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.

95. Chapter 95

Don't really have much to say here, guys, hope you enjoy.

Chapter 95

Instantly upon the three of them entering the mess hall, Kira, Athrun and Dearka discovered that there were quite a few people in there, there was a nice quiet familiar atmosphere present. One could vaguely detect a nice well-known scent from the kitchen, which meant that Kira's claim that they were having burgers for dinner was likely right. But since nobody were eating yet, it probably meant that it was going to take a bit more time, before they were done.

Looking around the place, Athrun saw, Arnold and Dalida playing chess over in a corner, Hilda was sitting all by herself on a couch reading in a book, while the rest was playing pictionary, Mu was drawing something on a white board, while the rest was trying to guess what it was, the most eager ones being Shiho and Mayu, while the rest was looking a bit more calmly at the board trying to figure out what it was.

"It's the boy who cried wolf!" Lacus suddenly cried out.

Honestly more than a little astonished, by how incredibly good the Pink Princess was at this game, Mu stepped back and looked at the board for a few short seconds, he had barely started, but despite that, the pink haired girl, had still amazingly enough been able to somehow to figure out, what it was supposed to be.

"Damn Pink Princess, if there were a pictionary league somewhere in this crazy world, you would definitely be a part of it" Mu said, as he handed the marker over to the girl, since it was her turn now.

Quickly stepping up to the board, Lacus started drawning something that looked very much like a house, but it was obvious that there were more to it than just that, upon hearing Shiho and Mayu guess rapidly, a pleased smiled ran across Athrun's lips. It was then, that he heard a familiar voice ask him, along with Kira and Dearka, if she could please get by.

Upon hearing that request, Kira immediately pushed Athrun's wheelchair a bit further into the room, so that it was possible for Meyrin to get past the three of them.

However, the younger Hawke sister did not go far into the room, before she turned and smiled slightly at Athrun.

"It's so good to see you, somewhat up and about, Athrun. After you collapsed yesterday, I have been so worried about you" the redhead softly told him, then took a short glance over at the white board, to see if it was possible for her to tell, what Lacus was presently drawing, shouting out a quick guess, before yet again turning her attention back towards the wheelchair bound man.

"Thank you for your concern Meyrin, are you having fun?" Athrun softly asked her, to be completely honest, the pilot of the Justice had actually been a little worried about, Meyrin having trouble fitting in, with the rest of the Archangel crew, but as far as Athrun could tell, she seemed to be feeling right at home there together with the rest of them, it felt very much like, she had always been a part of the Archangel crew, despite her at times getting a far away, slightly sad gleam in her normally happy blue eyes, which was an obvious indication, that she was thinking, wondering what her older sister was doing.

"Yeah I am having a total blast here, Athrun, I seriously don't get, why we never did anything like this on the Minerva, it's so much fun! It's the Big Bad Wolf, trying to blow the three little pigs, house down!" Meyrin yelled so loudly, that the entire room could hear her.

"Correct, Meyrin, your turn!" Lacus said back, throwing the mark over to the excited redhead, who easily caught it, then raced over to the board, to do the next drawing.

Watching the younger Hawke sister starting to draw, what kinda looked like a car of some kind, Athrun gave a bit of thought to what she had just said, it was true most of the Minerva crew, was nowhere close to having the same kind of solidarity, that the Archangel crew had. The atmosphere on the Minerva, had simply felt so much darker, if not at times somewhat depressing to Athrun, it was like most of the crew on that ship, were only there because they had to be there, not because they actually wanted to.

'Hmm, I think that the main reason why, we never did anything like this on the Minerva, Meyrin, is because most of that ship's crew, consist of cranky antisocial assholes. I seriously don't think that Captain Gladys, or the Deputy Captain, would have minded the crew doing something like this. Heh, considering how unbelievable childish a man Arthur could be at times, he would probably have joined in. But with Rey, Shinn and Nicol likely believing that such non-essentials activities, to be a complete waste of valuable time, they would likely have ruined it for the rest of the crew, with their downright sour attitudes' Athrun thought, then watched as Kira stepped slowly past him, making his way over to Lacus, where he greeted her with an affectionate kiss on the cheek, then told her something in a soft tone of voice.

Honestly quiet a bit taken aback, by what her dear husband had just said to her, Lacus blinking rapidly, a half-dozen times in utter surprise, as she tried to compensate his words.

"What really? Are you serious, Kira? Romina, wants to join the Eternal's crew".

"Yeah, that's right, dear. Athrun, Dearka and I had quite the lengthy chat with her, about Nicol. You just happened to be mentioned too, during that conversation, she seemed to be pretty concerned about your whereabouts and well-being, when she heard that Meer Campbell, was a fake running around pretending to be you" Kira informed her.

Smiling ever so brightly, Lacus with a light affectionately purr, rested her head against Kira's shoulder, for a few seconds, while yelling out a guess to what Meyrin was still drawing, on the white board, which turned out to be wrong. Afterwards, she glanced briefly up into her husband's purple eyes.

"That's wonderful news Kira, Miss Romina is a real clever woman, she's going to be a major boon to the Eternal's crew, I am so glad to know that she still cares about me, despite it being such a long time, since I last saw her. I think the last time Romina and I spoke, was shortly before, I depart on the Silverwind to Junius Seven, to make preparation for the memorial service there. That's where the Silverwind fell under attack, Lowe saved me, and you found my life pod, not long after, Kira. Thank you for that by the way" Lacus said with a hint of a cheeky grin on her lips.

Chuckling ever so slightly in mild amusement, Kira placed a light kiss on top of Lacus' head. "I do believe that you have thanked me for that plenty of times, Lacus, but even so you are of course welcome. I might not have known it back then, but I will do anything for you, sweetheart" Kira softly told his wife, then took a brief glance over at the white board. Seeing that Meyrin was presently drawing something, that looked very much like an old telephone booth, he instantly realized what it was.

"Time machines! Those are both time machines, the weird looking car, is supposed to be the DeLorean, and that telephone booth, is from that old TV series!" Kira loudly told them all.

"I kinda take offense, to you calling my car weird looking, Kira, but you are right. Phew, that was a bit of a challenge, since time traveling movies ain't really my cup of tea, I just had no idea, about how to draw a time machines" the redhead said, as she stepped over to hand the mark over to Kira, feeling just a bit of guilt, for ruining his and miss Lacus tender little moment, they just looked so incredibly cute and adorable.

Meyrin truly wondered what it was like, to be in a romantic relationship like the one Kira and Lacus had. She sincerely wished that she could try experience such pure happiness, try such things, that it was normal for a couples in-love to do, like holding hands, embracing one another, and well kissing, the redhead wondered if she and whoever she would end up with, would look just as cute, as Lacus and Kira. Still thinking all those things, the girl took a brief glance over at Athrun, she had mostly gotten over her crush, on the blue haired man, since she realized that it would never happen, he got Cagalli, the woman he loved, the woman carrying his two children, the woman he was going to marry.

Slowly shaking her head, Meyrin found herself briefly thinking about the other men in her life, close to her own age, everyone she knew here on the Archangel were already in a relationship. There were of course Vino and Yolan, on the Minerva. But to be completely honest, those two were too immature, for her taste, there were Nicol, but he was likely in a relationship with her sister, Luna now, so that was simply out of the question.

Then there was Shinn, but with him being such an angry person, that had so ferociously attempted to murder Athrun and her, when they had made their escape from Gibraltar, the mere thought of actually falling in-love, and being in actual relationship, with the short-tempered bastard, send a long freezing cold shiver down Meyrin's spine, the redhead wondered if there would ever come a day, where she would be able to look Shinn in the eyes again, without feeling her fair share of discomfort and perhaps even a bit of fear.

Finally, there was Rey that dumb bastard, a person who Meyrin had never really spend all that much time hanging out with, or spoken with, she had, in all honesty, always found him to be, just a bit intimidating. But despite that, she had still believed, thought, that he at the very least, cared a little about her well-being, but that had been proven to be a completely false assumption on her part, by all the mean things, he had said to the already crazy Shinn to get him to fight, during hers and Athrun's battle, with the Destiny and the Legend, if she never in a saw Rey Za Burrel that evil son of a bitch again, it would suit her just fine.

'Uhhgg, how annoying! Guess I got no other choice, but to wait patiently for Mr Right to show up, I wonder how long, that's going to take' Meyrin begrudgingly thought, only to let out a short surprise squeal, when Kira's fingers brushed ever so briefly against her hand, when he took the marker from her.

