The response I've gotten for this is not exactly what I expected, half of you found the whole thing hilarious and the other half all want to kill me for what I've done. At least you don't all want to kill me, anyways here goes chapter 2!

Disclaimer: I don't do pot, I don't own Gundam SEED

"Oh good, you're still here!" exclaimed the ravishing Mayu Asuka-Hawke as she spotted Lionel. She ran to sit down beside him on the school steps. For a second his heart soared, "I thought I was going to have to wait here all by myself." She smiled and the blonde boy's heart came crashing back down to earth. "My aunt's coming to pick me up, so we can go shopping for mom's birthday present," she explained. "But she's late and all my friends are gone and I don't want to wait here alone," she added with a cute pout, "what are you doing here, Attha?"

Lionel groaned inwardly, from what his mother had told him Mayu had most definitely picked that trait up from her father.

"Well?" asked Mayu, her brilliant violet eyes narrowing. The young man loved those eyes. They were so beautiful, so intense, so – "Attha, are you in there?" snapped the girl sitting next to him.

"Uh, yeah, sorry," he stumbled over his words, "what were we talking about?"

Mayu rolled her eyes. Lionel could swear he saw steam coming out of his ears. "I asked you what you're still doing here?"

"Oh, I'm waiting for Kira, my uncle. We always hang out together Friday nights," he said a little too quickly.

Mayu nodded uncertainly, not too keen about asking him to repeat what he had just said in English. Instead, she tried to bring up another subject, and another and another. "Ugh! What is with you?" she demanded, "why are you spaced out all that time? You've been like this all week!"

For the first time since he'd seen her, Lionel answered Mayu clearly and without hesitation, "I don't want to talk about it," he snapped, scaring the girl.

He couldn't help it. For the first seventeen years of his life, his father had been Yuuna Roma Serian. Now he was some random ZAFT soldier. It was so ironic. When he was little, he used to wish he had a different father. And suddenly, with just 8 little words his wish came true. And he hated it.

"Sorry," he mumbled to Mayu, "my mother and I we had a…misunderstanding."

Misunderstanding indeed. What Lionel had wanted to know when he asked the unanswerable question was how his mother could fall in love with the likes of Yuuna Roma Serian and NOT how Cagalli ended up having sex with another man after she had already tied the knot. With just 8 little words, she had turned his world upside down.

Lionel despised her for doing so.

Ever since that night, Lionel hadn't once talked to his mother, no matter how much she tried to start a conversation. He had even stopped picking her up. Instead, he'd stay awake at night, waiting for her to arrive, sometime in the early hours of the mourning. He'd never let her see him though. She'd come in around 1 or 2 A.M. with bags under her eyes, looking miserable. Kisaka, who still looked after her despite his retirement, escorted her every time. The old man always seemed to know exactly where Lionel was hiding and would always cast him a reproachful glance before leaving. See what you're doing to your mother? It seemed to say accusingly, how could you do this to her? After a short-lived guilt trip, the young Attha would shrug off the feeling by telling himself that Kisaka knew nothing of what he was going through.

People instinctively took the woman's side in matters like these. They never even bothered to ask the man for his side of the story. The female was always the victim and the male the heartless killer. And then women went on to complain about how they were being deprived of their rights!

How does the saying go?

Life's a bitch, then you die.

Suddenly, Lionel was pulled out of his daze by an unknown force. –Correction, he was pulled out of his daze by Mayu's delicate hand. She had grabbed his chin and forced him to look at her. Their faces were only inches apart.

"It's ok to talk about it you know," she told him, "if you keep all your emotions to yourself, they'll come a day when you won't be able to take it any longer and then they'll be no telling what you'll do."

She stared at him intently, her violet eyes pouring into his amber ones as trying to read them. They were so close. Lionel could hear his heart pounding. All of a sudden, he wanted to tell her everything. And then he wanted to kiss her and then…

"Mayu, I'm sorry I'm so late!" called a voice. The two teens broke apart as fast as they could.

"It's alright," replied the young girl shakily, "I'm fine Aunt Meyrin."

The two hugged and Meyrin examined her niece to make sure that she was really fine. That's when she spotted Lionel.

"And who might this fine young man be?" she asked jokingly.

Mayu blushed a little, "oh, that's just Attha," she mumbled.

The older woman was suddenly quiet, as she looked Lionel over. She shook her head, "Mayu, don't you pick up your father's bad habit!" she scolded after a rather awkward moment.

"I'd say it's too late to try stopping that," said a masculine voice from behind her. "It's been a while, Miss Meyrin."

