Chapter 10
It was about three days after Athrun had left.
And even true Cagalli did miss him, she did not really get all that much time to think about him. Seeing as she was forced to listen to Yuna, Unato and most of the other politician blabber about, just how good an opportunity it was, for Orb to join up with the Earth Forces.
But truth be told Cagalli was getting quite tired of listening to them, they had almost been talking for two straight hours now, and that was more then enough to drive even the most normal person insane.
And Cagalli was just about ready to scream at the top of her lungs.
Especially when she heard Yuna, talk about how much they would gain by join the Earth Forces.
But that was also all he got out before Cagalli interrupted. "I just don't see why all of you are so eager to join them, have all of you already forgotten what they did to us in the past, just try and think about how many of our citizens they end up killing in their attack" The blond girl said, not doing a single thing to hid, the glare she was sending Yuna right now.
But even with her hateful look turned at him Yuna just smiled a bit at her, as he began talking to her in a friendly tone.
"We all do remember what they did Cagalli. But that's in the past, as I'm sure you know, we have to think about the future, and what will be best for Orb, we can't be the only nation on earth, that wouldn't join the once that is trying to protected us from Zaft" the purple haired man said, still keeping that damn annoying grin on his face.
Hearing him say all of that and seeing his smug expression, was almost enough to make Cagalli jump full speed over the table and beat the crap out of the brain dead moron.
But fortunately she restrain from doing just that. If she really did follow through on those emotions that told her to do that, she was certain that she would lose the rest of the support, she had from the other politicians.
"Zaft is no threat to us or anybody else down here, they don't want another war, the only thing they want is to live in peace, just like the rest of us!" Cagalli said in a loud tone.
While once again wondering just how in the Devil's name the entire Seiran family could be so damn arrogant and irritating, why did they have to be like this? Why the heck was it necessary for Orb to get involved.
It was so much better that they just remain neutral, like they had done in the last war, what in the world was it, that made Yuna and Unato insisted so hard on joining up with the Earth Forces.
Unfortunately she did not get all that much time to really think about that, before Unato cut of her thoughts.
"That's not how I and most of the world see it Cagalli, and you should know why, you where after all present when they did that terrible thing at Junius Seven, do you have any idea how many people down here would have been killed, if they really had succeed in dropping the colony?" The man asked, as he sat there looking directly over at the blond girl, trying to figure out what she was going to say now.
And he didn't have to wait for long, before she turned her attention away from Yuna and over at him.
"Zaft had nothing to do with those guys who tried to drop the colony. They really did everything they possible could, to prevent those guys from carrying out their plan, we should be grateful to them, instead joining up with those people that only bears a grudges against them because they are Coordinators" The girl said in a hard tone, not once taking her eyes away from Unato.
"And you all know as well as I do, that Orb has never hate Coordinators in the past, so why do we need to start now?" The blond girl asked, slowly letting her eyes ran over the other politicians in there.
But one small look at their face was more then enough for her to tell, that most of them didn't agree with what she had just said.
Something that actually made her curses them slightly in her mind, as she wonder how much sucking up the Seiran's had done, to make most of them to take their side in this.
"Cagalli it's not that we hate Coordinators, we just need to do what is best for Orb, and all of us here agrees that we will be more safe if we and the Earth Forces stood together, if Zaft should try something" Yuna said, while giving her that caring smile.
Which Cagalli could honestly tell, she hated with a passion if anybody ever asked her.
But after doing a small shook with her head, to get her mind away from Yuna's dumb look she again began talking.
"I don't believe for a second that Zaft will do anything, they just want to defend them self, and who the hell can blame them, when the Earth Forces attacks with nuclear missiles just a few days after they declared war. And please explain to me why the heck, all of you are so damn keen on working together with somebody that does something that crazy!" Cagalli said, doing everything to show the two Seiran's that she was not going to change her opinion about this.
It was just about that time that, Yuna stood up and walked over behind her, where he placed both of his hands on her shoulders.
"The reason we need to join them is simply because if Zaft create something like GENESIS again, we need to be able to protect our self from them and the best way for us to do that, will be by fighting together with the Earth Alliance" Yuna said, not noticing how uncomfortable he was making Cagalli right now.
If anybody where to take a good look at her face, they would easily be able to tell, that she truly disliked having Yuna massage her shoulders like this.
Unfortunately much to her big irritation she couldn't really do anything about it right now.
So after giving her lower lips a small yet hard bite she once again tried to make the other politicians in there see the wisdom in what she was saying.
"I don't believe Zaft would do something like that, Chairman Durandal truly does seem to be a wise man, who wish for nothing else then peace for the entire world!"
Cagalli said while taking a short glance back at Yuna, truly hoping he wouldn't continue rubbing her shoulders like this for much longer now.
It seriously was getting on her nerves having a person she hated so much, doing something like this for her, the only person in her mind that had permission to massage her shoulders was the one she loved, and he wasn't there.
