I'm so sorry for the late update and to those who I already promised to update soon. As you know I've been struggling with this fic because of the theme. LOL. Still keep on asking myself why did I choose this theme in the first place? So, please tell me should I continue this fic or not? Again, please bear with my grammar and again I'm so thankful to those who are supporting me endlessly. I love you guys. Enjoy!

Chapter 9 : Unexpected

"What? I beg your pardon?" Cagalli fazed at the question.

"I mean, what would you choose, marrying someone for duty even if you didn't love that person or marrying someone you really love?" He explained his question. Never expect such questions from the man beside her. Cagalli searched for an appropriate answer to the question, still she couldn't fathom what was the purpose of the question. She was always suspicious that Athrun knew about her identity and this question particularly, surely triggered her wariness. Again, she asked herself 'Did he know her real identity? But why didn't he ask?'

"My mother said that this is finally time for me to find a suitor. She asked me to find any noble woman I'd like to marry. She already gave me some options though." Seeing her disturbed face, Athrun immediately added. Cagalli felt relieved, so he didn't know who she was yet. It was a question about him. Yet, something felt wrong, it was bothering her, she didn't know what exactly. She just disliked the idea of Athrun getting married. However, she quickly tried to shake it off.

"Hmm, this is a difficult question. To be honest, I was in a similar situation with you back then. My father forced me to be a slave and I don't even know the reason, but since I don't want to, I ran away. However, it was different since you have a big responsibility on your hands." Cagalli tried to explain her situation but left out the truth which makes it a bit confusing.

"How can that be similar?" He creased his brows, it was somewhat different from what he really asked.

Truthfully, she was really in a similar situation to him, but she just couldn't tell him. It was easier for her to abandon the kingdom because the East had Kira as the heirs. The difference between her and Athrun, Athrun was the crown prince, he couldn't just leave his country just because he didn't want to get married with someone he didn't love, unlike her, he had bigger responsibilities.

She thought for a bit. "It felt similar though."

"No, it's not." 'and you definitely lied to me.', Athrun added in his mind.

Cagalli pouted, her mind still tried to find a way to explain what she meant without revealing anything. Athrun smiled and looked at her serenely, he never felt this way toward a girl. He didn't realize he was staring at her, lucky for him, she was too dense to feel conscious about the stare.

"It was a similar situation if you look at it from a different perspective. See, you can compare being forcefully married with forcefully being a slave. The decision though is different for me and you, since you are next in line for the throne and I'm just a commoner." Again, she tried to simplify what she meant.

"Hmm, really? But being a slave was very different from being married don't you think?" Still didn't sure what Cagalli meant, he decided to change the topic. "Forget it, let's go home."

"Home? But I still want that potato cookie, can't we go back to the shop first?" Cagalli pleaded, "Or maybe you can go back first, I'm fine buying it by myself!" She gave him a choice, but she didn't really expect for his company, after all he is her superior and on top of that he is the crown prince of the west, he would never do something like accompanying his employee to the cookie shop.

She was ready to move and walk away from him, but before that, Athrun once again grabbed her hand and he pulled her to walk beside him. "Not happening. It'll be dark soon, and I don't think you can find your way back to the cookie place." He said to her.

Her face reddened again, it was not because she was embarrassed at the fact maybe Athrun was right about she couldn't find the cookie place again, but it was because he again for the third time today, suddenly just grabbed her hand. 'What was he thinking? Am I a pet or something?'

"Athrun." She braced up to call him.

"Yes?" Athrun asked her like he had nothing to say or didn't even realize what he had done.

"I'll follow you, so please let go of my hand." Widening his eyes, he didn't realize he did that. Athrun let go of his hand, he felt a bit disappointed but he let it go anyway. Actually it was a habit of his, when he walked with his mother he wanted to protect her by holding her hand, keeping her close. Probably, cagalli had brought out his protective side too, so he held her hand without fully aware of what he did.

After he let go of his hand, Cagalli quickly took some steps ahead of him so they were a bit distant, and then she continued,

"As a great leader, I think you can choose what would be the best for yourself and for your country. You just have to believe in what you choose." With that Cagalli ran from Athrun as fast as possible, she was too embarrassed to admit her compliment toward him.