Honestly, a bit taken a-back by the redhead's weird reaction, Kira blinked rapidly a few times, wondering if he might accidentally have given Meyrin a minor shock with static electricity, even though he himself, had not felt anything, it usually went both ways.

"I don't know precisely what I did, Meyrin, but I am sorry. I did not mean to frightened you, like that. Are you ok?" Freedom pilot worryingly asked the girl.

Feeling a wave of embarrassment rush through her, especially because of the weird looks, Lacus and Kira were presently sending her. "Yeees, yes I am just fine Kira, I guess I kinda got lost in my own thoughts there!" The red face girl, hastily told the friendly purple eyed man.

Nodding slowly a single time in understanding, Kira stepped away from Lacus and Meyrin, making his way over to the white board.

Lacus, on the other hand, felt quite a bit curious about what her newest friend, could be pondering so hard about, leaning in towards her, the pink haired woman smiled a bit. "You know Meyrin, if you got something on your mind that's bothering you, I am always willing to listen, if you need a friendly ear. We can even go someplace else, if you want, like mine and Kira's room, we can talk in private in there".

"Umm I... I appreciate the offer, Lacus, I really do. But it ain't really that important that we need to leave, it's just seeing you and Kira look so cute together, kinda makes me think a little about my own out my love life, or to be precise, lack thereof. I am kinda wondering if I'll ever find somebody who is so loving and affectionate with me, as Kira is with you" Meyrin said to the other girl almost in a whisper, glancing embarrassingly around at the floor, she figured that if anybody could give her some advice in the love department it would be Lacus, since she was happily married.

Reaching slowly over, Lacus gently patted Meyrin's shoulder in a sisterly like fashion, that briefly served to make the redhead remember, her older sister trying to comfort her in such a way, whenever something was bothering her. Not that the young pink haired married lady had anyway of knowing that, as she started softly consoling her friend.

"Finding love can at times be quite a complicated thing to do Meyrin, but I would not worry so much about it, if I were you, you are cute, pretty and according to Kira really brave, you did save Athrun at Gibraltar. So, I am certain that sooner or later, you are going to find the right person, who will see all of your great character traits, and fall head-over-heels for you, there are guys out there, who very much love redheads" Lacus gently reassured the other girl.

Feeling her face growing even more flushed, over getting praised in such a manner, Meyrin kept on staring at her feet, occasionally glancing up at Lacus. The redhead, was kinda astound by how sweet and caring Lacus was towards her, it truly were no wonder why Kira loved and adored his wife as much as he did, and was apparently willing to do everything for her, especially if it meant keeping her safe.

"I appreciate you saying so Lacus, I do hope you are right, I also hope that the next guy who I end up liking, is not already in a relationship with somebody else" Meyrin said, in the same low tone of voice as before, as she took a short glance over at Athrun, who presently staring intensely at the white board, to see what Kira was drawing.

Always the observant person, and with the two of them standing so close together, to keep anybody from listening in on their conversation. It was impossible for the Pink Princess, not to notice Meyrin doing that. Having always felt so delighted, so genuinely happy, that Cagalli and Athrun had been able to find each other, and build a strong loving relationship, even through the many horrors they witness during the last war, but even more so now, since the two of them were planning to get married, someday in the near future, and were having children.

But despite that, Lacus still felt genuinely sorry for Meyrin, as she slowly moved her hand away from the other girl's shoulder, bring it to her head, ever so gently stroking and rubbing the red hair, still in that caring sister like fashion.

"I assume you developed those feelings for him, Meyrin, during your time with him on the Minerva. There were no way you could possibly have known back then, just how serious the relationship between Cagalli and Athrun truly were, so please don't blame yourself. Knowing how Athrun can be at times, he is not really the type of person to run around bragging left and right about having a fiancée. Even when he was told by Kira, that Cagalli was pregnant and that he was going to become a father. My guess is, that despite how happy he felt, he kept that to himself, not certain how he was supposed to react to such news, while still on the Minerva" Lacus softly told the other girl.

Frowning thoughtfully over that, Meyrin reached up and rubbed her chin a bit. "When did Kira tell Athrun about Cagalli's pregnancy? Considering how protective a person Kira seems to be, I'll say that it is around that time, when he so viciously, tore apart the Saviour" the younger Hawke sister suggested, thinking briefly about how brutally that had looked from afar, despite Kira leaving the Saviour's cockpit intact and thereby not injuring Athrun, in any way.

Of course knowing from her husband, that Athrun had told Kira to wreck the Saviour gundam like that, so Athrun could stay on the Minerva, to act like a spy for them. But figuring that she could always tell, Meyrin about that later, Lacus slowly shook her head.

"It was actually around that time, when I pretended to be Meer Campbell, then ran off with that large shuttle and the Gaia gundam, it had not been long before that, we found out about Cagalli's pregnancy. Kira was pretty pissed over Athrun knocking up his sister, and not being there for her".

Still, rubbing her chin, Meyrin nodded ever so slowly in understanding. "I see. Hmm, that does make sense, I remember Captain Gladys, talking in great length with the base's pissed off Commander, about the Freedom's overall peculiar behavior, since there wasn't any point for it, and that blue Murasame stick around the place, with you having already escaped with that shuttle. To tell the truth Lacus, even I found it to be a bit weird, that they did not retreat immediately once you were safely away"

Chuckling softly in mild amusement. "Heh, heh, yeah I can imagine how strange that was, but to tell you a secret Meyrin, being weird, is a total normal part of Kira's daily behavior" Lacus said with a cheeky grin on her red lips, making absolutely certain, that her voice was so loud, that it was impossible for Kira not to hear her.

"Hey, that's uncalled-for Lacus, I am not that weird!" The young husband called out to his wife, with a light frown on his forehead, even though the kind warm look in his purple eyes, made clear, that realized that it was all in good fun, as he handed the marker over to Shiho, who had somehow been able to figure out, that it was the Fenris Wolf, from Norse Mythology, that he had been trying to draw. Kira really didn't get what was up with all the wolves, in this game of pictionary, that was the third one.

The pilot of the Freedom was still wondering about that, as he stepped over beside Lacus, wrapping his arm around her waist, giving her a light affectionate squeeze, as he turned his gaze back towards what the pilot of the blue colored DOM Trooper, was trying to draw, a bit amazed by how much effort she was putting into it.

"It's the wolf in sheep's clothing!" Mu said loudly, having of course also noticed the wolf theme they seemed to have going here. However, all that did was earn him a quick roll of her eyes from Shiho, followed by a low irritable sound, as she who rapidly shook her head.

"No, nooo guys! This has nothing to do with wolves whatsoever! It's not the Big Bad Wolf, trying to eat poor Little Red Riding Hood, and it's not a guy turning into a werewolf under the full moon. So pleeease, stop with the wolves already" Shiho told them all with a slightly sour look in her purple eyes, before she once more turned her attention back towards the white board, still putting in an incredible amount of effort, into whatever it was she was attempting to draw. It quite frankly seemed like the DOM Trooper pilot was fully expecting the picture, to be hanged on one of the Archangel's walls, once she was done.

Yet despite how determined Shiho was to finish her overly detailed piece of art, she did not get a chance to do so, when she was so rudely interrupt by a certain pilot, of a certain backpack wearing mobile suit.

"It's Goldilocks eating the three bears soup, or perhaps it was porridge. I do not quite remember, what precisely they were actually eating, just that it was too hot, or something" Athrun said in slight thoughtfulness, just as impressed as the others, by the DOM Trooper pilot's artistic skills. It was pretty obvious, that drawing was one of those hobbies, which Shiho had spent a great deal of her time on trying to master. The young soon to be father found himself wondering what Shiho's pictures would look like, if she instead of an old magic marker, had a proper pencil along with some other more professional art supplies, to tell the truth, Athrun was actually quite a bit tempted to ask Shiho if she would be willing to draw a few pictures, for his son's and daughter's rooms, he was sure that they, along with Cagalli, would be thrilled by a few happy, dancing cartoons hanging on the walls.

Athrun, however, quickly decide that it was best to put that request on hold, until Shiho stopped glaring so sourly at him. Apparently she had really wanted to finish the picture, to show off her drawing skills just a bit more. Yet, as she handed the marker to him, and he said thank you, the DOM Trooper pilot let out a long breath, that made the brown locks covering her forehead fly around a bit. Shiho, then, smiled slightly at him, then told him that he was welcome and that he should hurry up, and show them what he got.