Kira Yamato smiled at her warmly.

"Mr. Kira!" she exclaimed in a pleasant shock, "why yes, it had been a rather long time," she added as her cheeks turned a slight shade of pink. "And what are you doing here?"

"Picking up my darling nephew," replied Kira, making Lionel scowl. He and Meyrin continued to make small chat completely ignoring their sibling's children. Eventually they decided that they 'really should get going' and both pairs (Kira and Lionel/ Meyrin and Mayu) went their separate ways.

"How do you know all these people, Kira," Lionel had later asked.

"When you've lived like I have, you come to know a lot people," he replied with a crooked smile.

Cagalli stared at the picture that she always hid in the deepest, darkest corner of her bottom draw. It was old and falling apart –she had never bothered to have it framed. On it, there were three people: a younger version of herself, a baby version of her son and Athrun. Miriallia had taken the picture, obviously. The blonde woman sighed sadly as she thought about the distance that had grown between them. They were posed to look like a family, Cagalli holding Lionel and Athrun holding her. If only things had turned out that way…

It the night before the wedding. Cagalli sat motionless on the stiff bed in one of the Serian Mansion's many guestrooms, trying her best not to cry. Tomorrow was her wedding day, it was supposed to be the happiest day of her life. So why wasn't she happy?

Why was she even asking herself that question? She already knew the answer. She was marrying Yuuna for crying out load! She was throwing her life away! And even worse than that, she was going along with.

"I need to talk to somebody," she told herself.

Quietly, she made her way across the room to the small cupboard where she had hidden her cell. Taking a glance at the room to make certain that she was really alone, Cagalli dialed Kira and Lacus' number.

The phone rang once, twice, three times, four, five, six, seven, eight…

The Princess of Orb cursed, what exactly did Kira have against voice mail?

…Thirteen, fourteen, fifteen.

Cagalli snapped the phone shut and punched the wall. The pain in her hand rapidly spread throughout her whole body. She fell to her knees and cried.

They were having a party. It was a small intimate thing, celebrating the end of the war. Cagalli had made sure not to let Yuuna know anything about it. To him, she was still at work (Kisaka was on the job –no pun intended). They were at Kira's apartment, uh, penthouse. He had just finished moving that day, so it also ended up being a housewarming party for him. All the furniture was very modern and very different from what had been in his and Lacus' old house. The walls were covered in framed pictures; a lot of them were taken during that period between both wars. Cagalli tried her best to ignore them.

She looked at around the room. Everyone seemed so happy. Lacus chatted amiably with Miriallia and Murrue, Andy and Mwu were arm wrestling, Shinn and his girlfriend, Luna-something were very close to making out. Kira was playing host with Yzak, Shiho and Dearka –who kept sneaking peaks at a certain brunette, and Athrun and his redhead, Meyrin seemed captivated in a passionate conversation. Cagalli smiled in spite of it all. Peace had been restored and everyone was happy. She felt as if she had done her job.

She turned to look at Lacus' clique and found that Meyrin had joined them. Panicking a little, Cagalli scanned the room for Athrun, hoping he had gone off to talk with Kira or bother Shinn. She didn't mind really, she didn't care where he was as long as she didn't have to face him, or talk to him, or interact with him at all.

"Hey there Mrs. Serian,"

Cagalli froze, she had been afraid of this.

"Don't call me that!" she exclaimed, her fist flying towards the speaker, only to be caught by the one and only Athrun Zala. After carefully putting her hand down, he gave her a forced smile.

"So, how've you been, Mrs. Serian?" he asked bitterly.

The young woman glared at him, "my name is Cagalli!" she snapped.

"Yeah, I know, you told be that," replied Athrun, lightening up a bit, "so, how've you been Cagalli?" he asked, putting a certain emphasis on the last word.

The blonde girl giggled anything to avoid answering the question.

"So?" pressed Athrun. The princess of Orb bit her lip.

"I don't want to talk about it!" she blurted out, trying as best as she could to get away.

Athrun grabbed her shoulders, forcing her to stay, "Cagalli please, I want to know." They locked eyes, and conversed through them until guilt forced the young woman to look away. She wasn't the only one who had suffered. "A wise person once told me," began Athrun, "that I should talk about my feelings, and not keep everything bottled up.

Cagalli was forced to give up, flattery got you everywhere with her. "I've…I've been lonely," she said quietly, almost in a whisper, "you guys all went off and fought in the war while I had to stay here and wait. I was so afraid that one of you guys might not come back. I had nobody to turn to. I couldn't even tell my husband, the person you're supposed to share everything with."