"And I don't believe Orb can afford to take that risk miss Cagalli, there really isn't anyway you can know what the Chairman and the Plants are planing even as we speak, and that could in my eyes get us in serious trouble" Unato said, while smiling a bit at the blond hair girl. Not even noticing how pissed off she was getting, he just continued talking like everything was just dandy.
"Which is the reason why, I think it would be best of we where allied with somebody, and it truly does seems like joining the Earth Forces would befit us the most, don't the rest of you agree?" The man asked, taking a small look around at everybody else there, where saw most of them nod yes to his words.
Something that was more then enough to make a small satisfied smile, ran over his lips. Seeing that all of them where agreeing with Unato on this, the blond teenager almost cursed the two Seiran's out loud.
She knew that there was no way she could win this discussion now, that all of the other politicians was ready to do what Yuna and Unato was suggesting.
But that however didn't mean she was going to let Unato have the last words, so after shaking away Yuna's damn hands.
She stood up and looked over all of them. "Ok if you all feel like that, I guess we got no other options then to join the oh SO great and powerful Earth Forces, but I seriously hope that this wouldn't somehow come back and bite us in the ass, now if you will excuse me I have other things to do!" Cagalli said.
Just as she turned around, and left the room before anybody there could say anything else to her, that would only serve to make her even more angry.
But even as she was walking down the halls, she couldn't help but wonder, just how disappointed her father would be right now.
"I'm so sorry that I couldn't stop them father!" The girl said quietly to herself, while squeezing together both of her fists tightly, making her nails dig in to the soft skin that she had on both of her hands.
But even as she was doing that, a few tears slowly left both her eyes and ran down her cheeks.
Luckily she was in such a big hurry, that none of the people she pasted, noticed that she was actually crying.
It did however not take all that long before she arrived at her office, where she immediately slammed the door opened and went inside, where the first thing she saw, was a beautiful vase, filled with roses standing on her table.
Thinking a few seconds about who could have send her something like that, she stormed over and picked up the card, that was laying beside the flowers.
And it was only a short moment later before her hand flew out and grabbed on to the vase, where she hurry pulled back and throw the object full speed in to nears wall, destroying the vase completely.
"Damn you Yuna and you too Unato!" She muttered to herself in a angry tone, while looking around the room for anything else, her so call fiancée had left for her.
But much to her small irritation there wasn't anything else in the room, she wanted to take her anger out on.
So after standing there for a few minutes, making sure that her office was somewhat Seiran free, she walked over and sat down in her chair, thinking hard about what she should do now.
It was most likely a good idea to tell the married couple and the rest of the Archangel's crew about this. For some reason, she could not help but feel like, it wouldn't be long now, before there once again was a need for the white space ship.
And with that in mind, she stood up and quickly left her offices again.
She truly didn't feel like talking with anybody at this moment especially Yuna. If he did show up now, she was certain she would give him almost the same treatment as the vase she had just destroyed.
And even true she would honestly would love to give the purple haired fool a black eye or two, she knew deep inside that it was a bad idea.
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It was about an hour later when Cagalli arrived at her destination.
But even true she knew what she had to tell the people inside the house.
It took her about ten long minutes, before she left the car and began walking slowly towards the building. Not caring at all about the heavy rain that was falling on her from above, the only thing she had on her mind at the moment, was how they all where going to react, when she explained to them, that Orb was going to do join up with the Earth Forces.
She just hoped that they wouldn't tell her that they had to leave now, she really didn't want for Lacus and Kira to move away from earth and back to the Plants, they where after all the only family she had left.
And if they where to leave, the blond haired woman realized that it would be almost impossible for her to ever see them, which wasn't something she wanted.
Kira was after all her brother and Lacus was one of her best friends other then Miriallia, but she would most likely also leave if Dearka was heading back home to the Plants, she was after all in-love with the former Zaft pilot.
"DAMN YOU TO HELL YUNA!" She yelled finally giving in to those feelings that want for her to just scream how much she hated that fool of a Seiran.
But after she did that, it didn't take long before the door to the house flew open and she saw Dearka stick his head outside, where he took a quick look around until his eyes landed on her.
"Hey girl! What are you standing around out here for?" He asked sounding a bit puzzled, with everything that was going on right now, he did not understand how, the blond haired girl, had the time to be out there.
It did however not take him long, before he noticed the truly depressed expression she had on her face.
Seeing that he hurried stepped out in to the rain and took a hold on her hand, and began pulling her with him towards the house.
It did not really take that big a genius to see, that if he didn't take her inside, she would just kept standing around out there in the rain, with that completely crushed look on her face.
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At the same time inside the house, to be more exact in the living room, the rest of the inhabits of the house was busy relaxing Kira was playing video games against Mayu and Andrew Waltfeld, while Lacus was messing around with Haro, and Murrue was reading in a book.
