Wow, no one hates it, yet at least. Don't worry, you'll learn where Athrun is soon enough. That was also a difficult hurdle to jump: plot block. (shudders). Thanks for the tip on the new Chairwomen, I'm glad to know. However, beacuse of future plot points, there is no way I could make that happen now. Anyway, here's chapter 2.
I was lying in a green field, admiring the sky, and the view of the blue haired boy standing next to me. He looked back at me and smiled one of his natural smiles. I let myself get lost in those deep green eyes. He was perfect. "Cagalli," he began. He knelt down and propped me up. "Cagalli, wake up!" What?
I opened my eyes to find Kira holding me up and shaking me into consciousness. The image of Athrun was gone, and it was replaced by this rude awakening. "KIRA!" I jumped up. "Why you? I'm gonna kill you!" He knew I wouldn't; he wasn't scared at all.
"Cagalli, it's time to go." Lacus said from the doorway. Time for what? Go where? "The shuttle will leave in an hour."
"And make yourself decent." Kira added, looking away.
I suddenly became conscious of how little I was wearing. Ducking under the sheets of my bed, I screamed for Kira to get out. Once he was gone I dressed myself and brushed my hair, for what good it would do me. It always looked unkempt, but I tried to make myself look nice for Athrun's sake.
Lacus came in and drug me out to the car. Kira already had it running and ready to go. I piled into the backseat and Kira took off for the spaceport. He tried not to speed, but he was more determined not to be late. As it was, we got there just in time to step onto the shuttle before it took off. I took my seat next to Lacus, opposite Kira while the pilot gave his emergency evacuation speech. Shortly thereafter, I looked out the window to be greeted by stars and an ever-approaching colony.
I guess I was still waking up when we landed, because I jumped as the plane docked. It was odd because I haven't jumped like that since the first time I traveled to space with father. Kira saw me jump, so he volunteered to help me off the shuttle. I was thankful, but I wouldn't give him that satisfaction. "I don't need you're help." I spat. He didn't buy it and continued to help me anyway.
"Hurry up you two!" Lacus called from a few yards ahead of us.
"You can't tell me what to do!" I hollered back. She wasn't going to boss me around.
"Come on, Cagalli. We can't be late can we?" Kira taunted me.
"Oh, it's on now, brother." I shook off his help and ran forward a few steps. I would not be mocked like this. Cagalli Yula Athha would not take that laying down. "I'll be the first one there! You watch!" I ran forward to catch up with Lacus.
"I see you're awake now." She laughed a little. I can't believe they only did that to wake me up!
"You people are impossible!" Degrading me like that, how could they! Ignoring me, Lacus lead the way outside to where a shiny new limo was waiting to take us to the PLANT council building. "A bit fancy, don't you think?" I asked Lacus.
"Shh. Are you ungrateful, Princess?" Oh, I hate that.
"I am not ungrateful, and DO NOT CALL ME PRINCESS!"
Kira shushed and pushed me into the limo. "Are you trying to cause a scene?" he scolded, once we were all safely inside the vehicle.
"Why shouldn't I? After all, I was provoked." I knew I was right. She had no right to call me that, she knew I couldn't stand that. It was all her fault.
"Why do you hate being called that so much? You are a princess." Kira questioned.
I crossed my arms and grunted. I wasn't about to give him the upper hand. "I can hate it if I want to." I retorted. It was my right.
"I don't know what Athrun sees in a brat like you." Kira pressed.
"Is mocking me a game to you!" He was tearing away at me. This wasn't right. "Lacus?" I pleaded for help.
"Kira, leave her alone." Thank you, Lacus. Kira folded his arms in mock defense, but I knew that he wouldn't defy Lacus. I was safe now. The rest of the trip was spent in silence. I tried to guess what the others were thinking, but they gave me no clue. I thought, upon several occasions to say something to break the tension, but I left the thought in fear of what I might've said.
