Disclaimer: You know the drill. Gundam Seed is not mine. And I'm broke, which proves that I gain no dough for what I'm doing.
a/n: I'm back again! Nothin' much to say, except thanks for the reviews. I'm getting more motivation to continue writing this fic. Anyway, let chapter 9 begin.
Chapter 9: Arrival of an old friend
December 18 CE 77 7:30 am
Siegel Clyne was sitting on his usual chair in the living room that morning, looking through his mail.
Bills, advertisement ads, more bills… then he stopped.
There was a letter for him from Athrun Zala, his son-in-law. Siegel wondered what was inside.
But he really didn't have to wonder long.
Divorce papers, he read mentally. His brows furrowed.
"Took you long enough, Athrun," he muttered to himself. It was pretty obvious to him. He knew Athrun loved Lacus, but that love never crossed the line between "just friends" love and "this is really love" love.
"Patrick Zala is dead," he said. "So no one's going to object if I agree to their divorce."
Just then, Siegel heard footsteps from the staircase.
"Father?" Lacus said. "I heard you say something about a divorce…" She let it hang.
Siegel faced his daughter and smiled. "Yes, I did. You and Athrun are going to be divorced."
"Really?" Lacus said. He must have made up with Cagalli, she thought. A ghost of a smile could be seen on her face. She was going to see Cagalli again, after two years. This was a great opportunity for Lacus to keep herself busy. After all, it was the only thing she could do to forget everything that happened the other week.
Me and him...
"Lacus? Are you alright?"
The pink-haired girl blinked. "I'm okay," she said. "I'm going back upstairs."
Siegel watched her head back up the spiral staircase. From her reaction when her father told her the news, he could say that Lacus didn't love Athrun as more than a friend either. And she made it perfectly obvious this morning.
"Young people," he said to himself. "They're always so hard to make sense of."
8:05 am
Shawn had his eyes closed, recounting the events that happened. Lacus told him he was a good person. She hugged him. She cried, possibly because of him. And that made him want to tear himself apart. His conscience didn't stop nagging him, even after two weeks. He made her cry…
Was it his imagination or was he smelling pancakes? His ears could hear the distinct sizzling sound of an egg being fried.
The brown haired twenty-two year old opened one eye. Then he opened both eyes. Through the open door he could see Fllay cooking some bacon and eggs. There was pancake on the table.
Shawn sat up. Then he went out of the bed and sneaked up behind the readhead. Fllay was surprised when she felt arms around her waist.
"Hey."
"Shawn! Don't surprise me like that," she said.
"Sorry. I couldn't help it," Shawn said sheepishly. "Thanks for breakfast," he whispered in Fllay's ear.
"You're welcome," she said, smiling. Shawn loved that smile. It was what made Fllay Allster different from any other girl. Then again, Lacus's smile was what made her different form any other girl too.
Stop thinking of her, his mind commanded. Shawn shook his head.
"Are you okay?" Fllay said, her grey eyes showing concern.
Shawn forced a smile. "Yeah. I'm alright. I guess I'm just hungry." He let go of his fiancée and sat on a chair. He looked down at those pancakes and ate them. But even as he looked intently at Fllay while she was cooking, he was thinking about Lacus.
He missed her.
10:04 am
Cagalli and Lacus were at the patio in the Clyne garden. Lacus had called Cagalli earlier that morning.
"Really? He looks exactly like Kira?" Cagalli asked, her expression of pure incredulity. The pink-haired girl just told her about Shawn Frost, leaving out the details of what happened last night.
Lacus nodded, taking a sip out of her teacup. Cagalli followed. She tried not to wrinkle her nose in distaste. She never liked tea.
"Well… Father did find Kira outside his house when I was two days old," Cagalli said carefully. "Maybe he's Kira's long lost twin or something."
"Maybe," Lacus said, considering the possibility. Again she thought about what happened more than twelve hours ago, between her and Shawn.
Just when I've been trying to get him out of my mind, she thought with an inward sigh.