He halted a bit when he heard her praise. It felt warm, it was such a long time someone called him a great leader. A small smile crept to his face but it suddenly disappeared when his mind again contemplated what to do about his mother's request, because for the first time in so many years, he finally found someone that could make him feel something so foreign yet pleasant. He was happy every time he saw her. She was not that beautiful in an elegant way, but for him, she was the most beautiful girl he ever met. Sometimes, he wished he was just a commoner, he wouldn't be burdened by this kind of problem, he can marry whomever he wanted too. For now, he just wishes for a miracle to happen or maybe a law that could allow the western crown prince to marry a commoner.

Drap drap drap

The sound of rushed footsteps rang out throughout the hallway, from the sound, you could hear that whoever had those footsteps was quite in a hurry. After a few minutes of small running the young woman finally opened the door toward her father's new chamber. It had been a few months since her and his father moved to the palace. She wanted to tell his father immediately an interesting fact she had discovered. However, when she got there, she was surprised to see a blonde man with a mask hiding half of his face was also there with his father sitting behind his work table. The strongest knight on the East, they called him.

"Fllay. I told you don't bother me about Seiran." The new king of the east remembered that he already warned his daughter before. He already had enough problems on his hands since the princess hadn't been found yet for months and now his daughter was nagging him about the Seiran all week.

"No father, this time I bring you more important news." She said hastily.

"It better be about the princess or else."

"I promise you this is important, but Sir Crueset is here, so I-"

"If it is important then you can tell him too." George said firmly.

Hesitating for a bit, she finally decided to tell her father of what she had seen. She was tailing Miriallia Haww because she was leery toward her. She was surprised when she saw Miriallia went to Stellar Loussier's house. She was already suspicious of Stellar Loussier at first, but she didn't know her doubt was true all along.

"So?" George tried to grasp what was the meaning behind his daughter's rants.

"I guess Stellar Loussier would know where the princess was. You said the princess is in the west, right? Miss Loussier is from the west!"

Furrowing his brows, George thought for a bit. Of course, why he didn't think of that. Cagalli was in the west, and Stellar was a foreigner from the west. It was not coincidental, they must have planned the runaway together. How can he miss that? Maybe he was too busy running the Kingdom who was now on the verge of deficiency, since there was no Athha blood staying on the east. Now, it was not the time for contemplation. He was already late. Finding the princess was the most important thing to do, since she could be the key to gain the magical power without too much effort.

"Sir Raww, have you already found the great sage to confirm the scriptures?" He asked the blonde man.

"Yes, your majesty. He would be here in two days." The blonde man answered him calmly.

"Alright. Let's seize the princess first. Send someone to check on Miss Loussier's residence in the west, we could have a lead from there."

"Immediately, your Majesty." There was a small smile on Raww's face that wasn't seen by the other occupants in the room. It all went perfectly as he planned. He just needed to find the princess first and it would all go smoothly just like a domino effect. Now, he just needed to send this piece of information to Rey's team immediately.

Months had passed since Kira was abducted by the southern kingdom. He was planning about what to do next. He promised himself that he would come back to claim the throne back and put justice to his father's death.

"Feeling better Prince Kira? It was the first time you asked for an audience with me." The handsome man asked him. Halsten Frigard was 20 years old when he was crowned as a King. With his short silver hair and light green orbs, small yet strong face features made him so unexpectedly handsome. It was questionable as to why the young King still hadn't taken someone as his bride yet. However, the people of the south never complained about it, since their King always did his best to provide for the country.

"You can call me Kira, King Halsten." Kira answered him.

"Then just Halsten for you too, I don't mind." Again he flashed his best smile, known for his friendliness, it was easy for him to make allies with other country leaders. He had a knack to make people comfortable around him.

Kira nodded as he took a seat in front of the Southern King. He asked for a meeting with the Southern King regarding what he would do next. He also asked Kisaka to attend the meeting. These past months, Kira spent his time mostly in his rooms, thinking, planning and contemplating. Sometimes Lacus came by to accompany him at lunch or dinner, but most of the time he was alone in his rooms, he asked for it and everyone respected his wishes, including the southern king. He admitted he didn't know much about Halsten Frigard, he just knew Halsten had a great relationship with his father. So, before he started the discussion, Kira asked Halsten his reasons on why he helped him and not the other way around. Since for now, Kira had no power over the Eastern kingdom within his hold and Halsten would gain nothing if he helped him. At the question, Halsten just said with a smile, he had his reasons, but for now he couldn't explain it to him. Kira was still curious, but for now, he let it slide.

