Chapter 65
It was the second night after the supposedly destruction of the Archangel.
And with their only current order being nothing more, than get to Gibraltar as soon as possible. Most of the Minerva's crew had taken the opportunity to turn in early and get some much needed sleep after the last few hectic days.
Yet there was one person on the grey spaceship that was simply unable to fall asleep. Even though the young man had barely slept more then three hours these last two nights.
And that one time Athrun actually did fall asleep, he had ended up getting probably the worst nightmare in his entire life. Where he had seen all of the people which he knew without any doubt was important to him, being kill one after another, without him being able to do anything to save them.
"Damn it, I hate laying around here not being able to do anything!" The blue haired man finally growled out angrily, as he continued watching the ceiling like it would actually be able to tell him, just what the hell he should do now. But not really overly surprised, he found no answer up there which didn't really help much on his already bad mood.
"Cagalli...Kira...I'm sorry..." he softly whispered to himself.
Then slowly turned over on his left side and took a small glance at the red glowing digital watch that was install in the opposite wall. And once Athrun discovered that it was a little past midnight he found himself briefly wondering how exactly four hours could have gone by without him noticing it.
And feeling somewhat frustrated that he had spend such a long time there without doing anything. "Ahh I can't stay coop up in here until we get to Gibraltar! I have to do something" the depressed man growled determinedly. Before he slowly sat up on the bed, ignoring the minor cracking sound both of his knees made from being in the same position for such a long time.
But even though Athrun's deepest desire right now, was to get his ass off the Minerva and head on back to Orb to search for the others.
He was simply put more then a little uncertain about how the heck he was suppose to do that. "Perhaps if I go take a look around down in the hangar, I can come up with some kind of idea that will enable me to leave this damn ship now" he muttered quietly to himself.
And with that decision made, the blue haired man slowly reached down underneath his pillow and pull out his gun. Which he had kept hidden away there since he had insulated himself in the small room two days ago.
With Rey Za Burrel clearly thirsting quite a bit for his blood, and obviously just waiting for the right excuse to try and get rid of him once and for all. Athrun had made absolutely certain to keep the small yet deadly weapon close by, incase the blond haired bastard, suddenly got the idea that it would be much easier to just kill him in his sleep instead of waiting for the most convenient moment to get rid of him.
So after just sitting there staring intensely at the gun for almost an entire minute, the blue haired teenager slowly flip off the safety before placing the weapon in his inner pocket.
And while Athrun yet again coursed himself for letting Kira destroy the Saviour, he got up on his feet and went over to the tray of food Meyrin had been kind enough to bring him. With everything that had happened these last couple of days, he hadn't really felt like going anywhere near the mess hall. Especially since he would most likely strangle Shinn if he got half the chance.
So Athrun was sincerely grateful that the youngish Hawke sisters had actually bother taking the time to bring him something to eat.
Truth be told the pigtailed girl had actually been the only person he had spoken to these last couple of days. Apparently most people around the Minerva thought that it was wise to just leave him alone for awhile.
Something which he was also more than just a little grateful for. Seeing as there was quite a few of the grey colored spaceship's crew that he honestly did not want to see under any circumstance. Especially Rey, Shinn and Nicol stood on the top of that list of people Athrun would seriously prefer to avoid if it was anyway possible.
With Nicol choosing to remain silent, after what had happened to the Archangel and Kira. Athrun could not help but feel like the green haired man had betrayed both him and everybody else who had trust and fought alongside him in the last war.
In someways, Athrun was actually more tempted to go tear the former Blitz pilot apart right now, then Shinn Asuka or Rey Za Burrel. No matter how the blue haired man look at it, he was seriously starting to consider Nicol more and more as an enemy instead of a friend.
"Ahh damn it all! This whole thing couldn't possibly get more screwed up, than it is already!" The young man angrily muttered out underneath his breath. Then hurried snatched the big juicy apple, that was laying near the edge of the tray.
And without hesitating even a second, Athrun took a couple of large bites of the red colored piece of fruit. And as he began slowly chewing the healthy food now in his mouth. He placed what remained of the apple back down on the tray, before making his way over towards the thoroughly locked metal door.
Yet once over there, the young man turned and took one finally look at the watch in there. Which so kindly told him, that it wouldn't be long now before the first hour of the new day had gone by. And feeling almost entirely certain, that most of the Minerva's crew would be asleep at this hour, Athrun did not waste anytime in getting the door open.
But as the blue haired man cautiously stepped out into the hall, the very first thing he did, was take a thorough look around, to make absolutely certain that nobody had noticed him leaving his small room in the first place.
