Chapter 24 Where Angels Roam
A/N: I feel so terrible right now, I tortured my characters! Anyway, some of you who still have doubts about Athrun, Cagalli and Aaron, your doubts will be cleared in this chappie, though not all problems will be solved, most of your doubts will be cleared off. My last chappie was very terrorising, I know, I cried writing it, and I punished myself by banning myself from any chocolate stuff for two weeks. Anyway, I hope this chappie is better for you guys, enjoy!
"NO!" Kyo yelled again, struggling wildly against the ropes that tied her down to the rocky cavern wall behind her.
Mia stood from where she had been the entire while, behind a boulder, holding a gun in both hands, still standing in an aiming position. The pink-haired girl was looking shocked, petrified and stoned, slowly, she fell to her knees and burst into tears.
"Mia Campbell you bitch! You just shot Chairman Zala!" hollered Kisaka, storming over to the crying girl and pulling her to her feet by pulling her long silky hair, causing her to cry out in pain.
"I meant to… after what he's done… not just to me… but to Athrun and all! He deserved it! Now I wonder how I even came to work for a creep like him!" Mia yelled back, breaking free of Kisaka's grasp and glaring at him.
"Kisaka you killed Cagalli! YOU KILLED CAGALLI!" yelled Kira, as tears sprung up in his lavender orbs. The brunette twin brother stared down at the lifeless body of his twin sister, trying to hold back tears, and trying to fight back the feeling of regret.
Sure Kira was regretful, he regretted not being able to bond well with his twin sister while he could, and he regretted not being able to save her.
Lacus and Miriallia were also in tears. Each of them wondering whether this was just a frightful nightmare, which seemed all too realistic to be a bad dream.
However, Lacus came back to reality, glaring ever so hatefully at Kisaka.
"You killed Cagalli, and not just Cagalli… but Aaron too! Aaron was just a baby! He deserved to live longer than he had!" screeched Lacus, struggling against the ropes just like Kyo, who was struggling so hard, tears were leaking down her face.
"I don't bloody care! After all, this friggin' plan is a success!" shrieked Kisaka triumphantly, throwing his fists up in the air and waving them about madly, laughing like a crazy man.
"Not yet…" said Kyo quietly, before she raised her voice, still struggling madly, and said, "Not until you kill me!"
With a loud exclamation, Kyo managed to free herself from the binding ropes. The redheaded girl had been rubbing a tiny section of the rope against a sharp part of the rocky wall behind her, and the friction had caused the rope to burst and break.
The attractive redheaded girl grabbed two swords where Mia was standing, one in each hand, spinning them in her hand like a professional.
"The Zala family won't be completely vanquished until you kill me," said Kyo, approaching Kisaka with both swords clutched readily in her hands.
"Kyo what're you friggin' doing!" yelled Yzak heatedly from 5 metres away, still trying to break free of the ropes, now trying even harder after seeing that his female companion had managed to succeed in doing that.
"Stay back Yzak, this is between Kisaka and I. The fate of the Zala family is in my hands, whether my family members are dead or alive, I believe they're here with me, cheering me on." Said Kyo, streams of tears sliding down her cheeks.
"Kyo don't be rash! Don't give up your life out of anger and hatred! Yzak loves you and so do all of us! Cagalli, Athrun and Aaron are already gone, we don't need you to go too!" cried Miriallia, jumping up and down in her bound state.
"I'm not fighting out of hatred or anger; I'm fighting out of justice!" yelled Kyo, lunging forward and aiming a stream of never-ending attacks at Kisaka, who seemed to have been trained in martial arts as well, and blocked them all off, occassionally ducking here and there.
Kisaka grabbed another, now fighting even better than earlier, now that he had a weapon in his possession.
"You'll never win this fight, Kyo Zala! I've been trained well, trained and taught even more than you ever have!" exclaimed Kisaka, stabbing his sword everywhere, attempting to trick Kyo's eyes so he could finish her off.
