Chapter 5
The next morning: Eternal
Kira had woken to the sound of his alarm clock, screaming at him to get up. He groaned and grudgingly rose. He decided to dress in his long-sleeved black shirt with a red inner shirt and his loose black cargo pants. He also put on the silver ring Lacus had given to him, but he also had another silver chain with the Wings of Freedom emblem on it. He then walked down the hall to the mess hall, which was already the center of activity. Kira strode past his men greeting each of them before walking into the kitchen to grab a bite. "Hey, Mike, you think you could give me a bite?" called Kira as he saw the Scylla unit's leader emerged from behind a pile of pots.
"Sure thing commander. How 'bout some eggs, bacon, and OJ?" asked Mike as he acknowledged Kira. (A/N: The unit leaders switch off on cooking.)
"Whatever's fine. We'll be leaving for Onogoro in two hours." Responded Kira before walking back out to speak with the others and to inform them of his plans. "Alright here's the plan people. The Unit leaders, Captain Waltfeld and myself will be heading into Onogoro. The rest of you will stay here and help with the repairs. Understood?" asked Kira.
"Yes, Sir!" responded the mercenaries in unison. Kira just smiled and went over to the counter to pick up his food and joined his unit leaders.
Orb Palace
Cagalli had gone to sleep last night exhausted, she didn't even hear her alarm clock go off at seven. Athrun had stood guard at her door for about two hours after the attack mulling over the situation and insuring the princess' safety. At about ten Cagalli finally stretched and woke up. She walked into her enormous bathroom and took a shower. After putting on casual clothing she opened her door only to find Athrun asleep, but still standing. Cagalli gently smiled. Athrun was such a kind person. 'He must be so tired. I might as well wake him up and send him to his room.' Thought Cagalli as she stroked Athrun's cheek. He stirred and opened his emerald green eyes.
"Oww." Groaned Athrun as he struggled to get up. He noticed that Cagalli was casually dressed today. "Taking the day off?" asked Athrun as he eyed what Cagalli was wearing.
"Yup. I wanna see if we can find Kira. Those mercs last night were amazing. They were outnumbered almost three to one." Responded Cagalli as she gave Athrun a gentle smile. "Come on let's go down to the kitchen and have the cooks prepare some breakfast." Added Cagalli as she began walking down the hall with Athrun in tow. On the way to the elevator they ran into Kisaka who was in charge of the land and sea based forces.
"Good morning, Princess. I have taken the liberty of sending the delegates back to their hotels this morning; however, I left your friends alone. I have transferred the Blue Cosmos and their leader to the Morgenroete Facility prison." Stated Kisaka who had also ordered the M1 units to remove the MS from the streets. Fortunately they didn't leave much damage on the streets and were fixed before sunrise.
Onogoro Sea Docks
The launch bay of the Eternal was open as four expensive sports cars drove out onto the docks and headed towards the palace all of which belonged to Kira as becoming mercenaries made he and his men rich. Alex (leader of the Strike Unit) and Mike were riding in a Ferrari 360 Spider, Lowe and Gai were riding in a Maserati Spyder, Gordon (leader of one of the Gemini Units) and Allen (The leader of the other Gemini Unit and Gordon's twin) were riding in a Lamborghini, Kira and Andrew were driving a Aston Martin DB9 special edition. It was about 10:30 in the morning so they didn't encounter much traffic on their way into the city.
"Finally a day off. I wonder what we're goin' to do?" asked Mike as they sped down the road. He was just staring out the window relieved to be able to relax.
"I dunno. I want to go explore the city." Responded Alex as they turned a corner. They could now see the Palace in the distance and it looked quite grand.
"How will you deal with their reactions? You know you've been on the cover of thousands of magazines and newspapers since your disappearance. You know the paparazzi will be on Cagalli's doorstep in a matter of hours." Said Andrew as he looked out towards the gleaming sea dreaming of his lost love Aisha.
"I'll deal with it as it comes. All I want all of you to do today is relax. We've been working for one year. We deserve at least a day off. I'm pretty sure Lacus won't let me out of her sight anyways." Responded Kira as they pulled up to guard station.
