*cough*
SORRY!
Life is crazy hectic with school, sports, music and I'm taking an ASL class ahhh, so much going on!
But anyhoo, replies to my dear readers!
-Azettafan- Awwww! (wow, you have some serious issues with badluck- what did you do for this karma?) I hope your foot gets better and that you can avoid more trip-able items in the future, kay? And yeahhh, sorry to disappoint you with one chapter =P and heeya, I updated! =)
-Cagallifan- Whaaaa? Why is it always only me... *shakes head* oooh well... I blame Athrun, his inner dark and evil persona inspired. Perhaps one day i'll write a fanfic about the true wicked/hot/evilness of Athrun Zala "Why the Dark side's cookies are burnt"...then again... maybe not ;) And yup, you hit my story ending on the head. Realistic but not too depressing.
-Nanasarina - awwww, thank you! I hope that when my fanfiction is finished it will have lived up to your expectations or possibly beyond! (well, I can hope, lol =) And thx for the 'new characters' comment- things like that always make my day. thankyouu =)
-Mrs. Zala- nyah, I've already replied to you, lol, Thanks a ton again for everything that you said! It all hit me right here *thumps heart* Thanks!
-Sake hime- Angst,,, aawwww, one of my favorite feelings to invoke (does that make me an evil person...aw crap) and all will be revealed...sooner or later...
-WritingKnightmare- awww, *feels proud* I made the cold evil WritingKnightmare (jkjkjk lol =P ) wear a goofy smile? (Mission accomplished- boo yah!) lol. And hahahahhahaha I cracked up so hard after reading the 'bow chicka wow wow' comment, i just sat there and re-read it and re-read it laughing! Some things strike me so fuuunny, lol. I love Mr. and Mrs. Smith! (EPIC!) and what the poodles is kid Icarus? O.o =) Thank you! And tell Meaiay I say Hiiiii!
-esp- lol, hahaha, i'm glad I made your month! ^_^ and yes! Another Kitalla lover! (idk,, lol) Yay, hahaha, I love hearing that kind of responce to my outside characters and stuff, I feel like a parent, lol... And guess what! Next chapter (probably) it will be all about Kitalla's past which is something i've been sorta dying to write... Anyhoo, thanks!
-phryigianmusic777- ooh goshums, i'm going to sob my wee little heart out... all these responces about Kitalla is just overkill for me and Kitalla's past is gonna be revealed next chapter =)! and her love live (well, most likly). I'm just worried that Asucaga fans are going to murder me for all the attention i'm gonna give Kitalla in her chapter... lol... (it's important! don't hurt me! ) lol! And i'm sorry =( so much work going on but here's your update =)
-XxWeixX- I could just pm you but oh wells ^_^ Lol, 'first guess vampire' hahahahahhaa, I love that lol! I should make a blooper fanfiction with that! *steals idea* And yes! Kitalla snaps! Which is worse, her bark or her bite? eh?
Thanks everyone for waiting for this update and reviewing for the last one! =) THANKYOU!
And lastly before I begin i must shower my recently recruited Beta, the awesome XxWeixX, for braving horrors unknown to help me fix up this chapter so that it may be presentable to the reader's eyes (ya know, with out burning your eyes out =P lol). Gracias, XxWeixX, =)
*disclaimer: I do not own Gundamseed
Okay, now it's time for me to shut up so you guys can enjoy! =)
ENJOY!
Chapter 15
OOOO
Aboard the Harmony
I was in a labyrinth, running for my life. My shoes made painful, slapping sounds as I ran through puddles across the poorly cement ground. The stone walls were slick with wet mold and the only thing that lighted my way was the flickering light bulbs above. It was a vivid scene right out of a mental asylum horror flick, and I was the heroine who had put everything together- just a moment too late.
What was chasing me? I didn't know. I just knew that getting caught didn't seem preferable.
I kept taking turns, but they all seemed to lead to dead ends. Decisions, decisions. Left, right or straight. Which were the right paths?
At every criss-cross, turn and end questions flickered through my mind. Was I making the right choices?
If I stopped and let whatever that was chasing me to catch me... that would be the end right?
And if I went left, I would return to ORB, only to live a life as a ruler, as a princess. But nevertruly happy.
My head swayed as the thought hit me as I was standing at an intersection. My heart was drumming in my ears and I turned, and looked left.
An image caught me.
It was a blonde-haired woman with purple eyes tending to her children. Her blue-haired husband stood behind her looking delighted, as if in that snap-shot moment, he alone held a piece of heaven. But the woman, it was her face, her familiar face, that caught my eye after pausing to stare at the all so familiar husband.
Her weary eyes, her teeth worrying into her bottom lip and the strained stiffness of her shoulders. She was guilty, worried, sad.
Her purple eyes were so sad with tears she knew she could never shed for a country she would never return to see...
"Oh!" I cried, pulling away from the image. The image that had caught me in it's web. I wanted it. I wanted that secret piece of heaven, I wanted Him at my side- always. I knew that. The image had told me so.
But the woman's face… so stressed… She was living a lie -was it to be my own?
I looked straight ahead at the path ahead of me. I could hear snarls and growls echoing behind, and my pulse was racing.
Straight ahead was a path. Huge, ugly holes were scattered in the walls, the lights hung limply from the ceiling and it would get darker and darker the farther I go on. It was pitch black. A world of unknown where every step could be your last.
One simple choice. Stay. Right. Left. Forward.
For a moment I was hit- frozen. I wanted the best of both worlds. I wanted Athrun and all the goodness and joy I had experienced in PLANT, and I wanted ORB too. But how can that be possible? I couldn't choose to rule a nation that mainly consisted of Naturals, and a quarter of it Coordinators, and simply wish that my executor, "Athrun Zala" to jump aboard the hippy wagon with me. I was being selfish, so self-centered. Expecting the world to revolve around me.
But… I stared at the path, straining to see what lay ahead.
But if there was a way. A thin way to walk both worlds…
It was a leap of faith for something I wanted so badly. I was a disgusting person, not fair and reasonable at all. All I wanted was to be happy and for my loved ones, my nation to be happy…the world to be happy.
Can I ask for that much? Is it even fair?
Things were coming from behind and I shook my head and narrowed my eyes, determined.
It was a simple choice. One that could end in disaster or perfection through many different ways.
