We Met Two Years Ago

by Ben Firebird

The sequel to the story But We Just Meet, many of the pairings will remain the same, like Lacus/Kira and Cagalli/Athrun, but there will of course also be a few new once. This goes on in the Second Bloody Valentine War with quite a few change, like Shinn's sister Mayu still being alive.

83. Chapter 83

Chapter 83

Not at all sure how to react to everything Cagalli and Athrun had just told her about the enemy pilot, Shinn Asuka, and how that boy might be connected to her dear sweet, Mayu. The fact that the very person that had almost killed Kira, Athrun and Meyrin might be her adoptive daughter's, real brother, was almost to much for Murrue to bear, after everything the former pilot of the Impulse gundam had done, the brown haired woman found it impossible not to think about him, as some sort of monster, that had no other goal in life but hurt the people, she loved and cared about. So it was not surprisingly quite a big shock for the Archangel Captain to learn, that he might actually be related to Mayu.

And the exact moment a deep sob ran through her body, and a couple tears slowly made their way down her cheeks, Murrue forced out the question she had been trying so unbelievable hard to ask these last few minutes.

"Are the two of you...Absolutely sure about this?" The despairing brunette asked in a barely understandable tone, which made it clear to both Cagalli and Athrun, that even though Murrue knew that neither of them would ever lie to her, she was having a VERY difficult time believing what they had just told her, not that any of them could blame her for that.

Looking over at each other, Cagalli shook her head a few times, while trying to keep back her own tears. Taking a hold on Cagalli's hand, and giving it a light squeeze, Athrun again looked back at Murrue.

"It's hard to know for certain Murrue, with Mayu remembering so little about her past, and...and even if I could somehow get in contact with Shinn to tell him about Mayu, and how we think she might be his little sister, he will likely just scream out that I am lying, and then go completely berserk the next time I run into him. And if he by some miracle did believe me, Rey would likely find some way to convince him that we have kidnaped Mayu, and that it's up to him to save her from us...and I REALLY do not want endanger Mayu like that, if Shinn does try something crazy to 'rescue her' from us..." Athrun said, then reached out and picked up one of the glass' of water standing on Murrue's desk.

Watching the blue haired teen take a long mouthful of the cold liquid, Murrue reached up, and rubbed her forehead in a slightly frustrated manner. "Do you really think his devotion to Zaft and the Chairman runs so deep that he would do something crazy that might even put his own sister's life in danger?!"

Letting out a deep sigh, as he placed the now empty glass back down on the table. "Acting rational, and giving a lot of thoughts to his actions is not really something Shinn does overly well, Murrue. Whenever that dumb fool makes up his mind about something, there is no talking him out of it. That was made abundantly clear to me when I tried to convince him that going after Kira and the Freedom, was not something he should do...and even more so when he tried to rip apart the GOUF Meyrin and I where in"

Being reminded of how close Shinn had came to taking both her brother and fiancé away from her, was enough to make Cagalli think about all of the other awful things Shinn had done, like destroying the Takemikazuchi and killing so unbelievable many of her countries brave soldiers. Cagalli did not even want to think about how many families had lost loved once, because of that stupid little brat. Hell Shinn had even killed the very person who had done so much to help him, after his family had gotten killed during the Battle of Orb, and the thought of Captain Todaka, was all it took to make Cagalli wonder yet again how the hell she was suppose to tell Amagi, that the person who had killed his best friend, had actually been a bit like a son to Todaka.

'Damn you Shinn! I hate you so much...' the pregnant blond thought, a part of her kinda regretting she had even looked into what had happened to Shinn's family in the first place. It was not liked she owned the stubborn bastard any favors, she could honestly live without ever having to talk or see Shinn Asuka again, but if Mayu the girl that had been like a little sister to her these past two years, actually had one living relative left, Cagalli sincerely believed that their eleven-year-old trouble-maker deserved to know about it.

"So, we agree to keep Mayu a secret from Shinn, until we are sure that he is no longer able to put her in danger. But what about Mayu? What are we going to say to her?" Cagalli asked in a low tone.

But while that question was a pretty reasonable one, Murrue honestly did not have even the foggiest idea about how to answer it. So in the end she just sat there staring down at her table, with such intensity, that it actually looked a bit like she was trying to burn a hole straight through it.

"I want to tell her, Cagalli. But...But the two of you, knows as well as I what her reaction is going to be...and I just can't handle that right now, I need a little time to sort through my thoughts, before I say anything to her...Besides if Mayu finds out that I have been crying, it will likely make the whole thing even worse" Murrue said, as she slowly reached up and rubbed away some of the tears in her eyes.

Taking a short glance over at each other, Cagalli and Athrun of course knew that Murrue was right about Mayu's reaction, they had talked in great length about that, before Murrue had called them to her room. But even after talking so much about it none of the teens knew what to say now, so they just ended up sitting there staring off into space for who knew how long.

Yet finally after what felt like an eternity but was only a few short minutes, the only male in the room broke the silence. "If you want Murrue...Cagalli and I can be there, once you are ready to tell her..." Athrun said, his mind clearly still occupied elsewhere.

Looking over at him, Murrue send Athrun a small grateful smile, that quickly disappeared again. "Thank you Athrun, I'll consider it..."

With those words said, the deep silence fell back over the room, as each one of them sat there, as far away in their own thoughts as one could possibly be.

The silence in there did however not last for very long when somebody suddenly knocked loudly on the door.

"Ohh God what now..." Murrue sighed, just barely loud enough for Cagalli and Athrun to hear her, then she hastily reached up and used her sleeve to rub her eyes one more time, not that it did much to hide the fact that it had not been very long since she had been crying. But if it happened to be Mayu that was out there, she want to at least try and hide it.

And while yet again letting out a deep sigh, Murrue called out for the person outside to come in. Which meant that it only took a brief moment before the door flew wide open, and Miriallia together with Dearka immediately stepped into the room, each of them with a troubled expression on their faces.

"What's wrong you two?" Athrun asked, even though he already had a pretty good guess on what was bothering the two of them.

Taking a short glance over at each other, Miriallia swallowed loudly a single time, before moving her gaze away from her boyfriend, and looking straight at Murrue. But while the sight of the woman's slightly puffy red eyes, did make Miriallia wonder what Cagalli and Athrun had been talking with Murrue about, that had made her cry. She really disliked knowing, that somebody she cared about was sad, and that there was nothing she could do about it.

So while struggling to ignore the part of herself, that wanted to ask Murrue what was wrong, Miriallia forced her slightly dry lips apart and hurried gave a reply to Athrun's question. "It's Heaven's Base, it has fallen to ZAFT!"

While it was true that Murrue had frankly expected those news, when she had seen the troubled looks on Miriallia and Dearka's faces. It was still more than enough to make a long breath leave her mouth, as she listened to Cagalli yell out a few loud curses.

"I see, it doesn't really come as much of a surprise, but I had honestly hoped that it would take them a few days to win that battle, they will without a doubt be coming here next, and there is still a lot of things that needs to be repaired on the Archangel from our last encounter with the Minerva" Murrue said with a deep frown on her forehead. Knowing that even if Murdoch and the other mechanics worked almost constantly, it would still take them at least a week to repair all of the damage, on the Archangel.

"Speaking of the Minerva, I watched three different news shows covering the battle, and as far as I could tell the gray scrap piece did not get a whole lot of damage during the battle, and their four gundams looked intact too. I don't know about you guys, but I would definitely have yelled out for a celebration if the Minerva had been taken out at Iceland!" Dearka said, his tone of voice making it clear to all of them, just how much he despised the Minerva and it's entire crew.

But even though Athrun was a bit tempted to tell Dearka, that Captain Gladys was an ok person. He quickly decided that it was not worth the trouble, since Dearka would likely refuse to listen to him. But also because no matter how much he respected Talia Gladys, she was an enemy now. So starting a long discussion with his long time friend, about her being a nice person was kinda pointless.

Yet whatever thoughts Athrun had about Talia Gladys, instantly disappeared when Cagalli began talking loudly beside him. "If ZAFT really is coming here next, I need to go talk with Amagi and Kisaka about it, I have to make certain that they have somebody keeping an eye on Yuna and Unato, knowing them, they are likely to do something totally stupid and idiotic!" The blonde girl said, as she immediately swirled around on one foot, then stormed hastily out of the room.

