DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN GUNDAM SEED (DESTINY).

From Princess to Peasant

Chapter 2: New Life

"Uzumi!" yelled a frightened maid as she quickly opened the door to his room. "There has been a rampage. We are under attack. You must leave now!"

"Father. I can't find Cagalli. She's not in her room." now it was Kira's turn to burst in the room. His brown hair was as haggard as ever, and his eyes showed worry.

"WHAT!" screamed Uzumi. "Did they kidnap her?"

"No. That would be impossible. They have yet to arrive at her tower and the guards never saw anyone enter or leave." replied the maid.

"Sir." this time Miriallia, Cagalli's maid and friend, entered the room. But she did it more gracefully. Much more gracefully, as in she did NOT slam the door open. "I found these in Cagalli's room hanging down the castle wall out of her window." Miriallia showed the makeshift cloth rope.

"No she wouldn't, she couldn't." stated a flabbergasted Uzumi.

"I'm afraid so. You put too much pressure on her father. She's only eighteen." said Kira Yamato.

"Okay, I know you would love to continue talking about this, but they should be here any moment and I think it would be best if we leave." the maid stated.

"Of course. Follow me." Then Uzumi led them to a door located in his closet and through many narrow halls filled with cobwebs. Miriallia tried her best not to scream.

"It's all your fault, Dearka." said a rather angry Yzak. You could clearly see the flame flicker in his eyes.

"What? What did I do?" asked a confused Dearka.

"You barged through the front door. We were supposed to sneak through the back." replied the platinum-haired boy.

"Well how was I supposed to know they had bells hanging on the door as an alarm?" countered Dearka.

"Well, we have that at our castle as well." stated Athrun plainly.

"Whatever. We got in, didn't we?" said Dearka.

"Yeah. But now everyone fled." Yzak said.

"Okay guys. I think we should head back and think of a new plan." Nicol declared.

"Father isn't going to be happy when he finds out." Athrun said with a contemplating expression on his face.

"He's never happy." mumbled Yzak. "Ooff." Dearka elbowed Yzak in the stomach.

"We should just search the town or something for them." Yzak said after he regained his breath.

"You know. For once I agree with you." snickered Dearka.

"What's that supposed to mean?" questioned Yzak as he tightened his fists. He did not take insults lightly.

"Nothing. So where are we going to search?" Dearka said trying to change the subject. Yzak just gave him his famous glare that said 'I'll deal with you later.'

"Nicol and I will search the town. You two search the fields." Athrun commanded.

"I don't want to work with him." Yzak said pointing a finger at Dearka.

"Well it's not as if I want to work with you." yelled Dearka.

Why do they always have to act like kids? thought both Athrun and Nicol.

"Over here. They're selling it for a cheaper price." yelled a woman. That was one of the many sounds Cagalli woke up to.

"What?" asked a confused Cagalli. Then she remembered everything that happened last night. From the arranged engagement all the way up to where she was now, on the bench. She sat up, only to feel a shock of pain go through her back. Note to self: Never sleep on a bench. It gives you serious back pains. Rubbing her back, she looked at the town square. Kids were playing tag while parents were buying food and other goods. It's so different compared to at night.

She got up and stretched her arm into the sky and rubbed her eyes like she did every morning to wake herself up.

"Well, I guess I better go and find some food." stated Cagalli.

"Hello there young lady. Can I interest you in into buying this lovely antique?" asked a man.

"No thanks." Cagalli replied. "Maybe some other time." She gave him a warm smile.

Cagalli searched through many carts until she found one with food and water at a reasonable price. "Here you go." Cagalli said as she gave the woman her money in exchange for a meal and water. She spun around on her heel and walked the other direction. I guess now I'll have to find a place to stay and work. Cagalli thought as she bit into her apple.

She made her way to a quaint farm just over the hill. She saw a boy with brown hair, about her age, working in the barn. He looked as if he was having a hard time. Slowly, she went up to him.

