Reviews, reviews...
King Arthur6687- Oh, hee...Lucia will eventually get what she's coming to her...don't know about the "very soon" part though...lol
Lomiothiel-YzaknNicol fangirl- Lucia getting bashed, Yzak getting jealous...such a good combination...lol.
Prayer Reverie- Don't worry, Yzak and Ray will have plenty of opportunities to clash at each other...lol
Angel of Dreams- Yes, there will be some Dearka and Milly interactions in this chapter.
Annie, and Soi- Bad feeling about Ray you say? Well...
Miss Akira- Yes, she doesn't. Hopefully Yzak will take this opportunity...but you know how stubborn he can get at times...lol
Okay, on with the chapter...
Ch. 13: Relieving Interlude
"It's nice to see all of you again." Ray grinned as he and Lucia entered.
"Why does he always insist bringing her along?" Elise whispered to Arabella.
"No idea." Arabella replied back. "Maybe he feels bad about leaving her alone."
"I doubt it, she seemed to have a lot of friends the last time I saw her." Cagalli, who happened to sit by the other two girls, heard the conversation and retorted.
"What are you three whispering about?" Ray asked, curious.
"Nothing much. Just girl talk." Arabella replied, knowing that that was the only foolproof phrase that would keep Ray from trying to find out more.
"Okay, anyways, so what have you people planned for today?" Lucia asked haughtily, taking a sit on a chair, uninvited.
"Is it possible for a person to be so disagreeable all the time?" Lacus whispered to Kira. Kira opened his eyes, surprised that the usually mild mannered Lacus managed to criticize someone.
Once he shook the shock off, he merely shrugged. "Some people just can't help themselves from being prejudiced and headstrong."
"While some people can't help but be sweet." She said back to him, smiling. Kira couldn't help but blush.
"Ahem." Lucia coughed, earning irritated glares from everyone.
"Well, what did you have in mind, Lucia?" Arabella asked, trying to get rid of the awkwardness.
"Like I would know. Last time I checked this was your country." Lucia replied disdainfully.
"I know! How about a picnic?" Cagalli burst out loud, trying to save Arabella from Lucia's biting words.
"A picnic?" Lucia laughed mockingly. "Is that the best you could come up with? It's still the middle of winter you know. Of course, I shouldn't have expected anything better from a..."
"A picnic seems like a good idea." Arabella retorted back, feeling that it was her turn to defend Cagalli. "The weather's pretty nice today. It almost feels like it's the middle of spring."
"Then a picnic it is." Ray concluded before the argument got out of hand.
"Great. I'll go and have things prepared." Arabella said as she went on her way.
"We'll go help too." The girls, all except Lucia, replied.
"I get the feeling that Arabella might need help." Ray remarked and followed, ignoring the obvious death glares coming from Yzak. Soon, the room consisted only of Athrun, Kira, Dearka, Yzak, and oh joy, Lucia. The guys tried their best to ignore Lucia, but unfortunately that would not happen. At least as long as Lucia had anything to say about it.
"Well I'm glad that they're gone." Lucia laughed. "They were annoying me."
"And you're annoying us." The guys wanted to reply back.
"So...you're the boyfriend of that blond Natural girl, right?" Lucia addressed Athrun. "Don't you find it that she's a bit clumsy? Wouldn't you like someone more graceful? I have a friend..."
"Cagalli is perfect the way she is." Athrun answered back coldly.
"Well...if that's the case..." Lucia stammered, taken aback. Then she turned her attention towards Dearka. "Is it just me or are you trying to catch the attention of the brown haired one? I think you're wasting your time..."
"I would like it if you didn't pry into my business." He replied dryly. "And as for Miriallia, I don't see anything wrong with her, if that's what you're trying to get at."
"Well, alright..." Lucia murmured, starting to lose her confidence. "Um...Kira, right? At least you have the right mindset."
"I could care less whether Lacus is a Natural or a Coordinator." Kira flatly declared, causing the other guys to stare, for they never though Kira had it in him. "I like her because she's sweet, sensible, and understanding, not because of the way she's born."
"Right..." Lucia looked around, trying to find someone to defend her. Seeing Yzak, she put on a fake smile. "Well, seeing that you have no one to occupy you, unlike them, I get the feeling that you understand, don't you?"
"What makes you say that?" Yzak retorted, putting on a smirk.