But while Athrun was just about to call out for her to wait up, he did not get a chance to do that, when Dearka suddenly cut him off. "And I need to go talk with Erica about how far along she is with my surprise, I do NOT want us to be totally defenseless here, when ZAFT arrives" the former pilot of the Buster gundam said, just as he too turned around and left with great haste.

Watching the door fly back shut after him, Athrun placed both hands on the handles to the wheelchair, then tried to push himself up, he did not want to be the only person who wasn't doing anything right now, he want to help out so badly. Yet as a wave of intense pain shot through him, he fell back down into the wheelchair.

"God damn it! Why the hell do I have to be so useless!" The blue haired man growled angrily. It was at that very moment, he felt somebody placing a hand on his shoulder, and as Athrun turned his head he saw Miriallia sending him a gentle reassuring smile.

"You are not useless Athrun, not at all. You just have to remember that your job right now, is to rest up and recover. I am sure that it will only be a matter of time, before we are going to need you at full strength, to help protect Orb from ZAFT" Miriallia told him in a soft tone.

Looking silently at her for a few short seconds, Athrun finally nodded slowly a couple of times. "Miriallia, will you please do me a favor, and take me back to med-bay?. I can't deny that taking a small nap right about now does sound kinda nice" he softly told the girl, doing noting to hide how unbelievable tired he felt at the moment.

Taking a hold on the wheelchair handles, Miriallia kept on smiling at her blue haired friend, as she gave him an answer. "Well since your future wife ran off with such haste, I guess that I do not have much of a choice, not that I mind" the girl said, while carefully turning the old wheelchair around, and began pushing it towards the door, calling back to Murrue that she would see her later.

Watching the teenagers leave, Murrue laid her head down on the table, resting there for a few long minutes, as she thought hard about how in the world she was suppose to tell her daughter about Shinn Asuka, and how she might very well be related to that guy.

"Mayu...sweetie..."

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At the same time up on the bridge, Dearka was having a serious discussion with Erica Simmons, who could be seen up on the main monitor.

"So how far along is it?" The young blond haired man asked, while looking straight into the scientist's dark green eyes.

Rubbing her chin thoughtfully. "The suit itself has been assembled, but I am having a few problems getting some of the suit's more complicated systems to work like they are suppose to. It will most likely take me a little while to come up with a solution to those issues, Dearka. Anyway I actually have something else I would like to discuss with you, the thing is I do have another mobile suit stashed away over here, I was original planning on handing it over to Cagalli, but you know..."

"Yeah, if is she went out into battle in that condition, her two extra passages could end up dead. I do not even want to think about how much that would break her heart, if she lost any of them. I might have somebody in mind who can pilot the mobile suit you are talking about, Erica. He does have a feeew memory issues, but he is a great pilot, and I trust him with my life!" Dearka declared loudly.

Letting out a deep thoughtful sound. "Ahh him! Yes, that would work. And if you say that we can trust him Dearka, then that's good enough for me. I just hope that Cagalli is ok with it, considering that it was her father that designed that machine" Erica said, with a somewhat low spirited look in her eyes, that made it clear to Dearka, that she missed Uzumi Nara Athha, and was still sadden over his death, not that Dearka didn't understand why, there was also people he missed that had died during the last war.

"I am certain that she is going to be just fine with it Erica, while she might do everything she can to deny it, Cagalli does like Mu, it's just that whenever he refers to her as girl it just piss her off" Dearka said through a light chuckle.

Having also been one who had found it kinda amusing, whenever Mu pissed Cagalli of by calling her girl, Erica too let out a soft chuckle. "I guess you are right. Now then, if there is nothing else you need to discuss with me, I'll be going now, Dearka. I am rather busy".

"I do actually have a couple of questions for you Erica. What is the names of the two mobile suits you have stashed away?" Dearka asked with a curious look in his eyes.

Sending him a slightly mischievous look. "The name of your new mobile suit Dearka is going to be...Hey wait a minute, will you look at the time, I have to go now!" The smirking brunette said, then hurried cut off the communication before Dearka even had time to think about complaining.

Watching the screen go black, Dearka blinked rapidly a few times. "Ah damn it, Erica! You being so secretive about my new mobile suit stopped being fun awhile ago!" the blond teenager muttered sorely, seriously tempted to call up the 'evil scientist' again just to tell her how mean she was. Yet knowing Erica she likely wouldn't answer, even if he did call her.

So while sighing loudly, Dearka lean back in Murrue's seat and looked up at the ceiling, seriously wondering what he should do now, a part of him kinda want to go find Miriallia, and hang out with her for a few hours. Yet since she had likely had gone back to work, after leaving Murrue's room, he quickly decide to head down to the hangar instead, and ask Murdoch if he and the other mechanics needed help with anything. While it was true that Dearka was not the most competent mechanic, he was confident that there was still a few things he could do to help out with the repairs on the Archangel.

And while letting out yet another deep sigh, Dearka got up from the chair and began making his way towards the exit of the room, deciding that if Murdoch did have something for him to do, he was going to swing by the mess-hall to get a cup of hopefully freshly made coffee. Already mentally complaining about the fact that the coffee he was about to get, would not taste nearly as good as the coffee Andrew, would usually make. But he just needed a little something to help him wake up, since he was still feeling kinda tired.

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At the same time elsewhere a cranky Cagalli was hastily making her way back to sick-bay. She had been unable to find any sign of Kisaka anywhere on the Archangel, and when she had found out from Dalida that he was not even on the Archangel, Cagalli had immediately tried calling his cell phone, yet after having listened to the message on his answering machine for a third time, the short tempered blonde had honestly been tempted to hurl her dumb phone at the nearest wall, then head off to find somebody she could yell at for about ten minutes or so.

Yet with Kira being out in space onboard the Eternal and with her not in the mood to search all over the Archangel for Dearka, Cagalli quickly decided to go back to med-bay, hoping that spending time with Athrun would help cheer her up.

It was at that point Cagalli spotted Meyrin a bit ahead of her, the redhead had a bewildered expression on her face, and the way she kept on looking around made it completely obvious to Cagalli, that she was searching for something or somebody.

"Hello there Meyrin, are you lost? Do you need my help finding something?" Cagalli asked, as she approached the other girl.

Turning around Meyrin slowly shook her head. "Not really, Miss Cagalli. It's Mayu, she kinda goad me into playing hide-and-seek with her, but since I still don't know my way around the Archangel, I don't have no idea about where I should even begin to look for her" the redhead explained.

Chuckling softly at that, it was no secret around the Archangel that Mayu and Meyrin had grown close pretty over their mutual interest in playing video games almost none stop, and Cagalli was truly glad that there was somebody on board the ship, that could spend time with and keep Mayu entertained since the rest of them were so busy.

"Well knowing Mayu, she is most likely hiding out in the most obvious place you can think of, Meyrin. So try taking a look in your own room, and if she is not there, then I am relatively certain that the only other place she can be, is her own room" Cagalli said, while still smiling kindly at that redhead.

Blinking rapidly a couple of times, as she tilted her head a bit to the side, in a questionable manner. "Do you really think, she is in her own room?" Meyrin asked, clearly having a difficult time believing that Mayu might be hiding out in the very room where they had started playing hide-and-seek.

"That I do" Cagalli answered, then asked how Meyrin liked her stay on the Archangel so far.

"I like it Miss Cagalli. This ship just feels so much more homey, than the Minerva ever did, and everybody I have met so far have all been been so kind to me. The only one I am...no never mind..." the redhead said.

"What? If there is somebody you have a problem with here on the Archangel Meyrin, you can tell me about it. I will do my best to help sort it out"

"Well em...You see I was taking a walk around the ship a little while ago, yet when I got down to the hangar there was this large man down there, I think he was the Chief Mechanic, I am not sure, it was just that the way he was yelling at the everybody down there, calling them ladies and idiots scared me a bit, so I hurried left again before he noticed me" Meyrin explained with her gaze blue turned downwards at the floor.

Hearing that, Cagalli could not stop herself from letting out a loud chuckle. "I guess Murdoch yelling at the other mechanics, does make a pretty bad first impression. But I guarantee you Meyrin that you have no reason to be scared of him, despite his yelling, Murdoch is actually a really nice guy. And as long as you do not go tell him, that you think that the Minerva is better than the Archangel, I don't think he will ever have a reason to yell at you like that" the blonde said.

