Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed nor Romeo x Juliet saddly enough -sadface-
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Act 1-2: Hibiscus
Emerald and Amber had finally met, both sides breaths were taken away, as they were intrigued at the eyes of the opposite gender.
Cagalli was too astonished to move, as the gentle breeze passed by, slightly obscuring her vision with her blonde tresses, but she still remembered the man who was standing in front of her as clear as her intention to punch that purple haired jerk. He was still in mere shock as well, it wasn't every day you saw a… magnificent young lady by herself at a fountain.
"You… You smell like Hibiscus… D-Do you like that… flower?"
He suddenly asked out of the blue, his emerald eyes finally being able to peel from the amber, and to her hands that were holding an orange flower in front of her chest. A slight blush was on the girl's face, as she glanced at him, then back down to the flower that she held.
"I… I do…"
Was her quiet response. Cagalli felt very awkward in this situation, some what surprised she wasn't pounding the guy because of earlier, but… blushing at him?
Get. A. Hold. Of. Yourself.
She told herself, even though, the false moral support wasn't there, as she continued to study the flower. Athrun continued to stare at the girl, his heart pounding against his chest.
Is… this love?
A voice in his mind had asked, as he wasn't too sure himself. He shifted uncomfortably, before moving his hand out, towards the girl who was making his heart do this.
"U-Uh… C-Could… I g-get your name?"
Smooth Zala, very smooth.
Another voice in his mind had mocked him at his… stupid gesture one could say. But he thought it was the right thing to do, after all, if he… loved this person, then he should at least know her name, right?
"I…"
"Athrun!"
She was sharply cut off, as a third wheel had entered the scene. From the deck behind them, Kira had stepped out of the main hall, looking for his friend. Athrun groaned inwardly, great timing Kira, great.
"Athrun!"
He heard Kira shout his name again, as Athrun finally glanced back at his amethyst eyed friend.
Cagalli was about to shout her name to the noble, but instead, took her chance to escape. She carried the flower in her mouth, and held her dress up, silently cursing at Miriallia once more, before she escaped from the noble and his friend.
Athrun turned around once more to face the young lady, but she was gone in an instant. He made a futile attempt to chase after her, but Kira was in his way again.
"Athrun! The Grand Duke wants to see you."
Now what could his Father want with him?
---
Cagalli ran through the courtyard, the lone hibiscus in her mouth, and her hands clutching onto the cloth of the dress. She was recalling what she just heard, before she fled the scene.
His name… is Athrun…
She thought, not wanting to spit on the name, but… feeling rather… Something she didn't know. She noted that she might have to go talk to… Willly about this.
After a few more minutes of running, she finally found her way back to the entrance, where two guards of the Zala family stood. They started intently at her, spears ready to stab.
"Stop right there. Will you be returning alone?"
One of them asked, as the two guards started to close in on the girl. Cagalli growled in her mind, as she took a couple of steps back, one of her hands dropping her dress slightly, as she went to grab at the empty air at her side. She was quite use to having her rapier around.
"We have come to escort you, Milady."
A deep, melodic voice suddenly intruded, as the guards and Cagalli looked over at the newcomer. A carriage was parked outside the entrance of the Keep, and a young man stood there. He had burgundy hair, and a slightly dark tan. You could also see a man sitting in the driver's seat of the carriage, a scar across his shut left eye, short, mess of brown hair and a small grin on his face. The Guards hesitated at the entrance of this carriage and the man with burgundy hair, as he continued on.
"Which… house are you from?"
"Oh? I'm surprised you don't know of our mistress. She is the daughter of the Clyne family, distant relatives to the Zala's, here is our family crest."
From his jacket pocket, he pulled out a golden looking crest, showing it to the two guards. They seemed quite surprised, and quickly apologized for their impotence, as they let Cagalli go.
Cagalli just let out a breath of relief. Martin DaCosta and Andrew Waltfeld really saved her – much to her dismay.
---
"Kira! D-Did you see her?!? That girl… I wonder which house she is from…"
This was the first time that Kira had seen Athrun seem so enthusiastic, especially over a girl he just met. He was escorting his navy friend to his Father, smiling slightly; it was nice to see Athrun happy about something, rather then sulking around his room.
"Athrun, where were you?"
The Grand Duke was standing at the top balcony of the keep, staring – or more like glowering down at his son through the corner of his eyes. Athrun and Kira both felt inferior to the Grand Duke, as Kira backed off, and Athrun bowed respectfully.
"F-Forgive me, Father."
"Very well, today I have prepared a gift for you."
Grand Duke Zala was able to merely wave the topic off, as he forced his gaze to in front of him, gesturing for Athrun to stand beside the girl who stood behind him. Athrun complied with his Father's order, standing beside the girl – or rather, Meyrin.
A chancellor pulled away from the small group that formed on the top balcony, as he went to the rail, asking for the audience's attention for the Grand Duke wanted to make a speech. Every one immediately hushed their actions, as they glanced up towards the Grand Duke.
As soon as it was quiet, the chancellor backed off, and Grand Duke Zala came forward, speaking in a loud, intimidated voice to every one.
"As of this night, my son, Athrun and Meyrin, the daughter of the Hawke Family is to be… betrothed."
Athrun and Kira both gasped, not expecting this at all. The crowd seemed to be in the same boat as the two nobles, as they too, gasped. The Grand Duke held his hand out for Meyrin to step forward, and he just shoved Athrun forward to her side.
As soon as the two were in sight of the crowd, they were all immediately clapping. To Meyrin, this was like a dream come true, as she blushed lightly. Unfortunately for Athrun, he wasn't too sure if he could go through this.
