Chapter 20 Fan Girl Paparazzi
A/N: Heya, some of my reviewers say I'm one of the fastest updaters they've seen, is that true? I know that for my first fanfic, I used to update every other day without fail, haha! But my chapters were a lot shorter then, so of course I updated quicker. Anyway, thank you to all those who have been reviewing constantly and encouraging me! Happy reading!
"You don't really have to stay here to accompany me. I'm pretty much alright on my own." Said Athrun, grinning widely at the blonde, the brunette young man and his former fiancée, who were standing by his bed and chatting with him.
"Don't be silly, Athrun. We can't afford to leave you alone again, I mean after all that's happened, I think we're all scarred for life." Sighed Lacus willfully, before shifting her gaze to the sleeping baby boy who was lying cradled in Athrun's arms and looking contented.
Lacus smiled at a little Aaron. He was just such an endearing little tot. Certainly, he resembled much of Athrun when the latter was young. Handsome, charming, delightful and charismatic, was what any girl would've described Athrun to be.
Lacus had to admit, she was very lucky to have had been engaged to such a charming and gentlemanly young man like Athrun. Even so, she never really thought of him as more than a very good friend. Likewise, Athrun had only considered Lacus as a very good companion, and nothing more.
The pink-haired girl grinned warmly at the little baby sleeping in his father's arms. She could imagine herself having a few kids of her own once she found Mr. Right, and for some reason, she just felt that Kira was perfect for the position of her Mr. Right.
"Seriously, I'll be fine if you leave me here. I've got the nurses and Dr. Ishida monitoring me twenty-four seven, so I'm practically very secure here." Reassured Athrun, planting a soft kiss on Aaron's soft head, as the little baby shifted slightly in the warm and secure arms of his father.
"Yeah right, no way am I going to leave this place without taking my son along, and I wouldn't want to wake him up by wrenching off you either." Hissed Cagalli, apparently still very annoyed, as she folded her arms tightly across her bosom.
"Are you sure, Cagalli? Because knowing you the way I do, you wouldn't have cared less about anything at all, and you would've just taken Aaron and left. So are you sure you're not just using Aaron as an excuse to stay here?" mocked Kira teasingly, inching closer to his sister and sniggering playfully.
"Am not!" snapped Cagalli heatedly, waving her fist in Kira's direction and scowling at her twin brother, who was laughing away like a mad man.
Athrun's expression fell slightly. His stomach held a sinking feeling, knowing that Cagalli was still bent on not acknowledging him, and who knew how long she'd remain in this ignorant state?
"Where's Dearka?" asked Yzak out of the blue, poking his head out from Kyo's unit, and looking around.
"I think he went out with Mirre," replied Lacus sweetly, before the platinum blonde sighed and returned to Kyo's unit.
"Mr. Zala," Came a high-pitched and squeaky girl's voice from the end of Athrun's bed.
Everyone turned to face the person from whom the voice erupted from. Even Aaron was aroused from the high-pitched glass-shattering sound.
The noise had come from a young nurse, who had her uniform so tight and short that Athrun swore if she bent down to pick something up, her underwear would've been clearly visible under her skirt.
The nurse was clearly very vain, as she was so caked up with stockings, blusher, lots of lipstick and eye shadow and curled black eyelashes as long as a camel's. She was batting her eyelids constantly at Athrun, who had goose bumps forming on his skin already.
Without warning she jumped out at Athrun and threw her arms around him giggling and squealing away like a mad fan girl, and in fact, she was a fan girl, one of Athrun's fan girls.
The moment Cagalli had reached to retrieve Aaron from being squashed in-between the nurse and Athrun; it was as though the baby had literally jumped into his mother's arms being so startled and afraid.
"Oh my goodness! I can't believe I've finally met you! I'm probably your biggest fan!" squealed the young nurse kissing Athrun all over on the head, and Athrun being so polite, tried very hard not to squirm and show his discomfort.
Kira, Lacus and Cagalli were staring dumbstruck at what they were seeing before their very eyes, and the sight only made Cagalli even more annoyed. The young man she loved was being kissed and hugged all over by a total crazy female stranger, and he wasn't even trying to stop her!
"Oh my gosh! ATHRUN ZALA! Hey Mandy, come over her, now! Athrun's really here! AAAAAAAH!" squealed a second nurse, looking just as made up as the first, and within seconds, a third nurse looking like a geisha, had appeared.
