Chapter 22 Nothing But A Note

A/N: Heya, I kind of made it quite obvious who was being kidnapped in this chapter, but for those who still don't know, you'll find out later on! I just want to forewarn you people that no matter how horrifying and unbelievable this fanfic will turn out to be in the following chappies, I just want to say, there will be a happy ending. Also, this fanfic will have a tint of fantasy at the end, so watch out for it Happy reading!

To my lovely reviewers: I know I have a habit of using the word 'knowingly' too many times, when I type too fast, I tend to do that. Just goes to show how much more I have to improve on as an author. Also if you do want to post negative remarks, don't logout or be an anonymous reviewer. It's better if you don't so I can reply and thank you for your truthful remarks. I'm not a hateful person, I dun flame ppl. I also know that I keep having very long boring conversations and discussions, I know it's boring, but if I didn't put it down, some important factors would've been lost and you would've gotten confused later on. One of my reviewers has pointed these flaws out several times, and to that reviewer, I'll try my best to make corrections.

Lacus's eyelids fluttered open slightly as she heard soft footsteps on the carpeted floor of her bedroom. To her horror she saw someone, broad shoulders and tall. Someone had intruded her room, and it definitely wasn't anyone she knew of.

Before Lacus could cry out for help, she heard a clunk then everything went black…

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"Lacus, are you in there? It's already 9 a.m, why aren't you out of your room yet?" asked Kira, making sure he was loud enough for his pink-haired girlfriend to hear him through the massive oakwood door of her bedroom.

Behind the brunette young man stood his twin sister, Cagalli Yula Athha, Princess of Orb and also a teenage mother to an absolutely adorable baby boy. The blonde girl tapped her foot on the ground impatiently, wanting to check on her baby.

Lacus got up into a sitting position, realising she was on the floor, she got up and looked around. Her bedroom window was open and the curtains were blowing madly in the strong wind. She looked over at the baby cot by her bed… Aaron… HE'S GONE!

Lacus let out a loud piercing scream at the shocking revelation before her very eyes. Aaron Zala was gone, he wasn't anywhere in sight! It was a mere handful of seconds before Kira broke the oakwood bedroom door down and rushed into the room.

Cagalli came in after her brother, looking anxious and curious at the same time. Her gaze fell on a horrorstruck Lacus, who was pointing petrified at the baby cot, which lay vacant and clean.

The blonde Orb Princess's eyes widened, before she rushed to the side of her baby's cot and frantically searched under its covers and pillows, looking for any sign of her precious baby. However, to no avail, no matter how hard Cagalli searched, the message was clear, Aaron was gone.

Kira scanned the room, and found merely an aluminium can, just like the one he found in Athrun's room before the latter had been knocked out and injured on the head. It seemed pretty obvious that whoever did this had a good foolproof plan and had a motive too.

It was also obvious that whoever had intruded Lacus's bedroom was not bent on hurting Lacus, but bent on taking little Aaron with him.

Cagalli's eyes were watering as she searched high and low around Lacus's bedroom, not missing any corner or crevice. Finally, the blonde girl burst into tears sinking to her knees on the floor.

"He's gone, Aaron's gone! I can't find him anywhere!" wailed Cagalli, burying her face into her hands and weeping like any mother would've done if her baby had been kidnapped.

"Aaron's been kidnapped, look at this." Said Kira, holding up the can he found on the floor of Lacus's bedroom. It was no larger than any other drink can, but it certainly served a different more serious purpose than holding any drinks.

Cagalli perked up her head to look at the only piece of evidence her brother was holding. A mere aluminium can? That was all? No fingerprints? No foot prints? Or even strands of hair or linen?

"What's going on? We heard someone scream," said Kyo, turning up at the doorway with her platinum blonde boyfriend, Athrun, Dearka, Miriallia, and surprisingly, Murrue and Andy.

"Yeah, I nearly went deaf, man." Stated Andy, still looking sleepy and not realising he was still in his boxers, which bore the slogan, 'I love my mummy'.

"Is everything alright?" asked Murrue, her eyes scanning the bedroom, before she caught sight of a crying Cagalli. "I guess not, what happened?"

"Aaron… he's… he's g-gone…" stammered Cagalli, bursting into a fit of noisy tears once more, as she sat on her feet on the carpeted floor of the pink-haired girl's bedroom.