Kyo was much too focused to reply the former bodyguard and just concentrated on attacking her opponent, and defending when she needed to.
Yzak could only watch in suspense as his beloved battled on. Although he knew very well that Kyo had been training on her own for her entire life, and that her skills were not only effective but unique, he still held much worry for her.
The young Jule finally stopped struggling, and could only watch filled with worry, and hope that his girlfriend would be alright.
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"Where am I?" Cagalli mumbled, sitting upright slowly and finally finding the courage to open her eyes and face the funny atmosphere she was in.
However, the blonde girl jumped backward when she came face to face with a pretty lady, with midnight-blue hair and emerald eyes, Athrun's eyes.
"Athrun?" muttered Cagalli, staring at the woman, who was smiling back down at her and holding a glass of water and a tray of food.
"Correction my dear, it's Athrun's mum," replied the lady, sitting in a chair beside Cagalli, who had just realised that she was in bed in some kind of weird hospital.
The nurses were dressed like normal nurses, only they had wings. Some had white wings, others had grey ones. The patients looked like normal people as well, only they had wings too!
"Wait a sec, what's going on? Why's everyone got wings, and why's it so bright? And how can you be Athrun's mother? She's dead!" said Cagalli, looking around her at surroundings and discovering that the food people were eating looked like the food only rich people ate.
"Yes my dear, I am dead, and so are you." Said the woman, smiling widely down at Cagalli and shoving a spoonful of bananas and cream into her mouth.
The thought struck Cagalli hard in the head. She was dead? Then she remembered everything that had happened; Chairman Zala, Kisaka, Aaron… sword. The sword had pierced both her and Aaron, and Athrun had been killed as well, but she didn't feel dead, she felt very much alive.
"Oh my gosh, where's Athrun? Where's my baby?" asked Cagalli frantically, looking at the woman who claimed to be Athrun's mother and starting to cry in despair.
"Relax my dear, Athrun and Aaron are fine. I know where your baby is, once I get you out of here we'll go pick your baby up from the Reclaim Nursery." Reassured the woman. "Oh yes, before I forget, I'm Lenore Zala, please call me Lenore."
Cagalli still looked rather stoned. "What about Athrun then? Where is he? Is he alright?" questioned the blonde girl.
"I don't know, Cagalli, but I'm sure he's alright. I saw him enter this place through the Reflector earlier." Said Lenore quietly, feeding Cagalli some more of the rich food and sponging her forehead.
Out the blue, a winged child appeared before Lenore and Cagalli, sitting on a cloud, dragging another bigger cloud, on which sat two luggage bags.
"Miss Cagalli Yula Athha, thy luggage has arrived," greeted the angel before blessing Cagalli and vanishing in a poof of smoke.
"What's a Reflector?" asked Cagalli, looking at Lenore, who was busy making the luggage bags vanish into thin air again.
"Oh, it's basically something that allows you to see your loved ones back down in the mortal world. It looks like a basin filled with mercury," said Lenore descriptively, brushing a fleck of dust off her shoulder.
"What did you just do with those luggage bags?" asked Cagalli, realising that the luggage which was supposedly hers, had vanished completely.
"Oh, I just sent them back to my apartment. They'll be in your room, for the meantime until you settle down; you'll be staying with me. We'll go pick Aaron up, and then we'll look for Athrun, wherever he is." Said Lenore intelligently, pulling Cagalli out of the bed and gesturing to her to follow.
On the way out of the hospital, Cagalli noticed some more weird things. For instance, when they came out of the hospital grounds, the blonde girl was greeted by a scene of lush and picturesque greenery, and the trees were pruning themselves!
The trees had arms something like the Whomping Willow from the novel 'Harry Potter', but of course, these trees were not even a quarter as vicious as the infamous tree from the award-winning novel.
The shrubberies on the sides of the pavement were dancing in the wind, and I mean dancing in the wind. They were swaying in the soil and their leaves were clapping against each other like clapping hands.