But only one way would it end happily.
Was it too much to ask? Did I even have the right to?
Did I have the strength to?
The footsteps behind me were drawing closer and closer, matching the hammering beats of my heart.
RUN! My brain screamed.
So I did.
OOOOOO
"What the hell is this?" I shrieked at an odd piece of cutlery during breakfast in the cafeteria.
"I believe it is called a Spork- and it's not a new invention." Gini, one of the green coats aboard the Harmony told me helpfully.
I bent it slightly between my fingers and then let it go with a ' twang!', unintentionally catapulting the bits of food it contained at Kitalla.
The Captain, who hadn't been paying attention up until that moment, closed her eyes slowly, and lifted her head from the reports she was viewing.
"Oops…Sorry." I winced, though I was slightly admiring my 'spork's' handiwork. I had quite efficiently sprayed Kitalla in syrupy bits of oatmeal.
Grimacing but seeming to taking it calmly, Kitalla wiped her face with a napkin, somewhat ominously. Her glittering golden eyes glared at me for a moment before she returned to her reading. I sighed, feeling slightly disappointed that she hadn't said something back.
As each hour passed in the following days after Kira had left, I began to regret my decision. I was on my own in a strange ship with only a friend of Kira's to stick by for back-up.
Not that the crew wasn't nice, for they were very much indeed. Polite and friendly.
Yet the small conversations I had exchanged with them and Yuna didn't fill up my whole day, and that left hours upon hours of time to wishful thinking, and that's when I would become slightly uncertain.
I would think about Athrun and ORB. The current situation breeding between ZAFT and the EA. Wondering when ORB would get physically involved in a pointless war. Wondering if my return would even do any good at all. Would I serve- as I hoped- as a sign of hope and peace or just add more fuel into the fire.
Athrun was the more painful subject to think about- a thorn in my heart that throbbed with each beat. I prayed that once I became a public figure again, he wouldn't recognize me.
Wouldn't recognize that familiar blonde at the podium without her purple contacts.
It was either my country or Athrun, and that had been my choice. In the end, I choose my country. That was rather obvious and I told myself every day that it was the correct option to take.
But right or wrong doesn't matter much to the human heart, and mine was set on thinking longingly of a different day in a different cafeteria. Exchanging laughs, jokes and sometimes meals with a bluenette Coordinator. He was… there… Somehow, through all my years of being alone in ZAFT, a few moments of leaning on someone's shoulder showed me how much I missed contact with people.
And he had been there for me. Despite his own circumstances and how much that was between us- even if I was a Coordinator, relationships of any sort aren't exactly encouraged between a mere orphan girl and the son of the Supreme Chairman.
Well, just thinking about him had evolved into this- a steady flood of precious memories I had sown into the walls of my hearts. Times I would probably never forget.
When I was sick, crying, hurt, afraid, lonely… he had been there. Like a steady support in my life, holding me up by provoking me, annoying me, making me smile, laugh or simply wrapping his arm around my shoulder; shedding warmth, comfort and heart-fluttering gentleness.
"Daaaamn." I literally wept into my food, feeling my eyes grow slightly wet. This is what happens when I started thinking about Athrun since we had gotten separated. It unnerved me to realize I feel so deeply for someone I had met only a while ago. That I could…love…
Maybe it was better off that Athrun thought I was dead- this way, the hurt of betrayal would...
I would never want to be the reason for Athrun's eyes to grow wide, struck frozen in shock and pain.
And it scared me to think that I actually wanted to mean enough to cause that pain, even though it was clearly wrong in so many ways.
"I hate you," I moaned for the millionth time, my words directed at Athrun and myself.
"Thanks," Kitalla said as she walked by, mistaking my words to be meant for her. "That's the nicest thing you've said to me since I saved your butt."
I sighed, rolling my eyes. Like always, a simple word from Kitalla always threw everything into the fire and completely broke my grim train of thought.
Walking out of the cafeteria, Yuna trailing me like a puppy dog, stumbling at my heels. Despite that, I still couldn't help but marvel at the feelings I felt burning for Athrun. How, in a couple days, did he manage to waltz into my heart and captivate my thoughts?
It couldn't mean...that…that I…
Way to go, Sherlock. Can we say: 'took you long enough?'. A snide voice that resembled my conscious provided the decent commentary.
Oh damn.
Come on, connect the freaking dots already, as any other part of your brain, excluding the stupid part, can already see what they spell.
"Crap, wrong time. Remember the right choice, right choice, right choice..." I muttered and paused to bang my head against the wall.
Yuna froze, watching me with wide eyes, and I sighed. That's right, Cagalli. Show him the unstable princess you shelter within.
"Princess?" he asked, even though I had told him multiple times to stop calling me that.
Oh hello, I need something to take out my anger on and voila! The target appears!
I counted to three, slowly.
Later that day.
"Where's the Captain?" I asked Vice Captain, Moji Nariat.
He blinked his silver eyes at me slowly as if just registering my appearance on the ship, before smiling a sweet wide grin. Out of all those who I had gotten to know on the Harmony, so far, I could clearly say that Nariat was the kindest. He just radiated happiness. "I believe she is in engine room C."
"In the engine room?" I repeated, trying to see the proud woman into a hot, steaming room. It didn't seem to fit her background.
Nariat chuckled, shaking his head at my befuddled expression. "There's a lot you don't know about Kitalla." His smile faded slightly, making him look perturbed. "Not much though. Kitalla is nobody's open book." His frown deepened for a moment before it disappearing all together. He smiled, and the room brightening with him. He pronounced 'Kitalla' with his rolling accent as 'Kee-talla' instead of 'Ki-talla'.
"Er," I mumbled. "Yeah, I-I guess." I scratched my head, unsure what to say and feel, as I was still bewildered at his words.
He waved his hand. "Go, she'll be there." Leaving me to wonder if there was something go on between Kitalla and Nariat. Call it girl intuition. Too bad it's so ineffective when it comes to me. Dammit…
Denial-
Oh shut the hell up, brain. Nobody wants to talk to you.
Minutes later, I stepped into the engine room and was greeted by a cloud of steam and a-
"HOLY CRAP!" I dropped to the floor – please, god of cleanliness and all that answers the call of the neatness, please, let this floor be swept sometime in the past month.
Bang! Something hit the wall with a clang before it dropped to the ground.
