I want to thank you guys, for pointing out my little mistake with the title.
Other then that, I don't really have all that much more to say right now, so just read and enjoy.
Chapter 4
When Athrun woke up the next day on the Minerva, the first thing he did was take a small look down at Cagalli that was sleeping peacefully on his chest, it was a bit hard to tell what kind of mood she was in this morning.
But he thought he could see a tiny hint of a smile on her lips, just seeing her like that, was more then enough to make it clear for him, that she had been having a good nights sleep.
Which made a small part of him wish he could say the same.
But he had been woken up more then few times because of nightmares of the past, most of them about seeing a great deal of those people he cared for in the last war die.
It really had been a bad night for the young man, just being involved in all of this made quite a few bad memories resurface, most of them things he truly didn't want to remember.
And after laying there for a long time trying his best to get his thoughts straighten out. He slowly reached down and gently removed Cagalli from his chest, and placed her head on the pillow he had been using for most of the night.
So after making extra sure, that she was comfortable there, he slowly sat up on the bed, doing his best not to disturb the still sleeping girl.
After making sure that she was still far away in dream land he just sat there quietly for a little time, just watching the girl he loved sleeping peacefully.
But he did not do that for long, before he stood up and began making his way over to the door, where he immediately exited the room, leaving his blond girlfriend alone in the room.
It did not take the young man much time before he was slowly flying down the ship's halls, heading towards the mess hall, hoping to find something to eat for both him and Cagalli.
But even as he did that he still couldn't get his mind away from all of his old comrades, and he truly hoped that this would be the last battle the space ship would be in, as long as the two of them where onboard.
And even with all of those thoughts running through his head, he soon arrived at his destination, not even taking one look around in there, before he slowly flew over to where he could see a few dish of delicious looking food just standing out waiting for the ships crew to just grab one of them.
But much to Athrun's slightly irritation he didn't even get near them, before a certain voice from yesterday called out to him.
"Well now will you look at that, we where just talking about you Athrun Zala and now here you are!" Luna said, while looking the blue hair boy over, with a big smile on her face.
But much to her disappointment he just took a short glance over at her, before he again continued making his way over to the food, it was kinda like she wasn't even presented.
As that was happening Nicol slowly raised his eyebrow, he had only seen Athrun act like this a few times before.
And true it had been a some time now since he had last seen it, there was just no mistake about that expression he had on his face, something was bothering his old friend.
"Athrun what's wrong? I can't even remember the last time you looked that depressed" Nicol said, sounding a bit worried about the blue hair boy.
Looking a few minutes at his green hair friend Athrun tried hard to make up his mind about what he should say.
But finally he let out a deep sigh, while turning his two tired eyes down towards the floor.
"Well it's just that with everything that happened since yesterday Nicol, I can't help but think about all of those friends, we lost in the last war" Athrun explained, with a far away look on his face.
Hearing his old team mate tell him what was going on, Nicol too got a somewhat depressed look in his two brown eyes, as the beautiful smiling face of a certain red hair girl came in to his mind.
Even after two years had gone by since he lost her, there was still times he couldn't get his thoughts away from her.
And those few words Athrun had just said to him, really made him think about her, and many of the other people he had once been fighting along side with.
And finally after sitting there for a few very long minutes far away in the past Luna's voice snapped him right back to where he was now.
"Ok I don't know about the rest, but I for once would really like to know what the two of you are talking about!" The red haired girl said, making both of them look over at her, each of them clearly thinking about the past.
But it was only a few brief seconds later, before Nicol quietly reached down and picked up the glass that was standing in front of him, where he took a small sip of the water, still not taking his eyes away from Luna.
"The two of us was just thinking about a few old friends!" Nicol said in a hard tone that show them all, that it would not be a wise idea to ask him any more questions about just who those old friends were.
Seeing that there was nobody else that was going to ask him anything, Nicol slowly stood up from his place at the table, now again with that far away expression on his face.
"Well if there is nothing else, then I would like to be alone for a bit!" The green hair boy explained, as he turned around and left the mess hall, before anybody there could get the chance to say something else to him.
Once his friend was out of sight, Athrun continued over to where the food filled dishes was standing, where he immediately grabbed two of them.
After that he turned and began making his way back towards the door.
"Do you mind telling us why the hell Nicol looked so depressed, all of us here have known him for some time now and neither of us have ever seen him look like that before, so you better tell us why he was so sad if you know what's good for you!" Shinn said, in a slightly threatening tone.
As he quickly jumped up from his sit, ready to stop the blue hair guy should he by any chance try and get out of the room, without giving him some kind of reply.
Looking at him for a bit, Athrun again sigh loudly. "It's not really my place to say, but he was most likely thinking about a certain person he lost in the last war, one he cared very deeply about" Athrun said, while looking straight in to the boys red eyes. Doing everything to show the Impulse pilot, that he was not going to say another word, even if Shinn asked him.
But there was somebody else that could not see the look Athrun was giving the short tempered boy. "That person he lost was that a girl?" Meyrin asked doing her best not to sound too curious, even true a part of her really want to know.