Before Athrun could say or do anything, he was engulfed in more hugs and showered with more sloppy and kisses that were smudged with lipstick.
"Ooooooh! This must be his son, although I didn't read anywhere about him having a girlfriend or a son! He's so cute!" squealed the nurse called Mandy, tugging at Aaron's cheeks, and ignoring the baby's cries of protest.
Cagalli finally wrenched Aaron away from Mandy, and soothed him as she glared ferociously at the nurse, who backed off slightly before giggling away.
"Ok, this shall be published at PLANTs sooner or later, Athrun Zala has a dumb blonde for a girlfriend and has a perfectly angelic son, who's a splitting image of him!" exclaimed another nurse, jumping around madly.
The other two nurses had now crowded around Cagalli, and were bombarding her with questions, which the blonde Orb Princess simply refused to answer, and was busy trying to protect her son from the nurses' slobbery kisses.
"Leave them alone!" barked Athrun fiercely, after wiping all the kiss marks off his face with a piece of tissue paper.
The three nurses ceased in their actions and stared at him shocked and appalled by his sudden outburst.
"What's going on? Where did you three come from and how is it that you know me?" asked Athrun hotly, staring furiously at the three petite and big bosomed girls, who were looking at him lustfully, to Cagalli's silent disgust.
"Didn't you know? You've got a huge fan base back at PLANTs, and your father approves of it! We're the fan bases's leaders!" explained one of the girls excitedly, giggling away as she blew a kiss at Aaron, which Cagalli quickly avoided.
Athrun's jaw dropped, "What? Just what is my father doing as the Chairman of PLANTs? He certainly isn't doing a very good job is he? Get out! All three of you, and tell those people who have joined the fan base to disperse!"
The three nurses sighed and moved off into the staffroom, swaying their big bums and sashaying at their own pace back to their assigned venues.
"What was that all about! You asshole, you didn't even stop them from touching you all over, and d'you know what kind of questions they were asking me? You're such a bastard!" hissed Cagalli hotly, storming out of the ward, Aaron, sitting quietly in her arms.
"Damn it!" yelled Athrun, slamming his fist into his bedside table, making the lamp rattle violently. There were tears welling up in his eyes, as the anger swelled within him, he made Cagalli mad again.
"Athrun, calm down, she'll be alright." Said Lacus coolly, walking up to Athrun and placing a warm hand on her shoulder.
"She'll be alright, but I won't! I want her back! I don't want her ignoring me or behaving coldly towards me anymore! It's hurting me! Even though I feel like crying I won't because I don't want to!" hollered Athrun, his eyes swimming in tears.
"It's ok to cry, that's what Lacus told me once. You'll feel better after that, just drown all your sorrows in your tears." Said Kira meaningfully, looking at his sister's beloved and smiling.
"What's the point of doing that if the one you love isn't there to lend you a shoulder to cry on?" sobbed Athrun, finally breaking down and burying his head into his pillow and bursting into a fit of tears.
Lacus could only watch her former fiancé sadly, as she leant her shoulder on Kira's shoulder and sighed deeply.
Meanwhile outside, Cagalli was sitting in the waiting area, crying herself after hearing each and every single one of Athrun's sorrowful words. Her tears fell from her eyes hitting Aaron's little head, urging the baby boy to reach up and use his hand to wipe away his mother's tears.
Cagalli looked down at her precious son, his emerald eyes staring back up at her as he touched her face wiping away her tears. Aaron reminded Cagalli so much of Athrun, those emerald eyes and his soft blue hair.
The blonde girl thought back of the first time she lay in Athrun's arms, as he cuddled her close and their bodies joined as one, and the beautiful result of that night was the perfect baby boy that lay cradled in Cagalli's arms right now.
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"Where d'you want to go for dinner? There's a whole row of shops from here onwards, and the food is simply scrumptious." Said Dearka, swerving tightly into one of the parking lots nearby town. The copper-tone skinned blonde had rented a car from Orb especially for his little date with Miriallia.
"To be truthful, I'm not sure. You seem to know this area better than I do, so why don't you choose?" advocated Miriallia sweetly, grinning at her lean and handsome boyfriend, who shrugged and agreed.