"I mean, there's no one left except Arabella and Elise." Lucia laughed. "I'm sure you don't really even know Elise, so she's out, and Arabella's out of the picture because she's engaged to my brother." Yzak stayed silent because he couldn't figure out a way to argue. "Besides," Lucia continued, "even if she and my brother weren't engaged, I doubt you would be interested in her."
"How is it that you're so sure?" Yzak asked, trying to not flare up in anger.
"Because of what she is."
That did it for Yzak. He stood up from his chair, and dangerously approached Lucia. Lucia had to try her best not to flee in fear. "I'm sick and tired of people playing games with me." Yzak started. "Explain that to me. Now!" Yzak expected her to still have fear in her eyes. Instead, she now seemed amused.
"Oh, you don't know?" She laughed maniacally. "She didn't tell you? Of course, I'm not that surprised...I would be ashamed of it too."
"You know, I don't hit woman...but you just might tempt me to do so." Yzak threatened.
"Oh, alright. You just had to ruin the mood, didn't you?" Lucia pouted. "She's a half-breed."
"W...What?!!" Dearka spit out his coffee, Athrun and Kira had their eyes open-wide, and Yzak slightly drew back.
"She had a Coordinator father and a Natural mother." Lucia continued. "Of course, it would have been bad enough if she were a full Natural, but tainting blood like that..."
"Okay, first of all." Kira managed to be the first one to speak. "What gives you the right to refer to a person as a 'breed' as if some animal..."
"Lucia." Kira stopped for a moment, and all eyes turned towards the voice. "I think we might need some help here." Ray suggested.
"Oh, all right." Lucia replied, sulkily. "I was just starting to have fun." With that, she left, not even taking a glance back.
"And I thought Yzak had problems." Dearka commented as soon as Lucia was out of earshot. Yzak, who would have usually reacted to something like that, stayed silent.
"That was a bit hard to take in." Athrun commented. "Well...let's just go find the girls." Wordlessly, they agreed.
"Hm...let's see, basketball, frisbee, such and such..." Cagalli murmured as she gathered all the equipment.
"Need any help there?"
Cagalli looked up to see a smiling Athrun and Kira. "Oh hey there." She replied, wiping sweat off her forehead. "Sure, I could do with some help. By the way Kira, Lacus went that way to get some blankets." Cagalli pointed. The next instant Kira disappeared. "Those two." Cagalli laughed.
"At least they're progressing." Athrun smirked. "Who knows, maybe he'll ask her officially sooner than we expected."
"One could only hope." Cagalli smirked back. She then dumped a lot of objects on Athrun.
"Is it really necessary to take all these things?" Athrun struggled against the weight.
"Why not?" Cagalli shrugged. "By the way, did Lucia say anything after we left?"
"Just the usual." Athrun replied.
"You did defend me, right?" Cagalli glared at him.
"Of course, of course." Athrun sweat-dropped.
"I knew I could count on you." Cagalli kissed him on the cheek, causing Athrun to blush madly and drop everything on the floor.
Miriallia stopped. It felt eerie, as if someone...
"So what you up to?"
"Dearka Elthman, don't you dare scare me like that!" Miriallia threatened pointing at him with a knife she had been holding.
"Whoa, let's not get too aggressive." Dearka drew back, mockingly.
Miriallia sighed. "So what are you doing here?"
Dearka shrugged. "Just looking around. Why? Do you need help?"
"As in a matter of fact, I do." She said, handing him the knife and pointed towards the tomatoes. "I need those cut."
"Um...alright..." Dearka stammered, getting nervous. "So I cut it, like this?"
"No...you can't do that, you need to cut it sideways." Miriallia replied, giggling. "You've never worked in a kitchen before, right?"
"Well...that is...yea..." He murmured, embarrassed.
"It's all right. Here, let me show you." With that, Miriallia grabbed his hands, and guided him. "First make sure that you're holding the object firmly, otherwise you might accidentally slice a finger..." Dearka didn't really pay attention to her words. He was too busy paying attention to her hand on top of his. "Hello, Dearka, are you listening?"
"Huh? Oh yea..." He managed to get out of the trance.
"Think you can do it yourself now?"
"Um...right...sure..."
"Alright then."
