Chapter 11
It was early morning up on the Plants.
Athrun was in the small apartment, Chairman Durandal had permitted him to use in the time he was up there.
Up until now he still hadn't made up his mind about joining Zaft again, not that he was really thinking all that much about it right now. Seeing as he was far more busy at the moment watching some old cartoon show, on the TV and eating his breakfast.
He did however not get much time for himself, before there was a hard knock on the door.
Hearing that Athrun quickly placed his bowl of cereals on the table beside him, while wondered slightly who in the world that could be. It wasn't like there was a whole lot of people, that knew he was living there temporarily.
And that cut the possibility of who could be out there, down a great deal.
But that didn't mean Athrun wasn't a bit cautious when he opened the door, but once he saw that the person out there wasn't a threat, he visibly relax.
"Yo you most be Athrun Zala, it's an honour to meet you" the orange hair guy said in a tone, that made it sound like Athrun should already know who he was, but truth be told, Athrun didn't have the slightest idea about who exactly this person was.
"It's nice to meet you too, buutt who are you?" Athrun asked now again being a bit cautious, in case this somewhat weird person, had only showed up there with the intention to start a fight with him.
It wasn't like he was expecting not to have a few enemies in Zaft, he had after all betray them two years ago, and this person might be carrying some kind of grudge for that.
But whoever the person in front of him was, just gave him a small smile, as he finally told Athrun who he was and what he was doing there.
"Whoops it seems like I forget to present myself, sorry about that, I'm Heine Westenfluss and I was order by the Chairman, to keep an eye on you while you where taking a small look around" Heine said, in an even louder tone then before.
Hearing just what this guys purpose was there, Athrun couldn't help but blink a few times, as he nodded slowly in understanding.
"I see, thank you for coming, but I honestly didn't expect you to show up this early in the morning!" The blue hair teen said, while taking a short look back at the television, that was still running loudly in the living room.
"Hm all right then, you just tell me when you are ready to go" Heine said in a friendly tone, while he too took a glance over on the television, thinking a bit about how much he had enjoyed that show, when he was smaller.
Yet now it was very rare, that he would have the time to be watching something like that, but he really did think it was quite funny seeing the cat and mouse fight with each other in those old cartoons.
He did however not get long to really think about that, before the other person there cut of his thoughts about his childhood.
"Well if it's ok with you Mr Westenfluss would it be all right that I finished of my breakfast before we leave?" Athrun asked, feeling his stomach growl a bit in hunger.
But the orange haired teen just smiled a bit at him, as he slowly nodded his reply.
Happy to know that he wouldn't have to walk around hungry, Athrun made his way back to his chair, and dropped back down in it.
After that he once again grabbed on to the bowl of cereals, where he hurried took a big spoonful of it, while smiling a bit at some of the more violent things the small mouse was doing to that pure cat.
Not that it really seem to bother the cat at all, no matter how otherwise destructive it might be, the cat would somehow survive everything uninjured.
But even as he was think about that and eating his food, he took a small glance back at the other person in the room, that was still standing over by the door, clearly watching the minor war, that was happening on the television.
"You don't have to stand over there, you can come in and sit down, if you want to" Athrun told him in a friendly tone, while the orange hair guy walked over and sat down in the only other empty seat, that was left in the living room, still keeping a close eye on the TV.
Seeing that Athrun stood up and walked in to the kitchen where he filled up the bowl with cereals again, then poured a bit of milk on, before he once again walked back to his own chair, where he began working on draining the small brown bowl of it's contents.
He did however not get all that much time to do that, before Heine turned his attention away from the cartoon and over on Athrun.
"So where exactly are we going, once you are ready to leave?" He asked a bit curious, hoping that whatever the blue haired teenager want, wouldn't take the whole day.
He did after all have a few other assignments that needed to be done today.
And if this fellow insisted that they walked around all over the colony, it did not take much of a genius to figure out, that he wouldn't have nearly enough time to carry out his other tasks.
But it did not take much time before his concern about how long this would take was put to rest.
"I want to go to the grave sight of my mother and a few old friends" Athrun said in a far away tone, as he thought a few minutes about his mother's smiling face, it still was a bit hard for him to believe, that it had already been such a long time since she died.
From time to time it really did feel like it had just happened.
Especially with everything that was simmering just under the surface, just waiting for somebody to make the whole thing explode. Not that he got time to think about who that somebody would be, before Heine cut of his deep thoughts.