Truth be told, everything was just so nice and peaceful, something all of them could not help but enjoy.
But the up until now quiet day was quickly brought to a hold when Dearka enter the living room escorting a sad looking Cagalli.
Seeing the sad look on his sister's face Kira didn't waste anytime in jumping up from the floor and move over in front of his sister. "Cagalli, what in the world are you doing here, I thought you had that important meeting today!" Kira said, while looking directly in to her two sad eyes.
Hearing him say that, Cagalli slowly moved her eyes away from the floor and looked up her brother.
"I did Kira, it ended not that long ago. And not the way I want it, for some reason the Seiran's and everybody else there, thinks it's for the best if Orb joins up with the Earth Forces, and fight together with them against Zaft!" Cagalli said, while a few more tears ran down her face, and she let out a light sob.
"You can't be serious girl? I knew that the Seiran's was a bunch of morons, but I didn't think it was that bad!" Dearka complained in a truly angry tone, from where he was sanding behind the blond girl.
It might have been along time since he had left Zaft, to live down here together with Miriallia. That however did not mean, he had to like the idea of the Earth Forces and Orb combining their forces against Zaft.
Dearka however wasn't the only one shocked about hearing what Cagalli had just told them.
Pretty much everybody there had a somewhat far away look in their eyes, as they all stood there trying their best, to find at least a little sanity and reason to why, the Seirans was so eager, to have Orb help out the people that invaded them two years ago.
And it took about five whole minutes, before Lacus stepped over and pulled her sister-in-law in to a small hug.
"I'm deeply sorry to hear that Cagalli, but will you please stop blaming yourself, believe me when I say that this is not your fault. I know for certain you did everything you could to prevent Orb from joining up with them. Each of us here understands that, and I'm quiet certain that your father would have understood too!" Lacus said, while slowly running her hands up and down Cagalli's back, doing her best to try and calm the other girl down.
Hearing his wife say that, was enough to get Kira's mind away from the two Seirans, and over at the person that could no doubt use some comfort right now.
It was after all clear for each of them, that the reason Cagalli had taken the time to come all the way out there, was because she was depressed about what Orb was going to do.
"Lacus' right sis, there is no way this can be your fault, we all realize just how hard you have been working the last few days, to make sure that Orb stays neutral" Kira said in a somewhat far away tone, while trying a bit to figure out how this would effect Lacus' and his life there, with most of the world hating Coordinators, it might soon be impossible for them to keep living there.
He did however not think about that for long, before it was his turn to give his sister a hug.
"So what do you think I should do now Kira. I don't really want to go home, I'm certain that damn moron is there, waiting to try and comfort me!" Cagalli said in a slightly bitter tone.
Not really finding the need to mention, who exactly she was talking about, not that the others didn't already knew.
Now however it was Mayu's turn, to put in her two cents about the subject. "I don't get why you don't just kick his ass, big sis Cagalli, he is such a weakling that even I could beat him up, with no trouble at ALL!" The smallest woman there said in tone, that made it a completely obvious that she was serious about everything she had just said.
She was actually so far away in her thoughts about beating up Yuna, that she did not noticed that everybody else there, was looking at her with a sceptical look on their faces.
And it was only when Murrue gave her daughter a light tap at the back of her head, that the girl snapped back out of her somewhat violent thoughts.
"Where do you get those ideas that everything can be handle with violence?" The woman asked, while looking straight in to Mayu's eyes, but much to Murrue's slight disappointment, her daughter was way to smart to give her an honest answer to that question.
"I see it all the time, on those children programs they show in the morning!" The girl explained loudly, doing her best to look as innocent as she possible could.
That however did not fool Murrue for even a second.
She already knew that there was no way Mayu was going to tell her, where she had really picked it up from. But if Murrue had to guess, she was almost certain that Mayu had heard it from one of those crazy movies, she was always watching together with Dearka.
That however was not something Murrue was happy about, but she knew that now was not the best time, to try and talk Mayu out of watching those kind of films.
She had already done that more then a few times in the past, but no matter how many times they would have that discussion, Mayu would always find someway to join Dearka in the living room, every time there was a good thriller on the TV.
"Yeah right, like I'm going to believe that young lady, but now is not the right time, we can always talk about that later" Murrue said, while looking over at Cagalli that by now was sitting on the couch, between the married couple.
Just one single look at the blond haired girl, was all that Murrue need to tell that she was almost completely exhausted. Both of her eyes had a somewhat red colour in them, and it was obvious that she was having a hard time, keeping them open.
It really did seem like she was ready to sleep just about anywhere, and just the sight of her like this was more then enough to make Murrue feel a bit sorry for the young woman.
Murrue had always thought, Cagalli had a very hard job for someone her age, and with everything that was going on in the world right now, it had to be almost twice as hard as normal.
