A hundred reviews?! (stares in shock)

mal- Yes, I know it's evil to do that to Yzak, but it just had to be done...

King Arthur 6687and witchesgirl- How is Yzak going to take this news? Lol...we'll see...

Lord Lance- Yea, that does make sense, but the other side has some evidence too...so I really don't know...you should go talk to Lomiothiel-YzaknNicol fangirl...I would love to see who wins the argument! Lol...

Lomiothiel-YzaknNicol fangirl- I already sent you an email, so you know what my response is...lol

Thanks also to SeraphimEclipse, Sakura Kuonji, Jasmine-hime, Freedom Gundam, Miss Akira, Anime Lover's Society, and Soi. (That's everyone, right?)

Oh, and disclaimer goes here...lol

By the way, I think this chapter might me a bit shorter than the others. Just think about it as a filler chapter...(I was actually going to put ch.11 and 12 together, but something came up)

I still can't believe I got a hundred reviews...lol...I'm so happy!

Ch. 11: Meeting the Enemy

"Are you serious? You mean they actually attacked you face to face out in the open?" Elise asked, surprised.

The atmosphere in the room stayed tense. After hearing the little slip of information from Elise, the others didn't know what to make of it. She had a fiancée? This really put a dent in their plans. Cagalli, Lacus, and Miriallia started to whisper to each other, while Athrun, Kira, and Dearka just sat there looking uncomfortable. Yzak stayed quiet, although his eyes narrowed, and had a problem looking up. So obviously, the only one in a talkative mood happened to be Elise.

"Yes, they did." Arabella answered. She didn't understand just why the mood shifted ever since she returned, but she thought it best not to ask.

"They really are getting desperate, aren't they? I mean, sure, they tried to kill you before, but it was more of slipping poison, planting explosives, or at the most, using snipers, but up front? That hadn't happened since..."

"I don't think this is the time to discuss that." Arabella cut her off curtly, causing everyone to become suspicious.

"All right, all right, if you insist." Elise replied, finally getting the hint. "So, when did Ray say..."

"Talking about me?" All eyes turned towards the doorway, where a boy with blue-silver hair and amethyst eyes stood smirking.

Arabella got up to greet him. "I thought you said you'll come after dinner time." She looked at him quizzically.

"Well then, I guess I'm a bit early." He replied with a smile while handing her a bouquet of flowers. "So how has my dear princess been doing?"

"All right, I suppose." Arabella replied simply.

"Oh, and don't forget, I got you a present too." Ray showed her a little box. Arabella opened it, to find a platinum necklace with a sapphire setting, and a frame that shimmered like fairy wings.

"Thank you." She said courteously. "If I knew you were coming for Christmas, I would have gotten something for you too."

"No worries." Ray brushed it aside. "It's my fault for coming on such short notice anyways."

Everyone focused their attention on the two of them, that no one noticed the fiery gleam in Yzak's eyes. Realizing what he just did, he took a deep breath and calmed himself down. Luckily, no one noticed. So that's the fiancée. But why did he even care in the first place?

"Hey, you okay there?" Dearka asked, finally realizing that Yzak didn't look so well.

"Are you alright?" Arabella suddenly shifted her attention towards him, looking concerned.

"I'm fine." Yzak snapped. "Just a minor headache. Nothing I can't deal with."

"Are you sure?" Arabella asked again, not quite believing him.

"Come on Bella, if the guy says he's alright, then he's alright." Ray stated, completely unaware of the glare that Yzak gave him.

"Well, if you're sure..."

"Well, well, princess, the company you keep has degraded even more so than before." All eyes turned towards the red-haired girl who approached them with her head held high.

"That's...that's the girl from..." Cagalli stammered.

"Nice to see you too Lucia." Arabella replied, trying her best to hold her sarcasm.

"So how many is it now?" Lucia asked, looking back and forth between Elise and Cagalli. "At least two, I suppose."

"That would be three." Arabella answered defiantly.

"Three?!" Lucia snorted, disgust apparent. "So what is it now? Three against seven? And then one..."

"Lucia, maybe you should tone it down a bit." Ray suggested, although for a slight moment he looked almost threatening. Yzak looked around. Did anyone else just catch that? No one else seemed to have noticed. Yzak looked at Arabella. Did she? He couldn't tell, because her face stayed unreadable. "Oh, and excuse us." Ray suddenly started again, smiling. "We forgot to introduce ourselves."

"Forget it." Lucia rolled her eyes as she started walking off. "I'm going to freshen up for dinner, so leave me out of this." With that, she disappeared.

"You really have to excuse my sister." Ray scratched his head, looking apologetic. "She can be quite rude sometimes."

"I'll say." Cagalli remarked.

"So, can you introduce yourselves?"

"Ah, yes, Lacus Clyne, the sensational songstress." Ray laughed as they sat down for dinner. "It's been awhile since you sang though, am I not correct?"

"Yes, I've been busy with some other things..." Lacus replied meekly.

"No need to go into details if you don't want." Ray shook his head out of courtesy, or maybe it had to do with the fact that Kira seemed to give him a very evil glare.

Regardless of Ray trying to liven things up, the dinner table still stayed tense. The usually loud Cagalli stayed silent, much to the surprise of everyone, and only occasionally did she whisper to Athrun, although she looked quite mischievous while doing so. Of course, she kept on flashing evil glares to Lucia, which Lucia gladly returned back. But in this situation Cagalli was not alone. Elise seemed to "accidentally" step on Lucia's foot one too many times, while Lucia "accidentally" spilled some juice on Elise. Even Miriallia, who usually didn't express dislike towards anyone, seemed to purposely ignore the general direction where Lucia sat. Dearka looked around, feeling a bit out of place, while Yzak merely watched Arabella and Ray, very closely.

"Well, we must be going now." Ray stated. A "finally we're getting out of here" look came on Lucia's face. And if they didn't know better, they would say that everyone else had a similar look on their face for a few seconds.

"Oh, already?" Arabella asked.

"Well, yes, I have some things to take care of first." Ray answered apologetically. "But I think I'll drop by in...let's say, two days. That is of course, if it's alright with you."

"It's fine."

"Well then, it was nice meeting all of you!" Ray smiled and left, followed by a disgruntled Lucia.

"Like I said before, she doesn't know." A maniacal laughter filled the dark room.

End of Chapter...like I said, this one's shorter than the other ones because I cut one chapter into two.

So how was it?

Yea, I didn't go into the characters' thoughts as much because I wanted to save that for the next chapter.

Oh, and the gift scene, I put it there so that the readers could compare between Ray's and Yzak's. See the differences? Lol...

I'll try to update soon!