"Before I start, is there any important news from the east?" Kira asked

"Since your father died, I had restricted sources in the east. I'm being careful not to blow my spies' cover. Not much new information I can gather. However, I can tell you that Miriallia Haww is migrating to Kaguya region." He said with a firm tone.

"How about my sister? Do you know where she really is?" Kira asked again.

"She is fine, George hasn't found her yet. But, I can guarantee you that she might be very safe for now." Halsten answered him calmly. "Do you want to retrieve her now?" he continued.

"I think that's probably for the best. We really have to make sure she is safe and she will be safer with me."

"Well then, shall we visit the Western kingdom? But before that, let's prepare a gift for the king of the west." He smiled at him.

Cagalli already worked in the mansion around seven months or less. Athrun was so generous to her, it raised her wariness all the time. She was given delicious food everyday, even she was given some new clothes. She asked Nicol why Athrun was so generous to her, he said, it was nothing special, Athrun was always generous to his worker. Truth be told, she didn't know that Shinn already ordered Nicol to give her that answer if she ever asked. Nicol himself didn't know why Athrun was so generous to Cagalli. An idea flashed in his mind, but he shrugged it off and pretended to not know anything. Her mind went back to the time she met Athrun at the market. Athrun finally led them to the cookie shop first before they went home and he bought her a lot of potato cookies.

After seven months of working, she already grasped the important thing on her work and she felt guilty that now she felt that she has less job than anyone else in the mansion well maybe except Shinn. Athrun rarely visits the mansion too, so much of her time was spent too vacantly. She asked Athrun two months ago for more tasks, but he said no, instead giving her more tasks, he asked her to learn archery and swordsmanship. She asked why, he just said being his employee can give her a constant danger, so she should learn some defense moves and he said Nicol could teach her. It sounds not too bad for her, so she agreed with it and when Nicol knew he could go in the 'pleasure room', he was so happy, he even clapped his hand and did jump a bit in excitement.

Her days in the mansion were so good so far, but she felt a bit annoyed at her defense training. It seems archery would never be her area of expertise, even though she tried many times, it seems she could never hit the target perfectly. Nicol already gave up and said that it was fine, she didn't have to be perfect, she was already great when she could hit near the main target, still she didn't feel satisfied with that achievement. However, Nicol praised her on her swordsmanship, he said that she was strong enough to handle swords, he also was a bit surprised that she could show some plausible moves. Nicol didn't know that actually she already learned a bit of swordsmanship with Stellar, so this is like practicing what she already can do.

Actually this weekend she planned to visit Murrue and Aisha. However, Athrun was home and he asked her to come to the 'pleasure room' to do her job. Cagalli couldn't reject him, because she felt responsible for her large amount of salary that seemed to be unlogical with this kind of job. So, she followed him to the room. He started with running for a few laps. On the final lap he asked Cagalli to run with him. She agreed without hesitation. She remembered her days with Stellar, it felt so long ago since the last time she ran with her. Stellar told her that running will train her muscles to be stronger. Seeing her run, Athrun was amazed at her speed, she was definitely not a normal girl. After running, Athrun asked her to pick an arrow and a bow and he asked her to shoot on a target on the board. He wanted to see how much she had learned so far he said.

At first she was annoyed at what he said, but she did it anyway. Unfortunately, she missed the main target, she only got the outer ring of the dart board. Athrun took another bow and a few arrows. He shoots three arrows at the same time and all of them end up right on the main target. She was in awe, he definitely got the skill. Nicol was good, but Athrun was on another level. He asked her to pick an arrow again, he said he will teach her how to use it properly. She nodded in excitement. When she was ready on her position to aim the target, she felt his hand on her elbow, fixing the position of her hand and he was standing so close to her like he was ready to hug her any minute.

Dug dug dug

It was the sound of her heartbeat, beating so fast. It was a different method of teaching. Nicol never touched her, he just asked her to copy him, he never really fixed her stance. 'Is that maybe why she has not improved much?'