And once the former pilot of the Justice gundam knew for sure that there was not a soul nearby. He slowly walked off in the direction of the hangar.
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It was about ten minutes later when Athrun finally stepped inside the Minerva's giant hangar.
With him being so utterly determined to make sure, that nobody noticed him. He had been forced into hiding out in one of the Minerva's smaller bathrooms, when he had suddenly seen a female figure coming from the other direction.
Fortunately most to his relief the woman had apparently been so exhausted that she had went right past the bathroom without realizing that he was in there. And once she was completely out of sight, Athrun had immediately left the small room again and continued onward towards his destination.
But even though Athrun Zala could not deny, that he was more then a little relieved to discover that the entire hangar laid completely bathed in darkness, that alone was after all a pretty obvious sign that there was nobody else around.
But as sure as Athrun felt, that he had the hangar all to himself, he still made absolutely certain to take a thorough look around the place.
There was after all the minor possibility that Aves or one of the other mechanics, could actually have fallen asleep down here while hard at work on one of the mobile suits or something else. Fortunately the place really did seemed completely deserted.
So after once more making sure, that his gun was where it was suppose to be. Athrun slowly began heading over towards, the three highly beaten up mass-produced mobile suits, and once he was standing directly in front of the three different colored machines, he slowly ran his eyes over first the two ZAKUs and then the yellow GOUF.
Yet just one single glance at each one of the heavily,damaged mobile suits. Would be more then enough for even the most simple minded person in the galaxy to figure out that one wouldn't really get all that far in any of these machines.
Even if there was away for him to somehow get the GOUF airborne.
The thought of trying to escape from the grey Zaft ship in a armless mobile suit that had no weapons of any kind and was pretty much completely defenseless, wasn't really something Athrun found all that appealing.
The GOUF mobile suit was without any doubt a fast and highly maneuverable machines. But even at full speed, there was simply noway that it would ever be able to outrun the Impulse. "Damn, this isn't getting me anywhere. I have to find something else" he growled out through his teeth.
Then quickly took yet another look around the enormous dark chamber. Until his eyes just happened to accidentally land on the small one person helicopter that was standing by itself near the left hangar door.
Unfortunately even though the small vessel was completely intact, and wasn't damage at all. It didn't really take much of a genius to tell that the helicopter had almost the exact same handicaps as Nicol's beat-up GOUF.
It was WAY to slow and had no weapons to speak of what so ever.
Even if he could somehow get the helicopter in the air, Athrun felt pretty certain that if he did run off in that thing, Shinn wouldn't even need to the Impulse to catch up to him. The Core Splendor would most likely be enough on it's own. "Unless I actually wants to be capture for treason, that dumb thing wouldn't work either. Guess I have no other choice but continue searching for something more reliable" he mused softly.
But of course realizing that there was nothing else down there he could use to escape from the Minerva. The blue haired teen gave his lower lips a light thoughtful bite. Before he slowly turned around and began making his way towards the special hangar, where the Core Splendor was kept.
Yet once got up there, Athrun did not do anything for an unknown number of minutes. He just stood quietly in his own thoughts looking over the small grey plane that could so neatly be change into the Impulse's cockpit.
But while the Core Splendor truly was the most logical choice for an escape craft, Athrun seriously doubted quite a bit that he would be able to get the small craft in the air on his own.
After Shinn had released that hysterical girl who had been the pilot of the Gaia. The security around the Core Splendor had been increase drastically.
Now one actually had, to ask the bridge directly for permission to launch this machine. And while he might still be a member of FAITH and the top Commander of the pilots here on board the Minerva. The young man honestly doubted, that whoever was up on the bridge at this hour of the day, would just allow him to leave, without first asking him some very serious questions. Which Athrun of course realized would be next to impossible for him to answer, without at the same time revealing just what exactly he was up to.
And that pretty much left Athrun with only one option. Which was to try and get the Core Splendor out of there on his own.
Unfortunately as much as he sincerely wished, that he could somehow hack into the Core Splendor's security system, Athrun bitterly realized that his skills in hacking was most definitely something that had room for improvement. If he actually were to start messing around with the Core Splendor, he had no doubt that it would only be a matter of a few minutes, before the entire hangar would be fill with more then just a few highly cranky people.
'Once I get back to Orb! I'm going to ask either Kira or Erica Simmons to teach me the more fine points of hacking, I could definitely have obtain that much more information about Zaft, if I had been just a little better at finding the short cuts into a computer' Athrun thought sourly. Honestly more than just a bit disappointed with himself, that he had never bother taking the time to learn how to hack properly.