"Damn, I missed." Cursed a familiar voice.
I sat up, panting, my heart doing it's own version of machine gun fire in my chest. I picked up the object that had missed the top of my head by an inch. "Did you just…throw a wrench at me?" I gaped.
Kitalla towered over me in the steam, her frowning face lit by the orange light of the engine room. "If I said yes would you still give me my wrench back?"
I twirled the wrench in my hand. "No, probably not. We victims find it safer to not hand the weapon back to our attackers."
She shrugged. "Luckily for you then I was just trying to hit a lever on that pump there." She pointed behind me at a tube system that over ran the doorway and I frowned.
"Is that why there's so much steam in here?" I asked, pulling at my shirt that was already starting to stick to my damp skin.
Kitalla nodded, her gaze switching to glare at the pump that was issuing the steam as if it had personally offended her.
The steam was getting thicker and it made it harder to spot the big man that was lumbering towards us.
"I got the ladder, Captain." He said, setting it down.
Kitalla's eyes brightened and she dragged it over to the doorway, pulling on her heat-proof gloves before climbing up it. She paused at the top and turned to glance down at me.
"The wrench if you please."
"No more throwing," I told her as sternly as I could to the mercenary. "You could have killed me!"
"Could have- but I didn't." she didn't seem disturbed with the idea that she had almost murdered me and I glanced helplessly at the engineer behind me.
The bald man shrugged and mouthed: she is sorry!
Part of me seriously doubted but when I looked back up at Kitalla, her hand still stretched out for the wrench that I held, I relented and held it up to her to grab. She didn't look sorry but then again, she had a poker face that could put mine to shame.
To my honest surprise, Kitalla went right to work on the malfunctioning pump, twiddling with the gears, nozzles, dials and levers. Her poker face melted off and I realized I had never seen her so relaxed before in the short time that I knew her as she worked over the machine. Her hair was pulled back into a loose pony tail at the nape of her neck, and stray hairs were curling slightly from the heat. Her eyes gleamed brightly at the pose of a new problem to fix.
"Does she often help out here?" I murmured to the man. He nodded, pulling at his mustache.
"Uhuh- she is a real help with all the machines. Know them better then I do." His accent was thick. "She loves her machines. She built that there dragon beastie, ya know?"
"Yeah, I know." I forced a slight smile.
The man seemed happy to go on, so I said nothing more and listened. "Kitalla, she find me in a bar in PLANT. I wuz' trying to pay back me' boss while getten' out of drinken'. Kitalla walked in one day and saw me half drunk. She came up and say to me: 'What's yur name?'. And I said right back: 'People call me Town Drunk,'."
Oh boy. We got ourselves a role model here.
"Yo, Ben! Get me the mini tool kit!" Kitalla interrupted, her focus unbroken from the contraption in front of her.
Ben paused, unwrapping the tool belt from his waist before handing it up.
I waited a moment for Kitalla to return back to her work before saying. "So then what happened?"
Ben's sharp purple eyes turned back to me and he went on. "Well, Kitalla then said: 'I don't need a Town-drunk.' And I say: 'Well, what do you need, Ma'am?' and she said: 'I need a good stable worker for an engine room in ma' ship.' and I said. 'Well ma' , Ma called me Ben when I was born and ma' Da taught me all he knew on engines, though that ain't much to boast over.'"
I raised my eyebrows. "And she hired you on that?" I tried to imagine Kitalla just hiring a half drunk man to work on these top-notch engines and failed to see it.
"Oh no sir-ree!" he laughed. "She then said: 'Ben, I can teach you to fix the best damn ship engines you'll probably ever see, as well as pay you for it. But you got to get off your fat ass and start being sober!' and I was jus' shocked!"
I would be too, come to think of it. I thought dryly. Kitalla really has a way of making friends.
The man continued, happily ignorant of the look of disbelief on my face. If it wasn't for how he mimicked the Captain speaking to him, I would think we were talking about someone else! "I said: 'Ma'am! If you can fix them, what do you need me for?' and she just looked at me with that cold sharp golden gaze of hers and said: 'Ben, if you wanna second chance at life you won't say no.'." he stopped and shrugged. "So I din'nt. Two weeks later, after working ma' butt off to be sober, I come aboard and that there Captain taught me how to build, keep maintenance and fix these here engines. I paid ma' debts, beat the drink, got a job and a crew to call family, as well as a ship ta' call me home thanks to dat' there woman."
Throughout the story, I had started to feel worse and worse for I had completely read Kitalla wrong. I mean, how could she be a bad guy if she would help a struggling man out like that?
"I see."
"Huh, you're right. I can too!" Kitalla let out a crow of victory before hopping down the ladder.
I blinked in surprise at her statement before realizing what she had meant. The steam had cleared from the room. "Oh!"
"Yup," Kitalla wiped the sweat from her brow, her eyes gleaming proudly at her work as she surveyed the smoothly working engines. "The pressure was building up from the strain on the engines, thus causing the steam."
"The strain on the engines." I repeated.
Kitalla glanced at me curiously as she handed the tool belt and wrench back to Ben. "Yeah," she said, pulling off her gloves and tucking them into her pocket. "Sure the Harmony is built to go this fast but not for such long periods of time."
Because the Demi-god was catching up.
I was suddenly overcome with a flood of guilt for the risk I put this crew at. Sure, Kitalla didn't seem to care about her life, but I knew she did- whether she said it or not- for her crew too. These people, like Ben, were good people and they were all risking their lives for me.
Why… why is it always because of me.
Depression settled on me like a nice, fluffy cloud of gray and for a moment, I vaguely considered a suicide mission of sending myself to ZAFT like a wrapped up gift. Just so that people like Ben wouldn't be killed. They had what they wanted- they could stop chasing the Harmony and its crew, Peace, could get away safely.
Kitalla would be pleased, wouldn't she? The crew she was ever so loyal to would be alright and she could continue off into her bloody sunset. People could just stop worrying about me.
But unfortunately, that wouldn't stop ZAFT…
"Thanks, Captain." Ben grinned.
She merely blinked at him before saying. "I'll have the Harmony slow down every couple hours to help release some of the pressure too, Ben." She said with a nod to the burly engineer as he bobbed his head cheerfully in response before turning back to his own work.