After knowing Nicol for such a long time, she really didn't think he could be sad, the expression that was mostly on his face was always a happy one, it was kinda hard for her to believe, that he was hiding such a deep sadness inside.
Hearing the Minerva's CIC ask him, that Athrun slowly turned his attention away from Shinn and over at the red hair girl.
Where he looked at her for a few seconds, which was enough for him to tell that the girl really cared about his green hair friend, and one small look around, at the rest of the people up there, was all Athrun need to tell that she wasn't the only one.
"I'm really sorry, but I can't tell you anything, it's up to Nicol to decide if he wants you guys to know or not, so you have to ask him!" Athrun said, while smiling sadly at the pigtailed girl, before he turned around and left the room, without even looking back once.
There was just no way he want to stay there any longer, he did not want the pilots back there, to ask him anything else he couldn't give them a answer to.
So once he was gone with the two dishes, Shinn turned and looked back a the other with a deep unhappy frown on his forehead.
"I don't like that guy, he is so damn irritating and I don't get why he wants to work for that stupid bitch!" The red eyed boy said thinking about the blond girl he had meet yesterday.
Which made him feel a little angry, that he hadn't been able to tell her, what he really thought about her before Nicol had stopped him.
But maybe there would be another chance for him to show the foolish girl just how stupid she was.
But unfortunately he didn't get much time to think about it, before Luna interrupted his thoughts.
"Well I think he is cute, and he is also really handsome!" The red hair girl said in a squeaky voice, and with a look on her face, that told them all that she was clearly thinking about the former piloted of the Justice gundam.
Which made Shinn roll his eyes a single time, as he sat there looking at the girl.
"Heh dream on Luna, he might be dating that Athha girl, but there is no way in hell he got bad enough taste to go out with you Luna!" Shinn joked in a loud tone, and with a big grin on his face.
Which made the red hair girl send him a truly angry glare, as she stood up and walked out of the room muttering something that sounded very much like big jerk, and with Meyrin walking right behind her.
Hearing his fellow pilot say that, Shinn again rolled his eyes. "I don't think, I will ever learn to understand women, why can't they take a joke?" The boy asked in a thoughtful tone, that made it pretty obvious that he was actually trying to figure out an answer to his own question.
At the same time Rey was just sitting there watching him with a sceptical look in both of his eyes. And finally after a few seconds, the blond teen slowly shook his head, while rolling his eyes a single.
"It's really no wonder you don't have a girlfriend!" he said, just before he again continued eating his breakfast in his usual a calm pace, that show he wasn't really in a big hurry to get out of the room.
Shinn on the other hand, had now turned his attention away from the door and was now looking at his best friend, with a somewhat confused look on his face.
But he didn't stay quiet for long, before he opened his mouth, and got out the one question he now want answers to. "And just what is that suppose to mean Rey? I could get a girlfriend if I really want one!" He said in a confident tone, and with a big grin on his face.
Looking at him for a bit, Rey smiled a bit, as he took another bite of his food.
"Not if you talk to her in such a manner, I myself don't have a girl at the moment, but that however doesn't mean I don't know how to talk to a lady" Rey said, while taking a small mouthful of water, before he once again began talking to his somewhat puzzled friend.
"And believe me Shinn most of them would much rather that you called them beautiful or something else nice, then having you insult them" the blond boy said, just as he stood up and walked over and place his now empty dish on the counter.
Which made it so the chef on the ship, could easily get a hold of it, when the time came for him to wash the plates, so they where clean for the crews next meal.
Thinking a few seconds about his friends words, Shinn too stood up as they together walked out of the mess hall, now heading for the Minerva's hangar.
"It's not like, I don't know what to say to a girl Rey, it's just that Lunamaria is always kinda easy to get angry, so I can't imagine who in their right mind would want to go out with her!" The boy said, while thinking back to just how many times the red hair girl had been mad at him, for some unknown reason.
Hearing Shinn say something like that, Rey couldn't help but let out a small laugh.
"Like you are one to talk about getting mad easily, I don't think there is one day that you are not in a bad mood about something Shinn" Rey said, still letting out a few light chuckles, as he took a quick glance over at the Impulse pilot, to see what kind of reaction he had to his words.
But much to Rey's surprise he actually seemed to be considering his words.
It did however not last long, before the thoughtful look disappeared from Shinn's face, as he smiled over at him.
"Yeah well from time to time, I just can't help but want to beat the crap out of everything we meet, especially those three machines!" The boy said loudly, as he used a few seconds to imagine himself tearing the Chaos, Gaia and Abyss, completely apart.
Seeing the now angry look on the other boy's face, Rey felt a small sigh leave him, as he once again began talking to the boy.
"You really should try and get at least a little control over it Shinn, someday you might run in to an opponent you can't beat with just angry and hate alone. You need to have a calm head doing battle, if you do that, I'm sure you can win against most opponents" Rey said, truly hoping that the boy was taking his advise seriously.
Hearing his best friends words, Shinn got a somewhat thoughtful look on his face, while he stood there thinking about Rey's advise.
