Hey Everyone! I'm finally back with the ninth chapter.
Before you get started, though, i would just like to thank all those reviewers out there! Your review have now gone past the fifty mark and I am so thankful because this shows that my story has not totally bombed. LOL! WOW! I still can not believe it. Fifty, woah! Thanks you all. If it wasn't for you, I would probably have stopped this lame excuse for a plotline long ago. LOL! And thanks, Angel of Dreams, you have been such an encouragement to me. You are probably my number one fan anf I thank you for it, from the bottom of myheart. (tears start to well up in self's eyes)
Anayways!( wipes tears away and acts as if that scene did not just happen) Here is my ninth chapter!
They all stepped into the limo, randomly, and the car drove off...
It seemed to Cagalli that they had been positioned by fate. She couldn't have positioned them better herself. She had landed next to her secretary, who was by the window behind the drivers seat. Next to her sat Athrun and across from him sat Miriallia. Dearka had just happened to end up next to her with Yzak beside him.
Kimiko shifted uncomfortably in her seat as she noticed Yzak's gave fall upon her. Several things were going through his mind at that precise moment. For some reason, this Natural girl, if she even was a Natural for he doubted that for a couple of reasons, had captured his interest. He just could not tear his eyes away from her. He knew that she had to be a Natural because he highly doubted that this Cagalli would higher anyone but a Natural. But she looked so much like a Coordinator. She had this air about her that was so confident, more so than what a Natural should feel. And her eyes…they were an unnatural shade of pale lavender that matched her sleeveless dress perfectly. Her dress fell right at her knee, but like Miriallia's dress, came up to about five inches above her knee when she sat down. Yzak caught himself looking at the place where the end of her dress rested, several times during there long journey towards Atha Mansion. And then there was her hair. There were purple streaks through her long black hair. The coloring fit her so well that he thought it just had to have been there since birth, meaning that she was a Coordinator. "Why am I so interested in whether this pretty girl is a Coordinator. Wait a second! I couldn't possibly be ATTRACTED to this woman! Impossible!" Yzak turned his head and looked out the window.
Meanwhile, Dearka was in seventh heaven. He was sitting next to Miriallia and he didn't even do it on purpose. It must have been fate! Earlier, on the transport. He had purposely told her that the seat next to him was hers, when in reality it wasn't. He had stripped off the number so she didn't suspect him of lying. But this time, it was all fate. He was absolutely ecstatic over this. Ah, what simple pleasures bring the most joy!
He watched her as she was engrossed in getting caught up with Cagalli. He watched her as she smiled from something Cagalli had said, he didn't know what because he was to enthralled in Miriallia. It was so good to see her smile again. It was right then and there that he vowed to do everything in his power to keep her smiling, no matter what. He watched as she moved her lips up and down in response to something Cagalli had asked her. "Oh, if only I could kiss her right now. I wonder what it would fell like." Dearka hit himself, again, mentally, on his forehead. "No Dearka, you shouldn't think such things. She'd Miriallia, you pervert." Then he got a very contemplative expression on his face. "But then again, is it so bad to want to kiss the woman you are in love with?"
Before Dearka could answer this question, Cagalli announced that they had arrived at the Atha Mansion. Miriallia looked out the window and uttered a "Wow!" as they pulled up and a man in a black tuxedo opened the car door. Yes, Miriallia had been there before, but it still held it's wondrous enchantment for her as the day she first laid eyes on it.
They all stepped out of the limo, one by one, and a sudden heat hit them in the face like a heavy blanket. "Oh man, it's hot out!" Cagalli said and started taking off her black jacket, revealing a red tank and black cargo pants. Miriallia wished that she could take something off, but the only thing she had on was her dress, and it wouldn't have been very appropriate to take that off with all those guys around.
Athrun, too, took off his jacket and Dearka tried to follow suit, but Yzak stopped him. "No, we are ZAFT soldier. So,we should look like it." Dearka rolled his eyes.Yzak wanted to take off his coat too, but knew that if he encountered a ZAFT official that both he and Dearka would be toast.
