Hello, world. For everyone who expected an update last August 17, I sincerely apologize. I was really busy with work and I didn't want to give you a half-baked chapter, so I broke my promise (sorry..) and postponed uploading.
By the way, this time, I have an interesting treat to Kira fans and Asucaga fans alike. Think of it as a peace offering for the late upload :)
Without further ado, I give you chapter 33. Enjoy.
Disclaimer: The author of this fic does not own gundam seed/destiny, or its characters, because if I claimed I did, this site would delete my story—wouldn't it?—and the copyright people will sue me. Any similarities with other fics are purely coincidental, and so are any allusions to real events, places and people.
ooooo
Chap 33: Indecision
The sun rose high above their heads as Lacus made her way to Lt. Todaka's abode, where Cagalli was staying. It was harvest time and the air smelled of apples, oranges and ripe wheat. The songstress could almost taste the strawberries, piled up in a big mound being carted to the main plazas. Aprilius was a city ten times as big as Orb's capital, but the streets were twice as full.
Every face was unique, a sign of the vast array of races added to the Western superpower.
Athrun arranged a carriage for Lacus, Mwu and Miri. On the other hand, Kira asked to stay behind, saying he had other things he wanted to discuss with Zaft's prince.
"I have a feeling this has something to do with Princess Cagalli," Mwu sighed, chomping on the last bit of sandwich in his hand, part of the king-sized breakfast Athrun arranged for Kira's party. Mwu hated to admit it, but he had to give the prince credit for being extremely hospitable.
"In any case," Mwu shrugged his shoulders. "Last night was quite a surprise. I didn't think Zaft's prince would be that..."
The two girls looked at him curiously.
"That... nice. I can't believe we talked him into giving up this war just like that."
"He apparently doesn't want to attack Orb either," Miri replied. "He's probably more of a pacifist."
Lacus nodded, watching people's faces as they rushed past her in the carriage. "From what I've seen last night, he seems to be a gentle person. I feel at ease if someone like him is watching over Cagalli."
The carriage finally came to a stop. They got off in front of a plain two-story apartment in the middle of Zaft's military complex, where most soldiers received free housing. Lt. Todaka was a high-ranking officer, but he preferred to live simply.
A middle-aged, fatherly figure opened the door.
"Uncle, we have guests?" Luna peeked outside, carrying laundry from upstairs. Her eyes wide, she jumped to the front porch. "Lacus!"
The doctor bombarded Lacus with kisses and the biggest bear hug she could manage.
"Lacus! What brings you here? It feels like forever since I last saw you! How have you been? Are you losing weight? Cagalli will be thrilled to see you! Cagalli!"
Mwu and Miri were awestruck as they watched the perky girl disappear into the kitchen.
"We were worried for nothing," Mwu laughed.
"Why would you be worried?" Lt. Todaka grinned, opening the door widely for their guests. "Now let's get you inside for lunch. You're in luck, Cagalli's doing the cooking toda..."
Suddenly, smoke started to come out of the window. Mwu and Miri dashed inside, Lt. Todaka and Lacus following suit. When they reached the kitchen, gray smoke fogged their vision, the smell of something burning prompting all of them to cover their noses.
From inside, someone was going ballistic. Luna was trying her best to calm him down.
"I've had it! Either she gets out, or we go hungry!"
"Shinn, calm down."
"Luna, before this, she's ruined five apple pies, two strawberry shortcakes and twelve sets of fried eggs. This time, she almost burned the house!"
"Hey, I did not. The kitchen just caught a little fire, that's all."
Leave it to Cagalli to wreak havoc in the kitchen.
"Miss Cagalli, what were you trying to do?" Lt. Todaka asked between coughs, finding somewhere to step in the maze of muck and food leftovers. Lying on the stove, still smoking from the harrowing ordeal, was a soiled rag covering a pan of unrecognizable mush.
"You put too much firewood," Shinn spat, wiping the sweat and grime from his face.
"You were supposed to put in the firewood. You were taking too long so I did it myself," Cagalli retorted.
"I told you not to touch anything!"
"Cagalli, you shouldn't put too much firewood when you're frying something. The fire got to the oil and caused the whole thing to burn. Shinn, you should have taught her that."
Shinn scowled at Luna for defending Cagalli. "Well, I'm sorry if she can't cook to save her life."
"Take that back, squirt."