But after a small minute had gone bym he again turned his two red eyes over towards his friend. "I don't really know about that Rey, but I promise you that I will at least think about what you just said!" The boy said smiling slightly at his fellow pilot.
That on the other hand only nodded a single time in understanding, before they once again continued making their way down to the ships hangar.
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Elsewhere on the ship Luna and Meyrin was walking slowly through the ships halls, the oldest of the two girls still with a deep angry frown on her forehead, as she kept complaining loudly about a certain boy.
"I can't believe that jerk! Why the hell isn't he more mature, stupid childish brat, I should have given him a good smack, when I had the chance!" The girl said in a determined tone, with a slightly evil grin on her face, as she thought about how it would have been had she done something like that.
She did however not give it much of her attention, before she once more continued telling her little sister just how displeased she was with the Impulse piloted.
Not that Meyrin was listening to her.
After hearing her big sister complain about Shinn for almost ten minutes straight. She had decided, that it was properly best to just ignore whatever she was saying, until she was done telling her just how big a moron Shinn was.
Unfortunately by doing something like that, she wasn't prepared when Luna suddenly stopped, and looked right back at her.
"Don't you think so too Meyrin?" She asked, truly expecting her little sister to agree with her, but much to her surprise Meyrin nodded yes to what she had just asked of her.
And once she saw her do that, the frown on her forehead got even bigger.
"So you seriously think Shinn is right about everything he said, I actually thought that you where on my side little sister!" The red hair girl said loudly, just before she turned around and stormed off, not giving Meyrin the chance to get out some kind of responsed.
Seeing her older sister disappearing down the hall, Meyrin couldn't help but let out a small breath, a small part of her feeling a little guilty about what she had just said to her sister.
But after just standing there for a bit she slowly shook her head, as she began making her way towards the bridge.
Thinking about when Luna was going to be in a good mood again, it wasn't like this was the first time the two of them had been fighting about something.
And Meyrin knew that it would only be a matter of time before Luna would forgive her, she always did after she was done sulking, and as far as she knew it could take a few hours before she was back to her usual good mood.
"I better tell her I'm sorry later!" Meyrin said, just before she enter the Minerva's bridges, where she gave Arthur a short salute then walked over to her sit, once she got comfortable there, it didn't take her more then a few minutes, before she was hard at work.
Still thinking about what she should said to her sister, when she was done with everything she need to do. But it didn't take long before her thoughts turned in another direction, as she began thinking about everything that had happened on the ship since yesterday.
It had after all been the very first day that the Minerva had been in real combat, which a small part of her found a tiny bit exciting, but also somewhat scary.
It wasn't really everyday she experienced something like that, and even true she had done everything to concentrate on what she was suppose to do, she had still been very worried about her big sister, just one of the three stolen mobile suits, was just so much more powerful then Lunamaria's ZAKU.
But much to Meyrin's relief, her big sister did come back safely from the battle against the three gundams.
Which in Meyrin's eyes was more important then recover those three deadly weapons.
Not that she was going to mention that to anybody else on the Minerva, now that the whole crew was so keen on getting them back, she just hoped that she wouldn't lose her big sister, while they where trying to accomplish that task.
But while the young woman sat there in her own thoughts.
She didn't noticed that the captain enter the bridge, she was just so far away at the moment, and it was only when the brown hair woman began talking to her, in the usual kind tone that Meyrin and the rest of the crew was use to when they where not in battle.
"What's wrong Meyrin, you don't look well?" Talia asked, making the red hair girl jump slightly in her sit, before she turned and look back at the captain.
Where she immediately blinked a few times over seeing the woman stand just behind her, and she hurried tried to come up with some kind of reply.
But after a few seconds of just opening and closing her mouth a couple of time, she told the captain that there was just a lot of things she need to think about, after everything that had been going on since yesterday, and that Talia didn't need to be concerned about her.
Those words immediately made a sceptical look ran over Talia's face. It was still quite obvious that there was something that was bothering the red hair teen, so after just studying her for a bit longer, Talia again opened her mouth.
"I would like to know what's going on Meyrin, you are the CIC and if you have some kind of problem and can't concentrate on your job, then all of us could be in danger!" The woman said, now sounding a bit angry.
Hearing that, Meyrin again looked up at the captain. "It's just that, I'm a bit worried about my sister when she is out there fighting against the three stolen machines!" The teen explained, as she slowly turned her attention away from the captain, and out at the stars that was in front of the Minerva, now with a slightly sad look on her face.
She hadn't want anybody to know what was bothering her.
Looking a few seconds at the girl Talia couldn't help but smile a bit, before she again began talkingm now in a much more calm tone.
"I'm pleased you told me the truth Meyrin, I know that all of you are having a tough time with everything that has happened!" She said, taking a quick look around at everybody up there, happy each of them where listening to what she had to say.
"I don't really think you have to worry about Luna, she is a good pilot and Shinn, Rey and Nicol are all out there with her, and I'm sure that they will all help her if there was a need for it, just like I know that she would help them, if they where in some kind of trouble" Talia explained, while thinking about just how close the two Hawke sisters was, it kind made her miss her own family back home.