"I see, well I know that there is a small flower shop not far from here, why don't we stop by there and find something nice to put on the graves?" Heine said not doing a thing to hide, how sad he was feeling right now.
He too had a few old comrades buried there, and now that he was really thinking about it, he realized that it had been a very long time, since he had last visited that place.
But he truthfully didn't like going there unless he absolutely had too, it did after all bring up more then few painful memories about the past, not something he liked to think all that much about.
But perhaps he really should consider going there, by himself at some point in the future. And once he heard Athrun say that paying a visited to that small flower shop was a good idea, he decided to go there on his next day off.
It was just about that time he saw Athrun stand up from the chair again, then walked in to the kitchen where he quickly cleaned of his bowl in the sink, before he put it down on the counter, after doing that he turned and looked back at Heine.
"You take the lead, I don't really remember where exactly that flower shop is" Athrun told him, as the two of them began making their way over towards the door.
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About a half hour later Athrun and Heine was at the giant grave sight, and even true it had been some time now since Athrun had visited the place, he had no trouble at all finding the spot where his mother's grave was located.
Once there he asked Heine if he would please leave him alone for few minutes, which the orange hair guy did without saying a word, he just walked a few metre away.
While Athrun stood there looking at the name on the small headstone, until he finally kneel down and place the first bouquet of flowers in front of the stone.
"Mom I have missed you a lot the last few days, there is so many things I really want to tell you about. I mean I proposed to the woman I love more then anything else in this world, and she said yes. I'm sure that you would have loved her, if you had met her" Athrun said in a truly sad tone.
As he carefully reached out and slowly ran his hand over his mother's name, trying to imagine how well the girl he was in-love with and his mother would get along had they ever meet.
"Maybe someday I can bring her here so you can meet her" the boy said in a small tone, while a single tear left both of his eyes and ran slowly down each of his cheeks.
Not that Athrun really noticed, seeing as all of his attention was turned towards the small tombstone in front of him, still thinking about the loving woman who's name was on the stone, now trying to figure out just how she would have react, if he had told her that he was getting married.
But it didn't take long before he saw a small picture of her telling Cagalli and him, that they should hurry up and give her some grandchildren.
And even true Athrun didn't know if that would have been her exact words, he could quite easily imagine her saying something like that, if for no other reason then to tease them.
And just the whole idea about how embarrassed Cagalli would get by being told something like that, was more then enough to make a light smile ran over his lips.
He did however not think about that for long, before he again reached out and gently brushed his hand over her name one more time.
"I'm really sorry mom, I know that it has been a long time since I have last been here, but I need to get going, I do hope that I will have the opportunity to visit you one more time, before I have to go back home to Cagalli and earth" the blue hair boy said, as he stood up and got ready to leave, even true a small part of him truly wanted to stay a bit longer.
But he really didn't have the time for that, he did after all have a few other graves to visit, while he was still up there.
"I'll see you again mom, I promise" he said in a soft tone, as he slowly turned around and began making his way back to Heine, that was standing a few metres away from him.
Seeing Athrun get over beside him. Heine looked at him for a few short seconds, which was all he need to tell that the blue haired teenager was somewhat depressed right now, not that Heine didn't understand why.
Those few times he had lost some of his comrades in battle had truly been terrible, yet it had to be twice as hard to lose once own mother.
Not something Heine would wished for anybody to experience, that was actually one of the reasons why he had chosen to joined Zaft in the first place.
He want to do his part in making sure, that nobody would have to lose the people they cared about even again. But even as those thoughts was slowly making their way through his mind, he gave Athrun a somewhat sad smile.
"Ready to head for the next grave?" He asked almost in a whisper, as he took a small look around the place to see if there was anybody else nearby.
But the only other people he could see from there, was an older couple standing in the distance looking at one of the graves. Not that he got much time to do that before Athrun snapped him back out of his deep thoughts, by telling him that he was ready to continue on.
Which meant that it did not take long before Athrun was leading them over towards a few other graves. And they had only been walking for a few minutes before the former Justice piloted stopped, and looked down at one of the tombstones.
"Hello there Rusty" Athrun said in a sad tone, as he slowly bent down and place another bouquet of flowers in front of the stone, thinking hard about the person which name was written on the headstone.
He did however not do that for long before he stood up straight again and gave the stone a respectful saluted, which made Heine do the same thing, even true he did not know a single thing about this person.
He just kinda felt like it was the right thing to do.