"You should position this higher and this a bit lower, don't be tense, just relax." He said to her as he pointed out to both of her right elbow and her left hand. How can she relax, when he was touching her elbow like that, she wanted to say it to him. She tried to concentrate once again when he let go of his hand below her elbow and she succeeded in hitting the main target, finally.

"See? It was that easy. I wonder what Nicol had taught you." He gave her a smug, being so confident in his teaching skill, but she didn't mind that. Her mind was occupied with something else. She didn't know if it was a usual thing for the male in the west to hold hands with a female that's not his lover or touching any female with no boundaries. That time, he held her hand and now he was touching her elbow, not to mention standing so close to her, she could even hear his breath. She closed her eyes, she had to shake this weird question. She was not in the eastern anymore, so it might be a usual occasion. She could feel her heart became more steady as she tried to shake off her confusion. When he asked her to put the bow down and took out the sword, Shinn just came in unannounced.

"Your grace, Miss Mordaunt is coming." Shinn told Athrun.

"Don't you think you should knock first?" Athrun was a bit annoyed at the sudden interruption.

"I'm sorry, I was in a hurry, your grace." Shinn bowed down, there was a slight mockery in his voice, but Cagalli pretended to not notice it.

"Alright, miss Cagalli, I think it's time to end our training today. Shinn, guide Miss Mordaunt to the meeting room, I want to change my clothes first."

Before Athrun left, Cagalli asked him if she can visit Murrue today, because she already promised her last week when they met at the market. Athrun didn't answer immediately, but he gave her permission in the end. When Athrun left the room, Cagalli immediately tidied up the room and went out to visit Murrue's house. Before Athrun went to meet the guest, he asked Shinn to follow Cagalli in secret, since it's almost dark.

"Why do I have to do this all the time?" Shinn complained, it's not the first time he had to tail Cagalli around secretly and he felt it was so unnecessary. Yeah, they said love is blind. That was definitely true, Shinn thought.

"Because I trust you?"

"She is just an employee or so I thought?"

"Just do my order."

"Ugh, alright. I'll take my leave then." With that Shinn left the mansion unwillingly.

Cagalli was too surprised when she saw Stellar in Murrue's house. She couldn't believe that Stellar was here, after almost seven months in this foreign country, she finally met someone she was familiar with.

"Stellar!" She hugged her friend tightly and Stellar hugged her back.

Stellar was already in the west for a week, but her mother refused to tell her where Cagalli was working and staying, she said Cagalli would come to the house eventually. Truthfully, it was Shinn who askeìd Murrue to keep it a secret. So, after Stellar arrived in the west, she waited for Cagalli to show up. Even after a week, she didn't tell her mother or anyone else in the west about Cagalli's identity, it seemed her mother didn't know the truth yet.

After Cagalli talked for a bit with Stellar, Murrue asked her to have dinner at the house. There were also Mwu, Aisha and Andrew there, so she really didn't want to refuse, this felt like a festive dinner for her, Mwu and Andrew really have a great sense of humor, so she really liked to hang around with them. She talked about her current job, but leaving out the fact that she was hired by the crown prince, of course. Unbeknownst to her, Murrue already knew her real employer was, but Murrue still kept her silent.

After the dinner, Cagalli talked to Stellar about what she had discovered in the west, how she was so lucky to meet her parents and how she was amazed at how colorful western kingdom was. She said sometimes she missed the East too, she missed her brother, Miri, Stellar and of course her father. Stellar just smiled at her rants, she didn't know how to tell Cagalli about her father. After a while, she seemed to run out of topics then Stellar asked her for a walk. She said she needed to tell her something important. So, they told Murrue that they will take a walk without defining any destination.

"Cagalli. Let's talk here." Stellar said to her.

They were stopping in a desolate pathway surrounded by large trees on each side of the way. It was a bit distant from the house but not that far, just 10 minutes walking. It looks like a dangerous place for a woman to walk alone, but since it was Cagalli and Stellar, they just didn't seem to mind.