Thinking a bit about everything the captain had just told her, Meyrin couldn't help but smile a bit.
"Thank you captain, I really needed to hear that!" The girl said, as she gave the brown hair woman a grateful nod, before she turned back to her work and once again began typing away at the controls in front of her.
Happy to know that the young girl was back to her usual good mood, Talia just kept standing there watching her work so hard for a few seconds, before she turned away and slowly made her way over to her chair.
Yet just when she was about to drop down in to it, Gilbert's face suddenly appeared up on the monitor, that was located directly in front of her.
"I'm sorry to bug you Talia, but would you please come down here, we got some very serious problems, much worse then the three gundams being stolen, and we need to talk about this right now!" He said sound amazingly calm.
Even true his face show her just how bad the news he want to tell her really was, and it truly made her wonder what was going on.
So after looking at him for a bit, she gave him a small nod. "I will be there shortly Gilbert" she said, as she quickly turned around and began flying over towards the door.
But she didn't get very far when the Chairman called out after her one more time, requesting her to bring Athrun Zala and the Orb princess with her, telling her that they too need to hear about this.
A bit confused by his request, Talia was just about to ask him what in the world was going on, and why it was so important that those two where there too.
But just as the words was about to leave her mouth.
The black hair man cut her of, and began talking in a fast tone, that she almost didn't understand.
"I will see you when you get down here Talia!" He said, just before he once again disappeared from the screen, leaving the entire bridge crew to wonder, what kind of news the Chairman had, that required the present of both of their guests.
And just as Arthur was about to ask the captain, what she thought could be happening.
Talia reached out and opened the door to the bridge, when she immediately disappeared out in to the halls, before any of the crew gather up there could get any kind of words out, that would delay her from getting down to the room where the Chairman was waiting for her.
Once she was gone Arthur quickly returned to his senses and turned back to the rest of the bridge crew.
"Ok you people, I don't know what all of this is about, but it would be best that we all continue with our work, I'm sure the captain will tell us everything if it's important!" The man said, while taking another small look over at the door.
Truly hoping that it wouldn't take to long before the brown hair woman would get back there and explain the situation to all of them.
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It only took about ten minutes before the three of them arrived at Gilbert's room.
Once they got in there, the very first thing they each noticed, was that he was having a somewhat unreadable, yet serious look on his face.
It really made it hard to guess what he had to tell them, especially for the two teenagers that had tried their best to figure out just why they where needed there.
The captain hadn't really said anything that could explain the reason the Chairman had asked to see them, together with the captain of the Minerva, and both of them had actually expect that the man had something very important to say.
Yet now he just sat there looking over a small bunch of paper, getting a more and more strange look in both of his eyes.
And just as Cagalli was about to ask the man, why she and Athrun was there he dropped the paper back down on the desk, and looked up at them.
His eyes almost boring straight in to them, it was like he was trying to see directly through each of them.
But he only did that for a short time, before he let out a small breath as he finally began explaining, why he had asked the three of them to be there. "Junius Seven is moving!" he said, sounding a tiny bit like it was the most normal news he could give them.
Hearing that three pairs of eyes widen in shock, as Cagalli took a small step over towards the desk.
"What do you mean it's moving? I thought it was stable in the debris belt!" The blond girl said loudly.
Once more getting the Chairman's eyes back up at her, where she immediately noticed that he still had that hard serious look in them, not that she cared much about that at the moment, she just want some answers.
That was when Talia reached over and picked up the papers from the desk, it really didn't take much of a genius to figure out, that there was some very important information on it.
And it didn't take long before she had read the whole thing, and was now standing there with a angry and thoughtful expression on her face, that made it somewhat hard to find out, just what she was thinking about.
But after just standing there for a bit she lifted her head and looked over at Gilbert.
"Well this doesn't really tell us all that much Gilbert. I would very much have liked to know why this is happening. I mean is there somebody out there that are trying to move the colony through the atmosphere so it will fall to earth, or is it just a natural occurrence?" The woman asked, as she again looked the paper over, trying to see if there was anything she had missed.
But while she was doing that, the other female in the room once again began talking loudly.
"You can't seriously believe that somebody is moving the whole thing, who in their right mind would do something like that?" The girl asked, she too obviously thinking very hard about, everything she had just heard.
Not that she got a whole lot of time to do that, before the Chairman began talking again.
"I really don't know who would do such a thing princess, but no matter what is going on, it can't be denied that Junius Seven is getting closer and closer to earth" the man said, while taking a brief glance over at Athrun, truly interested in hearing what the blue hair teenager's opinion, was in all of this.
But before he could get the time to ask the teen, Talia removed her eyes from the paper, and looked over at him, asking the one question each of them, would truly like to get an answer to.
"So what are we going to do now Mr Chairman?" The woman asked, deeply hoping that he would said, that they needed to go there and do everything possible, to prevent the colony from falling to earth.
And much to her big relief, he did not disappoint her.