But just as Murrue was about to say that the girl could spend the night there, someone else beat her to it.
"Well princess I really don't think it's a good idea to let you go back home on your own, so why don't you take the guests room tonight, it's obvious that you are just about ready to collapse!" Andrew said, from where he was standing over by the window.
The rain that had been coming down when the girl had arrived was now coming down twice as hard, and he could see a few flashes of lightning in the distance.
It didn't take a weather broadcast to tell, that things out there, was getting bad very quickly, the wind was speeding up, and it was clear that it wouldn't be long now, before a really bad storm would be over them.
And there was just no way, he would let Cagalli drive home in this kind of weather.
Hearing the man said that Cagalli couldn't help but give him a small yet grateful smile. "Thank you Waltfeld, so if none of you mind, I really don't feel like talking right now so if it's all right with you, I think it would be best that I go to bed immediately!" the blond girl said, as she stood up and began walking towards the direction of the guests room.
Seeing as she had already visited them more then a few times in the past, she of course had no trouble, at all locating the room.
Seeing her leave in that tired fashion Lacus too stood up from the couch and walked over to the phone.
"Now that Cagalli is going to spend the night out here, I do believe it would be for the best to call miss Myrna and tell her that Cagalli is here with us, that way she wouldn't have to worry about her!" Lacus said.
Just before she picked up the devices and began dialing in the number of the Myrna's mobile phone, and it had only been ringing a few times before she heard the voice of the woman at the other end of the line.
"Hello miss Myrna this is Lacus, I just want to tell you that Cagalli is out here" Lacus said in her usual kind voice, even true deep inside, she was just as sad about all of this, as the rest of them.
But she really didn't want to make Myrna more worried then she most likely already was. And even as she stood there with the phone it took a little time before she heard the woman asked, how lady Cagalli really was feeling.
Hearing Myrna ask that Lacus couldn't help but let out a small breath, as she took a glance over at Birdy that was sitting on her right shoulder, think about if it really was a good idea, to tell Myrna how depressed Cagalli had been when she arrived there.
But when Myrna asked her to please tell her the truth, Lacus looked away from her husband's robot bird and down at the phone.
"She was completely crushed, it's been a very long time since I have seen her this sad!" Lacus said.
Just as she felt Kira take a hold on her hand and give it a small squeeze, that she immediately returned with one of her own, as she listened to Myrna ask her if they would please look after Cagalli tonight, and that she would come out there to get her in the morning if it was necessary.
That however made Lacus drop Kira's hand as she tighten her grib on the phone. "I don't think it's that bad miss Myrna, I'm sure she will be feeling much better after getting some rest, it's obvious that she haven't been sleeping much the last few days" Lacus explained, as she heard the woman tell her that if anything else was wrong they better call her immediately.
Hearing the older woman demand that Lacus felt a small smile ran over her lips, as she immediately promised Myrna that they would call her if anything else should happen.
After that it did not take long before the conversation was over, and the pink hair girl slowly placed the phone back on it's right full place.
"So what do we do now?!" Lacus asked, as she turned around and looked back at the others, where she was quick to realize ,that they where all looking at her right now.
"Aunty Myrna, sound pretty worried about big sis Cagalli" Mayu said in a small tone, from where she was sitting beside Murrue, with a somewhat far away look on her face.
It was obvious that the youngest female there, had just as much on her mind, as the rest of the household. It was however only when, Lacus sat down in the only empty chair, that was left that the silence was brought to a hold.
"I don't really think there is much we can do right now, we just have to wait and see what else is going to happen. It's not like we can do anything about Orb joining the Earth Forces, and even true I would honestly like to do what Mayu suggested and kick Yuna's ass, this is not the right time. If we start something now, it could end very badly, so lets wait and see how Zaft will response to this!" Andy said, as he picked up his mug.
Where he hurried swallowed the rest of the liquid inside, even true it had gone cold a long time ago.
But he frankly didn't care much about that at the moment.
He had way to many things on his mind, to really worry about how bad the coffee tasted, and it was first after he placed his mug back on the table that one of the others cut in.
"Ok I get what you are saying Waltfeld, but I don't like this at all!" Dearka said in a somewhat unhappy tone.
As he tried a bit to figure out what Zaft was going to do, but seeing as his knowledge about Chairman Durandal was limited, it was kinda hard for him to guess what exactly the man was planing, now that Orb was fighting along side the Earth Forces.
It was about that time that Kira interrupted his. "None of us like this Dearka, but I think Mr Waltfeld is right, the only thing we can do is wait and see what the Plants are going to do" the brown hair man said.
As he thought back to some of the more awful things, he had done two years ago in the last war, he might not think about it that often anymore.
But there was still a lot of things he was feeling guilty about, like killing one of Dearka's dear friends, and not being able to do a single thing to save Tolle or Asagi, both of them had after all gotten killed almost directly in front of him.