"Who are you calling a squirt? You almost got me killed!"
Todaka felt like hiding his head in the oven. This was embarrassing. He couldn't blame Lacus, who was overcome with laughter.
Only after landing a few punches on Shinn's head did Cagalli realize that her closest friend was at the door, laughing at how ridiculous the scene was. The princess jumped to the door, throwing her arms on her best friend.
+o+
"This is unfair."
"Give it a rest, Shinn."
"Why do I have to buy today's dinner?"
"Because we burned today's lunch. Get over it and let's hurry up."
The sour look never left Shinn's face. He almost burned himself trying to salvage what he could from their ruined lunch, and to top it all off, Luna blamed everything on him. If it were any consolation, Lacus offered him a sandwich.
"Here. Since it's Cagalli's fault that you had to skip lunch today. It's a little cold, but it tastes good."
Shinn took it gingerly, mumbling a quick thanks.
So he's that boy Murrue told me about, Mwu thought, recalling the Zaft soldier who befriended Stellar, Vierna's ill-fated princess. Murrue Ramius, the city's exiled sovereign, told Mwu about Stellar's story when she reached Orb.
This boy escaped Vierna's walls when he was being interrogated, Mwu contemplated further. Murrue did not know the details of Shinn's escape, but torture in her city was sure death. Nevertheless, Shinn survived.
He must be a formidable fighter, then, the lieutenant thought. Shinn may have been leaner than what Mwu would have expected from a Zaft soldier, but his stance was impeccable, his head squarely set on his shoulders, hands always ready to draw his sword. The boy also seemed aware of the fact that he was being observed.
"Don't be so tense. You don't need to be cautious of them. They're my friends," Cagalli grinned, nudging Shinn's belly.
Then tell him to stop staring at me, Shinn thought. "I'll go get the meat for dinner. You get the condiments. And please don't mix them up this time."
Rolling her eyes, Cagalli grabbed the money from Shinn's hands and sped to the other side of the market. Lacus and the rest followed her.
"Princess..."
"Miri, in this city, please refrain from calling me princess. Call me Cagalli," the princess grinned.
Miri sighed. It was the first time she had seen Cagalli after three months of paranoia. "You have no idea how happy we are to see you safe."
"I was fine all this time. Luna and the others are taking good care of me. Sure, Shinn annoys the hell out of me, but he's a nice person."
"Anyway," Mwu coughed, throwing a quick glance behind them. "We've come here to bring you home."
"What? Why?"
"What do you mean why?" Miri asked. "Everyone back in Orb was worried sick!"
"But I'm doing so well here! I've neglected to send messages for a while, but I promise to send notes every week from now on."
"But you've never sent us a single..."
"Ah, Lady Cagalli! I just passed by Captain Asuka a while ago. I knew I'd bump into you sooner or later."
Before Miri could finish what she was saying, Nicol popped into the picture. Mwu recognized him to be the soldier intercepting Cagalli's messages.
They seem friendly, Mwu thought, noting how Cagalli was completely at ease. In fact, Nicol seemed too friendly to be a soldier. The princess seems to trust him completely.
"Oh, Nicol, these are my friends from Orb. These are Mwu, Miri and Lacus."
"Oh my, you look just like Clandestine! She's a very famous actress here. You know her?"
Nicol seemed to pretend that he never met them. Mwu concluded one thing.
They're keeping Lady Cagalli in the dark about the assault against Orb.
Mwu grabbed the hand Nicol extended in friendship, making Nicol wince in his firm grip. But Mwu knew he feigned hurt. A Zaft soldier would never be so soft.
The lieutenant coughed softly, covering his mouth with his scarf. From behind it, he whispered to Miri. "There's one watching from the left and one from the right. At least 20 steps away."
Nicol started to bombard Lacus with questions as to how she was related to Zaft's premiere actress. Miri smiled, a gesture of friendship.
Sure, keep the act up, Nicol thought beneath all the smiles. We're watching.
+o+
Nicol was very helpful in Cagalli's shopping stint. By the time they were done, they found all the spices they needed for roast chicken, all at a much cheaper price. After an hour of searching the market for Shinn, they found him among a throng of people crowding around a wooden stage, the Zaft emblem waving proudly on four towering posts built on each corner.
The crowd was on their toes, watching a mock sword fight between two fighters.
