Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Seed, the characters, plot, setting, yadda yadda, etc. etc. (I don't even own the manga for crying out loud)
O.O
Woooooooowwww…I got THIRTY reviews.
I'm really, really flattered guys. I'm glad so many people like my story!
And actually, the reason this story got bumped to the top of my 'update' list was because it got so many reviews last chapter.
yes, I know I wasn't that prompt but I had lots of junk going on, still do, on top of the fact that my computer wasn't really working, I was sick, and I had a massive writer's block (still have it but I think it's fractured a little bit). But it got written and up before anything else!
Oh! And registered reviewers get a special preview summary for the next chapter!
Italics means thoughts
Bold means….other stuff.
Last time:
Nicol remained, still uncertain and thoughtful but elated in the fact that he'd found a fri- no, not that. Too strong a word for their situation.
He'd found someone with a kind heart who was willing to associate with him.
Not to mention bring him paper for his music.
Chapter 10: Paper
Nicol finished his food and sat back to wait for Yamato's return.
It didn't take long for him to get bored.
Geez, I wonder what's taking him so long? It doesn't take an hour to find a couple sheets of paper and a pen! What if he was caught?
Agitated, the coordinator stood up and began to pace.
He did say bringing anything but food would be stepping outside the rules, after all. He was already on thin ice, my fault, and being caught bringing me stuff would make everything worse. Why did I have to ask him?
"Tori!"
Huh? Ah, the bird.
Instantly, he ceased pacing and stepped up to the bars, pressing his face as far out as he could in an attempt to look up and down the gloomy corridor. He hadn't heard footsteps, but Kira was a coordinator so it was possible he could have made it past silently.
"Kira?"
There was no answer.
He tried again, a bit louder. "Kira?"
He's…not here.
Feeling betrayed; if the bird was there Kira was fine, he'd just chosen not to come back; Nicol pulled away a few inches. "Maybe he's not here because he decided not to bring the paper after all."
The clicking sound of metal tapping metal interrupted him and drew his gaze downward. The little bird was standing at his feet with a small piece of paper in its beak, watching him almost beseechingly and hopping every now and again to a different position.
"Or maybe he didn't abandon me at all."
After being relieved of its burden, the bird hopped back through the bars on the door and took flight, chirping gaily on its way back to the upper decks, presumably where its master was.
The captive watched wistfully, envying its freedom, until it was out of sight at which point he turned his attention to the delivery.
The fragment of paper was folded over itself many times, giving the impression of an envelope hiding a message.
A message?
Oddly, Nicol felt touched by the small favor. It wasn't much, but Kira had actually felt the need to give him, as a prisoner, an explanation for his actions.
What a strange soldier. He began unfolding the note. How did he survive training without learning to think of enemies as sub-human? Even I wouldn't treat a captive as my friend and I'm as friendly as they come!
The message was short and succinct but specific just the same.
Nicol-
I'm sorry but the person I told you about, the one I need to meet, got here early. I'll bring the paper down and pick up the tray later or tomorrow at breakfast.
"Well that was disturbingly specific." Nicol shook his head in disbelief. "Doesn't he know what would have happened if it was intercepted? He'd probably be in even more trouble then he is now! Or worse, they might think he's a spy!"
Why is he taking so many risks for me? Especially unnecessary ones. Is he really like this or is he just trying to fool me? Somehow I get the feeling it's the former but how would someone like that make it into the military? How would his values survive the military?
He began to pace in the confines of the small cell, trying to figure out the puzzle that was Kira.
There are so many aspects of his character that don't seem to fit. And I'm fairly certain he'll just evade the topic or run away again if I ask him directly about any of it. I'm okay with that, I guess; if I did get information I'd just hurt him with it. Well, when I escape. IF I escape. And I don't want him to get hurt any more then he has, he's been through enough in return for saving my life.
He paused in the back left corner of the enclosure for a moment in surprise. Since when did he start thinking about the enemy soldier before himself?
With a slight frown, the young coordinator resumed pacing, this time knitting his brows to complete the look of concentration. He would have plenty of time to mull everything over before the other boy arrived.
"Nice to see you again Princess."
The blond young woman flushed slightly and glared at the cocky older man standing before her, the commenter.
