Crystal Hope

Cherry Rain: It's official, I proclaim myself an Athrun/Cagalli nut.

Mystique Kitty: I can only concur. This is, after all, the third one-shot she's poured out. The rest are somewhere in our profile.

Cherry Rain: Hee. Anyway, hope you like this!

[edit]Thanks to Lapana for pointing out the blooper with the goddess thing! It hath been amended.[/edit]

Cagalli Yula Athha was feeling miserable. Firstly, there was too much work- too much to handle even if she worked into the middle of the night. Secondly, Athrun was away, on PLANT, rather than here on Earth with her. Thirdly, it was her twenty-first birthday and no one seemed to care.

Sure, Kira and Lacus had just gotten married. It was the best they could do to send her a birthday greeting by email, and she understood. The way Dearka and Yzak had been carrying on, they might as well be married, and holed up as they were in their little town house in the English countryside, she could see why she hadn't heard from them. After all, they had never been particularly good friends.

But Athrun. Yes, he was busy. Yes, they were both busy. Yes, he was miles away, probably surrounded by boring old senators who couldn't be bothered about anything five metres away from their own pompous selves. But still, couldn't he have at least sent her a greeting? It was as if she was transparent as Cagalli, only seen when she was wearing the formal green clothing of the Ambassador from Orb.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang, and she jumped, spilling the coffee on a nearby document. She picked it up and groaned angrily- she would have to email her secretary to get her another copy, and as soon as possible.

Angrily, she stomped to the door and flung it open, hearing it crash against the wall with no small amount of satisfaction. She would probably have picked up the little package that sat innocently on her doorstep and shaken it to death if there hadn't been a sticker pasted on it that screamed in bright red: FRAGILE.

Her curiosity aroused, she brought it in and sat down on her sofa, unwrapping it carefully. Nestled in a bed of pure white cotton was a... statuette? Of crystal? Pulling it out, she held it up to the late sunlight rapidly streaming in from the n when a sudden bleeping came from her computer screen, the urgent tones that signified disaster that would require her immediate attention as Orb Ambassador.

Running to the computer, she clicked on the button that spelled out 'Receive Message' and a window blossomed to life on her screen. The sound of the reporter's voice was crackling, hoarse, partly due to the poor transmission, but far more ominously, from the obvious effects of the smoke pouring out of the building in the background.

Even over the screen, she could hear the screams of the women, the children crying- the all-too familiar sights of war. Involuntarily she shuddered. I thought that was all behind us. Why? Why does this have to come back and haunt us all? It's not fair! Why get the innocent tangled in this? Another attack on a civilian facility, a facility built to stop the war and neutralize the opposition... a facility built on-

PLANT.

Her heart pounding, she continued to listen as the reporter explained to millions of viewers worldwide that the Blue Cosmos had launched an attack on the PLANT embassy building, killing the scores of Coordinators currently inside having their assorted meetings. But all this flashed past her mind as so many words, holding no great importance to her as she waited. And waited.

And then she heard the sentence that stopped her heart.

Commander Athrun Zala is missing, presumed dead.

Athrun? He couldn't be dead! But even as her heart angrily screamed defiance of the words, her mind recognized the sheer implications. The building was burning down, only an outer shell left of its original grand state. If he had been in the heart of the building when the bomb had been detonated, even his legendary abilities as a Gundam pilot and a Coordinator wouldn't have been enough to save him.

Numbly, she closed the screen of the televised broadcast and opened the accompanying email- from Kira.

I just saw this. You need to know. I'm sorry about Athrun, Cagalli... but we've got to respond to this. Don't let his memory down... I know you can do this, little sister.

Cagalli didn't even realize she had been crying until she lifted her lips in Kira's addressing her as 'little sister' and tasted the salt drops.

Dry-eyed%But all this flashed past her mind as so many words, holding no great importance to her as she waited. And waited.

And then she heard the sentence that stopped her heart.

Commander Athrun Zala is missing, presumed dead.

Athrun? He couldn't be dead! But even as her heart angrily screamed defiance of the words, her mind recognized the sheer implications. The building was burning down, only an outer shell left of its original grand state. If he had been in the heart of the building when the bomb had been detonated, even his legendary abilities as a Gundam pilot and a Coordinator wouldn't have been enough to save him.

Numbly, she closed the screen of the televised broadcast and opened the accompanying email- from Kira.

I just saw this. You need to know. I'm sorry about Athrun, Cagalli... but we've got to respond to this. Don't let his memory down... I know you can do this, little sister.

Cagalli didn't even realize she had been crying until she lifted her lips in Kira's addressing her as 'little sister' and tasted the salt drops.

Dry-eyed, she dressed and was waiting on the sofa when the door opened. To her surprise, it was Dearka. "Come on, Athha," he said neutrally, gesturing out the door. "Kisaka is downstairs already. It's important to keep you safe right now... Yzak's been summoned to PLANT already. Let's go."

She nodded, mechanically rising from her seat. There was a lot that had to be done.

"We are gathered here in the council today to discuss the matter of the Blue Cosmos attack on the PLANT embassy," Lacus opened, standing up and slamming her hands on the table in an unaccustomed show of force. "And how to stop this without turning it into another full-scale war. I cannot stress this enough- we must not let them portray it as a Coordinator-Natural conflict, or the consequences will be disastrous."

The speakers' voices rushed through her and around her, but Cagalli wasn't really listening. It was taking all of her will not to let the tears slip as it was, as her eyes brimmed over. She shut them tightly and tilted her head backwards. As she opened them, she almost expected to see Athrun in the seat opposite her, green eyes regarding her worriedly... but it was empty.