Always up for a challenge, Athrun took a hold on the wheels, then rolled swiftly over to the white board, where he with a bit of difficulty, since he could not reach that far began drawing what looked like a person with a weird sword, pointing it upward towards the sky, like he was expecting some sort of power to be granted to him by doing that, it took less than a second before Mayu shout out her first guess, followed by Dearka, who insisted stubbornly, that it was He-Man, who was calling for the power of Grayskull, Athrun however simply shook his head, as he went on to draw some kind wolf next to the swordsman, then finally three triangles above the hero and the animal, it was then, that Mayu realized what it was supposed to be, loudly shouting out her guess.

Turning towards her, Athrun send her a brotherly smile. "Correct you are Mayu, catch!" He said, carefully tossing the marker over to her, which she caught with no trouble at all, racing excitingly over to the board, clearly eager to get her turn to draw something.

Yet as Athrun rolled away to give Mayu space, he spotted the woman he loved entering the mess hall, followed shortly by Kazuma, who practically looked dead on his feet, the man instantly dropped down onto one of the sofas in there and kick off his shoes.

"Holy crap, man, what in the world happened to you, buddy? You look like you been hit by a bus" Dearka said, wondering what horror his friend had gone through to end up looking so exhausted.

Glancing tiredly up at the pilot of the Black Frame gundam. "I feel like it too Dearka, I've been functioning as Miss Cagalli's bodyguard, throughout the day, we haven't stayed still, once. I always see myself as a guy, who gets plenty of exercise, I go for a run every day. How a pregnant woman can have so much more energy, is just beyond me" Kazuma said, forcing back the long yawn, that was threatening to leave his mouth.

"That's pretty much, Cagalli in a nutshell. Nothing, in the entire world can tire her out" Dearka said with a small grin, honestly feeling a little sorry for his friend.

"Yeah, tell me about it. It does not get any better, that I for a long period of the day, had to guard Rondo Mina Sahaku too, that woman is even more energetic, than a pregnant short fused Cagalli could ever be" the Murasame pilot said, seeming very much like he was about to drift off to sleep right there on the couch.

However, before Kazuma had a chance to do that, or he and Dearka could continue their conversation, a frowning Cagalli called out to them "Ahh shut up dunderhead one and two, nobody asked you!" The blond loudly yelled, seeming very much like, she was ready to start hurling the nearest objects at the two of them.

For anyone watching, it was kinda amazing to see the overall sour look on Cagalli's face, instantly melt away upon reaching Athrun, smiling happily at him, as she kneeled ever so slowly down in front of him, looking straight into his caring green eyes.

"Hey you" she softly said.

"Hey" was the only response Athrun gave back, as he reached up, ever so gently brushing a bit of blond hair, away from her forehead, then moved his hand down to her cheek rubbing and caressing it tenderly, as he softly asked her how she and their two little ones were doing.

"The two of them are just fine, Athrun. I on the other hand, despite being a lot better at hiding it, then our 'crazy weak' Kazuma over there, I too am downright exhausted, I've been all over the country today to look at all the damages ZAFT caused during their attack, it's going to take such a long time to rebuild it all. Unfortunately, I can't get off my poor aching feet just yet, I will be making a statement on live TV very soon now, to tell the world our intentions after this attack on us, and thereafter pretty much tell Durandal, to go screw himself. I reeeally wish I could use those exact words, but I doubt that would go over very well with the population. I only came back here to see how you were doing Athrun, and to tell you guys what I am planning to do now. So wake up over there Kazuma, we got no time to sleep!" Cagalli shouted out to her bodyguard, who had amazingly enough somehow been able to drift off to sleep, despite all the noise in there, and still having a bit of a conversation with Dearka.

Blinking rapidly a couple of times, the pilot of the green Murasame, ever so slowly stretched both of his arms, up over his head, letting out a long tired yawn that could easily be heard all over the mess hall. "I get that you still have a bit of work to do today Cagalli, but there is almost an hour until the news broadcast, so couldn't you just let me sleep for fifteen minutes or so? I could really use it".

"No Kazuma Tokai, because that is totally unfair! I want a bit of shut-eye too, but I know that if I do fall asleep now, I wouldn't wake up again anytime soon, so you have better stay awake too" Cagalli told the tired man, with crossed arms and a slightly angry look in her amber colored eyes.

"Ohh jeez, women can just be so mean. Please hurry the hell up and get better already Athrun, being her bodyguard is not something I am going to survive for very long, I'll rather fight the Minerva again" Kazuma said loudly, yet receiving no reply from neither Cagalli nor Athrun, he turned his gaze and glanced over at the two of them, upon seeing the blue haired man gently rubbing and stroking Cagalli's round belly, a small smile ran across his lips, he had to admit the two of them really did look quite a bit adorable together.

Kazuma, wondered if he would ever find a cute girl to do such things nice with, the young man might have tried to put up a bit of a playboy persona at times, but that had mostly been away for him to keep people at a distance. Truth was, he at times felt quite lonely, he had not dated anyone for years, not since his three buddies, his teammates, had been killed by the insane son of a bitch piloting the Calamity gundam, and Commander Shinji had lost both of his legs.

Since then, Kazuma had not really felt like being with anybody, but seeing so many people around him, all in happy relationships, made a certain longing appear in his chest. Even Shinji, the last time he had paid him a visited, had found a sweet girl who made him happy, so why the hell couldn't he do that?.

'Probably because you are such a screw-up, Kazuma, who is afraid to lose the people who are important to you. But then again, who the heck would not be afraid of something like that, in the middle of a bloody war' the young man thought, looking up at the ceiling, with a far away gaze in his green eyes, thinking about how the last relationship he had been in had ended. He knew full well, that it was his fault that it hadn't worked out, when his three friends had been killed, he had simply fallen out of contact with Asumi, and when he had finally called her half a year later, he had found out that she was in a relationship with somebody else, some young fellow called Kuzzey or something.

Not that Kazuma blamed Asumi for moving on. Actually, the real reason why he had called her, was because he wanted to sincerely apologize to her, for messing things up, the way he had. And while Asumi had sweetly reassured him, that the two of them would always be friends, he had not seen or spoken with her since.

'Damn, maybe I really am doomed to be alone for the rest of my life'.

That bitter thought had barely entered Kazuma's mind, when the scent of fresh coffee entered his nostril, which served as an instant reminder, that he was going to need a nice big cup of that stuff, before Cagalli started bossing him around again, wondering where exactly that sweet scent was coming from, the tired young man with a light crack of his neck, finally lower his head again, discovering that girl Meyrin, standing there before him, with two cups of coffee, holding one out to him.

"You seem like you could really use this, and since I was getting a cup for myself, I figure that I might as well bring you one" the redhead kindly told him.

Slightly amazed by the girl's thoughtfulness, the Murasame pilot reached out and took the offered cup of coffee, with a grateful nod. "Appreciate it Meyrin, thank you" Kazuma said in a thankful tone of voice, as he took a huge mouthful of the steamy hot liquid, feeling it burn his tongue ever so slightly, before hastily swallowing it.

Watching his face twitch a bit at the taste, Meyrin realized that he might not be the type of person who drank his coffee black. "You like to have a bit of milk in your coffee, don't you?".

Looking up at the girl, Kazuma send her a small smile. "Cream actually. But this is just fine Meyrin, it will help a lot to wake me up, before Cagalli start bossing me around again" he said, as the redhead sat down beside him on the couch beside him, each one of them focusing their full attention on the white board to try to figure out what Mayu was drawing.

Shifting her narrowed thoughtful blue gaze, a few times between Meyrin and the worn out Murasame pilot, who, despite the hot coffee still seemed ready to drift off to sleep, right then and there. Lacus, slowly, reached up and rubbed her chin a bit. 'Hmm those two, I wonder if Kazuma might be one of those people, who likes the redheads, I am definitely getting to the bottom of that little mystery'.

The scheming Pink Princess, briefly considered asking Kazuma about it now, since he was barely conscious, but she quickly decided against that idea, since she didn't want to ruin, the little moment between Meyrin and him, besides it might make her intention a bit too obvious, for anyone listening, and would likely serve to severely embarrass the young Hawke sister, which was the last thing, Lacus wanted to do, while trying to help her new friend find love.

'Hmm, I simply have to come up with another way to ask Kazuma about his preference in women hair color and if he has anything against dating a woman who is a bit younger than him' Lacus thought, since it was quite obvious that he was about one or two years older, than Meyrin.

'I wonder if I can somehow convince Kazuma, Meyrin, and a few others to play truth or dare one day, very soon now, that way I can drag the truth out of him' the pink haired woman thought next with a light chuckle, that sounded pretty mischievously, if not downright villainess.

The chuckling, instantly upon hearing the slightly wicked chuckling right there beside him, Kira glanced over at his dear wife, noticing the slightly dastardly smirk on her face, he felt a large sweat drop appear beside his face, as he wondered what in the world she could be scheming.