She lightly cleared her throat, notifying the boy that there was another presence in the barn. As he turned around she noticed that for some reason he looked awfully familiar. She just couldn't put her finger on it.

"Umm. Can I help you?" asked the boy.

"Uhh." She paused. What could I say without sounding stupid? 'I'm just walking by.' No. How about…

"Oh, I get it. You're the new worker they hired. I'm Ahmed, it's nice to meet you." Ahmed said reaching out a hand.

"I'm Ca… Um, I'm Cathrun. It's nice to meet you too." That was a bit too close. I have got to be more careful next time.

"Well here, I'll show you how to feed, milk, and tend to the cows. That'll be your first job." he said with a huge grin on his face. It would seem as if he was proud of the idea that of teaching someone else. "Here." Ahmed says as he hands her a pitchfork. "Use that to carry the hay to the pens. It's rather simple."

"Okay." Cagalli drives the pitchfork into the hay and carries the hay over to the pen only to find out that she dropped a quarter of it on the way there. Ahmed lets out a few laughs until Cagalli says, "Oh be quiet. I don't do this as much as you probably have."

"You'll get the hang of it." He is still trying to suppress his giggles. "Now I'll show you how to milk a cow. You just hold it like this and lightly pull it, squirting it into the pail. You try."

Cagalli reaches out trying to mimic his every move. "Like this?" she asks.

"No. Like this." Ahmed reaches out and grabs her hand and repositions it on the utter.

"Okay I get it." Cagalli says. But before she continues she notices that he has yet to let go of her hands. " Umm, I think I got it now." She repeats as she lightly moves her hands upward to get rid of his hands. He realizes what he did and immediately snaps his hands back and turns his head while blushing. Now why in the world would he be blushing? Cagalli thought. She just shrugged it off and continued tending to the cow.

Ahmed stood up and walked back over to the chicken pen to continue his work. When Cagalli was close to finishing she felt strange. It was almost as if someone was watching her. She turned her head as if she just had a stiff neck and was just stretching it out. She noticed that indeed she was being watched. Why is he starring at me? I'm just not used to this. She uncomfortably moved in her chair and tried to work but it just felt so weird.

Cagalli couldn't help it any more. She had to say something just to get him to stop starring. "Can I help you?" she asked.

"Huh, what?" Ahmed had just come out of his trance when he heard her sweet voice.

"Is there anything else you need to have done?" Cagalli kindly asked again.

"No, not that I can think of." replied Ahmed.

"Well in that case, I'm finished" Cagalli said as she stood up with the pail in her hand. "Where do you want me to put this?" she said, motioning towards the pail.

"Oh! Right. Over here will be fine." he said while walking towards a shelf by the wall of the barn. Just then a bell rang. "Time for lunch." He waved a hand motioning her to follow.

Cagalli followed Ahmed out of the barn and to the house. When she walked in, a fresh aroma of meat filled her nose. It never smelt this good when she ate at the castle.

"Hello honey. So how was work?" Ahmed's mother asked, but before he could answer she noticed Cagalli. "Who is she?" She asked nodding her head towards Cagalli.

"That's Cathrun, the new worker you hired." he explained. His mother gave a nod of understanding.

"Well it's nice to meet you Cathrun. My name is Sara." She reached her hand out to 'Cathrun'. She gladly accepted and shook her hand. They all went over and sat at the dining table. "So, where are you from?"

"Out of town. I'm from the land of Rivera."

"I see. So why did you decide to come and work here?" Sara asked

"Well I needed money and a place to stay, ever since the battle in Rivera."

"Well, where are your parents?" she asked yet another question.

"My mom died when I was three. As for my dad, I don't have a clue." she replied.

"I'm sorry to hear that. You can stay here as long as you like. We have an extra room you can stay in." Sara had a sad look on her face but quickly regained her composure with a broad smile.

"Thanks. I really appreciate it." Cagalli was as grateful as ever. I have a place to stay now until I decide to return. Father I hope you're not too mad. Or in that case, I hope Kira hasn't lost it yet. She kept thinking about her family until she heard Sara speak again, but this time to Ahmed.