"I do believe that the only thing we can do, is give up on our chase for Bogey One, it's not like any of us know where that ship went anyway, so we need to get to Junius Seven in a hurry and make sure that colony wouldn't crash to earth. That's truly is the most important thing for us and the rest of the crew to be doing right now!" the man explained, as he stood up from the chair, where he quickly took a small look between them.
Where he could immediately tell by their expressions that they all agreed with him, truly glad to know that, he gave each of them a small smile, and was just about to tell Talia that they should properly hurry and get going.
But even before he could get his mouth open, and say anything to the brown hair woman, the last person in the room began talking in a serious tone.
"I know that this might sound a bit strange, but I have a small request Mr Chairman?" Athrun said, with a determined expression, as he took a single step closer to the black haired leader of Zaft.
Who was now looking up at him with a somewhat curious look in both of his eyes, as he sat there studying the young man for a short minute.
"Ok Athrun please do tell, what it is you want to ask!" He said in a kind tone, hoping that this wouldn't take too long, they really didn't have the time for a long conversation.
But if he knew the boy right this would only take a few seconds.
"Well the thing is, I know this ship has an extra mobile suit onboard and that it has no pilot, so if it's all right with you I would like very much permission to use that machine when we reach Junius Seven!" Athrun explained, not once taking his eyes away from the Chairman, he want to see how the man would react, to what he had just asked of him.
But he just turned and took a look over at Talia that looked somewhat thoughtful, but when he saw her nod a single time, Gilbert turned and looked back at the blue hair teen.
"Ok Athrun you can use the ZAKU, if that's what you really want, there is really no doubt that we will have a better chance to stop the colony from falling, if we got more mobile suits out there!" The Chairman said, while he and Talia quickly turned around and left the room, leaving the young couple by them self.
And once they where gone, Cagalli just stood there a few minutes looking at her boyfriend, truly wondering if he was all right with getting in to that green mobile suit one more time.
So after just watching him for a bit she reached over and took his hand, making him look straight in to her eyes.
"Are you really sure you want to do this Athrun?" She asked in a small tone, that showed him just how concerned she was about his safety.
Which actually made him smile a bit at her, as he gave her hand a small gentle squeeze.
"It's not really something I want to do Cagalli, I just feel like I have to do this, there is just so many people I want to protect down on earth, especially those I care about, like Kira, Lacus and Mayu, there is no way I'm going to just sit here on this ship, while there is an option for me to help out!" The boy explained.
Just before he pulled his lovely girlfriend in to a tight hug, and slowly ran his two hands up and down her back.
So while standing there enjoying being in his arms like this, Cagalli thought hard about everything he had just told her, and could of course easily understand why he want to do this.
And now that she thought about it, she kinda wish that the Duel Rouge was up here, so she too could help out, she also wanted to protect all those people she loved and cared about, and everybody else down on earth.
But unfortunately, her own mobile suit was very far away from this place, and there was no way for her to get a hold of it now, so she just had to count on Athrun to protect all of them down there.
"You better be careful out there" she mumbled in to his ear, as she did something she had seen Lacus do so many times in the last war when ever Kira was going out in to a battle, she gave Athrun a light peck on his right cheek.
Smiling a bit at her Athrun gave her a kiss back, this time on her mouth, which she was quick response to by kissing him back. They did however not get long to truly enjoy it.
Before the captain of the grey space ship, began talking loudly out over the speakers.
Telling the entire crew what was happening at Junius Seven, and that all the mobile suits onboard should immediately be made ready to head out, once the Minerva arrived at the colony.
Hearing the captain say all of that, the two of them stood there in their own thoughts, just looking at each other for a short time.
But finally Athrun stepped away from Cagalli.
"I better hurry and get down to the hangar, I want to make extra sure, that there is no damage on the ZAKU this time, our last battle in that mobile suit didn't really go all that well!" The boy said, thinking back to how much trouble, the damage leg had given the two of them, the last time they had used that machine.
And Athrun seriously did not want a repeat of the last battle in that mobile suit, it had almost cost both of their lives, because the mobile suit couldn't stand on the ground without tipping to the left side, and almost falling over every single time they took a step.
"I'll see you when you get back Athrun" Cagalli said, interrupting Athrun in his deep thoughts about the ZAKU.
Once he heard those words he couldn't help but smile a bit at her as the two of them shared one more small kiss before they quickly left the room.
Once out in the halls they took one last look at each other, before Athrun turned and took of towards the hangar, leaving Cagalli to look after him, until he was completely out of sight.
After that she slowly began making her way up to the Minerva's bridge, still thinking about how the person she loved and how it still concerned her that he was going out there to help out, it wasn't like she didn't know how good a fighter he was in a mobile suit,
But if there was actually somebody at Junius Seven, that was insane enough to move the entire colony towards earth, then she was certain that whoever they where, would no doubt be some very dangerous people.
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Meanwhile elsewhere on the ship.
Nicol was busy working on his mobile suit, with a deep thoughtful frown on his face, he just couldn't get his mind of Mayura right now. And it didn't really help that Lunamaria had been hanging around since she arrived at the hangar not that long ago.