Seeing the depressed look that was on Kira's face, Lacus slowly reached out and gently placed her hand on his arm, making him move his attention away from the floor and over at her.
"What's wrong Kira?" She asked with a somewhat worried gaze in both of her eyes, that did decreased a tiny bit when Kira reached up and took her hold of her hand, then pulled her small embrace.
"It's nothing Lacus I was thinking about a few old friends!" The boy explained, while taking in the lovely scent of her long newly washed hair, wondering slightly what kind of shampoo she used to give it that nice scent.
He did however not get much time, to enjoy the smell before she slowly moved just a bit away from him looking straight in to his purple eyes, immediately noticing the bit of sadness that was still in them.
But she knew better then to ask one more time, Kira didn't really like talking about the last war in front of everybody else.
Especially if miss Murrue was present, for whenever they where talking about what happened two years ago, the chance of Mu getting mentioned was pretty high.
And both she and Kira knew how depressed the former captain of the Archangel had been, when the blond man had died, and none of them liked the idea of making the brown haired woman sad.
Unfortunately she did not get much time to think about that, when suddenly a big sound of thunder could be heard almost straight above the house.
And it was only a short second later, before a big bolted of lightning could be seen a short distance away from the house. And it was at that exact moment that every single electrical device in there stopped doing their job.
Seeing that happening, Dearka was quick to yell out a few curses.
"Ahhhh damn it! That's just perfect!" The boy said, with a great deal of sarcasm in his voice, as he began walking over towards a drawer that was suppose to be at the end of the living room.
It was a bit hard to get over there in the darkness that was surrounding all of them, but when he finally found his way over there, he hurried pull out a small flashlight from drawer number two.
And it was only a brief moment later, before he turned it on, and looked back at the others, asking them what they where suppose to do now that the power was gone.
Thinking a bit about what Dearka was asking them, Lacus was the first one to reply.
"I for one think we should follow Cagalli's good example and get to bed early, we all do have a lot to talk about, with everything that is happening, but I'm sure that you guys agree with me, that it's kinda hard to have such a serious conversation without being able to see each other" Lacus said, as she reached down and picked up Haro from the floor, so nobody would accidently step on him.
Hearing her big sister figure, suggest what they could do, Mayu was just about to complain that doing something like that was boring, and that she want to do something fun.
But before the brown haired girl could even get her mouth open, there was another exploding sound and bright flash of lightning outside.
It took almost five whole seconds before the sound of the thunder once again disappeared, and the only thing all of them could hear now, was the rain hitting the roof of the house quite hard.
But they didn't get to listen to that for long, before Mayu began talking in a loud tone. "Ok let's go to bed everybody, good-night!" She called out to them, just before she ran of down the hall, heading straight for her mother's room, instead of her own.
Seeing Mayu disappear like that, Kira felt a small smile ran over his lips. "I just can't help but think Mayu is a bit strange from time to time, she is not afraid watching horror movies, but she is afraid of lightning" the teenager said in a wondering tone, while thinking about how quick Mayu had left the living room, after the last flash of lightning.
It was about that time Murrue stepped over next to him and Lacus, where she gave each of them a friendly smile.
"Yeah I noticed that too Kira, but I guess that's just the way she is. Now then I better hurry up and get going before she comes back here to look for me, so good-night everybody!" The brown haired woman said, as she walked off to search for her daughter.
And it wasn't long after that before the rest of the people in the living room was heading of to bed too, still with the gigantic storm making a terrible noise outside the house.
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It did not take much time before Murrue arrived at her room, where the first thing she noticed was Mayu sitting on her bed, already dressed in her favorite pyjamas.
Seeing that Murrue smiled a bit as she walked over and sat down next to the girl.
"I don't think you have to worry that much Mayu, the power might be out, but this house is perfectly safe from thunder" the woman said, as she reached out and took her step-daughter's hand, which she immediately gave a small squeeze.
Feeling that Mayu looked up at her mother and smiled a bit back.
"I know that mom, but I just don't like it, it makes me feel nervous for some reason, so can I stay in here tonight?" She asked, while doing her very best to make sure that Murrue, could see her puppy dog eyes even with the entire room covered in darkness.
It really did seem like the power was going to be out for the rest of the night.
But even true Murrue couldn't really see her daughter face all that well, she already knew what kind of expression she had on it, something that was enough to make her let out a light chuckle, while she gave Mayu the answer to her question.
"Of course you can stay in here, as long as you behave, I already know how restless and destructive you can be when you can't sleep" Murrue said in a teasing tone, while she moved the cover away from the bed and got ready to get in.
Hearing her mother say that Mayu immediately got a small unhappy frown on her forehead.
"Ok so I destroyed an alarm clock that one time, but that damn thing was preventing me from falling asleep!" The eleven-year-old girl said, thinking back to how she had destroyed the very first birthday gift, Dearka had ever given to her.