"ID please? Do you have an appointment?" asked the guard as he reached out for Kira's ID. He eyed the other three cars behind the Aston Martin before returning to look at Kira's ID. His eyes widened as he swiped it through the machine. "G-go right ahead, Mr. Yamato." Stuttered the guard as he opened the gate. The five cars filed past the guard towards the palace. Right after the cars left the man quickly began calling all the news stations and periodicals.
Orb Palace: Gardens
Karissa was taking a stroll in the garden. After comforting Lacus last night she had fallen straight to sleep after being shown to her room. She was now walking along the edge of the garden facing the sea. She had always loved the sea; it comforted her and reassured her of the future. What she did not know was that another person was headed straight for her deep in thought just as she was. Before they knew it they had smashed straight into each other. Karissa found herself falling. She was expecting the sting cold cement walkway, but instead she felt a pair of strong arms around her waist hoisting her back up. Yzak was about to snarl when he realized it was Karissa, however, he quickly changed his mind.
"Are you all right?" asked Yzak as he looked over Karissa to make sure she had not sustained any injuries. She looked a little stunned, but she quickly recovered.
"Thank you for breaking my fall Yzak. I'm sorry that I run into you." Smiled Karissa as she stared at Yzak.
"It's okay. Don't worry about it. Would you like to walk with me?" asked Yzak. 'Doh! Why on Earth did I just ask her that? It's not like I like her or anything. Is it?' thought Yzak as he mentally berated himself for being so foolish.
"I would love to." Replied Karissa as they began their leisurely walk back to the palace.
Outside Dearka's room
While the events in the gardens were unfolding, Dearka was still deep asleep and it was 11:00 already. Half the day had almost gone by. Miriallia was outside Dearka's door deciding whether or not to wake him up. She resolved to wake the blonde boy as evilly as she could for what he had done to her last night. She tiptoed inside and crept into his bathroom. She filled two cups with freezing cold water and poured them right on top of Dearka's head.
"Yeeeeowwwwwwww!" screamed Dearka as he literally jumped off his bed yelling. Miriallia just stood there giggling in her orange dress. "What the hell was that for?" asked Dearka as he looked at Miriallia who was across the room.
"Just getting you back for what you..." trailed off Milly as she noticed he wasn't dressed in anything but his boxers. Dearka took advantage of her dazed state and grabbed a pillow, which he threw at her. This got her out of it and she was fuming at Dearka for that attack. "Oh, it's on now." Grinned Milly as she grabbed a pillow of her own and swung it at Dearka who countered with his own pillow. This generated a huge pillow fight in which they had broken all the pillows except two. By this time the room was covered in feathers giving it a winter-like appearance. Milly ran towards Dearka but slipped on one of the "former" pillowcases and instead smashed into Dearka head on. As he fell so did Miriallia. They found themselves in a whirlwind of feathers.
'She looks like an angel.' Thought Dearka devilishly before he pulled her down and placed a kiss on her lips. Miriallia was a little shocked but she soon melted into it. They continued kissing until all the feathers had settled down. Then they broke apart for the much-needed oxygen that their lungs demanded. Milly blushed and quickly got off Dearka. She walked to the door and turned around to look at him.
"I trust that you're awake now?" asked Milly frowning as she saw the state of the room. Dearka noticed her frown and looked around the room. It really was a mess.
"I won't tell Cagalli if you don't." responded Dearka as he went to retrieve his clothes from under the mass of feathers. Miriallia just giggled.
"I just hope the maids don't find out." Said Miriallia as she opened the door. "I'll see you downstairs for breakfast. No wait I should rephrase that. Brunch." Stated Miriallia before stepping outside. Dearka just smiled before entering the bathroom.
Orb Palace: Driveway
The four cars had parked themselves in the circular driveway around the fountain in the middle. Their occupants got out and walked over to the ornate front doors which two doormen opened for them. Lacus had been walking through the front hall when the doors opened. She turned to look at the eight men striding through them. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw Kira talking to one of his commanders while walking inside. She dashed towards Kira and threw her arms around his neck and kissed him several times before hugging him. Kira was a little surprised, but nonetheless he returned her embrace and kissed the top of her head.