"They've been at it for 30 minutes! Who do you think will win?"
"Of course, he'll win! He never lets us down."
"What about the other fighter?"
"He took down the last 20 men he fought in less than a minute each!"
"Commander, we're rooting for you! Don't lose!"
"Where did that genius come from?" Nicol asked, narrowing his eyes to zoom into the fight, which was a good distance away. The crowd cheered every time the Commander almost got his opponent. "He's definitely giving the prince a hard time."
"I can't see the other guy from this far away. Shinn, how can you stand watching the fight from here?"
Shinn ignored Cagalli, his eyes nailed to the fight.
"But still, that foreigner's amazing. You seem to know him, Sir Mwu."
Mwu tried to keep his friendly airs up, but Nicol's pretentious smile was getting on his nerves. From that distance, Mwu could tell that the two fighers were panting, their stamina wearing off.
"Look!" Nicol squeaked, faking an excited spectator's reaction. "He almost got the prince. He's good!"
"Too good," Shinn muttered.
+o+
In the middle of the ring, Kira was thankful that the autumn wind made the heat bearable.
"You're one hard man to beat, Prince Athrun."
"Of course. I wouldn't have survived all those battles if I weren't."
Except for a few variations, the rules of the fight were the same as in all mock fights. The strikes were not meant to kill. The fighters cannot injure sensitive areas like the neck, groin, or any other area that could be life-threatening. A fighter can win either by making the opponent step beyond the white line—the same rule in Zaft's mock brawls—or by scoring what would be a lethal blow had they been using real swords.
Athrun continued to pummel him with successive strikes, barely giving him the space to breathe. For most of the thirty minutes of the fight, Kira had been on the defensive.
"I see your style is very aggressive," Kira said, fighting to block off Athrun's sword as it clashed against his.
"Not really. I just don't think I should give you time to think."
Right on, Kira thought. He was a tactical fighter, the kind who analyzed the situation before making a move. With Athrun's lightning fast attacks, all Kira could rely on were his instincts.
"But you know, I've figured something about your style," Kira said.
"What is that?"
"You direct all your attention to only one direction. Maybe you get distracted easily."
"That's not true." Athrun broke off, pushing Kira to the other end of the ring. For the first time, they had wandered away from the center, standing at opposite ends.
"Is that my sister behind you?"
"Wha..."
But right before Athrun could turn to look, Kira came crashing against him with one powerful blow to push him out of the ring. It almost worked. Athrun stood with his sword pierced to the wooden stage, anchoring him in place. The force was so strong, it shook the four posts surrounding the ring.
"Breaking the ring should be against the rules," Kira grinned, amused at Athrun's annoyed expression.
"You're the one who isn't playing fair."
"Just testing a theory. And it looks like I'm right." Without giving Athrun a moment to recover, Kira moved to the offensive.
+o+
Kira wasn't lying, though. Cagalli did make it somehow to the front row, amid the thick crowd that had gathered to see the fight. In his mind, he breathed a sigh of relief. Cagalli was safe and sound.
Athrun pulled his attention back to the fight with a deafening strike. "See? I told you we didn't do anything to her."
"I see she was well taken care of. Thank you for looking after her," Kira retaliated with a rapid series of blows, trying to catch Athrun off guard. Taking one second to catch his own breath, Kira asked, "From the look on her face, I can tell she is very troubled by the fact that her brother and a friend are neck to neck in the ring. How well acquainted are you two?"
Without taking the time to answer, Athrun dunked, aimed a kick at Kira's ankles, to which he promptly jumped out of the way. Just as he landed, Athrun's sword came crashing down, almost ramming into his face.
"I see you don't like talking about this?"
"You haven't stopped asking about that since this morning. And I'll give you the same answer. We're friends."
Athrun swung his blade to hit Kira's neck, but Kira was quick to block it. Anyone could see the frustration on Athrun's face. His opponent's smirk irritated him even more. He knew he had no time to waste. Le Creuset had escaped the night before, the obvious course of action after guiding Kira's party in Aprilius. Now it was clear where his allegiance lied, and he was, without a doubt, a threat.
Athrun had sent Yzak and Dearka to trace his whereabouts, but he knew they wouldn't be able to capture him. His whereabouts were an easy guess, though.
He'll go to wherever Dullindal is. In this case, Orb.