For some reason she did remind him a lot of his dear dead friend, even true he already knew that there was a big difference, in the two girls personality.
But now that the red hair ZAKU pilot was standing there with her back turned towards him, she looked somewhat like Mayura, and it really did make his thoughts about the Astray pilot run wild.
Which was clearly showed by that thoughtful expression he now had on his face.
Not noticing how Nicol was looking at her, with that far away yet sad look on his face.
Luna continued telling him loudly about how Shinn had insulted her, and how Meyrin had done the same thing, it was only after a few minutes that she turned and looked back at him.
"What do you think Nicol, don't you think any man would be happy to go out with me?" She asked, hoping for his sake that he wouldn't say something in the same lines as Shinn and Meyrin.
If he did that she would definitely give him a good beating, there was a limit to how many times she want to be insulted in one single day.
And if Nicol did it too, then she would certainly need to show him, just who the heck he was talking to.
Hearing Lunamaria ask him that, Nicol thought very hard about what he should say to her. It wasn't like he didn't think the ZAKU pilot was attractive, she did look quite beautiful.
Especially in her red space suit, but he had never really thought about going out with Luna, and now that she was actually asking him a question about it, he seriously didn't know what to say.
It wasn't like it was a big secret, but the green hair boy had never been good at talking with women, he always felt somewhat shy when he was around them, the only girl he had meet he didn't have those feelings, was when he had been close to Mayura.
But even as he sat there thinking about that, his eyes again land on Lunamaria, and one single look at her face, was enough to tell him that she was still waiting to hear an answer from him.
So after looking at her a bit more Nicol gave her a small smile, even true he was still feeling a deep sadness inside, after thinking about Mayura for such a long time.
But he was pretty good at hiding those emotions away, so nobody could see them, he had after all done it a lot of times now.
"I really do think you are going to make someone very happy one day in the future Luna, and if Shinn doesn't think anybody wants to go out with you, then he should seriously consider getting his eyes check, you truly are a very pretty girl!" The boy said.
Before he quickly looked away from her, not wanting to show of the slightly red glow he now had on his face.
Hearing him give her a compliment like that Luna too felt both of her cheeks get a little red, it had been sometime now since anybody had said something like that to her not since the academy had somebody given her such a nice compliment.
So after looking at the floor for a few minutes, she again slowly lifted her head and once again looked up at her green hair friend, that was now busy working inside his mobile suit.
Which made it clear for her, that he was feeling a little embarrassed right now, not that she didn't knew why.
He wasn't really that kind of person, that would give out a lot of compliments.
And as far as Lunamaria remembered, this was the very first time she had ever heard him say something like that to anybody. So after just standing watching him for some time.
She couldn't help but smile a bit, it truly made her happy to know, that it wasn't everybody on the ship that thought she would end up alone with five cats, as the only company in her life.
"Thank you Nicol, I'm certain that you will make some girl very happy someday too!" Luna said, before she turned around and took of towards her red mobile suit.
With Nicol looking after her for a few seconds, still thinking about Mayura and everything he had experience just now with the other red hair girl.
But once she was out of sight, he quickly shook his head a few times to get his mind back to the present.
It wasn't really the right time for him to think about the past, he could always do that later, and with that in mind it didn't take long before he was once again working hard on his yellow war machine.
It was much after that before Athrun enter the hangar dressed in a red Zaft space suit, he had borrow from the pilot ready room.
And even true Nicol was still quite busy, making the last few adjustments on his mobile suit, to make absolutely sure that everything function as it should, he couldn't help but feel somewhat surprised, at seeing his former team mate, in something like that again.
So once he got over his minor shock he hurried jumped away from the GOUF and began making his way over towards his blue hair friend, that was at this exact moment standing directly in front of the only mobile suit in the hangar that didn't have a pilot.
So once Nicol got over to him, he too looked up at the ZAKU wondering a bit why Athrun found so interesting.
But before he could ask him about it, Athrun opened his mouth and began talking in a small tone that only Nicol could hear, and that was only because he was now standing right behind him.
"I truly didn't think, that after the last war, that there would ever come a time where it was necessary, for me to get in to a mobile suit and fight again" Athrun said in a far away tone, as he thought back to many of the things he had done while piloting the Justice gundam.
Like the time where he had destroyed the Forbidden gundam and killed that lunatic inside that machine, and that other time where he and Kira, had been fighting a minor army of mobile suits.
Hearing those few words, Nicol slowly looked away from the ZAKU and over at his blue hair friend, where he saw that both of Athrun's green eyes was still turned towards the ZAKU, obviously thinking very hard about something.
Seeing that, Nicol was just about to say something to his friend, when Athrun finally turned and looked over at him.
"Why did you decide to get in to a mobile suit again, Nicol?" The blue hair teenager asked, now sounding just a tiny bit curious, even true it was kinda hard to tell at the moment.
It was quite obvious that Athrun still had a lot of things he need to think about.
Not that Nicol had anything against that, it gave him the time he need to come up with an answer to Athrun's question, and after a few minutes he began talking in the same kind of voice as Athrun, he seriously didn't want anybody else down here to hear him.
