AN: Here it is! Done! I'm on a roll, and now that I have time, I hope to update faster )

And for the reviewer that didn't bother to read the whole thing and just left a review on the first chapter pleading with me to let Kai and Liika get back together cause they make such a good couple. NO! -- I swear I am not answering this again. They won't ever be together. They are siblings. That won't change. There. Is. No. Mistake. Thank you )

Off to Worlds! Yay... Worlds will take up many chapters I imagine sigh. I can see this story never ending lol

Oh and for the record, the Gundam Seed cast used here do not belong to me. (And thanks to LadyJaneGrey for betaing)

Liika's movement was in a flurry as she darted around her room, grabbing various objects, clothing, and needed toiletries. "Shit! Ow!" She swore, tripping over one of the various objects the littered her floor. "Goddamn it!"

Mariah and Enrique watched their friend scurry around her room from their position on the futon couch underneath her bed. As she darted across the room, their heads shifted to follow, each trying to hide the amused expression that threatened to appear.

It was like watching a dog chase a bouncy ball that continuously ricocheted off every wall in the room. Zoom to the left, grab needed article, zoom back to the right, forgot something on the desk! Rush into the bathroom, what if I forget my tooth brush? It was so comical, Enrique couldn't keep his snickers to himself.

"Iki, why didn't you pack last night? You know, like a normal person." He asked, laughing.

Liika paused only to glare at him before she hurried on her way, grabbing this and that as she did so. "I did pack last night!" She huffed, trying desperately to stuff more clothing into her single suitcase.

"Midnight does not count as last night," Mariah said, shaking her head with a smile. "Mostly because it was only three hours ago."

Liika wanted to reply, she really did, tell them that she hadn't had time yet, but her cell phone rang, causing her to curse and fumble over to her desk to snatch the small, blue contraption up. "What!" She cried, answering it.

"Jesus Christ Liika, I told you not to go to bed so that I wouldn't have to wake you. Fuck, you better drink a Coke or something before I get there, I don't want to deal with your crap."

The blue haired girl (she had, last week, gotten rid of the silver streaks) grumbled during her brother's long, almost pointless speech. I have better things to do! "Are you finished now? I have things to do. You didn't wake me."

"Drink the Coke anyway. We're on our way to pick you up. Is Low, Sattiay and Granger there?"

"WHAT! Shit!" Liika cursed loudly, and vibrantly. So much so that she heard Grandpa scold her from three rooms away. "Yes, they are here."

"What is your problem? If you didn't go to bed, why are you so bitchy?"

"No time. Talk to Mari," and with no ceremony she tossed the cell phone to Mariah, who caught it awkwardly.

"Hello?"

"What is her problem?"

Mariah giggled, watching Liika resume her frantic searching and packing. With one hand she motioned at Enrique to help the poor girl, and the blond boy did so. Not without sighing of course. "She didn't start packing until an hour or so ago. She says she started at midnight, but you know, by the progress she had made when I got here at 1, I don't think she started until just before I arrived."

"Our plane leaves at six am. It's 2:45 now, if we don't leave in the next fifteen minutes we are going to miss our plane, and thus worlds. It's December for Christ's sake. Does she think no one else is travelling?" Kai was spitting by then, and Mariah could hear it in his voice.

"We'll be ready, Enrique is helping her now. She's almost done. Anything she forgets she's going to have to forget completely. You're leaving now I take it?"

"Yeah, mom is driving our van, we're picking up you, the witch, Sattiay, Tala, and Granger. Judy's picking up Maxwell, the two Parkers, Mitchell, MacGregor and of course Tate in the other van. Mr. Tate is taking the two Wakemans, Kon, Jagen, Low, and Dubois in the third van. We're leaving now, make sure she's ready."

Mariah sighed and hung up the phone. "Ika, Kai said that they are leaving now. Are you ready?"

"Yadda!" Liika cried, speeding around her room as Enrique zipped up the filled suitcase. She continued to spout random Japanese words as she rushed into the bathroom to do a double check that she had everything she needed for the two week trip to Japan.

"Why is she talking in Japanese?" Mariah asked Enrique as he sat himself down beside her again.

Enrique shrugged. "I guess she's practicing. Grandpa's had her and Tyson in Japanese school for years, she speaks it pretty well from what I understand, but you know Iki. She thinks that she is going to say something wrong, or her accent will be too strong and people will laugh at her."