"So it's fine if I go take another look down in the hangar?" Meyrin asked, she was still kinda curious about what was down there.

"Yes, it should be just fine Meyrin, but if you are still worried about it, you can always ask Mayu go with you. She knows better than most when not to piss Murdoch off, since making up new pranks to annoy him, is pretty much one of her favorite hobbies" the blonde explained, with a small grin. While there was truthfully quiet a few people Mayu liked to annoy, Murdoch was obviously her favorite, probably because of the way he would complain and yell afterwards. Cagalli could not even remember how many times she had heard the Chief Engineer muttering about how Mayu was likely to give him a heart attack one day, from one of many pranks.

"Speaking of Mayu, I better hurry up and go find her. I do not want to give her any reasons to start pulling pranks on me too. Being one of her targets for that, doesn't really sound all that entertaining" Meyrin said.

"Heh, heh that's a word for it. Oh a word of advise, be careful when you open the door to her room, she has rig it a few times with a toy catapult, to get it to throw water balloons, and in one case an old pie, at whoever opens the door" Cagalli said, ending the sentence with a laugh, the whole pie thing had frankly been funny as hell.

Unfortunately for Mayu, it had been her mother who had been hit by that old pie, and being covered by stale food was to put it mildly not something the Archangel Captain had been overly pleased about. And once Mayu had discovered who had been hit by her pie throwing trap, the eleven-year-old girl had been clever enough to lock herself in her room, in a somewhat desperate attempt to avoid her mother, which had resulted in Murrue actually using the Archangel's loudspeakers to inform her daughter, that she was going to help the kitchen staff clean, after every meal the next day. And considering how large the Archangel crew is, Mayu had understandably complained quite a bit about it, but had done it anyway, and taken a small break from the pranks.

"Hearing how good Mayu is at making up pranks, I am kinda glad that she is on our side" Meyrin said.

Nodding slowly in agreement. "Me too, Meyrin" Cagalli answered before she again found herself wondering how Mayu was going to react, once they told her about Shinn.

"I really hate having to tell her about him..." the blonde mumbled under her breath.

Blinking rapidly a couple of times, Meyrin took a small step closer towards the pregnant blonde. "Em I did not quite get that Miss Cagalli, what is it you hate?"

Having quite frankly not expect Meyrin to understand any of the things she had been mumbling, Cagalli needed a couple of seconds to come up with a good excuse. "It's nothing Meyrin, I am just a tiny bit concerned about giving birth these days"

"I do not know anything about how much that hurts. But I am sure that you are going to be just fine Miss Cagalli, Athrun will be with you the entire time" Meyrin said in a comforting tone.

"I know he will Meyrin, but that does not really change the fact, that I am still kinda worried about it". Cagalli explained, relieved that Meyrin had bought that excuse, since she could not tell her about Mayu and Shinn.

Nodding slowly in understanding. "I think that's normal Miss Cagalli, I don't think there is one pregnant woman out there who is not worried about giving birth" the redhead said.

"Hmm I guess you are right Meyrin"

The two young women continued discussing the subject of giving birth a bit longer, and Meyrin somewhat succeed in putting some of the worries Cagalli actually had about how the heck she was suppose to get two small children out of her, to rest, at least for now.

Then after a bit more talking, it did not take long before the blonde and the redhead told the other, that they would see each other later, then went off in opposite directions.

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At the same time out in space, there was a lot of activity going on around the Eternal that along with the Factory had been moved to another location. With the massive amount of damage the pink space ship had taken during the last battle, everybody knew that it would take at least a couple of weeks, perhaps even longer to put the Eternal back together again.

As of right now two GINNs and three Mistrals was hard at work on the pink space ship, that was being closely guard by one of the captured Nazca-class that had been renamed the Izanagi. And their two Laurasia-class, Kamui and the Jiraiya was also close by. The Tomoe on the other hand was over near the second captured Nazca-class the Hydra, that was presently being taken apart by four other Mistrals, to get the necessary parts to repair the Eternal.

Yet one major problem they had was that they simply did not have everything necessary to construct two new METEOR units, to replace the two that had been destroyed during the battle. And that issue was one Lacus was presently discussing with Jason Waltfeld and the Commander of the Tomoe, that could be seen up on the Eternal's main monitor.

"As much as I wish I could say otherwise, I am almost absolutely certain that we are going to need the METEORs at some point in the future. But we just don't have the necessary parts to create new ones" Lacus told the two men in a deeply serious tone.

Rubbing his chin thoughtfully, and taking a long drag on his cigar. "Yeah it is quite a dilemma we have here. I don't have the foggiest idea where we should even begin looking for parts to those things. Perhaps Miss Lacus it would be a good idea for us to get in contact with the Junk Guild, Lowe Guele and his people did help us out quite a bit in the last war, and I am relatively certain that they can at least dig up a few of the things we need" Jason said, then put out the cigar in the overflowed ashtray standing on his table.

Finding the older Waltfeld's smoking habit a bit disgusting, but since it wasn't really any of her business, Lacus just shook her head slightly as she watched the Factory leader lit his second cigar.

"Getting the Junk Guild to help us is a good idea, Mr Waltfeld. We know we can trust Lowe and his people. But considering everything we need to build two new METEOR units, I am not sure they have enough time to find all the parts we need, so it would probably be wise for us, to try and come up with another solution to this problem" the pink haired girl said.

"I might have an idea Miss Lacus, I know for a fact that the prototype to the METEOR units are stashed away in one of the Maius Colonies, the question is which one. I can get some of our people back at the Plants to look into where it's hidden. Once we know that, it should not be too hard to steal it, it's not like ZAFT has much use for it these days, since they do not have any mobile suits, that can use the METEORs" the Tomoe's Commander said in a deeply serious tone, honestly finding it somewhat strange that ZAFT had not construct any of their newer gundams, with the ability to use METEORs. Not that he was going to complain much about that, he was frankly more than a little grateful for the fact that the Destiny, Legend and Adamant could not use those things.

Yet even as the Commander felt a light chill run down his spine at the thought of those three mobile suits equipped with something so powerful. He still paid full attention to Miss Lacus response.

"The METEOR prototype is on Maius sixteen, I have actually thought about trying to get our hands on it. But the security on and around that Colony are extremely tight Commander, especially after we stole the DOM Trooper data, and the incomplete Strike Freedom, from it. I do not think it's possible for us to get any of our people on board that Colony" the pink haired girl said.

Rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Maius sixteen you say. Hm we do have a few supporters in the ZAFT scientist department. One of them might be able to get the METEOR transferred to another Colony, then it's only a matter of stealing it mid-flight" the Commander said.

Taking another drag on his cigar, before placing it back in the ashtray. "And who are you going to get to do that? We simply can not afford to send Kira and the Freedom away from here. If we fall under attack again, it's doubtful that the Eternal will survive it without his help" the older Waltfeld said in a grumpy tone.

"I have already thought about who to send, but it will cost a pretty penny to get his help. He and his people are quite a bit expensive, but I am completely confident, that they will be able to carry out the job" the Commander told the pink haired girl and the older Waltfeld.

Tilting her a bit to the left. "Who do you have in mind, Commander?" Lacus asked, already having a pretty good guess on who the Tomoe's Commander was talking about. And the reply she got, did not really come as much of a surprise to her.

"Gai Murakumo"

"Ahhh good old Serpent Tail. Yes, those guys should be able to accomplish this task for us. That reminds me, it's been a very long time since I last went out drinking with Reed Wheeler" Jason said, grinning brightly over just how unbelievable drunk, he and Reed had gotten the last time they had run into each other at Copernicus. The two of them had become drinking buddies shortly after, the first Bloody Valentine War had ended. Good old Reed was pretty much the only person, that could drink him under the table.

Wondering briefly how the older Waltfeld knew the Commander of Serpent Tail's Laurasia-class frigate. Yet since it sound very much like the purposes of their friendship was to get as drunk as humanly possible, Lacus quickly decide that she really did not want to know. Instead she turned her blue gaze back at the Tomoe's Commander, who was obviously waiting for her, to give him a reply.

"Commander, could you please start coordinating the theft of the prototype METEOR with out scientist supporters and Serpent Tail. Tell Gai Murakumo that he will get half of the money he wants now, and the other half once we have the unit. I'll contact the Junk Guild myself, and send them a detail list over all the parts we need to construct a new METEOR unit" Lacus said.