Whatever it was, it likely meant trouble for somebody, Kira really hoped that it was not him, he could still remember those times, he had seen, that expression on Lacus' face, the first time she had happily dragged him to a violin music concert, and while Kira had really nothing against classical music. The violin by itself, had always been an instrument that gave him a bit of a headache, it had to be mixed in with something else, before he could listen to it.

Following that, the next time, Kira had seen that certain look in his wife's eyes. Lacus, had dragged him out bra shopping, which simply had made the young husband feel so unbelievable embarrassed, especially when he had noticed how the store clerks kept on smirking at him, when Lacus asked him, what he thought about certain bras, she found. There had been other times, thankfully they were not always directed at him, still keeping a close eye on her, he noticed that her blue gaze was directed at Meyrin and Kazuma, which meant that it probably involved the two of them, in some way.

It was with cautious intrigue that Kira opened his mouth, talking softly to his grinning, chuckling wife.

"Lacus honey, just what are you up to?".

Tilting her head a bit to the side, Lacus smiled all sweetly and innocently at Kira, doing her utmost to seem as harmless as possible. "Ohh nothing at all Kira, I was just thinking about something funny, I read a little while ago. Ohh, I know what that is, Mayu! It's the little mermaid turning into sea foam, I always thought that story ended so sadly, I like the fairy tales with the happy endings, a lot more" the pink haired woman said, as she hastily moved away from her husband, towards the white board.

Keeping his purple gaze firmly locked on Lacus a few seconds longer, as she with a cheeky grin on her lips started drawing. 'Yeeah right, I hate to break it to you my love, but I strongly suspect you are lying through your teeth right now. Kazuma, Meyrin, I salute you, I hope that whatever it is that Lacus is up to, it will not traumatize you two too much' the Freedom pilot thought, slowly moving his purple gaze away from his wife, looking over at the redhead and the pilot of the green Murasame. Meyrin was intensely observing what Lacus was doodling on the white board, while Kazuma, much to Kira's mild astonishment, had somehow managed to drift off to sleep, despite Cagalli's loud effort to keep him awake, which lead Kira, to take a glance over at his sister and best friend. Athrun, was still affectionately stroking Cagalli's round belly, as the two of them kept on whispering ever so softly to one another, clearly totally entranced in their own, special little world.

Still immersed in watching the two of them, Kira saw Cagalli slowly lean in pressing her bright red lips against Athrun's, it was a short gentle kiss, yet for someone like Kira who knew what it was like to fall in-love and being in-love, it was so, so easy to see just how much warmth, tenderness and specifically love was put into that little kiss, once Cagalli reluctantly broke away the two of them rested their foreheads against each other, as they went back whispering softly again.

Smiling happily at the sight of the two of them, Kira gazed over at Lacus, his wife, the person who meant everything, the whole world to him, the woman who he truly loved with every fiber of his being. Even now, two years after meeting Lacus, for the very first time, near the Debris Belt of all places, she could still make his heart beat so incredibly hard.

Yet once Kira took notice of what Lacus was actually drawing, he let out a soft amused chuckle, since it was quite obviously, Cagalli and Athrun's cute little moment, but despite knowing that, Kira decided that it would be a lot more entertaining to see, if the upcoming parents themselves, would notice Lacus' mischievous actions.

Unfortunately, there were somebody present who did not share that sentiment with him. "Ohhh, ohh, I know what that is big sister, Lacus! That's big brother Athrun and big sister Cagalli, looking oh so cute and lovey-dovey!" Mayu shouted out excitingly, immediately gaining the engaged couple's attention, who both looked at the white board with light frowning eyes.

"Ok, I get that the cool looking knight, with the bright sword, red helmet and blue cape, is supposed to be, Athrun. But how in the world is that me, Lacus? My HAIR is noway near spiky looking, and if you are telling me it is! I need to go get, a serious haircut!" The blond pregnant woman boomed for all to hear.

While the red and blue colored knight was definitely awesome looking, it served to make Athrun wonder a bit, just who in the world it might have been, who had come up with The Red Knight aliases for him in the first place, with so few clues, he had never been able to figure that out. Yet if he had to make a guess, he would say that it was either, Dearka, Mu, or perhaps it might be Lacus, who thought that it would be amusing to refer to him by that title.

However, if The Red Knight nickname truly were Lacus' handywork, the blue haired man found himself wondering why she had not come up with an awesome sounding aliases for Kira too. Like, hmm Silver Knight, or maybe White Chevalier would be even better, considering the Freedom's color scheme.

White Chevalier, yeah that was it, that sounded downright spectacular. In Athrun's mind, that aliases suited Kira so, damn well. The Justice pilot, of course knew, how much his childhood friend, utterly despised it, when anybody referred to him, by calling him Ultimate Coordinator, it was one of those things, that would always make a small, irritable vein appear on Kira's forehead.

There were, as far as Athrun knew, quite a few reasons for that, but one of them were most definitely because Rau Le Creuset, had been the first one to call Kira that, it served as a pretty severe remind of his and Mu's encounter with the mask wearing man, at the Mendel Colony.

Fortunately, there weren't really that many people around, who had any knowledge about the Ultimate Coordinator thing. The few who did, were both kind and clever enough, not to mention it. Considering the whole thing a few short seconds longer, Athrun realized that the Chairman, Rey, and perhaps Shinn, were the only ones mean enough to call Kira that.

'Ok it's decided, I'll try calling Kira White Chevalier later, then see how he reacts to it. If he doesn't like it, I'll just have to come up with something else or give up for now. Anyway, it should at least but a little fun' Athrun thought with a small smirk, only to be pulled out of his musing about the Freedom pilot's nickname by the sound of Cagalli's voice, who were now talking loudly with Miriallia and Lacus about her hair, asking the two of them if it looked weird in any way.

However before either one of them, or Meyrin who were clearly listening in, could give her a response, Athrun with a gentle smile on his lips did it instead. "Your hair, is perfectly fine the way it is Cagalli, I love how soft and smooth it feels, when I run my fingers through it".

Instantly turning towards him when she heard his voice, the tired Cagalli was just about to tell him that his opinion did not matter, yet upon seeing the affectionate way he was looking at her, the young blond immediately felt the slightly sour look on her face, melt away, getting replaced with a light blush on both of her cheeks, as she tried unsuccessfully to focus her amber colored gaze on anything but him. He just looked so handsome and cute right now, Cagalli found herself kinda wanting to seize his cheeks, then passionately kiss him, until the point they were both blue in the face, and were having trouble breathing.

That thought alone, instantly made the blush on Cagalli's face, grow that much more intense. 'Ok, calm down girl! You can not do something like that Cagalli Yula Athha, I might miss spending time with him so, DAMN much, but doing something like that in front of everyone, would just be so embarrassing, we have to wait with such things until we are alone. But with everything that's going on right now, when the hell is that going to happen?' She mentally asked, as she slowly reached up, twirling a lock of her blond hair around one of her fingers.

Then while lightly biting her lower lips, Cagalli glanced somewhat shyly down into Athrun's green handsome eyes, finding herself looking a great deal more serious, than she in any way felt. But that was not really all that bizarre, ever since she got out of bed this morning, her mood had been a constant roller coaster ride up and down all day long.

Cagalli had been somewhat pleased about getting to work, pleased to see how much effort their people were putting into cleaning up and searching for survivors, both in their own mobile suits, but also the ZAFT once left behind. Yet, those feelings had quickly been replaced by a feeling of utter frustration, anger, sadness, but most of all powerlessness, when Colonel Soga, Lieutenant Amagi and Kisaka, had showed her, along with Rondo Mina Sahaku, and Kazuma how much destruction and chaos, ZAFT had left in their wake, in their crazy search for Djibril.

Then upon returning to the Archangel, but most specific of all, seeing her beloved Athrun up and about, had instantly made her feel all cheerful and happy inside, if not outright bubbly.

However just the thought that her hair might look as spiky, as it seemed to be on the white board, frankly irritated the pregnant blond girl to no end, which was in truth was kinda weird, Cagalli had never been the type of woman who cared all that much about how her haired looked. But for some reason it pissed her off so damn much right now, until Athrun had started praising it, and telling her what he loved doing with it, that had been all that was needed to make her feel pleased and happy again.

'What the heck is up with my mood today? The whole feeling like crying my eyes out at one moment, followed by being so pissed and angry, that I could likely tear somebody's empty head off. Only to be so damn happy the next moment, that I almost feel like I want to start dancing! Why can't I decide, what mood I want, to be in? This is so damn annoying!' Cagalli thought, with a forced, somewhat awkward smile on her lips.