"Well I knew she was in Japanese school, I just didn't know why she was randomly spouting it now. But it makes sense now that I think about it."

"She's always been a bit neurotic."

"Mattaku," Liika sighed, finally coming to a stop in the middle of her room to do an inventory check.

What was she missing? Was she missing anything at all. She did a mental check list of all the things she needed. Her beyblading gear, check, that was in her carryon bags, as was homework, a book, her laptop, pad of paper and pens, brush, tooth brush, and a change of clothing. That was all she needed there. She had her clothing, other toiletries, pyjamas, electronic English—Japanese dictionary, BBA ID, money, credit card, regular ID, passport…. That was everything wasn't it?

Like everyone else on the two American teams, she was so excited she could hardly stand it. Though she had been taught Japanese since she was very little, and had at least a working knowledge of the language, she had never actually been to Japan. But like any other Japanese American, she had always longed to go to the country where both her grandmothers had been born. It didn't help that due to her inordinate fascination with anime, she also had a fascination with all things Japanese, despite her heritage.

But she also feared going there. She was going to study history, she knew what the Japanese were like with those born out of country – those who were not entirely Japanese, but not entirely Caucasian either. She feared being outcast, though she was only going to be there a couple of weeks. She looked more Caucasian than she did Japanese, despite the fact of being half Japanese. Oh well, she thought with a mental sigh, at least I'll be able to communicate a little!

Just then the door burst open and in strode Tala, looking as if he had had a full night's sleep instead the no sleep he probably had had. He smirked at Liika, eyeing the suitcases that were strewn all over the room. "A little birdy told me you weren't finished packing and commissioned me to come over as "help.""

Liika rolled her eyes, shoving at the red head. "I bet this "little birdy" had blue hair and a big head. I just talked to him." She eyed Tala and yawned. "You must have been already out the door when he called."

"Almost," Tala replied with sickening cheer. He ignored Mariah and Enrique's existence. "I, unlike some in this room, have been packed for two whole days."

"Well, la-dee-da," Liika said, shoving Tala out of the way. "I've been done for two whole minutes. Make yourself useful and grab those two suitcases and take them outside."

Tala eyed the suitcases in question, snorting as he picked them up. "Who taught you how to pack. One bag, Iki, one. It's a good thing there are only five girls going in our brigade to Denver, or we'd never have the room!"

"That's why there are three vans baka," Liika replied, pushing him out the door. "Come on guys! Time to go!"

Enrique and Mariah got up and stretched. Enrique grabbed Liika's other carry on bag cheerfully. "Who has our tickets?"

"Judy has USA 1's tickets and I think Kakashi has ours. We'll get them at the airport."

"Okie doki."

Mariah swayed a bit as they were making their way down the hall. As Liika was behind her, she caught the movement, reaching out with her free hand to steady the taller girl. "You alright Mari?"

Mariah smiled over her shoulder. "I'm fine, just had a bit of vertigo there. I think I'm just tired, all the stress lately. I'll sleep on the way and on the plane."

Liika yawned as if to agree with her. "I hear you, I'm so napping."

"Hey witch! You're late!"

"Teme…" Liika then trailed off into a rather color string of Japanese expletives, all directed at the blue haired boy that occupied the Granger's front door.

"Liika!"

Liika ignored her grandfather's chastising voice as she finally made it to the door way. Instead she gave Kai a swift elbow to the gut that was accompanied by a sweet smile. "Ba-ka."

Grandpa followed the group of teenagers out the door and into the front yard where a large passenger van was waiting, parked against the curb, still running. Kai and Liika were now wrestling, Kai having enough of her insults and putting her in a headlock. Grandpas sighed at the two, part of him wishing they wouldn't fight so much, part of him glad that they were starting to get the sibling thing down.

"You'll be flying out tomorrow, right David?"

Grandpa looked up at the pretty, slate haired Caucasian woman who was currently loading the last of the suitcases into the back of the van. "Saturday actually. I'll be there in time to the start of the competition Monday, Tokyo time. Work calls ya'know."

Katherine smiled, nodding. "Unfortunately! Liika, Tyson! Say goodbye to your grandpa, we're taking off. Have a good flight David."