Nodding hastily a couple of times. "I'll get on it right away Ma'am, I'll contact you again, once I have worked out all of the mission details with Serpent Tail and our scientists" with that said, the Commander end the transmission with a short salute.

Seeing half of the screen go black, Lacus let out a tired sigh then looked over at the older Waltfeld to see if he had anything to add. Yet judging from the small grin and the far expression on his face, Jason Waltfeld was still thinking about hitting the town, and getting drunk with Reed Wheeler. So in the end Lacus told the thoughtful man that she would talk with him later, then without waiting for a response, she cut off the communication to the Factory.

After that, the tired Lacus reached out and grab the bottle of water that was floating around beside her, and after taking a long mouthful of the refreshing cold liquid, the girl asked DaCosta about how Kira's and the others train was going.

Grinning slightly, DaCosta hurried pressed a couple of buttons that made the training battle, that was going on outside, appear up on the main monitor, just as the Gaia and the Freedom slammed their sabers together.

Watching her husband's mobile suit a few short seconds, as it and the Gaia tried with all of their might to overpower each other. "How is Shiho handling her first time in a DOM Trooper?" Lacus asked.

"She is doing pretty good, I think that with just a bit more training she will be able to kick even more ass in that mobile suit, than she ever could in her old ZAKU" DaCosta explained, then with a press of a button, made the screen switch over to showing the three DOM Troopers, that was obviously getting ready to charge the Freedom from behind.

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Outside, Kira immediately broke away from the Gaia when a familiar beeping sound told him, that his three other adversaries was up to no good. But even as he almost effortlessly roll sideways up over the three beams the lead DOM Trooper fired at him, the brown haired teenager fired a single shot back from the left beam rifle, thereby forcing Hilda over on the defenses, and with her momentarily distract, Kira rush hastily past her and slammed the still activate beam saber against the second DOM Trooper's melee weapon, making sure that they were angle in such a way, that the third Trooper just couldn't attack him without hitting Shiho.

"Damn this is annoying! How the hell are we suppose to beat him when he is do damn good at both close quarters combat and long range? Who's bright idea was it to ask him to be our training opponent?!" Herbert asked loudly, as he watched Shiho's machine struggle hard against the Freedom.

"YOURS! You said something about wanting to see, how well you would do against him!. But what really grinds my gears Herbert, is that the kid isn't even taking it all that serious, haven't you noticed that he is only using one rifle and one saber?" Andrew asked, then smirked slightly as he watched the Freedom make a quick backwards somersault away from Shiho, to avoid getting hit by Hilda that was continuously shooting at him from the right.

But even as Shiho joined in and began shooting at Kira too, he still had very little trouble evading the many beams the two women was firing at him. And as the Desert Tiger watched Kira roll sideways in between a couple of beams, then take off in a random direction, with Shiho and Hilda in hot pursuit, Andy was yet again remind of how unbelievable impressed, he was by Kira's skills in a mobile suit.

It was at that point Herbert interrupt Andrew's thoughts. "I hate to admit, but yeah, I have noticed that the kid is holding back, which frankly makes it all the more annoying that we can't beat him! If you have an idea about how to defeat him, I am all ears, Commander!" Herbert said.

"The three of you do what you can to keep the kid's eyes on you! I'll stay put back here, and be prepare to strike the very instant I see an opening" the one eyed man said, then hurried got the Gaia over it's mobile armor mode.

"If you guys don't mind me saying. But you really shouldn't be talking about how to defeat your opponent on an open canal. And if it really is such a big thorn in your side Herbert that I am holding back, I'll do you a favor and take it up a notch" Kira said, the amusement in his voice obvious. And it was only one brief instant later. when Kira launched all of the Freedom's DRAGOONs and send them off towards Herbert's DOM Trooper and the Gaia.

Seeing that Andrew cursed loudly. "Ah damn it Kira, that's not fair! I thought this was suppose to be a friendly training match, between the five of us. But you just had to ruin it!" The man yelled, while firing the assault cannons and the rifle at the rapidly approaching blue DRAGOONs.

Quickly making the target DRAGOONs roll up over the Gaia's attacks. "I am sorry Mr Waltfeld, but look on the bright side, at least I am having fun" Kira said, just as he and Hilda rushed with unbelievable high speed towards each other, their sabers clashing briefly as they past one another. Swirling around Kira looked after Hilda's mobile suit, considering how much more experience the one eyed woman had piloting a DOM Trooper compared to Shiho, it was obvious that the Eternal's newest crew member need a bit more time, to learn to control, the DOM Trooper as just as well as Hilda and Herbert, and since she was keeping her distance right now, Kira was tempt to just ignore Shiho for now and keep going after Hilda.

Yet that idea instantly disappeared from his mind, when a single green beam flew not that far underneath the Freedom, followed momentarily by two more beams, which he was forced to rely on the shield to take care of. And with him still keeping an eye one Hilda, and with Andrew and Herbert having fun with the Freedom's DRAGOONs, there was only one mobile suit left that could have fired those three shots, looking in the direction of Shiho's DOM Trooper, and yet again taking notice of how far away she was right now, Kira knew that if the brunette's machine had been equipped with a weapon better suit for that kinda of distance, there was no way she would have missed the first shot, which she had used to try and zoom in on him.

"Perhaps you should consider getting your machine equipped with some sort of sniper rifle, Miss Shiho" Kira thoughtfully suggest to the younger one of the two female pilots.

"You do not have to call me miss, Shiho is just fine, Kira. Now even though I do find your idea to have this bad boy equipped with a sniper rifle quite a bit appealing, I do like taking on my opponents from this distance. But the DOM Trooper are meant to work closely together, and that would kinda be ruined if I stayed as far away from the enemy as possible, while Hilda and Herbert gets in close. Besides I am also pretty good at beating my opponent's ass in close range combat, and speaking of close range" the brunette said, then rushed full speed towards the Freedom while shooting like crazy.

Raising the rifle, Kira was just about to shot back, when Hilda suddenly drop down in front of him, thrusting her DOM Trooper's beam saber towards the Freedom's stomach area where the Calidus was locate. Immediately throwing himself backwards to avoid the one eyed woman's attack, then after quickly switching his hold on his own beam saber, so it was now upside down, Kira hastily moved forward to counter Hilda's next attack, which consisted of a hard downward slash.

"Damn Hilda, that surprise attack of your's was a close one. You know, you and Shiho work pretty well together" Kira said. Hoping that nobody world judge him for using the same trick as before, the smirking teenager carefully angled them in such away, so Hilda's mobile suit would function as a shield against Shiho's incoming attacks.

Realizing what Kira was trying to do, Hilda immediately broke away from the Freedom. "Seriously Kira, that trick is not going to work a second time, but nice try, you smart aleck!. And yes you are right kid, Shiho and I does make a pretty awesome team!. You know if you were not cheating by using those stupid DRAGOONs to keep Andy and Herbert distract, the four of us would be kicking your ass, right about now!"

"You shouldn't really talk to loudly about me cheating Hilda, you guys were the ones who decide, that it was going to be four against one, even before we left the Eternal, you could at least have asked for my opinion. As for me getting in a bit of practice with the DRAGOONs, that's only because our buddy Herbert was complaining about me holding back, and I did not want to disappoint him. So if you got anything against me using them Hilda, you should really be yelling to him about it" Kira said back.

"I do not think I am going to yell at him, Kira. But calling him a idiot one or two times might be kinda nice" Hilda said, as she charge full speed straight towards the Freedom, clearly ready to strike yet again with her still activated beam saber.

Letting her get in close, Kira moved backwards even so slightly, then made the two Xiphias' jump forth, which instantly made Hilda roll sideways away from him, then rush off in a random direction. Yet instead of actually firing the weapons, Kira took off after the orange haired woman, that hadn't gotten that far, and thanks to the Freedom's unbelievable high speed, Kira was able to quickly catch up with Hilda's machine, once close enough, he swung his own beam saber out after her, hitting the right leg on the DOM Trooper. Yet since this was all just a training battle, none of the weapons they were using were fully powered, so the only damage done, was to Hilda's pride.

"God! You are so getting on my nerves, Kira!"

"Greeat! That makes all of this even better, Hilda!" Kira laughed loudly. Yet the small grin on Kira's face, immediately disappeared, when the left side of the Freedom got hit by a single non-lethal beam, and three more flew past him, barely missing him. Quickly rolling backwards a couple of times, Kira looked in the direction the beams had came from, and saw the Gaia and Shiho's DOM Trooper hastily approaching him.