And while mentally beating himself up over that, Athrun slowly took a couple of steps closer towards the small aircraft. Now seriously considering if there was any of the Core Splendor's weapons that could be used to make himself an exit.
But even though Athrun could not even begin to describe, how much he truly desired to get as far away from the Minerva as possible. The blue haired teen quickly came to the unwanted realization, that even if there was the possibility, that the Core Splendor's warheads would make quite the dent in the hangar door. There was noway that Athrun could know for certain if the missiles would have the necessary firepower to blow a big enough hole in the thick metal for him to leave.
Which meant that if he actually tried something so utterly reckless and crazy, it could very well result in nothing else other than him function as a very loud alarm clock that would wake up everybody else on board the Minerva.
And knowing that if he did end up being caught now. The chances of him seeing his future wife, or any of the other people he cared so deeply about would be severely reduced.
It wasn't really overly hard for Athrun to figure out, that if Rey reached the hangar first after the explosion, his life would be just about over. The blond haired bastard would not hesitate even a second about putting a half dozen of bullets in him. Beside the whole thing, with him firing the two missiles in such a close space, could very easily end up endangering his own life in the process.
'Damn it! Seems like the only thing I can do at the moment, is bite my time and wait until I have a better chance to get out of here. Perhaps once we reach Gibraltar it will be easier for me to steal some kind of mobile suit' he thought bitterly, while staring intensely down at the floor. Far from pleased with the fact that he was forced to stay even longer on the Minerva.
And as he saw Cagalli's bright happy smile from that one moment were he had asked her to marry him, Athrun turned around in one single motion and began heading with slow steps towards the exit of the special hangar.
"Please just wait for me a bit longer, Cagalli. I promise you that I will come back to you very soon now..." the young soon to be father, determinedly promised his lovely fiancée. Even though he did of course realize that with the two of them so far apart from each other. It was simply impossible for the woman he loved so sincerely to hear his determined words to her.
But in some bizarre way it kinda did make Athrun feel a tiny bit better about being trapped on board an enemy ship, saying stuff like that. And while still thinking hard about how much he truly longed to see Cagalli and everybody else on the Archangel.
He was soon walking down the Minerva's long halls again, knowing that the best place for him to be right now, was back in his room. That was pretty much the only place on the entire Minerva where he could make absolutely sure that he was left completely alone until they finally got to Gibraltar.
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Meanwhile in the very room to the left of Athrun.
There was another person wide awake and busy playing probably the most mindless video game in existence. But while most people would likely find this game quite boring after playing just a short while, it did not really bother Nicol Amalfi overly much, seeing as he was only using the crappy game as away to distract himself from thinking about Mayura.
While the green haired boy might firmly believe that what Durandal was trying to accomplish, was for the better of this world. He was still feeling quite depressed over what had happened to all of his former comrades. "I seriously do hope that we will succeed in changing the world. That truly is the only sure way, that I can make certain that Mayura and everybody that was on the Archangel, can rest in peace" the young man growled softly to himself.
Only to narrow both of his brown eyes in an angry manner immediately afterwards, when he for the eleventh time in the last hour, saw the bright blue game over sign appear on the screen of the small handheld console.
Frankly the only reason why he fought down the temptation to hurl the red colored device into the nearest wall, was because it belong to Meyrin. And the youngish Hawke sister would most likely never talk to him ever again, should he 'accidentally' break the small machine.
So after quickly using his right sleeve to remove a bit of sleep from both of his tired eyes, Nicol was just about to press yes to play the highly frustrating and annoying game one more time.
Yet before he could do that a kind familiar voice suddenly tore him right out of his deep thoughts, about all of the people who he had fought alongside with in the last Bloody Valentine war. "Nicol how much longer are you planning on playing that stupid game? I'm really starting to get tired of listening to that music?" Lunamaria asked softly, from her location over on her bed.
And simply put with him being so preoccupied with the boring game, and thinking about how he was going to help Gilbert Durandal make this world a better place to live, it was impossible for the young man not to jump slightly in surprise at the sound of the girl's voice.
Truth be told the green haired teenager had actually been so far away in his own thoughts, that he had pretty much completely forgotten, that Lunamaria was staying in this room too. And as he swiftly turned his attention away from the entertainment system in his hands, and over at the cute redhead.
And just one single glance at the highly cranky expression on her face, was more then enough to make it clear to Nicol, that if he did not turn the small machine off very soon now. Luna would not hesitate even one moment about throwing him out of there with his feet first.