David Granger waved to Katherine Hiwatari as she circled the van to get into the driver's seat. Tyson was the first to glomp onto the older man, all bright eyes. "Bye gramps! See you in a couple of days!"

Liika was next, waiting until her exuberant cousin was out of the way before she hugged her grandfather. "Bu-bye. I'll keep an eye on Tyson, don't you worry," she winked, excitement shining in her eyes.

Grandpa laughed. "It's more you I'm worried about little lady!" He said, hugging her back. "You be good. And mind your language. I don't want to hear any more of that cursing, in Japanese or English, am I clear?"

Liika saluted, getting another laugh out of Grandpa. "Hai, hai! Ja ne, ojii-san!"

And with that Liika was in the van, sandwiched between Enrique and Mariah, while Tala sat in front of him, two seats to himself, and Kai rode in the passenger seat. No one seemed to mind though. Mariah and Tala were still not talking to each other, and neither Liika nor Enrique really wanted to sit beside the red head, thus he was allowed to stretch out on his own seat, while Liika leaned on Enrique and vice versa to sleep and Mariah leaned against the window.

"Alright troops, away we go!"

xxxxxxxxxxxx

By the time they got off the plane in Seattle, it was 9 am, their time, so 8 am Pacific Standard Time. Most of them were dead on their feet, not having slept the night before and had been traveling (the ones from Bakuten anyway) for almost six hours. Needless to say not one of the twenty four teenagers was looking forward to the almost nine hour flight to the Narita airport in Tokyo.

The three adults (two coaches and a parent) herded the half-sleeping group of zombies through the various gates, towards their gate of departure. Having gone through customs in Denver, the only gates they had to go through were the arrivals, and then the departures again. The Seattle airport was a large one, and so it took another twenty minutes to locate their departure gate.

When they did, the group fractioned off, filing into various rows of seats and benches depending completely on their friend group. Liika half-carried Enrique (who really was asleep on his feet) towards the windows to the left of the desk that guarded the ramp. Sakura and Mariah followed her and the four took the only remaining chairs in that area, ignoring where the rest of their teammates had gone.

"Gah, I'm so tired," Liika moaned, setting Enrique down in a chair then plunking down herself. "How long do we have to wait?"

"Did you read the boarding pass? They will start boarding at twenty after nine."

"Neh," Liika shrugged, "Tired. Unlike some, I didn't sleep last night."

Sakura stuck her tongue out at the blue haired girl and the small group fell silent. Enrique was already asleep, as he possessed the uncanny ability to sleep anywhere, anytime. Liika, on the other hand, failed at sleeping in unaccustomed places and thus had not slept very much on the drive down, nor the two and three quarter hour flight from Denver to Seattle.

Her eyes drooped as she was extremely exhausted, but she knew even if she closed her eyes and did her best to relax, she wouldn't be able to sleep. It was a thing. She had every plan of taking some Gravol (nausea medication that made one drowsy) on the plane to Tokyo and sleeping, because she doubted that her body could resist the mild sedative while it was so tired.

The terminal was fairly quiet, particularly when it was considered that there particular gate was packed. Apparently there were quite a few people flying to Japan that day. Murmurs sounded around her, though most people kept their voice down, conscious of the fact that there were people around them that hadn't had the amount of sleep they probably needed.

Because they were sitting by the window, the dawn light was filtering into the sky, though because they were facing east, it didn't shine directly down on the small group by the window. Unlike Denver, there was no snow in Seattle, which helped dim the amount of light that was being filtered through the window. The temperature was cool, and Liika shivered, too lazy to grab her hoodie out of her carry on. Instead, she slumped, huddling closer to Enrique, who responded by shifting so that his arm snaked around her shoulders and hugged her against his side.

She seriously considered stretching out on the floor for the hour and twenty minutes they had to wait until they were boarded onto the plane. Mariah had beat her to it, curling up in front of Sakura's chair beside Liika, her jacket covering her shoulders, using her bag as her pillow. Sakura had simply grabbed a book out of her carry on and was reading it silently.

"Do you want my coat?" Enrique murmured against the top of her head, rubbing up and down her arm over her short-sleeved shirt.

"Hmm… too lazy to get my hoodie. I'll be ok."

