JC: Shinn got expelled from school in the last chapter. I wonder what he's going to do. Cagalli has learned to control her powers, which is a complete advantage over Odin/Gilbert. And how about Lacus? What are her true feelings for Kira? Hmm… Well, please read and find out.

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Seed.

Gundam Seed: Mythical Legends

Phase 22: Innovations

She was completely psyched about her powers. She kept glancing at her hands, trying to figure out how she released such amount of aura to scare the wits out of Odin. "Maybe I should ask Stellar to teach me how to control my powers. A few pointers would do me good." She clenched her fist in excitement.

As she walked out of the campus, she saw Athrun leaning against a post while reading a pocket book. "Hey Athrun!" she boomed, nearing him. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm waiting for you," answered Athrun, shifting his gaze at her.

"Really?" Cagalli raised an eyebrow. "I didn't ask you to wait for me."

"It was my decision, okay. Besides, you might need some company on your way home."

Cagalli shrugged. "Sort of…" She noticed the book Athrun was holding and wondered about it. "What are you reading this time?"

"Oh, it's another Norse Mythology story."

"About what?" she insisted, peeking into the book.

"It's about Ragnarok."

She looked up at him. "Ragnarok? You mean the end of the world? That's pretty exciting." She tapped her finger on her chin, looking interested.

"I'll tell you all about it on our way home," Athrun told her.

"Okay! But before that… I have to tell you something important."

"What is it? Did something happen?"

Cagalli nodded slowly. "You see… Odin tried to restore my memories again by force."

Athrun could feel his temper rising. "The nerve of him!" Athrun bolted, his eyes narrowing. "So, are you all right? Did he hurt you?"

"I felt so much pain when he was restoring my memories."

"Then he's going to pay!"

"Calm down, Athrun…" Cagalli placed her hand on Athrun's shoulder as she looked at him sincerely. "I already took care of him." She pasted a smile on her face.

"What?!" Athrun sounded surprised yet uncertain. "But how?"

"Remember, I have powers too. I just used my powers to scare him off."

"You scared him?" asked Athrun, looking appalled. "With your powers?"

"Why?" Cagalli looked pissed. "You don't believe me?" She folded her arms in front of her chest.

"Well…"

"Athrun!" Her voice sounded firm and intimidating.

"Okay… okay…" Athrun raised his hands in a form of surrender. "I believe you." He laughed nervously.

"You don't sound like you believe me. If you want proof then I'll give you proof." She extended her right arm away from Athrun. Closing her eyes, she concentrated hard to release some energy. Her hand started glowing in bright gold color.

Athrun could sense a heavy presence in his surroundings. He wasn't the bit comfortable when he felt Cagalli's power rising. He wasn't a god but he could sure feel her power. "Cagalli, you've learned how to use your powers freely…" he said.

Cagalli lowered her energy down. She turned to face Athrun and said, "See… This was the same power that scared Odin." She giggled.

"Yeah… And I'm glad you can use it properly."

"Well, I'm still a novice when it comes to using it. Cagalli walked ahead and stopped at a certain distance from Athrun. She quickly spun on her heels and faced him. "And I still have a lot to learn..." she spoke in a soft voice.

Athrun nodded his head in agreement. "I'm sure you'll learn in no time," he said confidently. There was no doubt in his mind when it comes to trust her. He had trusted Cagalli since the day he met her. Not only had his faith in her grown, but also his love for her. He knew she could accomplish great things. But as he recalled the story he read about Freya and Alexander, he immediately became alarmed about the forbidden love between a mortal and goddess. He hoped reality would be a lot different than the story.

Cagalli… I mean Freya… She's the only girl I love, he thought silently as he gazed upon the goddess, with eyes so soft and kind. The more he laid eyes on her, the more he wanted to take her into his arms. He felt the sudden gush of love flowing into his heart. He experienced this before and he had to admit that it was a satisfying feeling. And he never ever wanted to lose that feeling…

"Athrun, stop stalling and let's go!" Cagalli demanded, tapping her foot impatiently on the ground.

Hearing her voice brought him back to reality again. He quickly looked at her and answered, "Oh sorry…" Then he began walking towards her. "Okay, let's go home."

Cagalli's House

After getting out of the shower, Cagalli dressed up and went downstairs to the kitchen to get some snacks from the refrigerator. She picked out a pudding and chocolate cake, which were made by her mother.

