Chapter 25: The Search for the Missing Dress

Lacus and Kira walked hand-in-hand back into Cagalli's bedroom, finding the distressed little bride in a huff.

"Where the HELL is my dress?" she yelled. She was so angry that she was almost in tears. She walked up to Kira and pressed her index finger hard against his chest.

"You promised me nothing would go wrong, Yamato!" she shouted. She forcefully wrapped her hands around his throat, choking him. "And look what's happening!"

"Cagalli!" he said through brief gasps of air. "Everything will be fine, I promise! I'll help you look for it! We'll find it. It's your special day, after all."

"You mean that?" she asked. Her anger lifted slightly.

"Of course I do," he said truthfully. He could feel his face turning purple. "Can you let go of my neck now?"

"Oh, sorry," she apologized, instantly dropping her hands from the chokehold. She blushed, embarrassed.

"Okay," said Kira, thankful to be breathing again. "Where was the last place you put it?"

"In the closet," said Lacus, sure of her answer. "Meer and I hung it up after it was altered."

"Yeah," said Meer, agreeing. "Right in the back of the closet." Kira walked over to the large closet and opened the doors. He rifled through the ORB uniforms, the cargo pants and the red shirts until he reached the back. As the girls had said, there was not a wedding dress in sight. Kira came out of the closet and closed the doors. (Author's Note: Wow, I seriously laughed out loud when I typed that XD).

"You're right, it's not in there," said Kira. Cagalli was frustrated.

"Of course it's not, Kira! If it was, I'd be in it by now!"

"Cagalli, calm yourself," said Lacus, placing her hands gently on Cagalli's shoulders. "Getting upset won't solve anything." Cagalli breathed heavily.

"I know…" she replied. She turned to Kira. She felt bad for yelling at him. He was undeserving of her frustrations. "I'm sorry," she apologized.

"It's okay," he said. He flashed his usual smile. "I know the wedding's got you all emotional, and the fact your dress is missing doesn't help it, but we're going to find it." Cagalli gave a small, hopeful smile. She believed him.

"Maybe Athrun knows where it is," suggested Kira.

"No," answered Flay. "The groom never sees the bride's dress before the wedding. It couldn't have been him."

"She has a point there," said Cagalli. She rested her head in her hands. "If we don't find this dress, I swear, I'll…I'll…" She paused as a tear rolled down her cheek. Her anger seemed like it was hand wired to her tear ducts nowadays. "I don't know what I'll do." Lacus massaged Cagalli's shoulders gently.

"How about your closet, Lacus?" asked Kira. "Did you check there?"

"No, we didn't," said Lacus. "That's a good idea." Meer walked over to Lacus's closet and peered inside. A ton of fancy dresses filled the inside. Lacus was always very fashionable and elegant. Meer pulled out a dress from the very back that resembled a wedding dress and showed it to the company.

"Is this it?" she asked. It was undoubtedly a gorgeous gown. Snow white with ribbons attached. Though, as pretty as it was, it wasn't Cagalli's dress.

"No, that's not it," said Lacus. Cagalli hung her head.

"Did you see any other dresses in there that might have been Cagalli's?" asked Kira.

"No," replied Meer. The girls were starting to get panicky, though Kira maintained his calm nature.

"Well, maybe if we split up, we'll have more luck that way," said Kira. "I'll search the downstairs. Lacus, you search the foyer. Meer, you search the living room, Flay, you look in here some more, and Stellar…?" He looked around. "Where is she?"

"I don't know," said Lacus. "She was here awhile ago."

"We can't worry about it now, we have to find this dress," said Kira. "Let's move-?"

"Hi guys," said Stellar as she walked in. She had a giant bag in her hands. She glanced around the room at everyone's frustrated, confused expressions. "Did I miss something? You guys all look like you're going through evasive maneuvers or something…"

"Stellar, what is that in your hands?" asked Cagalli as calmly as she could muster.

"It's your wedding dress, silly," she said with a smile. "We did you a favor and had it cleaned." She ignored the fact Cagalli was ready to go ballistic. "No need to thank me now." Cagalli kept her fists clenched and tried to keep her cool. Kira rubbed his temples with his index fingers.

"We should've known it was something like that…" said Kira. Lacus nodded in agreement.

"Well, it's no big deal now," said Miriallia, trying to calm Cagalli down. She smiled. "All that matters is that your dress is back, and you need to get into it, or Athrun's going to wonder why his bride is wearing cargos." Cagalli agreed.

"See, everything did work out," Kira told her as he hugged her. She hugged him back.

"Yeah, I guess…" she answered. He patted her cheek lightly.

"Time for the bride to get ready," he smiled. He kissed her on the forehead before making his way to the door. "I'll see you at the wedding, little sister." He shut the door behind him.

Cagalli took in a breath of relief. "There's nothing worse that could possibly happen…" she thought to herself. "Maybe things will start going right for a change…" Stellar pulled the beautiful dress out of the bag and handed it to Lacus. Lacus shot Cagalli a grin.

"You're going to look beautiful," she said.

Author's Note: ANOTHER UPDATE. IN THE SAME WEEK! It must be a record or something. So yeah, Stellar had the dress. More will be up soon. PLEASE REVIEW =)

This Chapter Updated 6/8/11