Kitalla turned back to the doorway and I waved at Ben before following her out of engine room.
"You really know a lot about machines." I stated and she glanced at me from the corner of her eye, a deep frown on her face as if she was trying to figure out why I was asking.
"No shinit!*1 When did you pick that up? Before or after I built the Chaos?" she rolled her eyes and her pace became swifter.
I only quickened my speed. "No need to be snappy." I mumbled. I was trying to be on better terms with her, plus, then at least I could have someone to bicker with to distract my mind from other… reoccurring thoughts.
"I heard you talking to Ben."
"Mmm."
I looked up just in time to see her eyes sparkle at me in a cunning way. "Were you surprised?"
I blinked, my eyes widening. "Actually… I was. Nobody would ever choose a drunken person with no knowledge of engines to work on a ship."
"Except for me, obviously."
"So why?"
Kitalla sighed then turned to face me, her foot tapping in an irate way. "Because I needed a crew and he needed a second chance at life. I needed someone who wouldn't question his orders if he was being treated more then fairly in return. Besides… if I didn't give him this chance to get back on his feet, then who would?" Kitalla glared at me pointedly. "Would you?" she demanded, reaching up to pull her hair out of the pony tail it was in. Locks of black hair fell to frame her face.
"I…I…" I stammered before finding the right answer and saying truthfully. "I would." This trip was starting to become enlightening. I was learning things about myself that I didn't know before!
Kitalla's eyebrows shot up and she stared at me hard for a long moment before making a small snort sound and straightening slightly. "If that's true, then maybe there is hope for you after all."
I narrowed my eyes, annoyed.
"So why did you seek me out, Your Highness?" her voice a tad mocking.
I glared at her. "If you don't mean it then don't say it!" I snapped, referring to the title.
This time she was the one to roll her eyes.
"And I was just wondering if there was a way I could repay you for saving our lives." I met her gaze steadily.
She tilted her head as if surprised, and something seemed to darken her eyes. "I… If you're the real princess, Cagalli, Then you owe me nothing."
That wasn't what I had expected. I had, at least, thought she would ask for some sort of payment, considering she was a mercenary, but nothing? That didn't seem like Kitalla like all.
"Are you sure?" I stammered.
Kitalla looked away, frowning at something over my shoulder. "Quite… Yuna is here." She pulled a black watch from her pocket that had a dragon engraved onto the metal lid. "And it's lunch time. I would rather not have to sit with Weasel and you, so if you'll excuse me." Her voice so politely reined in.
"Wait…Kitalla." She paused and I continued on. "If you really do hold on to your word on taking me home…then thanks."
She narrowed her eyes and said quietly. "Everyone has a debt to pay." Before she turned and walked away just as Yuna touched me lightly on the shoulder.
I stared after Kitalla, my brow furrowed for a moment before Yuna broke my concentration.
"Want to go get some lunch, Miss. Cagalli?"
I blinked, glancing at him and nodded.
He tried to take me by the hand but I shook myself free and set a brisk trot that had Yuna struggling to keep up.
OOOOO
Harmony Narrator POV
"Dammit." Kitalla muttered, scanning the coordinated read outs of the Demi-god in correlation of the Harmony. It was gaining on them.
With a small huff she fell backward onto her bed, laying eagle spread on it, glaring at the wall across from her bed. On the wall, there were three diamond-framed murals. The painted replicas of the badges she wore on the sleeves and belt-flap of her uniform.
The one to the right, one that only she wore, was her personal symbol. It was a black diamond with a red dragon coiled up like a snake. That stood for Chaos.
The other two her crew also wore. The one to the far left was a light blue with two golden halos interlinked in the center- it stood for Peace. And on the one in the middle was a golden diamond with an old bronze scale- in one scale, it held a tiny black diamond, and in the other, a white one. The scales were perfectly balanced, signifying equal weight. This was the symbol of the ship, "Harmony".
Normally, seeing those symbols made her proud but right then, it only brought back memories that she preferred to stay asleep in her mind. She could remember them as if it was yesterday, and she closed her eyes and allowed herself to immerse in the hollow ache in her bosom.
Eleven years ago
"Is that her?"
"The Changeling?"
"I'm glad she's not assigned to my team!"
"God, did you see her eyes?"
Misaki tried not to hear the whispers that were following her through out the docking system. Her thick black hair hung over her eyes, shading them from sight. She gazed at the day-to-daylife at the Blue Cosmos base with a look of longing. She couldn't help but wish to be accepted instead of being the unspoken outcast, always looking in from the outskirts.
Changeling…
That's what they called her; the unnatural Natural. Banned from both Coordinators and Naturals.
She was lucky the Blue Cosmos cared enough to even let her live amongst their small community.
Of course, she wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for her advanced placement in engineering.
"Engineer Misaki?"
She whirled about in surprise, saluting on reflex. "Sir!" she addressed the Captain in front of her, who was giving her a cold look that she wasn't unused to.
He narrowed his eyes at her and she knew she wasn't what fit his image.
"Young for your age?" he asked.
"No sir. I'm fifteen."
He swore. "Damn bastards! Do they think that war with Coordinators is a joke that they can just send unweaned runts to me?" he spun around, heading back to his warship.
Misaki, unsure of what to do shrugged and followed him.
"What's your specialty, Unit?"
Misaki struggled to keep up with his longer strides as they walked up the platform to the ship. "Mainly Mobile suits, but I also have a major in ship engines." She bit her lip, wondering if she would pass his expectation. "I'm good at building things…Captain." She added lamely.
"Coordinator-crap."
Misaki winced at the words the Captain had muttered, knowing that they were directed at her. Everyone always mistook her for a Coordinator, for her brilliant gold cat eyes and her ability with engineering.
"I'm Captain Lau Gevvonne." The Captain continued, running a hand through his military crew cut brown hair. "Just stick with calling me Captain."
The ship's door slid open to welcome them, and Misaki welcomedthe more comfortable silence and peace within the small ship . The door slid shut behind her, cutting off the familiar cold stares that always followed the black-haired, odd-eyed engineer. "Yes, Captain."
The man turned to face her, pulling a cigarette out of his pocket and sticking it in his mouth, though he didn't light it.
"I've read your applications." He said, moving the cigarette from side to side in his mouth.
Misaki nodded.
"I couldn't seem to find your full name."