"Mom makes the best desserts!" She was ready to gulp down the scrumptious desserts if it weren't for the doorbell. "Shoot! Who could that be?!" she exclaimed, putting the desserts down on the dinner table.

The doorbell kept ringing and ringing endlessly. The repeating ringing was enough to make her head burst. She had to make a note in reminding her mother to change the doorbell. But before that, she needed to check who's at the door.

"This better be someone important," grumbled Cagalli, still thinking about the desserts. She opened the door and saw the troubled face of her best friend Shinn. "You don't look too good. What happened?" She grew concerned.

Shinn didn't know how to put the situation into words. He couldn't possibly break the bad news to Cagalli, knowing it would trouble her as well.

"Shinn, why aren't you answering me?" Cagalli asked, noticing how silent he was.

"Huh?" He looked up at Cagalli. "Oh sorry about that… I was just wondering if you…" he started speaking, while thinking of an excuse for his visit. Suspension would be real easy to explain, but expulsion would be another thing. He convinced himself to act naturally like nothing ever happened—even if it was hard.

"I was wondering if you could help me with my geometry homework," Shinn finally spitted out after a short silence.

"Is that all?" Cagalli eyed him suspiciously.

"Yeah… You see, the lesson is kinda hard to understand." He faked a smile, hoping she wouldn't notice anything about him. Hiding a secret from Cagalli was sort of hard for him.

"So, you just came here to ask for my help?" She wasn't the bit convinced. She knew something was up with Shinn and she had to find out. "Is there something bothering you?" she asked, crossing her arms.

"Eh...? What makes you say that?" He rolled his eyes away as he laughed nervously. "Nothing's bothering me… Hehe…"

Cagalli shrugged. "It's fairly obvious that you're lying, Shinn." She pointed a finger at him. "Do I have to strangle you to dish out some info from you?!" she uttered.

Shinn gulped. "Strangle me? You can't be se-" He stopped when he noticed the mischievous look on Cagalli's face. "You are serious!" he said, backing away from the doorstep.

"Better tell me now or else!"

"Ah… Eh… You see…" He was feeling restless as he motioned his head from left to right.

Growing impatient, Cagalli clenched her fists hard and said, "Spit it out!"

"Umm… I was expelled!" Shinn finally confessed. His palms sweated and his heart pounded loudly.

Cagalli was speechless after what he said. She knew Shinn was a trouble-maker, but she wouldn't expect him to reach the point of expulsion. It was inhuman to expel someone like Shinn who still did his best in school. But there would also be a reasonable explanation why the principal decided to expel Shinn.

"Okay, what did you do?" she questioned, raising an eyebrow. "What destruction did you cause this time?"

"I got into a fight…" Shinn lowered his head in shame, hiding his eyes with his bangs.

"That's typical," she replied, sounding cold. "But why did the principal expel you? She could've just suspended you for all I care."

"You're going to be surprised if I tell you I fought with Rey Za Burrel."

"You mean Heimdall?! You fought with him in school?!"

Shinn heaved a deep sigh. "Yeah… He was the one who assailed me first and I just had to defend myself. While I was returning blows, the teacher passed by and saw us. Man, I got sent to the principal office after that."

"And what did the principal say?"

"Well, the principal scolded me as usual. I tried coming up with excuses, but she didn't buy it. Also, I can't possibly reveal mine and Rey's identity. The principal might think I'm crazy or something."

Being expelled was a big problem and Shinn had no idea how to solve it. It was one of the worst things that ever happened to him as a mortal. Suspension wasn't scary. He didn't even find it boring since you can do whatever you want when you're suspended for a day, 3 days, or maybe a week. But your grades would be shaky and you would be under provision. Now, he was expelled and disregarded by the school because of one trouble. He can't blame anyone but Rey.

Meanwhile, Cagalli thought of talking to the principal about Shinn's expulsion. Since she was pretty close to the principal, she had confidence on making the principal reconsider her decision. "I'm gonna help you out, Shinn. I can't let this thing fly by without any fight," she said, clenching her left fist in excitement.

"I don't think it's such a good idea. The principal made it clear that I'm expelled."

"Don't worry… I'm going to take care of things for you."

"Thanks Cagalli," he said happily. "I'm so lucky to have a friend like you. I wish all girls are like you." He plastered a smile on his face.