The only one who didn't seem too effected by the heat was Kimiko, who was already wearing just a tank dress. She had obviously been prepared for the heat. It was her job, after all, to keep up with things, including the weather.
Cagalliturned around just before entering the mansion. "Welcome, all, to my abode…." And then she led the way in.
Upon entering, Dearka stood in awe of the magnificence of the Atha mansion. "Boy, Athrun's a lucky man. To be able to live like royalty, wow!"
Once they were all in, they noticed that it wasn't any cooler inside, than out. In fact, it was hotter.
But, this was distracted from there minds when Miriallia saw a pair of familiar people come racing down the stairs.
"Oh! It is so good to see you again, Miriallia." the pink haired, former songtress, walked up to Miriallia and the two embraced in a loving, affectionate hug.
It's been a long time, hasn't it Mir? About six months?" The tall, dark haired companion of Lacus gave Miriallia a hug. "I've missed you."
"I've missed you too, Kira. It has been a long time, too long." Miriallia smiled up at him.
"Hey buddy!" Dearka signaled for Kira to come over to them and he walked up to Dearka and Dearka wrapped his arms around him in a semi-hug, patting his back.
"Hi, Dearka", Kira returned his embrace. " It's good to see you again." Kira then stretched out his hand to Yzak. "You too, Yzak."
Yzak just grunted, with a grim look upon his face.
Kira pulled his hand back as though he had been burnt. Yes, he had killed some of Yzak's fellow soldiers during the war, but the war was over and he didn't think he deserved to be treated as though he was nonexistent.
Cagalli moved over to where Miriallia and Lacus were and the group gradually separated into two groups, one containing the boys, and the other containing the girls.
The girls started chit chatting, while the boys, of course, were involved in more serious conversation.
"So, Kira, what's it like to be a married man?" Dearka queried as he swished his head in the direction of Lacus.
Kira instantly started to blush. "Ah…ah…well, it's good."
Dearka raised his brows. "Come on, Kira, surely you have more of an opinion than that."
"Ah…well…" Kira started to say but then the girls started up into a roar of laughter and Kira couldn't help but fell saved by the laughter because Dearka immediately turned his attention to the girls.
"Eh… I wonder what they are laughing at" Dearka cocked his head to the side while examining the scene that the happy girls portrayed.
"Probably me," Athrun muttered.
Dearka lit up and turned to his old friend. "Oh, really? And what would they be able to find so funny about you, pray tell?"
Athrun rolled his eyes. "You'd be surprised what Cagalli finds funny".
Dearka would have continued questioning Athrun, but Cagalli interrupted. "Ok, it's almost diner time, so you three should get ready, you know, unpack and such. Jinkins, I want you to show them to their rooms."
A man in a black tux came over and grabbed Miriallia's bags, and started up the stair saying, "This way, if you please".
Dearka snickered at the idea of a man called Jinkins and even Yzak let a slight, mind you just a slight, smile from on his serious face.
As they started climbing the stairs, Cagalli fanned her self with her hand, "Boy, is it hot in here!"
Suddenly, Lacus's eyes got real big and she said., "Oh, Cagalli! I forgot to tell you! The cooling system went out while you were gone, picking up Yzak, Dearka, and Miriallia!"
"WHAT!" Cagalli shouted, making the three weary travelers stop on the stairs. "You mean, we don't have any air conditioning. I can't believe this, We have GUESTS and we don't have any AC! GREAT, just great!" Cagalli threw up her hands.
Athrun, calmly asked, "Lacus, did you call someone to fix it?"
Lacus looked thoughtful for about one second and then stated, "Yes, I do believe Kira called someone, but they said they were busy with putting in cooling systems because of the hot weather and couldn't be by till tomorrow."
Again, Cagallia started shouting, "Oh, MAGNIFICENT! Her I am, the leader of ORB and they are putting me on hold. I should be able to get precedence, but nooooo, being the leader of ORB gives you no advantages at all" Cagalli made a swift wipe out gesture in front of her. "In, fact I get more disadvantages than anything." Cagalli was now, officially, mad.
