It was raining again.
Had November passed so fast? The trees were bare, shivering naked in the cold and bitter wind. The amber-eyed girl gazed out the window, perched on a spindly-legged chair. Littered around her were crates and hastily packed boxes, lying forlornly on the floor.
But the girl was in no hurry to leave the drab apartment. Her eyes were glazed over, as if she didn't see the lightning blaze in the sky and illuminated the room for that split second. No, she was lost in her own world seemingly darker that it was here.
'I found of the truth, Father…' She whispered to nothing at all. 'You were right all along.' Tears spilled over and cascaded down her face. 'It wasn't my business, it never was…'
Now this was just unnerving.
She was called into the future chairman's office just so he could stare and smile at her? She tried to keep the meek, innocent look she had on her face for as long as she could, but after a few minutes, she was definitely seeing red again.
No wonder. She was starting to get very uncomfortable. Did he recognize her? Her insides were screaming and telling her to run away from here as fast as she could, but it seemed like her feet were glued to the floor. So, all she could do was sit there are grimace, and mesmerizing emerald eyes surveyed her.
But not for long.
"Will you please stop staring at me!" She snapped. How infuriating was this man? "I'm sorry, how rude of me." The young man smiled cordially. "My name is Athrun Zala. How do you do?" He extended his hand, only to withdraw it quickly when it became obvious that Cagalli was NOT going to shake it.
"Okay then, down to business." Athrun began to shuffle through the stacks of paperwork strewn over his desk. "So, you're from ORB, ambassador?"
"Uh, yes." Did she have ORB stamped across her forehead?
"I want to apologize for the lack of quality chairs we have. I hope you weren't hurt during the 'incident'?" When his eyes traveled to the scratches on her arms and legs he continued in a professionally smooth tone, "I'll arrange for Lunamaria to send a gift basket to your hotel. Where are you staying…?" As he reached over to take the phone from the cradle, Cagalli lunged forward and tried to tug it out of his hand. "No, Mr. Zala, please…"
Athrun arched an eyebrow, but didn't release his hold on the phone. "Please Miss Yura, I need to show courtesy from ZAFT. It's only proper."
"But unneeded. I don't want it!" Cagalli had an iron grip on the phone. No way was he going to find out where she lived!
"But it's our fault that you got hurt." Athrun, his expression looking slightly confused and his steel grip unrelenting. What did this girl have against apologies and gift baskets?
"Well if you want to apologize that bad," Cagalli was staring to get a little annoyed. What kind of freak was this guy? "You can just say sorry!"
"Really?" Quite surprised at the girl's answer, Athrun let go of the phone, right when Cagalli gave it a rather vicious tug. Her chair immediately toppled back and she fell to the floor with a dull thunk.
"Ah, ambassador!" Athrun immediately jumped to his feet and ran to Cagalli's side. He crouched down beside her and stared down at the girl. "Ambassador Yura, are you all right?" Then, remembering what Cagalli had said before the incident, he spoke cautiously, "I'm sorry?"
Cagalli propped herself up on her elbows, groaning in pain from her back. "Are you all right? Do you need ice, or anything? Gift basket?" He asked from habit, hoping to ease the rocky beginning between him and the ambassador. In response Cagalli glared venomously at him, wishing him a long, painful death. "No, but a hand might help." She snapped.
Seemingly glad to do something of help, Athrun extended it. Taking it, Athrun pulled Cagalli to her feet, only to draw out another exclamation of pain from the blonde.
"Shit! I think I sprained my back…" Cagalli winced; unaware that she was still holding Athrun's hand for support. "You have some bruising there," Athrun said worriedly. "I don't know if we can do anything to ease your pain here, and I don't want to leave a lady hurt…" Cagalli instantly became annoyed. She didn't need help, especially from the likes of him.
But before she could protest, Athrun was already guiding her towards the door, taking his and her jackets with them. "Come on, I know a place where they can help you." The door swung open, and Athrun strode out quickly, not noticing the odd looks the workers gave them.
When they were out of sight, a tanned man poked his head out of the cubicle. "What was that about?" He questioned. More heads poked out and shrugged, murmuring.
The head that appeared above the cubicle labeled 'Rusty' replied. "How odd… the chairman's son fraternizing with naturals? The volume of the murmurs rose considerably, all discussing the odd behavior the chairman's son until a silver-haired coordinator walked out of his office and barked out, "Stop talking, more working!" A chorus half-hearted "Yes, Mr. Jule." 's Rose and fell, and the workers all retreated back to their workplaces, grumbling a bit about silver-haired tyrants.
When the coast was clear, Rusty peered over his cubicle, and whispered to the cubicle in front of him. "Hey, Dearka!" The tanned man's head appeared. "What?" He asked anxiously, for no one wanted to be caught talking by Mr. Jule again if they didn't have a death wish and a passion for scrubbing office floors.
"What do you think Zala was doing with that ambassador?" This caused Dearka to smirk. "Well, I have a rather shrewd idea…" But before he could finish his sentence, it seemed someone tugged at his clothing, making him fall back and collapse on his chair.