Suddenly a hoodie came flying across the aisle and hit Liika in the head. A muffled "Ow," escaped her as she pulled it off her head to glare in the direction it had come from. She knew who had thrown it at her, it was obvious – the hoodie smelled like Bryan. "You suck Wakeman."

Bryan smirked at her from the closest seat at the end of the aisle off to the left of her. "If you weren't so lazy, you wouldn't have been hit in the head. Mine will be warmer anyway."

"Thanks," Liika waved at Bryan, pulling away from Enrique for a moment to slip the massive sweatshirt over her head. She of course swam in it, but that was fine for her, she liked it that way. "What about you?"

He shrugged, waving her off. "I'm bigger than you, I'm not cold."

Enrique mumbled sullenly, though Liika could not tell what he was saying. His eyes were still closed, and she had the sneaking suspicion that he was asleep and was just mumbling in his sleep. He constantly amazed her in his ability in falling asleep at a drop of a hat. One second he was awake, the next he was asleep. Weird.

Liika, now warm and happy, snuggled against Enrique, curling her legs underneath her in attempt to relax and fall asleep. After about ten minutes she finally managed to relax, and was dozing. Blocking out the surrounding noise, she focused on Enrique's static breathing – he was obviously asleep – and his calm heart beat. She was just on the verge of sleep when there was a loud outburst some ten feet away from Liika and Enrique. Liika was startled out of her sleep, her eyes snapped open and she stiffened, her turquoise gaze centered squarely on a white haired boy with a strange haircut who was currently having a screaming match with a pale green haired boy about god knows what.

Liika started twitching, completely annoyed that she had just fallen asleep – something that was hard for her to do! – and then some loser decided to yell for no apparent reason. Sitting up, she glowered at the pair. "Hey!" She shouted, causing both boys to stop almost instantly. "Shut up! Some of us are trying to sleep!"

It seemed that the white haired boy was the more quarrelsome of the two, as he spun around, his blue eyes clashing with hers. "Did anybody ask you?" He shot back, a scowl on his face.

"I asked me, and that's what matters. Seriously, is there any need for you to shout at each other? It's 9:30 am damn it!" Liika replied, shifting to the edge of her chair, ready to start a brawl if need be. She was seriously pissed.

"It's also a school day," the boy snapped back, "You'd be up now anyway. Quit whining."

Now Liika stood, ready for a fight, eyes flashing, teeth grating. "I have been traveling for six hours already, I didn't sleep last night, you don't want to fuck with me pretty boy." She was growling by now.

His hackles rose instantly at the mention of his looks. "Are you trying to start something, hag!" He snarled, storming to the end of the aisle to the right of Liika.

"Hag!"

"Iki," Enrique mumbled, finally waking up and rubbing his eyes. "What is going on?"

Liika seethed. Unreasonable anger coursed through her veins and her hands itched to lay a smack down on the pretty boy at that currently snarling at her. Unfortunately for her, Sakura's attention had been caught and she was now standing beside Liika, her hand on her arm and a frown on her face. "Liika," Sakura said softly, "You're making a scene and we're going to get into trouble."

"It's his damn fault," Liika replied haughtily, not taking her eyes off the boy.

They had caught the attention of most of the people in the general area, though most people (including other USA team members) either ignored it, or were waiting to see if it escalated any further. After all, Liika was a captain, she should be able to deal with things like this easily.

Robert, however, was not leaving it alone, and he felt it was his duty as Liika's vice captain to intervene in any conflict she was in. That, and he knew Liika, and it was obvious that she had been woken up. Liika was not nice when she was woken up. Liika was not what one called a "morning person."

"What seems to be the problem here?" Robert spoke calmly, stepping over besides Liika from his position an aisle over.

"She's being a bitch." The boy stated like it was a well-known fact. "Shrieking for no reason."

"You were the one shrieking." Liika shot back, "Waking people up. Bastard."

"Yzak?" Another boy joined the white haired boy. He was almost sweet looking, a kind gleam to his eyes and smile. He too had green hair, darker than the original opponent of the big-mouthed white haired teen (who had gone back to his music) and much curlier. He looked vaguely familiar, though Liika couldn't place him exactly. "What's going on?"

"I think that perhaps this has gotten out of hand," Robert spoke before the white haired boy, obviously named Yzak, could. "She gets cranky when woken up."

