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Dedications in alphabetical order: a reader, Byron Lancaster, CagsZala, Dhevz, UnderProtection

Chapter 6

"Do you, Athrun Zala, take this woman to be your wedded wife, in sickness and in health, for better or for worst, till death do you part?"

"I do," Athrun said in a loud firm voice.

"And do you, Cagalli Yula Athha, take this man to be your wedded husband, in sickness and in health, for better or for worst, till death do you part?"

"I do," Cagalli clearly replied.

"If there are any objections to the union of this couple, please speak now or forever hold your piece."

"Yes, I object!" the silence was broken when a woman's loud frilly voice echoed through the high ceilings of the cathedral.

Everyone gasped in horror. They wondered who had the guts to actually crash the wedding of the head representative of Orb to the very high ranking admiral official.

Turning their heads to where the voice came from, they saw a hot pink colored hair woman wearing a knee length peach dress with a cream cardigan and a pearl necklace. She was holding on to a gun. Raising it up and taking aim, she pulled the trigger.

Within a second, the terrified screams of the guests filled the cathedral. Everything was blurring for Ashley. She couldn't believe what just happened. Following the direction where the gun was aimed at, grief and anger took over her as she saw her father, clutching the wound on his chest where the bullet passed through, his once white suit now became crimson. Her mother was standing very still behind him, clearly in the state of shock.

"No!" Ashley shouted as she jolted upright. Tears were streaming down her pale face as she panted. Glancing at her surroundings, she realised she was in bed, at her apartment. Relief quickly flooded her as she told herself, "It's alright Ashley. It's just a nightmare. Everything is fine." Wiping the sweat of her face, she looked towards the digital clock on the bedside table. It said 6.56 am. It was 4 minutes away from the time she had to wake up. Slipping on the green fury house slippers, she walked towards the toilet. She had to wash up and get ready. She was meeting Athrun and Cagalli today. Looking at her reflection in the mirror, she wondered why she was still here. Her parents are now back together. She had accomplished her mission hadn't she? She thought about her nightmare, could it be the reason why she was still here? No, as much as she disliked Meyrin, Ashley knew that she was a nice girl and that she will not do anything bad. She then wondered about her mother. How long can she keep her secret from her? Going into the shower, Ashley relaxed as the hot water unknotted her tight muscles.

… …

Athrun and Ashley were now in the Orb mansion. Cagalli had insisted on making lunch; she had suddenly developed an interest for cooking. It was Cagalli's first time and Athrun would be her guinea pig while Ashley would be her assistant.

Heading towards the east wing kitchen, Athrun whispered to Ashley, "Is she any good at this?"

"Well, her cooking did improve over the years," Ashley said matter-of-factly.

Athrun gulped, his future with Cagalli doesn't seem so bright anymore.

Staring at her father's scared face, Ashley laughed. "Her cooking is not that bad! Umm…Unique would be a good word for it." Cagalli did have a unique taste for food. Looking back at the old times, Ashley actually missed her mother's cooking, those oddly tasting curry… those spicy chocolate deserts… Cagalli had a knack for combining different ingredients, resulting in a very unusual concoction.

The luxurious maple kitchen was beyond amazing. It had a breathtaking view, over looking the east wing garden. Cagalli was over by the smooth granite counters, holding a fish by its tail, debating what to do with it.

"Umm… are you sure about this Cagalli?" said Athrun in a worried tone.

"Of course I'm sure!" Cagalli snapped back. "Lacus taught me how to cook this last month!"

One month was an awfully long time, fearing for his life, he turned to Ashley and whispered, "Please tell me you can do some damage control!"

"This is my first time too… Don't worry! I'm sure it'll be… errr, edible," Ashley replied ruefully, feeling sorry for her father.

Wasting no time, the two blondes got started. Athrun was at the far end of the kitchen, leaning on the glass wall, a smirk was plastered on his face. It was amusing to watch them when he did not think about what lied ahead for him. Anyone could tell that that the blondes were clearly not meant to be in the kitchen. Any interaction between them and the kitchen would result in disastrous consequences.

"Ok, let me see… Lacus told me that I have to season the fish first. Right. So let's add in some salt and pepper!"

After what seemed like ages to Athrun, Cagalli and Ashley managed to season the fish. Rummaging through the kitchen cabinets, Cagalli took out a frying pan. Pointing to the wok, Ashley suggested, "Can we use that giant black bowl with a handle instead? It looks safer."

Picking the fish up by its tail, as if it would come back to life and bite, Ashley dropped it into the wok. "It doesn't seem to be cooking," Ashley pointed out.

"That's because we forgot to turn on the stove!" Cagalli exclaimed as if she suddenly made a fine discovery.

"You two forgot about the oil too," Athrun interrupted as he covered his mouth in an attempt to stop himself from laughing, but he failed miserably.

Deciding to deal with him later, Cagalli ignored him. Loud sizzling noises and smoke were coming from the wok. Being scared of it, Ashley stood a metre away from the stove, only stretching her hands out to tip some oil into the wok. In her haste to get it over and done with, Ashley miscalculated and poured oil directly into the stove.

Suddenly, the whole stove was engulfed in flames. Screaming, the two blondes jumped back, hugging each other in fright. It was only then that the sprinklers were activated, drenching the entire kitchen.

The kitchen was ruined and so was the fish. The fish was hardly recognisable; it looked like a flattened elephant dropping.

In the end, the family of three went to the west wing kitchen and made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Sitting down by the swan lake under the willow tree in the west wing garden, the trio looked into the sunset; all the colours were so beautiful, yellow, orange, pink and finally purple. They enjoyed the warmth of the sunset together, just like how a real family would.

… …

Many months later…

Cagalli was at the orphanage kitchen pouring some tea from the porcelain pot. Everyone was staying there for the weekend. The girls were out in the garden playing with the children while the guys were out buying dinner. As she rubbed her large pregnant belly that hung like sack of potatoes, she noticed some quick movements around her. Before she knew it, everything went black…

To be continued…

Ok. I thought it'll be fun to see what happens if Cagalli and Ashley were to cook. I have no idea how the wedding vows are like so I roughly wrote one based on the movies I saw. I hope I'm not too far off from the actual one. I am planning to write an actual wedding scene between Athrun and Cagalli for this story but it'll be in the next chapter. I'll see how I can fit it in first. What happened during the months will also be explained in the next chapter. I wanted to write it here but I think putting it in the next chapter will be better. I'll be updating again hopefully in a week's time. Thanks for taking the time out to read and review!