She heard him said those words as he turned to leave. Inside her, two very different emotions battled with one another. But when she heard him walked towards the door, she lifted her head back up quickly. She frowned. "Are you sure you'll be able to handle the job and the responsibilities that come with it?" she called out, still frowning. She watched him stopped with a startle and turned to face her. His eyes were full of surprise and he just stood there.
"Are you going to stand there all day? Where are you going?" she asked as she leaned back in her chair. She gestured for him to sit again. He moved and did as she gestured.
"I thought you wouldn't want me here?" he asked, his voice full of puzzlement. She frowned more intensely at his words.
"When did I said that? Did I say it out loud?" she asked. "Anyway, the job's going to be difficult. Now with the new development in the peace ties," she continued on. "You sure you can handle it?" she asked, fully staring at him with those golden amber eyes of hers. Numbly he nodded. Then, she smiled and nodded back. "Well then, the first thing on the list is to get you the Commander uniform. Now where did I put it?" she wondered out loud.
"Princess," she heard him called her. Hearing her title, she looked at him with a frown.
"Cagalli," she said. She watched those red eyes of his blinked once and then twice. "Cagalli," she repeated her name once more.
"Cagalli?" he tentatively called out. She nodded.
"No one calls me Princess. No one I know that is," she said, waving her hand about. "Well, except for my insufferable ministers," she huffed, frowning at the thought of Orb's ministers.
"Cagalli," he called out once more, liking how the name rolled off his tongue. She smiled and nodded in approval. "You're not angry?"
"Angry? Angry at what?" she asked.
"Angry at me," he blurted out. Cagalli blinked at that.
He saw her blinked at his outburst but she remained quiet after that. Silence ticked away again in the room while both stared at one another. Suddenly, she gave a smile that seemed to dazzle him to silence.
"I never was angry with you in the beginning," she said, still smiling. "I admit that I was frustrated but it was never directed to you. I was frustrated at myself. I'm weak and that's why I was frustrated," she explained, her hands clasped together in front of her.
"You were never weak," he whispered. She stopped in mid-sentence and stared at him. "You're not weak," he said, his eyes and voice were serious. "All that time that I've ever glared and shoved you aside, you have never once shown a sign of weakness. Maybe that's what cause me to really hate you then. You could stand so strong despite everything that has been going on around you," he said, his eyes holding hers without blinking. He could feel a blush coming on but he did not care. "But now everything is in the past. Like you said before, I'm going to make full use of what life has to offer me. And I'm going to use this second chance helping you."
He glanced at himself in the mirror before looking down to look at himself. He looked in the mirror again. The formal Commander uniform that he was holding up against himself seemed out of place. He sighed and glanced at the clock. It was nearly time for him to start his first day as a Commander and yet, he had not even worn the uniform.
Somehow everytime he touched the uniform, his heart would start beating faster and he could feel his cheeks burning up. "What's wrong with me?" he wondered as he carelessly sat down. He brought a hand up to his cheeks and could feel the hotness of it. "Why am I feeling this way? I've not felt this way since Stellar died,"he whispered. At that exact moment, an image of a cheerful golden-haired girl dressed in a pink uniform came to mind. He smiled at the fond image of Stellar. After a few long minutes, he finally stood up and went into his room.
He watched from behind as she made her way towards the group of people who stood in the middle of the room. He shifted uncomfortably at first before spying her looking back at him. Seeing that she was gesturing for him to come over, he made his way towards her. "Thank you gentlemen for coming here. Recently, we've had a new Commander here. This is Commander Asuka," she introduced him to the group of men who stared at him.
Several of them looked at him with mixed feelings, this he assumed that they knew who he was. Only the Representative of the Earth Alliance looked at him and nodded. He nodded back while Cagalli watched. "Ms Athha, shall we now begin the signing of the treaty?" the representative asked looking back at her. She nodded and sat down while the other man followed suit. Her secretary, who had been there the whole time, finally walked forward and placed the treaty papers in front of both the man and the princess. He walked and stood behind her chair. Suddenly, she turned behind and gestured for him to sit beside her.