And even true she had honestly felt really guilty about doing such a thing. Dearka had just laughed at her and told her that it was all right.
Now that she was really thinking about it, the whole house had actually been laughing at her.
Which wasn't really something she had been overly happy about. Even now they would sometimes tease her, about how angry she could get, if she was unable to fall asleep.
"Ok mom I promise you that I wouldn't destroy anything in here if I can't sleep, now can I please get under the cover, just so you know your daughter is freezing a lot right now!" Mayu said.
Just as she saw her mother lifted up the cover, so she could get in beside her, truly happy to see that, it did not take her long, before she was completely comfortable beside the woman, who had taken her in two years ago.
She did however not get much time to enjoy it before they yet again heard a big exploding sound from outside.
Which made Mayu snuggle a bit closer to Murrue.
Truly happy to know that her mother was beside her at a time like this. It did however not even take a minute, before pretty much the entire house, was lighted up by yet another, almost blinding flash of lightning.
Fortunately it did not take much time, before the room was once again covered in darkness.
"Damn somebody up there is really pissed of right now" Mayu said, while looking up at the ceiling, wondering a bit what God it was that was making this kind of uproar.
Yet now that she was giving it some thought, she realized that she only knew that names of two thunder Gods, Thor and Zeus, but before she could try and figure out who of them, where on a rampages.
The inhabits of the house, heard and even bigger thunderclap then any of the previous once, and the lightning flashed that followed was also much brighter.
But before Mayu could try and move even close to the person beside her, she felt her mother put her arms around her and hug her softly.
"You really don't have to be so scared Mayu, I'm sure that it wouldn't be long now before it's over!" Murrue said in a calm tone, doing her best to calm the brown haired girl down.
Hearing that Mayu nodded a single time, as she slowly began drifting of to sleep, now feeling completely safe and protected in her mother's arms, even with the giant storm continuing outside.
And it did not take very long before she was far away in dreamland, not hearing any more of the thunderclaps that night.
But even as she was laying there sleeping, Murrue couldn't help but study her for a bit.
She really was delighted that she had decided to adopted the brown hair girl.
She had help her a lot without even knowing it, if Murrue didn't have her to look after, she knew that she would most likely still be mourning over Mu's death.
Even true she still was feeling depressed over that from time to time, but it just wasn't as unbearable any longer as it had been. And that was surely because of her little girl, and the rest of the people in the house.
Each of them had really done their best to help her back then, something she knew deep inside, that she was truly grateful for.
But in the end it had been Mayu who deserved most of the credit for getting most of her spirit back. So after laying there looking at the girl a bit longer, Murrue reached up and gently ran her hand through her daughter's hair.
"Sleep tight Mayu, I'll will see you tomorrow" Murrue whispered to her in a quiet voice, while her eyes slowly drifted shut as she too began falling asleep, still having that small smile on her face, and with Mayu resting peacefully in her arms.
000000
Meanwhile some place else in the small country, or to be more accurate on the Minerva.
Nicol was slowly walking down the ships halls, heading towards the mess hall, his stomach growling loudly in hunger.
He had been so busy rewriting his mobile suit OS, that when the night began approaching his stomach had quickly reminded him that he hadn't gotten a single thing to eat since breakfast, that however did not stop him from continuing his work on his GOUF.
Now that the Minerva was down in the earth's atmosphere, he just want to make extra sure that everything on the yellow machine function as it should.
Up until now the GOUF had been programmed in such a way, that in Nicol's eyes it was almost perfect for space combat, but that of course would surely not be able to work down here.
Which meant that the GOUF had to have it's OS completely change, and doing such a task was something that no doubt took a lot of time, even as he had left his mobile suit, he wasn't satisfied with how the OS was now, it still need a bit more work.
But it was getting kinda hard to concentrate with his stomach screaming for him to get some food.
So much to his small irritation he had left the GOUF to find something to eat, and just like the rest of the crew he knew that finding food was done in the mess hall.
That however didn't not mean he was happy leaving his work half done, he really did want the OS to function properly, before he would head of to bed. Fortunately there wasn't much for the ships pilots to do the next few days.
Seeing as the Minerva wasn't completely repaired yet, there was still a few minor things that need to be fixed, and that meant that Nicol could use the entire night to program the OS, just the way he want it.
Unfortunately he did not get much time to finish his plans about what else he need to do on the GOUF, when he suddenly heard two well-known quite loud voices coming from the mess hall.
It did not take much of a genius to figure out just who was down there. And once he turned around the corner he saw that he was right in his assumption, there was both Meyrin and Lunamaria busy eating their own dinner, while discoursing with each other how long the ship was going to be in Orb.