Misaki flushed. "It's just Misaki, Captain…" she looked down at her feet, miserable. "I don't have a last name. Misaki is just the name they gave me when they found me." Her home, her family, and even her name was temporary.
"Hm, well here we don't judge our units on how they look, how they talk, what they believe or their names."
Golden eyes flashed up to widen in shock.
The Captain's own ice-blue eyes winced slightly but he continued calmly. "We judge our units on their skill and willingness to work." He clapped a hand on her shoulder. "Welcome aboard the Bishop, Misaki Changeling." The way he said 'Changeling' made Misaki feel special for a moment- which was ridiculous.
And yet for the first time in her life, Misaki felt hope.
A screeching alarm sounded in Kitalla's head and she leapt to her feet, swearing. Damn, when had she fallen asleep?
Stumbling over to the com-link by her door, she contacted the brig.
"Josie," she coughed. "What the hell's going on?"
Her panicked unit stared back at her with wide pink eyes. "Captain!" Josie cried, her voice full of alarm. "The Aegis is coming up on us!"
Kitalla swore harshly again. "Prepare the Chaos!" She ordered before dashing out of her room in a full out run towards the brig.
Half way to the brig, she was ambushed by a familiar annoying blonde.
"Kitalla!"
OOOOOOOO
Cagalli POV
The moment I heard that alarm sound throughout the ship, my heart played a strange note. As if it was remembering the last time it heard an alarm like that. The last time before I was separated from Athrun. When we were…
"Crap, crap, crap!" I squeaked, rubbing at my eyes as if that would erase the memory of kissing him. Even remembering it causes shivers to ripple down my spine. It had been so wonderful that it hurt.
"Kitalla!" I cried at the sight of the raven-haired woman, making her way towards the brig. "Kitalla!"
The woman glanced at me, irritation in her cold yellow eyes. Her hair was messy, even for her, and it hung like black streaks over her eyes.
"Please!" I whispered to her once I had caught up.
I could hear "Prince Charming" (A.K.A Yuna) calling for me to slow down.
"Please, don't…kill him!" Did my voice break when I said that? Could she hear it?
She didn't say anything, her gaze never leaving mine as she held onto the moving strip of rubber on the side of the wall. It towed her along effectively through zero-gravity.
I struggled to think of someway to convince her and at last, I said quietly. "If you kill the son of the chairman of ZAFT, wouldn't that make you a public figure."
Kitalla's eyes flashed rather eerily and she cocked her head at me before smiling long and slowly. "Very good. Like an effective ruler, you know how to play your cards well."
"You saw that through my move with Kira?" I guessed.
"Of course- it would be ridiculous to think otherwise." She said dismissively and I winced. I didn't think I had been that obvious.
"What I'm interested in knowing is that you don't have a problem with threatening the well-known peace supporting pop singer and daughter of Seigal Clyne, a man who supports ORB's ideals quite strongly- but extremely quick to oppose the death of the son of Patrick Zala."
I gritted my teeth. I hated the logic she used against me. I hated the accusing light in her eyes. I hated myself for being so torn. Didn't I choose to return home? To be Orbs princess? Then why should it matter to me what happens to Athrun Zala? It shouldn't!
But it did… It did so much that with every beat of my heart, his name echoed in the hollowness of my chest.
"Please, don't ask me anything." I struggled to make my voice clear. I would not beg for this Captain's mercy. I would not!
"I don't need to." She shrugged, looking straight-forward. "Let whatever happens, happen." With out turning her head, her golden eyes slid so that she was peering at me from the corners of her eyes. "But I suppose you make a point… Having Patrick Zala's anger upon me for the death of his only son is not…" she blinked slowly. "Something I would appreciate."
We were at the brig and I followed her up to the bottom stair. "Well, take his anger and add it with the Princess of Orb's." I said before I could stop myself. Horror flooded me as I rethought my words and Yuna gasped.
Kitalla's thin eyebrows rose sharply. "You would stake that threat for the son of Patrick Zala?" her voice was full of shock, her cat-slit eyes widened.
I gulped. I couldn't take back my words now…I didn't want to…
It was terribly wrong to stake the threat of Orb like that, toss it around as if it wasn't such a big deal what I had said. But it was… It totally was.
Damn…
Kitalla's face suddenly darkened and she glanced at the screen where a red dot was growing bigger in the darkness of space. She shoved me hard till I stumbled back against Yuna's hard chest.
"Cagalli, I'm telling you that you need to let it go!"
I gaped, wordless for a moment then clenched my fists, taking a step forward till we were practically nose to nose. "Forget it? Let it go? You don't understand anything!"
Kitalla's face was so pale, her eyes glittered dangerously and she said slowly. "No, Cagalli, you don't know anything." She glanced at the screen again and then forced her shoulders to relax with a sigh. "I hope your dream boy is worth this." She then turned to climb up the spiraling stairs, combing her hair back into a pony tail as she did so.
I gaped at her in shock, letting Yuna pull me from the brig room.
The last thing I saw then was Nariat's face, tight with disappointment as he stared straight ahead of him, his jaw ridged and flexed.
Figuring it was meant for me, I let my body go limp, allowing Yuna to tug me back to my room.
Once back in my room, I collapsed on my mattress, wondering if I had any tears to spare.
I hadn't cried at all since I had woken up aboard the Harmony. I just felt so…empty.
I had resolve, of course. I would return to Orb and aid my father in ruling it effectively during its time of conflict. Oh shut the hell up, Cagalli, my heart cried bitterly, you know part of you is hoping in making peace with Zaft, just so you can one day see Athrun again.
Was it so obvious? That I…that I…
"Don't go there, Cagalli." I doubt he'll want to see you anyway. I wouldn't…
My head flashed up when I realized the words spoken aloud weren't in my head and I gazed, startled, at Yuna who was watching me intently from across the room. "Excuse me?" I whispered, my eyes wide.
"Don't go there. It's not worth it."
How the hell did he know what I was thinking about?
He shook his head. "You can't use Orb's forces in a squabble like this!"
I blushed, realizing he was on a slightly different subject then me. I sat up, combing my hair back, trying to make myself proper looking. "No, I can't." I agreed. "That was stupid of me to say." I wondered how red I looked. "I wasn't thinking- it just popped out of my mouth."
Yuna made a face. "That's a problem we're going to have to work on."
