Author: Chapter 9 is here and ready to be read. Thanks for the reviews again. They keep me going no matter what.

Disclaimer: I don't own this anime.

Forever

Phase 09: Discovery

Jean was tied up real tight in the basement. She struggled to break free. She looked around the room, looking for something sharp to cut the ropes. She thought about Mia and what she might do to her superior. She spotted a mirror on the table. She crawled up to the table and kicked it. The mirror fell and broke into sharp pieces. Jean picked on up with her hand and started cutting the ropes at her back. While doing this her hands started bleeding because the piece was very sharp but she ignored the pain and blood because she had to save Athrun. The ropes were finally cut and she was freed. She went upstairs quietly and slowly opened the door. She looked around carefully for Athrun. She searched every room including the dining area and kitchen. She went up to the second floor and located the laboratory. The door was slightly opened so she peeped in to look inside. She saw Mia typing something on the computer and Van standing next to her. She entered the room and quickly hid behind the table. She looked around the other side of the room and saw Athrun strapped in pod.

"Commander! What is Mia planning?" she thought. "I managed to fake the drug trick but no acting is going to work now.

At the restaurant, Jean saw Mia pouring the drug into the drink. She wanted to tell Athrun about it but Mia was closely watching. She decided to play a trick and fake the whole thing. Only problem is she didn't expect to be tied up and thrown into a basement. She saw Mia messing with the computer. Mia finished programming the computer. She stood and went to check on Athrun. She saw that he was still unconscious. She smiled slyly and twirled around while humming Fields of Hope.

"It won't be long now until you're finally mine. Once this is over, you'll forget all about Cagalli." She said.

Jean gasped at what she heard. Athrun's memories were going to be erased by her. She now realized how Cagalli's memories got wiped out in the first place. It was all because of that machine. She gritted her teeth and hoped for the best. She has to save Athrun from her. She spotted a gun on the table and quickly took it. She came out of hiding and pointed the gun at Van. Mia turned and saw Jean pointing the gun at her subordinate. Van charged quickly at her but Jean shot him at the chest. The guy dropped death on the floor. Mia gasped in horror as Jean pointed the loaded gun at her. Jean looked angrily at her and demanded to release Athrun at once. The impersonator refuses to do it so Jean fired the gun and hit her right leg. Mia fell to her knees. She was starting to bleed severely. Mia gently touched her wound as tears started to fell. Jean pushed her aside and opened the pod. She shook Athrun to wake him up. The blue-haired coordinator started opening his eyes.

"Where am I?" Athrun said.

"I'm glad you're all right commander." Jean replied. "Mia was about to erase you memories with this pod."

Jean pointed at Mia. Athrun saw her and angered filled his heart. He took the gun away from Jean and aimed at Mia. He wanted to kill Mia for killing Cagalli. His eyes filled with rage and hatred intimidated the fake Lacus. Mia cried and pleaded for mercy but her words didn't reach him. He totally ignored her. Jean saw that Athrun was serious and he's definitely going to kill the girl. He was about to pull the trigger until Jean blocked his way. She stood bravely in front of her commander and stared at him so seriously.

"Jean, get out of the way. I'm going to make her pay." Athrun commanded.

"Commander, this is wrong. Will killing her bring Miss Cagalli back?" Jean spoke.

"What? But I..." Athrun said.

"Revenge won't solve anything. Killing her won't bring the one you love back to you." Jean explained.

Athrun fell to his knees and placed the gun down. Tears started to fell from his emerald green eyes. Jean reached for her cell phone and called the police and an ambulance. Once the police and the ambulance got there, Jean explained the whole story to them. Mia was treated in the hospital and finally taken into custody. Athrun felt relief that the impersonator will trouble him no more. Jean felt the same way but she felt like she's betraying her commander as well. What she said to him about killing and revenge were important at that situation but the fact that Cagalli is still alive makes her words so worthless. As she looked at Athrun, she could see the sad look in his eyes. She wanted to tell him that the Princess was still alive and well. Not only that, she wanted to tell him that he's baby is still okay. But she promised her friends to keep her mouth shut. A promise is a promise and she tends to keep it until the right time has come.

ZAFT BASE

Cagalli was getting bored waiting in Shin's room so she decided to walk around the place. She walked down the hallways and explored every room and place. She found the Mobile Suit Hangar and saw a lot of ZAKUs. She spotted a red-haired girl wearing a green uniform heading her way. The girl also saw Cagalli but she didn't recognized her since she was wearing a red uniform and her hair was tied. The red-haired girl saluted Cagalli. Surprised by this, Cagalli immediately replied with a salute and a warm smile.