And having gotten pretty use to having the more short tempered Hawke sister as a roommate these last few weeks, since the battle at Crete, Nicol felt more then just a little determined, not to anger the red haired pilot anymore than he already had.
So while giving Lunamaria the most innocent smile he could muster, Nicol was quick to locate the off button on the machine, and pressed down on it, for a couple of seconds, until all of the bright colors which the game had been made off finally disappeared from the small screen.
Yet it was only after using a few brief seconds, to seriously consider buying himself one of these things when they got at Gibraltar. That he at long last finally place the now silent device carefully down on the desk he had been sitting next to all of this time.
The former pilot of the Blitz gundam did however not get very long to think about just what exactly he was going to use his hard earn salary on, when he got eye contact with Lunamaria again.
And seeing as she was obviously far from finished sending him that overly murderous glare, Nicol once more smiled innocently at her. "I'm really sorry that I kept you awake Luna. I honestly hadn't noticed that I had the sound on that thing so high" he explained to her in the most sweet tone possible.
Of course instantly realizing that he was trying to sweet-talk her, Lunamaria could not stop herself from rolling her eyes a single time.
"Just make sure that you turn off the sound when it's this late, Nicol. By the way, what the heck are you still doing up? Usually you are the type of person, who goes to sleep at a reasonable hour. So it is actually a bit weird, to see you awake in the middle of the night, like this" Lunamaria said in a low tone of voice.
Only now realizing, that something had to be very wrong for Nicol to be awake at this hour of the day.
Remaining completely silent for a couple of long minutes, Nicol slowly reached up and scratch his hair in a somewhat thoughtful manner. "Yeah well...To be honest with you, Luna. I just have so much on my mind right now, that I don't really feel like going to sleep anytime soon"
Hearing the reason why her roommate was still up and about, Luna slowly sat upwards on her bed, where she carefully studied his face for a long moment. "You are thinking about you old friends from the Archangel, ain't you Nicol?" The short haired girl questioned softly, not doing anything to hide, that she was sincerely worried about crush right now.
Not really overly eager to give her a reply, Nicol just sat quietly in his chair staring intensely down at the floor like it was the most interesting thing in the world.
And just when Lunamaria was starting to think, that he was determined to keep his mouth shut no matter what, and not tell her anything. The green haired teen let out a deep breath, as he moved his brown gaze away from his floor, and back over at her. "Not only them Luna. I just can't stop thinking about, Mayura" he said a tiny bit louder, than he had originally intended.
Narrowing her eyes slightly at that, Lunamaria moved around a bit on the bed, until she got into a more comfortable position.
This had not been the first time she had heard the name Mayura. Frankly now that she was giving it some serious thought, Lunamaria realized that Nicol had actually mention that name quite, a few times before. Which really served to make the red haired woman wonder just who exactly Mayura was, and what kind of relationship Nicol had with her.
Just the mere thought alone, that she might yet again be having a crush on a person who could very well be in-love with somebody else, was almost too much for the older Hawke sister to bear, Lunamaria couldn't even begin to imagine how she was suppose to handle it, if Nicol actually did have feelings for another girl.
So after giving her lower lips a light uneasy bite. the highly nervous girl looked back over at Nicol, who was presently so far away in his own thoughts, that he did not notice just how uneasy she felt right now.
And after using what felt like an eternity to mentally prepare herself to once again get her heart broken. Lunamaria hesitantly asked the one simple question, which she was in someways scared knowing the answer to. "Nicol...this...this Mayura...who...who is she?" The redhead asked in such a quite tone, that it was actually a bit of a miracle that Nicol even heard her in the first place.
And as Lunamaria tried her best to conceal the deep jealousy she felt towards this Mayura girl, and her immense nervousness over yet again, getting a rejection from a boy she cared about.
Honestly more then just a little taken back by that question, Nicol Amalfi found himself blinking rapidly, as he stared straight at the older Hawke sister, with a completely weird out expression on his face. That very much made it seem like, the female Zaft soldier had somehow grown a second head. But seeing as that was surprisingly far from the case, it did not take very long before the boy practically forced his trembling brown orbs away from Lunamaria.
And the way he just sat there silently on the chair completely frozen, almost lead Luna to believe, that he had gone into shock.
But before the now highly concerned redhead had the necessary time, to tear her right leg free from the tangled up bed sheets, Nicol suddenly began talking in such a quite tone of voice, that Lunamaria actually had to concentrate her hearing immensely, to understand what he was saying.