Thanks to some miracle, Dearka managed to do a decent job. Once done, he watched Miriallia put together the other sandwiches. "Just out of curiosity, why are you the one making the food? What about the cooks?"
"Well..." Miriallia started to explain, getting a bit embarrassed. "You might think it's a bit of a silly reason, but asked them to let me make the food myself. It's been such a long time since I went on a picnic..."
"I don't think that's silly at all." Dearka answered.
"You think so?" Her eyes brightened. "Well, that's good."
"Come on." Dearka gestured, picking up the baskets. "The others are probably waiting.
"It's such a nice day today!" Cagalli remarked as they walked across the park, trying to find a good spot.
"The only thing we need is to get rid of Lucia." Elise murmured. Cagalli nodded in agreement. The lineup was as follows: Lucia in the front (since she insisted that she knew the perfect spot), Kira and Lacus, Ray, Arabella, and Yzak (who keep a very close eye on the two of them), Elise, then Athrun and Cagalli (who were struggling with all the items), and finally Dearka and Miriallia with the food.
"This wasn't such a bad idea." Cagalli told Athrun. "The bags seem to get lighter and lighter.
"Um, Cagalli..."Athrun sweat-dropped, after figuring out why. "I think one of the bags has a hole in it."
"What?!!" Cagalli yelled. "We need to get all the stuff back."
"Hey, what the..." As if on cue, they heard something crash. Dearka, who had insisted that he carry the baskets for Miriallia, obviously couldn't see very well over the pile, and had tripped over the random items dropped by Cagalli and Athrun. "Who put that basketball there? I have half a mind to kill..." Then he saw Miriallia hovering over him with a concerned look on her face. "On second thought..."
"Are you alright?" She asked. "That looked like it would really hurt."
"I'm fine." He replied with a goofy grin on his face, although it felt as if he just twisted his ankle.
"You sure? Here, I'll carry the baskets from now on." Miriallia suggested.
"No, no, it's fine." Dearka replied.
"Sorry about that you two." Cagalli yelled, as they came towards them, picking up the fallen items in the process.
"It's alright." Dearka waved it aside. "In fact, maybe I should be thanking you two."
"Huh?" Cagalli and Athrun responded, puzzled.
Before Dearka could respond, a yell came from the front. "What's taking you people so long?" Lucia criticized. Then seeing who trailed behind, her mouth curled into a sneer. "Oh, of course, it's always the Naturals that lag behind."
"You know what, just shut up!" Elise shouted, no longer having the patience to deal with Lucia. "What is with you and always making remarks about non-Coordinators? It gets kind of old after awhile, you know!"
"Calm down you two." Arabella interceded before the situation turned into an all out catfight. "Let's just try to enjoy ourselves today. Especially with all the problems coming up, we're going to need it." She added as an afterthought. The two girls stepped away from each other, but that didn't stop either of them from continuous murmuring.
"I have to hand it to Arabella though. She knows how to keep order." Dearka remarked, causing those within hearing range to nod.
Finally, after finding a spot that Lucia became satisfied with, the group sat down, and dug into the food. "Hey Miriallia, this is pretty good." Cagalli remarked as she gobbled up her third sandwich.
"Thanks." Miriallia blushed, and then looked towards Dearka. "I had some help."
They continued to eat until all the food disappeared. "Well I'm happy." Cagalli remarked. "Now for something fun to do." With that she took something out of a bag.
"A kite?" Everyone sweat-dropped.
"Well, I never flew one before." Cagalli explained. "Athrun, could you please come with me?" She asked him sweetly, even daring to use puppy eyes.
"Oh...all right." Athrun answered, obviously not able to resist.
"There goes those two." Dearka commented, watching them leave.
"What else did you expect?" Kira asked with a smirk.
"Figures." Dearka replied, taking a last bite. "Say Yamato, how about a game of basketball?"
"Are you sure you're up to it? I mean you tripped over one awhile ago." Kira mocked jokingly.
"Think I can't handle it? Well then I'll prove it to you." With that, Dearka all but dragged Kira to the nearest basketball court.
"Let's see what happens." Lacus and Miriallia giggled and went after the boys.
Now only Arabella, Elise, Yzak, Ray and Lucia occupied the original spot. "Hey, how about a game of tennis?" Ray suggested, taking out a couple racquets from a bag.
"Count me out, you know I can't play." Elise replied while giving Lucia a glare to shut her up from making any derogatory comments.