I frowned. "You mean my mouth? And how would we fix that." There was only the barest hint of a threat in my voice. If he thought he was going to be lip-locking me anytime soon then he had another big think coming!
Yuna had the decency to look abashed before he continued. "We could do that," he said and I raised my eyebrows, daring him to go on. "Oooor, what I meant to say is that you tend to think with your feelings first."
"Excuse me?"
"Like earlier," Yuna said, making a vague waving motion. "You let your feelings react first before your logic."
Dammit! He was right! "Wow, you speak sense." I mumbled. The way Yuna's personality/ego seemed to change in split moments was getting to be rather dizzying. One second he's my personal butt-kisser (iew iew iew, I can't believe I just thought of that!) and the next he's like some genius royal advisor. "Yeah, I know."
"Of course you do." Yuna said sweetly and I groaned. Speak of the devil and he would appear.
Or think of the devil- whatever works.
The ship trembled and I ached to return to the brig.
Almost as if he could read my mind, again, Yuna said. "You know your presence there will only prove to be a distraction for the crew."
I hissed under my breath, turning my back to him, annoyed.
Footsteps echoed outside the door and something occurred to me.
"Yuna," I began, slowly turning to face him. "What are you doing in here any-"
But before I could lay my eyes on him, something hit me across the head, pain flashed through me followed by a wave of darkness. And all went black.
OOOOO
Between two hostile pilots.
"I told her to listen to me, and no! What does she do? Oh she threatens me! Threatens me!" Kitalla was hissing to herself as she danced about the red Gundam before her. Her eyes narrowed. Was it just her or was the Aegis being more mobile then ever?
"Like a wriggling wooorm!" she snarled. "And I can't even squash it!"
Of all the injustice…
OO
"Come on, come on." Athrun muttered to him self, his eyes never leaving his opponent as the black dragon-like GUNDAM employed every inch of it's lithe body in weaving about him. Why isn't it going for a direct kill like always? he wondered. Instead it's just…seeking.
Seeking an opening.
OOO
Just what the hell is this pilot doing? Kitalla thought. I have seen idiots with better piloting skills! Does he have a deathwish? He's just flailing his limbs about! It would be a piece of cake for me to just do my ol' bear hug trick…
OOO
"Dammit, come on!" Athrun hissed, furious. He drew his sword and flew at the black Gundam, slashing at it swiftly. The dragon spread it's wings with a flourish of sparks and then, swept them around to shield its front belly that was facing Athrun. It's tail then curled upwards, jabbing at Athrun with quick movements.
Athrun's sword landed on it's right wing with a flash of sparks, the lazers cutting and deflecting each other. The energy resulting from the two forces propelled both opponents backwards.
The dragon spread it's wings apart, with it's jaws gaping, an amber glow in the depths of it's maw. Would it do it?
Athrun prepared to throw himself out of the way at the slightest sign of a cannon attack.
OOOO
Kitalla was anxious to get back. She could see the Demi-god creeping up to them and the Harmony. She couldn't defend herself and her ship without destroying Athrun and having the Aegis out of the way. I should just end it now. She thought to herself. I would be doing Cagalli a bigger favor than she thought…
Of course this would open up a whole new avenue of trouble for her between her and ZAFT, not to mention that ORB would definitely not be too friendly (not that she cared.).
But if her crew was attacked…
A red haze clouded at the corners of her vision.
In her world, one of the most important things to her was her loyalty. She had to be disloyal once and it had broken her heart- she would not do it again, no matter the cost.
She would protect her crew.
Chaos!
Kitalla. The engines purred back.
Prepare the Dragonfire!
Of course.
The cockpit began to vibrate slightly, the engines humming speeding up as power was built up in the jaw-cannon of the Chaos.
Kitalla's focus was all on her Chaos. Calculating the Aegis's place, how fast it could move and where it would probably move to when she fired. She didn't doubt it's abilities to evade her and she wasn't about to waste this-
Her eyes had flashed up from the dashboard to the screen to check the Aegis and for a moment her vision seemed to waver. The crimson red of the Gundam melting into a dark ocean blue…just like His… just like…
Without her greatly-needed focus, the cannon sputtered, making the head of the dragon (where the cock pit was) jerk violently from the power that had built up inside. It had to go somewhere and since Kitalla hadn't directed it, it exploded internally.
"Aaaah!" Kitalla screamed, clutching on to the arm bars of her seat, feeling as if she was trying to hold on to a bucking horse. "Aaaaah." The violent jerking reached a climax and Kitalla was ripped from her seat, thrown against the wall, rolling down the now-vertical tunnel of the Chaos's throat.
Her head connected with the back of the tunnel with a sharp thunk and Kitalla gritted her teeth as stars danced in her eyes. Different areas of her body radiated pain from where she had bounced off ceiling, walls and the floor. Her breath came out in pants as she struggled to sit up, feeling nauseous. "Chaos," she whispered weakly. "Defensive mode initiate." She had to repeat her words again, clearer and stronger when the Chaos didn't acknowledge her voice command the first time.
Of course, activating this with voice command from her location really didn't help her predicament as the tunnel then curved, her cockpit disappearing from view as her Chaos curled into a ball. She knew the Chaos's wings would then spread down around it to make a protective shell that was near unbeatable.
Except, every defense has an Achilles heal. And hers was the strip on the Chaos's back between the wings. Even now, she was clawing her way, achingly slow to the cockpit, not doubting for a moment the enemy pilot's ability to target her weakness.
Sitting back into her cockpit she did a quick systems scan. "Damn!" she hissed, blinking away tears of pain. Even though she hadn't used the cannon's full force it had depleted the energy of her machine by quite a bit.
She swore harshly. "Where's that fricken Aegis?" She snarled, placing her hands back on the Gundam's pad, feeling absolutely lethal.
Either he was going to give up soon or someone was going to die. And Kitalla didn't plan for it to be her.
OOOO
Athrun had been shocked to say the least when, instead of firing the energy it accumulated, the Chaos had released it inside itself. The cannon walls, of course, absorbed the energy, but not the force. A ripple went through the Chaos's head and it jerked side from side as the machine hung stationary in the air.
Slowly it felt still again and Athrun shook himself.
"Dammit!" he swore. How could he have missed a good chance to wipe it out then? Shooting forward, he aimed to severe it's neck.