Athrun gently put a hand on her shoulder and the effect almost instantaneously clamed her down, right then and there, "Come one, Cagalli, I'll see what I can do" he lead her off into the door way of a side room off of the great hall they were in.
Jinkins started to lazily, for he was very old looking, walk up the stairs again, not very disturbed by this little incident, "Man, this must happen a lot," Dearka thought as he followed behind Miriallia. Just then, though, he heard Athrun, with his enhanced hearing, say something to Cagalli about not to worry, he was there for her, he would take care of things and then he saw Athrun tilt his head down and kiss Cagalli on the lips, gently. Cagalli then laid her head on Athrun's shoulder and then they were out of Dearka's sight. "you know, they are perfect for each other. She is so hot headed and he is so calm that they even each other out. I wonder if Miriallia and me are like that…."
But then Jinkins announced that the door in front of Dearka was his room. Dearka opened it as Jinkins was telling Miriallia which room was hers. The door Jinkins was pointing to as her room, was right next to Dearka's and Miriallia blushed. Cagalli had conveniently put them side by side. Jinkins left them then and lead Yzak off into some part of the west wing opposite of where they were. They were in the east wing.
Dearka smiled his dorky smile at Miriallia and she blushed even more and to avoid him seeing, she promptly opened her door and crossed through the threshold, closing the door behind her. Dearka sighed and did the same.
ABOUT FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER...
Dearka had made sure that he looked his best in his ceremony uniform, for Miriallia. Usually he would just throw it on for ZAFT meeting and such, not paying any mind to the little details like he did tonight. I mean, who do you want to look good for at a ZAFT meeting? But, tonight, he took his merry little time in getting ready. He wanted to look perfect for the diner that night. He didn't want to look dorky, like he usually did. I mean, don't get me wrong, he knew he was handsome and could make a any girl blush by just looking at them. But her did feel dorky looking most of the time and tonight he really didn't want to look that way. He made sure to straighten his jacket, making sure that it was in the perfect position to best show off his trim figure.
He ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. It had gotten awfully unruly, these days. It needed to be cut, desperately. He wasn't like Yzak, who liked to keep his moderately long. He had tried that once and it just didn't work for him. It made his face all long and distorted looking. "Maybe I'll get it cut tomorrow…" just then, he heard a knock on his door. "Come in!" he shouted loud enough for the person outside to hear.
Jinkins then walked in. "Excuse the interruption, sir, but lady Cagalli wished me to inform you that you will be late for diner if you do not hurry up."
"Yeah, I think that's something she would say." Dearka chuckled to himself under his breath.
"Excuse me sir?"
"Oh, nothing. Tell her I'll be right down." Dearka dismissed Jinkins he the didn't leave right away. "Yes?" Dearka asked, curious as to why the servant wasn't leaving.
"Lady Cagalli told me to escort you myself, sir."
Dearka chuckled out loud. "Alright, I get the hint" Dearka said as he finally left his room, under the watchful eye of Jinkins.
DOWN STAIRS...
Miriallia was sitting in a chair in the drawing room, across the hall from the dining room. She, and every one else, was patiently awaiting the arrival of Dearka. All except Cagalli, that is.
Cagalli was pacing back and forth in the drawing room, the skirt of her green diner dress swaying back and forth. She hated dresses. And she had to wear one tonight because it was like a welcome back diner to Miriallia and a welcoming diner for Yzak, to show Orb's hospitality.. Athrun had made her wear it. Athrun knew that Cagalli loved him and thus, could get Cagalli to do anything he wanted her to do and she hated him for it. They had a "love-hate" relationship. And now, the only reason for her inviting Yzak in the first place, was not here. She fumed over and over to herself of why did she even invite them in the first place?
Everything was going wrong that day. First the cooling system broke and the house was by this time about a hundred degrees inside and no one would come to fix it till tomorrow. Then, she had to wearing this stinkingly tight dress, that showed all her curves and hugged her hips so it kept creeping up on her. It only went down to about six inches above her knees anyway, not to mention it creeping up on her when she walked. It had no straps, so she felt like there was nothing holding (cough, cough) her up. And, to top it all off, the dress was mint green, not a nice forest green or anything, but mint!