"So tell me Athrun Zala, is there really nothing you want to change about my hair?" She asked him in a sweet but slightly intimidating tone.

That question, was one Athrun did not dare answer, without putting some serious thought into what response he should give Cagalli, he considered telling her once again, that her hair was perfect. But still, there was one thing he was kinda curious about, with Cagalli having always had the same short haircut, ever since the very first time he had met her, on that tiny island in the middle of nowhere, where she had unsuccessfully tried to gun him down, followed by him tying her up and leaving her laying on the beach.

Seriously not, what any sort of normal person, would consider a romantic first encounter. Athrun figured, that Cagalli and him would at some point need to have a serious chat about what precisely they were going to tell their children if they ever asked them about it. Thankfully, it should at least be a few years, before they would start asking such questions. The blue haired man really didn't want them to know that he had almost killed their mother during their first meeting, only stopping because she started screaming all cute and girly.

Rapidly shaking his head a bit, Athrun again turned his attention towards Cagalli's hair. "Like I said before, I love your hair Cagalli, but if I have to be completely honest with you here, sweetheart, there have occasionally been times, where I have been wondering what you would look like with long hair. I think you would look beautiful like that too".

Feeling a deep, immense blush appear on her cheeks, from Athrun saying such things to her. While this was of course far from the first time he had called her beautiful, him doing it with so many of their friends and family listening in, just made Cagalli feel so much more embarrassed about it. It did not help much on her embarrassment, that she could see, her stupid brother, stupid Dearka and stupid Mu, each having a cheeky grin on their stupid lips. She felt so much like yelling at the three of them, and telling Athrun not to say such things in front of others, but fortunately, her mind was quick to mentally remind her, that she liked it when Athrun said such sweet things to her, he did not deserve to get scolded for that.

Closing her eyes, Cagalli mentally counted to ten, or maybe it was closer to twenty, taking a couple of deep breaths to calm herself down, then still with her face slightly flushed, she looked down into Athrun's eyes, with a small smile on her lips.

"I'll put some thought into growing it out Athrun. I'll bet, that I will look totally adorable and hot with a long ponytail. Hmm, perhaps a change of hair, might even stop some people from staring so much at my stomach, that really irritates me, for some reason, it's like they have never seen a pregnant woman before!" Cagalli growled displeased, thinking about the shocked reaction she had gotten from a few of the Orb soldiers and other people, when they had seen her round stomach. It was not like any of them, had stared at her in a creepy way, or anything like that, but it still served as a major thorn in her side, why in hell's good name, was it such a major shock for some people to find out, that she of all people were pregnant.

Her bit of sulking, was however, brought to an abrupt hold, by the sound of Athrun's kind voice. "Didn't any of them congratulate you?".

"Well I guess some of them did, I even got flowers and chocolates from a few female soldiers" Cagalli said, thinking about how pretty those white and blue flowers she had gotten were.

"Chocolates, any marzipan?" Athrun asked with a slightly curious look in his green eyes.

Yet all that served to do was make a guilty expression run over Cagalli's face. "Yeah some, but don't get your hopes up Athrun, I have already eaten the whole box myself" she apologized, while rubbing the back of her neck, in an awkward manner.

Frowning ever so slightly, upon seeing Athrun slowly shake his head and roll his eyes a single time, from her eating an entire box of chocolates by herself, he obviously figured, that she could at the very least have given him the marzipan pieces, since she didn't like them overly much, she had always preferred nougat.

But even though, Cagalli somewhat begrudgingly realized that she could and maybe should have shared the chocolate, with her dear fiancé. It was just that, when she had gotten the box between her fingers, the pregnant woman had immediately felt an immense hunger for all the tasty candy inside, which had not disappeared, before the box was empty. And if anybody at that point, had been dumb and foolish enough to dare suggest that she might want to share, Cagalli felt certain, that she would likely have been ready to tear their heads off.

Yet noticing the slightly disappointed expression on Athrun's face, from missing out on the marzipan pieces, Cagalli felt a bit of guilt run through her. "Umm, you know what Athrun, the next time I go out shopping, I'll buy you the most expensive box of marzipan chocolate I can find, even if I have to dip into the taxpayers' money, to pay for it" the villainess smirk Cagalli said, rubbing her hands together

"Can't wait for that Cagalli honey, but please don't use taxpayer money to buy presents for me, whenever politicians spends the taxpayers' money on stuff for themselves, it NEVER ends well" Athrun told her, not that he for a second believed, that she would actually do something like that, she had too much respected and loved for her citizens, to do something so utterly idiotic.

"I won't... Jeez Athrun, it was just a joke" she said, now sounding like a small naughty child, who had just been scolded by one of her parents, for misbehaving.

Reaching slowly out, Athrun gently took a hold, on one of Cagalli's small soft hands, giving it a light caring squeeze. "Good girl. So, what did you do with the flowers? Please tell me, you didn't just throw them in the first garbage can, you came across".

"Humf, of course not, you colossal dunderhead, I found a nice looking red vase, then left them in my office" Cagalli said, obviously a bit offended by the insinuation that she would throw the flowers out.

While she could not dening, that Athrun might occasionally having seen her do that in the past, what he evidently did not realize, was that those flowers had always been from Yuna. It was that purple haired son of a bitch fault, that she now hated red roses, which had been his go-to flower to give her.

So Cagalli would always find away to get rid of them, either by dumping them in the trash or giving them to a random female employee, who would always be delighted to get them, she had even at one point replaced them with a huge amount of dandelions because she knew, she had a meeting with Yuna, later that day, his completely dumbfounded expression, when he had seen the yellow weed flowers, had simply been so God damn hilarious.

"Happy to hear that Cagalli, good girl" she heard Athrun said next.

Fuming ever so slightly at that, Cagalli glared a bit at her fiancé. "Please stop with the 'good girl' thing Athrun, it's embarrassing, it kinda makes me feel like you are praising a well-behaved dog".

"Sorry Cagalli honey, it was not my intention to make you feel like that, I just wanted to tease you a bit" Athrun gently reassure her, not sounding the least bit apologetic.

Instantly rolling her eyes upon hearing those words, Cagalli let out a long tired breath. "Yeah I got that Athrun" she said back, the bit of annoyance she felt, already forgotten and pushed to the back of her mind.

Looking silently between the engaged upcoming parents, Murrue felt the pleased smile on her lips grow just a bit deeper. She could of course still clearly remember those demeaning self-loathing words, Athrun had said to her earlier, about the loneliness he felt, being a sort of punishment for rejoining ZAFT again. So, the sight of him along with Cagalli, the woman he loved and intent to marry, having fun by mischievously teasing each other, being silly and showing so much love and affectionate towards one another, warmed Murrue's heart immensely, she especially took notice of the few kisses they had shared.

"Heh, even with the little miss having her fair share of mood swings, she and Athrun really does make a great couple, I am kinda bummed out, that I was not around to see their relationship develop" Mu said into Murrue's ear in a whisper, taking a glance over at Kira and Lacus, he felt the same way about the two of them. He knew he had a hand in the two of them getting married, but to his annoyance and mild frustration, he had no idea what, it was another one of those things, he was absolutely determined to remember one day, no matter what.

Nodding slowly in agreement. "Yeah the Archangel really does have a lot of cute and adorable couples, not just Cagalli and Athrun, but also Lacus and Kira, along with Miriallia and Dearka" Murrue said back in the same low tone of voice, looking the three couples over with a fond glimmer in her brown eyes.

"You forget about us Captain Ramius, the two of us also makes quite the cute and adorable couple" Mu flirtatiously whispered to her, making sure to prove his point, by placing a light kiss on her cheek.

Feeling a light blush momentarily run across her face. "That we certainly do, Commander La Flaga" she said back.

Speaking of adorable, Lieutenant Amagi choose that exact moment to enter the mess hall, while the Lieutenant himself, was not that type of person one would ordinarily consider adorable, the fact that he had Birdy sitting firmly, right on top of his cap, and Haro bouncing up and down right behind him, loudly calling out the word Lieutenant each and every time he hit the ground, add a great deal to the adorable factor.

The Lieutenant did not really seem to mind the two robots' attention, but hearing a combine amused chuckle run through the large room, from the sight of him, did make Amagi roll his eyes a single time, and shake his head a bit, which was not nearly enough to get rid of Birdy, who seemed determined to stay put where he was.