"What? How did that happen? Is anyone else hurt?" blurted out Athrun, unable to control himself, as he stared at all the people around him, his eyes examining them for any sign of injury. He took special care looking at Cagalli, making sure not even a hair of hers had been touched or hurt.

"No, but it's all my fault! I heard someone enter my bedroom last night, but before I could do anything everything went black! And some noxious gas was being released too, something sweet smelling." Said Lacus frantically, feeling very depressed and useless for not being able to keep Aaron safe with her.

"It's not your… fault… L-Lacus… its m-mine," sobbed Cagalli, taking in jerking breaths of air as she went. "I should've taken… Aaron in with m-me… last n-night!"

Cagalli wailed on loudly, her face buried in her fair hands, tears spilling continuously from her honey-brown eyes, as she grieved and pined over the loss of her baby.

Miriallia nudged Athrun in the ribs and jerked her head in Cagalli's direction, gesturing to the co-ordinator with midnight blue-hair to go and do something while he could. Athrun hesitated for a moment before realising that he'd better do something now than regret it when it was too late.

Athrun moved forward and crouched down beside Cagalli before wrapping his arms around the blonde girl. Who just cried on and on, but to everyone's surprise and to Athrun's relief, she turned to him and buried her head into his shoulder.

"I suspect that the gas used here last night was chloroform, what other gas would knock a person out for so long and yet the person can remain alive?" said Kira smartly, examining the precious piece of evidence in his right hand.

"We should notify Lord Uzumi about this, he'd know what to do and how to handle this situation." Said Miriallia resolutely, clenching her jaw and looking over at a decisive looking Kira Yamato.

"But before we notify him, maybe we should take note of this as well?" said Kyo, spotting something white, small and fluttering on the side of Aaron's wooden baby cot. The redheaded girl held up a note, "Look at this,"

The note read:

You have all day until midnight

Before you cannot win this fight

I must warn you before you find

Bring nothing else but your own kind

No knives, no weapons, no nuclear bomb

The threats don't start until you come

To save the baby you must do

Just as this note tells you to

Fuji-san

"What the heck does that mean?" Andy cried out, not looking fully awake, unlike moments ago, where he looked absolutely shabby and sleepy.

"It sounds complicated, but I don't think it's as hard to figure out as it sounds." Said Lacus wilfully. Since young, people had always stated to her father or even her that she was gifted both intellectually, and planned to make use of that gift that very moment.

"The first and second lines probably mean that we have until midnight tonight and no more than that before we lose all hope." Lacus started off, studying the note carefully, biting her lower lip as her brain juices started working.

"Right; and the third and fourth lines probably mean that we can't bring anything else but ourselves." Continued Kira determinedly, nodding his head lightly and smiling at his sister who had recently gotten to her feet along with Athrun.

"Can we hurry? We don't have that much time, the last two words say 'Fuji-san', whoever it is that left the note probably wants us to meet him at Mount Fuji. That's a good 50 miles from here!" hurried Miriallia worriedly, feeling her legs shaking.

"That's very true, and it makes sense too. Besides, they've got Aaron, and he's only a baby, which means he survives on Cagalli's milk." Stated Kyo, looking sadly over at the blonde girl, who whimpered slightly at the sound of her baby's name.

"The fifth and sixth lines obviously mean that nothing will threaten us or Aaron until we reach Mount Fuji." Said Dearka, finally saying something that made sense. The blonde young man was usually joking around, and he had never really said anything sensible before.

"Last two lines signify that to keep Aaron safe, we must do just as the note reads." Miriallia finished off, going to stand alongside Cagalli and Athrun to comfort the blonde Orb Princess.

"Let's set off then! I'll notify Lord Uzumi, even if he tries to stop us we'll leave no matter what!" advocated Kira quickly, dialing Lord Uzumi's office number on his cellphone and watched the others running around packing stuff.

"Wait! We're not supposed to bring anything, remember?" said Kyo frantically, stopping Miriallia and Lacus from packing basic necessities like water bottles, rain ponchos or even tissue paper.

"How's that freakin' possible, Kyo? We'll die from dehydration along the way!" screeched Yzak, who was holding two water bottles, probably for himself and Kyo.

"Do you want to save Aaron or not? If you do then you'll bloody do as I friggin' say Yzak Jule!" hollered Kyo loudly, her voice becoming louder as the tension rose in her body.