"Mayura...was...Mayura...was..." the young green haired man said. Obviously still feeling quite uncertain, if he really wanted to tell Lunamaria about Maruya Labbatt.
But in the end a more reasonable part of Nicol realized, that it might just do him some good to talk with somebody about all of it. The weeks after the red haired Orb pilot had gotten kill by the Calamity gundam, Nicol had mourn her death immensely. Until that one day where he came to the conclusion, that he was going to do everything possible to make sure that he wasn't going to lose anybody else, that was important to him. And it was at that exact same day where he had made the extremely tough decision, that the best way to deal with Mayura's death was to suppress and shove his strong emotions for her, as far away in his heart as humanly possible.
But as much as Nicol truly tried to suppress all of those feelings, there was simply noway, that he could completely forget all of the good times he had share together with all three of the female M1 Astray pilots, especially Mayura.
And while still thinking about some of the more happy times back when he had been apart of the Archangel's crew. Nicol let out a long sad breath, as he began somewhat absent minded telling Lunamaria about his very first encounter with Mayura, which had mostly been because of her deep curiosity about the Blitz gundam, and her sincere wish to have mobile suit of her own that could turn invisible.
But seeing as this whole thing was obviously quite a touchy subject for the young green haired man. It kinda seemed like to Lunamaria, that he had least then no idea about, what the words he spoke even meant. And having almost instantly realized just how truly difficult this was for him. Lunamaria, was just about to tell him that if he did not want to talk about it, he didn't have to.
Yet before she had the chance to get even one single word out, the far away boy unintentionally cut her off, as he began softly explaining just how unbelievable hard Mayura and him had fought alongside each other, to defend Orb from the Earth Alliance's invasion forces.
And just the way he was describing how close the two of them had stayed together, throughout the entire battle for Orb. Made it completely clear, that they had trusted each other immensely. Even from the very begin, of their friendship, which had only grown that much more in strength during the following months, where they had all struggled so desperately to prevent the Earth Alliance and Zaft from destroying one another completely.
Yet once Nicol reached one certain point of the deeply depressing story, he only manage to get about three or four barely understandable words out. Before he clam his mouth firmly shut, now just sitting there staring blindly into space.
Not that it really matter all that much anyway, the mere sight of the large amount of tears, that was threatening to leave his brown eyes. Was more then enough to tell the older Hawke sister just what exactly had happened to Mayura Labbatt.
So after loudly swallowing the huge lump in her throat, the redhead slowly stood up from the bed and made her way over to Nicol where she gently wrapped both of her arms around him. "She was kill at Jachin Due, wasn't she?" Luna asked into his ear in a low tone of voice, while she continuously ran her hands up and down his back.
Sincerely wanting this uttermost sickening conversation over and done with, as quickly as possible. The only kind of response the former pilot of the Blitz was able to give at first, was a brief nod, as he pressed his face that much deeper, towards Lunamaria's left shoulder.
Taking what comfort he could get from being in the caring red haired woman's arms like this, and from the feeling of her soft silky blue nightgown rubbing against his face.
Yet finally after just sitting there quietly embracing one another, for almost five whole minutes, Nicol somehow manage, to pry his highly dry lips apart. "Yeah, she got shot down by the Calamity gundam, when she tried to help me against it" he explained in a slightly guilty whisper, just as a small sob shook his entire body.
Of course easily able to feel him do that Lunamaria gently tighten her grip on him, letting him weep out his deep sorrow into her shoulder. "I'm sorry...I'm so sorry that I made you tell me this, Nicol" she said, just about ready to start crying herself.
Carefully rubbing his face back and forth against Lunamaria's soft nightgown, in a small attempt to get rid of at least some of the tears covering his face. It wasn't long after, before Nicol slowly moved just a tiny bit away from the girl, so he ended sitting in a position, where he had a clear look of each one of her lovely blue eyes. "It's all right Luna. In someway I feel like you of all people deserve to know what I lost at Jachin Due" the teen said quietly.
With him starting to like Lunamaria more and more each passing day. He simply could not help but feel like that it was in someways wrong of him, to keep something that serious from his past, a secret from her.
Hearing him say those words to her, Luna found herself smiling slightly at the green haired man. She was honestly somewhat glad to know that Nicol trust her enough, that he was willing to share such painful things with her. "Thank you...Nicol" she mumbled softly.
After that nothing else was said between them, as they stared quietly into each other eyes for an unknown number of minutes. Until something happened that actually surprise both of them greatly, Lunamaria slowly lean in towards Nicol and place a soft light kiss on his lips.
