A/N: Ohayou minna!! (" ,) I'm back! Whew! It's been a long time since i wrote here. well, it's so busy in school i rarely have time to write. well, here's the next chapter of my story. hope you like it!


Last chapter:

"Hey, who's that with her? Her bodyguard? Where's Yzak?" Athrun said. Then he noticed Cagalli's shocked expression. He didn't have to ask anymore the problem. He noticed it too just by looking at where her eyes were directed to.

"Athrun… Look at her finger!"

End of chapter

"Seeing you with him… I'd be lying if I said it didn't hurt."

Chapter 2: Meeting

"Cagalli, what are you talking about?" Kira asked. Out of sheer curiosity, he looked at Lacus' finger, just as Cagalli had said.

He turned his head to face her. God, she was still so beautiful. Maybe even more. Her pink hair flowed down softly, a few wisps framing her face; her eyes still held that spark and her lips. Oh, that tantalizing lips that always turn right side up to the most beautiful smile. His eyes slowly moved from her radiant face to her arm then her hand. And he froze. There, on her left finger, shining brilliantly was a ring. A diamond engagement ring. Tremors shook his whole body but he remained resolved. He wanted to approach her ask her all the questions buzzing in his head. But no. he just stood firmly on the ground, waiting for what she had to say. And he didn't need to wait that long.

"We're sorry we're pretty late. We encountered a few problems along the way," she said.

"It's okay, Ms. Clyne. Please have a seat," the Earth Alliance Forces representative said.

"Thank you, Mr. Williams," she graciously replied. Then, one by one, she and her companions filed in. Together with her was one of their friends, D'Arca; (A/N: gomen, I don't know his full name.) the 2nd high adviser of Plants, Mr. Pierce Noble, Lacus' escritoire, Eline du Palper and… a man. He was about a few inches taller than Lacus. He had jet black hair, dark brown eyes, and lips in a thin line. He looked like the typical Casanova but he also displayed the air of a general's son. Military. He must be the reason for the commotion outside the court. The ladies must have seen him and have fallen head over heels in love with him. Typical.

As they seated, the UN representative stood up and presided over the junction.

"Okay. So now that Ms. Clyne has harrived, we may begin. It has come to our attention that…" and the meeting continued. (A/N: gomen.. can't think of any issues to write. lazy… haha! )

"Okay, that's it for today. Thank you all for coming. But before we officially conclude our meeting," the UN representative said. He then looked at the Plants 2nd high adviser, "was there something you would like to announce, Mr. Noble?"

"Thank you Prime Minister du Barbon. Ever since Ms. Clyne has succeeded her deceased father's position as representative, Plants has never become as peaceful as it is today. And now, we will add another reason to celebrate. Our dear representative, Ms. Lacus Clyne," he glanced at her, "and the son of our highest official from the board of opposition, Mr. Joshua Leon Leibnitz, has now decided to be joined in Holy Matrimony!"

Everyone cheered. Well, except for three people. They were so shocked with the news. They already predicted that this was coming but still, it was too shocking to handle, especially for Kira. He was stunned. So it was pretty surprising when he stood up all of a sudden. Everyone's eyes traveled form Lacus to him. Cagalli slightly trembled.

"Kira…"

He, surprisingly, smiled.

"Congratulations, Ms. Clyne. We look forward to your future. And it holds a bright one for you."

Lacus was speechless and so was everyone else. Never did it cross her mind that this will happen. It was very eerie, very uncomfortable so Joshua, not understanding what was happening, decided to break the silence.

"Thank you, Mr.?" he said, standing up.

"Kira. Kira Yamato."

"Well, thank you Mr. Yamato," he said, extending his hand. "I'm glad that you're with us on this momentous occasion." Kira shook his hand.

They seemed to have a staring contest. Only Frederick Williams seem not to have noticed it.

"Well, well. It seems were going to have one big celebration coming, eh? Ms. Lacus, why don't you and your companions stay here for a while so we can celebrate for you?" he suggested.

D'Arca glared at him. Lacus sensed his uneasiness.

"Yes. Why don't you stay for a while?" Cagalli spoke up, also sensing D'Arca's discomfort. He loosened at her words and calmed down. Lacus breathed a sigh of relief then smiled.

"That would be fantastic. We've also been planning to visit some places here."

"But I think…" Joshua started.

"I think that is a lovely idea. Don't you think so, Ms. Clyne?" Noble interrupted.

"Yes. I think so too. Maybe we should stay a while. What do you think, Joshua?" she asked, glancing at him.

Kira, Athrun and Cagalli froze. It was unusual for them to hear Lacus say another man;s name like that. It was really shocking.

"Hhmm. Fine. If that's what you want, Lacus. You know I can't say no to you," he smiled small smile. The other women would have fainted because of that.

Lacus smiled at him in return. "Thank you, Joshua."