But at the last possible moment, the Chaos curled up, the wings snapping forward again, blocking his swinging sword with a spray of sparks. The Aegis rebounded slightly and Athrun swore.
Once again he raised his sword, this time with another target in mind, his eyes focused on the exposed strip of black metal that was gleaming from in between the wing joints.
His sword contact, and scrap metal flew everywhere as the metal was shredded.
Athrun's heart leapt with a rather sadistic joy but before his sword could complete the strike, a wing snapped open, knocking Athrun to the side.
Athrun cursed, leveling the Aegis to face the Dragon-like Machine. However, the Chaos's neck now drooped and it took him a moment to realize why. "I severed it's spinal frame." He murmured, watching as the head swayed about awkwardly to face him.
Determination rose within him again, followed by a sheer flood of power. This time for sure!
OOOO
Kitalla was racing down the tunnel once more, tripping and stumbling. "Crap, crap, crap!" she skidded to a halt below, where the cut had been made. A thin crack had been made in the hull through which the warm air inside the Chaos was slowly seeping out. "SHIT!" She screamed. Her Chaos wasn't operating properly and her guess was that the Aegis had torn through the skeletal frame, severing the spinal cord of her precious machine.
How the hell was she going to fix this and fend off the Aegis?
"Chaos!" she yelled. "Open up a com-link with the Harmony!"
A moment later, Josie's voice echoed through her helmet.
"Captain!"
"Josie, I know this is breaking procedure but I need the Harmony to cover me, NOW!"
"Aye, Captain!" Josie's static voice replied instantly. "Helldarts, load! Fire!"
Glancing back at her cockpit's screen, Kitalla saw just in time the mini missiles that streaked over the Chaos, hitting the Aegis in a colorful array.
The Aegis propelled backward as fast as it could in a rather ungraceful way.
Kitalla paused, her mind captured by the Aegis's motion as it scrambled- scrambled!- backwards. "Almost as if the leveling engines in the joints have been moved…" she murmured, her engineer-driven mind fixated on the mechanical riddle before her. "But how…"
Something electrical sparked over her and her head snapped around. "Right, wonder about stupid pilots later." More importantly, how was she going to reattach the spinal cables in this situation?
OOOOOOO
Athrun winced at the third flurry of missiles that were heading his way. Going backwards to escape them wasn't working since is his oh so useful plan to remove the engines in the joints of the Aegis. Of course that plan would be very effective if the Chaos had used it's wrap-around attack, only to find out that his joints could bend around the constriction. But the Chaos hadn't done that. Instead, he was trying to move back but with out the stabilizing engines to help balance his GUNDAM, that was proving to be rather annoying.
Not to mention whatever the Chaos was planning while Athrun was distracted.
OOOOOOO
"God, I never actually thought I was going to use this." Kitalla murmured as she wrapped jumper-like cables around severed cables with one hand. Her other was holding on very tightly to the edge of one wing joint. If she let go she didn't even want to consider the idea of being swept away from the Chaos in the middle of space. Even if she did have a jetpack, it was better to be safe then sorry.
She switched hands, spinning herself around to direct her attentions on the other severed cables. Over her head, another volley of helldarts flew, keeping the Aegis at bay. "I hope they nail the bastard who dares to injure my Chaos." She hissed to herself, completely ticked off at the Aegis.
If only she hadn't gotten distracted in the first place and allowed the cannon to contain the force.
"I can't fix all the mechanics. Not without supplies." She mumbled, glancing at the other damages. "But at least now I can operate the engines in the lower half of the Chaos." She glanced at the Aegis, it's red body still skittering about, trying to find an opening through the Harmony's on-going fire. She knew it wouldn't hold him for long. The Harmony wasn't meant for war purposes, not with out the Chaos equipped at least.
Carefully, Kitalla clawed herself back around to the cockpit, using handholds to pull herself towards it. At last she slid in through the small gap and into her seat. She grazed her hand on the panel, which resulted to a flicker of thought that caused the cockpit's door to close down, blinding her of the battle scene going on outside.
Chaos activate.
Lights flickered on, the dashboard glowed and the screen flickered to life.
But now what to do. She had underestimated the other pilot and she couldn't chance that happening again. Neither could she let herself get distracted again by Him. But then, the Chaos wasn't completely functional now either- she wouldn't have the upper hand.
"Crap." Chaos, open com-link!
"Josie!"
"Captain!"
"Fire the smoke missiles!"
"Yes, Captain!"
Kitalla's head snapped back around to face the Red Gundam. "My turn." She growled.
OOOOO
Athrun had lifted his shield arm to hold off what he thought was another helldarts when it suddenly exploded in the Aegis's face. A massive pink cloud that blinded him.
"Damn!" he cursed when suddenly, something ripped through the Aegis's lower half, completely severing him at the waist. "DAMN!"
The smoke cleared just in time for him to see the Chaos leveling out before him, it's red eyes shining wickedly in the dark.
He waited with bated breath for it to finish him. He couldn't move and the alarms in the Aegis were flashing. Would he see her when he died? Would Akira be there to greet him on the other side?
Dammit, stop thinking like that! Akira wouldn't want you to, you idiot! There's got to be a way out of this situation!
Time crawled slowly, his heart pounded in his chest as the Chaos seemed to stare down at him for a long period of time. And then it turned, drifting to one side slightly, it's wings trailing as if broken. The engines lit up in it's one wing and it headed back to the Harmony, looking more like a mourning soldier rather then a victory-pumped winner.
But of course, the pilot did have help from their Mothership.
The breath he had been holding escaped and Athrun slumped in his seat, unable to feel the flood of pride that he should for causing the Chaos so much damage.
But all he could think was why didn't he kill me? He had been at their mercy and yet, unlike Akira, he had been spared.
It was an insult to his pride, and it made him mad as hell and yet…
Why?
OOOOO
"Josie, prepare for immediate damage-repair to the Chaos. I don't want to be a sitting duck if the Demi-god catches up." Kitalla snapped over the com link as she began to power down her machine.
"Captain…" Josie mumbled, a com-link screen popping up on the Chaos.
Kitalla frowned looking up. "What?" she asked, disturbed by the tearful expression Josie wore.
"We have a problem."
