Disclaimer: I don't own any Gundam series and as I said before, I just simply own this fic.

To reviewers:

Arisa Aihara:I am? Ohoho! I don't even know it…Doumo yo! But I still don't know I can pass the MARA exam. It was real tough, you know. I'm starting to get dizzy with just thinking about it.

Minerva's cradle: Yeah, no one deserves it. Flame sucks. I don't know about Fllaga. He's funny, I like him. I thought like 'Must insert him in the story' and there he is! Thanks!

Canadain-Girl: Yup, I'm still updating! And I hope, still writing…Thanks! It means a lot to me.

Kitty-Kat90013820: No need to worry. I'll update faster, if not, real fast. Thanks!

cagalli-rox: is it sad? But overall this fic is good, right? Thanks!

Thanks a bunch, my dear(?) reviewers! Your reviews lift my spirit tenfold to update this fic.

Now, with the story…

The first thing Cagalli noticed as she arrived at her manor that evening was the absence of Arthur. Usually, he would wait until she came back safe and sound and give a second lecture to her (she got her first one from Kisaka), as lengthy as Kisaka's. Their actions and words were so exact that she almost laughed at the thought (although both Kisaka and Arthur would never admit it);

First, came their warning tones with the words she despised – 'Princess Cagalli'.

Second would be their tapping foot.

Third, as always, came his ultimate annoyance – twitching eyebrow.

In the end, even though she had always faced the same situation many times before, she, too, acted the same way every time; she would start giving excuses — long excuses at that, even if she never had any real reason not to be in Arthur's tutor lesson. What she could possibly say other than the same 'He's boring' or 'He's as slow as snail' or 'He's too fast, I can't catch up' something about similar to those. She loved to work in her office rather than learn more of ORB in classes.

At least, while working, she could monitor ORB's condition and make observation on her people. She thought she had enough learning of ORB when she was little and never even thought that learning more about it would be a necessity. But according to Kisaka, she had to – he always said the same thing all over again, though in many kinds of words; 'in order to understand ORB more' or 'as the heir of Athha' or 'because you're the leader of ORB'. She knew her father too had gone through all this and now, it was her time.

iii

She walked straight to her room, as she made sure that Kisaka had already gone to do his work. Her personal computer remained half-forgotten at the end of the room. It had been a long time since she had last turned her computer on. Nevertheless, it was still in a good condition. Kisaka insisted she had one for her personal use even though she never needed one. She often thought, why would I need one since I could always use it in my office…?

She then seated herself comfortably on her seat. Other than checking her inbox, and doing her research (Arthur forced her to do as her school project – she never knew what was the use of doing one) she did not know what other things to do with it. Realizing it was already dark outside, she looked at her watch, which read 11.30 pm. Wow, time sure fly fast, she thought absent-mindedly.

Her inbox contained many unread message – one hundred and ninety six to be exact. She knew most of them were junk e-mails. Maybe all of them except for the one that Lacus gave. I don't know how those junks got here.

Her hand moved back and fro, guiding the mouse up and down. Her eyes carefully read the title of each e-mails she had, at the same time, her hand deleting every junk e-mails she had. Ha! Here it is.

Her forefinger clicked on the e-mail – the one entitled 'Long time no see' (AN: eh?). Her eyes widened a bit as she read its content.

Dear Cagalli,

As usual, how are you? I know it had been a very long time since we last met. I think, it's four years and eight months in precise. I also know that this kind of seem abrupt. I hope it didn't bother your work.

As if I have a lot of work, she thought silently, her eyes still glued on the monitor.

I'm very sorry for my inconvenience to leave a further message to Kisaka. Knowing you, both Kira and I know you must be a little, if not a lot, ticked off by my short message. Not to worry, maybe it's worth your patience.

Cagalli sweat-dropped. Kira and Lacus sure knew her a lot to be able to predict what her exact action. Surely, she had thrown her head off at Kisaka earlier at the shore.

Guess what?! We're leaving for ORB, tonight. We might arrive there by tomorrow evening.

Her eyes widened and her feature brightened. They're coming here? Her eyes then caught Lacus' words:

As your friends, as in just Kira and Lacus if you're wondering.

Her lips curved into a wonderful smile. As themselves? It would be fantastic. But then, her mind was seized on a thought: what about Athrun?

If you're wondering about Athrun, we'll let you know about him by tomorrow. It should be a surprise, though. Well then, see you tomorrow. If you will, you could watch us land in front of your manor. Bye, dear princess.

Sincerely,

Lacus (and Kira, though he's just watching me typing this mail)

A vein popped on Cagalli's head. That Lacus. When I get my hands on her…she left her threat unfinished. Her eyes travelled towards her front yard. They're landing there? Thank goodness there's a lot of free space to land.

She put her head on her hands as her hands were on the table. Her eyes glued at the monitor. I wonder, what about Athrun? What surprise are they talking about? She stared at the word 'surprise' for a few moments, thinking; Is it good? Or bad?

Many what-if's appeared in her head. What if Athrun had found another girl? What if he won't come back? What if he had an accident and had forgotten me? Her hands covered her face. Now, I'm getting ridiculous. He's the representative of Eternity, for Justice's sake. If he had had one, they must be fussing about it on everywhere – TV, radio, and newspaper.

Yawns escaped her mouth and finally, she decided to go to sleep. She turned her computer off and headed towards her wardrobe to change into pyjamas.

She laid still on her bed, staring at her colourless ceiling. Her head was still filled with wondering what exactly they are going to tell her about Athrun.

A surprise? What kind of surprise... that is. She disliked surprises; in fact, she hated them because she did not know what await her. But, she had always liked good kind of surprise, which worth all her worries and shock.

She turned the light off and hoped as sleep claimed her;

I wish, it'll be a good kind of surprise.

There it is, the third chapter! I need to get this story done before school starts. Plus, my exam result is out before Christmas! Which means, in about less than a week! Ugh…

Still no Athrun here, sorry.

By the way, please R&R and as I said before, I welcome constructive critics but I accept no flames.

-Haru