But now that Kira had promised he would deliver Dullindal to Aprilius, Le Creuset's decision may no longer be as clear-cut. While his mind rattled through the possibilities, the screaming of the crowd was gradually getting to him, and the heat wasn't helping much, either. To make things worse, shewas watching.
You must be very happy right now. Athrun threw a quick glance at Cagalli, a few feet away. She looked very tense, shoulders hunched, as if she wanted to jump into the ring herself. Athrun rolled his eyes. This was the first time Cagalli had seen him struggling so badly against anyone—by his standards, anyway. If Kira were to beat him, it would be the second time someone from her family—Orb's royal family—defeated him. Quite an honor for Orb.
Of course she would be rooting for her brother, for Orb. What was I expecting?
+o+
Meanwhile, the fight had gathered much attention, even from the establishments surrounding the plaza. Many of its residents, mostly working men having midafternoon tea, stepped out to the balconies to watch.
One of them, however, didn't need to. His seat was placed conveniently beside a window overlooking the plaza, a perfect viewing spot hidden from the public. His tea had been barely touched for an hour—since the fight started.
"Formidable opponent... What do you think, Patrick?"
Sitting in front of him was Reverend Malchio, his closest adviser and Athrun's godfather. While the rest of the city was restless amid the fight, his calm visage mirrored the clear blue skies. The reverend could not be fazed by anything.
"A preview of sorts for the upcoming battle. Athrun's failing miserably. I was expecting a lot more out of him."
Grinning, Malchio said, "Were you expecting him to have defeated Prince Kira by now?"
"I was expecting him to have defeated Prince Kira at the first strike."
The reverend shrugged his shoulders, crossing his fingers. Patrick was not being full of himself. He was being cautious. To most people, it would look as if both fighters were equally exhausted. But if one looked closely, Athrun was panting a lot more heavily than Kira was.
"In terms of build, Athrun is quite a bit heavier than Prince Kira," Malchio commented. "That gives Orb's prince the obvious advantage in speed, and, I guess, in stamina as well?"
"Athrun's asset lies in his strength. His style is to finish off his opponents in one swift and powerful strike," Patrick replied. "That's why none of his mock brawls ever last for more than half an hour. The longer the fight drags on, the more tired he gets."
Neither fighter had moved for a minute. Most people thought they were reading each other's moves.
"Athrun's just trying to catch his breath," Patrick sighed. "That's why he's taking so long to deliver the last blow."
Malchio looked at his long-time friend, noting the creases on his forehead deepening. "You seem disappointed in him."
"I'm disappointed in him in a lot of things."
Patrick's eyes were fixed not on the fight, but on Orb's princess, watching intently at ringside. She seemed to be in deep thought, trying to figure out what the two fighters would do.
+o+
Cagalli was also one of the few who noticed that Kira was much less exhausted than Athrun was. Looks like his breathing exercises are paying off pretty well, she thought.
At this rate, it seemed like the odds were in favor of her brother. The fact that he was on the defensive most of the time meant Athrun expended more energy being on the offensive. It surprised Cagalli how Athrun took so long to notice. Kira's strategy was to save all of his strength for the last blow, dragging the fight long enough to exhaust his opponent.
One of the most basic strategies in the book. Why didn't Athrun think of this earlier?
It was, indeed, strange, for someone of Athrun's caliber not to notice what Kira was planning. His moves for the entire fight were uncharacteristic of him as well. The Commander always reminded his men to think before making the next move, but here he was just throwing blows whenever he got the chance. It was almost like he regressed into an amateur.
Whatever's bothering him right now, it's really distracting him, Cagalli thought.
After a few minutes of standing still, Athrun wasn't panting as heavily as before. Cagalli watched as he loosened up the muscles on his arms and neck. As he moved his neck in circles, he chanced upon Cagalli staring.
The girl instantly froze. She instantly had the urge to avoid his gaze.
What's with that smirk? And to think I was actually worried about him.
Looking away, she ended up finding a familiar face among the spectators watching from one of the windows. It was the old soldier she had befriended on her first day in Aprilius.
The man was better dressed today than when she first met him. From so high up, he looked like a stately nobleman above his subjects, even if it was the prince he met eye to eye with. The man scoffed, as if to show he was displeased about something. Then he turned his back and disappeared into the darkened room.
