Argh I had some troubles putting this chapter up! it couldn't locate the file for hours...anyways...

Thk u guys for the reviews! Hope the upcoming chapters won't disappoint you.

However, this chapter will be a lil explanation of what happened in the previous one, so it might be a bit boring, but pls bare with me! It's necessary to make the future chapters more interesting

Thank you again! RxR

Susan – yup OOC – out of character

Note: Ilatics Dream/thoughts

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Chapter 2

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After 3 hours of preparations, she was finally ready.

Looking at her reflection, she could barely find any words to describe what she was seeing. On the other side of the glass, stood a graceful lady with her blond hair combed elegantly backwards in a fuzzy pony tail. Along with the light makeup and simple dress that she was wearing, the princess of Orb was looking natural, yet out of the ordinary.

"Beautiful!" Mana proudly exclaimed. "I'm sure that many young men will fall in love with you!" she praised with full energy hoping to cheer up the depressed princess.

Cagalli, appreciating her efforts, replied with a little smile and whispered to her with a fragile voice. "Thank you for everything, Mana…You're like a mother to me…"

The maid who until now forced a smiling face to hide her sadness, finally exploded in tears at her words. "Ojou-sama, I'm sorry I can't help you better." She embraced Cagalli tightly. "Please be happy. Lord Uzumi will be so worried if he saw you like that…"

Observing their reflection in the mirror, the blond princess slowly patted Mana's hand. "I'm fine, don't worry. I just need a moment by myself to think." She forced a faint smile.

Clearing her face from any traces of tears, the maid understandingly nodded, and giving her little princess a last worried glance, she closed the room's door, before disappearing in the hallway.

"So, this will be the Cagalli from now on… the puppet in those bastards' hand..." she whispered sadly to her image in the glass.

She knows that soon after the ceremony, her peaceful days would come to an end. Once they know her identity, they will add more pressure on her and will use her as a mere tool for their ultimate goal, the succession to Orb's power.

With all the upcoming difficulties, will she be able to protect her father's ideal?

It'll be so hard for a 17 years old girl.

An immense pain forming in her chest, she decided to visit one last place before making an entrance to the ceremony.

Entering her father's dark office on the first floor, she recalled some of her childhood memories. She remembered herself playing here secretly, while her father was busy making important decisions for their country's future.

How difficult it must have been for him to defend his ideal, she thought.

With watery eyes, she slowly reached for the button and turned on the light when suddenly, to her surprise, a black form appeared in front of her, pulling her into the office.

Thrown to the floor, Cagalli not understanding the situation, stared at the person fully dressed in black who just closed the door silently. "What do you want." She asked with a hostile voice.

The mysterious man, who's face was hidden by a black mask did not answer, instead he moved cautiously toward her unveiling his small, silver gun, pointing in the direction of her head.

The princess' eyes widened. "It really isn't my day" she cursed in her head as she slowly and discretely reached for her heels. In a small attempt to escape, she threw her shoes in his face, and by a small maneuver, kicked him in the arms causing him to fire a shot in the emptiness before losing control of the gun which spinned away on the floor.

The mysterious man was shocked to see such an agile princess. However he was much faster than her, and with few trained movements, he captured her without much difficulties.

Forcefully lying face to the floor and arms blocked on her back, Cagalli was surprised of her abductor's ability, and deciding to scream for help, she felt a patch being forcefully placed on her mouth.

"Good girl." The man voiced as he pulled out a knife and directed it under the girl's throat. Feeling the blade pressing against her neck, Cagalli cried out of pain, but the patch on her lips seemed to have absorbed all noises.

She could feel her warm blood slowly flowing out from her, little by little…

Just when she was about to give up, she felt her aggressor being kicked off from her back. Not understanding how it happened, she slowly turned in his direction, and as she took off the patch that prevented her to talk, she cried out finally. "Mwu! Becareful!"

Eventually, her young bodyguard just arrived on time to save her from a possible death, and fighting the aggressor with all his soul, he yelled out to his protégée. "Cagalli! Get out from here!"

Horrified by such scene, she saw her bodyguard getting stabbed and crumble to the floor. The advantaged aggressor, wounded on his shoulder and armed with the knife, turned in her direction, and with this last sight, Cagalli ran toward the only opening of the room by her side. Totally panicked and despite her serious fatigue, she jumped out of the window and ran down, in the pouring rain, the hill on which the Attha mansion was toping on.

In the dark and slippery wood, she fell and ran among the bushes which caused numerous bruises on her legs and arms, but she did not stop.

She ran from fear.

She ran for freedom.

In a bedroom full of boxes, awoke an amber eyed princess, lying on a simple yet comfortable bed. The soft light that traversed the window's blinds gently illumined parts of her delicate face, causing her to grimace. Using her still aching hand to protect her eyes from the sunlight, she slowly sat up and, reminiscing the dream she just had, she lived again the terror of that unforgettable night.