"Andrew, how did you get past the DRAGOONs?" Kira asked curious.

Aiming the rifle at the Freedom, Andrew fired three rapid shots, at the white much more powerful gundam, and as he watched Kira skillfully manoeuvre the Freedom head first in between the beams, he grin slightly as he gave the teenager a response to his question.

"While you were busy playing around with Shiho and Hilda, Herbert and I manage to disable a three of the DRAGOONs, and with Herbert keeping the rest of them busy, I manage to slip away. And while I can not deny that I do find it highly entertaining watching our two lovely female pilots, beating the crap out of you Kira. Sitting around watching, while somebody else is doing all the work ain't really my style, so I figured that I would join in. You know youngster, you definitely need a lot more training in using the DRAGOON system. It's does not really help much that you obviously do not like using them" Andrew said in a deeply serious tone, already having a pretty good idea about why Kira disliked the DRAGOONs so much.

"I know that I need a lot of training with them Mr Waltfeld, it's just that they remind me so damn much of the Providence, and how Rau killed Asagi right in right of me, using one of it's DRAGOONs, I just can't get that image out of my head, whenever I look at those things!" Kira explained, as a long sob ran through his body, he really did miss Asagi a lot.

"I get that youngster, I really do. How do you think I feel whenever I look at the Duel, that gundam is just such a painful remind of what it's former pilot took from me, especially after running into Akuto. But I try and think about it like this Kira, the Duel is now a machine that's being used to help protect the ones I care about, not hurt them. When I think like that, I am able to put my hatred for that mobile suit behind me, don't you think you could do the same with the DRAGOONs, I am certain that Asagi would want you to use those DRAGOONs to protect us all" the Desert Tiger said.

Those words, kept on echoing through Kira's mind for a long time. They did make a lot of sense to him, he did after all know better than most just how effective DRAGOONs could be, and how much of a bother they were going up against. First of all, they were very difficult to take out because of their high speed and maneuverbility, and they also seemed to have a psychological side effect on some pilots, that was uncertain about how to best fight against a DRAGOON equipped mobile suit.

Yet what really hit home was what the Desert Tiger had said about Asagi. "I guess you are right Andrew, Asagi would be pretty pissed at me if she found out that I was not given it all I got, to protect all of us. So I would like to ask you guys to help me training with the DRAGOONs, so I can get better at using them" Kira said.

"Of course we will help, Kira!" Hilda said in a loud determined tone.

"Yeah it will be an honor" Herbert add just as loudly.

Kira did however not get the chance to thank the two DOM Trooper pilots, when his wife's troubled face, appeared on each one of the monitors inside the five mobile suits.

"I am sorry for the interruption guys, but I got some bad news" Lacus said.

"Great, I love those!" Andrew growled sarcastically.

Ignoring the Desert Tiger's attempt at humor, the worried Kira calmly asked his wife what was going on.

Looking straight into her husband's deep purple eyes, Lacus gave her lower lips a tiny bite, before giving him a response. "It's Heaven's Base Kira, it has fallen to ZAFT" the pink haired woman said, her concerned feelings about the situation obvious from just one single look in her eyes.

While it was true that Kira had frankly expected, that the news Lacus would give the five of them, to be about Heaven's Base. He still growled out a few displeased curses over what Lacus had just told them.

"Ahh damn it this is bad, that means ZAFT will be going after Orb next!" Kira said, seriously worried about his sister, Athrun, and everybody else down on the Archangel.

"Yeah you are right, Kira. Hopefully we still have some time to prepare, before they attack. Knowing how utterly important it is for the Chairman, to get rid of Orb, he will likely send a great deal of his forces there, perhaps even the Minerva..." Lacus said dreadfully.

It was at that point Shiho cut into the married couple's conversation. "But why Orb?. I thought Durandal was only interested in getting rid of Logos, and you guys. We were even told by Commander Tsuwabuki that you guys had some sort of connections to Logos, not that I believed that crap for even a second. But...I just can't figure out what reason ZAFT would have to attack Orb, Miss Lacus!" The brown haired girl said, with a great deal of confusion in her voice.

"Because Shiho, with most other countries having joined up with ZAFT in the fight against Logos, Orb is the only country left, that has the strength and capability to stand against ZAFT, and put a stop to Chairman Durandal's true objective with all of this, once it's revealed. Which is something he without a doubt knows, which means that it is imperative for him to get rid of Orb as soon as possible" Lacus explained in a deeply serious tone.

Angrily narrowing her deep purple eyes, Shiho thought long and hard about everything Miss Lacus had just told her. "Damn, just how mess up is Gilbert Durandal!? So his' main reason for wanting Orb destroyed is simply because is has the capability of getting in his way!. Damn him, how the heck can that bastard do something so terrible!? Just how the hell are we suppose to stop him, when the rest of the world sees him as the savior of humanity?!" Shiho asked through a small sob, a bit surprised to discover the few tears that was floating around inside her helmet, only realizing now that she was actually crying softly. Seriously afraid to think about how many more people would die, if Gilbert Durandal where to win the second Bloody Valentine War.

"That last question of your's Shiho, is one I have been trying to come up with an answer to, almost since the beginning of the war. We have to find out more about what Durandal is planning, if we can expose whatever this Destiny Plan of his is, we might be able to convince the rest of the world, that Gilbert Durandal, is not the hero he makes himself out to be. For now all we can do is prepare ourselves to head to Orb, and do our best to defend it, once ZAFT begins it's attack" the pink haired girl said.

Sighing loudly. "Greeat! I was kinda hoping that my first trip to Earth would be a more peaceful one, where the only thing I had to worry about was other tourists stepping on my feet" Shiho growled displeased.

"Yeah tell me about it" Herbert sighed even louder than the brunette.

After that, all six of them where quiet for a long time, each of them far away in there own thoughts. Yet after about five minutes or so, Lacus' low voice broke the slightly tense silence, asking Kira if he would please come back to the Eternal.

"I'll be there shortly Lacus, I just need to collect the disabled DRAGOONs first" Kira told Lacus in a soft tone, then hurried turned the Freedom around and took off towards the three neutralized DRAGOONs, knowing that once they were back on the Freedom, they should once again function like they supposed to.

Nodding slowly in understanding. "I'll be waiting for you in our room, Kira" Lacus said back, before ending the transmission.

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Slowly stepping into his and Lacus' room, Kira saw his adorable wife sitting on their bed reading in a book. She was dressed in a light purple nightgown that went all the way down to her feet, and left very little to the imagination. But even though Kira found it impossible, not to admire just how unbelievable beautiful and gorgeous she looked in that gown, he was still able to tell that there was something bothering his wife.

Leaping away from the floor, Kira flew over to the bed and sat down beside Lacus. "What's wrong sweetheart?" He asked her softly.

Picking up the bookmark that was laying not that far away from her, Lacus placed it in the book, before closing it. Then leaned slowly in and rested her head against her husband's shoulder.

"I...I just find it kinda frustrating how difficult it is to find any information about what the Chairman is up to..." Lacus explained.

Wrapping his arm around her, Kira hugged her tightly. "Yeah, that has been bothering me a lot too, Lacus".

After that a deep silence fell over the two of them, the only thing that could be heard, was Lacus letting out a small contented sigh, as husband kept on gently rubbing her back, and running his fingers through her long soft pink hair.

The young couple sat there like that for a long time, holding each other. Yet finally after about fifteen minutes or so, Lacus opened her mouth and started speaking in a low tone.

"You know Kira it's...it's been a long time since...emm you know" the pink haired girl said, with a deep red glow on her face.

Of course knowing what his wife was referring to, but figuring that it would be kinda entertaining to tease her a bit by playing ignorant, Kira put on his best confused expression, as he looked into her bright blue eyes.

"A long time since what, Lacus?" He asked.

Feeling the blush on her face grow even deeper, Lacus averted her gaze and looked down into her lap for about a minute. "Since we...uum since we been together" she finally said.

Looking even more confused and bewildered, Kira tilted his head slightly to the left. "But we are together right now, Lacus"

That did, that was the last straw, Lacus quickly moved back and gave Kira's arm a hard slap, as she send him a deeply displeased glare. "That is not what I meant, and you know it you big dummy!" Lacus said, far from happy with her husband's dumb teasing, she was almost tempted to throw him out of the room, and tell him that he could find some place else to sleep tonight.

