just blinking when the message finally hit their brains.
"WHAATT?" They all reacted the same way.
After unpacking her luggage, Cagalli was summoned to the kitchen. When she got there, she was introduced to the other servants. The servants were in line when she came. Cagalli then, stood beside Myrna, in front of the others.
"Starting from left to right, please introduce yourselves." Myrna said.
"My name is Luna Maria Hawke." said the girl with short red-violet hair.
"I'm Meyrin Hawke, her little sister. Nice to meet you!" said the pig-tailed redhead.
"Shiho Hahnenfuss." Said the girl with long brown hair.
"Auel Neider. What's up?" said the guy with light blue hair.
"Sting Oakley. The two of us are footmen here." said the guy with green hair.
"Kojiro Murdoch. I'm the gardener." The big man said with a chuckle.
"And I'm the head maid and cook here." Myrna said. "Now, it's your turn Calla."
Cagalli took a step forward and bowed before saying, "My name is Calla Hibiki. It's a pleasure to meet all of you." she then, smiled broadly. "It's a good thing I had enough time to think of a surname before the introductions." She thought to herself.
"All right everyone; she will be with us as the new maid from now on… Be nice to her… and I mean you Auel! No pranks!" Myrna said as she eyed Auel.
Meyrin suddenly walked up to her and said, "Now that you'll be with us, you should know that maids can't wear caps… it's like a rule here." She pointed to the cap that Cagalli was wearing.
"Oh, all right. I'll take it off then." Thinking that no one could possibly recognize her, she confidently took off her cap. And they were all stunned by how beautiful she was with her long golden hair.
"Wow! I think I'm in love!" Auel shouted which earned him a hard slap from Meyrin.
Luna approached her and said, "You're so beautiful, you look like a doll."
"I know, let's give her the nick-name, Dolly! It suits her." Meyrin added.
Rubbing his cheeks, Auel said: "Girls, come on! She looks more like a Goddess than a doll."
"Shut up!" Luna and Meyrin yelled at him.
Shiho then squeezed herself to get through the sisters and handed Cagalli her uniform. "As a maid, were obliged to wear this uniform. Hope you get used to it… and to them." She smiled.
"Thanks, don't worry, I'll do my best." Cagalli assured her.
Then a cat suddenly entered the room. "That's Mimi. Our cat."
"Can I touch it?" she asked.
"Of course, since he'll be your pet from now on too." Shiho answered.
Cagalli took the cat in her arms, "He's so cute!"
"Yeah, you too!" Auel said smiling at her which earned him a death glare from Meyrin.
"This is just great! We should eat all together tonight, to celebrate the newcomer!" Kojiro suggested while putting his hand at Sting's shoulders. Myrna nodded in agreement.
Looking at all of them, Cagalli thought: "Looks like staying here won't be so bad after all."
Kira was in the balcony of his room, giving out big and deep sighs. He was pondering on his father's reaction about Cagalli's disappearance.
Flashback:
Kira slammed his hands on the table of his father and shouted; "Father! Why haven't you sent out search parties yet? Cagalli might actually be in grave danger as we speak!"
His father just closed his eyes and turned his back on Kira.
End of Flashback.
Kira let out another deep sigh and said to himself: "Well, if he's not gonna look for her… Maybe I should… Cagalli, where the hell are you?" then, he sighed again.
Meanwhile, in his father's office. Uzumi was thinking about Cagalli as well. He remembered the call he received earlier this morning. An hour before Kira barged into his office.
Flashback:
"Yes, she's here already and she'll be with me for the time being. I assure you that I will take good care of her so you absolutely do not have anything to worry about. All right?"
"I'll leave her in your care and thank you for all of this." He replied.
"It's nothing; I'll see you again at the treaty-signing, about two weeks from now. Take care and goodbye, Lord Uzumi. Have a nice day."
"Yes, you too, Lenore. I'll see you then." He put the phone down and sighed in relief.
Athrun drove the car inside the estate and then he parked it at a corner. With a deep sigh, he got out of the car and took his briefcase with him. While walking towards the main door he remembered the little conversation he had with his teammates after Le Creuset's announcement.
Flashback:
"Nicol! Why didn't you even mention to us that you got engaged… with Commander's niece?" Shinn was all over his face.
"Yeah, you could've at least given us the heads up." Dearka added.
"Well… as much as I would've wanted to tell you guys about that, I, myself didn't know I got engaged to his niece." Nicol explained.
"You didn't know?" Athrun asked.
"That's impossible! What kind of an idiot are you?" Yzak commented.
"Guys! I didn't even attend that engagement. Remember? I volunteered to do a lot of extra work for two whole days just to get an excuse from going there… I thought they'd cancel it because of that." he reasoned.
"Well, I think I do remember something like that…" Shinn said.
"But what if she's pretty? You just ruined a perfect chance to give out a good first impression." Dearka teased.
"Whatever! I don't want to talk about it! It's not even important." he said then he turned his head.
"I guess…" Shinn murmured.
"Yeah, what's important is that because of her, we have a day-off for today." Dearka chuckled.
Athrun approached Nicol and asked: "Are you sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure." he refused to look at Athrun.
End of Flashback.
Athrun sighed again and told himself: "What a day? Well, at least I can relax for the rest of the day."
He went to the main door under the big balcony when he suddenly heard a loud crash above him. He decided to take a few steps back to look up at the balcony when Mimi, the cat, jumped off and landed on his right shoulder. He managed to keep his balance and noticed that Mimi was carrying a piece of meat in its mouth before it ran off. Then he heard someone yelling.
"Wait…!" Cagalli jumped off the balcony too, chasing after the cat.
Athrun was so surprised at the girl, he didn't move from where he was standing. Suddenly, the girl's right foot hit his face. Cagalli used Athrun's face as a stepping stone!
Afterwards, Cagalli continued chasing the cat, completely ignoring the fact that she just stepped on Athrun's face.
"Get back here, you stupid cat!" She yelled.
Author's Notes:
I know that the story has a slow development but please understand that I need that to give an impact at the right time.
Patrick Zala is the Head Chairman of the Plants while Gilbert Durandal is the Commissioner of Zaft.
At first, I wasn't so sure about the pairing of Nicol and Flay but I got the courage to do it because Vani Jane and Mimi the pink kitty paired them up too.
Please Review! It's the only way I know how many people have read this. Help me make it better. I'm open to comments, questions, suggestions, anything as long as you review it.
No flames, please respect that this is my fic. Thank you!
(.^_^.)
Lynx