Miriallia was watching Cagalli go back forth back and forth and then finally she got fed up and picked up a magazine. She wasn't really looking at it, but figured it would at least keep others from thinking that she was also eagerly waiting for Dearka, which she was.
Kira, noticing something, leaned over and said to her, "You do know that your magazine is upside down, right?" Kira was smiling and Athrun, who had heard this interchange, smiled too.
"Wha…" Miriallia looked at her magazine for the first time and saw that it was, indeed, upside down. "Oh." Miriallia thrust the magazine down on the side table next to her.
Kira and Athrun started laughing and this caused everyone else in the room to look in their direction.
Yzak cocked his head. "What's so funny?"
But just as Athrun was going to say, Dearka came into the room with Jinkins trailing along behind.
"Oh man, he looks good" Miriallia noticed how handsome he looked in his dress uniform. His trim figure was played off at all the right areas, revealing his muscular form. Miriallia blushed just at the sight of him.
Cagalli put her hands on her hips. "Well, now that we are all finally here, let's go in to diner." She huffed and Athrun took her arm. "Oh, Kira, you take Lacus in and Dearka, you take Miriallia in." Dearka smiled back a blush and Miriallia looked in the other direction as Dearka eagerly took her arm. "That leaves you, Yzak. Ah…" Cagalli really hadn't thought of who he should take in. She knew that she wanted Dearka to take Mir in, but, Yzak, she really didn't know. Then she spotted her secretary sitting in the corner and an idea popped into her evil mind. "Yzak! You can take Kimiko in."
Yzak looked back at the secretary in a panicky way. Kimiko smiled. For some strange reason she was actually glad that she had gotten stuck with him. She stood up and walked over to where Yzak was standing and placed her arm around his. At the feeling of her touch, Yzak heated up into a sweat, he tried to say something to be polite but nothing would come out. It was like her touch had paralyzed him. She smiled sweetly up at him and said, "Well, shall we?" she directed her gaze towards the others who were already way ahead of them.
The two caught up with the rest of the group and they went into the dining room. Upon entering, Cagalli again made an announcement. "There are place settings with your name on them, and you are to sit there, not some place else, or you will totally disrupt the system." She gave a mild glare at everyone to warn them. She couldn't let her idea of Dearka and Miriallia sitting next to each other get ruined.
They all sat down in their chairs and the meal was started.
LATER...
After the second to last course's plates were taken away, dessert was served.
Cagalli tapped the edge of her wine glass, to get everyone's attention. The minute she did so, everyone looked towards her with a curious expression upon their faces. "Mir, remember how I told you at the airport that we had a lot to tell you, but that you had to wait till later." Miriallia nodded. "Well, I have an idea. Each of us will say what big has happened to them since the last time we all saw each other." Everyone just sat there, aghast and not sure what to do next. "Mir, you start."
Miriallia leaned back in her chair. "Well, not much that you don't already know. I was kidnapped because I witnessed something." Miriallia made sure to be very vague in her news.
Cagalli smiled in an understanding way. " Ok, Dearka what about you?"
"Not much, except the fact that I got demoted because I helped you guys I the war" he said in a joking manner.
"Ok, Well, our news is the same, so we will announce it together…." Everyone seemed to hold their breath in expectation of her announcement. "Athrun, do you want to tell them?" Athrun shook his head because he knew how much she wanted to be the one to tell them. Cagalli's eyes looked ecstatic. "Ok then! Everyone, ma and Athrun are going to get married soon!"
Miriallia stood up and went to Cagalli and hugged her while everyone offered their congratulations to the couple. Kira smiled at his buddy, "Congrats Athrun." And they shook hands. "I'm glad it was you. Having your best friend as a brother-in-law is great!"
Athrun smiled, very content with himself.
After the crowd settled down and Miriallia sat back down in her seat, Cagalli then turned to Kira
Knowing that it was his turn he started automatically. "Well, nothing much. As you all know, we are running an orphanage. And, we are planning a field trip with the kids next week, to an amusement park." Kira stopped there. Yzak yawned. It certainly wasn't as exciting as Cagalli's news.