Mwu La Flaga grinned, unfazed by Cagalli's death glare.
"To what do we owe the honor?"
"Oh shut up."
"Cagalli."
"Hmph." At the gentle reproach from Kisaka, or rather the reproachful tone of his voice, she scowled and turned away from making a comeback with great reluctance. Instead, she addressed the slightly embarrassed looking brunette beside him using the 'diplomacy tone' she'd been taught years ago. She completely ignored Ensign Badgerule on the other side.
"Captain Ramius, Orb welcomes you."
Murrue started, surprised at the formal tone, before responding.
"Oh! Yes, of course. As captain of the Earthen Alliance Warship Archangel, I would like to extend thanks to the Orb union for its hospitality."
Cagalli inwardly smirked at the older woman's initial reaction to her mannerism. What, was she expecting me to just come up and demand to see Kira and the others? I wish. Unfortunately, I need to 'play the princess' for this visit.
The fiery blonde crossed her arms and leveled a steely glare at the captain.
Recognizing the look from their previous voyage, Murrue smiled slightly and responded accordingly.
"If you would like to look around a bit, just to take stock of the situation of course, I'll get Ensign Yamato to show you the way."
Cagalli's glare softened and a bare glimpse of a smile made its way across her face. "That would be appreciated, thank you."
Murrue bowed her head slightly to hide her smile. "Of course."
Kira waited on the bridge, pacing in an unconscious mimicry of the captive far below. He was actually moderately happy. His punishment was on hold, Nicol was safe in a cell and didn't hate him, he'd managed to get a note off to him to explain the situation so that was covered, and Cagalli was stopping by. Disregarding everything except that exact moment, he was probably happy for the first time since Heliopolis. Well, no maybe not; there was still one black mark on today's agenda.
Sometime during the day, he'd need to take Cagalli to see his friends because she was friendly with them as well. Normally this would not be a problem but he and Sai were still at odds and Flay loathed Orb's princess with a passion.
Oh well, best not to dwell on it I guess, especially considering I am indirectly responsible for both situations. Sai's mad because Flay chose me and Flay hates Cagalli because I'm friends with her. Which is kind of strange if not surprising. But that's not the point. The point is that since I caused these problems, I need to stand up to the effects.
"Hey, Ensign Yamato?"
He didn't answer. He didn't even hear the comment.
"Yamato!" a rough had grabbed his arm and gave it a quick shake.
"Ow!" He pushed the offending appendage away, forcing himself not to instinctively break it or toss its owner across the room, and shot the nameless soldier a slightly annoyed look. "Is there something wrong?"
"Just thought you might want to stop the nervous pacing before you burn a hole through the floor panels."
Kira flushed and scowled, not missing the gleam in the man's eyes when he said 'nervous'. It was quite obvious he knew who Kira was waiting for and thought there was something going on between them. How he, a person neither Kira nor Cagalli had ever really met before, knew was no mystery. The entire crew knew about Cagalli and over half of them believed she was having some sort of affair with the coordinator even though the two of them had never even really touched each other.
Can't they see we're not interested? I mean, I was with Flay when Cagalli was here! And she doesn't even act like a girl! Although she does look like one, especially when she's wearing a dress. He blushed at the memory of his first time seeing her in a dress. They had been in grave danger in the middle of the Desert Tiger's base. He'd said…I acted like I didn't even know she was a girl. His blush deepened with embarrassment. I shouldn't have said it like that; it didn't come out like I wanted it to. What I meant was that she's my friend regardless of gender and I'd never really…well, let's just say I never reacted to here like I do to Flay.
"Kira! Hey, ya deaf in there?"
"Huh? Oh! Cagalli! Sorry, I was thinking."
The blonde scowled, moving her hands to her hips in a gesture of annoyance. "Too busy to give me a tour?"
"…tour? But you already know…"
Hurt passed in and out of her eyes almost too quickly to catch. She turned away. "Well, if you don't want to take me, I'm sure Captain Ramius will be able to find someone else."
Whoops. He caught the look in her eyes and grasped the plan the second after he spoke.
"A tour! Of course, I'm sorry, I misunderstood you."
