Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed or Destiny nor do I own Disney. They belong to their rightful owners.

Multi-Pairings include: Kira x Lacus, Cagalli x Athrun, Shinn x Stellar, Yzak x Shiho, Dearka x Mirillia. Sai x OC.

Chapter Fourteen – Strangers Like Me

"Kira!" Flay called as she spotted him in the corridor. The prince didn't get a chance to escape before he was cornered by the Natural.

"Flay…" he greeted awkwardly.

She blushed and fingered the ends of her sleeves nervously. "You've…you've been avoiding me."

"I have?"

"The ball… that night. Ever since that night, I've tried to talk to you but you always seem occupied," she said and smiled shyly up at him. "I've lost haven't I?"

Kira blinked at her genuinely confused.

"Was I too direct? Was it something you didn't like? My hair? My attitude? The way I talk?" Flay blurted out in a rush. "Can you truly not reconsider?"

"I…"

The clock chimed and Kira hurriedly apologised before saying there was somewhere he was meant to be right now.

"Excuse me, Flay," he managed and left her staring at his back with disappointment evident in her face.

Athrun frowned deeply and huffed slightly as Kira laughed at him. "It was not funny, your highness!"

"Yes, I apologise," Kira said and tried to stifle his chuckles. "If even Flay could not tell you from me then that means the illusion is working perfectly."

"Your highness, please don't think I'm meddlesome in your business but you cannot use me as a way of running away from Lady Allstar much longer. You should sort out this mess before you leave." Athrun suggested.

Kira stopped his laughing and peered at him thoughtfully. "True, I should."

"May I know what exactly happened between you and the lady?" the spy asked carefully.

The real prince sighed, "What did you think happened?"

"She was chasing after you and you rejected her at the birthday ball." Athrun paused and wondered if it was safe to continue. He did so anyway, "and it seemed like you didn't make your rejection firm enough else she wouldn't still be chasing after you like a lost puppy."

"Do NOT compare Flay to a dog."

Athrun quickly bowed, "I apologise, your highness. I was out of line."

Kira settled down and crossed his arms, "though I rejected her, she is still my friend. Would you like to know the reason I rejected her?"

The navy-haired lad shrugged, "if you wish to tell me though I hazard a guess and you were simply not interested in her in that way."

"True, I am not interested in her," Kira admitted, "but she was also the fiancée of my best friend, Lord Sai Argyle. If I had not rejected her advances she would have caused many problems between myself, Sai and all three of our families."

"But she loved you."

"No." Kira looked out the window, "No, she didn't. She is in love with the idea that she's in love with me. She loved Sai before, yes. Now I'm not sure if she still does but she definitely does not love me. She loved the idea of loving me, if that makes any sense."

Athrun scratched his head and wondered how in all Eternal he got involved in all this.

Kira stepped away from the window and went for the door, "Come, we still have more to do and practice. You may be able to fool others but fooling my sister is a completely different matter. If you're not careful, she will and could kill you."

Athrun was sceptical. The princess? That blonde-haired girl that was dragging him about the dance floor at the ball? Kill him? Impossible. "Surely the princess could not be…"

"Do not underestimate Cagalli, I have seen her crack every single bone in an assassin's ribcage before and would not fancy what she would do to me if she found us out," Kira said ominously as he opened the door and entered the corridor behind it.

"Haro!" the pink sphere squeaked loudly and Zephany gasped before making a dive forward to snatch the ball from the air and hide it behind her back. As soon as she did that, everyone in the apprentice room looked up.

"It was a bird," she muttered, blushing like a red light before ducking quickly back into her little cubicle that served as her own desk.

Zephany pushed some notes aside and lifted her protective visor to frown at the Haro.

"You can't jump out like that, Lacus," explained Zephany quietly, "You'll catch the other apprentices' attention."

The Haro rolled about the tabletop in a cheerful manner before sliding onto her lap and bounce to the floor.

There was a flash of pink glitter under Zephany's desk and Lacus in her human form was soon huddled by her feet.

"Well I had to catch your attention in some way," Lacus whispered with a smile on her face as her Haro rolled onto her lap. "You were gazing off into a distance again."

Zephany blushed and whispered back, "I wasn't."

Lacus touched her master's knee, "Zephany, you're a girl. You're allowed to fantasize about your experience at the ball all you wish."

The mage blushed even more brightly and pulled her visor down to hide it. "I wasn't!"

"You were," Lacus teased.

"I wasn't…" Zephany trailed off suddenly and bolt upright from her seat, "Lord Argyle!"

"Aa, Nix. Would you by any chance know where Murdoch went? I was under the impression you work in his section," the young lord asked.

And underneath the mage's desk, her genie whispered 'You were' one last time before disappearing into her Haro.

It was not every day that one gets to see a duster dusting shelves by itself, a broom sweeping by itself and mop mopping all by itself as well.

It was also not every day that Shiho got to wrestle with a wardrobe that insisted on throwing a red cloak at her. She didn't understand, the wardrobe in her room was normal enough when she opened it in the morning to get dressed in something other than her ruined slave clothes. She had picked out a shirt, trousers and shoes all fine but when she tried to leave the room, something attacked her from behind.

She had spun about to find a fine looking scarlet cloak being the culprit. Confused, Shiho had picked up the item and left it back in the wardrobe. Two seconds later, as she was stepping out of the room again, the red cloak was thrown at her once more.

She was hungry and could probably eat a horse if she wanted to but the stupid wardrobe was being a mother-hen on her attire. Frustrated, she took the cloak in the end and found out she actually needed it.

The hallways were cold compared to her room and she was shivering until she pulled on the red garment, feeling entirely ridiculous. Who would wear such a thing indoors?

She placed her hand on the wall to the right of her room and followed the roses the wizard left her. She knew the way to the kitchens well enough now but it was a comfort to trace the trail with her hands because though the castle had the occasional moving objects, it lacked warmth.

The past few days she had been here, she had learnt that the wizard, Yzak, was the only one who lived here and all the objects she had seen occasionally working to keep the place clean were as they looked – objects.

They were not enchanted things with souls nor were they servants cursed in the form of an item. Yzak had simply cast a spell on them to keep parts of the castle clean and that was exactly what they do. The duster dusts, the mop mops and the broom sweeps. They don't talk to her, they don't try to communicate with her and they wouldn't help her escape.

Yes, Shiho planned to escape. Yzak had said something about a force-field about the estate but she believed him not. She had seen for herself, there was nothing there at the walls apart from the walls themselves and though she may not have seen the main entrance yet, she had determined not to use it. She will use the hole she came into this wretched place by.

She felt slightly warmer as soon as she pushed the kitchen door open and happily took off her cloak as the sight of the kitchen's warm fire greeted her alongside the knowledge of a full pantry.

The castle was strange. Its pantries were always full even though she could have been certain she used up all the milk the day before, she'll always open the door and find more there. Yzak didn't like to be around much but when she did catch him once, he had said the pantry was designed to bring 'lost' food items here.

Have you ever wondered what happened to that extra loaf of bread you bought but cannot find? Or that batch of eggs you were sure your chicken laid? Well, the castle warped them here. It never takes big things - perhaps one egg from each new batch and a loaf or two from somewhere else.

She didn't believe him about that either until she spotted an iced bun that she was very sure only the corner shop of her neighbourhood in ZAFT did. She believed him then but Shiho still didn't believe his force-field theory. If there was such a thing then surely a wizard of his strength could have shattered it easily.

Thus Shiho didn't believe him.

END OF CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Yeah, nothing much happened. Sorry.

KiKi Hayashi