"Sure, I'm in." Arabella replied.
Although Yzak never really played before, he wasn't about to let Arabella and Ray alone. "All right."
Lucia sighed. "Well, since that makes things uneven, I guess I have to play." She replied in a condescending tone.
"I wouldn't act so tough Lucia, I know that Arabella can beat you anytime." Ray joked. He only got a snort in reply.
So the four went on their way, and found out that only one court was available. "I guess we'll have to play doubles then." Arabella concluded simply.
"Well then Arabella and I could be partners..." Ray suggested as he pulled her closer to him.
"No, wait a minute, I'm the beginner here. I need someone who plays well." Yzak retorted, pulling Arabella back towards him.
"I never said I was very good either." Ray replied, pulling Arabella again, although slightly more protective this time.
"Well, at least you seemed to have had some practice before." Yzak growled, while pulling Arabella back with equal strength. Sparks flew from each boy's eyes, and Arabella looked back and forth, not knowing what to do.
"Arabella, just go with my brother." Lucia snapped while harshly pushing her towards Ray. "I'll help Yzak." She added with an evil smile. Before Yzak could protest, Lucia dragged him all the way to the other side of the court. "Sorry if you got a wrong impression of me in the beginning." She put on her fake smile again. "But I'm really nicer than I seem you know."
"Right..." Yzak replied sarcastically, which Lucia didn't catch. "Let's focus on the game." The game, however, didn't go too well for Yzak and Lucia, for Yzak was too distracted watching Ray and Arabella, while Lucia continuously tried to start a conversation with him.
"Oh come on Lucia, you really weren't trying very hard, were you?" Ray laughed as they headed towards the original spot again.
"As if I wanted to, playing with amateurs like yourselves." Lucia retorted back. "Although, Yzak wasn't too bad."
"So, I take it that you two got along well?" Arabella asked, a bit surprised.
"Of course." Lucia said, suddenly clinging to Yzak's arm.
"Uh...yea..." Yzak stammered, disengaging himself from Lucia the next instant.
"That's nice." Ray smiled. By the time they reached the spot, everyone else had already arrived.
"It was so fun!" Cagalli exclaimed. "Well, except for the time the kite got stuck on a tree and Athrun had to climb it to get the kite out. He almost fell off, but he didn't, so that's all that matters." She finished while taking a quick glance at the very tired looking Athrun.
Lacus giggled. "Kira won."
"It was a close game though." Miriallia added, surprising everyone, and even herself that she defended Dearka.
"That's what happens when you challenge an ultimate Coordinator." Kira managed to say a joke.
"Looks like Kira isn't so sad and depressed anymore." Everyone laughed.
Ray checked his watch. "I got to go now Arabella." He informed her apologetically.
"When's the next time you're going to visit?" She asked.
"Well..." Ray scratched his head. "I'm pretty busy...so I guess not until the New Year's Eve Ball."
"That's fine."
"Okay then, see all of you around." With that Ray left, followed by Lucia, who didn't even bother to say good-bye except to cast a look back at Yzak.
"So, the rest of you want to head back too?" Arabella asked.
"Well..." The guys stammered, trying to figure out what the girls wanted to do.
"Why not...Athrun looks tired out." Cagalli said, guiltily. "I think I made him run around too much."
"And you two look tired too." Lacus and Miriallia said to Kira and Dearka.
"I guess we're going back then."
"Hey, so did you guys have fun?" Athrun asked after they came back. Everyone except Arabella and Elise occupied the room.
"Definitely." Dearka replied. "It's been awhile since I was able to be so carefree."
"You're always carefree." Yzak retorted, although this time with a bit of amusement.
"You know, I know history books will probably have a lot of our exploits during the war recorded, and call them important, but today would be more important to me than some of those times." Kira commented. They all nodded their heads.
"Speaking of history books..." Cagalli's eyes suddenly brightened. "Oh my goodness...I remember something! Come on!" Confused, the rest of the group just followed.
Yay! End of chapter! (wait, is that actually a good thing? Lol...)
Don't we all hate Lucia now?
And did you see the tension between Ray and Yzak? Lol...there's going to be a lot more of that...
Next chapter you'll find out just what Cagalli remembered, and also the plans that they make...wait for it!
Oh, and thanks for reading!