Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Seed or Gundam Seed Destiny, but I do own Erin, Riven and Aetos and Llana as well.
A/N: Sorry for the long chapter, but it can't be helped… have fun…
When the clock struck half past 1:00, Erin prowled into the night and made her way to the basement fortress, temporarily abandoned for the celebrations. Erin searched for a vehicle she can use to escape and found an old Earth Forces Sky Grasper newly restored in the hanger. But just when Erin was about to start the engines the lights in the hanger turned on. Erin's heart began to beat fast, she thought she was going to get caught by the palace guards, but then again when her eyes refocused she saw Riven standing beside another Zaft soldier.
"I knew you'd try to get away without me," said Riven instead of a hello.
"Haha very funny," Erin replied with a scoff, "And by the way, you two aren't supposed to be here, this is an official Morganroete base, Zaft soldiers can't enter this place."
"Really?" was Riven's only answer, starting another starting contest with Erin.
"Fine! You got me already, but who's he?"
"This, Erin, is Aetos Cromwell" Riven replied to Erin demanding question. Erin turned her focus to the other soldier. She couldn't help but blush once her eyes fell on Aetos sharp stare, once she realized it was her she was looking at. He was tall, with the common coordinator built, but there was something in his gray eyes that flashed at her.
"Why don't you come down from there princess?" Aetos shouted at her as he reached out his hand to guide her down the aircraft, which Erin of course, took very demurely.
"Thank you," was all she managed to say, and then she turned back to Riven, "So you're not stopping me right?"
"Nope, for the nth time, nope. And I am also saying that we can get away more silently by using another aircraft, one that's not as conspicuous as the legendary sky grasper your mother used in the war."
"You mean this one?" Erin asked very much bewildered, "But I thought that crashed in an island near Gibraltar?"
"Yes it did, princess," Aetos answered her, seeing that Riven was not in the loop on this one assignment he had. "The chairman had had it collected and restored; I came to deliver it just now, when I came across my old friend here who apparently took down the people who were supposed to receive it from me."
"Oh, I see."
Once the three stopped arguing, they snuck out of the palace using an underground route that Erin found when she was a young girl. They made their way to the nearby beach where they got a small passenger plane. As Riven had suggested, it would be a lot easier to leave the country if they'll leave the palace first.
"So where do you want to go first princess?" Aetos asked since he was flying the plane.
"To the Arabian Desert, there's a little town there which I'd like to visit." Erin replied immediately, as she fiddled with her laptop.
"To the east then princess."
After a few minutes of silence between them, Erin felt uncomfortable. Upon noticing that Riven was nowhere to be found, Erin felt that it'd be better if she'd go in and look for him, in the very small plane.
"Hey Riven," she greeted once she found him seating alone in the back row.
"What? Do you need anything?" was his immediate reply, but he did not even turn to face her.
"Well for starters, I'd like to say thank you. I know I'm not exactly the easiest person to get along with and well you're doing great with me; I just don't know why."
"Are you thanking me, or are you interrogating me?" Riven asked when he finally turned and faced her.
"Both actually."
"Just don't ask okay. Leave me alone for a while, I'm not in the mood for your mood swings." And with that he shoved her off and with that she stormed back into the cockpit and into her seat.
"He dismissed you like a jerk didn't he?" were Aetos' first words to her.
"Yeah he did." She replied a bit more calmly.
"Don't take it personally. Riven gets these mood swings every now and then, usually when he's fighting with his father."
"And he tells me I have swings!" Erin scoffed at Riven weirdness making Aetos laugh a bit at her, "Why? What's so funny?"
"I don't know, but I just get this weird feeling that Riven's about to do something he'll regret."
A few more hours later, they all arrived in a village in the desert. There they hid their plane, got some new clothes, and went out to go to Tasel to seek out a man named Kisaka.
"Out of pure curiosity," Aetos began and waited for Erin's attention and then continued, "who's this guy were going to?"
"He's Adm. Leondonil Kisaka, he was for the longest time my mother's body guard, so if she did anything he'd know about it more or less."
When they found Kisaka's place, they knocked on the door and was received by him with two respectful bows and a salute to Aetos. Once they were inside the sitting area, and were served tea by Kisaka's daughter, they began their conversation.
"Princess, I can't help but feel that your visit would have something to do with the identity of your father." Kisaka took Erin by surprise; she did not expect him to be so direct.
"Uhm… yeah. I do want to know who he is; so can you tell me or not?"
"I can't," Kisaka replied but continued immediately when he saw that outrage was about to surface in Erin's face. He turned to Riven for a while whom he saw kept a stoic face in the midst of it all. "As you may have read, princess, I was already retired around the time that you were born; and was therefore no longer privy to your mother's personal life."
"I see then. But can't you at least give me a name? Any name that may lead me somewhere." Erin pleaded.
Kisaka remained silently for a while and kept his stare at the symbol of Haomeiah.
"There was one man, princess, I could think of," he paused to give Riven a reassuring look before continuing, "during the war, I remember your mother meeting someone and she gave him her Haomeiah amulet, but that is all that I can tell you."