A knowing look crossed over the rather short, effeminate young man's face. "And Yzak was yelling at Shani. Sorry, Yzak has a bit of a temper and Shani likes to bait him. I hope no harm was done."

"This is not my fault!"

Liika couldn't stay mad, not when faced with such a sweet, apologetic smile. She sighed, her scowl turning into a mild frown. "It's ok, I'm just cranky. We didn't sleep last night since we had to be at the airport in Denver for 5 am – we left at 3. I'm sorry if I disturbed you."

The green haired boy smiled, tugging at the Yzak boy. "Come on Yzak, let's go."

"But Nicol-"

"Now."

Yzak sighed, throwing yet another nasty look over his shoulder before walking away.

Liika also returned to her seat, though she knew that she wasn't getting back to sleep. Robert ruffled her hair as he turned away, a smirk on his face. "I'm going to get you a Coke. Or would you prefer juice?"

"Juice please," she replied with a yawn. "I plan on sleeping on the plane."

"Alright, I will be right back."

"Iki," Enrique was still intelligible. "Come back."

Liika sighed, her job of a pillow as obviously being sorely missed. Sakura smiled, patting the blue haired girl's arm as both returned to their seats, Sakura to her book and Liika to Enrique's pillow.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The first six or so hours of the almost nine hour flight went by fairly quickly as most of both the USA teams slept. Liika, despite her normal inability to sleep anywhere but in a bed, slept rather nicely, her head cradled by a pillow that had been leaned up against the window. She had, as captain, reserved the right to choice seating.

Robert had demanded the seat beside her, wanting to make sure they had time to go over rosters and line-ups and strategies before they landed and everything got chaotic. Enrique, of course, was put out, but after a stern lecture from Robert he sulked into the seat on the other side of the purple haired young man.

The rest of the two teams were rather spread out, taking up a significant portion of the business class of the plane. Flight attendants flitted up and down the aisles, taking drink orders and at the halfway point serving a meal, which was suspect in both taste and visual appeal.

After about six hours, many were sufficiently recharged and searched for other activities to amuse themselves for the remaining three hours. It was then that Liika allowed Robert to bring up the subject of rosters and strategies, and so they spent some time going over things that both had firmly engrained in their heads while Enrique whined about being bored. He had never handled travelling very well.

At about the eight hour mark, when everyone was going stir crazy, one of the flight attendants came by and warned Liika again that she should get up and walk around to get the blood flowing into her legs. Sitting for so long consecutively could damage one's legs. So, sighing, Liika did as she was non-so-gently suggested to do. She got up, stretching her arms over her head and cracking her back, and headed past a dozing Robert and psp-playing Enrique.

She had only walked a grand total of ten feet when she found herself flying through the air, approaching the nearest seat in front of her to the left. From the loud snickers from the other side, someone was going to die. She tried desperately to catch herself before she fell into someone's unsuspecting lap, but she failed and within seconds she found herself sprawled face first in someone's lap – an apparently male someone.

Joy… I'm going to murder those little bastards..! Groaning as well as wincing, Liika pushed herself up on her knees, red faced and horribly embarrassed. With some hesitation she glanced upward, all too aware of the feminine giggle that echoed through the awkward silence.

"I'm so sorry!" She cried, steeling herself and looking up into the face of the man whose lap she had violated.

However, when her eyes locked with his, she froze, shock pulsing through her very being.

It was like staring into a mirror.

Sure there were slight differences, the rather masculine set of the lips and firm cheek bones, but there were overwhelming similarities between this face and her own. He had the same rounded jaw and almost heart shaped face, the same small nose. His eyes tilted slightly at the corners, indicating Asian descent, and they were a turquoise color that seemed almost unnatural. The hair was the same color, a royal blue, a little longer in the back than hers, and the shape of his bangs was a bit different, but it was remarkably parallel to her own style. It was rather creepy.

"Um…."

He was staring at her with the same kind of shock that she was probably staring at him with. His jewel-like eyes were widened and his lips were parted, his body tense. He said nothing, just blinked, completely absorbed in studying her face.

Trying to shake off the surprise, Liika darted to her feet, her face the color of a tomato. Whirling around she took the two quick steps across the aisle and back on row where she laid a good punch on the cackling Ian. "If you were on my team," she hissed nastily, "I would bench your ass."

