Oh…. My… GOD! I feel so proud! Thank you guys so much for reviewing! It means the world to me! You guys are the best! I'm still thinking about pairings… I might keep it a secret… if you have any ideas for this story, please tell me! Ok, well, here's chapter 2! Enjoy!

Disclaimers: I don't own a penny. Now hurry up and read. :P

Destined To Be

-By Hidden Nightmares-

Chapter 2

The three guys that were ganging up on Cagalli grinned sinisterly. Cagalli didn't know what to do. She was only 8, after all. Though she may be above an average 8 year old, she was no genius. She swallowed nervously. She didn't know what these guys might do to her, but she had seen plenty of those old 'movies' with Shinn to know what was likely to happen. And she knew that whatever might happen, it probably wouldn't be in her favor.

…

…

…

Shinn sighed. 20 minutes had already passed since he had lost Cagalli and she was nowhere to be found. He was getting really worried. Shinn called out for Cagalli for what seemed like the millionth time.

"Cagalli? Cagalli, where are you! THIS ISN'T FUNNY ANYMORE!" Shinn was yelling now without meaning to; he flushed slightly when he saw people staring at him. After the looked away, Shinn groaned. Great, now I'm sounding desperate. Flopping down onto a nearby bench, he put his head into his hands, a sign of defeat. "Cagalli… please be okay… please… I… I still have to tell you… that I… that I—"

"Cagalli, huh?" a feminine voice in front of him mused. Shinn hadn't realized that he had been saying his thoughts out loud. He looked up to see a very pretty blond-haired girl who looked to be about Shinn's own age. Her blue eyes skimmed about him until they came to rest at Shinn's own eyes. He blinked; the girl's eyes were very intense and gave him the feeling that they were looking right into his soul. The thought gave him the creeps. Suddenly he realized that she was talking to him. Startled, he looked up and apologized.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't listening. What were you saying?" he smiled politely at the girl, though the smile was obviously pained. The girl shrugged dismissively.

"Nothing. How about an introduction?" she waited for a reply, but all she got was strained silence. After a few minutes, she smiled understandingly. "It's alright. She'll be fine," she said quietly. Shinn looked at her, startled. Then he looked down, eyes downcast.

"How…. how do you know?" he was just as quiet. The girl sat down beside him.

"My friend and I saw her go into an alley when you two were playing tag. He's gone to get her." They were both quiet for a few moments.

For some reason, Shinn knew he could trust her. He didn't know how, but he knew. Shinn smiled at her again, but this time, it was real. Real and sincere. "Well then, how about those intros you mentioned?" he grinned at her.

The girl laughed. It sounded like the tinkling of bells. "I'm Stellar Louisser." she stuck out her hand for him to shake and he took it. "I'm 10 years old and I just moved here recently. I live with my mom. I love reading manga and eating candy. My best friend's name is Athrun Zala, he's the one that went to get your friend. He's really prissy and annoying at first, but he's a great guy once you get to know him. He lives with his dad and they're super rich and total geniuses. You?"

When Stellar had started complimenting 'Athrun' or whoever he was, Shinn had felt a twinge of something he often felt when he saw kids having fun with their parents and siblings. He recognized the feeling for what it was immediately; jealousy. But why would he be jealous? He just met her, after all… his musings were cut short when he saw that Stellar was staring at him curiously. Turning a little red, he realized that it must be his turn to introduce himself.

"I'm Shinn Asuka. I'm an orphan so I live in an orphanage, duh. Ca…. Ca…. Calli Yula, the girl your friend has gone to find, is my best friend. I still can't pronounce her name right…" he trailed off, looking embarrassed and frustrated, but came back on track a few seconds later. "And, now that I think about it, she's my ONLY friend. It's because I'm the only survivor in a really big accident," he explained at Stellar's clueless look. "Anyways, I'm 4 feet and 10 inches, I love pizza, ice cream, and all types of junk food, I'm great at sports, I'm a wiz in practically every subject, and… hmm… my favorite color's are red and black. That's all, I think." They sat in silence for a little while, thinking about and processing everything they had just heard.

"Well, that's about to change," Stellar spoke up. Shinn gave her a questioning look and she continued, "About Cagalli being your only friend, I mean. Now I'm your friend, too, remember? And I'm sure Athrun will be your friend! You guys probably won't get along, though… he's pretty mean to everyone he meets at first… even teachers…" she frowned slightly, staring into the distance.

All of a sudden, Stellar was pulled from her thoughts when she felt two arms around her. Shinn. Was. Hugging. Her. She turned as red as a beet. He was so soft… and he smelled so nice…

"Thanks, Stellar. You don't know how much those words mean to me." He spoke softly into her hair. It smelled like lilies, and, for some strange reason, the smell was sending weird signals that he'd never felt before to his brain.

When he finally pulled away, he noticed the color of Stellar's face but pretended not to notice. After a few seconds of stifling silence, Stellar cleared her throat awkwardly. "Err… so….. um… what was with all those details in that intro of yours? I mean, mine's wasn't that long, but yours… well, yours pretty much took forever."