"O..K…" Cagalli was rather disappointed in his news. "Lacus, it's you turn now." Cagalli was smiling because she knew what Lacus's news was.
Lacus stood up and bowed slightly. "Oh…Well… Everyone I would like to inform you that I am pregnant!" She said and clapped her hands like a little girl who had just been given candy.
Everyone, everyone's mouths dropped open, except Cagalli, and they all just sat there in shock, except Kira, who upon hearing the news, started choking on what ever he had in his mouth at the time. Obviously he hadn't known about it. Athrun went over to his friend and started whacking him on the back, but it wasn't helping.
The girls all surrounded Kira and Lacus chattering about how exciting it must be to be having a baby, while Yzak stared at Lacus's belly, in horror that what ever was in there was going to reach out and pull him in.
Dearka looked on to the situation. He was staring at Miriallia and then to Lacus with a wide grin. "I wonder what it would be like if Miriallia was pregnant, like Lacus, only with my baby," he looked at Miriallia's belly and envisioned it being slightly pudgy like Lacus's was, and then imagined it getting larger and larger and his smile just continued to grow wider and wider. "And I wonder how it would feel to be and expectant father, like Kira", Dearka looked over to the choking Kira, who was now turning purple and his smile instantly vanished.
Miriallia continued to fawn over Lacus and the baby, trying to feel if the baby was kicking, which it wasn't because it was far too early for that.
Yzak continued to stare at Lacus's belly like it was going to eat him. Kimiko, whose place setting was on his right, noticed this and gave him a shove with her elbow and smiled at him reassuringly when he finally managed to pull his eyes away from Lacus's belly. And, it seemed to help him, that sweet smile formed by lips coated with purple lip gloss.
Dearka couldn't help himself: he burst out laughing at the sight being displayed, girls fawning over Lacus and her baby, Kira choking and his friend desperately trying to help him, Yzak, being put at ease by a beautiful woman, who actually seemed to like him, amazingly enough, and all their situations all in the same room. It was just too much for him. He couldn't help it.
His laugh was so loud that everyone stopped what the were doing, including Kira who had apparently been startled enough by Dearka's laugh that he swallowed what ever it was he was choking on.
Yzak turned to his friend I utter bewilderment. "What's so funny, Dearka?"
Dearka shook his head, while still laughing, "Nothing, you wouldn't understand."
Yzak huffed and Cagalli decided to change the subject to prevent a fight between the two ZAFT soldiers. "Well, I think we should all go in the garden for a walk. Besides, it's probably a lot cooler out there than it is in here."
OUT IN THE GARDEN...
As the group moved out into the garden, Lacus and Kira separated from the group, probably to talk about them being parents soon, in private. Cagalli smiled at them making it easier for her to get Dearka and Miriallia alone together.
"Athrun, I want to talk to you about something, privately, concerning the date for the wedding" she tugged on Athrun's arm.
Athrun looked confused. "Wha… I thought we had already deci…"
"Come on Athrun", she mumbled under her breath while swaying her head in the direction of Miriallia and Dearka, who were walking along right behind them. Athrun looked confused for a few more moments but then, he realized what she meant and said, "Oh yeah," And they walked off away from the group, which was now half it's original size.
Miriallia, annoyed with the silence, decided to start up a conversation. "So… you were demoted, just because you helped us during the war, even though you were actually fighting against the Earth Alliance?" It may not have been the best subject to talk about, but it was the only one she could think of.
Dearka responded, "Yeah, it sounds pretty foolish, but it sounded reasonable when ZAFT was distorting it to their own meaning." He chuckled slightly to himself, "They wanted someone to blame and I just happened to be convenient."
Miriallia looked up into his deep lavender eyes for the first time without blushing, "Then why did you stay with them, ZAFT, I mean?"
Dearka shrugged, "I don't really know, I guess. It was what I had done most of my life and I didn't get any offers else where, so I just stayed."
"Oh." was all Miriallia could find to say and then they fell into a dead silence.