Forcing back the laughter that was threatening to leave his mouth, the young husband quickly wrapped his arms around his wife's slender waist, hugging her tightly.

"I'm sorry Lacus, I just couldn't help it. You always looks so cute when you get all pouty like that" Kira told her with a mischievous grin, again running his hands up and down her back, and through her hair.

"Mmm you are so mean, Kira" the young woman told her husband in a low displeased whisper. Only to moan softly as Kira began lightly kissing one of the most sensitive spots on her neck, an act that made Lacus Yamato feel like pudding in her husband's arms, and as she felt Kira's right hand move slowly away from her waist, and make it's way up to her shoulder, she felt a small tremor run through her body, as he gently pushed away the left strap on her nightgown, and it was only a brief instant later when Lacus let out a soft gasp at the feeling of Kira's lips kissing her exposed shoulder.

"Ohhh Kira I love you so much...Kira I...I need you...!"" Lacus moaned loudly, as the man she loved kept on kissing and licking her shoulder.

Giving her shoulder one last kiss, Kira moved away slightly and looked into his wife's sparkling blue eyes. "I love you too, Lacus" he said, then pressed his lips against her's, kissing her with all the affection and passion he felt for her.

Wrapping her arms around Kira's neck, Lacus immediately kissed back with an equal amount of love and passion. Yet even as their tongues met and start playfully rolling around one another, Lacus reached down and took a hold on the black and green T-shirt Kira was wearing, pulling it upwards, clearly wanting that article of clothing gone, which forced Kira to break the kiss for a few short seconds. Once the T-shirt was out of the way, the young married couple again pressed their lips together, falling down onto the bed in their heated embrace, the two of them rolled back and forth on their bed in each others arms, kissing and making out for who knew how long.

It was only when she felt the dire need, to get some air down into her lungs that the gasping Lacus reluctantly broke away from the kiss, looking straight into her husband's deep purple eyes that was shining with how much love he had for her.

"Kira later...I...I got a new costume I want to show you..."

Hearing his darling wife say those words to him, instantly made an assumed chuckle leave Kira's mouth. "I wonder what others would say, if they found out that you have a bit of a cosplay fetish, Lacus"

Narrowing her eyes slightly at that. "I do not have a cosplay fetish...I...I just like dressing up for you..." the pink haired girl said embarrassed.

Kissing first her left cheek, then her nose, Kira smiled softly at her. "I know Lacus sweetheart. And believe me, I love seeing you dressed up in one of your costumes, and it's especially exciting seeing you a new costume. What is it this time?" Kira asked unable to keep the excitement he felt out of his voice, it was always such a thrill seeing Lacus in a new costume.

Feeling the blush on her face grow even deeper, Lacus glance downwards for a few short seconds, before giving Kira a response.

"Umm a purple bunny girl outfit"

Not sure if he heard right Kira blinked rapidly a couple of times. "Where in the world did you buy something like that, out here?"

Rubbing her left seductively leg against Kira's, Lacus began explaining how she had obtain that outfit. "Hilda and I, went on a small trip to Copernicus a short while ago to try and find some information, about my impostor. We did not have much luck with that. So we spent about a half hour clothes shopping before heading back to the Eternal, one of the stores we visited sold just about every type of clothes one could imagine. I found that outfit, while Hilda was off trying on a pretty blouse she liked, so I was able to buy it without her knowing anything about it" the pink haired girl said, knowing that if Hilda had been around, she would have been way too embarrassed to buy something like that. It had also helped a bit that she had been disguised with a pair of fake glasses, and a long black wig, that had done a good job of hiding all of her pink hair.

"I can not wait to see you in that outfit, Lacus. You know I can't believe that my wife is so naughty at times..." Kira teased with a small grin, knowing that being told that by him, would make Lacus feel even more embarrassed about having brought that outfit, than she was already.

"I am not naughty" Lacus protested displeased, as she quickly moved in and pressed her lips against Kira's neck, clearly having the intention of leaving a hickey or two there as punishment for that remark.

"You are a little naughty, Lacus. You did after all buy that bunny girl outfit with the intention of seducing me in it" Kira grinned at her, then forced back a small groan when Lacus lightly bited his neck.

Glaring up at him. "Will you just shut up already you dumb bully!"

"Of course Ma'am, I'll just lay here and be quiet while you leave who knows how many hickeys on me" Kira softly told her, then closed his eyes and let out a light contented sigh, as Lacus went back to work on his neck.

000000

At the same time back down on Earth on board the Archangel, Mayu was sitting quietly in a chair down in the mess hall, with Meyrin standing behind her holding a pair of scissors and a comb, carefully cutting the eleven-year-old girl's hair.

The two of them had spend most of the day together, watching cartoons and playing video games. It was during that time, Mayu had started complaining about her hair being way too long, and that she needed somebody to give her a haircut, and since Meyrin had some experience in cutting hair, she had quickly told the girl, that she could cut it for her.

And as Mayu reached out and picked up big sister Lacus', small round hand mirror, that was located on the table beside her. Seeing the hairstyle Meyrin was giving her, Mayu found herself frowning a bit, yet once she realized that her hair looked kinda like big sister Cagalli's now, just slightly longer, a small happy smile appeared the girl's face.

"You are really good at this big sis, I just can't wait to show my hair to my mother and hear what she thinks about it!" Mayu said in a excited tone.

Smiling softly, Meyrin once more ran the small green comb through Mayu's hair, then kneel down and began carefully cutting the long hair on the girl's forehead, doing her utmost to make sure that it was the exact same length.

"I am happy to hear that you like it, Mayu. I might not be an expert, but I do think I am pretty good at cutting hair" the redhead said, with a hint of pride in her voice.

"Of course I like it big sis. You are so much better at cutting hair than that loud chatty woman, mom usually takes me to. Perhaps you should consider becoming a professional hair stylist someday in the future" Mayu suggested playfully.

Narrowing her eyes slightly at those words, Meyrin thought hard about what the eleven-year-old girl had just said to her. "Hmm, that might be an idea worth considering Mayu, I seriously do not know if I am really suited to be a soldier, the only reason why I joined, was because Lunamaria was so keen on becoming a ZAFT mobile suit pilot, and I want to be there to help support her" the young redhead said, as she stopped cutting the hair, and just stood there with a far away look on her face.

Seeing the slightly sad look in Meyrin's eyes, Mayu could not help but feel a bit sorry for her. "You are pretty worried about her ain't you?"

"Yeah I am, it's pretty hard not to worry about her, knowing that she is out there helping a madman conquering the world" Meyrin answered.

"What kinda of person is she?" Mayu asked next.

"She is kind...Lunamaria is a very kind person Mayu...But she can also be quite a bit stubborn at times, which is why I fear, that even if I got a chance to talk with her, I do not believe that I would be able to convince her, that the Chairman is the bad guy in this war, she will likely say something about me being deceived by Athrun, and the rest of you...I just hope that once she figures out the truth, it's not too late I do not want to lose her..." Meyrin said, playing with the comb in her left hand in an absent-minded manner.

Spending the next few seconds studying the redhead's face, Mayu sincerely hoped with all of her being, that Meyrin's older sister would make it through the war in one piece, Meyrin really didn't deserve to go through the pain of losing her only sibling.

"You know if you can get your sister to defect, I am certain that she would be welcome here on the Archangel. Besides as much as I hate the Impulse, I think it would make a pretty awesome addition to our mobile suit forces, we really need to get some new gundams around here, I seriously do miss seeing the Freedom and the Duel Rouge down in the hangar, that place just looks so empty without those two, I do not think the Impulse would be able to fill the void those two left, but it would help a bit" Mayu said, with a small smile on her face.

Chuckling softly at the girl's words. "Your mother said almost the exact same thing to me about Luna being welcome here on the Archangel, when I first talked with her, as for the Impulse Mayu, I do not think the Archangel would get much use out of that machine, since it does not have a place the store the Silhouette packs, and without those the Impulse wouldn't be much of a threat to anybody" Meyrin explained, while wondering how thrilled Lunamaria was to be piloting that gundam.

"What about the Striker Packs for the old Strike gundam, can it use those? I know the Archangel still have a few of them left on board, like the Aile Striker and the Sword Striker?!" Mayu asked, with a great deal of curiosity in her voice.