The young Jule froze in his tracks, hearing the severity in his girlfriend's voice, and although he hated being told what or what not to do, he knew better than to hurt or anger his redheaded female companion.

"Lord Uzumi has given us permission to go, on one condition," said Kira hesitantly, as he turned to look grudgingly at Cagalli. "He allows us to go and gives us his blessing, but Cagalli must stay behind."

"Wha- what? No way! I'm coming!" said Cagalli sternly, her voice still muffled from all the crying and her face blotched from all her tears. The blonde girl clutched on to Athrun's outer jacket, as she looked from Kira to the others.

"Cagalli we know you want to come, but it's dangerous." Said Miriallia softly, afraid the blonde girl might lunge out at her.

"If you guys can go, why can't I? It doesn't make it any less dangerous for all of you than it is for me!" contradicted Cagalli crossly, her eyebrows furrowed in annoyance.

"Cagalli's got a point, besides it's our son, I don't think she's going to let you guys do the dirty work while she sits back and relaxes, when it's our son we're supposed to rescue." Stated Athrun calculatingly, nuzzling Cagalli's head gently as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"But I don't want to lose you," boomed a voice from Lacus's bedroom door, which had amazingly swung open without any of them noticing that it had even twitched or moved on its hinges.

Lord Uzumi walked slowly into the pink-haired girl's bedroom, and came to a halt in front of Cagalli and Athrun, who looked solemnly up at the Lion of Orb.

"Athrun, I know the anxiety and the worry you feel about the kidnap of your son, and no doubt you're afraid to lose him, but as a father you should understand my worries for Cagalli, from a father to his daughter." Explained Lord Uzumi, perking Cagalli's chin up.

"But if I had been the one kidnapped, would you just sit back and let your officials look for me?" questioned Cagalli, her voice shaking uncontrollably as she thought of her baby boy.

Lord Uzumi was caught off-guard and was left dumbstruck by his daughter's statement. It was a number of seconds before he smiled at his blonde adoptive daughter, "Starting to think and speak like a true heir of Orb, well done."

"You may go, but promise me you'll return safe and sound." Said Lord Uzumi, looking at Athrun and Cagalli.

"I promise I'll protect Cagalli even if I have to give my life up for her sake." Pledged Athrun, placing his right fist on his left chest, where his heart was.

"Athrun Zala, you may be the son of Patrick Zala, but you are certainly not a chip off the old block." Laughed Lord Uzumi, before hurrying them all on their way, saying they had transportation waiting for them at the lobby. However, their transport would end at the start of the forest, which led to Mount Fuji, a forest named, The Sinister Forest.

Andy and Murrue had stayed behind to wait for news from the bunch, and so they sent the bunch off wishing them good luck from the Orb lobby.

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"I need to leave you here, I don't think these cars would be able to drive up these steep slopes." Said Lord Uzumi, looking at the edge of The Sinister Forest and wincing at the steep and inclined angle of the rocky forest terrain.

"Take care, father," said Cagalli softly, reaching out to hug her father-cum-Ruler of Orb. The tall bearded man sighed and stroked his adoptive daughter's cheek.

"I should be the one telling you to take care. I'll be in no harm staying at Orb's headquarters, while you will be in the middle of this treacherous looking forest, braving strong winds and wild animals for your baby son." Said Lord Uzumi wilfully, taking one last look at his daughter before sending her on her way.

""Let's go, we have less than a day to get through this forest, which in my opinion, looks more like some giant mountain with a whole lot of shrubbery and trees." Said Kira, brushing a beetle off his shoulder.

"Who knows what lives on this mountain, it's probably fraught with wild predators and maybe even… KING KONG!" exclaimed Dearka, slapping both hands onto his face and letting his jaw hand open.

"You're letting your imagination run all over you, Dearka. King Kong does not exist, and besides, how many times have you watched the remake of that show, by Peter Jackson?" questioned Miriallia impatiently, dragging Dearka along up a few rocks, following in Kira and Athrun's footsteps.

"That's a friggin' bad question to ask, Mirre. Every time I go back to our suite at the end of the day, he's always got that bloody show playing on the DVD player." Snapped Yzak heatedly, helping Kyo up from an amazingly steep and huge rock, well actually, it was more like a boulder.

"It's really ridiculous that we actually followed every single word the note said, I mean, how can we not bring anything? What harm would a simple water bottle have done?" whined Dearka, making noise yet again. As if the bunch didn't have enough things to worry about.

