CHAPTER 3: The Meeting

With Athrun and Cagalli

Cagalli and Athrun went behind one of the tents and made sure that no one was looking before being their conversation.

"What's wrong Cagalli? Why are you saying that I'm the problem?" Athrun asked

"That girl, she's the enemy, so why are you treating her so nicely!" Cagalli was fuming.

"Well, we're not sure of her true identity yet, so at the meantime, we cannot treat her too harshly. Why are you asking me this? Are you trying to tell me that you're jealous?" Athrun joked

"Oh shut up! It's not that! By the way, what do you mean by saying that we cannot treat her too harshly?"

"Since those Iga ninjas are heading back to their village from Euphoria (a neutral village), we'll never know if she's a civilian of that town. If we mistreat her and she belongs to that town, the people living there may break off ties with our village or even make us their enemy. The situation will be worst if they join forces with the Iga tribe." Athrun explained seriously.

Cagalli calmed herself down and nodded her head in understanding "I see, so what're we suppose to do with her?"

"Well, that's up to Mwu sensei, since he's the leader here"

Cagalli smiled, closing her eyes "You better learn how to command people, little prince, or when your mum retire, you're going to lead our tribe into a lot of trouble"

Athrun looks away from Cagalli "Maybe you're right, but you know that I'm the worst when it comes to such things"

At the base of the Waterfall

Lacus cannot help but keeps on looking at the boy near her. Although she has seen handsome boys approaching her for a date back in her own village, she felt something different about this boy. His presence near her gave her a kind of warmth which until then, she only knew of one man who could give her such a feeling, her father. She had never come across another person of the opposite sex that gave her such warmth.

The boy closed his eyes as the gentle night breeze blew against his face and lay down onto the ground behind him. He seems to be enjoying the night view. He opened his eyes again and noticed the pink-haired girl staring at him. The boy sat up without keeping his eyes off her, wondering why she was looking at him. Lacus blushed and quickly turned her attention to the water. The boy stood up and went towards her.

"May I?" He asked gently, looking down at her.

"Err … Sure" Lacus replied looking into his eyes.

He sat down about 30cm away from her and looked up into the sky again.

"The sky's really beautiful tonight" He said

Lacus looked into the sky and nodded. The sky was indeed beautiful, and one of the most beautiful skies she had ever seen. The boy looked down into the water before he said anything.

"There are some people in this world that will never get a chance to see the sky like this"

Lacus looked at him and saw that he's feeling sad. At that time, he began talking to her.

"If only there aren't any wars like this, where people of all tribes can see the world without the fear of being attacked or harmed, the later generations would not have to witness blood-shed anymore"

Lacus continued looking at his sad face. This was the first time she had ever seen someone who shared the same view as her about the war. People in her village find peace something difficult to accept as long as the Kouga tribe continued to exist. No matter how many times she told her people that war would end the conflict between both tribes, the people would disagree with her ideals. Maybe it's because her father had a strong influence on the people and he hated the Kouga tribe more than anything else in the world. He would always tell her that as long as Kouga tribe remains, there will be no room for peace, so they are something that must be eliminated from the face of the Earth. She was broken out of her thoughts when the boy looked up at her, smiling.

"Why are you treating me so nicely?" She asked without thinking "You don't even know if I'm part of the Iga tribe"

"No matter you're part of the Iga tribe or not, I hated the idea of fighting. Besides, I can tell that you're an innocent person who's not directly involved in the wars."

"What makes you think so?"

"By your looks, you never held a weapon in your life, did you?"

Lacus was stunned by that question. As a princess, her father never allowed her to fight for her village, despite the fact that the rules state women have to learn the ways of a ninja. She simply nodded and looked back into the water.

"Kira!"

A voice from the camp interrupted their conversation. It was Athrun signaling to him.

"Sorry but I've to go, duty calls" Kira said as he stood up.

"I'm Lacus, its nice talking to you Kira" She replied with a smile.

Kira smiled back and went back to the camp, leaving Lacus at the base of the waterfall, staring up into the beautiful starry sky.

More previews please! Many thanks to those who sent me previews for the past 2 chapters!