"Thank you." Was all that Erin could manage to say, she was relieved that the visit wasn't at all useless after all.
After saying good-bye to Kisaka, the trio left and went to a small bar in the center of town to rest a while before going back to the plane.
"So where do you plan on going next princess?" Aetos inquired, seeing as he was the one who'd fly them there, he wanted to know how much fuel they'll need.
"I don't know really," it finally sunk into her how inconclusive Kisaka's statements were. "Damn! He didn't even say what kind of soldier he was."
"Look at it this way Erin," Riven finally broke his silence, "you've got two clues already. One, he was in with the Three-Ship- Alliance, and two, he'd have an amulet, which isn't exactly a cool fashion accessory is it."
"Yeah, you're right about that. So now I have to search for all the photographs available." Erin was back in with her usual energy and was about to rush out of the tavern when something caught Aetos' attention.
"Hey guys look at that picture." And they saw a photograph of a bunch of freedom fighters hanging on the wall. "Excuse me sir, but could you please tell us something about that photograph," Aetos inquired to the bar tender while the other two followed suit.
"Why of course young man!" replied the old bartender with much excitement, "I'd be more than glad to brag about the Desert Dawn."
"Dawn?"
"Yes, the Desert Dawn," repeated the old man, "I'd be so proud to tell you that in this picture," he continued as he removed it from its place to point to the young teenager sitting on the hood of the jeep, "is the Goddess of victory herself, the great Lady Cagalli Eula Attha of Orb."
" Lady Cagalli?" Erin replied quite startled. She never expected that she'd meet the people her mother fought with in the resistance.
"Yup, Lady Cagalli. She surely had us all fooled. We didn't know that our feisty goddess was in fact a princess! Oh yeah, she fought many battles with us. She even helped bring down the desert tiger, Andrew Waltdfeld.; but of course we couldn't have done it with the Archangel and the Strike's help."
"Wow, you really know Lady Cagalli." Said Riven looking amused, "And Andy Waltdfeld too huh."
"Oh yes m'boy, I did. Since you know I was part of that resistance, I'm pretty lucky to survive long enough yah know."
"Mister," Erin began, "while Lady Cagalli was here, did she have a red amulet with her or did she give it to someone by any chance?"
"Oh you mean her Haomeiah amulet," after an approving nod, "She'd never let that thing leave her neck, it was given to her by her father I believe."
"Oh, thanks."
"By the way, you're eyes young man," said the bartender as he pointed to Riven.
"What about them?" Riven replied a bit defensively.
"They burn like hers."
"Do they. Really?" he replied as he pretended to humor the man.
By the time they realized it, it was already nightfall so the three of them decided to stay in Tasel till morning.
That night, Riven had one of his moods again and left the two alone. Aetos and Erin decided to do a bit of sight seeing while they were there and rented some horses, since they were more manageable than camels, and did a bit of riding under the desert sky.
"It never once came across my mind that I'd be here riding in the desert." Aetos said out of the blue.
"Why is that?"
"I just never thought I'd really leave outer space that's all, but then here I am being dragged along by Riven to the ends of the earth."
"How long have you two been close?" Erin inquired.
"Long enough to know a few things about him."
"Nice answer," Erin couldn't help but be annoyed with the ambiguity of Aetos' answer, "So can you tell me why he has so many issues with his father?"
"Well, let's just say it's the same as why you have so many issues with your mother."
"Uhuh," Erin gave him another death glare, which amused Aetos rather than frighten him. "What about you?"
"What about me?"
"Tell me anything, how about your whole name for starters."
"Okay, My name is Aetos Joule- Cromwell."
"I knew there'd be something in between, so how are you related to Yzak Joule?"
"He's a far off relation, same natural parentage that's all."
"What else?"
"What else? Hmm… let's see, I beat Riven for the top rank when we graduated from the academy. And well, I'm also Llana Joule's cousin."
"Llana who?"
"I guess Riven hasn't mentioned her to you yet. Llana's Riven's girlfriend, she's also in the forces like us, but is assigned in Gibraltar."
"I see." Erin couldn't really tell, but Aetos saw the shock in her face, which gave him a very bad feeling.
Upon returning to their inn, Erin and Aetos parted in the hallway, and he made his way to his and Riven's room, where he found his best friend in the foulest of moods.
"If I were you, I wouldn't lead her on," was his 'hello'.
"I'm not doing anything; and speak for yourself, you haven't even told her you had a girlfriend already."
"What does Llana have to with this?" Aetos could see it, Riven was too angry for his own good.
"Calm down Riven! What's wrong with you anyway? Why are you acting so strangely?"
"What do you mean by strange?"
"Oh, I saw everything there back at the admirals house. You are hiding something." The two were already at arms length from each other and were ready to fight when Riven caved, saying:
"Yeah, I am hiding something. But after I tell you this, it'd be imperative that you keep away from Erin."
"How dark is this secret?"