Shinn laughed at Stellar's bluntness and began to relax as he answered. "Oh, that? At school, I've got this huge group of fan girls. They're really embarrassing." Shinn frowned while Stellar stared at him disbelievingly, but he didn't seem to notice. He was just frowning at the thought of those 'fan girls'. "All they ever do is follow me around all day even though some of them still think I'm a freak. They keep on going on and on about how they're my 'soulmates' and crap like that." He scoffed. "What a bunch of losers. I'm only 10, god. But they're too dumb to understand that. They're only after me because of the money father left me." He paused. "Life's pretty good since I'm a millionaire now, practically." He grinned. "it's 'cause dad had a really successful business in computers. Anyways, they treat me pretty well at the orphanage and I can spend all the money I want, and plus I've got Cagalli for a best friend. And you, too, of course. Everything would be perfect if mum and dad and sis would still be alive……" he sighed sadly, but made an effort to cheer up. "it's just those stupid fan girls… they scare me…" Shinn shuddered slightly.

Stellar giggled. "Yeah, I know what you mean. Athrun has a bunch of fan girls for the exact same reason… and maybe for looks, too…it's hilarious to watch, though."

Shinn frowned. "that's what Calli always says. I think you guys will get along just fine." There was a comfortable silence between them once again before Shinn spoke up again, sounding a bit worried. "Don't you think your friend should have been back by now with Calli?" asked Shinn. He was glad he had found a new friend, but he had forgotten all about finding Cagalli.

Stellar frowned as she came to the same realization, but smirked at a thought she just had. "Yeah, you're right. How about we go for a little walk and find those two idiots? I'm sure we'll be able to find them, us being the smart people we are. They probably turned the wrong way on their way back." She laughed.

Shinn snickered, his previous worry temporarily forgotten. "What are we waiting for, then? Let's get moving."

Oh, yeah. He was really glad.

…

Athrun Zala looked down at the blond he was supposed to be 'rescuing'. He'd gotten a hunch that something like this would happen. Sometimes he hated his little hunches, even though they were usually right. Stellar had gone off to find and console the boy who had been playing with the girl. He glanced down again, only to realize that the girl had landed into an uncomfortable situation. A bunch of drunk-looking guys were cornering the helpless (and probably clueless) chick that was currently being backed up into the hard brick wall. The sick perverts looked like they were going to rape her. She looked younger then Athrun, and he was only 10! He came out of his thoughts and watched for a few seconds before he decided to step in.

Stellar would owe him for this one, he decided before jumping down from the two-storey building.

…

Cagalli was now on the verge of going mental. Kisaka always said she attracted bad luck. She should have listened to him while she had the chance. She shivered. Now she was probably never going to see him again. She groaned and shut her eyes tightly, trying to make her body appear as small as possible by scrunching it up into a ball.

'Is this the end?' Cagalli wondered faintly. 'Will it really end like this? I'm not gonna fight 'cause I know they'll get me in the end. Well, time for some last wishes… ok, let's see… I wish that Shinn'll find a new best friend... and that Kisaka will adopt another cute little girl who will be my reincarnation.. I think that's what you call those things, anyway… oh, and—'

A shadow fell across her body and she felt worse by the second. 'Goodbye, World! I'll miss you!' She thought meekly. She braced herself for… for something she'd rather not think about.

Suddenly, she felt as if she was floating in the air. 'Is this… is this how it feels like to be dead'? She thought, dazed. 'It's sort of nice… I must be in heaven… so does this mean that the guys killed me right away without doing 'that'? Then I guess it's okay to look…'

Cagalli summoned up enough courage to open one of her tightly sealed eyes. What she saw before her astounded her.

Instead of being in Heaven like she'd thought she'd be, she was floating through the air being held up by the most astonishing and (seemingly) glorious person she had ever seen.

His green eyes sparkled and gleamed like polished emeralds while his short, soft-looking, almost feminine tresses flew gently around his face in all their dark-blue glory. His porcelain skin was perfect and he was smiling (smirking?) gently. That smile was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. He looked so angelic that, for a second she actually thought that she WAS in Heaven. She didn't realize that her mouth was hanging open until a fly almost flew in, literally. It was then that she saw that they weren't flying, but gently jumping from building to building. She was a bit dazed so she didn't really understand that it shouldn't be humanely possible to jump from building to buildings. After that realization, she just kept on staring.

… And staring.

…… And staring.

After a few moments, a slightly annoyed voice broke her thoughts.

"Well? Are you just going to keep on staring?"

…

MWA HAHAHAHA! A CLIFFIE!

So, does it make sense? Any errors you found that I might have overlooked? Are the SEED destiny characters totally OOC? I don't know coz I haven't seen SEED destiny yet. Just gundam SEED. Does anything confuse you? If it does, let me know! This was my first try at fluffiness! How was it? if any one of you guys like the 'cuteness' of this story and Inuyasha too, you might like Destiny by Kittymui. It's REALLY good but super long. But it's really sweet, too.