JC: Chapter 6 is up! You guys may be wondering what Rey is doing here. I'm no Rey-fan, but I just thought of a crazy idea about him. Anyway, I've received so many reviews and I appreciate them. Please read this fic and I hope you enjoy it.
Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Seed. I only owned the character Jean Zala and the plot.
Love Fulfilled
Phase 06: Rivals
Kira decided to wake Cagalli up, even though he knew it would be dangerous to do so. But he was quite excited to tell her the news about Rey. He left his room in a hurry and headed towards Cagalli's room. Once there, he knocked on the door, and as he expected, nobody answered. He figured that his sister was still sleeping. "Cagalli's such a heavy sleeper." He heaved a deep sigh. "Oh, well, I should tell her later."
He walked back to his room, but before he turned the doorknob, he heard a car pulling over. "I wonder who that could be." He made his way downstairs and to the main door. He opened the door, looked outside and saw a familiar white limo. "That's Cagalli's limo!" he exclaimed.
Cagalli and Athrun got off the limo only to see Kira looking at them with an obviously pissed expression. The princess immediately backed away as she eyed her brother in an awkward way.
"Where have you been?!" Kira asked sternly.
"Why do I always get caught?" Cagalli mumbled. She turned back to Kira and smiled.
"I was asking you a question, Cagalli," Kira said. "Answer me."
"We went to ORB Headquarters, Representative," Athrun answered as he properly saluted.
"I see." His voice toned down all of a sudden. He approached Cagalli and placed both hands on her shoulder. He stared straight into her golden-brown eyes and smiled. "If you're thinking that I'm going to scold you again, then you're seriously wrong." He walked back to the door and turned to the two. "You can do whatever you like, Cagalli. That's what I promised you, right?"
Cagalli blinked twice before recalling her talk with Kira yesterday. Kira did say something like that, but she thought she needed to ask permission first. "I forgot." She chuckled. "Thanks Kira..."
"Whatever, sis," Kira replied. "By the way, Rey will be visiting us two days from now."
"What?!" Cagalli yelled. "That's great! I really missed him." She clasped her hands as she smiled widely at her brother. "Kira, I'm so excited."
On the other hand, Athrun appeared confused by this. He didn't know who Rey was. But from what he had observed, Rey seemed to be an important person to Cagalli.
ORB Military Headquarters
Cagalli and Athrun paid Jean a visit again at ORB Military HQ. And Jean, being a big fan of the blonde princess, was delighted to see her. "I'm glad to see you again, Princess!" she said as she politely bowed at Cagalli.
"Skip the formalities, Jean," Cagalli reprimanded her. "Just call me by name."
Jean looked at the blonde and smiled. "Thank you, C-Cagalli-san."
"Cagalli!" the princess exclaimed. "Just Cagalli, got that?!"
Jean nodded her head vigorously. "Okay, I got it!"
When Athrun placed a hand on his sister's shoulder, Jean turned her head at him and raised an eyebrow. "What is it, Nii-san?" she asked him.
Athrun pointed a finger at the clock, telling her that it was time for her shift.
At that moment, Jean's face paled. "I'm going to be late!" she shrieked. She started to panic that she almost hit the wall. She hastily gathered all her report papers and almost tripped on her own shoe. She was acting like a total idiot in front of Cagalli and Athrun. "No, I'm late!"
It wasn't something new for Athrun to see his sister like that. But for Cagalli it was really funny. Cagalli tried to hold her laughter back at first, but she couldn't contain it. Well, Jean didn't mind Cagalli laughing at her. Jean felt rather contented that she was able to see the blonde so happy.
Cagalli noticed Jean staring at her and stopped laughing immediately. She threw Jean a sorry look and said, "I didn't mean to laugh at you, Jean."
"I know," Jean replied, "and its okay."
"That's funny," Athrun said sarcastically. "The last time I laughed at you, you almost strangled me to death."
Jean immediately shot him a death glare. She held up a fist as a fair warning for what she may do to him if he continued babbling. Athrun got the message, but he just lightly laughed at her. "Nii-san, you better stop or else!" Jean warned.
Athrun raised his hands in a form of surrender. "I'll shut up now."
"You know, you two remind me so much of Kira and me," Cagalli told them.
"I guess most siblings tend to act this way towards each other," Athrun added.
Jean and Cagalli both nodded in agreement.
Afterwards, Athrun and Cagalli headed towards the Mobile Suit Hangar. There, the princess was greeted by many soldiers, including the technicians and special officers.
"This really bugs me," Cagalli mumbled.
"You really don't like to be treated like a celebrity, huh?" Athrun said.