The princess whirled instantly, relief evident in the absence of her usual belligerent expression. What, had she thought Kira would act different knowing she was a princess? "Great! Kisaka is discussing the technicalities of your stay with the captain right now so if we hurry we can get some time to ourselves!"
"What?"
"Come on!"
Right before being tugged out of the room, the earthen coordinator saw the same soldier from earlier grin and give him a huge wink before turning to his companion to whisper something in his ear. Evidently he'd heard the statement about 'having time to ourselves'.
I'm never going to hear the end of this one.
Several hours later,Kira walked quickly down the gloomy hallway to Nicol's cell, smile still on his face from earlier. Sure, he was moderately worried at how Nicol would react to bringing him the paper so late, but his 'tour' with Cagalli had lasted many hours more then either of them had expected. They had avoided the adults most of the time and, contrary to his earlier misgivings, everyone had been completely civil when they came ran into each other.
Miri and Tolle had joked around a bit and tried to engage everyone in conversation, Sai had said hello with a smile before falling into the background to watch Kira, followed quickly by Kuzzey. Sai's gaze had been disconcerting in its confusion (there were so many emotions expressed that even he probably didn't know what he was thinking) but it was far preferable to Flay's hate filled glare. She hadn't said anything, thankfully, but the death rays practically shooting from her eyes spoke for her and eventually drove Cagalli to decide she wanted to re-familiarize herself with the ship accompanied only by her 'tour guide'.
After that, they'd talked about what had happened while the Archangel was away. Kira told her about the fight with the Blitz and the capture and Cagalli, after expressing her annoyance at him for failing to use a weapon right AGAIN (1), told him about life in the nobility and her aching for the freedom of the desert despite its dangers.
He couldn't help but laugh at that.
Only Cagalli. He stopped in front of Nicol's door, weighed down with a large packet of white paper he'd taken from a storeroom and a couple mismatched pens that had been lying around his room. The paper most likely wouldn't be missed but pens were a near rarity since most people used electronic writing implements now. He'd decided to give Nicol a few of his own just to be safe.
"Nicol?"
There was no response. An icy finger of dread trailed up his spine. Had the soldier betrayed his trust and escaped?
"Hey, I'm back. Did you get my message?"
A muffled grunt answered this time and a lump detached itself from the shadows under the bed to unfold and become a tired looking Nicol. "Huh?"
He was sleeping under the bed? "I brought you some paper."
"Paper?" For a long moment, the captive blinked fuzzily and yawned before realizing exactly what was happening. When he did, he lost his fatigue in seconds. "Paper!"
Kira cracked a bemused smile. How can someone get that happy over something so simple? Is he really that bored?
"Yeah; here, I'll put the pack through the food slot. Can you pass me your dinner tray?"
"Sure." Happy to oblige, Nicol picked up the tray covered with empty dishes and slid it through the unbarred section.
After it was through, his prize slid in and he looked at it in happy disbelief. He stroked the top piece reverently, picking it up and almost touching it to his face before noticing Kira's amused and slightly creeped out expression.
He blushed and replaced the page, setting the stack on his bed.
"Thank you Kira. This means more to me then you'll ever know." He attempted to get his point across with his eyes and was rewarded with a gentle smile.
"No problem."
"So, how was your meeting with the mystery person you mentioned in the note?"
"Pretty good." Nicol didn't miss the avoidance of eye contact or shift of feet. He smirked slightly. "Was the mystery person a she?"
"WHAT?" Violet eyes snapped wide and met smirking crimson. Kira had forgotten how sharp Nicol was. I only looked away for a second!
"Well, yes, but we don't like each other that way."
"Heh, alright." Nicol chuckled at the blush. The other boy was just so innocent. Speaking of which…the smile faded.
"I got your message by the way."
Catching a new serious note in the prisoner's voice, Kira pulled back slightly in shame. "Yes, I'm sorry I couldn't get down her sooner, I just-."
"Kira, did you go through a military academy?"
"What?" that had not been what he was expecting at all.
"I'm really grateful that you've been doing all this for me so I feel obligated to do something for you too. Please consider my advice, if you ever send a note again, be discreet. If someone had intercepted and read that, you'd probably join me in here. As a resident of a cell."