Especially when he noticed how much respected Athrun had for whoever this person was, not long after that Athrun turned and began making his way over to the place, where Miguel's headstone was supposed to be located.
And it wasn't long after that before they where over by the tombstones that had Yzak's name on it, where Athrun slowly lifted his hand and gave it a small saluted.
But before Heine could join in like he had done with the other two stones they had been by, the blue hair teenager lowed his hand again. And now he was just standing there watching the headstone, with a far away look in his eyes.
Seeing how quick Athrun had been to saluted whoever this person was, Heine took a small glance away from the stone and over at his new friend, where he could quite easily tell that Athrun had lot on his mind.
And if he had a guess on what it could be, it was most likely something that had happened in the past, this place could get just about anybody to think about some of the more terrible events, from the last war.
So after watching the other boy for a few seconds Heine decided that he couldn't stand the silence any longer. And with that in mind he slowly reached out and place his hand on Athrun's shoulder, making him jump slightly as he turned around and looked back at him.
"You don't have nearly as much respect for this guy as you had with the other two right?" He asked, hoping to get Athrun to think about something else.
Hearing Henie asked that Athrun again looked a bit thoughtful, as he took another glance back at Yzak's grave. "It shows huh? Well he and I where never the best of friends. Truth be told I really do think he hated me most of the times, but it's not like I did a whole lot back then to become friends with him. If I taken the time to do that, he might still be alive today, even true I kinda doubt that, he was quite stubborn" Athrun said, while thinking back to the very last day any of them had seen Yzak alive.
"Hmmm if you don't mind me asking how was this guy killed?" Heine asked, wondering what this person could have done for Athrun to have this little respect for him.
He too had of course meet a few soldiers he didn't get along with.
But he always did his very best, to become friends with everybody he was fighting together with, he always felt like that was one of the best way for himself and his comrades to survive.
Thinking slightly about what Heine had just asked him, Athrun let out a small breath, as he began explaining in a heavy tone what Yzak had done, shortly before he had been killed.
"Me and a few other friends was on a mission in Orb to try and find something, he was lefted behind on a Vosgulov class. But there he apparently threaten the crew to let him leave and give him a Guul, then he traveled to Orb where he seemed like he was just about ready to run amok and destroy everything. But before he could do that, he was killed by the Strike" Athrun said, while thinking about how destructive the battle between the Strike and the Duel had been back then.
Hearing about everything this guy done, made Heine take another glance down at the headstone.
"What a cheerful fellow, this guy most have been, he really does sound like he could have used some professional help" the orange hair man said, while going through everything, Athrun had just told him about this Yzak person.
Whoever he was, there was little doubt in Heine's mind that he had been a traitor and are insane one too, who in their right state of mind would threaten to kill his fellow soldiers.
But as he was standing there thinking about that.
He did not noticed how Athrun wasn't watching the tombstone any longer. He far more was busy, looking out in to the distance where a certain silver haired woman that was slowly coming towards them, with a big bouquet of flowers in her arms.
"We better hurry up and leave Heine, I can see Yzak's mother on her way over here, and I know that she doesn't like me, for what I did in the last war" Athrun said not taking his eyes away from the person, that most likely been the one to have given his father the much support two years ago.
She was well-known for hating the Naturals almost as much as his father.
Hearing Athrun tell him that it was about time for them to go, made Heine take a short glance in the same direction Athrun was looking, where he too could see the mature looking woman making her way towards them.
And even true she really didn't look like a bad person.
It was obvious that Athrun did not want to talk with her under any circumstances.
And with that in mind it did not take all that long before the two men was leaving the grave sight, before Ezalia Joule could get the slightest chance to say anything to them.
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It wasn't long after that before they where walking down the street in a deep silence, that was brought to an end when Heine walked up beside Athrun and looked over at him.
"The Chairman told me to ask you if you had come to a decision about joining Zaft again?" He asked, while taking a look forward to see where he was going, there might not be as many people on the street right now, but that didn't mean he want to walk in to anybody.
And while he was doing that Athrun had a deep frown on his forehead as he tried to come up with an answer to his new friends question, in his eyes he did have a lot to gain by being a Zaft soldier.
And it was not just the whole thing with the Saviour gundam he was thinking about.
If he really did return to Zaft, he would have a great deal of allies that felt the same way about another war as he did. And if he worked together with them, he would have a lot of people that could help him, put an end to this as soon as possible.
That way everybody that he cared about could continue living their peaceful life back home in Orb, in his eyes that was actually the only reason why, he needed to put on a Zaft uniform once more.