"I haven't seen you here before... What's your name?" the red-haired girl asked.

"I'm Yula as you can see I'm an Elite pilot of ZAFT." Cagalli lied.

"I can see that. I'm Meyrin Hawke, a ZAKU pilot." Meyrin replied.

Meyrin Hawke showed her around the place. She even showed the cockpit of all mobile suits that were there. Meyrin knew that she was new so she kindly gave Cagalli a tour. Their next stop was the mess hall. When they got there, they saw Lunamaria drinking coffee. Meyring approached her sister and introduce her to Yula.

"Luna, this is Yula... Yula, this is my older sister Lunamaria." Meyrin said.

"Nice to meet you..." Luna said.

Cagalli smiled and shook Luna's hand. The Impulse pilot stared at her carefully. She noticed that she had a familiar face. She asked her sister about this but the pigtailed girl doesn't know her at all until a while ago. She began asking Cagalli some questions. Cagalli managed to answer all of her questions with confidence. Most of them were lies but she doesn't want to get caught in the base so she has to pretend that she's one of the soldiers. Luna and Meyrin were summoned by Talia and they quickly excused themselves. They told Cagalli that they can talk later after their shift. They left the mess hall leaving the ORB princess alone again. Cagalli sighed and left the mess hall. She went back to Shin's room hoping that Shin was already there but instead a blonde-haired girl was there. She was sitting on Shin's bed.

"Who is this girl?" Cagalli thought.

Stellar saw her and gasped. She ran up to her and grabbed Cagalli's hands. Cagalli was very surprised at this. She didn't know the girl but it seems that she knows her. Stellar shook her hands and smiled friendly at her.

"Cagalli Yula Attha! It's really you... I can't believe it." Stellar started. "You're alive. I'm so glad."

"Cagalli? What are you saying? Who are you anyway?" Cagalli asked.

"Don't you remember me? I'm the former Destroy Pilot, Stellar." Stellar replied.

The mentions of word destroy shocked Cagalli. She started remembering the past but strangely her head didn't hurt. She froze silently as her eyes widened. Flashbacks filled her head. In her mind, she saw the Destiny Gundam fighting the Destroy Gundam. That's not all, she also saw herself piloting a familiar Mobile Suit with shades of pink. The mobile suit had the symbol of ORB printed on it. Stellar noticed that she has spaced out. She started calling her attention.

"Cagalli, are you all right?" Stellar asked.

"Destroy... Destiny... Mobile Suits... Gundam..." Cagalli murmured.

Stellar was getting worried about her. She let Cagalli sat down on the bed. The Destroy Pilot sat down next to her and held her hand. Shin came in and saw the two of them together. Shin gasped and tried to explain things to Stellar. He was about to tell her that she was Yula, a ZAFT soldier. But Stellar told him that she knew that the girl beside her was Orb's head representative. Shin scratched his head and thought about what to do at that moment. His girlfriend informed him that Cagalli was acting strange a while ago. Shin pulled Stellar up and went outside. He started telling her everything about Cagalli. Stellar now understands why Cagalli didn't recognize her in the first place.

"Who else knows about this?" Stellar asked.

"Nathalie and Kai, two Elite Soldiers of ZAFT." Shin replied. "Oh yeah and Jean Corda also knows about this."

"Who's Jean?" Stellar asked.

"Nathalie's friend... She's an ORB soldier." He replied.

"Does Athrun, Kira and Miss Lacus know that she's alive?" Stellar asked. "Does ORB know that she's still alive?"

"No... I told you that it's a secret. She can't remember when she's still pregnant." Shin told her.

Stellar and Shin went back to the room. Cagalli approached Stellar and demanded for a further explanation. Stellar sighed and stayed silent. Cagalli grabbed her shoulders and begged her to tell.

"Please tell me... Is Cagalli really my name? Do I really own a Mobile Suit?" Cagalli asked.

The two pilots stayed quiet. They didn't reply to Cagalli's questions. The princess started crying. She released Stellar and looked away. She began remembering the mobile suits again. She now knew the Destroy and Destiny Gundam but the pink mobile suit remains a mystery to her. Shin placed his hand on her shoulder. Cagalli glanced at him and noticed how worried he was for her. She glanced at Stellar and she had the same look in her eyes as Shin has. Stellar smiled at her and told her to sit down. Cagalli sat down on the bed as the couple sat down on the chairs. Stellar began telling her about the mobile suits. Shin tried to stop her but Stellar assured him that she'll be fine. She promised that she won't force her to remember. Shin felt relief and let her continued on. Cagalli listened to her very carefully.