"Do you think I enjoy being princess?" Cagalli's face turned sour.
Athrun chuckled, "No… But isn't it nice that you're the most admired person in ORB?"
Cagalli smiled at the soldier passing by before she turned to Athrun again. "I think it's great, but it's a little too much for me. Being a princess is hard and troublesome."
"But being the head representative of a country is even harder," Athrun added.
Well, Cagalli had to admit that Athrun was right. Being a head representative of a neutral nation wasn't actually just a walk in a park. She knew how serious Kira was with his job and he never showed her any signs of hardship, not even once. She had always seen Kira with a smile whenever he comes home from work. She had never heard him complaining about his work either. But now she was starting to doubt that. She glanced at Athrun and faintly smiled. "I think you're right," she said.
"Representative Yamato is a great leader and you're pretty lucky to have him for a brother."
She nodded her head. "I agree with you all the way!"
Kai happened to pass by and spotted them. He immediately smiled at the sight of the princess and went into fan mode as he approached her. "Princess!" he called out. "It's nice to see you again!" He slightly bowed his head at her as a sign of respect. "What brings you here today, princess?"
Cagalli looked inquisitively at him. "Um, who are you again?" she questioned as she pointed a finger at him.
"You don't remember me?" Kai said, pretending to look hurt and pitiful. "We met in the city."
Cagalli looked at him blankly before asking Athrun, "Who is he again?"
"He's Kai Kazuya, the guy who exposed you as the princess in the city," Athrun explained with a hint of derision in his voice.
"So, do you remember me now?" Kai urged.
"I remember now," Cagalli spoke in a deep voice. She narrowed her eyes at him and approached him until her body was just inches away from his.
Kai grinned widely as his face flushed up. He lightly laughed and scratched the back of his head, trying to calm himself down. "I'm glad to hear that, princess."
Unexpectedly, Cagalli gave him one hard blow on the head.
"Ouch!" He held his head and massaged it. "What did you do that for, princess?" he asked her.
"That's what you get for opening that big mouth of yours!" she yelled at him, practically shoving a fist towards his face. "Didn't you know that you almost got me in trouble?!"
After hearing that, Kai started bowing like a servant as he apologized sincerely to Cagalli.
"You look stupid, Kazuya," Athrun commented.
"Shut the hell up, Zala! I don't want to hear any comments from you!" Kai wailed. He looked back at Cagalli and clasped his hands together in a praying form. "Please forgive me, princess."
"Okay, just stop calling me princess!" Cagalli said.
Kai immediately got up and clasped her hand. "Thank you!" he told her.
Athrun clenched his fist the minute Kai took hold of Cagalli's hand. He reached for Kai's shoulder and gripped it tightly.
"Hey!" Kai yelled. "What do you think you're doing? That hurts, you know."
Athrun smiled cunningly at him. "How long are you planning to hold her hand, Kazuya?"
Kai glanced back at the princess and blushed. He instantly released her hand and laughed stupidly.
"Kai, what's the matter?" she asked.
"Nothing is wrong, princess," he told her. "Don't mind me." He lightly chuckled to himself.
"If you say so," she replied before turning to her bodyguard. "We have to go now, Athrun."
"You're right," Athrun said. "You still have a meeting to attend with Representative Yamato."
"I know that." She sighed deeply. "I hate going to meetings. They're so boring. I better hurry back before Kira scolds me." She turned her head to Kai and smiled. "We have to go now. It was nice meeting you again, Kai."
"But I wanted to spend more time with you and get to know you better," he wined like a little spoiled boy.
Athrun got annoyed by this. "I'm sorry, but the princess has to attend an important meeting, Kazuya. It's more important than you."
"What did you say?!" Kai exclaimed as he grabbed Athrun by the collar. "Are you trying to make a point or are you trying to pick a fight with me?!"
"Of course not," Athrun replied, "and I'm not mocking you either. I'm just saying that you're wasting Cagalli's time." He brushed Kai's hand away, grabbed Cagalli by the wrist and dragged her away.
"A... Athrun!" Cagalli uttered, seemingly confused with his actions. "Stop! Ah!" She noticed how mean Athrun was to Kai. But Kai didn't do anything to upset him. He was just being nice to her, so what was his big problem?
On the other hand, Kai got even more furious at Athrun. "Who does he think he is taking away the princess like that?!" he uttered. "I'm not going to let this pass by." In an instant, he ran and caught up with them. He stood firm as he glared at Athrun with those furious blue eyes.
Athrun released Cagalli from his grasp and faced him with the same look. "What now, Kazuya?" he asked him seriously. "We have to go!"