"Did you hear what happened today at the castle?" she asked.

"No Ma. What?"

"Well the castle was attacked by Zaft, and some guards were killed. Lord Uzumi, Prince Kira, and Princess Cagalli haven't been heard or seen since then.. They might have been kidnapped, or worse killed."

"WHAT!" Cagalli yelled as she abruptly stood up from her seat.

"Are you alright dear? You look rather pale." Sara asked, worry evident in her voice.

"I'm alright. It's just some shocking news. I hope they all escaped." Cagalli quickly sat down and stared at her hands. Her mind was racing with many horrible thoughts with what might have happened. The rest of the time everyone silently ate at the table. Everyone but Cagalli. She seemed to have lost her appetite. Please be alright. Please.

"Cathrun, would you be a dear and go out and buy these things for me?" Sara handed a list of groceries and some coins to Cagalli. She nodded and left towards town.

"This town is huge." Nicol said. "We'll never be able to search the town before night fall.

"Why don't we split up? You take the east side and I'll take the west side." Athrun said as he walked away to his left. "This isn't going to be easy." He was looking around and wasn't paying attention to were he was going when he bumped into someone. He looked forward and saw a girl falling to the ground.

(Cagalli's Point of View)

She was expecting to hit the hard dirt road but never did. The only thing she felt was a tight grip on her arm. She slowly opened her eyes only to be met with the most beautiful emerald eyes she had ever seen. She noticed that he was the one who bumped into her but then caught her before she fell.

"I'm so sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going." He pulled her up and let go of her arm.

That's when she noticed his uniform. He's a soldier of Zaft! She quickly spun on her heal and walked away from him rather fast.

"Wait!" he reached out and grabbed her shoulder.

She turned her head and said coldly, "What?"

"I just wanted to know if you're okay." he said.

"I'm fine." And with that she left.

(Athrun's POV)

I wonder why she seemed so upset. He looked down and noticed a piece of paper. "What's this?" he reached down and picked it up. She must've dropped this. I better return it to her. I believe she went that way. And then he ran off in her direction.

"Father. We must search for Cagalli. I'm worried that something bad might have happened. What if she ran into the Zaft soldiers on her way out and they kidnapped her? Or worse, killed her." Kira was very frantic he was pacing back and forth. He was bound to run a whole in the floor soon.

"Calm down. I'm sure she's fine. Cagalli's a tough girl. She can handle herself. In fact, I'd feel bad if the soldiers did run into her." Miriallia said trying to calm Kira and hopefully make him stop pacing around. His antics were beginning to make her dizzy.

"You're right. I'm sure she's fine." Kira said trying to reassure himself.

"We'll search for her after everything has settled down." Miriallia said as she gave Kira a pat on the back. "Everything will turn out alright, and it'll be as if it never happened." I hope.

"Shh. There are two Zaft soldiers coming this way." The maid said as she ran over to them.

"They just don't give up do they?" Uzumi said.

"I'm telling you, they aren't here. This is just one huge, stupid open field. We have a better chance of finding them under a pebble." Yzak retorted.

"Look. We have to follow orders. And our order is to search the field so that's what we're going to do. Believe me, I agree with you. But you whining about it, doesn't make it any better." Dearka retorted back.

And that is how it has been going with Yzak and Dearka, and how it will continue for the rest of the time. They never stop quarrelling, and they're hardly even searching.

Cagalli was sitting in the living room doing absolutely nothing when she heard…

Knock, Knock, Knock.

"I got it." Sara yelled as she left the kitchen and headed towards the front door.

"Hello miss." a familiar voice said. "By any chance does a blonde, about this tall, live here?" he asked.

Sara eyed him suspiciously before answering, "Yes." She turned her head and yelled. "Cathrun, there's someone at the door for you."

Cagalli got up from the couch and made her way to the door. She gasped once she saw who it was. "You!"

To Be Continued…