JC: The tenth chapter already? Wow! I'm amazed with myself. I've never would have gotten here if it weren't for the inspiring reviews. Thanks for much for supporting this fic.In this chapter, read and find out if friendship can once again be restored between the Norns and Loki. Please read and enjoy. Don't forget to review in the end.

Disclaimer: Don't you dare sue me! I don't own this series. I can never own it, so there!

Gundam Seed: Mythical Legends

Phase 10: Verdict

When Cagalli, Stellar, and Hel reached the desired place, they all saw Shinn lying on the ground. Hel quickly went to her father and cuddled him in her arms. Shinn smiled as he felt the warm touch of his loving daughter. He was also glad that Hel was safe and sound. He would kill himself if anything bad would ever happen to Hel.

"Hel," he said as he touched her cheek, "you were probably worried about me, huh?"

Hel nodded her head as tears formed in her eyes. "Of course I was! I was worried sick about you!" She trembled in anxiety.

"Hel, I'm sorry for making you worry," Shinn said in a soft and comforting voice.

"You don't have to apologize, Oto-sama. It's okay as long as you're safe." She brushed her fingers through his dark hair.

On the other hand, Stellar went to her sister's side to see if she was okay. "Onee-sama, what just happened?" she asked, feeling worried for her sister.

"I can't kill him. I can't kill Loki-sama no matter how hard I try!" Urd scowled, pulling herself away from Stellar. She turned to Shinn and narrowed her eyes, showing the frustration she had, as she clenched her fists. "Now I really regret being friends with you in the past," she said in a cold voice.

Shinn giggled.

"What's so funny?!" Urd retorted.

"Regret huh? I don't think so. You told me once that I'm a good friend to have. Don't try to deny that, Urd."

"What?!" she shouted. "I don't remember saying those things!" She turned around, showing her back to him. "You're making things up, Loki-sama!"

Shinn shook his head. "No, I'm not."

"Well, all I can say is that you two were very good friends before," Stellar added.

"I... I..." Urd stuttered glumly, looking confused. Urd kept shaking her head as she covered her ears. She didn't want to be friends with Loki again.

Then someone suddenly placed a hand on Urd's shoulder, which startled her a bit. She slowly turned her head at the person who touched her, and it was none other than Cagalli. She stared at the blonde silently for a moment before she muttered her name. Cagalli gave her a significant smile—a smile beaming with radiance—as she looked at her with kind eyes.

"Cagalli-san..."

"I can see that you still treat Shinn as your friend."

"Stop saying nonsense! He's not my friend anymore!" Urd stood up, with legs trembling, as she clenched her fists.

"If he's not your friend anymore then why did you hesitate to kill him? No matter how much you deny it, you still like Shinn as a friend," Cagalli continued. Evidently, she was also trying to knock some sense into Urd for Shinn's and Stellar's sake.

Urd was speechless, nevertheless.

"Urd-Oneesama, I know that Odin-sama is only forcing you and..." Stellar started but she got cut off by Urd.

"I can't go against Odin-sama!"

"I'm sick and tired of following Odin-sama," Verdandi, who just regained consciousness, spoke up in a cold voice. She sat up as she looked at Urd seriously. "This is foolish. We're fighting the one we called a friend before. It's pretty ironic." She laughed sheepishly.

"Verdandi-Oneesama is right," added Stellar, revealing an angelic smile.

And then there was silence.

Urd deeply thought about what Verdandi said. All along they have been fighting for a stupid reason. Of course, she knew that following the commands of her High God was an important duty, but she failed to understand the meaning of the mission. She was being used by Odin all this time.

I've known Loki since the beginning of time. I know everything about him; his personality, style, hobbies... everything. Why didn't I realize this before? If I know so much about him, why didn't I believe his words before? He told me that he was innocent, that he didn't do anything wrong to Odin and yet... I'm such a fool. I can't believe that I didn't trust the words of my former friend.

Urd sighed. "I guess all our hard work was for nothing, huh?" She looked up at Verdandi, enlightening a bright and warm face.

Verdandi smiled. "I guess so..."

"So does this mean?" Stellar clasped her hands together as her eyes widened with excitement.

Verdandi nodded her head. "Yeah, we decided to quit the mission." She slowly stood up, red hair covering half of her face, as she crossed her arms together.

"I'm sure Odin-sama will punish us for this, but I'm prepared for that." Urd stood, looking composedly, as she faced Cagalli.

"I'm sorry for involving you, Cagalli-san," Urd said sympathetically, with her head slightly bowed.

"Well, that's okay. You were only doing your job," Cagalli replied.

"Thank you for your understanding." She turned to Stellar and smiled. "You must be pretty happy now, Skuld." She extended her arm to help Stellar stand up. As she looked at her little sister, she noticed that she was trembling. "What's the matter, Skuld?"