Simply ignoring the robots and the laughter, Amagi stepped even further into the room, until he got over next to Cagalli. "Ma'am, we are finished with all the preparation for the news broadcast, in about thirty minutes you can make your statement to the world" the man reported.

Despite having her gaze firmly fixated on Birdy, Cagalli still nodded ever so slowly to what the Lieutenant had just told her. She could not get over how unbelievable cute the small robotic bird appeared right now, and as it moved around a bit more, then laid down on the man's head, looking so very much like a real mother bird, who wanted to keep its eggs, safe and warm, Cagalli almost squealed with utter delight, struggling internally to keep her composure and not let out the hysterical laughter, that was so very close to leaving her mouth. Which quickly proved to be an increasingly difficult challenge, by the sound of Mayu's cheerful giggling and comments.

"Teheh, you look so silly, grandpa Amagi with Birdy laying on your head like that! It's a shame that we do not have a camera, so we could take a picture of you. It would be great, if Ikeya and the other Murasame pilots could see you like this" the girl said, wondering how in the world Birdy could even get comfortable up there.

Turning, Amagi send the child a gentle smile. "You do not have to worry about them seeing this Mayu sweetie, when I got back here not that long ago, I entered the ship through the open hangar hatch, Ikeya and the rest of the Murasame pilots are all down there working on their machines, or just fooling around. When they saw Birdy land on my head, not even one of them, were able to keep their laughter under control, but considering the craziness we all went through yesterday, I think it's nice hearing them having fun like that" the Lieutenant said. Knowing that his time on board the Archangel had change him considerably, back before he had joined up with this ship, he knew that he would never have been able to accept his subordinates laughing at him in such away, but now, now it warmed his old heart immensely, it made him feel so much like he wasn't just their superior officer, that he was their friend. Amagi, had so much respect for those brave pilots, who had decided to go along with him, when he had joined up with the Archangel crew.

'I wonder what Todaka would say, had he been here to see how this ship operates... how its crew behave so much like family... Hmm, considering how sociable a person you could be at times, I am sure you would have fit right in on this ship, old friend' the Lieutenant thought, as the images of the Impulse gundam tearing the Takemikazuchi's bridge apart entered his mind. Amagi as a soldier, understood why Todaka the Captain of the Takemikazuchi, had need to go down with his ship, but if he looked past the soldier part, and just thought about it, as a normal human being, who were unable to turn off his emotions, he missed his long time, best friend, so God damn much.

The Lieutenant remembered, Amagi remembered the last time the two of them had gone out fishing, that had been so much fun, especially when he had pulled in a huge catfish. Todaka, had clearly been a little jealous of that catch, since it had always been a bit of a competition between the two old friends, to see who could reel in the biggest catch of the day. Yet once they cracked open a few beers, and started talking about stir frying the catfish, along with some fresh vegetables and a few spices, Todaka's good mood had immediately returned.

Yet as Amagi stood there reminiscing about that fishing trip, he suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder, and a voice call out to the robotic bird resting on his head. And as Birdy quickly jumped onto its owner's hand, then up to his shoulder, Amagi absent-mindedly turned his head, looking straight at the young pilot of the Freedom gundam.

Seeing how tired Master Kira appeared to be, Amagi felt genuinely sorry for him, it was no secret that the last few days had no doubt been rough on him, first he had to race out into space, in the Duel Rouge to save the Eternal and his dear wife, following that he and miss Lacus had to race back down there in the new versions of the Freedom and Justice, to help the rest of them beat back ZAFT and throw those bastards feet first out of Orb.

While it was true that Amagi might only have caught a few quick glimpses of Kira fighting, the Lieutenant had seriously been impressed, if not outright astonished, by how fast Kira had been able to dispatch the Impulse gundam, even more so, when one considered that he did not hurt the enemy pilot. Shaking his head a bit, Amagi was just about to ask his young friend if he was all right, when Kira suddenly cut him off.

While the Lieutenant might be doing a pretty decent job of hiding it, Kira still noticed, the slightly disheartened expression on the man's face. "Are you ok there, Lieutenant?"

Nodding ever so slowly. "Yeah, I am fine Master Kira, I was just... emm just think about an old friend of mine, who is no longer among us".

Upon hearing his words, Kira found himself taking a short glance over at Miriallia, then at a picture hanging on the farthest wall, showing a family figure in an orange spacesuit, smiling cheekily at the camera. "Yeah, I get what you mean, hanging in there Amagi, you are not alone here" Kira said in a kind-hearted tone, patting the man's shoulder in a sympathetic manner.

Sincerely grateful for the kind words, Amagi smiled a bit at Kira. "Thank you, Master Kira, it's good to know that I am among friends here" he said back, then turned and was just about to call out to Cagalli again, when he saw her and Athrun kissing passionately. Not certain if it was all right for him to interrupt, the Lieutenant found himself just standing there with his mouth slightly agape.

"Ahh, knock it off you two, Mayu's here!" Kira called out to his sister and future brother-in-law.

"Oh don't be a spoilsport big brother Kira, I enjoy being a spectator to the two of them making out, just as much as I enjoy watching you and Lacus make out. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside" the girl said with a cheeky grin on her lips.

Running her fingers through Athrun's blue hair, one last time, the slightly flushed Cagalli, who had somehow gotten over the shyness she felt about kissing in front of everybody, reluctantly broke the passionate lip lock between the two of them, gazing contently into Athrun's handsome green eyes, for a few short seconds, the pregnant young woman then turned her head, smirking ever so proudly at her brother.

"Hah, there you have it Kira, Athrun and me kissing is so sweet and hot, I bet people would even pay money to watch it!" The blonde boast loudly.

"Umm, not to rain on your parade big sis, but that might be taking things a bit far. While there certainly is a certain amount of entertainment value in watching you and Athrun make out, I don't believe anybody would pay money to see a show you guys usually give away for free? Besides, there are a lot of other things, I want to spend my money on, like more board games, video games, mangas, books, posters, and clothes, I guess" Mayu playfully told her blond sister.

"Humph, everyone here is a critic" the frowning Cagalli mumbled sourly under her breath, only for her smile to immediately return, when she saw how excited Mayu got, when Murrue told her, that she would of course, pay for whatever clothes she wanted, once the two of them had a chance to go out shopping together, and as the mischief-maker with a puppy dog look in her light purple eyes, asked her mother, about the other stuff she wished to get. Cagalli chuckled softly, as she looked back at Athrun, who likewise had a small grin on his lips.

"Heh, heh, you have to handed to her, she is really doing an exceptional job, buttering up to Murrue" Athrun said.

Nodding slowly in agreement. "Yeah that she is, but you know Athrun, I can't help worry a bit, that she might teach those buttering up skills to our kids, if she does, it's going to be so hard to say no to them" Cagalli said, then before he had a chance to come up with a response, she quickly moved in and placed a light peck on his lips, then softly told him that she would see him later, that she would most definitely be spending the night sleeping in the same bed as him.

Despite understanding perfectly well, why it was necessary for Cagalli to go now, to head on back to work, and do what needed to be done. Athrun still felt somewhat crestfallen about seeing her leave, he wanted so badly to get up from this bloody wheelchair, to go with her, to protect her, to be there for her, and give her all the support she needed during these rough difficult times. But he simply couldn't, his two rips still need a little more time to heal properly.

'Damn, guess I got no other choice but to leave her protection to Kazuma and Kisaka, I know that I can trust them to look after her, but it still is so God damn annoying...' Athrun thought. Then just as Cagalli was about to stand up from her kneeling position in front of him, the blue haired man hurried reached out, placing a hand on her cute round stomach, rubbing it gently with the deep love and affection he felt towards her, which made a small happy smile and a blush appear on Cagalli's face, as she placed her hand on top of his, for a few short precious seconds, then with the soft promise, that she would see him later, she slowly stepped away from him.

Reaching the couch with softly snoring Kazuma, Cagalli instantly felt her good mood turn slightly sore. She had already told the colossal idiot, not to go to sleep, so how the heck dare he go against her words and sleep so calmly and peacefully, he was supposed to be her bodyguard and keep her safe from whatever dangers might threaten her and her children, how the hell did he expect to carry out such an important task, while sleeping like a log? The frowning, pissed off blond mentally asked, even though she of course, realized, that nobody on board the Archangel, would ever threaten her, or the kids.

"Wake up, you idiot!" Cagalli yelled at the Murasame pilot.

While one, would have to search pretty far and wide to find somebody in Orb, that would claim and consider Kazuma to be a lazy person. He had always been more than willing to do his best to help out when needed, no matter how tough or tedious that task was, like spending hours on end helping Erica Simmons with the Yami gundam. Yet if he did get a chance to head off to dream land, it was going to be a major challenge to wake him up again, what few people knew about Kazuma, was that he usually needed two or more alarm clocks, to wake in the morning.