We pulled up to a large estate, framed with high white pillars. The whole place looked very Greek. A stiff man in a pressed tuxedo came to the back of the limo where we were seated and opened the door. Lacus was the first out. I followed, being helped by the man in the tux. I thanked him and waited with Lacus until Kira got out. I laughed a little when my brother asked the escort where his help was. The man rolled his eyes and closed the door.
"My name is Rodney, and I am to escort you to the Chairman." The man said and gave us a low bow. Lacus smiled. Rodney cringed when Kira tried to shake his hand. He lead us in and down a series of long hallways until he finally stopped in front of a large, decorated, steel door. "Wait here." He instructed as he opened and walked through the door.
Lacus and Kira both smiled as if this were just another day at work. Sure Lacus used to doing stuff like this all the time during the war, but Kira was only trying to tolerate it for her sake. I've done this all too many times to count, but I was still impatient.
"You may come in now." Rodney bowed as he opened the door for us to come in. Kira was the last person through, and once he was in, Rodney quietly shut the door behind us.
"Lacus-sama, and Kira-sama, I'd like to thank you for coming." The Chairmen waved us in. "Please take a seat, I'll be ready in a moment." He said turning to his computer to finish whatever he was doing. I stood in the back of the room because there were only two chairs, and I wasn't really invited to be here anyway. When he finished, he turned back around to us. "My name is Ray De Lin. Kira, Lacus," he paused. "And who might you be?" he looked up and asked me.
"My name is Cagalli Yula Athha. I am the Lion and chief representative of Orb." I bowed slightly.
"Well, well, I wasn't expecting someone so official to be accompanying my guests." He was a little shocked. "Would you like a seat?"
"No, I'm fine sir." I knew he didn't want me here by the sound of his voice, but even he knew that it would be political suicide to send the most powerful person in Orb out of his office.
"Okay then, Let's begin." He gave a piece of paper to both Kira and Lacus. "Being new to this office, I've made it my first priority to learn about the stability of my alliances." That's a nice way of saying "If there's a war, I want you on the front lines," but he'd never say that. "What I've just given you is a request of alliance. I know that in both of our recent wars, there has been a third party involvement: the Clyne Faction. Sound familiar?" he paused. I eyed him warily. What was he getting at? "With its various mobile suits, such as the ZGMF-X20A and ZGMF-X19A, this third party alliance has become very powerful."
"De Lin-sama, I don't think I understand your objective here." Kira offered. That makes two of us.
"Me neither. Would you mind being a bit more . . . to the point?" Lacus added. Okay, three of us.
"My apologies, my friends. I am meaning to ask if you, being representatives of this third party, would please enter into an alliance of peace for the good of all people."
What? Alliance of peace? The good of all people? That's completely illogical!
"De Lin-sama, I would like for you to know that my faction is neutral at all times, and we don't not enter into alliances of any kind because we are a third party neutral faction. I would like it if ceased attempts negotiating with any other members of my faction." Lacus retorted.
"Aren't members of your faction free to leave at will?" The tension was growing.
"Yes, but they also come to me to escape the pressures of alliances, pressures, De Lin, that you are pushing on me and my associate the longer we speak." Getting thicker.
"Then, by all means, feel free to leave." De Lin snapped.
Lacus stood, Kira not even one-step behind spun to accompany her out the door.
"De Lin-sama, I would appreciate it if we never have to have this conversation." I gave him a plastic smile and showed myself out.
"I'll see you later, Cagalli." He called as I left.
How rude! To call me by my first name! I can't believe him! The nerve!
"Time to go, Cagalli. We have to look for our special friend now." Kira called from the limo outside. I ran to catch up, still fuming.
Once inside the limo, I felt free to speak. "So, that went well." I mocked my friends.
"Sure, have your laugh." Kira ceded. "But now, we have more time to look for Athrun."
"Yeah. Do you know where he was staying?" I asked.
"Well," Lacus began, "no."
"So, where do we begin?" I plastered faux optimism on my face.