"Umm Lenore, if we're dead, then where are we?" asked Cagalli curiously, looking around her and seeing winged children playing harps and normal people flying on wings.
"We're in heaven of course. We have reached the land of eternity. People live life in bliss over here, and there is hardly any havoc." Replied the blue-haired woman, walking up a slightly inclined slope toward a tiny building, whose sign read, 'Reclaim Nursery'.
"You're unusually quiet, Cagalli dear. Being here just for less than a day, I expect your mind is exploding with questions?" stated Lenore caringly, looking back at a rather stoned Cagalli who just smiled voluntarily.
Of course her mind was exploding with questions. Since young Cagalli had always wondered if there was really life after death, and people kept telling her that she had to believe. However, her main concern now was finding Aaron and Athrun.
"Don't be shy my dear, ask away if you must." Urged Lenore Zala, entering the small building and checking in at the counter with the kind looking lady, who also had a pair of wings.
It was only then that the blonde girl realised that Lenore didn't have a pair of wings, and although she wanted to ask, the blonde girl thought it would be rather rude.
"So Aaron is supposed to be here?" questioned Cagalli, looking around and seeing rooms and rooms all full of toddlers, babies and children.
"Yes my dear, and according to the receptionist he's currently in Room 46, on the second floor." Said Lenore, leading the way to the lift lobby and taking the lift up.
Cagalli was still pondering over the fact on why everyone else had wings except Lenore and herself. Maybe she and Lenore were different, or maybe they were special.
"My dear, I know you're wondering on the topic of 'wings'." Lenore suddenly stated, startling the blonde girl and busting her out of her thoughts.
"How'd you know?" asked Cagalli, truly flabbergasted at the fact that the blue-haired woman could read her mind.
The Zala mother laughed lightly, "Sorry to frighten you darling, you see, everyone here can see each other's auras. The reason you can't is because you haven't learnt to yet. Don't worry I will teach you once we get home after picking Aaron up, and I do have wings."
Within seconds of ending her sentence, the blue-haired woman closed her eyes for a moment, concentrating hard, and with a slight swishing sound, a pair of grey wings sprouted out of her back.
Cagalli stepped back slightly, still trying to get used to her new surroundings.
The lift door slid open, and the duo stepped out of the lift, following the signs before approaching Room 46.
"Here we are," said Lenore, swinging open the room door to reveal an unusually large room. Certainly, the room looked larger than it looked on the outside.
The well-ventilated room was large, opulent and well-furnished, with lots of toys and a mini playground in the centre of the room.
A young woman walked up to Lenore and Cagalli, "Hello, may I help you?"
"Yes, we're looking for Aaron Zala?" replied Lenore, seeing that the blonde mother was still in a stoned state, and didn't seem willing to answer the question either.
"Oh yes, what a darling that baby is. No doubt, he'll grow up to be a handsome chap," said the young woman, smiling jovially leading the way through the room and into another conjoining room.
There were animals in this room, and the idea of 'animals' startled Cagalli. The animals weren't mere animals either; they were 'wild' animals. There was a White Tigress with her three cubs and a Lynx cub.
Then in a corner, Cagalli spotted her baby, fair, charming and absolutely healthy. Aaron was playing with the tiger cubs, kicking his legs around on the ground, laughing from time to time.
"See, I told you Aaron would be here, and he's alright too." Said Lenore quietly, urging Cagalli on to go and claim her laughing baby, who had just spotted her and was reaching his little arms out to her.
However, Cagalli didn't feel very comfortable moving so close to a mother tiger and her cubs, in fact she was terrified to do that.
"Don't worry about Leela," said the young woman, gesturing toward the mother tiger. "She's an excellent mother and very caring, even with human babies, and it seems she's been watching after your son for you too."
Cagalli forced a smile at the young lady and boldly walked forward and scooped Aaron into her arms. The baby Zala began snuffling around her shirt, obviously looking for milk.
"He's such a darling, I hope you have a nice day though!" called the young woman, before sending Lenore, Cagalli and Aaron on their way.