"Ok I really do think this place is great. But I frankly hope that it wouldn't be long now before we can leave, I'm seriously getting tired of how Shinn keeps sulking around, the way he has been acting the last few days is insufferable. I know he doesn't like being here, but the way he keeps growling at everybody is really getting old fast!" Luna said, as she took a bite of the food that was standing in front of her.
Hearing her sister say that Meyrin got a somewhat thoughtful look on her face, as she sat there thinking about what her sister had just said, but she did not do that for long, before she opened her mouth and began telling Luna her opinion on the subject.
"I do get what you are saying sis, I too thinks he has been even more short temper then usual. But I also kinda understand why he is like this, he did after all lost his family here, so it isn't really a big surprise that he kepts being angry!" The youngish of the two red haired girls said, as she used her two chopsticks to play a bit with the food, that was laying on her plate.
Thinking a bit about her little sister's words, Luna finally let out a small sigh.
"Ok I guess you are right Meyrin, we can't really blame him for being upset. But that does not mean, that it is not annoying seeing him walk around with that angry frown on his face!" Luna said, while watching how her sister, was moving her two chopsticks around, a part of her feeling a little jealous of how well Meyrin could use those things.
For some reason Lunamaria had never been able to learn how to really use chopsticks.
So instead she would always end up using a knife and a fork, to eat whatever food she was having. She did however not get long to admire her sister's abilities with the two pieces of wood, before a certain green haired boy dropped down beside her.
"Good evening you two!" He said, while giving each of them a friendly smile, which the two girls immediately returned.
Seeing as both of them liked talking and being around Nicol, he was always so nice and polite to everybody, not at all like that person they had been talking about before Nicol got there.
Shinn had after all proven the last few days that he could stay angry for a very long time, without even smiling once.
And even true both of them had agreed not to blame the Impulse piloted for his anger. The two girl just couldn't help but like it much better, talking with a person that was usually in a good mood.
But one single look at Nicol's expression, was enough to tell both of them that he was quite tired.
Seeing that both girl took a small glance over at each other, before they again looked back at him.
"What in the world have you been doing all day Nicol? I seriously don't think I have ever seen you look this exhausted before!" Meyrin said in a loud tone, that did nothing to hide how concerned she was, about her green hair friend, that clearly looked like he was just about ready to fall asleep there by the table.
Forcing back a yawn, Nicol looked over at Meyrin with a tired expression on his face.
"I was working on my GOUF most of the day, but it still isn't exactly how I want it. So after getting some food, I'm heading back to the hangar to fix up the rest" the green haired boy explained, while taking a big bite of his food, chewing it slowly a few times, before he finally swallowed it.
Hearing him say that, Luna couldn't help but blink a few times as she sat there watching him, with a somewhat sceptical look on her face.
She just couldn't believe, that he want to go back and work on his mobile suit, when he was this exhausted.
"Not that it's any of my business Nicol, but don't you think you could concentrate much better if you where not so tired? I for one would not work on my ZAKU if I was just about ready to collapse" the red hair girl said.
Seriously hoping that Nicol would realize, that it wasn't a good idea for him to continue with his work on his yellow machine, when he was in this worn out condition.
Quickly going over everything Luna had just said to him, the green haired boy soon had a far away look in his eyes, as he tried to make up his mind about, what he should be doing, after he had finished eating his dinner.
"I don't know Luna, I am tired but I don't like the idea of leaving my work half finished!" The boy said, while taking a small sip of his water.
Hearing those words leave his mouth Meyrin couldn't help but let out a few light chuckles.
"It's not like you are leaving it forever Nicol, you can continue it tomorrow after getting a good nights sleep!" The red hair girl said, while using her chopsticks to pick up the rest of her food, and placed it in her mouth, thinking about why the chef on the ship was making such a distasteful dish.
But one look over at Nicol was enough to tell her, that he actually liked the food he was eating right now.
So maybe it was because she was a bit picky with what kind of food she would eat.
Unfortunately she did not get the time to really think about that, before they heard Nicol let out a big sigh.
"Ok you two I guess you are right, I'll go take a shower after eating, then I will go to bed. I just hope that there wouldn't be a need for my mobile suit the next few days" the boy said, as he lifted his hand to cover up his mouth, just before he could yawn loudly in front of his two friends.
Truly happy to hear that, Luna smiled a bit at him. "I'm glad to hear that Nicol, we don't want you to get sick now because you don't get enough sleep" the red haired ZAKU pilot said.
Just as she stood up from her seat and walked over to get another can of orange juice. She did however not open it, she took it with her back to the table where she once again sat down beside Nicol.
Who by now was looking at the can with a slightly curious expression on his face. "What do you need that one for Luna?" He asked, while taking yet another bite of the delicious food on his dish, truly enjoying the taste of it before he slowly swallowed it.
Still trying to figure out what need the red hair girl had for an extra can of orange juice for.
Fortunately it didn't take long before Lunamaria put his curiosity to rest.