Especially just meeting with… her.
---
The carriage went down the street at a steady pace, as the Driver kept a hard grip on the reigns, making sure that the horses would stay on the path and not go any where else. Inside, two men sat in front of Cagalli, who was looking some what ashamed at the hibiscus sitting on her lap.
"Honestly, this gave me a fright."
"It was a good thing I borrowed William's Mother's Family crest before we came."
Martin sighed in relief, as he pocketed the crest. The man beside him – or more like, Shinn's 'Grandpa' had his arms folded, as he glared over at the girl in front of him.
"And to think, he would go into Aube Keep, of all places!"
"Why did you go to the Keep any ways?"
Cagalli felt like tugging her hair out of frustration, as she was being interrogated just for leaving a couple of hours – even though, originally it wasn't her fault to begin with. As much as she wanted to pin the blame on Miri, she wouldn't do such a thing, so she came up with an answer on the whim.
"I wanted to see the Grand Rose Ball…"
She muttered darkly, looking away from the two in front of her. The man who had his arms crossed was ready to lash out at her, and that just ignited that fire.
"A ball hosted by the Zala's?!?"
"… It was like a dream you could say."
The response she gave was awkward, but the two men listened intently on the blonde girl, as she continued on with her experience that night.
"As much as I hate to admit, there were a lot of people in… nice looking dresses, the music wasn't that bad… and I saw…"
She suddenly stopped, as she said the word 'saw', a picture of that young nobleman coming to her mind. Martin raised a brow.
"You saw…?"
"… Nothing."
The girl just huffed, folding her arms across her chest, as she looked out the window, in a vain attempt to escape from the 'interrogation'. He smiled softly, there was something going on with her, but he knew that it probably couldn't blossom.
"As much as I understand how you feel…"
"Why… Why do I have to hide?"
Cagalli suddenly asked, looking at the passengers across from her out of the corners of her eyes, before she continued on.
"As much as I don't like dresses, I want to know why I have to disguise as a boy, why can't every one know who I really am."
She pushed onto them, huffing slightly.
"Y-You'll understand when your sixteen."
"… Stubborn old man."
She grinned victoriously in her mind, as the Man she was referring to (not DaCosta) almost threw her out of the carriage.
---
The Grand Rose Ball had continued on after the announcement, and Athrun had to be with his future wife. They danced on the ball room floor with the rest of the crowd. Meyrin just indulged in this rare moment she never would have pictured herself in, while Athrun just seemed to be off into space.
He stopped their dance moments later, trying to crave a smile on his face as Meyrin glanced up at him.
"Lord Athrun?"
"Please excuse me… The scent of roses is rather overwhelming and I would like to take a breather."
He said politely, as he pulled away from the girl. His eyes darted around the waves of people, immediately spotting a dark, brunette.
"Kira! Entertain Meyrin for me while I'm gone!"
He shouted, his friend sighing in disbelief, as he bid the woman he was talking to farewell. Athrun smiled slightly, this is what you get from earlier. He started to head towards his room, slightly smiling gratefully as Meyrin called out a 'Get well' to him.
---
The night went by quite fast – according to Cagalli at least.
They arrived home finally, The Old Man still screeching in her ear, while DaCosta just sighed in her other. But other then that, it was a quite night for her. She just sat in a chair by her window sill, thinking about… Athrun, until she found herself on her bed, sprawled in the bed sheets next morning.
"Good morning, Cagalli."
Lacus greeted happily, as she came up the stairs to wake the girl up. Cagalli just groaned, sitting up, with unkempt blonde hair, her mind hazy at the moment. Lacus just laughed quietly, as she looked out the window.
"It's finally that day isn't it? Your sixteenth birthday."
She reminded Cagalli, which fully awakened the other. She smiled at her reaction, sitting on her bed.
"I'm still some what tired from last night; I had to console Miriallia while you were at the Grand Rose Ball."
She sighed quietly, but continued to smile neither the less.
"The Grand Rose Ball, my, it would be such a sight to see. Of course, I wouldn't be able to see it with these hands…"
She said, some what mysteriously, before her optimism took over, not giving a chance for Cagalli to be able to say any thing to her close friend.
"But there are still people out in this world who have it worst then we do."
She stood up from the bedside, and headed down the staircase. Cagalli blinked, as much as Lacus was her child hood friend – there were still some things she didn't know about her.
"Come on, if you don't hurry up, the soup will be cold."
She started to rush around her room at that. There was just no way was she letting Shinn eat her breakfast.
---
"I'm going to do laundry."
Lacus called out to the two children at the table, as she went down the hallway with a laundry basket. Shinn and Seth were sitting quietly at the table, scoffing down their soups. After the coast was clear, Seth leaned forward towards Shinn.
"Say, Shinn, where's Kisaka?"
"Grandpa's out today"
A grin reached both of their faces. With the Old Man gone – there was no one to stop them. They were out of the Theatre/House a few minutes later.
For the Strike Rouge and his accomplice was back.
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A/N: x) The beginning of Act 2.
Sorry for the long wait -coughs- You know, the little stuff here and there. But I sat through an hour and a half of You Raise Me Up and Cyclone and I managed to write xD
So yeah, just to clarifly some things.
No, Kisaka is not Shinn's actual Grandpa, but Shinn just calls him that.
Andrew and Martin is going to be some what a mix of Curio and Fransisco so - just keep your eyes peeled out in the later chapters.
Cagalli still detests dresses.
Athrun is well, 'into' Cagalli, while Cagalli herself is still not sure of her feelings.
And well.
Next time:
Act 2-2: Bandits.
... Title still pending to change xD