"Ok, we're done here. Now let's head back to my place, then we can locate Athrun using the Reflector." Said Lenore smartly, quickening her pace and leading the blonde girl away.
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Meanwhile, Cagalli wasn't the only one having a hard time adjusting to new surroundings. Apparently, the moment Athrun crossed the Earthly Barrier he had been stuck in a queue leading to the pearly gates of Heaven, and before the gates sat St. Peter.
The young Zala had been stuck in the queue the entire day, which felt like an eternity to Athrun. Finally, for some reason, a little winged child flew up to the handsome male and invited him to step up forward before St. Peter's desk.
Athrun noticed a black swirling hole beside St. Peter's desk, and the sucking action from the hole was making it difficult for Athrun to keep himself steady on the ground.
"Hmm, Athrun Zala, died saving his girlfriend and son, fatal injury; stab wound." Read St. Peter from a piece of paper, scanning through more pieces of paper, Athrun assumed was his records.
"You know something, if The Almighty One hadn't sent me a note asking me to spare you I would've sent you swirling down that black hole right into Hell. Go." Gestured St. Peter, opening the gates for Athrun to enter.
Meanwhile, back at Lenore Zala's apartment, Cagalli was spending some private time alone with her son, who was suckling contentedly. The blonde girl felt exhausted, and the apprehension she was feeling was nearly overpowering her completely.
Cagalli had found Aaron, which was a big relief as the baby boy was nearly helpless without her. However, another big part of her life was still amiss, Athrun Zala, her beloved boyfriend and father of her son.
There was a soft knock on the door, and Cagalli invited the person, who obviously was Lenore, in. The woman with midnight-blue hair smiled at Cagalli, as she watched the young mother breastfeed her child.
"It was 18 years ago since breastfed my own child. Now, he's way too big to be getting his nutrition off me, and he's even a father himself now." Said Lenore sitting beside Cagalli on the side of her bed, and caressing Aaron's head.
Cagalli laugh slightly for the first time in days, tucking her brassiere back properly and pulling down her shirt when Aaron was done with his feed. The blonde mother propped her baby up on her lap, so he could take a look at his grandmother.
Lenore Zala smiled at her grandson, "You have made me a very proud grandmother, and I also feel very old now."
"No, you don't look that old." Said Cagalli quietly, wiping some milk Aaron had burped up off his face, and settling him on her lap.
"Actually, if you count the number of years I've been here since I passed on, I'd be 42." Stated Lenore Zala bluntly, tickling Aaron's sides and making the baby Zala laugh joyfully.
"Why don't you hold him?" said Cagalli, taking Aaron by the underarms and reaching him out to Lenore, who smiled eagerly and took hold of her absolutely, positively cute and chubby grandson, who was obviously very well nourished under the care of his blonde mother.
Lenore sighed sadly, "I've just been watching your cousin-in-law, Kyo Zala, through the Reflector, and it seems she has beaten your former body-guard, Kisaka. It appears she's killed him. That's going to be one black mark on her record,"
"She fought with Kisaka?" asked Cagalli shocked. The blonde girl was getting used to her surroundings a lot faster now, and she felt a feeling of home just looking at Lenore's apartment and Lenore herself.
"Yes, she did. Your friends and your twin brother are now heading back to Orb, and it appears Kira has already delivered the news of Athrun's, Aaron's and your death back to Orb. They're sending a few helicopters to pick up your bodies," explained Lenore sadly, looking up at her daughter-in-law.
"I promised my father I'd come back safe, but it looks like I broke that promise," said Cagalli softly, her eyes welling up with pearly tears, as she looked down and away from Lenore and Aaron.
"Yes, I realised that, but think of it this way, I'm sure they know you're up here, watching down over them." Said Lenore, trying to encourage Cagalli to look on the bright side of life.
"Yeah but I feel so useless right now, I don't know what to do," sobbed Cagalli breaking down in tears, and accepting a couple of tissues from Lenore.