"I wasn't finished talking with the princess, yet you rudely took her away," Kai answered Athrun. "You're in no position to do that!"
Athrun neither flinched nor said a single word to Kai. He just stood in silence as he continued the staring contest with his comrade. He noticed how angry Kai looked and from what he had observed, he figured that Kai also liked the princess. That was the reason why he felt jealous when Kai held Cagalli's hand earlier. It just hit him hard and made him uneasy. Of course, knowing that, he was determined to take Cagalli away from Kai. However, he also felt wrong about it.
Kai was getting impatient with Athrun. First of all, he was annoyed since Athrun just pulled Cagalli away. Second thing was the fact that they were always together. And the last one was because Athrun called the princess by her first name. "Tell me something, Zala, why are you always with her?" he questioned.
"Didn't you know that I'm her bodyguard?" Athrun replied nonchalantly.
"What?!" Kai yelled in disbelief. "You have to be kidding me!"
"I'm not kidding, Kazuya," Athrun countered.
"He's telling the truth," Cagalli added. "I thought you knew about it."
Now Kai was really jealous of Athrun. Not only does he get to call her by her name, he also gets to spend so much time with her every single day. He wished he was the bodyguard instead of Athrun.
Cagalli checked the time and it was only 30 minutes till meeting time. She informed Athrun about this right away and told him that they should go. Before they took off, she told Kai that she was going to visit again tomorrow.
A smile grew on his face as he hollered a very loud "yes!" that can be heard from the outside. Cagalli laughed at this and still she wondered about him. Athrun reminded her about the meeting, causing her to panic. She grabbed her bodyguard and dragged him all the way to the limo.
Kai watched them took off in the limo. He even waved his hand at Cagalli, but he was sure that she didn't see that. He sighed deeply and leaned his back on the wall. He stared blankly at some mobile suits and thought about the princess. He glanced at his hand—the hand he used to hold Cagalli's hand. He smiled in contentment at his palm and vowed to never wash it again. "Never to wash it?" he murmured, letting out a slight chuckle. "I must be out of my mind." He then thought about Athrun. "He's going to be a big problem." He found out from Jean that Athrun also has feelings for the princess. But he swore to himself that he won't be beaten by Athrun.
While riding back to the parliament house, Cagalli was thinking about Rey. She was pretty excited to meet him again. "I wonder what Rey looks like now," Cagalli said.
"Huh?" Athrun mumbled. "What did you say Cagalli?"
"You heard me?" she asked. "I have to stop thinking out loud." She lightly chuckled to herself.
"You were saying something about Rey," Athrun said with slight hesitation.
"Do you know him?" Cagalli questioned with enthusiasm. "Rey Za Burrel?"
"I don't know him that well. But if I'm not mistaken, he's the nephew of PLANT Supreme Chairman, Gilbert Dullindal," Athrun answered.
Cagalli nodded. "You're absolutely correct!" she said. "Rey is a very important friend of mine. He's kind, polite, and he's really handsome too. He's really popular with the girls."
From the way she talked about Rey, Athrun thought Cagalli liked him very much. He frowned and turned his head away from her.
Cagalli noticed the sudden change of expression on Athrun's face and got worried. "What's the matter, Athrun?" she asked as she placed a hand on his shoulder.
He immediately glanced back at the princess and smiled. "Nothing is wrong," he told her. But deep inside his heart, he was troubled.
She sighed in relief. "I'm glad to hear that. Anyway, do you want to know more about Rey?"
Athrun shook his head and said, "No, because I'm going to see him tomorrow, right?"
"Yes," Cagalli replied cheerfully, oblivious to Athrun's feelings. "And you'll see that he's really a nice guy."
"I'm sure he is," Athrun said, his lips curving into a deep frown.
PLANT
Rey was all set for his trip to ORB. He had packed everything he needed, including his guns. He figured that he may need them when he'll encounter trouble. He rechecked all his stuff and saw that everything was in order. "Finally," he said, "I'm done."
He stretched out his arms and walked out to the balcony where he could see the busy streets filled with vehicles and tall buildings from afar. He sat down on his chair as he gazed up at the sky. He started thinking about Cagalli and smiled.
"Cagalli," Rey murmured. "I wonder if I'll have the chance to..." His thoughts were cut off by a loud knock that came from the door. He got up from his chair and opened the door. He saw Gilbert Dullindal, his uncle and Chairman of PLANT, with a wide smirk on his face. It gave him a strange feeling.
"Are you prepared for tomorrow?" Gilbert asked.