Narrowing her eyes thoughtfully. "Hmm that I honestly don't know Mayu, it might just be possible to somehow configure the Striker Packs in such a way, that they could be fitted on to the Impulse. But as for how much work that would take I do not know, you have to ask somebody who knows about the workings on both the Strike, and the Impulse" Meyrin said, a small part of her kinda curious about the answer to Mayu's question.

"Perhaps we should try asking Grandpa Murdoch about it" Mayu suggested thoughtfully.

Yet those words had barely left Mayu's lips when a familiar voice cut into their conversation. "I would love to answer that question for you Mayu dear. Since to be honest, I have been wondering about that myself, since the very first time I heard Dearka complain about the Impulse, calling it a worthless shitty copy of the Strike. Yet for me to answer your question, I need to get a closer look at the Impulse first, and that it kinda hard to do from here. But perhaps your aunty Erica, would be able to shed a little light on that mystery since she knows a lot more mobile suit science, than I do" Murdoch said in a loud tone of voice, before taking a long sip of the can of orange juice standing on the table beside him. Then growled something about hating the taste of the orange liquid, and that he was in serious need of a nice cold beer and a cigar.

Not paying the least bit attention to grandpa Murdoch's bellyaching about not being able to get a beer anywhere on the Archangel, Mayu reached up and rubbed her chin in a thoughtful manner.

"If aunty Erica is on board the Archangel right now, the two of us are going to go talk with her big sister Meyrin. Once you are done with my hair" Mayu said with a great deal of determination in her voice.

Yet those words had barely left Mayu's mouth, when Miriallia's voice could be heard echoing through the Archangel's speakers, telling her and Meyrin that the Captain would like to talk with both of them.

"So what did you do now, troublemaker?" Murdoch asked, figuring that the reason why the Captain want to talk with Mayu was because she had caused some sort of mischief, that she was going to get scolded for now.

Glaring slightly at him. "I have not done anything!" The girl insisted firmly. Since she had spend most of the day hanging out with her big sister Meyrin, there had not really been much time for her to cause mischief today. So she seriously did no understand what her mother wanted to talk with her about. Whatever it was, it had to be important since she had gotten big sis Miriallia to call on her and Meyrin with the loudspeakers.

"Do you think the Captain is mad at us?" Meyrin asked, obviously quite a bit concerned about what the Captain of the Archangel would want to speak with her and Mayu about, she really hoped that it was not because she had done something wrong.

"I do not think you have to worry young lady, she probably just want to ask you how you like your stay on the Archangel so far" Murdoch said, before taking another sip of his orange juice.

"Why do you magically assume grandpa, that because my mother wants to talk with the two of us, that I have been up to no good, but big sister Meyrin is perfectly innocent?" the girl asked with a small frown.

Raising an eyebrow at that question. "Because unlike you troublemaker, this girl here did not empty out my toolbox a few days ago, and left only a badly drawn treasure map of the Archangel as my only clue to find them again. Up until now, I have only found about half" the chief engineer growled with a displeased looked in his eyes.

"You still haven't found all of them?" The smirking girl asked.

"Of course I haven't! I had no trouble at all, finding the ones you had hidden away down in the hangar, my own room, the kitchen and mess hall. But then I realized, that you had hidden quite a few of my tools in the female locker room, shower area, and hotspring area, and I am not really keen on entering those places for obvious reasons, I seriously do not want to know what it is like to have ALL of the women on board the Archangel pissed off at me, for messing around in one of those areas, searching for my tools" the large man said, as he slowly crushed the now empty can, in his left hand.

Letting out a happy laughter at what he had just told her. "You know hiding your tools in those places was the most entertaining thing about this prank, I was really hoping to see all of the female crew members, chasing you around the Archangel for being a pervert" the brown haired girl said, still grinning like a super villain.

Sighing loudly and rolling his eyes a single time. "You know girl, one day I might just take revenge for all of the pranks you have pulled on me".

"Just bring it GRANDPA! It has been such a long time, since I was last in a prank war! The last one I was in ended prematurely because Dearka and I made a bit of a mess in the kitchen back home, with a bag of flour and a few eggs. But while I thought it was hilarious, mom was far from impressed, she told both of us to clean the kitchen ourselves, and that if we did not knock if off with the pranks, she was going to make both of us sleep out in the yard for a month. And since it was in the middle of winter, none of us was all that keen on trying that" Mayu explained, still thinking about how pissed off her mother had been back then.

Shaking his head slightly. "I am sorry Mayu, but I am find it very difficult to feel sorry for you and Dearka, I quite frankly feel like you two dunderheads got what you deserved"

"You are mean..." the girl said, then titled her head a bit forward so Meyrin could cut the hair at that back of her neck.

"Yeah when I shout to much at the other mechanics they say the same thing. Speaking of the other mechanics, I better get back down to the engine room, there is still a lot of work that needs to be done" the chief engineer said, as he got up from his seat, and began making his way over to the door, saying goodbye to the two girls as he left.

It was only a few short minutes after Murdoch had left the mess hall, when Meyrin informed Mayu that she was done and that the girl's hair was perfect now.

"Great! Then we better hurry up and get going big sis, before my mom runs out of patience" Mayu said, as she hastily leaped up from the seat and began heading over towards the door, with Meyrin walking just a few steps behind her.

It did not take the two girls much time to get to the Captain's room, and as Mayu opened the door and stepped inside without knocking, Meyrin gulped nervously a single time, as she followed Mayu into the room, simply unable to stop herself from fearing that she might be in trouble, and that she was in for a scolding by the Captain.

Pleasantly surprised to discover, that her big brother Athrun, and big sister Cagalli was in there too, Mayu smiled happily at the two of them. Yet unlike usual they did not smile back, each one of them had a deeply serious look in their eyes, that made Mayu feel more than a little nervous, and as she slowly turned her gaze away from them, and looked over at her mother, she saw that she had an even more serious expression on her face. Yet after looking a bit closer at her, Mayu could also see a deep profound sadness in mother's eyes.

Having not seen such intense sadness on her mother's face, since they had found Mu at Berlin, and had discovered that he had lost his memories, Mayu instantly jumped to the conclusion that something was very wrong here, and with Athrun and Cagalli in there, Mayu could not help but feared that they might have lost one of the little once in Cagalli's stomach, or perhaps the Eternal had been destroyed by another surprise attack by ZAFT, which meant that she would never see her big sister Lacus or big brother Kira again, and as one awful scenario after another kept on running rampage through her young frightened mind, she reached out and took a hold on the closed hand, which just so happened to be Meyrin's, squeezing it tightly for comfort.

"What's going on...?" the girl nervously asked.

Biting her lower lips hard, Murrue had to force out the question she so badly did not want to ask her daughter. "Mayu sweetie, does the name...does the name Shinn, mean anything to you?" The young mother asked, sound a bit like she was having trouble breathing.

Blinking rapidly a couple of times, not really understanding why her mother was asking her about that name. The very name which she was struggling so hard to keep out of her mind, ever since the very first time she had heard her big sister Cagalli mentioning that name, after big brother Kira had been shot down by this Shinn guy in the Impulse. And while Mayu truly want to turn around and rush full speed out of the room, and go take shelter back in her room under the covers on her bed, she for some inexplicable reason knew that she could not get out of this conversation, that this was a conversation that she needed to have.

And as long drawn out sob ran through her small body, Mayu forced her dry lips apart and gave her mother a response to her question. "It...It sounds so familiar...I...I just don't know where I know it from...It's a name that is so hard to keep out of my mind at times...But why...why are you asking me this mom...!?" The girl cried.

Seeing the waterfall of tears on her daughter's face, Murrue sincerely wished with all of her being that she, Athrun and Cagalli could have found some other way to find out if Mayu knew anything about Shinn Asuka, and as the sound of another grieving sob could be heard, Murrue literally had to force herself not to get up from her seat, rush over and tightly hug her crying little girl. Telling her just how sorry she was for asking the question, and that she should forget all about it, but that was simply impossible, Mayu had already told them, that the name Shinn meant something to her. And as Murrue struggled to get rid of the unbelievable huge lump in her throat, Cagalli decide to answer her weeping daughter's question.

"Because Mayu sweetie...ever since we got back home to Orb, I have done everything I could to dig up as much information as possible about Shinn Asuka's family...It turns out that he...he had a younger sister, who just so happened to be named...Mayu" Cagalli explained in a depressed tone, only able to finish the last past of the sentence, because Athrun was there next to her, holding tightly on to her hand.