Verdandi approached them right away to see if Skuld was all right. As soon as she knelt before Stellar, she was immediately hugged by the young goddess.

"Skuld!" Verdandi yelled, trying to support Stellar's weight. "You're pretty heavy..."

"I'm so happy that everything's okay now," Stellar cheerfully said.

Urd placed a hand on Stellar's head and knelt down. "Skuld," she giggled, "you're still adorable as ever."

Cagalli motioned over to Shinn's side and asked him if he was all right. Shinn told her that he was just fine and he even gave her an assured smile. As he sat up, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her into a hug. Cagalli was surprised, wondering what came over with Shinn to hug her all of the sudden.

"How about you, Cagalli?" he whispered softly. "Are you okay?"

"Um... Yeah..." She was absolutely blushing at the moment. She felt so nervous that she couldn't even answer him properly. When Cagalli snapped, she immediately pulled herself away from him. "Hey, what's the matter with you?" Cagalli raised an eyebrow at him.

Shinn put on a smile as he held her cheek, causing Cagalli to blush madly.

"I'm glad that you're safe. I don't know what I'll do if anything would've happened to you." Those words enlightened her. She knew that Shinn could be protective sometimes, but she didn't expect him to be so caring. So, Cagalli just patted him on the head as if he was a dog and smiled.

"Shinn, I'm okay so stop worrying so much."

"You're important to me, Cagalli, that's why, I..." He lowered his head as he slowly closed his eyes. He leaned his head on Hel's chest before he lost his consciousness.

"Huh? What happened to him?" Cagalli asked Hel.

"Don't worry, Cagalli-san, Oto-sama is just tired that's all. He really needs some rest." Hel answered calmly.

Next day ( Archangel Academy)

Upon reaching the classroom, Cagalli made her way to her seat. She stretched out her arms up high as she sighed in relief.

A lot of things happened yesterday but I'm glad that everything turned out okay. Now there's only one more thing that Shinn has to handle... She remembered what Heimdall said to her back at the mansion. His words were really troublesome for her.

"I have deep feelings for you, Athha-san."

I shouldn't believe him. He's Shinn's enemy. She turned to the window and looked at the sky. Heimdall is out to get Shinn and he's probably trying to manipulate me to get to Shinn. I won't let him do that. She lowered her head, her blonde hair framing her face, and looked intensely at her desk.

"You see, I'm pretty interested in you." Heimdall words played back in her mind again.

She shook her head, trying to remove his voice from her head. "Why does he bother me so much?!" she mumbled, eyes growing fierce, as she clenched her fists. "Why?!"

Lunch Hour

Cagalli went to the school garden to catch some fresh air. She sat down on a bench near a patch of roses and daisies. She took a moment to view the entire garden, admiring every bit of plants and flowers that were present in the area.

Then her stomach suddenly growled, meaning she was hungry.

"It's time to eat," she said. She took out the lunchbox from her backpack, placed it beside her and took another one out. But she stopped when she realized something. "Why is there another lunchbox here? Hmm...Oh yeah, I made this one for Shinn!" She laughed as she scratched the back of her head. "And Shinn's not here so..." She looked down and sighed. "It's too bad that he had to skip school today because of his injuries. I even made his favorite."

The wind blew gently, carrying with it the aroma of the fresh cut grass, as it swayed the leaves of trees gracefully. Cagalli breathed in deeply as she closed her eyes to feel the flowing sensation of the wind blowing through her hair.

"You must be Cagalli Yula Athha," a voice spoke out of nowhere, giving Cagalli quite a surprise. She quickly turned to person seriously.

"I'm sorry if I disturbed you. I just want to know if you're The Cagalli Yula Athha that Athrun was talking about," he told her.

"Athrun told you? Wait, who are you, anyway?" she questioned, standing up from the bench.

"I'm Kira Yamato, a classmate and a friend of Athrun."

"So you're Athrun's classmate..." She approached him for a closer look. The more she stared at him, the more she felt that she knew him. "Have I seen you before?"

"No," he replied immediately, "but I must say, Athha-san, we have something in common."

"And what is that?"

"We kinda look alike."

"Huh?" She raised an eyebrow at him. She leaned forward to get a closer look at his face. She stared into his purple eyes that were as clear as glass. She felt a bit awkward, but she didn't care. She then pulled herself away and cupped her chin with her hand. "I agree. We do look alike. What a great coincidence."

"Coincidence?" Kira muttered before sitting down on the bench. "Well, I wouldn't say that." He smiled coolly at her.

To be continued...

JC: Cagalli and Kira finally met! What is their relationship here? I'm sure some of you will ask me that. I won't tell anything yet. I don't want to be a spoiler. But you guys can guess the possibilities. The next chapter will be about Kira Yamato, or should I say, Freyr. Let me see some reviews rolling in, okay? I don't want any flames.