Ian just continued to laugh, ignoring the pain in his arm. "But I'm not. Besides, you don't bench your doubles team. That's suicide."

She huffed, and with one last malicious look in his and his doubles partner's direction, she turned again, returning to blue haired boy. Smiling sheepishly, she pushed some of her long bangs behind her ear. "I really am sorry about that. Ian's an ass. He just thinks he's funny."

By this time he had recovered and offered her a small smile. She noticed with some amusement that his cheeks were tinged with pink as well. "It's okay," he said in a medium toned voice. "No harm done." He was still staring at her, and she at him. It really was creepy.

"Hey, I know you," this was a female voice, the one that belonged to the giggle heard only moments before. Liika turned her head, meeting the bright honey gaze of the pretty blond girl that sat in the seat beside her look-alike. "You're… Liika, Liika Tomoda right? The captain of the USA 2 team." She seemed to straighten in her seat, her smile wide. "I saw you in New York in May when you won Nationals. You were awesome!"

Liika blinked, surprised again. She couldn't help but grin back. Who didn't like praise? "Hiwatari," she said automatically, the name fixated in her mind. "And thanks! It was a long trip, but when you have something to prove, you strive to win!" She shifted, uncomfortably aware that the guy was still watching her carefully. "I'm sorry, what's your name?"

"I'm Cagalli Yamato," the girl answered, then turning to the boy beside her, "and this is my boyfriend Athrun."

"Wait, Athrun?" Liika said, mind whirling, "Like Athrun Zala?"

The boy smiled, tiling his head a bit in acknowledgement. "Yes."

"Then you're the captain of the Canadian team! Wow, I never thought we'd be on the same flight." Liika grinned laughing. "Small world!"

Cagalli laughed, and Athrun smiled. He seemed a lot quieter than his obviously outgoing girlfriend. His eyes reflected a serious nature, but they were kind, and at the moment they were curious at the watched her.

"If I may ask," Liika started, curiosity getting the best of her. "If you're from Vancouver, what were you doing in New York?"

The blond girl shrugged, still smiling. "My father had business there. My brother and me begged to be taken along so we could go see the US nationals. It worked."

Must be nice, Liika thought, not unkindly. "Well, don't think you'll have the advantage just because you've seen me blade," she laughed winking playfully. "What kind of captain would I be if I didn't grow in seven months?"

This actually drew a laugh from the blue haired boy. "I hope so," he said, one brow arched, "I would hate to have no challenge at all."

"Oh you'll be challenged, Athrun Zala, you-"

"Hey Iki, you better-" Enrique froze as he came to a stop beside Liika, his eyes fixed on the Athrun's face. His jaw went slack and his eyes turned to saucers. "Uh…"

Liika sighed, embarrassed. "Sorry," she said to the pair in front of them "This is my best friend Enrique, he has no tact." With a swift elbow Liika warned Enrique to stop staring. "Eniki, this is Athrun Zala and Cagalli Yamato."

"God, everyone said he looked like you Iki, but damn, it's almost creepy." Was all Enrique said in greeting, which earned a giggle out of Cagalli and a grimace from Athrun.

Took the words right out of my mouth, Liika though, elbowing him again. "Stop being rude Enrique." She sighed. "I really am sorry for him. Can't take him anywhere."

"He's right though," Cagalli said, glancing at Athrun. "The resemblance is rather uncanny."

Both Liika and Athrun shifted uncomfortably, sending each other weary looks, knowing their friends were right, but not really wanting to admit it. After a moment Athrun sighed, obviously realizing that the two blonds wanted either one of them to acknowledge the resemblance. "You know what they say," he said, keeping his voice light, "Everyone has a twin in the world."

"That's right! It just seems I found mine…well we found ours." Liika put in, sensing the unease.

"Excuse me, we're entering Tokyo airspace, I'm going to have to ask you to return to your seats now," a flight attendant spoke in her fight attendant voice: commanding yet kind.

Liika waved her off and smiled at the pair. "Well, it was good talking to you and meeting you! I'm sure we'll see more of each other in the next couple of weeks. Bye!"

"Bye!" Cagalli waved, while Athrun just smiled, raising his hand.

Liika grabbed Enrique by the arm and pull him back to the seat. Just as they were doing so, the captain came over the PA and announced they were starting to descend.