Rey's face turned serious the minute he heard Gilbert's voice. "Yes," he replied in a low tone. "Have you come here just to ask me that?"
The chairman suddenly laughed at him, which made Rey furious. "What's so funny?" Rey questioned. He was not in the mood for jokes and laughs. "Do you think I'm hilarious to you, Gil?"
"You look scary, Rey," Gil said. "I just came here to check up on you. That's all."
"If that's the case, you may leave me now," Rey told him with serious and deadly eyes. He pushed the door to close it, but Gil immediately stopped it.
The chairman then barged into the room and pushed Rey to the floor. He stared angrily at Rey this time. "Why are you being so rude to your uncle now?" he questioned.
Rey stood up and faced him calmly. "I don't want to do this," he said. "I don't want to kill him."
"We've been over this, Rey. I thought you understood me. You know the consequences if you betray me!" He grabbed Rey by the collar and pulled him towards him. "If you won't do it, then I'll have to kill her and I know you don't want that." He reminded him of the consequences.
Rey pushed himself away from Gil and took a few steps backwards. His blue eyes glared right at the dark-haired man and his fists were clenched in rage.
But Gil wasn't intimidated by Rey. Instead, he just smirked at him.
Rey, knowing that he couldn't do anything to stop Gil, punched the wall so hard. He was frustrated and he felt helpless.
"Your mission is quite simple and you know it," Gil told him. "You just have to kill him and that's it." He placed a hand on Rey's shoulder. "You can't back out from this."
"Don't touch me!" yelled Rey, "I know I don't have any choice but to obey you!" A tear suddenly fell from his eye which surprised him. He turned away from Gil to hide it. "Gil, just promise me that you won't hurt her." His fists trembled in rage and also fear. "Swear it!" he demanded.
Gil smiled and raised his hand slightly. "I swear I won't lay a finger on her. Besides, after your mission, you can live happily with her."
"I'm not sure if I will be happy with that. I'm not sure if she'll be happy if I'll kill her most important person," Rey thought sadly.
Next Day
Kira woke up early and immediately got dressed. He knew today was a special day, because Rey was coming. He went to Cagalli's room to wake her up. "Cagalli!" he yelled. His voice startled Cagalli, making her fall out of her bed again. He just laughed at her. "That's the 98th time you fell out of bed, Cagalli." He had been keeping count since they were kids. His sister had the knack of falling out of bed in the morning.
Angered by this, Cagalli immediately stood and showed a fist to Kira. "Kira, I'm going to murder you and I don't care if you're my brother!" she yelled at him. She was going to approach him when her blanket got wrapped up around her feet and caused her to fall down again.
"Cagalli, you're so clumsy!" Kira said as he laughed out loud like a lunatic.
"Kira Yamato!" Cagalli uttered, pouncing on him like a tiger. Her full force sent Kira pummeling to the floor. She positioned herself on top of him and placed both hands on his neck. She started choking him until he couldn't breathe. "I warned you not to mess with me!"
"I-I'm so... s-sorry..." Kira murmured as he struggled for air. "C-Cagalli…let me…go…now… I-I n-need air…"
Cagalli felt contented to see her brother suffering like that. She released him and got off of him. "So, are you okay?" she asked him with a smile.
Kira slowly got up and faced her angrily. "Does it look like I'm fine to you? You almost killed me."
"That's what you get for waking me up so early in the morning and for laughing at me." There was a pissed look on her face as she crossed her arms in front of her chest.
"I knew something like this would happen if I wake you up. I should have listened to my conscience," Kira murmured softly.
"Why are you here anyway?" Cagalli asked.
"I just wanted to tell you that Rey will be arriving in an hour, so you better get ready."
"An hour?!" Cagalli immediately rushed towards the bathroom with a towel and a bathrobe.
Kira got up and went to the bathroom door. He knocked on it and told Cagalli to hurry up.
"Don't bother me, Kira!" Cagalli said angrily. "I'm already speeding things up here!"
"I'll give you only 5 minutes," Kira said. "I'll be waiting for you outside in my limo. I'll also inform Lt. Zala about this. Wear your military uniform properly, okay?"
"Geez!" Cagalli complained like a spoiled child. "You sound like Mana for crying out loud. Just go already!"
Kira walked towards the door and opened it. Before he went out, he looked into Cagalli's closet, where all her uniforms were kept. "I'm sure that tomboy sister of mine will wear pants, but not if I can help it." He had a sly plan in mind. He took out all the pants from the closet, leaving only some blue micro mini-skirts behind. "She has no choice but to wear them now." Kira giggled at his idea. He slowly walked out the room and closed the door.