"I think I'll be joining again. Everybody up here really does seem to be feeling the same way about all of this as I do, that's why I want to help you all out to make this world war free again!" Athrun said, while lifting his eyes away from the sidewalk, and looked up towards the ceiling of the colony.
Still thinking about the decision he had just made about joining up with Zaft again. No matter what challenges he would have to go through in the future, he was now certain that fighting for Zaft was the right thing to do.
Gilbert Durandal really had done everything possible to make sure, that this would not end like the last war.
And Athrun had no doubt, that everything the Chairman had told him was the honest truth, which was something worth fighting for, not that he got long to think about that, before the person that was walking beside him began talking to him.
"I see I'm glad to know that we have a new ally to help us out with all of this, you know what they say the more the merry" Heine said with a grin on his face.
Not that Athrun said anything back, he just gave Heine a small nod as he kept on walking slowly back towards his apartment. Still thinking hard about the big change that would soon happen in his life.
It wouldn't be long now before he once more would be having his very own mobile suit, something he had honestly thought he would never have ever again.
Yet he was quite certain that he had made the right decision by doing this.
But even as he continued thinking about that, he couldn't help but wonder what kind of reaction Cagalli would have, once she learned that he was now a part of Zaft again.
He just hoped that she could somehow prevent Orb from joining up with the Earth Forces. If the small country really did something like that, he was a bit afraid where his decision might lead.
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Meanwhile down on earth Andrew Waltfeld was busy doing something that looked very much like some kind of science experiment.
"Hmmm maybe if I add a bit of this I can get it to taste even better then last time" he said, while slowly pouring a few drops of rum in to his new blend of coffee, truly hoping he wouldn't ruined the already quite well tasting coffee.
After that he slowly took a small sip of liquid.
"It was better before, but if I work this right I may create my best coffee yet" the man said, as he took another sip trying to find out what ingredients was missing to make this coffee perfect.
But as he was wondering about that he slowly turned and walked over to the small radio he had in his room. And it did not take long before he was sitting in his chair trying to get in contact, with a certain grey space ship.
"Hello Minerva can you hear me, Minerva please come in, I got something very important to tell you!" Andy said, still thinking about what was need in the coffee that was now simmering by itself over on his table.
But even as it was doing that Andy kept on trying to get somebody on the Minerva to answer him.
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At the same time on the Minerva Talia was wondering who in God's name this guy was, and why in the world was he trying to get in contact with her ship.
It didn't make any sense in her mind.
But once she heard him tell that he had some information they could use, she reached out and pressed down on a button on the radio, after that she immediately began talking in a loud tone, while hoping a bit that this wasn't some kind of prank.
"Who is this? And why are you contacting us?" She asked in a loud tone, while taking a glance over at Arthur where she could easily tell that he too was concerned about who this strange person was.
But instead of getting an answer to any of her questions, the man on the other end just let out a happy laugh as he again began talking to them.
"Well hello, hellooo! It's nice to hear another voice out here. I would like to order a pizza without anchovies and a giant coke!" The voice joked.
Not doing anything to hide that whoever it was that was talking to them right now, was having fun.
But that just made a deep angry frown ran over Talia's forehead as she open her mouth and began talking back to the idiot on the other end of the line.
"If you really don't have anything important to say, then I don't think it will do us any good listening to you!" She said, back deciding to give the man one last chance to say what he want if he didn't do that, she was sure that it was just some guy pulling some kind of prank.
But that of course did not explain how this person knew the name of her ship.
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Hearing the captain of the Minerva tell her that she didn't want to listen to him any more, made a small grin ran over Andrew's lips, as he continued talking to her, this time having a more serious tone in his voice.
"Ok, ok no more joking around, what I really want to tell you guys is that it's time for you to get moving. If you stay in Orb much longer your are going to be in some serious trouble" he said, while taking another sip of his coffee not really caring right now if it tasted good or not.
"It wouldn't be long now before Orb will join with the Earth Forces even with Chief Representative Athha's determination to stay away from them. And if you are still hanging around here, when Orb joins them, you can be sure, that it wouldn't be an easy task for you guys to get out of here!" Andy said.
Then took a glance back at Kira and Murrue, that had just enter his room, and was listening in on everything he was saying to the Minerva.
It was just about that time the three of them could hear Talia's voice again.
"Why exactly are you telling us this, and who are you, how do I know I can trusted some strange voice over the radio?" The woman asked, obviously not satisfied with getting a warning like this by a complete stranger.