Behind them Kimiko and Yzak were walking silently and there pace had slowed, making them fall some what further behind Dearka and Miriallia than they were. Yzak was staring at the ground while they were walking, afraid to look at Kimiko, for fear he might not want to look away. These feelings he felt right now were so weird to him. He had only spent a day with her and he already felt like spending more time with her and he usually didn't like to spend more time with anyone.
Kimiko giggled.
Yzak suddenly shot his head up, "What? What's so funny?" He said in his usual paranoid demeanor.
She giggled again. "Oh nothing. It's just I don't see why you find looking at the ground so interesting." she covered her mouth with her hand as she giggled again.
Yzak blushed beet red. "Hey what do you mean by that!" he shouted at her.
Kimiko looked startled, like a little girl who just got her hand bit by the family dog.
Yzak noticed her startled reaction and sighed, "Look, I'm sorry, Ki…kimy..kiki…Oh Damn! I don't know how to pronounce your darn name!"
She laughed. "Oh, a lot of people can't pronounce it anyways. It's KI…MI…KO". she stated each syllable clearly and plainly, in hopes that he would be able to get it now.
Yzak tried to repeat it but his tongue just seemed to tie around the pronunciation. "KI..KI..MI…." he started over. "KI…..KI.."
She giggled once again. The sound annoyed him, but he couldn't help wanting to hear it again. "It's alright. You seem to be able to pronounce the Kiki, so I'll let you call me that. It was my mother's pet name for me, so I'll answer when you say it. It can be like a your pet name for me too," Kiki said cheerfully.
Yzak blushed and they continued their walk in silence.
After walking with out anything being said for several minutes, Dearka decided to try and start up a conversation again. "So, Miriallia, why did you become a war photographer?"
Miriallia turned to him. "You know, you can call me Mir, like everyone else does."
Dearka looked into her pale blue eyes. "No. I like Miriallia better. It's the name of an angel, it fits you better."
Miriallia blushed and turned away. They made their way to an arbor and he motioned for them to sit down. Miriallia yawned as she said, "Anyways, to answer your question," she changed the subject, "Well, I guess it had a lot to do with Tolle's death. I wanted people to remember what damage the war brought to the innocent lived involved."
Dearka slumped over at the mention of Tolle's name. "So, he still had a big impact on her life, eh?"
Miriallia noticed his change in demeanor and added, "I still remember Tolle, Dearka, and he will always be with me, but I've decided to move on."
Dearka let a small smile spread across his face and Miriallia yawned again and for several minutes they just sat there, enjoying the peaceful night air. After a while she yawned again and her eyelids started to droop. She was getting very sleepy. She started to slump over and fall forward but Dearka caught her. She was very tired and had fallen asleep on him.
Dearka decided that the best thing to do would be to take her to her bedroom so she could sleep on her own bed, verses out in the garden. He lifted her up in his arms like he would a feather, showing just how strong he was, and carried her out of the garden, through the great hall and up the stairs. Along the way, he received some very strange and disapproving looks from the servants, but he didn't care. Upon reaching her bedroom, he took her in and laid her down on her soft bed, do gently that she didn't even moan from being slightly jostled.
He was about to leave when he turned back to look at her. She looked so beautiful with the moonlight beaming down on her through the window like that. He couldn't help himself. He strode over to her side, leaned down, and kissed her, ever so gently, on her lips. It was at that moment that he made a declaration in his heart. "Oh, Miriallia, I love you. Oh, what I wouldn't give for you to become my wife, but I doubt that will happen. You say you have decided to move on, but I know you still love Tolle. But still, I will do everything in my power to make you love me as much as I love you, my little angel." he thought forlornly as he walked out and closed the door to her room.
Well! I'm finally done! This took me the longest out of all of my chapters to write. It think it is the longest too. So, for all those out there that prefer really long chapters, you should be happy now. LOL!
Anyways, I hope ya'll enjoyed it. Please review! I should update again in about a week, possibly sooner, but I doubt it.
Oh man, my hands are tired. LOL!
Oh! And thanks again, my loyal reviewers, for helping me cross the Fifty review mark. I am grateful to you all!
Anyways, bye for now!