"Yeah, a whole shi-ip-load." Kitalla growled, pausing in mid-sentence to amend her curse. Sure, she was but it didn't mean that she needed to take it out on her faithful crew who had saved her ass.
"I don't mean that, Captain." Josie whispered.
"Well spit it out, then!" Kitalla snapped irritably, not feeling the least bit patient. She saw Nariat gesturing at her to 'breath in and breathe out' over Josie's shoulder in the brig room and she resisted the urge to flip him the bird. Next time you can fight the Coordinator bastard while trying to repair your GUNDAM at the same time. She thought sourly.
Josie took a deep breath then said slowly. "Cagalli and Yuna were captured."
This time Kitalla didn't bother with censoring her words.
"I'm getting off." She growled a minute later, once her profanity parade had wound to an end. "I want the Chaos repaired by morning. Set the Harmony to top-speed, port-side. Tell the mechanics in the engine room to start working on the pressure release on the engines because we won't be slowing down for a while. I want some distance between me and that damn ZAFT ship and I want answers! Do not let this get back to the Clyne faction or Kira, understood?" The last thing I need is Kira hanging over Lacus with a knife, that brat!
Josie nodded furiously, repeating her orders to the rest of the crew. "The repair team is coming up, Captain."
Kitalla sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose wearily. You did good, she thought to her Chaos. "Do we have any idea where they are? Who captured them?" she added to Josie, trying to relax. Crap, this is a whole freaking load of crap. Dammit!
Before Josie could respond though, the brig-door slid open and a greencoat, Kaji, a dark-skinned man with his thick curly hair done in a small afro, charged in, his dark eyes wide with horror. A small hoop glinted on his ear as he skidded to a halt.
"Captain!" he cried, looking around desperately, failing to see Kitalla's disgruntled features on the brig screen.
"The screen, you idiot." Snapped Kitalla, not in the remotest calm. Really, why was she still in the Chaos? Wouldn't it be better for all the trauma, and shi-nit to wait until she was at least sitting down in her seat? At least there was nothing delicate there for her to break unlike the control panel of the Chaos.
Nariat glared meaningfully at her and she sighed.
"My…apologies, Kaji." I have apologized more in the past couple days then I think I have ever done in my life. Kitalla thought to herself. "Are you alright?" okay, maybe that was over doing it, even for her standards as Nariat's eyes widened a fraction.
Kaji didn't seem to notice either insult nor question as he leaned heavily onto the Captains seat on the brig, panting. "Toni, Gwen, and Larabi are…" his chest expanded in a frantic heave for breath. "They're dead!" he burst out.
Josie spun around at his words and the whole brig-crew let out a gasp, hands lifting to mouths in a wordless exclamation of horror.
"No!" A operator cried, falling out of her chair onto her hands and knees. "No! Larabi!" tears swam in her blue eyes as she cried out for her husband.
Kitalla wanted to sink to the floor of the Chaos, her limbs feeling slightly shaky beneath her. Her face was frozen in an expression of shock, her eyes wide, her face pale and taut. "No." she whispered softly under her breath. She closed her eyes for a brief moment, then opened them, regaining control of herself. She frowned, her eyes darkening. "Someone take Una to the Medical center." She said stiffly and a tactician jumped up to help lead the sobbing woman from the brig. Once they were gone, the crew's attention turned back to Kitalla, all the faces waiting hopefully for words that would somehow promise an upside to the situation.
Cagalli and Yuna, passengers in their care were captured.
The Chaos had almost been destroyed.
And Fellow crewmen, their partners, loved ones, were dead.
What do I say? What can I say? They're waiting for me to turn this around, dammit! Kitalla was panicking on the inside. She didn't know how to deal with it herself, let alone help her crew. All she could do was focus on the facts and the facts were yet to be said.
"Kaji, where did you find the bodies?"
The crew flinched slightly at the cold, direct words she voiced and Kitalla kept herself from wincing. She couldn't help who she had become.
"Er, they were working their shift in the shuttle-port when they were shot. We found them in an equipment closet." Kaji said, his gaze dropping. We're not a warship. We work behind the scenes. These people are my people! And while I was gone, three of them had died! Died!
Kitalla shook her head, her sorrow filled with passive fury. "Let not their deaths be in vain." Her eyes narrowed. "Were you able to find out who did this, Josie?"
The brig-crew seemed to spark up with her words, ease filling them. Kitalla could almost feel the trust they had in her. Almost as if they were saying aloud, Our Captain will take care of this!
Sometimes it truly sucks to be the Captain.
Josie seemed to steel herself before responding and when she did her voice was low. "Yes, Captain. It was Blue Cosmos. Blue Cosmos has Princess Attha and Representative Roma."
Kitalla's eyes widened, her fists clenched and something in her heart held it's breath. She wanted to scream and punch something. They were dead because of Blue Cosmos? But instead all she said was. "I see…" Her gaze darkened. "I will retrieve them… After all, I'm the only one who can." Her voice was bitter. Hadn't she sworn years ago never to set foot on a Blue Cosmos ship again? Hadn't she sworn to walk away and never get involved with them again?
So what the HELL were they doing messing with her? "Bastards." She growled under her breath, her hands shaking slightly. Already, she was forming a plan on how to sneak aboard and wreak havoc upon the ship that dared - dared – to get involved with her.
"The only one that can?" Josie seemed to hold her breath waiting for Kitalla's reply.
Kitalla raised her chin slightly, her expression slightly haughty. "As a former Blue Cosmos Engineer, I'm quite positive I know them better then anyone else here."
Admitting that to her brig crew slightly hurt, as it made their trust waver for a moment, but she was determined. She would face her past to save them. Just like last time…
Then something occurred to her and she frowned, for a split second distracted from those dear losses. "Damn, I hope my Blue Cosmos uniform still fits."
*1 'Shinit' ahh, that's just something I normally say... *shrug*
Next chapter will be on Kitalla's past (probably) so for those who've been wanting to know all (probably lol) will be revealed!
Third, Okaaay.I know this chapter didn't really have alot going on at Athrun's side but, ya know every character has different times in the spotlight. And If you think i'm getting off track with the Asucaga, I assure you that my written out plot has forbidden that from happening. Asucaga will be reoccurring through out the story along with other romances.
Anyway, sorry for chapter lameness, etc
Review all thoughts and I'll love you forever =))))
Yours truly
Azetta