But while the booming volume of Cagalli's impatient voice, would under normal circumstance, have resulted in just about everybody else jumping up awake in pure shock and surprise. Kazuma's only reaction to it, was to move around a bit on the black leather couch in an obvious attempt, to get some distances from the wicked noise. It ended up with him comfortably resting his head on Meyrin's shoulder, much to the young redhead's utter shock and astonishment, and Lacus, who had been keeping a close eye on things, severe delight.

Figuring that their cute pure innocent Meyrin, could only be annoyed by having that moron sleeping up against her like that, Cagalli narrowed her eyes even further in irritation and anger, she would show him.

"Kazuma Tokai! I told you to wake UP! That's an order!".

Again, much to Cagalli's annoyance, she did not get much of a reaction from the Murasame pilot, he simply moved around a bit, while mumbling something incoherent.

"Um, noo...no school...hatee snhooool...boring... let me sleep...Hmm, mom...".

While Cagalli really did like Kazuma, he was a nice guy, who had done so many incredible things to help them all out, like helping Lacus get out into space to join up with the Eternal, spying on the Minerva before it left for Crete, helping her sweet Athrun get away from Gibraltar, and fighting so damn hard yesterday, in his green Murasame to keep Orb safe.

Cagalli honestly liked the Murasame with that color scheme, it looked so damn sweet and downright awesome, but while briefly wondering what a Murasame would look like in purple. Her mind quickly went back to the fact, that Kazuma had called her mom just now. It might not have been intentional on his part, but him calling her that of all things, quite frankly pissed her off even more, than whenever Mu referred to her by the word girl, that had always irritated her to no end.

About to blow her top straight off, and start yelling and scream at the big idiot to wake the hell up, and get his ass in gear. Athrun, who had rolled over beside her, placed a hand on her right arm, in an attempt to calm her down.

"Easy there Cagalli, I get that it bothers you, but you do know sweetheart that Kazuma did not do it on purpose" Athrun said in the most rational tone of voice he could muster.

"Yes Miss Cagalli, please try to relax, you getting so angry, is not healthy for you or the kids. I'll, I'll wake him up... I hope..." Meyrin said, worried that such a majorly difficult task, might prove near impossible for her to accomplish on her own, the man was obviously a very heavy sleeper, but the mere thought of a totally furious Cagalli, scolding and screaming at the tired Murasame pilot, kinda terrified her.

Knowing that Athrun and Meyrin were both right, and how short on time they were, Cagalli shook her head a bit then let out a reluctant sigh. "Fine, you guys win. Please hurry and wake him up Meyrin" the pregnant blond said, still struggling a bit to keep herself from glaring at the sound asleep moron.

Grateful for that, Meyrin nodded her thanks as she reached up and shook the Murasame pilot's shoulder. "Mister Kazuma, mister Kazuma, please wake up, you need to head on back to work" even as those words left the redhead's mouth, Meyrin somewhat begrudgingly realized that they were not going to be nearly enough, to get him to regain consciousness, he had after all slept through, Cagalli's angry yelling.

So with that realization so quickly made, Meyrin knew that she needed to hurry and come up with another idea to wake the man up. Looking around in slight bewilderment, her light blue gaze, happened to find its way to Kazuma's half empty cup of coffee, standing on the broad armrest of the couch, reaching over the redhead picked up the cup, bring it, to the man's nose, hoping that the scent of the brown liquid would at least help a little.

Surprisingly, it took less than a minute, before Kazuma's eyes snapped opened, blinking rapidly a half dozen times, he reached up and took the cup from Meyrin's hand, emptying the whole thing in one huge mouthful, then without even perceiving where exactly, he had been sleeping up until now. Kazuma sat up straight, with a long yawn, stretching both of his tired arms up over his head, he with a light crack of his neck looked up at Cagalli, who was standing above him, with her arms crossed and a highly sour look on her face.

"Whatever weird nonsense, I said in my sleep, I am sorry, Cagalli!" The Murasame hastily said, making it abundantly clear to everyone there, that this was far from the first time, he had said something stupid in his sleep.

Letting out a deep sigh, Cagalli kept on glaring at the man a few seconds longer, then relaxed a bit

"You said something about hating school, then you called me mom".

"Uhhgg, yeah that's a bad one, again I'm so sorry. It's just that whenever I am really tired and worn out, I always end up saying the weirdest things in my sleep... At one point, I apparently told me old Commander, whose name just so happened to be Shinji, to hurry the hell up and get in Eva unit-04. He and my other comrades laughed their asses off at that" Kazuma said, thinking back to that moment, with a certain amount of fondness

Raising an eyebrow at that, while wondering ever so slightly, how the hell this guy, was supposed to function as a proper bodyguard, when he was this drain and exhausted, Cagalli despite still feeling somewhat annoyed by the mom thing, found herself kinda wishing, that she could tell him, to just stay put and get some much need sleep.

"You do know that Shinji Ikari was the pilot of Unit-01, right?" The now again calm Cagalli softly asked the Murasame pilot.

Nodding slowly a few times, Kazuma pushed himself up from the leather couch. "Yeah, I know that Cagalli, but apparently my sleep-deprived mind did not".

Yet as interesting as they both found this conversation, or somebody who knew what they were actually talking about, could share my two cents on the matter, the impatient Amagi cut in.

"I don't have the foggiest idea what kinda of mobile suits these Unit-4 or Unit-1 is, is that new machines, miss Simmons is working on? As for this Ikari character, if he is a good pilot we could definitely use his help, we can contact the man, once the broadcast is over" Amagi said, honestly quite a bit confused about why exactly those words, resulted in a bit of amused chuckling and laughter running through the mess hall. He simply put did not understand why, them trying to get a hold on a new strong ally was so humorous to his fellow crewmates. The Lieutenant only grew all the more perplexed, over the skeptical, are you serious looks, miss Cagalli, Kazuma, and even Athrun were sending him.

"It might just be me, but the mere thought of Erica, actually working on Eva Units in a secret laboratory somewhere, kinda creeps me out, those things are a bit too crazy and monstrous for my taste. Not to mention their tendency to go berserk during battle. As for Shinji Ikari, Amagi, if that guy is actually is out there somewhere, I think it's for the best that we leave him alone, I really don't have the heart, to force him into a mecha of any kind. Plus, there is also the small dilemma, that he is a fictional character, that does not exist. Now enough chit-chat you guys, let's get going" Cagalli said, spending a brief moment enjoying the look of utter bewilderment on Amagi's face, before she turned around and left, with the Lieutenant and the smirking Kazuma, following closely behind her.

"Wait a sec?! Whaaaat, do you mean he is fictional, Ma'am? I thought for sure, that he was a real perso...".

Those words, were all the people remaining in the mess hall were able to hear. "Heh, heh, that certainly was quite a bit funny, I guess not everyone watches as much cartoon and anime, as you and me, Kira. I do hope that our overly serious Lieutenant, does not take that minor bit of teasing, too serious" Lacus said, from where she was sitting, beside her husband on one of the other couches, in the room. The Pink Princess, might only have met Lieutenant Amagi yesterday, but in her eyes, he did not seem like the type of person, who enjoyed being poked fun of in any way

Smiling a bit at the pink haired woman's thoughtfulness, Murrue stepped over to the white board, picking up the magic marker. "Hmm, I do believe Lacus, that thanks to a certain mischievous little troublemaker, who likes to call him grandpa and mess with him, whenever she gets an opportunity to do so, I think his tolerance for a bit of good-hearted teasing, has grown considerably. You should have seen how serious he was when he first got on board the Archangel" the Captain said, before she started drawing something that looked kinda like wheels on some sort of vehicle, that Mu immediately called out was a car, which Murrue said no to.

"Hmm, I guess that the grandpa title does come with a certain amount of teasing and mischievous" Lacus said, tilting her head a bit to the side, so it ended up resting on Kira's shoulder, as she hard tried to figure out what Murrue was drawing.

It was then Mayu cut in. "That it does, but you know mom, big sis, I do kinda miss playing pranks on grandpa Andy. Unlike grandpa Amagi and Murdoch, he would always try to get even when I did stuff, like that time last summer, where I bombard him with those water balloons, from the upstairs balcony, back home. When I got outside not long after that, he immediately started hunting me with a garden hose. That was just so much fun" the cheerful girl said, clearly missing those more peaceful days with her family, then turned when Dearka placed a hand on her head, rubbing it in a brotherly like manner.