"We'll start with Yzak." My brother supplied. It seemed logical to start looking for Athrun by asking his friends. He reached over the seat and told the driver where to go. When he came back he said, not to hopefully, "We're on our way."
"What's wrong?" Lacus asked.
"Yzak hasn't been seen for a little over a month." Kira told us what the driver had said.
"We should still check out his apartment." I tried to reassure myself. Everything will be fine. He's probably with Athrun. Those two can take care of themselves. Yeah, nothing to worry about.
Soon we pulled up to a large apartment building, which I assumed to be where Yzak lived. "Here we are." Kira smiled.
We got out, this time without help, and proceeded to locate apartment number 386, Yzak and Dearka's place. Once we found the door, Kira knocked.
After a moment a bewildered Dearka came and opened the door. He hadn't changed at all since the war. His tan still made his blonde hair look out of place and he was really tall. "We don't want any!" he cried and began to shut the door.
"Dearka, it's me, Lacus." Lacus slid her foot in the door.
"What?" Dearka wiped his eyes until he could see. "Lacus?" He looked close at our pink haired friend. "Well then, come on in." The door opened further and we all stepped inside. Lacus and I sat on a couch, the only furniture of note in the place, while Dearka wandered to the kitchen to get drinks, and Kira stood near the door, making sure it was secure.
"Dearka, we were wondering if you've seen Athrun or Yzak." Lacus prompted after receiving her water from him.
"Here," he handed me a water as well. He didn't seem like his usual cheerful self. He was very disconnected. "No, I haven't seen either of them since they went to see that new Chairmen, De Lin."
"Well now, that's odd" Kira commented.
"Why?" Dearka asked, taking a seat on the floor.
"We just came from our meeting with this De Lin character." Kira answered, refusing to sit.
"Yeah, you're the only one's who've come back, if that's the case." Our tanned companion yawned and seemed to brighten a little. "Lucky for me, I haven't been called up yet." Dearka brightened further still after a moment of thought. "Hey, you just said you came back from the meeting with the Chairman, right?"
Duh! "Yeah, we just now said that!" I felt insulted, so I tried to return the favor.
"What did you all talk about?" he pressed.
"He wanted an Alliance with us and probably Terminal, but we left in the middle of his proposal." Lacus said, trying to gain Dearka's apparent clarity.
"Then what would he want with coordinator soldiers?" he mused for a moment.
"Could he be taking a different approach to the former Chairman's plans?" I offered after a moment. "Think for a moment. He could be perfecting the coordinator to better suit the Destiny Plan. He would want us in legal contract so we couldn't interfere." What was I thinking? That couldn't be right!
"You may be on to something, Cagalli. He originally wanted me to come alone, but I called about Lacus's appointment so we could go together." Kira paused. "If I had gone alone, I have no doubt that I'd be where Athrun and Yzak are now."
"Then, what should we do? Just walk up to him and ask, "Hey, what'd you do with my finance and his friend?"" I proposed. Everyone became suspiciously aware that I was wearing Athrun's ring. There's nothing wrong with it. It was given to me; why shouldn't I wear it?
"No, that wouldn't look good. We need to be more tactful." Kira argued, being the first one to tear himself away from my jewelry of choice. Walking over to me, he whispered in my ear, "We'll talk about this later."
"Whatever we do, we will need to talk to the Chairman again." Lacus provided.
We all agreed, and got ready for the return trip to the council building. This time Dearka came with us, eager to find out what was going on. Kira told our driver, again, where to go. I remember a distinct sigh coming from the front of our limo afterwards. I decided to sit in the back row and watch for now. It might be best to let Dearka take the fall and lead us to our former companions.
Cagalli jumped to a big conclusion off of nothing, I know. It is partly to show what I refer to as "random circular logic". She may be wrong, she may be right, she may be over thinking, but that's why I prefer to write in 1st person. Limited knowledge is a wonderful stalling tool. Please review. Thanks, and until next time!