After taking a refreshing shower, Cagalli went to her closet and pulled out her coat from the rack and wore it. Her military coat had gold chains, four stripes on the left part and gold bars on the collar. It signified her rank as the Supreme Commander of the ORB Military. As she reached in for her pants, she noticed that they were all gone. "What the?!" Cagalli yelled as her face paled. "What happened to all my pants?!"
She looked around the room, but they were nowhere to be seen. She sighed in frustration. "What am I suppose to wear now?" she asked herself. She looked into her closet again and spotted the mini-skirts. "I would die if anyone sees me wearing those! But I don't have much choice." She grabbed one of the skirts and wore it. As she looked at herself in the mirror, she noticed how short the skirt was. It was two inches above the knees! Cagalli blushed madly at this. "I bet this is all Kira's doing."
She grabbed a pair of white boots and slipped them on. She glanced at herself in the mirror again and felt something was missing. Although she didn't want to admit it, the skirt looked good on her and the boots were okay. But when she saw her hair, she felt that she must fix it up. She decided to style her hair, which was a highly unusual thing for her to do. She went to her dresser and grabbed some pins and ribbons. She pulled out a comb and started combing her hair until her hair was all in place.
"Now what style should I do?" she said. "Wait a minute! Why am I worrying on such things?! What am I thinking?!"
Suddenly, Mana came in without any warning. Cagalli got startled by her entrance and she scolded her for doing that. Mana was about to apologize to the princess, but she got worked up when she saw Cagalli wearing a skirt!
Cagalli slightly blushed at this and told her not to mind it.
But Mana was so thrilled that she even suggested fixing her hair, which Cagalli highly disagreed. Mana insisted on it until Cagalli gave up.
"Do what you want!" Cagalli said, annoyed, as she groaned in frustration.
"Just sit tight, princess," Mana said. "This won't take long. I bet you'll look very lovely after I'm done with you." She clapped her hands in excitement.
Meanwhile, Kira and Athrun were waiting for Cagalli outside beside the limo. Kira was asking Athrun about his job. He just wanted to make sure if everything was going well between him and Cagalli. Athrun assured Kira that his job was fine and he has nothing to worry about. Kira was relieved to hear that.
"She must really like you," Kira said. "Normally, the bodyguards that I hired for her don't last. You're really different."
Athrun faced Kira and smiled. "I'm glad to hear that the princess likes me, but I think there's another reason to that. Princess Cagalli is really a great girl. The times I've spent with her were fun. I really like being with her."
Kira stared at him and he focused mainly on Athrun's emerald-green eyes that were filled with a certain aura. He could sense some deep emotions from Athrun. He guessed that Athrun might be in love with Cagalli. He can't be too sure about that yet, but he wanted to confirm it by asking him. When he was about to ask, Cagalli came out and caught his attention. "Cagalli?" he said as he gazed upon his sister with amazement.
Athrun also had his eyes locked on the blonde princess. Cagalli looked stunning wearing the ORB uniform with a skirt and white boots. And the best part of her was her hair, which was tied up in a cluttered bun. Her hair style revealed her golden-brown eyes even more. "Princess, you look great," he told her.
Cagalli looked at him and blushed. "Thanks," she replied shyly. "But I really don't feel comfortable right now."
"That's much better than pants, Cagalli," Kira said.
Cagalli glared at her brother, "I know you were the one who took my pants so I would have to wear a skirt."
"You have to look good for Rey," Kira told her.
Of course, she wanted to look good for Rey, but not by wearing something she doesn't like. She just wanted to be herself. She stomped over to the limo and went in. She didn't want to argue with Kira anymore and decided to ignore him.
"She's one hothead, don't you agree, Athrun?" Kira turned to Athrun.
"Yes, she is," Athrun replied.
"Well, we better go now since Rey and the Chairman will be arriving any minute." Kira went inside the limo first.
Athrun stood in silence as he thought about Rey. He had seen Rey before on televisions and newspapers, and now he was going to meet him. Somehow, Athrun envied Rey, because Cagalli seemed to like him more than a friend. But he wasn't sure if it was love or something else.
To be continued...
JC: I'm pairing Rey up with Cagalli. I just thought of doing something new. I'm tired of Cagalli being paired up with the wimp, Yuuna. Rey is much better, even though he's a bad guy in Destiny. Well, he's not really bad once you get to know him. Of course, it's still Athrun and Cagalli. Rey is going to be another rival. This is a bit long and I didn't notice that. Did you guys enjoy reading it? If so, then tell me what you think by reviewing it, and a little reminder, no flames please.