"I don't really know Athrun, I just felt like I had to protect the world that Mayura lost her life for" the green hair boy said, while looking down at the floor.
He didn't even noticed that Athrun was now looking straight at him, and it was only when he felt a hand being placed on his shoulder, that he removed his attention up from the floor and turned back towards his friend, where he saw Athrun smiling sadly at him.
"I'm sorry that I asked Nicol, I didn't mean to bring up any painful memories" Athrun explained.
Hearing that Nicol felt a small sad smile ran over his lips, as he took a brief glance back at his GOUF, before he again looked at Athrun.
"It's all right Athrun, I know you didn't do it on purpose, but to talk about something else, I guess that you are going out too, once we reach Junius Seven, otherwise I can't see the reason why you are dressed in that space suit!" The green hair man said, as he wonder slightly, if Athrun was as good a pilot, as he was two years ago.
He did however not get much time to really think about it, before Athrun began talking in a very determined tone, that Nicol hadn't heard him use since the last war.
"You absolutely right Nicol, I am going to help you guys out once we get there. I just can't sit around in here while something like this is happening, there is just no way we can allow Junius Seven to fall!" Athrun said, again thinking about how many people was down on the green and blue planet.
Smiling a bit at everything, Athrun had just told him, Nicol nodded a single time in understanding.
"Hm I see, I'm glad to know that all of us on Minerva, is fighting for the exact same thing Athrun, you are going to be a great help out there" Nicol said, thinking back to just how good a pilot his blue hair friend had been in the past.
And if he skills hadn't diminished, then he knew that he and the rest of the Minerva's pilots, would surely have a great allied when they arrived at Junius Seven.
Think a few seconds about what Nicol had just said, Athrun slowly opened his mouth and was just about to say something back.
When suddenly Lunamaria landed beside them, where she immediately looked Athrun over in his space suit, thinking about how handsome he was in that thing, and it truly made her wonder if he liked the sight of her dressed in her own space suit.
But much to her disappointment, his expression didn't really give her any clues, about what he was thinking about right now.
So after watching him a bit longer, the red hair girl felt a small angry frown ran over her forehead, as she began speaking to him in a voice that clearly, show both of the boys, that she was kidding around right now.
"Well, well so you are going out too, are you sure that you can still remember how to pilot a mobile suit. As far as I know it has been some time since you last used one!" She said now looking straight in to his eyes, with a teasing smile on her face, as she stood there waiting eagerly for some kind of reaction to her words.
But unfortunately he did disappointed her one more time, by just smiling a bit at her, as he gave her a reply back, in the same teasing tone of voice, she had just been using a few minutes ago.
"You don't have to worry about me, there is no way I'm going to let a few bunch of novices fresh out of the academy show me up!" He said, still with that smile on his face.
Hearing him say that Luna got a somewhat angry look on her face. "I'm not a novice, I'll show you when we get out there!" the girl said loudly, as she turned around and began making her way back towards her red mobile suit.
Seeing her leave with that angry look on her face, Nicol quickly call out after her before she could get to far away.
"Hey Lunamaria wait just a sec, there is one small thing, I need to tell you!" The green hair boy said, in a loud tone.
Which immediately made the girl stop, and look back at him, still looking somewhat angry, which made it clear for both of the boys, that Nicol better hurry up and tell her what he wanted.
"Please do be careful out there Luna, and don't worry to much about what Athrun is saying he is just teasing you!" Nicol explained, while looking directly in to Luna's two blue eyes with an expression on his face, that told her that he was serious about everything he had just told her now.
He truly didn't want the red hair ZAKU pilot, to get seriously hurt, because she was busy showing of her skills.
But a small part of Nicol already knew that Lunamaria was clever enough not to do something that reckless. She always seemed to take whatever battle they where in very serious.
But Athrun's teasing words might have given her pride a small hit.
It did however not take long, before it became obvious to him that he had nothing to worry about, that smile she now had on her face, was all he need to see, to know that she hadn't taken any of the things Athrun had said to serious.
"You don't have to worry about me Nicol, I will be all right. I'm actually more concerned about you two, I really don't want to be the one who has to salvaged your mobile suits, if you guys gets beaten out there!" she said in a determined tone, as she again continued the rest of the way over to her ZAKU, still with that small grin on her face.
Looking after her for a few seconds, both former members of the Le Creuset team, slowly shook their heads.
"She got quite the temper!" Athrun said sounding just a bit thoughtful, as he turned and looked over at his green hair friend, that nodded slowly in agreement.
"Yes she does, but she truly is a good pilot, she did keep the Gaia busy all on her own, in the last battle we where in" Nicol explained, while thinking back to what little he had seen of the fight between the black gundam and the red mass-produced mobile suit.
And he could without lying said, that she had done a very impressive job back there, it certainly did explain how she had gotten her red uniform.
Thinking a bit about what Nicol had just said about the girl, Athrun turned and took a short glance over at the white mobile suit, seeing the blond guy he had seen a few times around the ship.