Cagalli halted her steps and suddenly Stellar hugged her tightly. Stellar couldn't tell Cagalli at home because there were so many people gathered at her house and she was afraid of Cagalli's reaction. Stellar knew how happy Cagalli was when she told her all of the stories and she didn't know how the news would affect Cagalli at this moment. So after a few minutes of hugging, Stellar began her story. She told her everything that happened in the east. They didn't realize that there were some people who listened to their conversation.

"You're lying. You're definitely lying." Cagalli didn't believe what she just heard. No, she refused to believe it.

"Why must I lie to you?" Stellar hid her misty eyes, she felt guilty having to break the news to Cagalli.

Cagalli on the other hand, still didn't believe every single word Stellar had mentioned. It was hard for her to believe any of her words. Stellar lied, that could be the only explanation. However, before she could really digest the unexpected news. A group of three, jumped down from the trees near them and surrounded them. The three men wore masks and each of them drew their swords toward them.

"So, princess you've changed your hair, quite clever, that's why it is so difficult to find you." The blonde one said.

"Who are you?" Cagalli asked roughly, a bit perturbed at the fact she didn't bring any weapon with her. She was taken aback at the sudden ambush and forgetting what Stellar just said momentarily.

"Just surrender yourself, so we won't be harsh." Said the one with the blue hair.

"Who are you?! I'm not the princess!" Cagalli shouted at them while standing guard.

"Oh really? Don't deny it. We heard everything, your grace. Just surrender now, no one will be dead, we'll spare your friend too, we just need you alive." The green haired man talked with an arrogant tone. Without the attackers knowing, Cagalli and Stellar already exchanged signs of what they would do next. Their training together really helped them communicate secretly.

"Stellar! Now!"

Cagalli jumped at the green haired man in front of her, tackled him to the ground and punched him in the head, when Stellar doing a somersault and kicked the blue haired man on the head. The two fell at the sudden attack. Seeing an opening, Stellar immediately took Cagalli's hand and ran.

"Let's run!"

Cagalli took Stellar's hand and got up. They ran but not far, because the blonde man could run faster than them and in no time had reached them. He pointed his sword to Stellar but she didn't budge.

"Just surrender, I will let you live." he said to them.

"Who is ordering you?" She asked him to stall for some time when she thought for any possible way to escape him.

"For someone who has no chance against me, you sure sound so confident, princess."

The blonde man raised his words and slashed toward Cagalli and Stellar joined hands, avoiding the attack, they let go of each other's hand, he tried to make both of them separated. He succeeded, they were separated. Cagalli scanned the nearest stone around her and took one small stone secretly. The blonde man walked toward Cagalli, but did not bother about Stellar on the other side. He kicked Cagalli's shin. It was so painful and made Cagalli fall on her knees. She took her chances and threw the stone she took earlier, aimed for his head. He felt a bit hurt and Stellar who was already on her stance threw one of her blades for her.

"Cagalli!"

She reached for the blade and tried to stab his stomach with it, but she failed because he wore an under armor behind his clothes.

"Surprised?" he gave her a smug.

He punched Cagalli's neck in a split second and then she went unconscious. He reached for his pocket for a rope a bit wondering why the other two of his companions still had not come yet. However, it was foolish of him to still ignore the other girl because he felt something painful on his hand when he was reaching for the rope. He looked on his arm, there was a blade piercing through his left hand and blood continued to flow from his hand. He took out the blade from his hand and he took a step to approach her.

"I told you to surrender, why don't you understand?" He moved so fast, Stellar just blinked and he was already in front of her, ready to slash off her head with a sword. She closed her eyes, ready to face her death, but nothing came, instead the blonde man fell on her. Someone dabbed him on his crook.

"Are you alright?" A man with raven hair and red bloody eyes came to her as she opened her eyes. Stellar realized who just saved her.

"Shinn!" Stellar got up and she hugged her saviour.

Cagalli felt a bit dizzy, it was blurry for her, she caught a glimpse of a black hair man with Stellar, but before she could manage to guess, Cagalli went unconscious for the second time.

Special thanks to all my reviewers Char01, CagalliHIbikiYulaAthha-Zala, ShinkuAlice, Darffiarr, mhlynda and all of the unnamed guests for reviewing my works. You really kept me going you know. I really hope to hear from you, since I'm struggling with this story as it goes by. Hehe. So, should I stop or continue the story? Tell me what you think. Thank you again and see you!