The scene was too hard to bear. To Athrun and Cagalli, it may have looked at bit disgusting but to Kira, it was like a knife plunged to his heart. He hadn't felt this pain before. The last time he felt it was when Lacus left him, alone and confused.

He still is now.

The meeting finally ended, much to the relief of some. Cagalli and the others met up with D'Arca back at the Grand Hall.

"Hey guys!"

"D'Arca! Nice to see you again," Athrun called out.

"Yeah, nice to see you. So, how's it going?" Kira asked.

"Well, it's been rough back at Plants, with rebels on the loose. But with a new treaty being signed, I sure can have my well- deserved vacation now," D'Arca replied.

"Hey… where's Yzak? What happened to him? Wasn't he supposed to be the one with the representative?" Cagalli asked.

"Yzak's in a kind of… twist. His mom asked him to manage her position for a while. He was glad to take it, of course. And since he's staying, who not better to leave the department of defense to?" he replied.

"Oh. Well, it's good to see you again. And since this meeting's over, we can all have that vacation we've been planning for weeks!" she announced.

"But don't you have work to do, Cagalli?" Kira asked.

"Oh, she's done with that alright. She finished everything two weeks ago, staying up late and sleeping every afternoon when she gets the chance," Athrun replied, glancing at his fiancée once in a while. She slightly blushed.

"Hey I need my vacation okay? And nothing's gonna interrupt it, even work," she replied. They laughed. They didn't notice some people approach them.

"Hello guys. It's nice to see you again."

Everyone turned around to see the owner of the voice, Kira being the fastest of them all. He knew the voice all too well. It was the voice that sang him lullabies to sleep. It was the voice he dreamt of every night. The voice was none other than Lacus'.

"Hey Lacus," Cagalli greeted. She hugged the visitor. "So good to see you again. We missed you."

"Sorry if I haven't even sent a message about my departure before. I got an urgent message and I had to go back to Plants. I arrived there in secret. We needed to plan on how to get the rebels sign the treaty. I'm really sorry I couldn't update you on anything," Lacus said.

"It's okay Lacus. We're just glad you get to visit now," Athrun said.

"Thanks Athrun," she replied. She then turned to Kira. "Hi… Kira."

Everyone was silent. It's like time has stopped. What would Kira say?

"Hi… Lacus. Nice to see you again," he said.

"Yeah. Nice to see you too," she replied.

The air was full of tension it almost sizzled. It was like a trance had befallen them. But it was suddenly broken by the arrival of Joshua Leon Liebnitz.

"Hey Lacus," he called out to her, putting his arm on her waist. Kira burned with a need to strangle the guy. Didn't he know what privacy meant?

"Lacus, I've been looking all over for you. You suddenly disappeared."

"Oh, sorry Joshua. I just went to meet with my friends again," she glanced at her companions.

"Yeah. They're the ones you've been telling me about. They seem nice. Oh, you're Mr. Yamato right?" he glanced at Kira.

"Just call me Kira."

"Kira. Well, thanks again. And Lacus," he said, looking at her, "we have to go now. There's still the problem we need to discuss with Pierce," he looked at the parked car by the front.

"I nearly forgot. Thanks for reminding me. D'Arca, are you coming now? You can go with Athrun and the guys first if you'd like."

"Yeah, I'd love that. Thanks."

"Well, see you. It was nice seeing al of you again," she said but her eyes were mostly at Kira.

"See you. Bye!" Joshua said. Together, he and Lacus went to the car and they were off, going to the direction of the hotel they were going to stay at. They looked at each other again.

"You okay, Kira?" D'Arca asked him.

The question startled him. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"So… any info you can tell us about that guy?" Cagalli asked, pointing to the place where Joshua stood before.

"Well, he's much known in Plants as one of the highest officials. However, he was in the opposition side which caused the people mostly to rebel. He was the one we negotiated with to get the peace treaty signed. If it wasn't for him, we'd still be having a big trouble on our hands," he said.

"He seems to be famous with the ladies," Athrun said.

"Yeah. He's one of the most sought after bachelor before. That is, until he proposed to Ms. Clyne," he said.

This caught Kira's attention. "Since when have they been engaged?"

"About two months ago. We were surprised when they announced about the engagement. We didn't even realize they were going out. He was such a ladies' man, loved to go to parties but though he was also the mysterious type,' D'Arca said.

"Will he be a good partner for Lacus?" Cagalli asked, willing to voice out the question in her twin brother's head.

"I don't know. I'm not that close to him. Maybe. I don't know," he replied.

"Well, we'll just have to find out, won't we?" Athrun suggested.

"Yeah," Cagalli said.

They looked back to the direction the car sped off too.

'If he tries to hurt or even lay one hand on Lacus, he'll wish he never met me.'

To be continued…


A/N: So? How was it? Was it ok? Waah! I'm so caught up at school, i don't know if my writing got worse or what! Pls comment. it will be so much appreciated. Arigatou! (" ,)