The sob rose to her throat, but she choked it down as best as she could at the very last minute. Even though, Dearka turned sharply to face her, as if telling her to keep up appearances. She nodded coolly at him, attempting to regain composure.

Turning back to Lacus and the rest of the High Council, she steeled herself.

She staggered wearily back into the apartment, not even bothering to change out of the formal gown. Throwing herself onto the bed, she finally cried, letting the tears go in release as she muffled her sobs in the pillow. It had been so much. To sit here with one of their members gone, Athrun Zala of the High Council wiped out as if he had never been in existence. It hurt too much to even think about it anymore.

His smile. His indulgence, whenever she wanted this or that or threw tantrums. His support, whenever she was tired and frustrated and didn't know what the hell she was doing there. For all that he had never really said he loved her and neither had she, the two of them had reached an easy understanding, and they knew.

Wordless rapport. That which Cagalli would never have again.

It hurt so much- too much. After her father had died, the main pillars of Cagalli's life had been Kira and Athrun- Kira, the little brother she cared for, and Athrun, the lover who stood by her side. Now one of them had just... disappeared.

Would it have hurt less if it had been slow, like an illness? Cagalli wondered. Would knowing that Athrun would have to go, and treasuring the time spent with him, have made this any less painful?

She doubted that anything could help right now. Athrun was gone.

The phone rang as the thunder flashed outside and the rain began to come down. If they're still trying to stop the fires at PLANT, this will help, at the least... but why is it raining here, when there's nothing for it to do? Cagalli wondered, tears drying. I will not think of Athrun. I will think of the work that needs to be done. The rescue teams, the salvation work.

Methodically, she got up, pulling the wrinkled formal gown over her head and balling it up, tossing it in the laundry hamper. Pulling on a pair of shorts, she reached for a shirt... and pulled out Athrun's.

For a moment, she just stood there, recalling when she had visited his house once after a storm, caught wet and dripping on his doorstep. He'd ushered her in and given her the shirt... and since then she'd always thought of it as their shirt.

Fitting, at the end. Cagalli resolutely pulled it over her head, smelling the faint scent of Athrun's cologne as it went over her head. This way... this way maybe she could pretend that it was just another working night. That Athrun would be back from PLANT tomorrow and everything would be well again.

Even if that was all a lie.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang, its insistent peal sounding throughout the house. Cagalli glanced at the clock, which glowed in the dark, the green digits telling her it was already eleven at night. Seizing the gun from the nearby table, she grasped the door handle carefully, then flung it open explosively, swinging the gun around to face the stranger point blank.

What she saw had her hand slackening from around the gun.

"Athrun?"

He stood there, dripping water onto the doorstep, having run in from the fury of the storm outside. Her eyes were slowly beginning to tear, and this worried him. "Cagalli? What's wrong?"

Her hands fumbling with the locks on the door, she finally pulled in open and then she was in his arms, sobbing wildly, ignoring the fact that he was soaked, gripping the fabric of his shirt like it was she was a drowning swimmer and he was the lifeline. "You're alive, by Athena, you're alive... I thought you'd died in the blast..."

"What blast? I came back because today is your birthday... and I promised I'd be back for it."

She sniffed, drawing in a large breath. "You don't know... you probably spent most of your time in the spaceship. There was an attack on the PLANT embassy... the entire building razed to the ground... god, Athrun, I thought you died. I thought you died and you let me think you died, you heartless bastard!" she burst into fresh tears, a quivering bundle in his arms.

His hands immediately went to her back, rubbing up and down in an attempt to soothe her. "Shh, Cagalli, shh. I'm here; it's all right. Everything will be fine. Don't cry, shh."

It was five minutes later that she quieted down, sniffling and blinking to clear her eyes. "You're soaked. I'll get you a towel and clean clothes," she promised, dashing to her room, throwing one last glance over her shoulder as if to make sure that he was still there.

When she came out, she too was dressed in dry clothing. Tossing a shirt at him, she commanded, "Get that on first- I need to dry your hair."

His pants were considerably dryer than his shirt- the material dried faster, so Athrun pulled the shirt off and let the rain evaporate while Cagalli pulled his head down and vigorously toweled his dark blue hair dry. Minutes later, they were done, and Cagalli immediately nestled into his lap, latching herself around him like she'd never let go.

"Athrun?" she asked after a moment. "I was so scared you were gone. I was scared that I'd never see you again, that you'd never talk to me again. I've never said this... but I will now. I love you, Athrun Zala."

"Need you even ask? I love you too, Cagalli Yula Athha," he replied, caressing her hair, twining a bit around his finger. Carefully raising her chin to face him, he kissed her on the lips, gently at first, but Cagalli pressed closer eagerly, raising her lips to meet his and opening them hungrily. Her hands reached out to him, gathering him to her and bringing them both down to the sofa.

Desperately Cagalli pulled at him, making sure that she could feel him and reassure herself that Athrun was here with her. The feel of his skin and his warm weight as he pressed her down. The taste of his mouth as he sealed his lips to her own. The scent of him, all around her, like with the shirt she had been wearing half a minute ago. The sound of his heartbeat, the most reassuring sound she'd ever heard. The sight of him, alive and well and breathing.

She broke the kiss first, breathing deeply to get in more air, but she didn't let him go. "You sent me the statuette, didn't you?"

"Yes," he answered, nuzzling her neck. "My goddess of victory... Cagalli. My love."

Cherry Rain: Murr hurr hurr. Fear us.

Mystique Kitty: R&R!