The other one that had insulted Cagalli, was no where to be seen.
"So how about the other two pilots, anything I need to look out after when we get there?" Athrun asked in a very serious tone.
He want to be totally sure that he was as prepared for this as possible, and knowing just a little about the people he might be fighting together with, once the Minerva finally arrived at Junius Seven, was in his eyes a very good idea.
Hearing his friends question, Nicol looked straight up at the ceiling, with a somewhat thoughtful expression on his face, as he slowly reached up and scratched his long green hair.
"Hmm let see, there might be a few things" he said, still sounding like he was thinking quite hard about something.
It did however not take Nicol much time before he was telling Athrun, a little about how Shinn and Rey fought once they got out in to a battle, he especially made certain to mention, how well the Impulse pilot and the ZAKU piloted worked together.
Which made Athrun nod a single time in understanding.
While Nicol told him a few other thing, not really the biggest secrets around the ship, just those few minor things, that all who had seen the other two male pilots on the Minerva fight, would figure out almost immediately.
000000
As the two friends was talking down at the hangar.
The bridge was full of activity as the ship was getting closer and closer to Junius Seven. There had been pretty quiet up there, for the last few minutes, as the crew was busy doing their work.
But the silence was brought to and end, when Meyrin suddenly began talking in a loud tone, while she turned and looked back at the woman in charge.
"Captain we just receive a message from the Zaft forces already at Junius Seven, apparently they are under attack by an unknown force, that is trying to stop them from moving the colony away from earth!" The red hair girl said, as she moved her attention back towards her screen, to see if anything else was coming in.
But it really did seem like, the message was done.
Hearing Meyrin tell her that, Talia couldn't help but give her low lips a small hard bite, as a deep angry frown ran over her forehead.
She really didn't like the idea that somebody was working against them.
And she truly wonder who the heck those people was, and why they where doing something this crazy. She did however not get much time to think about it, before Gilbert's voice could be heard all over the bridge.
"So it truly isn't God's will after all" he said in a tone that made it clear for all of them, that he wasn't happy to know that somebody was actually involved in moving the entire space colony.
And that far away expression, that was now on his face, really made the crew wonder, just what exactly the Chairman was thinking about.
But it only took a few seconds, before Talia slowly turned both of her eyes away from him, and over on Meyrin. "How much time does it take before we get there?" She asked loudly, seriously hoping that they would get there before it was too late.
But once the girl told her that they where almost there, she immediately took a brief look out of the window where she could see the giant colony in the distance.
Truly relieved that they where just about there, she hurried yelled out a few loud orders.
"Ok lower the bridge, and make sure that our pilots knows that they have to fight once we arrive there!" The woman said taking a look around at the crew, that was doing everything to carry out her orders, as quickly as possible.
And she could already hear, Meyrin talk loudly to all the mobile suit pilots.
It was just about the same time, that Bart told her a few more bad news.
"Captain! Bogey One is there, I can't really tell what it's doing from this distance, but I do think it's safe to assume that it's involved somehow!" He told her, while trying to find any signs of the three stolen gundams, but apparently none of them had joined the party yet.
Hearing those words Talia couldn't help but mutter out a few curses, just as Meyrin began telling Luna and the other pilots, what they had to go up against, once they got to Junius Seven, and it was only a short minute later before Shinn began talking in a loud angry tone.
"Well that's just great! I guess we just have to beat the crap out of those three bastards one more time!" The boy yelled, making it sound a bit like it was going to be much easier this time, to defeat the three gundams.
Listening to the boy's words, the captain of the Minerva felt a small frown ran over her forehead, as she began talking to the boy in a serious tone.
"Please remember Shinn that fighting those three are not our primary objective this time, you guys need to cover the work crew there, so they can get enough time to change Junius Seven's path!" The woman explained loudly, out over the radio.
"I know, I know, but if we can get those guys too, then I really don't think we should let this chance slip by us!" The boy said, in a determined tone and with a small grin on his face, as he did a few minor adjustments to the controls in the Core Splendor, making sure that everything in the small aircraft was ready, once he and the others finally got out there.
Not really happy to know that the boy was this keen on fighting the three stolen mobile suits.
Talia was just about to tell him one more time, what they need to do at Junius Seven.
Yet before she could even get her mouth open somebody else cut in, and began talking in a somewhat calm yet serious tone, that all of them couldn't help but listen to.
"I don't think you have to worry Talia, I'm quite certain that all of us here, already knows what's at stake, if Junius Seven falls there is no telling how many people will die, and I highly doubt that anybody here would like to witness something so terrible" Gilbert said, taking a small look around at everybody gather up there, where he noticed that some of them was obviously thinking very hard about what he had just said.
Which made a small smile ran over his lips, it was truly nice to know that they all where fighting for the same thing.
And it really made him believe that the Minerva and her crew could stop whatever was happening at Junius Seven, and even as those thoughts was running through the Chairman's head.
The grey space ship continued flying with full speed towards the battle that was waiting just ahead of them, while all the mobile suits was being made ready to launch.
To be continued.