"Well personally, I like that Italian restaurant just round the corner from here. The cheesy dishes are deliciously rich," said Dearka excitedly, taking Miriallia's hand and dragging her off as the auburn-haired girl giggled away.
The duo entered the homely and warmly-lit restaurant, which had coloured glass windows and ceiling lights, which hung from the sloped ceiling. There weren't many people in the restaurant, thought those that were there, who dressed rather weirdly.
Unusually big sized hats, long striped socks, heavy make-up like a clown's and the ladies were very scantily dressed. Dearka was trying very hard not to stare, and if he was to be truthful, he had never entered this town or this restaurant. In fact, this was his first time to Orb, as he was from PLANTs, so how could be possibly be accustomed to this area.
"Dearka honey, are you sure you eat here often? You may have taken a wrong turn and entered the wrong restaurant," said Miriallia apprehensively, looking and judging by the sort of people that came to eat here, she didn't feel very comfortable.
Dirty and perverse stares were coming at her from all directions from both young and old lads, some puffing pipes and others smoking tobacco. All had mustaches of goatees, and laughed and talked loudly, drinking and playing cars to entertain themselves.
"I come here all the time, don't worry, I'll protect you no matter what." Said Dearka, trying to sound reassuring instead of uneasy.
"Alright then, we'll sit here and maybe place out orders." Said Miriallia, tugging at Dearka's forearm and sitting down carefully at a table for two.
Immediately, a waitress with a painted face like a geisha's attended to them. She had a strong Italian accent and was barely understandable, and that was when Miriallia realized that Dearka spoke Italian, to Miriallia's complete surprise.
Dearka placed an order for a set meal for two, which Miriallia quickly agreed to, as even though being a girl, she wasn't the fussy type.
"You speak Italian? You never told me!" said Miriallia laughing, and playfully hitting Dearka on the arm, as he blocked off the rest of her playful blows with both arms.
"Yeah, you never asked. I keep these sort of things to myself," said Dearka snappily, catching Miriallia's hand as she aimed a punch at him. The blonde young man bit her playfully, causing the auburn-haired girl to pull back sharply and rub her forearm, still laughing away.
It wasn't long before dinner was served. There was a layout of macaroni and cheese, some weird dish with salami slices and parsley, and some drinks, which Miriallia declined to, take even a sip of as they looked toxic.
"Mmm, the cheese is good," said Miriallia smacking her lips as she took a bite out of her food.
Dearka was watching his girlfriend intently, just enjoying the sight of her sitting before him. Her movements were beautiful, she was beautiful. Her auburn hair just bounced up every time she moved her head.
Her olive-green eyes just shone under the warm light of the restaurant, and she seemed to be having a good time so far, to Dearka's relief.
It was a number of seconds before Dearka realized that Miriallia had been constantly calling out his name when she realized he was staring at her and grinning naughtily. It was obvious that the tanned blonde had been thinking dirty thoughts, as is grin had been getting naughtier and naughtier.
Dearka blushed deeply after coming back to reality. "Sorry, I was dreaming."
"Of what? You were smiling so cheekily at me I was getting the goose bumps." Asked Miriallia, giggling at the reddened shade on Dearka's tanned cheeks.
The copper-tone skinned young man was ever so handsome to her. In fact, it was as though all co-ordinator young men had the charm and the charisma. Athrun, Dearka, even Yzak. Although the young Jule had always pulled a long face, he was handsome in his own ways; that was probably why Kyo was head over heels in love with him.
Even Kira Yamato was babyishly handsome. The brunette had always had a boyish face that never failed to enhance his features.
"I was just dreaming of something," said Dearka, trying to wriggle his way out of the sticky situation he was caught in. He certainly didn't want to tell Mirre that he was actually dreaming of bedding her one day and making her the happiest woman on Earth and on PLANTs.
"What were you dreaming of? Unless it was something illegal, you've got nothing to hide." Said Miriallia cheekily, knowing somehow that he had been thinking of something dirty, though she couldn't blame him anyhow, he was a guy after all.
"It' really nothing; and I'd rather not talk about it." Said Dearka awkwardly, smiling at Milly before finally tucking into his dinner. However, before the spoon could reach Dearka's lips, the duo experienced something very weird.