"Well for instance Dearka, a water bottle can be stuffed down a person's throat and kill the person because he can't breathe, or a water bottle can be used to whack someone so hard till he gets knocked out, so he won't ramble so much." Said Kyo, stressing on her last few words as she was trying to signal to Dearka that she was referring to him.

"Wow!" yelled Kira, coming to an abrupt halt behind a rock. A few more steps and the brunette would've fallen over the cliff, and fallen into the foamy waters of a waterfall.

"Damn it! What're we going to do now? We can't friggin' get across this baby with our feet!" hollered Yzak, staring over the cliff and taking a few steps back as a precaution in case he slipped and fell over.

"Oh yes we can," said Athrun, pointing to a small space in-between the water of the waterfall and the rocks, which supported the entire waterfall.

"Wow, your eyes are sharp, I would never have spotted that." Said Cagalli, her eyes dry and her face not blotchy anymore. However, the blonde girl still held a tint of worry in her voice.

"So you want us to walk behind it?" asked Lacus, squinting her eyes to take a closer look at the space where they were planning to walk in. "It looks risky, I mean, the rocks could be slippery, and it doesn't look very wide at all."

"Yeah, but d'you have an alternative besides walking around the waterfall? Walking around it would cost us too much time," said Athrun smartly, looking over expectantly at the pink-haired girl who shrugged in reply.

"Let's go then," said Kira bravely, sucking in a deep breath and leading the way, clearing bits of tree branches and dead vines to make a clear path for the others to walk on.

The brunette reached the first bit of wet rock, and hesitated slightly before using his feet to feel around for firm rocks, before stepping on boldly, Lacus, Athrun and Cagalli following along behind.

Lacus clutched on to Kira's forearm, willing herself not to look down. However, when they were about half way across their little escape route, there was a loud hoarse roar from in front, and Kira halted in his tracks.

"Oh dear…" said the brunette, staring at the huge grizzly bear before him, a mouthful of salmon hanging from it's powerful jaws.

The bear growled a few times, making Kira take a step back.

"Do something… anybody," whimpered Miriallia, hiding behind Dearka, her entire frame trembling.

Without warning the bear charged right at them, and Kira and the others were left with no other choice but to jump off the cliff into the foamy and treacherous waters of the waterfall beside them…

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Kira surfaced for air, feeling the warmth of the sun prickle against the wet skin of his face. Frantic and frightened, hoping none of his friends or Lacus had been harmed; he scanned the vicinity of the waterfall.

"Mirre, Lacus, Kyo, Yzak, Athrun and Cagalli… oh gosh, where's Dearka?" Kira gasped inside his own conscience. The blonde young man was nowhere in sight. Miriallia would freak when she awakened if she realised that her boyfriend had gone missing.

The others were starting to stir, and Athrun was busy comforting a crying Cagalli, who had always had a phobia of water. The blonde girl would screech loud enough if she was so much as left alone by the seaside, let alone thrown down a waterfall.

"Kira! Oh thank goodness you're alright! Is anyone missing?" cried Lacus after choking up some water, and sitting up on the bank of the little stream.

"Dearka? Baby? Where're you?" called Miriallia, wiping her face clean of a few weeds and looking around for her copper-tone skinned boyfriend.

"You've got your answer, Lacus," replied Kira moving over to Lacus and brushing a leaf off her head.

"What? Dearka's missing!" exclaimed Lacus horrified, as she looked around frantically searching for any sign of the blonde young man.

Miriallia seemed to have picked up every single word Lacus had said, and the auburn-haired girl's face immediately paled.

"He's missing?" stammered Miriallia, looking rather stoned and stunned. "How could that be he was right in front of me…"

"We'll find him, somehow," said Kira, searching the nearby waters of the stream, while Lacus frantically searched among the nearby bushes.

It wasn't long before the auburn-haired girl burst into tears and wailed, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! DEARKA BABY!"

A/N: Hehe, I left a cliffie for Miriallia&Dearka fans. I know I'm evil, and this chapter was kind of bad if you ask me, it's not one of the best I've written in my entire time of being a fanfiction author. But I do hope that you guys still enjoyed it though! Sorry for any errors and pls review!

In the next chappie: Sorry, I don't think I want to put previews anymore, I find it spoils the suspense, hehe. Anyway, read the next chappie to find out more!