"We're friends, remember? Uh, don't tell me you forgot?!" Cagalli began lecturing him about how important friendship is. She even told him that it's one of the most important things in the world.

Surprised to see Cagalli talked like that, Shinn pulled a nagging-looking face and started yawning. "Are you done yet? I'm dying of boredom here." His voice sounded lazy and crude.

"You're picking a fight with me again," she grumbled. "I'm talking here and you're saying that my sermon is boring!" She turned away and crossed her arms. "This is too much!" She pretended to look pissed off.

Shinn had always thought she looked cute when Cagalli was pissed off. The charming looks on her face, with her eyebrows furrowed, made her look like a little spoiled girl. And he would give anything just to stare at her expression. It would almost seem like a habit to tease Cagalli and watch her facial expression every time. Evidently, the things about her were a wonder to Shinn. Surely he never met another girl like Cagalli. The best friend of his life, a goddess who once lived in Asgard, was now a mortal living on earth.

He let out a small laugh as he patted Cagalli's head. "Hey, sorry about that," he said jokingly.

Cagalli quickly brushed his hand away and glared at him. "Stop treating me like a little kitten, Shinn. I mean it," she warned him as she turned around. "We could talk more comfortably in the living room." She had a sad face. The expulsion thing was really disturbing and it was totally disrupting her mind. Despite Shinn's thinking of boredom, her mind was still conducting an excuse to say to the principal.

She went to the living room and Shinn followed her. Both of them sat down on the soft leather couches that made little squeaky sounds when someone sits on them. The large carpet, with a simple cherry blossom tree design, lay contentedly on the floor. The small coffee table stood in the center of the room, with a flower vase and teacups on it.

Stretching, Shinn let out a deep sigh of frustration. "Damn, I got into such a mess because of Heimdall. I bet Odin ordered him to do it," he groused, hands rolling into face. Then he let out a gloomy sigh. "Cagalli, do you remember Heimdall?" He faced Cagalli sincerely as he anxiously waited for her answer.

"Heimdall is your mortal enemy. I can never forget a guy like him," she scampered, looking fierce. She even remembered the time she got kidnapped by Heimdall so he could use her to get Shinn. "Heimdall keeps blaming you about his missing eye. What's up with that?"

Hearing about Heimdall's eye sent shivers to Shinn's spine… well, probably his whole body. The first time he met Heimdall in the realm of the humans was hectic. In addition to that, Shinn had nothing to do with Heimdall's missing eye and Heimdall was beginning to annoy him when he kept demanding for his right eye. Heimdall, as in Rey Za Burrel, is one of the few gods that are skillful in both fighting and casting of powers. If it weren't for Odin's selfish need, Rey wouldn't have gone into the human world to fight Shinn. The watchman of the gods was no more than an observer, a guardian, and a helper.

"Heimdall had served the gods for as long as I could remember. He was a loyal follower who never ceased to amaze Odin. I have to admit he was popular with girls back in Asgard and I was a little jealous of him," said Shinn, letting out a hint of frustration. He fixed his eyes on the floor as he pasted one pleased smile on his face. "But you know what…"

"What?" Cagalli paraphrased, wondering about his unusual smile.

"We were good friends before," replied Shinn, eyes shifting towards Cagalli.

Cagalli grew appalled as her eyes widened. She stood in silence as she stared at Shinn disbelievingly.

Meer's Room

The cassette was in maximum volume and it was playing Meer's favorite song, Quiet Night Remix, was being played. Hugging her pillow, Meer rolled around her bed as she sang the lyrics of her song. She then stood and jumped up and down until she lost her balance and fell butt first on the bed. But she didn't stop singing.

"In this quiet night, I'm waiting for you!" she sang beautifully, raising her right hand as if she was reaching for something. In her mind, she thought about Athrun, the man she admired for quite some time. "I'm dreaming of you, my dear sweet Athrun!" She recited out loud and lay down.

Despite the loud music, she was able to hear a knock on the door. She rose up and jumped out of bed. "Lacus, is that you?" She asked, sounding irritated.

"Yes, it is me. May I come in, sister?" Lacus replied very politely, holding onto the door knob.

"Come in!"

"Oh, thanks so much."

Lacus entered the room and approached Meer timidly. "I am very sorry to disturb you." Unfortunately, her voice was so small that even Meer couldn't hear.