"Cagalli dear, you're not useless." Said Lenore sternly, propping Aaron higher up on her hips. "Nobody is useless in this world, besides, if you were useless, you wouldn't have helped Athrun and your friends, and you wouldn't have loved Athrun, and last of all, you wouldn't have been able to bring Aaron into the world if you were useless."
Cagalli sniffled slightly, before her entire frame began trembling. Instantly, the blonde girl broke down in tears, releasing all the anguish and worry she felt.
"That's it, let it all out," said Lenore, stroking Cagalli's head gently as the blonde girl buried her head into her mother-in-law's lap.
Aaron was staring curiously down at his blonde mother, sucking his tiny fist as he did so. Then, he laughed jovially shaking his tiny fists up and down and giggling away, something that reminded Cagalli of what Miriallia did when she was embarrassed.
"Don't laugh, honey, you do a lot more crying than your mother does," said Lenore significantly, tapping her finger on her baby grandson's nose, making the baby Zala twitch his nose nonchalantly.
After a bit more of weeping, Cagalli finally stopped shedding her tears and followed Lenore down to the main hall, where a basin propped up on a table stood in the middle of the room.
The blonde girl assumed it was a Reflector, as it looked just like what Lenore had described a Reflector to be earlier on.
"I'm sure you know what this is, my dear, it's a Reflector. Now, we are going to use this to check up on your friends back down in the mortal world, and most importantly, locate my dearest son, Athrun Zala." Said Lenore casually, adding a handful of what looked like golden dust into the liquid-like substance in the Reflector's bowl.
Cagalli peered over at the source of the golden dust, which happened to be a palm sized bottle, which read, "Sprinkle Powder".
"How does it work? What're we going to do now?" asked Cagalli inquisitively, scanning every inch of the Reflector and paying most attention to the centre of the Reflector's bowl.
"Really easy, just state the person's name and where the person is, for example," said Lenore, passing her grandson over to his mother and clearing her throat, "Kira Yamato, Mortal World!"
Instantly, a scene appeared in the Reflector's bowl. Cagalli saw Kira and the others, in a church, holding a funeral for her, Athrun and Aaron. It was quite obvious that Kyo had fought again, as she had her right arm and head bandaged.
To Cagalli's utmost surprise, she someone else there as well, Mia Campbell.
"What's Mia doing there? They brought her back to Orb with them?" asked Cagalli, stunned at the pink-haired impersonator's presence.
"Apparently, she was the one who shot Chairman Zala dead, and later on, she stabbed Kisaka with a knife when he had a hold on Kyo." Explained Lenore wilfully, this time sprinkling a handful of silver dust into the Reflector's bowl.
The source of this peculiar dust was once again another bottle, which this time read, 'Silver Solvent'.
Lenore then sprinkled another handful of Sprinkle Dust into the Reflector's bowl, "Athrun Zala, Land Of Eternity!"
Sure enough, Athrun's face appeared in the Reflector's bowl. Cagalli stifled a soft cry at the sight of her beloved. The blue-haired co-ordinator male looked rather lost and unsure of what to do; he walked past a sign which read, "Springflower Vale".
"Springflower Vale, that's on the other side of this land, how'd he get there?" Lenore said, pursing her lips and furrowing her eyebrows in deep thought.
"Will it be hard to find him?" asked Cagalli quietly, propping her son higher up in her arms, and staring at the brooding face of Athrun Zala.
"We've already found him dear, the hard part is getting to him." Said Lenore, sighing and using another handful of Silver Solvent. "But before we get going, I've got to teach you some things."
A/N: I know many of you want to kill me right now! I killed Athrun, Cagalli and Aaron, kyaaaaaa! I'm sorry, I'm EVIL I know! But I hope this chapter was better than the last! Just to let you know, this is the second-last chappie! Hope you liked it, and pls review!
In the next chappie: Lenore teaches Cagalli some basic skills and the duo continues their search for Athrun along with Aaron, will they be able to find Athrun?