Wearing simply a man's shirt that was bigger than her size, she fixed her messy blond hair backwards, and glaring at the numerous boxes that was surrounding her, she smiled.

She was no longer at the Attha mansion and that, probably, was the reason why she was feeling relieved and living.

With her sore legs, she walked toward the window and opened the blinds which let a blow of fresh oceanic air into the now full illuminated room.

From the hill on which the apartment was situated, the landscape gave a full description of Orb's famous and magnificent port of Morgenroete, and the reflection of the sunlight onto water made the ocean sparkle like diamonds.

Admiring the beauty of the view, she stretched herself lifting her arms to the sky freeing herself from all worries and with a big smile illuminating her whole person, she directed herself out of the room…

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A navy haired boy awoke all of a sudden, eyes wide open, staring at the ceiling as if he has been thunderstruck. Grabbing the alarm clock by his side, he read 8h30 AM. "Damn I'm late!"

As his emerald eyes filled up with panic, Athrun stood up in a rush from the sofa he slept on, and feeling his head spin in all directions, he wondered how many hours he spent on sleeping.

Walking through his apartment to grab his uniform, he wondered why he slept in the living room and, without any further thoughts, he rushed to the shower room to get ready for work.

Just as he opened the door, his eyes widened: in front of him stood a blond girl, horrified by his entrance. From the simple towel she wrapped around her body and her wet silky hair sticking on her delicate skin, it was obvious that she just came out of shower.

Shocked to see such a view (and at so early in the morning!), the blue haired coordinator caught himself being absorbed by the girl's prettiness, and in a vague attempt to avoid staring at her any further, he decided to look away.

Fortunate or unfortunate, his vision accidentally met hers and intrigued by the beautiful color of her eyes, and the embarrassment of the situation, Athrun felt his cheeks burn like never before.

"Ah…H..Hi…"

"…"

Paralyzed by his nerousity, he feared for the worse.

"Ah... please dun screa-"

"IIYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Panicking more than ever, the young man, in a flash, rushed out of the room in total confusion, and making sure he closed the door properly, he crumbled to the floor, back against the wall, breathing heavily.

His hands covering his head, as if he tried to hide his scarlet red face, he cursed to himself in a mumbling voice.

"Damn it! How did I forget?"

Indeed, after such an encounter how could he forget?

"My name is Athrun Zala" A smile appeared on his face. "And you?"

"Cagalli… Just call me Cagalli."

"Cagalli?… just like the Princess of Orb?" he teased deciding to make the atmosphere more friendly, but to his surprise, the girl seemed to be shocked and worried. "Ah… I was just kidding… you… don't like her?" He tried to appease her with a laugh..

Cagalli's eyes widened then followed by a smile, she nodded. "Yah, you got it right"

Absorbed by the girl's pure smile and her amber eyes, Athrun blushed. Scratching his head, he decided to find more about this mysterious guest…

"So… Cagalli. I'm not going to ask you what happened…" he pointed at the wound on her neck discretely. "But I need to know where you live, in order to take you home."

Cagalli's face became worried and uncomfortable again. Observing her reaction full of fear, Athrun sighed. It's obviously a girl that ran away from home. With a big effort, the blue haired coordinator tried to reason her. "Listen, no matter what, home is home, and no where is better than home."

The girl shook her head at his comment. "My father…" Cagalli stopped, eyes full of pain. Rethinking her words she restarted. "we have some… trouble at home…" then turning suddenly to face him, fixing her watery eyes into his, she implored. "I know this is sudden but PLEASE, can you take me in? not for long… just the time I get everything cleared… Please…"

Astonished by such unexpected request, Athrun didn't know what to say. With few thoughts he tried to convince her once again. "Well, I don't know how the situation with your family is, but if it's something really serious, you can try get help from Orb's family services, or government at worse."

Observing the girl's face saddened as if she lost all hope, his heart became tormented with pain. "No Athrun, You're not doing charity. You can't take her in." he tried to convince himself.

"The government can't help me… no one can…"

Shocked, he noticed that the girl's eyes were full of pain and loneliness… just like his, not long ago…

"My father…" she continued, but the tears flowing out didn't let her finish.

His heart slowly softened and telling himself that he can't ignore her wounds anyways, he sighed.

"Fine… not for long though…"

"Hey, I'm coming out, turn around!" Cagalli ordered from the shower room

Waking up from his thoughts, Athrun obeyed to the girl's requests and, turning himself in a direction where he won't see anything that can corrupt his mind, he sighed.

Seriously, he doesn't know if he made the right choice but at the thought of the sweet and innocent smile she gave him as he grant her permission, it wasn't a worry any longer.

At least for now…

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So what you think? Was it confusing?

I'm gonna try to add quotes into my future chapters (eg. To live, is to fight ), so if there's a specific one you like and you want to see in this fanfic, let me know!

Thanks!