A few days later, the Archangel arrived at the Orb Union.
Returning to the same island as before, the Archangel reversed slowly into the hidden port. Standing on the port's control tower, Uzumi, the Lion of Orb, watched alongside his trusted aides as the Archangel graced their shores once more. Following close behind was the Sastry, piloted by Orga.
Orb had been made aware via radio transmission that the Archangel was accompanied by a captured Z.A.F.T. warship, and they had granted the request for both vessels to enter the port.
The moment the Archangel docked, Cagalli charged onto the ship.
She made her way straight to the bridge, passing many familiar faces along the way. Her gaze instinctively landed on the steps beside Murrue's command chair. A slender figure sat there, his head tilted to the side, watching her with deep blue eyes.
"Mika..."
"Oh, it's Cagalli. Hello."
Mikazuki gave a curt greeting and turned his head away. Cagalli's temper immediately flared.
I've been worrying about you in Orb for so long, and you're just going to brush me off like that?
"Mika, you jerk...!"
"Cagalli."
Uzumi appeared behind Cagalli before she could vent. The girl, who had been ready to give Mikazuki a piece of her mind, instantly deflated like a withered fruit.
"Father..."
Murrue and the others stood up the moment they saw Uzumi and bowed respectfully.
"We are truly grateful that your country could accept and understand our unilateral request," Murrue said.
Uzumi allowed a faint smile to cross his face. "Agreement is one thing, but I must ask the crew to endure staying aboard the ship for the time being. I hope you can understand our position."
"Yes, we understand completely," Murrue replied.
It was only natural. Even though the Archangel had declared it was breaking away from the Earth Alliance, Orb could not fully accept them all at once, whether for political or private reasons. Harboring the Archangel was already the greatest effort Uzumi could make; after all, though he was the ultimate authority in Orb, he still had to consider the welfare of the nation itself.
"In any case, you can rest easy for a while," Uzumi added.
"Thank you very much."
Uzumi then turned his gaze toward Mikazuki, who was still sitting on the floor. "Is your machine repaired?"
Mikazuki stood up and gave Uzumi a small smile. "Yeah, it's finished. Thanks, old man."
Uzumi shook his head slightly. "You're welcome. We had an agreement, after all."
"I guess."
The exchange left the rest of the bridge crew in a fog of confusion, having no idea what the two were talking about.
Seeing that her father was done, Cagalli cut in and walked right up to Mikazuki. "Alright, Father's said his piece. Mika, what was that black machine you fought that day? It actually managed to suppress you at the start."
"Just an enemy," Mikazuki replied dismissively.
It was a half-hearted answer, yet a factual one. It left Cagalli feeling like her anger was hitting a wall of cotton. Unable to let it go, she grabbed Mikazuki by the back of his neck and started dragging him out. "Come with me. I want to see Barbatos."
"Uh..."
The crew on the bridge watched with sweating faces as Mikazuki was hauled away. The corner of Murrue's mouth quirked up.
Uzumi let out a helpless sigh, though he felt a sense of relief in his heart. He hadn't chosen the wrong person; his daughter clearly trusted the boy. Then, his gaze drifted toward Kira, a flash of complex emotion crossing his eyes.
"Get some proper rest for now," Uzumi told the remaining crew. "Later, we will discuss the recent events, including the destruction of the Earth Alliance headquarters and... your plans for the future."
"Understood."
Down in the Archangel's hangar, Cagalli stared wide-eyed at the transformed Barbatos and the Freedom Gundam standing beside it.
"So this is the Gundam Barbatos Lupus...? And what is this other one?"
"Freedom Gundam."
"Did you steal this from the Z.A.F.T. military too? What on earth did you do at P.L.A.N.T.? You didn't just steal a mobile suit; you stole a warship and forced a space-bound vessel to breach the atmosphere! By the way, I heard the report that the ship was emptywho exactly was piloting it?"
Mikazuki endured Cagalli's machine-gun fire of questions with his usual dead-fish stare.
"What a pain..."
Cagalli's eye twitched at his mumble, and a vein popped on her forehead. "You jerk...!"
"Want one?"
Sensing Cagalli was about to explode, Mikazuki reached into his pocket and pulled out a few Mars Palms, offering them to her.
Seeing the handful of decent-looking Mars Palms on his broad palm, her rising anger vanished like a deflated balloon. However, she still snatched one away aggressively and began chewing with enough force to vent her frustration.
A moment later, she spat it out. "Ugh, this tastes awful!"
"Oh, I forgot to tell you. There are always some bad ones mixed in there. I guess no matter what the species is, there will always be some bad apples."
"Mikazuki...!"
The fire in her eyes reignited, but Mikazuki maintained his indifferent expression, seemingly unbothered by her mood. His brow suddenly arched as if he had just realized something, and he turned to look at the frustrated Cagalli.
"By the way, do you feel like there's some kind of connection between you and Kira?"
"Huh? What are you talking about?" Cagalli's frustration turned to confusion as she stared at him.
Mikazuki blinked and looked her up and down. "...So it wasn't a hallucination. I feel the exact same thing coming from both you and Kira. Well, whatever. It's probably not a big deal."
"What is that supposed to mean...?" Cagalli didn't take his mysterious words to heart, but in the near future, she would come to understand exactly what Mikazuki meant today.
🚨 Note: Consider supporting this story on Patreon.com/Flokixy to access 400+ advance chapters and 2 new chapters daily! (Full story bundles also available without a subscription).