Sobbing loudly yet again, Mayu needed a few minutes to comprehend what Cagalli had just told her, and after using her sleeve to rub away some of the tears coving her face, the girl raised her gaze away from the floor and once again looked back at her pregnant sister.

"You...you are not saying what I think you are saying, are you big sis!? You are not telling me, that me and the Impulse brat, are really brother and sister, are you?!" The girl shouted in disbelief, as even more tears left her eyes.

The silence that followed after that last question was almost heartbreaking. And just one single glance at Murrue's and Cagalli's faces, was all Athrun need to tell, that neither of them was capable of giving the girl a reply, they each looked like they were just about to break down at any moment. So it was with a heavy heart, that Athrun forced his mouth open, and gave Mayu a response to what she had just asked them.

"We are not absolutely sure Mayu, since we do not have any way of proving it. But that might very well be the case" the blue haired man said.

Hearing the words Athrun had said to her, echoing through her bewildered mind again and again, Mayu just stood there staring at the floor, trying her hardest to make sense of it all. Was it truly possible, that she was related to the Impulse brat?. Just the thought of having any kind of connection to that guy, made the girl feel like throwing up.

"But...But that guy...he is...HE IS A MONSTER!" The girl finally yelled at the top of her lungs. "He almost killed big brother Kira! And you, Athrun, Along with big sister Meyrin!...And he has killed so many other people! HOW THE HECK CAN I BE RELATED TO SUCH A MONSTER!? I...I WANT NOTHING TO DO WITH THAT LUNATIC!" The smaller Ramius screamed, before she swirled around and ran full speed out of the room.

Not saying anything, Murrue got up from her seat and hastily went after her daughter, knowing better than anybody how much Mayu was going to need her support right now.

Watching the door fly shut after Murrue, Athrun let out a long exhaust sigh, as he reached up and used his hand to slowly rubbed away the tears that was threatening to leave his eyes. "A part of me feels like I should go after her to try and convince her, that Shinn is a nice guy on the bottom. But there just ain't no denying, that he has done all the things Mayu said...Damn what are we going to do now...?" the blue haired man mumbled, just loud enough for the two girls in there to hear him.

"Considering that she doesn't remember him, and how terrify she is of him. I do believe it's best that we give her some time to calm down Athrun, if she starts asking questions about him, we will of course answer them. For now I think it's best we leave the subject alone, otherwise she might very well end up with a complete nervous breakdown, and I do not want her to go through something like that, because we insist on talking about the stubborn bastard that might be her brother" Cagalli said in a low tone.

"You really don't like him, do you?" Athrun asked.

"No to be totally honest with you Athrun, I hate him a lot, like Mayu said he has killed a lot of good people, especially Orb soldiers like Todaka, and he almost killed you, Kira and Meyrin" the blonde said, with deep frown on her forehead.

At the mentioning of her name, Meyrin snapped out of the deep thoughts she had been in these last few minutes. Of all the things the redhead had expect this conversation to be about, Mayu being Shinn's younger sister was definitely not one of them. Even now after everything she had heard, Meyrin was still having trouble believing that the two of them were related, Mayu was such a cheerful and fun girl, while Shinn was the exact opposite, always in a bad mood about something. So trying to image the two of them being brother and sister, was almost impossible for Meyrin to do.

"Athrun, Cagalli why was I needed here for this?" The redhead asked softly.

Shaking his head slightly, Athrun slowly turned his blue gaze away from Cagalli and looked over at Meyrin, who was clearly bothered by everything she had just heard. "Because Meyrin, we thought that there might be a small chance that Shinn had at some point, showed you a picture of his younger sister"

"No, that is not something Shinn has ever done Athrun, I am not even sure that he has any pictures of his sister, and even if he had, I do not think he and I were close enough for him to show them to me. I don't really know all that much about his family, other than that he lost them at some point in the last war, and that he blames Orb for it" Meyrin said, thinking about how many times she had heard Shinn yell and complain about Orb, and how much he wanted to see that country burn someday.

"Of course he does, what else would he do..." Cagalli sighed with a roll of her eyes, seriously having a difficult time understanding why it was entirely Orb's fault, that Shinn had lost his family, it was like the Earth Alliance who had invaded back then, had nothing at all to do with what happened to the Asuka family. From what Cagalli had been able to uncover, it was the pilot of the Raider gundam, who was responsible for hitting Shinn's family during the evacuation.

Cagalli did however not get long to wonder about why Shinn was so utterly keen on blaming Orb for everything, that had gone wrong in his life. When her stomach suddenly growled loudly.

Looking over at her, Athrun smiled slightly. "Hungry?" He asked softly.

Nodding slowly. "Yeah a lot, beside breakfast I haven't gotten all that much to eat today. I can not even begin to describe how annoying this increase in appetite is, even when I spend an entire day stuffing my face, I still feel hungry" the blond complained.

"Then lets go get you something to eat, before you starve to death" Athrun said back.

Hearing those words, instantly served to make Cagalli's round belly growled loudly one more time. "Mmm sounds great! I hope that the kitchen staff has made a lot of spicy meat today, since I have a huge craving for that right about now" Cagalli said, practically drooling at the thought of the food awaiting her down in the mess hall.

"Em do you guys mind if I join you? I really don't feel like being alone right now" Meyrin said with a bit of hesitation in her voice.

Smiling kindly at the red haired girl, Cagalli stepped slowly over and took a hold on Athrun's wheelchair. "Of course you are welcome to join us Meyrin, I can understand why you do not feel like being alone"

Grateful for that, Meyrin followed Cagalli and Athrun out of the Captain's room. Once out in the hallway, the three of them began making their way to the mess hall, neither of them saying all that much, they were each far away in their own thoughts, about Mayu and Shinn.

000000

Meanwhile near Orb's main airstrip, a frowning Kazuma was leaning against a large container, keeping a close eye on the brain dead moron, better known as Yuna Roma Seiran, and his equally braindead father. The Murasame pilot knew from the rumors he had heard around the base, that the Seirans was awaiting a very important guest. So when Kazuma had seen the two morons arrive at the base not that long ago, the young man had quickly decide to follow them, hoping that by doing that he could figure out just who exactly this guest of theirs was.

"Damn, what the hell is taking that guest of theirs so damn long? Sooner or later somebody is going to ask me what I am doing here!" He said to himself in a whisper, as he took a quick glance down at his watch. Up until now he had been out there for almost ten whole minutes, and he was still unable to come up with a reasonable explanation for why, he was hanging out there in the first place, which lead the Murasame pilot to mentally curse the fact that he had not brought along a pack of cigarettes, since that would have made a pretty good excuse for him being out there, even though he did not smoke.

Then as a small tired sigh left him, Kazuma slowly moved his thoughtful gaze away from his watch, and once again looked back at Tweedledum and Tweedledee, wondering what the two morons might be talking about right now. Unfortunately he was too far away to hear what they were saying.

It was at that very moment he spotted an Earth Alliance shuttle approaching the base, escorted by two M1s and a single Murasame. 'Hmm whoever is on board that thing is definitely some sort of big shot...' he thought as the shuttle landed, followed shortly by the two Astrays, and as Unato and Yuna began making their way towards the craft, the hatch opened and out stepped a man that made Kazuma's eyes widen in disbelief, he didn't even noticed the three heavily armed guards following the grey haired man.

'Is that...? Ahhhh hell no, why Djibril of all people?! Are Unato and Yuna really so utterly stupid that they do not realize what his presence here could lead to, ZAFT is searching all over the world for that bastard and now he is here...' Kazuma thought angrily, as he reached down into his pocket for his gun, seriously tempted to try and put a bullet, in terrorist leader's head, right then and there, even if it cost him his life.

Yet there was one very irritating problem with that idea, Kazuma couldn't get around. 'Damn it the distance, I am not absolutely certain that I could hit him from this distance with a gun, I should have brought along a sniper rifle or perhaps an RPG' the young man angrily told himself, then after watching the Seirans greet the terrorist leader like he was an old friend, they hadn't seen in years, Kazuma swirled around on one foot and hastily left the area, knowing that he had to tell the others what he had just found out.

To be continued.

There now Mayu knows about Shinn, yet her reaction was far from positive. Please do let me know, what you think about her reaction, and her reasons for being frightened of her brother.