So after using a few seconds to try and come up with a way to convince the woman, that he was serious about this.
Andy finally let out a small breath.
"I can't tell you who I am, but I was asked by Andrew Waltfeld to tell you this, and if you don't take my warning, then I'm sure that you will regret very soon!" Andy said.
Just as he wished the captain and her ship the best of luck, after that he cut of the communication and looked back at Murrue and Kira where he gave both of them a big smile.
"Do you really think they will take your warning?" Murrue asked still smiling over the last thing Andy had told the captain of the Minerva.
In her eyes it had been quite funny and she almost wished that she had heard the whole conversation between Andy and captain Gladys, for some reason the Desert Tiger could turn even the most serious discursion, in to something funny.
Thinking a bit about what Murrue had just asked him, Andy got a somewhat thoughtful look on his face.
"It's kinda hard to tell, but if they don't hurry up and leave soon, then I'm certain that it will only be a matter of time before the Seiran's find something they can use that ship for, they might even use it, as some kind of symbol to show of their new loyalty to the Earth Forces!" Andy said, as he walked over and to his giant coffee machine, still trying to make up his mind about what else he should throw in to the mix.
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At the same time back on the Minerva's bridge, Talia had a deep thoughtful frown on her forehead, as she stood there thinking about everything the stranger had just said to her.
She really didn't know if she could take that risk and trusted the Desert Tiger.
He did after all betray Zaft in the last war, which meant that the information they had just gotten from this strange man could be some kind of trap.
And she really didn't want to put her crew in danger if she could avoided it.
But on the other hand, if this weirdo she had just talking with, was right about Orb joining the Earth Forces. It would with no doubt be very dangerous for them to continue staying there.
And she certainly didn't want somebody to try and board the ship in the middle of the night, that could be a true nightmare if something like that where to happen.
It was not like she didn't trusted the young Athha, the blond girl had done everything possible to help them out.
But the rest of the Orb government was a completely different matter, especially the two Seiran's she had meet was a creepy bunch. They really did acted like they would give away their own mother, if there was even the slightest chance for them to get even more power.
And with that in mind she slowly turned and looked back at Arthur.
"Please begin preparations to leave immediately, we will be heading out at sunrise. And do make sure that the entire crew knows what's going to happen, we don't want to leave anybody behind now!" Talia said, while taking a short glance around the bridge, just as she heard her second in command ask, if it was really a good idea to follow the advice of some stranger.
Hearing that Talia again looked back at Arthur, where she slowly nodded.
"I think we can trust whoever it was, if you really give it some thought Arthur, he was right about many of the things he said. We really will be in a lot of trouble if Orb joins up with the Earth Forces, and if we are still here once they do that. They might just try and get control of the ship, and there is no way any of us can take that risk!" She said, while making her way back to her chair.
Still with Arthur and the few other people up there looking after her, each of them thinking hard about what she had just told them, finally Arthur opened his mouth and asked one more question.
"Do you really think they would try something like that?" He asked, already feeling a bit nervous over the idea of somebody breaking down the door on the ship and then try and make it their own.
"I'm not sure Arthur, I do believe that miss Athha wants to help us. But those Seiran's and the other politicians in this country, may not be as nice as her" The woman explained in a somewhat worried tone.
Just as she order Arthur to make sure that there was a few more guards by the entrance of the ship, they did not want somebody to drop in uninvited.
Thinking a bit about the captain's words, Arthur really could see the logic in everything she had just said. So after just standing there for a few more seconds, he let out a small breath, as he hurried stood up straight.
"I'll get to work immediately Ma'am" he yelled out in a loud determined tone, as he quickly made his way over to his own chair.
Once there it did not take long before his voice could be heard all over the ship.
Telling everybody onboard that the Minerva would be leaving Orb tomorrow morning, and that the crew was no longer permitted to leave the ship, under any circumstances.
To be continued.
If you hadn't guess it, the TV show Athrun and Heine was watching at the begin at the chapter was of course Tom and Jerry, I don't really think that show ever gets old.
But the thing I really want to say is, that I do not own any rights to that series, I just borrowed it a bit here, I hope that's all right.
Another thing I think you guys should know about is that, I don't know the first thing about coffee. It's not a beverage I myself drinks, so I wouldn't know if it taste good with rum or not.
And if it's completely insane to pour rum in it, then please tell me and I'll replace it with something else, you are welcome to come with suggestions, if you know of something that does taste good.