Nothing major just a simple touch of her lips against his. Yet once the red haired woman finally realized just what exactly she was doing, Lunamaria practically flew backwards away from him. And once she saw the equally shocked expression on Nicol's otherwise handsome face, it was simply impossible for the young woman to figure out if she had made a mistake just now.
And while her deeply puzzled mind was still trying to make just a little sense of it all, Luna hurried stood up straight, and walked with fast yet staggering steps back to her bed. "It would probably be wise...if we get some sleep before we reach Gibraltar, Nicol" the greatly confused girl said in a low tone, that Nicol could just barely hear.
Honestly not at all sure, just what in the world he was suppose to do with himself now. Nicol watched with huge unfocused eyes, as Lunamaria quickly crawl back into her bed, where she didn't hesitate even one instant about pulling the cover up over her head.
And realizing that she was just as bewildered over what had just occurred between them as he was, the green haired teenager silently watched her unmoving form for what felt like a small eternity, and as a deep thoughtful frown slowly appeared on his forehead. Nicol was seriously wondering how exactly that kiss was going to effect his and Lunamaria's already complicated relationship. it was simply impossible for the young man to figure out, if that brief kiss they had share was actually a good thing, or a bad thing.
So while still trying to make just a little sense of the highly confusing event. Nicol Amalfi slowly stepped over to the comfortable mattress, which he had been sleeping on ever since he had moved into Lunamaria's room.
But even though both of the teenagers was undeniably quite tired and exhausted, neither one of them got much sleep that night. They had needless to say other things on their minds.
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At the same time far away from the Minerva, and earth.
To be more exact on board Terminal's thoroughly hidden space Factory. Which the Eternal had been dock at for about four weeks now.
But while a great deal of the enormous Factory's hard working personnel, was busy putting the finally touch on a certain green eyed mobile suit with a backpack. None of them paid very much attention, as a certain pink haired woman, was hastily making her way past the soon to be finished war machine, on her way back to the Eternal.
Frankly the few people that did see Lacus Yamato, as she was rushing full speed through the noisy Factory could immediately tell from the expression on her face that she was extremely ticked off about something right now.
But even though Herbert, Mars and a few other seriously did wonder just what exactly could make the otherwise kind woman this angry. They all quietly agreed on that it was best to leave the pink haired woman alone until she had time to calm down.
Yet if anybody actually had the ability to read Lacus' mind at the moment, they would instantaneously have been able to tell the reason why the young woman was in such a bad mood. Seeing as it was only about ten short minutes since she had heard about the Freedom's destruction.
Lacus was to say it mildly greatly concerned about her husband's well being. Even though the report she had received not that long ago, clearly stated that he had gotten away from the battle with the Impulse gundam relatively uninjured.
But even with the knowledge that the man she loved so dearly was all right, it was simply impossible for the female Yamato to deny, just how sincerely she longed to be back together with her husband right now.
"Kira I just miss you so much" the girl whispered to herself.
Almost ready to start crying over how dangerously close she had came to lose the most important person in the world to her.
And while trying her uttermost to keep just a little control over her emotions. Lacus entered the walkway, which connect the Factory with the Eternal. So after quickly using her left hand, to brush away a couple of lonely tears, that was presently making their way down each one of her cheeks.
The pink haired girl increased her pace even further. Seriously hoping that she would be able to reach her room back on the Eternal before she broke down completely. That thought had however just barely entered her mind, before she spotted a certain one eyed woman coming towards her.
And honestly not wanting anybody to see her in this low spirited state. Lacus immediately forced herself to smile, as she got closer and closer to the kind orange haired woman. And while Lacus could honestly say without lying, that she really like Hilda Harken quite a bit. The respectful bossy woman had after all proven very early after Lacus had met her, that she had a great deal of faith in her, and that she would not hesitate even one instant about sacrificing her own life to protect her's. Which was something Lacus truly was eternally grateful for, and made her feel even more determined to get past Hilda, without her noticing how close she was to start crying.
But while the pink haired woman really did try her very best to keep her head high, and hide her deep sadness behind her fake smile. Hilda had always had the ability to tell, when the people around her had something on their mind that was really troubling them. And seeing as Hilda Harken had met her fair share of soldiers, since first joining the Zaft military and late on the Clyne Faction, that was even more cut off then miss Lacus would ever be in a million years.
And that simple fact made it extremely easy for Hilda to tell. That the pink haired girl she respect so unbelievable much was far from her usual cheerful self. "Hey miss Lacus is something the matter? You do seem kinda sad" the one eyed woman stated, with a slightly worried expression on her face.