She was crying into his shirt now. Athrun held her patiently, stroking her back, doing what he could to console her.

The next thing Cagalli knew, she was spending her mornings throwing and stressing about her newly discovered pregnancy.

It had been more than a year since the party. Things had changed dramatically for Cagalli. She was a mother know, it was amazing what that did to a person. To think hardly 7 months earlier she had been worried about hiding the fact that the child wasn't Yuuna's. It felt so good to be wanted. Her son, Lionel Uzumi Attha (Serian) was barely three months old and already knew she was his mother and did not hide it in the least. He adored her and she loved him back. The loneliness Cagalli had once felt was gone, and if it weren't for Yuuna, her life would've been perfect.

It was Cagalli's day off. She sat in the nursery, watching over her son. The doorbell rang. Her heart started pounding. She looked to Lionel, "time to meet Daddy," she told him. He gurgled at her.

She opened the door and in came Athrun Zala, the father of her child. They politely exchanged kisses a la francaise and began to talk. Cagalli introduced him to Lionel and he was immediately taken. It made her smile, at least his real father could appreciate him. They had a casual lunch with Miriallia at a nearby café, took a couple of pictures, made faces and silly noises to entertain Lionel, and then brought him back to the mansion.

Lionel was napping. Both adults sat in the living room, waiting for one of them to crack. Athrun eventually did.

"So you're just planning on lying to him for the rest of his life?" he demanded.

Cagalli bit her lip and nodded shamefully, "it's for the best," she mumbled.

"For the best? FOR THE BEST? Cagalli are you out of your mind? I don't want my son growing with THAT man for a father!" Athrun was out his chair now, and waving his arms like crazy, his green eyes flaring.

"Look Zala," barked Cagalli defensively, "I don't want it either, but I'd rather that then having my son growing up in a broken family!" She was standing too, but her arms stayed by her side, her hands forming into fists.

"This about stability! This is about your reputation!" retorted the blue-haired man.

BANG!

Athrun wobbled back into his seat, holding his gut.

"Don't you dare say that, Athrun Zala!" cried Cagalli, "you have no idea what it is to be a mother!"

The young man stared at her in shock.

"GET OUT!" she cried, turning her back to him and stomping over to the nursery, where Lionel lay howling, having been woken up by all the commotion. Athrun left without saying goodbye.

Cagalli returned the picture to it's hiding place with a sigh. Over time, they forgave each other, but it was still a painful memory. At that time, she had thought that Lionel would never find out, that she would be able to keep the secret forever. She was such an idiot.

Kira Yamato was Lionel's idol. He was strong, brave, suave, cool but also kind. The young man had grown up listening to his mother telling him stories of her 'little' brother's exploits. From a very young age he had been entranced with him and did everything he could to be like him. He had even copied his haircut.

Friday nights were their time together, they would go over to his penthouse and hang out for a couple of hours. Then at around 10 or 11p.m. they would go pick up Cagalli and Kira would drive them both home. He always took the long way, and the three of them would act stupid in the car. Lionel always looked forward to that moment of the week. Not today though, Kira had to put up a fight with him to get him into the car.

"Why are you acting so strange?" he asked his nephew once the car was rolling.

A pregnant pause

"It's a long story," mumbled Lionel, trying to avoid the subject.

"I've got time," said Kira calmly.

An awkward silence

"What…what do you know about my father?" stuttered the blonde boy. Kira gave him the funny eye. "My…my real one," he added.

"Oh," said the older man flatly, focussing on the road. "He was a friend of mine, he and your mother, met during the first war."

"I know that," retorted Lionel, "they met on an island, right?" Kira raised an eyebrow but let his nephew continue. "So…so did her just fuck her and leave?"

The brunette man shook his head, "no, Cagalli's the one who made him go."

"What?"

"She was already married, she thought it was best."

The blonde boy shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "Ok, and he just left after that, right?"

Kira almost smiled, "no, he was always there, you just didn't see him." Lionel gave him a quizzical look. "He'd come to your school concerts or violin recitals as often as he could. When you got presents from Santa at Christmas, they were really from him," he explained.

The car stopped.

"I don't want to go in," snapped the younger boy as Kira undid his seatbelt. His uncle sighed, but decided not to fight him.

"Fine, wait here," he ordered.

When he came back with his sister a few minutes later, there was no one in the passenger seat where Lionel had been. The blonde boy was anywhere to be seen. Cagalli called out to him but there was no response: he had disappeared.

That's all for now folks, I gotta go do math homework. Anyways, review! (and happy belated Thanksgiving to all you Canadians out there, Eh!)