Meer turned off the cassette with the remote control and placed it back correctly. "Whatever! Anyway, what is it that you want?!" Talking rudely as ever, Meer crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"I was wondering if we could talk about a guy," Lacus said, drawing herself back.

"A guy?!" uttered Meer with emphasis. "Did you just say guy? I mean… Are you sure? Who's the guy? Is he from our school? Are you in love with him?" Clearly she was excited.

"I don't know if you can call this love, but all I can say is that I have a crush on him," Lacus answered, her cheeks flushing red. "His name is Kira Yamato."

"Isn't he the guy who's friends with Athrun right now?"

Lacus nodded slowly.

"Oh my gosh, Lacus!" Meer shouted at the top of her lungs. "Kira Yamato is one hot guy! You sure have a good taste, dear sister." She clasped both of Lacus' hands.

"Do you really think so?"

Meer raised an eyebrow at her. "Do you doubt your own sister? Oh, how rude!" She snubbed, releasing Lacus' hands and turning her head away.

"No, I never doubt you. It's just that I'm pleased with what you said." Lacus considered her sister's statement as a compliment. She had never fallen in love with anyone before until she met Kira. "I admire Kira so much and I want to be with him. Meer, how can I get close to a guy?" She wasn't like her sister who was very always clinging to boys like Athrun. Heck, she wasn't even the aggressive type, though, she wished to be one.

"What's this? My naïve identical twin is asking me for some advice?" Meer sarcastically said, flipping her long pink hair.

"Please Meer… I beg of you."

"If I help you with this Kira-guy," Meer shifted her gaze at Lacus, "will you help me with Athrun?" She sounded serious.

"I thought you can take care of Athrun yourself."

Narrowing her eyes, Meer said, "It would be a piece of cake if it weren't for Athha. She always nabs Athrun away from me." She sat down on her soft bed and grabbed a pillow. "Athha just wants to keep my darling Athrun all to herself. She's so annoying!" Imagining she was strangling Cagalli, she squeezed the living daylights out of her pillow.

"I don't think Cagalli-san is annoying. She's a very nice girl," Lacus said, recalling the time Cagalli complimented her voice.

"You think she's nice?!" Meer retorted, throwing the pillow at Lacus.

"Ah, please don't do that," Lacus politely said, despite of her sister's discourtesy. "I was just telling you the truth."

"But Athha is taking Athrun away from me!"

"Is Zala-kun yours in the first place?" Lacus calmly asked, sitting down on the bed.

"Well… I… You see…" Meer couldn't answer her because Lacus had a point. Athrun was not her boyfriend and not even her friend. She was just a guy she loved so much that she was willing to do anything to win his heart—even if it means eliminating the competition. "Athrun is not mine, but I'll make him mine soon," she said confidently.

"I really admire your great determination sometimes," Lacus said, placing a hand on Meer's shoulder, "but please think before you act. You can win Zala-kun without getting rid of Cagalli-san."

"As if that's an easy job," Meer snorted. "Athrun told me that Athha was his girlfriend. I don't wanna believe it, but I think it's true." She bit her lip as she trembled in anger.

"Then let him go…"

"I can't do that!"

"But Zala-kun has a girlfriend."

"I don't care. I love him and I want him. I know you understand my feelings."

"Yes, I do… Well, that's because we are in a similar situation."

Meer's lips curled into a grin. "Glad you know that, my sister. Now then…" She brushed her hand through Lacus' soft wavy pink hair. "Let's think of a plan to remove Cagalli Yula Athha out of the picture."

"No, don't. Please stop thinking like that." Lacus felt a little intimidated.

"If you're not gonna help me, then fine!" Meer bolted out of bed and stood in front of her full-length mirror. "Maybe I should just flirt with Kira Yamato instead," she stated.

"Oh my, are you serious?"

"I'm not the type to joke around, sister." She twirled and twirled, admiring her reflection on the mirror, as she hummed a tune.

"Meer, please don't… Kira is…"

"Yours? Hmph, I thought so. You're beginning to think like me. Hmm… that's good." Meer stopped and faced her sister with a smirk.

Lacus put a lot of thought, though her good conscience kept telling her to back off. Still, her heart was dominating her as it yelled out Kira's name in every beat. Normally, she would decide on something and then pull through in the end. But she wondered if she could apply it on her situation.

To be continued…

JC: Shinn and Rey were good friends before. Heimdall's mystery right eye hasn't been revealed yet. Lacus has to decide whether to help Meer or not.