CHAPTER TEN: Cooking

Lacus was not entirely unaware of the views the public had on her. The person who sang the song of peace. The strong one. The one who would lead the way when people were lost and confused. Lacus also knew of some other extreme opinions on her. Her stunning beauty, her pure voice, the ultimate image of kindness, love, hope, dreams… And, more often than not, she had worked to meet those expectations people set on her, if only to just convince them that she did have dreams and she would lead people to those dreams if they placed their faith on her.

But Lacus, too, was human. And humans have weaknesses.

There was one thing Lacus could not do, and she was grateful that the fact was not known to the public: Lacus couldn't cook.

One fact that people seem to forget about her was that back in PLANTs, Lacus had lived in luxury. Her house was large and comfortable, bigger than the average house, and she had maids and servants and workers... Her father had been the Chairman of PLANTs, leaving her a fortune for when she was old enough to receive it. And her songs had been popular in PLANTs, as well as in various places on Earth, earning her more money than she really cared – a large portion of which she had donated to rebuilding Orb after the second war, especially for schools and hospitals.

She wasn't the only one. Athrun, too, had lived with money never being a problem to him, though after Junius Seven, she knew that he had moved to an apartment with his father which he he had rarely been in anyway. Whenever Athrun visited her home, meals would be served for them both, and it wasn't Lacus who needed to prepare it. It wasn't as if she never wanted to learn how to cook (she was actually rather talented with desserts), it was just her duties that kept her away from it.

Now, keeping away from her title as Lacus Clyne, singer of peace, living in the orphanage with Kira Yamato and the children, Lacus became increasingly aware of her inability to cook. She helped, of course. She had been surprised with herself when she found house chores to be absolutely delightful to do, and she had learned a lot. She supposed that now, she was probably more of the ideal fiancée than she had ever been to Athrun Zala. But cooking was not something she could do without help, and she had turned to Caridad, gently telling the other woman the story of how her life had been, and had gained enough courage to ask;

"Will you please teach me how to cook?"

Caridad, who had already regarded Lacus as a daughter, had been all-too-happy to agree.

So Lacus had learned, since they lived in the mansion, and had tried out numerous dishes and found herself enjoying her time in the kitchen with Caridad, especially when she had learned of Athrun and Kira's childhood. She had met Lenore Zala many times before her death, had seen the pure intelligence in the Coordinator, but her time with Lenore was never like her time with Caridad. She had often engaged in long conversations with Lenore, and had not learned much about Athrun during those times as well. Now, she knew why.

"Back in Copernicus, Athrun's mother worked so hard, and Athrun always stayed in home alone," Caridad had said as Lacus worked in cutting potatoes in neat, identical squares. "When Kira found out, I guess you can say that Athrun never had the chance to be by himself again," Caridad said, laughing lightly at the memory, and Lacus had giggled herself when she tried to imagine such two innocent, carefree children.

She discovered that if anyone was to learn anything about Athrun Zala – his likes, dislikes, habits, traits, strengths, weaknesses, favourites ("He had always loved my rolled cabbages!") – it would have to be through Caridad, something that Lacus did not forget to inform Cagalli about.

It was also through Caridad that she began to see a Kira Yamato she never knew existed before the war. And as time passed by, her want to meet that Kira Yamato increased, and she loved him even more.

A problem she always faced when she cooked for Kira was that the brown-haired Coordinator never complained. Whether he liked the dish or not, Kira would hand her a clean plate every time he finished, would say "Gochisosamadeshita!" with the same heartfelt, grateful tone, and she would feel rather miffed, wanting to know whether the meal was truly good or not. In time, she began to read the signs. Kira, when he liked something, would have second helpings, would have a particularly endearing gleam in his eyes, and Lacus set her goal for that instead – the gleam. She learned that (thankfully), Kira had a sweet tooth, and that he had a small like for spicy food. Her time in the kitchen was beginning to become more enjoyable – a sort of obsession and challenge to herself to see if she could make those beautiful amethyst eyes gleam.

One day, Caridad approached her and remarked that since she was improving so much, she would teach her Kira's favourite lasagna. Lacus had clapped her hands with delight at that, and for the next three hours, she performed the duties as Caridad observed and instructed patiently. Somehow, she had already known that it wasn't an ordinary lasagna, which made learning it all the more enjoyable. It was Caridad's own recipe, the recipe a mother had perfected for her son, and they even invited Athrun and Cagalli over for dinner. Because she knew it was Kira's favourite, she added just a little more hot sauce, her own touch, and hoped for his approval.

Caridad loved it. So did Athrun and Cagalli. But what sent the thrill down Lacus's spine weren't those compliments, but what came from Kira. The second helping. The gleam in his eye. And turning to his mother, delighted, and said, "That was great, Mom", not knowing at the time that it was Lacus, the one who never knew how to cook, who had made the meal that night.

Author's Notes: I hope you'll forgive me for saying Lacus couldn't cook. She seems so perfect, and I can't help but want to give her a few weaknesses to flesh out her character. The inspiration for the spicy food came from the Gundam SEED Chibi Theatre, which I loved. Thanks as usual for reading, favourite-ing and alert-ing! Thanks also to IoriKonan for the review for last chapter. I hoped you all liked this one. Drop a review? :D

IoriKonan: Thanks for your review! :D I think last chapter was my favourite after "Naps", mainly because Athrun and Lacus seems to have this sort of gentle and pure relationship with each other, even in Destiny. XD Your review made my day, so thank you, and I hope you liked this one!