Surprised, he did as he was told. He watched as she turned to face the Earth Alliance representative again. Several of the Earth Alliance officers who were there bent and whispered to the representative while shooting glances at him. He stiffened and wondered if his being here would jeopardize the whole peace treaty. "I'm sorry Ms Athha. But some of my colleagues here think that we will not sign the treaty since you have taken an enemy in your office," he said as he turned back to Cagalli. Silence filled the air as everyone watched Cagalli whose expression was unreadable.
"Orb has been looking forward to this treaty between Orb, the Earth Alliance and Zaft. With this treaty, there will finally be peace between our three nations. But if your colleagues feel that I have taken an enemy here, then I'm very sorry to hear that," she said as she lifted her head to stare up at the others who stood behind the Earth Alliance representative. "But hear me out. I have never taken an enemy in my office. Everyone is an equal and has their own personal reasons for what they have done. Commander Asuka might have his own personal reasons for what he has done to both our nations. But I will not turn down a help that might be useful to this nation. I, for one, believe in him and his skills," she said firmly. He was a little surprised at her fierce defence for him and was grateful to him. This even made him more determined to support her. The officers, too, were startled by this fierce statement and some even looked guilty. Only the representative nodded in approval.
"It seems that we share the same goal, Ms Athha. Now, I am even more determined to have this peace between our two nations," he said, smiling. With that, he took out a pen and signed the treaty with a flourish motion. Once everything was done, he looked back up at her and smiled. Both parties stood up as she shook his hand. "We hope this peace will really last a lifetime," he said. She smiled and nodded.
"Allow my secretary to escort you out," she offered and nodded at the woman beside her. Her secretary smiled and gestured for the representative and the others out of the room. Once they were out of the room, did she sighed.
"You did not have to defend me back then," he said as she sat back down. She glanced at him from the corner of her eyes while rearranging the documents.
"I know," she simply said, turning her attention back on the documents.
"I could have said something in defense myself," he said after a few minutes of silence.
"I know," she said again as she placed the documents back on the table. "But I wanted to," she finished as she turned to face him. She smiled and placed a hand on his uniformed shoulder. Her smile widened as she tilted her head slightly to the side. "You look really good in that uniform," she complimented. Her compliment brought a blush to his cheeks and words escaped him. Suddenly, he saw her leaning forward towards him and, before he could do anything or wondered what she was trying to do, she placed a kiss on his reddened cheek. It happened in a flash and, the next thing he remembered was she walking towards the door.
He watched as she lifted a hand up to turn the knob when she started to sway and collapsed to the ground. Alarmed, he shot out of his chair and cradled her in his arms. He looked down and saw her eyes were closed. "Princess? Princess! Wake up! Cagalli!"
He looked around the white hallway as doctors and nurses walked past him. Anxious, he stood up and began to pace outside the room where Cagalli was being examined. "Shinn!" he heard his name being called out from a far. He turned and saw both Kira and Lacus running towards him at the end of the corridor. "What happened?" the brown-haired boy asked once they were within a few steps of each other. "I don't know. One minute she was fine and the next, I saw her on the floor," he replied combing his hand through his dark hair almost haphazardly.
"Do you think -?" the pink-haired girl started to ask when the brown-haired boy shook his head.
"We don't know for sure. It might be that she has just tired herself out with the rebuilding of Orb," Kira interrupted, his amethyst eyes sneaking a glance at the black-haired boy. Somehow, the boy had not heard them talked as he looked back at the door, his eyes frowning. Suddenly, the door opened and a lady in a white coat came out of the room. A nurse walked out after that and she listened to the doctor's instructions. Once the nurse was gone, the three of them crowded the doctor.
"How is she? Is she all right?" Lacus asked, her bright blue eyes full of anxiety and concern. Kira nodded as his own eyes reflected the same emotions.
"The princess is all right. She's just tired from all the work she's been doing," the doctor assured them. Lacus let out a breath of relief while Kira closed his eyes in relief. His own heart, that had been beating fast, slowed down as he let out a relieved breath as well. "But there is something that I need to confirm with you. It's about -" she started when Kira quickly steered her away from the black-haired boy. Lacus stayed behind with Shinn until the brown-haired boy and the doctor were out of earshot.