"Once I'm done with my dinner, I was planing to go back to my room and read for a hour or two, I bought a few new books while me and Meyrin was out looking around today!" Luna explained, while thinking about how much fun the two of them had been having today on their shopping trip.
They had left the ship almost immediately after, the shops in the small country had opened up.
And the sisters had actually been enjoying them self so much, that they had been gone for most of the day.
And it was only when they realized they had used up most of their salary, that they came to the agreement that it was about time they returned to the Minerva.
But it was only when they got back here, they estimate just how many hours the two of them had been walking around from store to store, buying whatever they wanted.
Nicol however couldn't help but smile a bit at what Luna had just told him. "I'm glad to know that the two of you have been having a good time, so what else did you buy on your shopping trip?" The green haired boy asked.
Not overly surprised, when both girls told him, that they had bought a lot of new clothes today, it was after all something most girls liked using money on.
He was however a bit more interested, when Meyrin told him, that she had also bought two new games, for her small portable game system. "So which games did you buy Meyrin?" The boy asked, while looking straight over at the pigtail girl.
Who immediately began telling him, that the first one was a new version of an old role playing game, and that the second one was some kind of platform game she didn't know the first thing about. The only reason she had actually bothered using her money on that game, was because it had been really cheap, and it was always nice to have something to do, when things was getting boring around the ship.
"I see that's sounds interesting Meyrin, maybe once you are done playing the first of the games I can borrow it?" Nicol asked a bit hopeful, thinking back to when he had last played a new game.
Now that he was really thinking about it, he realized that it had been a very long time since, he had last bought something for himself. Every last penny he earn, was just sitting on his account, not being used for a single thing.
Maybe tomorrow he should consider going out and use some of it, and with that in mind he again looked up at the two girls.
"Maybe once I'm done working on my mobile suit tomorrow, the three of us can out and get something to eat? I'll buy!" Nicol offered hoping deeply that his two female friends would say yes.
Seeing as he wasn't really all that keen on walking around Orb all on his own. He want at least a little company if he had to leave the ship, even if it was just for a few hours.
Truly happy to hear Nicol's offer to by them food both girls smiled a bit at each other, before they gave him a reply.
"Ok Nicol you got a deal, if you really intend to pay for food, then Meyrin and I surely wouldn't complain!" Luna said in a loud happy tone, already looking forward to get something nice to eat, that hadn't been made in the Minerva's kitchen.
Nodding a few times in understanding to that, Nicol stood up from his sit and got ready to leave the room.
"Great I look forward to it, now then if it's all right with you two I think I'll take your advise, and get to bed. I'll see the two of you tomorrow!" He said, while giving both of them a short polite bow.
Before he slowly turned around, and began making his way towards the exit of the mess hall, with each girl yelling good-night after him.
"Well it looks like tomorrow is going to be a fun day too" Meyrin said, happy to know that she had something to do tomorrow, other then lay around in her room for an entire day.
Which in her eyes could get boring quite fast, and there wasn't really much need for her up on the bridge these days, seeing as the ships hulls was still undergoing the last few repairs, and that was not something she could help out with that.
Think slightly about what her little sister had just said Luna nodded slowly in agreement, while looking up at the ceiling, trying to figure out where exactly they would be going tomorrow.
She did however not do that for long, before she again looked down and over at her sister.
Where she immediately noticed the happy smile she had on her face, which wasn't much of a surprise, seeing as Meyrin had been complaining a lot about how bored she had been, the last few days.
That had actually been one of the reason Luna had asked her go shopping today, so she had something to do other then walk around the ship and look like an exact copy of Shinn.
And thanks to Nicol they now also had something to do tomorrow, other then waste and entire day hanging around the ship, not doing a single thing.
She did however not think long about how entertain tomorrow could be, before she decided to get early to bed and get some sleep for whenever the three of them would leave the ship, and head out in to the city one more time.
"Well if we got nothing else to talk about Meyrin, I'll be going to bed too. I'm really looking forward to start reading my new book" Luna said, as she stood up and was just about to leave the room, when Meyrin called out to her that she had forgotten her can orange juice.
"Ohhh right, thank you sis!" The ZAKU piloted said in a grateful tone, while she quickly ran back in to the room and grabbed the can, then turned around and once again began walking out of the room, with Meyrin following closely behind her.
Both red hair girls heading slowly back to there own rooms, each of them having their very own plans about what they where going to do now.
Luna want to read for a bit, while Meyrin was determined to play a few hours on her portable game system.
She had yet to try any of the new games, she had bought while she and Luna had been out draining their accounts for whatever money that had been on them.
It wasn't much later before the two sister bid each other good-night, and was now walking of in two different directions, both of them with a happy expression on their faces.
To be continued.
I'm sorry that there hasn't been so many Lacus-Kira moments yet, but I promise you guys that they will be there.