"Don't you ever leave me like that again, Kira Yamato!" yelled Lacus as she emerged from the embrace and smacked him playfully on the arm. As if on timing Yzak and Karissa appeared walking in from the garden to see Kira, Andrew Waltfeld, and six other guys they didn't know. Miriallia who had come to the main hall foyer to see what all the commotion was about soon followed them. Then Dearka appeared at the top of the stairs smirking.
"Well look who's back again." Grinned Dearka as he began to descent the final set of stairs. Finally Athrun and Cagalli strode in from the direction of the kitchen with happy faces. Cagalli's face turned into an angry one as she stormed over to Kira and slapped him. There came a chorus of 'Ooooooooooos' from the unit leaders as Kira got slapped.
"How the hell could you leave after last night. You could have at least told us where you were going." Fumed Cagalli as she crossed her arms waiting for an explanation.
"Anybody up for discussing this somewhere we could sit down? 'Cuz it's a long story." Asked Kira as Gordon and Allen nodded.
"Sure. It's good to see you came back." Replied Athrun as he led the group into the living room.
"Okay, you all remember when I left I said I was going to find out who I was and where I belong. Right? When I left my first destination was the Mendel Colony. When I arrived I looked for more information about my origin." Started Kira.
Kira went on to explain how as he arrived at the Mendel Colony with the Freedom he had found his biological father's office. It contained several files on the human genome project and the creation of Kira. It also stated that Kira was older than Cagalli by five minutes. At this point Cagalli had had a fit. Kira told them that he had stayed there for several weeks until Lowe and his Junkies had arrived along with Gai being chased by a gold frame Astray. Kira helped them out and managed to 'remove' the gold frame from combat. He had returned to PLANT with them and also had persuaded the engineers to give him the Eternal, which he then repainted blue. He was approached by several war veterans who wished to join him in protecting the peace. Kira had managed to retrieve the data for the Justice, Aegis, and Strike. He told them about recruiting his other mercs and how they had defeated several of the purist groups. Finally Kira explained that he had done all of this because the peace they had created was fragile. By removing those who could not understand the concept of peace and embrace both coordinators and naturals as human beings. Lacus who sat next to Kira throughout the entire tale had tears in her eyes. They were not of sadness, but of happiness. Kira had conquered his past and now he was back.
"Well, it's about three o'clock now. What do you say to getting out?" asked Athrun as he looked around the room. "We'll split into pairs. We can meet back here at about seven. I'll go with Cagalli, Dearka can go with Miriallia, Kira can go with Lacus, and Yzak can go with Karissa." Stated Athrun as he got up and started walking toward the garage.
"Kira, where are we going?" asked Lacus in her sweet melodic voice. Kira just looked at her and smiled.
"We'll go wherever you want to go." Replied Kira giving her a light kiss on her forehead before taking her hand and taking her out to his car. "Alex, you and the rest of the guys can go do whatever you want until seven. Call the Eternal and tell them that they have permission to dock in Morgenroete." Said Kira before opening the door for Lacus.
"Sure thing, Commander. Have fun." Waved Alex before returning inside to tell give his comrades their orders. By this time three other cars had pulled up. Dearka was driving a Porsche, Athrun a Ferrari, and Yzak a McLaren F1. They all proceeded to the gate. As they neared it they saw dozens of news teams and hundreds of people. More than half of them were girls holding up "We love you, Kira!" signs. Kira quickly put on his sunglasses and drove out first ignoring the speed limit, pushing his V12 engine. As he drove by all the girls looked dismayed and some even look jealous when they saw Lacus. Soon all the others had driven out and had headed to different parts of the city.
To be continued...
A/N: I intend to write a chapter for each pairing next. Please vote for who you want first. Also I will be out of town for the next week until Saturday and I won't have access to a computer. So please don't get mad at me if I don't update quickly.
Thanks to those who reviewed.
R&R!