Feeling somewhat annoyed that she hadn't been able to sneak past Hilda without her noticing what kind of mood she was in. The female Yamato looked down at the floor for a few brief seconds, trying her best to figure out just what exactly she was suppose to say to the other woman.
And finally after almost an entire minute of deep tense silence. The gloomy girl, slowly moved her attention away from the floor, and back over at the female mobile suit pilot.
"It's...nothing you should worry about Hilda...I'm just really tired right now" Lacus explained. Still having that almost exact same smile on her lips. The only real different was that it was a little bigger now, then before.
Slowly raising her left eyebrow in a somewhat skeptical manner. Hilda took two short steps closer towards the sad girl. "You do realize miss Lacus that you are quite a bad liar, right?" The one eyed woman asked softly.
Sighing loudly over the fact that she obviously was unable able to trick the orange haired woman, Lacus once more turned her gazed downwards at the floor. "Yeah I have actually been told that quite a few times before Hilda" the songstress mumbled quietly.
Having of course also heard about the Freedom's destruction, by the hands of the bastard piloting the Impulse gundam, Hilda honestly had little trouble understanding why exactly, Miss Lacus was behaving like this. And knowing how utterly difficult all of this, truly had to be for the young woman, Hilda Harken showed no hesitation whatsoever, as she slowly moved over and gently placed her arms around the sad girl.
"You are concerned about Kira, ain't you Miss Lacus?" Hilda asked in the same soft tone of voice as before, while she kept on gently rubbing the girl's long pink hair in a motherly kind of fashion.
Simply unable to keep her emotions concealed any longer. Lacus could do nothing to prevent a loud immensely painful sob, from leaving her body. And as the images of her husband's handsome smile appeared in her mind. The songstress began weeping openly into the older woman's shoulder.
"Yes...Hilda...I'm just so worried about him...I don't know what I would do if anything happened to him...I want to be with him...I want to be with him so badly right now!" The girl cried loudly, as more and more tears continued pouring in a small steady stream down, each one of her cheeks.
Truly wanting to do her uttermost to help make the songstress feel better about what she was going through. Hilda tighten her hold, on the troubled girl. "It's all right miss Lacus, it's all right. I totally understand why you miss him, as much as you do. You love him, and he loves you. Which is why I'm absolutely certain, that Kira feels exactly the same way as you do. He can probably barely wait to see you again Miss Lacus" the one eyed pilot said. Sincerely hoping that what she was doing right now, would help calm the young concerned wife down.
And while Hilda continuously stroked the still slightly weeping girl's back and long hair, Hilda softly reminded the female Yamato of one certain highly important detail which Lacus already knew about the Freedom gundam's destruction.
Which was that Kira escaped from his encounter with the Impulse mostly unharmed. And that he was just waiting for her back down on earth.
Yet even though Lacus already knew all of these things. It did somehow have a bit of a calming effect on her, hearing somebody else tell her that the one she loved so sincerely was all right, and that she was going to see him again.
Honestly there wasn't even one part of the young woman, that didn't sincerely wish, that she could leave for earth, right here and now. Yet deep inside Lacus realized that there was still a few things she needed to handle up there, if they where ever going to stop Gilbert Durandal's utterly insane scheme for the world.
They especially needed to hurry up and get the two new mobile suits over in the Factory finished. Lacus knew that the green eyed one of them was almost complete.
Which made her more then a little curious about how far along. The Factory's personnel had gotten with the yellow eyed one of the machines. It was after all that very mobile suit, her husband was going to be piloting at some point, in the near future.
And while still wondering about when exactly Kira's new machine, was going to be finished. Lacus slowly backed away from Hilda, and after quickly brushing away the few remaining tears, she smiled slightly at the other woman.
"I sincerely do appreciate your assistance just now, Hilda. It helped even more, then you can possibly imagine having somebody to talk with about my deep concerns for Kira" Lacus said in a low tone, ending her little speech with a small yet polite bow.
Chuckling softly at the pink haired girl's behavior. Hilda found herself briefly wondering if the entire Clyne family had all been this polite. As much respect as the one eyed female soldier truly had for both Siegel Clyne and his daughter, Hilda had never actually met Siegel Clyne in person, seeing as it had been shortly after he had gotten kill. That she had joined up with the Clyne Faction together with Mars and Herbert. Yet even so the three of them had still found his words, about living in peace with the Naturals, that much more inspiring and appealing. Then helping a madman like Patrick Zala destroy each and every one of them.