Cagalli tapped her on the shoulder, which snapped Lacus out of her reverie. "Were you listening at all?"
Lacus smiled apologetically. "Sorry, Cagalli. You were saying?"
"What I said was, 'Is this Shawn Frost person exactly the same as the Kira we all know and love?'"
"No, not really," Lacus replied. "Sure, outside Kira and Shawn are like identical twins, but they are way different inside."
"Oh," Cagalli said, not knowing what else to say. Then she blurted out, "Do you like him?"
Cagalli's sudden question made Lacus blush. "N-no. What made you think that?" she said, the red color still on her cheeks.
"Well, he does look like Kira and all," Cagalli said. "And you're blushing."
Lacus shook her head. "You're wrong. I don't like him like that."
"That's what they all say," the blondie muttered to herself.
"Did you say something?" Lacus asked. Cagalli quickly answered, "Nope, nothing."
Lacus looked at her strangely. "Where's Athrun, by the way?" she inquired, thinking that Cagalli would know.
"Office, I think," she said. Just then, the clouds started to darken, covering up the sun. "Lacus, I think it's gonna rain," Cagalli told Lacus. "We better go back inside."
The blue-eyed girl nodded, "Okay," and both went in the door to the mansion before they could get drenched by the big raindrops.
12:05 pm
Meanwhile, the subject of the girls' topic earlier was scanning some files on his table. Not one person could tell that he was bored because of the cool and calm expression plastered on his face. But Athrun was definitely bored out of his mind.
The desk phone rang. Rolling his eyes, thinking it was just his secretary telling him about a scheduled meeting with the board of directors or something, he picked up.
"Athrun Zala, speaking."
"Chairman Zala, there's an Yzak Joule here in the reception," Athrun's secretary said. "Should I let him in?"
"Yzak Joule?" Athrun repeated. Memories of the hot-headed kid with white hair resurfaced in his mind. "Yeah, let him in," he said, putting down the receiver. Almost immediately, the door leading outside of Athrun's office opened, revealing a twenty-two year old with cool blue eyes and grayish-white hair.
"Zala," he said with a curt nod. A half-smile made its way to Athrun's lips as he stood up.
"No need to be so formal, Yak."
Yzak's eyes narrowed. "Very funny, Salsa. Too bad I forgot to laugh." This was said with a sneer.
"So, Yzak, it's been years since we last saw each other and waged word wars," Athrun said. "What have you been doing?"
"I came down from PLANT a year ago," he said casually. "I was bored, so I stayed in Europe for a while."
"Where in Europe?"
"You know, Paris, Rome, Germany," Yzak said. "What's it to you anyway? Why are you so keen to know where I've been going?"
"Oh, I'm just looking for little details I can use for blackmail," Athrun said coolly.
"You haven't changed a bit, you a-hole."
"Neither has your mouth."
"By the way, Athrun," Yzak said, his tone getting serious. Athrun knew Yzak would only say his first name when what he had to say was important. "I had a girlfriend once, in Berlin."
"Really?" Athrun said. Was that the oh-so-serious thing he wanted to say? He thought.
Seeing Athrun's raised eyebrow, Yzak said, "That's not the important part, Zala. Anyway, I broke up with that bitch when I saw her kissing another guy."
"Harsh," Athrun replied, not seeing Yzak's point.
"Do you want me to tell you the important part or not?" the grey-haired boy snapped. Athrun nodded, wanting him to continue.
"You told me that Kira Yamato died, two years ago, right?" he said. "Well, I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw what I did."
"What did you see?"
"Don't you get it, Zala? I thought you were smart," Yzak said mockingly. "It was him my ex-girlfriend was lip locking with."
Athrun couldn't believe what he just heard. "Do you mean…?"
Yzak gave him a small nod of confirmation. "Yeah. Either Yamato has a twin, or he's still alive."
a/n: Okay… that did not come out the way I expected it to. But I did update right? By the way, Dearka and Shiho might come out next chapter, which I'll update in, maybe, Christmas break or something. Well, I'm outta here!