"So my mobile suit is the... Strike... Rouge." Cagalli said.

"Yes... And the symbol printed on your MS is the symbol of your country." Stellar replied. "The neutral country called ORB."

"You're the head representative Attha." Shin said.

It was all coming back to her. She now remembered her Strike Rouge, ORB, and the couple clearly now. She was glad and she thanked Shin and Stellar for telling her. She was hoping that they could tell her more but they stopped. They told her to rest her mind for a while. Cagalli agreed in their decision. The fact that she remembers her country was really important to her. She had urged feeling to visit the country. She wanted to see the neutral nation again, hoping that she could regain more of her memories there. By the thought of ORB, she remembered seeing a familiar face on the television. The guy with brown hair and purple eyes that look just like her was so mysterious to her. She felt like she has known him for a long time. She felt that he is someone close to her. She remembered his name, he was called Kira Yamato. She tried to remember but held back. She reminded herself about the baby. She rubbed her womb and closed her eyes. Stellar and Shin left her alone to think. Stellar told the Destiny pilot to take good care of Cagalli. She was planning to go to ORB to inform Kira.

"No, you musnt' go there." Shin said. "I promised Nathalie and Kai to don't tell anyone especially Kira."

"You promised but I didn't. So I'm going there to tell them. They have the right to know." Stellar told him.

Athrun and Jean arrived at the ZAFT base and went to see Captain Talia Gladys. She was currently busy with some paper work so they were told to wait. They decided to head for the mess hall. As they were walking in the hall, they spotted Stellar and Shin arguing about something. Shin saw them approaching and covered Stellar's mouth. Athrun wondered what they were doing. Shin greeted Athrun formally and turned his attention to the girl next to him. He asked Athrun who she was. Jean gladly introduced herself to the Destiny Pilot.

"I'm Jean Corda, a soldier of ORB." Jean spoke. "You must be Shin Asuka, the Destiny Pilot."

"Yeah..." Shin said.

Her name struck a bell in Shin's head. Jean was one of the few people that knew the secret. Jean already knew that Nathalie and Kai informed Shin about Cagalli. Shin was getting worried because they were standing in front of his room. The princess was still inside his room and he prayed that she won't come out. Stellar looked at Shin and at Athrun. She clenched her fist and looked seriously at Athrun. She was about to open her mouth until Shin covered her mouth with his two hands. Shin laughed so silly and started to sweat.

"Stellar, we can't tell Athrun about her. Please cooperate with me." Shin whispered.

Jean realized what was going on so she convinced Athrun to go the mess hall. They started walking away from the couple. Athrun thought that it was strange for Shin acting that way. In fact it was something new to him. When they were gone, Shin released Stellar and sighed in relief. Stellar got mad and yelled at him for doing that. She wanted to tell Athrun so badly. Shin told her that it's a secret over and over again. Stellar shook her. For a weird girl she was stubborn so Shin pulled her close to him and hugged her tightly. Stellar blushed madly at this.

"Please Stellar... Don't tell him yet." He whispered into her ear.

"Shin..." Stellar said. "Okay, if you say so..."

Athrun and Jean walked into the mess hall and grabbed a seat. Soon the Hawke Sisters arrived and was delighted to see Athrun. For Meyrin's case, she was relief to see her new friend again.

"Athrun Zala, it's nice to see you again." Luna said.

"Lunamaria... You seem to look well and you too Meyrin..." Athrun replied.

"Jean, hey there..." Meyrin greeted.

"Hi! Fancy meeting you again." Jean said.

Luna and Meyring began chatting with Athrun about their experiences. As Jean looked at Athrun, he seemed relaxed and slightly happy. She felt relief to see that. The Impulse Pilot suddenly talked about the new soldier she and her sister met at the hangar. Meyrin described her evidently. She stated that the girl's name was Yula and she had blonde hair and golden brown eyes. Luna thought that she looked a lot like Cagalli but she assured Athrun that it wasn't her. She was a ZAFT soldier wearing a red coat uniform. Nevertheless Athrun wanted to see her. Jean got worried. She knew that the Hawke Sisters were talking about Cagalli. Athrun asked where she was right now but the sisters didn't know.

Author: End of chapter. Athrun and Cagalli are getting warmer. What do you think will happen? Will they finally meet in the next chapter? Please don't forget to review and no flames...