Yet even though Hilda could simply not deny that she was quite frankly more then a little curious about, what kind of person Siegel Clyne had been when he had still be alive. The orange haired woman was far from heartless enough to bring up such a sensitive subject now, especially since it was pretty obvious that the girl was still more than a little concerned about her husband. Not that Hilda blame her for that.
Actually now that she was giving it some serious thought, Hilda quickly realized, that it would probably be best, if she asked either Commander Waltfeld or somebody else about Siegel Clyne instead.
And with that decision made. Hilda rapidly shook her head a couple of times to get rid of those thoughts. Before she once more concentrated fully on the pink haired woman in front of her, where the expression Hilda saw on miss Lacus' face, immediately made it clear to her, that the girl was somewhat curious about what she had been thinking so hard about, the last few minutes.
Yet with her needing to go help out with a few of the OS modification on her new mobile suit. And with Miss Lacus having things to do elsewhere. The orange haired woman quickly came to the conclusion, that she had already waste enough time, standing around, pretending to be a statue that was, incapable of talking. So while smiling a tiny bit at the songstress, Hilda swiftly ran her tongue over her slightly dry lips, before she finally opened her mouth and gave the girl a reply to her last polite statement.
"You are welcome Miss Lacus, I'm always happy to help. And just so you know, if you ever find yourself, in the need of somebody to talk with. Please do remember that my door is always open" Hilda said in a serious tone of voice, that left little doubt about just how sincere she was about that offer.
Truly glad to know that there was somebody up there, who would lent her a friendly ear incase she had a personal problem she needed to discourse, as much as the pink haired woman truly respect Mr Waltfeld. His at times childish and sarcastic attitude, did not really make him the type of person one would share once overly huge problems with.
Truth be told Lacus honestly preferred talking with either Kira, Miss Murrue or her two best friends Cagalli and Miriallia, when something was bothering her. But that most certainly did not mean, that she wasn't grateful for Hilda's offer, and seriously considering taking her up on it someday.
"Thank you very much, Hilda. I really do appreciate the sentiments" the girl said, as she once more gave the other woman a small bow to show her gratitude. And with nothing else to say to each other, the two women went off in different directions.
000000
It was a few hours later back down on the Minerva.
Which meant that it was about seven am. As the war ship was being escorted by two Vosgulov class and ten DINNs into the port at Gibraltar. And while most of the ship was still pretty quiet. The bridge was on the other hand full of activate, as the crew up there worked thoroughly on following the incoming orders they where currently receive about where they where suppose to dock.
But while most of the people up there was quite busy, Talia Gladys was pretty quiet at the moment. The woman of course realized that there was a high possibility that Gilbert might just be here, and there was actually quite a few things, she would very much like to discourse him. Especially the entire matter with them going after and attacking the Archangel, was still weighing heavily on her conscience.
Frankly now that she was giving it some thought, Talia simply could not help but feel like, the atmosphere around the Minerva had seemed kinda low spirited, the last few days, since their attack on the Archangel. One thing that especially cause her to be concerned was Athrun's lack of appearance around the ship.
He might still be a little unpopular for criticizing Shinn for destroying the Freedom, but she had heard quite a few crew members, like Vino and Yolant discourse if he was all right after staying coop up in his room for so many days.
And if it was not because Meyrin had firmly insured her, that he was somewhat all right considering the circumstance. Talia would most likely, have gone down to see him a long time ago, she did after all feel more then a little sorry for him, after what had happened to the Archangel. Especially when she thought about how close he and Miss Cagalli had behaved when they had both been on board the Minerva.
It quite frankly hadn't taken much of a genius to tell back then, that Athrun and Cagalli, was in-love with each other. So it honestly didn't surprise the Minerva Captain overly much, that Athrun now preferred to insulate himself in his room and avoid contact with the other crew members.
The brown haired woman, did however not get very long to think about that when an unfamiliar voice, suddenly interrupted her thoughts.
"Hello Minerva welcome to Gibraltar. If it's anyway possible, could you please send over a report of what supplies you need. Then we will start resupplying you immediately!" A male voice told them in a tone, that was simply put way to chipper these early hours of the morning.
And as short haired Captain of the Minerva was listening quietly as Arthur gave the man on the other on of the line a response to his request. She found herself letting out a light sigh. 'Seems like this is going to be quite a hectic day' Talia thought softly to herself.
Not even close to realizing that she had probably just made the world's biggest understatement.
To be continued.
Some of you have asked about when Athrun is going to leave Zaft and the Minerva, it wouldn't be long now before he makes his escape.