"Yeah, I remember that. The reason why, Andy was so annoyed with you back then, Mayu, was because he had just finished preparing some pretty expensive coffee, that you ruined with your crazy water balloon attack. I actually think you got off pretty easy, I think he was just about ready to throw you in the ocean for that" the Yami pilot told her with a small grin.

Having no previous knowledge of the pricey ruined coffee, but knowing full well how important the brown liquid was to her grandpa Andy, Mayu did feel slightly guilty, as much as she liked pulling pranks, on her loved once, she never had any real desire to make them sad in any way, but since the Desert Tiger had never scolded her for it and made her pay with a large amount of water, that guilty feeling quickly left her. But perhaps she should consider getting him the same kind of coffee, for his birthday, Mayu was certain that he would appreciate that quite a bit, but the main dilemma with that, was that she did not have the faintest idea what type of coffee it had been, but maybe, she could instead buy him so mocha matari coffee, she had occasionally heard him mentioning liking that a lot, because of its spiciness and chocolate like taste.

For now, however, the girl hastily decided to put that scheme on the back burner, presently it was far more important to figure out what her mother was drawing, whatever it was, it certainly looked interesting.

Ten minutes went by in relative silence, only occasionally interrupted by somebody trying to guess, what precisely Murrue was concentrating so hard on drawing.

Finally Shiho, shouted out the word stagecoach, which turned out to be correct.

Yet before the DOM Trooper pilot, could get up from her sitting position beside Hilda. The Archangel's lead chef appeared from the kitchen, loudly informing each and every one of them, that dinner was served, and that he hoped that they would all enjoy it, since it had taken quite a bit of work and effort to make all of those burgers.

Following that, another ten minutes or so went by, before they were all sitting at the table, about to eat. "Hey could someone please turn on the television, Cagalli's broadcast is about to begin, and knowing my fiancée, I think she would be a 'little' pissed at us, if we didn't watch" Athrun said from where he was sitting beside Kira.

With him being the closed one, Mu quickly picked up the nearby remote and turned on the TV. Cagalli was already on the screen with a relatively calm but still serious expression on her face.

"Good evening everyone, I am Cagalli Yula Athha, Chief Representative of the Orb Union. Today, I'm using the worldwide media to deliver a message to the PLANT's Supreme Council Chairman Gilbert Durandal, regarding his demands for us to hand over the terrorist leader Djibril, and his decision afterwards to invade our nation. The message sent the other day by Chairman Durandal regarding Logos, along with the various pieces of information showing Logos' terrible deeds, had a profound impact on us all. The Chairman promises us, to wipe out Logos for good, and make this world free from the horrors of war, while I certainly found his words appealing, both as a politician dealing with the world's current state of confusion, and as an individual. However, his actions..." Those words were all Cagalli manage to get out, before the screen suddenly went black.

"What the hell is going on?!" Dearka asked, pretty close to guessing what the rest of the world were presently thinking. It was only a split second later, when another individual appeared on the screen, one very familiar to all of them, making everybody present in the Archangel's mess hall gasp loudly in surprise.

Having been wondering where Meer could be, since he had last seen her at Gibraltar. The mere sight of the fake Lacus Clyne, almost made Athrun choke on the piece of onion in his mouth, and as his entire face turned ghostly white, he hurried took a mouthful of water. Why? Why the hell did she have to show up now of all times, Meer had stayed out of the limelight for a while now, since her last TV appearance. So, why did she have to start causing trouble again now, why couldn't she, just have faded slowly into the background and gone off to life in peace, somewhere, but Athrun guessed, that was too much to hope for.

Turning his head, Athrun took a glance at Kira and Lacus, neither one of them were showing much of a reaction, Kira was simply staring at the screen, yet as Meer nonchalantly introduce herself as Lacus Clyne, his purple eyes narrowed a bit in obvious irritation, with the person running around pretending to be his wife, there was a hint of deep-rooted anger in Kira's movements, if Athrun didn't know better, he would say that he was about ready to tear the screen of the wall, and smash it on the floor to get it to shut up. Lacus, on the other hand was calmly chewing her food, then after half a minute she swallowed it, then at the exact same moment, the young husband and wife stood up, and began walking towards the exit of the mess hall.

"I believe you are all aware of the battle that took place in Orb the other day. Why would a nation with friendly ties to the PLANTs..." Meer said.

Yet Mayu really didn't care much to listen to that dumb faker, instead she slowly turned her head and looked at her mother. "You know mom, the way big sister Lacus and big brother Kira acted just now, kinda gave me the chills, they both seemed so hurt and angry by this".

Reaching up, Murrue affectionately rubbed her daughter's head. "I know sweetheart, I think we finally reached the point, that they both had enough of Meer Campbell's crazy bullshit, she had caused them both so much pain with her antics. She is likely one of the reasons why, Durandal send those assassins to our home" the Archangel Captain said, she too greatly annoyed by the fake pink haired girl, she was almost tempted to change the canal, until the real Lacus could do what she was planning.

Entering the Archangel's hangar together in total silence, Lacus and Kira walked hand in hand, towards the Freedom. "Kira I... I really wish that I did not have to do this, I have no real desire to get back into the limelight again. I am perfectly content with living a quiet peaceful life together with you, Mayu, Murrue, Miriallia, Dearka, Andrew and even, Mu" the pink haired woman said.

Nodding ever so slowly in understanding. "I know that, sweetheart. And if, you want, we can just turn around and go join the others back to the mess hall and continue eating our burgers, we can find some other way to deal with Meer Campbell" Kira softly told her, briefly considering actually going through with Dearka's suggestion to kidnap the fake Lacus.

"I wish so much we could do that, Kira, but Meer is my responsibility. It is my name, my appearance, my identity, she is using to help that monster Durandal accomplish his awful goals. So, it is MY responsibility to put an end to this masquerade of hers, once and for all, and I am NOT going to run away from that responsibility" Lacus said in a harden tone of voice.

Following those words, all Kira found himself capable of doing, was stare at his wife, in utter astonishment and amazement. The determined look in her blue eyes, left him breathless, and made his heart flutter. 'She is just so stunning... I truly did not think it was possible for me, to fall anymore in-love with her, than I already was. But I guess that goes to show what I know'.

"Lacus I love you, I love you so much, and if you want to go back to how things were, before we got involved in this war, then that is what we are going to do, sweetheart. I'll make sure of that" Kira steadfastly promised her.

Seeing that look of absolute determination in Kira's purple eyes, to keep that promise to her, Lacus felt her heart skip a beat, as she smiled sweetly at him. "Thank you, Kira, I love you too. Now, let's get out off here, I got a news broadcast to mess up, and hopefully pissed Durandal and Meer off in the process".

With that said, the young couple entered the Freedom, which meant that the powerful gundam soon left the Archangel's hangar.

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Sitting in the news studio, Cagalli crumpled up the piece of paper in her hands, as she listened to that stupid bitch Meer Campbell, criticize Orb for letting a terrorist like Djibril in there and protecting him, she wanted so badly to cut her off, to try to defend Orb. But the fuming blond, begrudgingly realize that it would not lead to anything good, Lacus, or to be more exact Meer had such a major hold on the world these days, that whatever she could come up with that might help Orb, would likely fall on deaf ears.

It was at that very moment, that Cagalli heard a bit of a commotion from the entrance to the huge studio. Tearing her narrowed amber colored gaze away from the screen still showing the mindlessly jabbering Meer, she saw her sister-in-law step into the studio, followed shortly by Kira, who stayed put beside Kazuma and Kisaka.

Exchanging a quick a look, Lacus ever so calmly walked towards her, the sound of her high heels, echoing loudly throughout the studio. Once Lacus was standing right beside her, she in a sisterly like manner gently patted Cagalli's head, then stood up straight, nodding a single time, to show that she was ready.

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Meer's heart was pounding with excitement, she truly was having the time of her life. She was on live TV, everyone, the entire world, was watching her, looking at her, listening to her, admiring her.

"There's no crime in wanting better things, and wanting more. However, Djibril along with his entire organization Logos should not be allowed to exist. There is no place for such evil in this world of ours! That is why what we are trying to do..."

Suddenly, it happened, much to Meer's shock and horror, the screen went black, for a brief instant, then when it turned on again, Meer along with the rest of the world, saw another person appear.

One who was standing right there beside, Cagalli Yula Athha. "Please do not be deceived by the appearance of that person. Hello everyone, my name is Lacus Clyne".

To be continued.

The wolf thing I had going in this chapter, does not really mean anything, I just thought it would be funny to see how many I could come up with. Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.