An avalanche of cream puffs, sauces and cakes were hurtled at them from the people around them. Dearka catapulted to his feet and jumped out of his table, dragging a screaming Miriallia along. The food attacks didn't stop even as they ran out of the restaurant, there were others waiting in a long line outside as well.
The duo ran along the street, towards a nearby building which was clear of any people at all. Dearka had received a few creams puffs in the face, and Mirre had been hit twice by a series of fruit purees.
They finally stopped behind a brick wall, panting hard as they leant backwards on the wall, clearing the mess off their faces and clothes. To Dearka's surprise, Miriallia was not looking shocked or frightened, but she was laughing away.
"That was… fun… d'you always go through… this?" asked Mirre, turning to Dearka and falling into his chest, still trying to catch her breath.
"Umm, actually Mirre, to be truthful, I've never even been here." Confessed Dearka, feeling rather foolish and ashamed of himself, which was what anyone in his shoes would've felt.
Miriallia just laughed even more, "You silly boy,"
Dearka was just glad that Miriallia wasn't angry or disappointed in him or anything else. In fact, he found it puzzling that she actually enjoyed herself.
"I'm going to the ladies," said Miriallia, finding a sign that pointed the direction to the toilet.
Dearka followed Miriallia all the way; afraid that something might happen again, he followed, and followed and followed. That was when he heard a series of piercing screams, and realized he had followed Mirre right into the ladies' toilet.
The tanned blonde quickly darted out, half deafened by the girls' glass-shattering screams.
When Miriallia came back out, she had washed all the foodstuff off herself, and only had a few spots on her blouse from the food stains.
"Shall we head back?" asked Dearka, looking rather foolish and tired.
"Sure thing," said Dearka, holding her boyfriends hand as they strolled back to their rented car, making sure that they didn't pass the mob of weird people again or that Italian restaurant.
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"What's up people?" asked Andrew Wattfeld, striding head held high into the medical unit and coming in to visit their comrade, Athrun Zala, who was still being accompanied by Kira and Lacus.
"Athrun! It's so good to see you awake and alive again! We rushed back from the city as soon as Kira called us earlier," said Murrue happily, going up to Athrun and giving him a tight and friendly bear hug.
"It's good to see you guys too, I expect everything's alright back up at PLANTs before you left?" asked Athrun curiously, eagerly awaiting an answer from Murrue or Andy.
"Yep, everything was okey dokey, hokey pokey!" replied Andrew jovially, holding a can of iced cappuccino as usual.
"Oh stop being so childish! He was asking you a serious question in a stern tone!" exclaimed Murrue, nudging Andy hard in the ribs, as the brunette man jerked himself away, rubbing his side.
"Did you see Cagalli anywhere when you came back?" asked Kira, sounding a little worried for his sister.
It had been close to two hours and his blonde sister, Cagalli Yula Athha, had not shown herself since. Although Kira assumed that Cagalli was probably up in Lacus's room and playing with Aaron in his cot, when she was angry, she was often caught trying to do something rash.
"Nope, what about her? Did something happen?" asked Murrue cautiously, looking at Lacus, Kira and Athrun, waiting to hear something relieving instead of something that would spell the word 'trouble' in her mind.
Lacus sighed deeply before looking over at Athrun, who had his head tilted downwards, as he fiddled with his bed covers.
"As Kira has explained to you earlier over the phone, Cagalli is still giving Athrun the cold shoulder, and apparently, he's not dealing very well with it. She isn't hurting him, she's killing him slowly." Whispered Lacus, inching closer to Murrue and Andy.
"Oh dear, this is bad," said Andy shaking his head slowly, and taking a sip of his coffee, and smacking his lips.
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"Come in," called the Chairman of PLANTs, Patrick Zala, eagerly welcoming in his loyal spy. Even though the senior Zala sounded eager, warm and welcoming, he had other plans in mind.
The crap of a girl had failed her little task of bringing his son, Athrun Zala, back to PLANTs after getting him to assassinate the Orb Princess. Chairman Zala's anger was already raging enough after hearing that his son had fallen in love with his target instead of killing her, and now this.
"Good evening, Chairman Zala," greeted Mia respectfully, obeying the chairman's gestures of inviting her in taking a seat before his desk before they engaged in discussion.
"Good evening, Miss Campbell. I am eager to hear the information you re going to hand over to me," began the senior Zala, "However, I am deeply disappointed in the failure of your mission."