"Shinn, why don't you go and see her first? We'll be there soon," she said to the black-haired boy, closing her eyes as she smiled. He looked down at the pink-haired songstress and nodded before entering the room. Silence greeted him as he made his way towards the golden-haired princess laying down on the hospital bed. Slowly and softly, he sat down on one of the chairs available near the bed and stared at her sleeping face. Long minutes ticked by as he sat there, staring at her. Finally, he lifted a hand and brushed aside a stray lock of her hair from her face.
In her hazy daze, she felt a hand lingered on her cheek. The touch was so soft and gentle that she nearly sighed out loud. But she did not moved in fear of having the hand moved away. No one moved in that moment, only the muffled sound of the noises outside surrounded them. Her heart, then, started beating fast and a thought kept repeating itself in her mind. "It's him. He's back. Athrun's back," the thought kept repeating itself as her heart beat even faster. Then, the hand moved away and she finally stirred.
Slowly, she opened her eyes. Her vision was blurred at first and remained hazy. Unknown to her, she was still under the effects of the anesthetic. She turned to her side and saw a figure sitting down. She blinked her eyes once and twice. Finally, her vision cleared a little and she smiled at the familiar blue hair and deep green eyes that gazed at her with concern.
"Cagalli, are you all right?" he asked. She smiled sleepily again and nodded. She did not answer him. Instead, she raised a hand towards him and placed it on his cheek. She felt him stiffened a little at first before he relaxed.
"You're here," she breathed. "You're finally here. I've been waiting for you to return," she said, tears spilled from the sides of her eyes. "There's something I have to tell you, Athrun."
He was startled when she opened her eyes and looked at him. Her eyes still had a sleepy look in them but he did not care when he saw her smile. He was even more startled when she started to raise her hand and placed it on his cheek. His whole body stiffened slightly before it got used to her touch. "You're here," he heard her said in a dreamy voice. Upon hearing those words, his whole being felt light and he felt that he could hardly breathe. His heart felt like it was dying to break free from it's cage.
"You're finally here. I've been waiting for you to return," he heard her said. But the next words that came from her nearly stopped him from totally breathing. Suddenly, tears filled her eyes, making those golden amber eyes of hers gleamed before they spilled. "There's something I have to tell you, Athrun."
"Thank goodness it was just fatigue," the pink-haired princess sighed in relief as Kira nodded in agreement. Both walked away from the doctor and made their way towards the room where Cagalli was in. Just as Kira was about to turn the doorknob, the door opened with a sudden to reveal the black-haired boy in the doorway. Both the brown-haired boy and Lacus looked up with a startle and found an unreadable expression on the boy's face.
"Shinn? What is it? Is Cagalli all right?" Kira asked, his voice started to fill with panic. The black-haired boy shook his head but his frowning face did not relax. Lacus observed his face and knew that Shinn had somehow know about Cagalli's condition. With that, she turned towards her fiancé and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.
"Kira, why don't you go and check on your sister? I will be shortly,"she said, gesturing her head towards the room. Kira looked down at her and nodded, though almost reluctantly. Everyone was silence as he walked into the room and closed the door with a firm click. "You know about it, don't you?" she asked, looking back at the black-haired boy's face. His face tensed even more as he gave a sharp nod. "And what are you going to do about it?"
"What else is there to think about? There is only thing to do," he said curtly as he whipped his head up to stare at the pink-haired songstress. She did not flinch at the steely gaze that he gave out.
"And what about you?" she asked.
"What about me?"
"Would you be able to take it if she were to return back to him?" she asked, her gaze serious and calm. At that question, the black-haired boy faltered.
"I-" he started before he stopped in mid-sentence. "This isn't about me! He has to do the right thing!"
She shook her head at his sudden outburst. "Even if he did the right thing, she would not accept it. She believes that he has forgotten about her. There is only one thing that all of us can do though," she said as she walked past him.
"What can I do?"
At his question, her hand stopped in mid-air as she was about to hold onto the doorknob.
"Support her in her time of need," she threw the words over her shoulder. And with that, she walked into the room and the black-haired boy was once again left alone.