"Oh." Kira blanched. He hadn't thought of that. Nicol was right, if Ens. Badgerule had managed to get that note…"Sorry, I didn't even think about that. I guess I just thought nobody would try to take anything from Tori."
Nicol raised an eyebrow and, confident he'd gotten his message across, dropped his serious tone. "Does your pet do stuff for you often?"
Kira laughed, but there was sadness in his eyes as he answered.
"Yeah, I've had it for years."
"You said –before, when I was on the opposite side of the fence last time you guys were in Orb- that a good friend gave it to you. Is that true?"
Kira jolted in surprise. Nicol was there when he'd run into Athrun? Come to think of it, there had been a few people with him; Kira had just been too focused to notice any of them.
"Kira?"
"Yeah." His voice was almost too soft to be heard, even for a coordinator. "Yeah, a dear friend."
He was then. Now he probably hates me. Personally rather then professionally this time.
"Where is it now? You usually have it with you."
"I left Tori back in my room."
Sensing Kira descending back into his shell, Nicol mentally berated himself and strove to remedy the situation. "Ya know, it reminds me of something. A robotic pet a friend of mine made for his fiancée. It's called a-."
"Haro."
"What?" his eyes grew to saucer size. "H-how did you know that?"
"Lacus had it with her when she was on board."
Nicol remembered that occurrence. Actually, the Strike's odd behavior in handing Lacus over should have tipped him off to Kira's personality. In hindsight, if he had examined any of their encounters with a more open mind or at least more curiosity, he would have understood Kira better sooner.
No, that can't be. One of us would have noticed him if that was the case. A connection clicked in his mind. Wait a minute, Athrun reacted to that situation as if he knew Strike's pilot. And they exchanged words when Kira handed Lacus over! Maybe Athrun did find out; maybe that's how Kira knows him. Or knows of him.
"Nicol, I need to leave. It's very late and pretty soon people are going to become suspicious over my absence."
The prisoner frowned with concern at the dead, almost mechanical way he spoke.
"I understand. Are you alright? I didn't mean to upset you."
"I'm fine. Well, as fine as I've ever been since getting involved. It's not your fault."
Nicol watched him for a moment, puzzled and worried.
Getting involved in what?
With a final searching look at his captor's retreating back, he turned towards the paper, preparing to lose himself in the rapture of creating music.
TBC.
REVIEW!
This chapter….gah.
I don't like it at all.
It took me forever to start it; I had no idea what to put first. Then I realized if I put everything in the chapter it would make the chapter too long to write and type in one day so I shot down the second half.
Meh, all it means is you guys don't get much information right now.
It'll make for more of a tension element later when you have the facts without the information. XD Then I'll give you the information after that (I am evil hear me roar!)
And since I also shot down the part with Cagalli, if you guys want an installment about her afternoon with Kira, let me know and I'll try to post a one-shot on the side. It just didn't have much of a bearing on the plot how I'd planned it and I didn't have much room or time.
Ummm…another little note is that I made a major typo last chapter.
But it was, for once, a nice, happy typo that shifted the series of events back a day and gave more time for the characters to interact before…dundundunnnnnn… more stuff of a different nature starts to happen.
So, sorry if any of my hints from the previous chapter were wrong, I really didn't plan for this chapter to go this way.
One little word made all the difference.
(1) She got pissed at him for throwing a gun at someone rather then shooting it when they met the Desert Tiger
Hope you liked it!
PM/replies are forthcoming to all who review!
Not to mention, you get a free preview summary of the next chapter! (Only if you're signed in though, same goes with the reply)
Thank you my reviewers:
Dreamer516, Hitokiri-san, Mew Tatsu, ArtgirlChan, Orahiko, Darkmoon Fleur, Slightly Sinister Sinestra, Maryam Khanoom, R, Spicy Shani, AnimeFreaks13, TheBetanWerecat, NoshMono, Yzak Lover Extrodinaire, Lilharochick, Rainpure, Karone-sakura, SpiritsMelding, Freedom-Fighter05, Lonely Athrun Zala, Besjer, , Speaker4thesilent, Cannibalistic GummyBear, Nariko, ZGMF X-19A Infinite Justice, Rii, Nevermore-Amaya, GodessforshortShar, Phoenixyoukai