Cagalli thought it was uncharacteristically rude of the man, who had been so nice to her when he toured her around the city. She turned to Athrun, thinking he would have the usual baffled look on his face when he saw something unexpected. But she was wrong.
"That dark look in your eyes is not a good sign," she heard Kira say, gripping his own weapon firmly. "Whatever your intentions are, they don't belong in a mock fi..."
Everyone heard the ring crack under Athrun's feet as he charged towards Kira, forcing Kira to take a few steps back. Successive strikes rained down on him, the crowd roaring in excitement. All Kira could do was block and back away, overwhelmed by Athrun's sheer power.
Forced to near closer and closer to the edge of the ring, Kira found himself pushed to one of the wooden posts. Not once breaking contact, Athrun pushed on, threatening to crush Kira's neck. Kira fought to maintain his ground.
The crowd was ecstatic, cheering Athrun on. But Kira knew Athrun was deaf to that. All that was in his mind was his opponent, the ring, and an uncontrollable urge to beat him into a bloody pulp.
Kira knew the final blow was coming. With lightning fast movements, Athrun prepared himself to strike. That split-second was the chance Kira was waiting for. Athrun was open for attack. Not wasting the opportunity, Kira aimed for a blow to the man's side, worried a forward attack using a pointed weapon could puncture his opponent's gut.
That slight moment of hesitation cost him the win. His sword flying off to the crowd, Kira clutched his hand, throbbing with pain from Athrun kicking the weapon out of his grip. The next thing he knew, Athrun's shadow blocked out the sun, raising his sword.
Reason was completely out of the window. Knowing it could save his life, Kira grabbed a small knife from his pocket.
"No, don't!"
Before Kira could pull it out, Athrun's sword came crashing down. Not on flesh, but on wood. Breathing heavily, Athrun let go of his wooden blade, snapped in half from hitting the oak posts. Splinters of wood lay as far as the edge of the crowd as they stood in awe. The post, at least twenty feet high, was almost pried off the ring. A couple of nails came off from the side.
From behind him, Kira could hear someone sigh in relief.
"What do you think you're doing? You almost broke my brother's neck!"
It took a while before Athrun realized Cagalli was talking to him. Whatever took over him seemed to have calmed down for now. Avoiding eye contact, Athrun turned away.
"Both of us are incapable of continuing the fight. Let's call it a draw," he bellowed, jumping off the ring.
+o+
"Drats, where could he have gone?" Cagalli muttered, catching her breath.
"I don't understand why we're searching for him in his own city. There's no way he could get lost, you know."
"That's not the point, Kira. Just keep quiet and follow me, I know this city better than you do. Or go back to the others. Lacus might be worried."
"And let my directionally-challenged sister get lost in a big city like this? Not a chance."
Kira sighed. He was still exhausted from his bout with Zaft's prince, but Cagalli had him scouring the city for the man. They had covered half the city already.
But at least he had one consolation.
"I'm just glad you're safe."
The past three months had been the longest in his life, ever since Cagalli decided to become a spy. All the anxious nights he waited for Cagalli's first message that never got to his hands. All the nights he thought something had happened to his precious sister..
"Why was everyone so worried?" Cagalli grinned, brushing off his hand. Without Kira realizing it, his hand started to brush away the stray strands of hair sticking on his sister's face. Her skin was slightly darker after being exposed to the harsh southern summer for so long, but her face was vibrant as ever.
"Cagalli, how close are you to Prince Athrun?"
"That question again?" Cagalli snapped. "I'm tired of people making a fuss of it. We're.."
"Friends. I know, you better be nothing more."
"What, you think I've fallen for him, willingly become his queen and never come back to Orb? Please, it'd take a lot more than his knight-in-shining-armor charm to capture my heart."
Kira wasn't smiling anymore.
"Brother, he may not share our ideals on many things, but he's a good man. And he's never done anything to hurt me."
The bitter look on her brother's face was not a good sign.
"He hasn't done anything to hurt you, Cagalli. Not yet. I think it's time you heard the truth."
0000000
There. This chapter was supposed to be a lot longer, but this looked like a good cliffie. Hope everyone liked the Athrun vs Kira fight. Don't worry, I will do my very best to make the next one more exciting (woops, spoiler. Oh well). Many thanks to everyone who has followed this story up to this point. Don't forget to leave a review. Nothing beats the feeling of being appreciated. Thanks and till the next update.