Patrick Zala's ending statement clearly sent a knife of horror through Mia, making her feel as though her body from her legs upwards were turning into solid ice, and that even her heart was about to freeze in its daily duties of pumping blood through her body.
"I am truly sorry, sir, I did not mean to come back after failing my task. I admit I had too much pride and was over-confident, I seek your forgiveness sir." Pleaded Mia softly, her voice shaking uncontrollably.
"How sweet your plea sounds to me, however, you will pay dearly for your failure." Hissed Patrick, reaching forward and ceasing the girl's face, and stroking her chin and cheeks. "Although I won't kill you, I'll see to it personally that you're to be made my personal slave and concubine, in other words."
Mia froze, petrified in her throughts and movements. No, the chairman was going to make use of her to satisfy himself, no!
"Scared, are you? You should be," snarled the chairman, laughing evilly to himself. "At last I've gotten rid of that good for nothing son of mine, and my lovely dear wife? Well, sad to say, she got rid of herself! Blowing up together with Junius 7!"
The chairman laughed cruelly, his echoing laughter bouncing off the walls of his office, and finally, Mia wondered how she had come to start working for a maniac like him.
Mia was forced to dish out every single piece of information she had, and although she tried not too give out too much information, Chairman Zala always knew she had more to tell.
"Good girl, you've done well in getting information. Now I can strart plotting a plan, and get rid of the entire bunch of those pests, especially that freak of a baby my son calls his own." Hissed Patrick, scraping his nails across his desk. "That baby must be iradicated, he's a mix of both co-ordinator and natural blood, he will show the universe that co-ordinators and naturals can live in peace, and I will never let that happen!"
Meanwhile, back at Orb, Cagalli sits in Lacus's room, cradling a suckling Aaron in her arms, as his tiny fingers scraped against the skin of her breast. The little blue-haired baby was certainly growing fast, and very fast indeed, it had been a mere day and he looked fatter already.
"Silly boy, always drinking so much milk. I'm getting dehydrated already because all the water I drink goes into making breastmilk, which you drink like water running from a tap. No wonder you're getting fat already." Teased Cagalli, nipping at Aaron's cheeks, as he stopped suckling for a moment to smile and giggle slightly.
Cagalli's baby son continued with his much liked suckling as his mother gazed lovingly down at him. Aaron was such a darling, peachy skin just like Cagalli's, soft blue hair and emerald eyes, Athrun's eyes.
Aaron resembled so much of Athrun, except that Athrun's eyebrows were a little thicker. It was only then that Cagalli realised how much Athrun meant to her in her life, he meant everything to her.
There he was lying unable to go anywhere in the medical unit, pining for her company, and here she was lying somewhere else and ignoring him.
"Well done, Cagalli, go ahead and kill him off while he's trying to be a perfect boyfriend and father of your son." Cagalli thought to herself, as she shifted Aaron off her onto the bed, once he had finished his feed.
The blonde mother wiped her son's mouth clean and unbuttoned his jumper, since he was due for a nappy change and maybe a little wipe-down.
Cagalli undid Aaron diaper, and… PSSSST! She received a squirt of pee right in her face. Aaron giggled slightly kicking his legs about as Cagalli wiped her face clean with her sleeve, and stared at him annoyed.
However, her face broke into a smile when she remembered the night when something similar had happened with her and Athrun, when she had pulled down his pants before sleeping with him.
Cagalli had pulled down Athrun's boxers and had received a squirt of fluid right from him in her face. (A/N: If you know what I mean, if you don't, you can review and ask…)
Cagalli wiped Aaron down and changed him into a new set of clothes along with a new nappy of course, before her hand phone rang on the dresser-top.
Cagalli picked up the phone to hear Miriallia's excited voice, "Cagalli! Kyo's awake!"
A/N: Ok, this chappie was slightly longer than the one before, haha! Anyway, if you didn't get what I meant earlier on, don't hesitate to ask, I'll explain, hehe. Anyway, sorry for typo or spelling errors, and pls review!
In the next chapter: Kyo finally arouses from her comatose state and can't be happier when she receives warm hugs and a few french kisses from a certain someone and the news that Athrun is alright. The bunch throw a party for Aaron upon his arrival into the world, and Athrun is present at the party since he has just been discharged, however, what is Cagalli's verdict of him now?