"Ouch! Miriallia…" Dearka whined. Rusty sniggered as a female voice was heard reprimanding Dearka. "So Dearka lets his Natural assistant boss him around?" Dearka's head popped over the side again hissed "Don't call her that!" before disappeared over the side again.
"So, where are we going?"
Athrun kept his eyes to the road, and answered, "To a friends. She'll probably be able to help you." Sighing, Cagalli stared out the window. They were going left, of course. She turned and looked at the young man beside her. He alwayswalks left, but was it routine, or for a reason like hers?
"You're probably wondering why I asked you to come to my office, right?" Athrun broke the silence suddenly, snapping Cagalli out of her thoughts. "Well, not really. I thought you just wanted to apologize because I broke your chair." She answered honestly, seeing no harm in it.
A corner of his mouth twitched, as if he was hiding a smile. "Yes, about that. Apologies aside, what happened ambassador?" Cagalli fumed silently. Did he find her amusing? The only reason he wanted to talk to her was because he thought she was funny? She didn't know why she cared so much, but Cagalli Yula Attha didn't like being taken lightly, or less than she should have been taken.
"Well, mister Zala," she replied with as much venom as she could muster, "I found your speech so bloody boring that I tried to make myself drunk with your champagne. Then, just for laughs. I decided to break your chair while- why are you laughing?"
For indeed, Athrun Zala started laughing after the work 'drunk' and hadn't stopped since. Cagalli tried to stop her cheeks from heating up to no apparent success. If Kisaka were here, he would have dragged Cagalli all the way back to ORB. What was she doing? She had destroyed ZAFT property, reprimanded Athrun Zala himself, played tug-a-war with his phone, and was now sitting in his car with a sprained back going who-knows-where and had just admitted to getting drunk, via ZAFT champagne.
This was too much to take!
After Cagalli stopped mentally beating herself up, she heard Athrun's laughter subside, and managed to calm himself down. He was actually smiling, which was unnerving to Cagalli because she was surprised he didn't throw her out of the car after what she had said to him. Seeing him smile at her made something warm shoot up in her insides, although she was sure it wasn't anger. What was going on with her?
"Because, Ambassador, you might think I'm boring but I find you fascinating."
Something hot inside Cagalli exploded, and warmth rushed into her cheeks. "W-what makes you say that?" She hid her face from Athrun so that he wouldn't see her flushed face.
"Well, I guess I've never met anyone quite like you, Miss Yura." Athrun stated quite plainly. "I've never met someone that hated ZAFT's gift baskets, breaks chairs, tries to get drunk through champagne, and told me to my face that you hated my speech." Athrun smiled. "And that's what I find fascinating."
Since reigned in the car, as none of them spoke a word. Finally, Cagalli spoke. "I…I don't hate your gift baskets…" Cagalli trailed off, not knowing quite what to say.
"We're here." Athrun announced. Cagalli couldn't help but gasp. In front of the car towered a tall, white gate with flourishing designs that opened as they approached. As they drove down the long gravel driveway, Cagalli spotted different varieties of flowers dotting the lawn.
'Lilies, roses, daisies, and forget-me-nots.' Cagalli thought as they passed by the flowers. She smiled despite her aching back, for these flowers were also grown in ORB. Sure she wasn't traveling towards the direction of her parents' beloved homeland, but she seemed so close to home anyway. Seeing her smile, Athrun said, "This is where my ZAFT Council member Kira lives. His fiancée, Lacus, moved in with him and brightened up the décor considerably."
They finally reached the front door, and Cagalli opened the door before Athrun, being the gentleman he was, could open it for her. "It's okay, I'm okay." She said quickly, although she winced every time she took a step. Throughout her childhood, Cagalli was always very rambunctious even though she bruised and broke bones very, very easily. She was dubbed 'brittle bones' by the household staff and her own father!
Athrun quickly strode in front of her and rang the doorbell. A few seconds later, the handsome mahogany door opened, and the pink princess herself appeared.
"Good morning Athrun! Oh, who is this friend of yours?" Lacus Clyne questioned, still smiling sweetly. Athrun grinned in relief at his good friend. "I'm sorry to disrupt you right now Lacus, but we had a little," Athrun cleared his throat, "incident in my office, and ambassador Yura here sprained her back. Is there anything you can do, something to ease the pain?" Athrun said desperately. He really, really didn't want his father to find out about this. If Chairman Zala caught wind of his son harming an Ambassador from ORB…
Lacus seemed to read his thoughts. "Of course Athrun, please come in Miss Yura." Cagalli, feeling quite dazed from meeting Lacus Clyne in person and the pain that was slowly hurting more in her back, just mumbled and let Athrun lead her into the mansion.
Their footsteps echoed down the marble floored hallway before Lacus led the way into the living room where she gestured for Athrun to sit. "Here, Miss Yura. Please follow me." Holding Cagalli's hand firmly in her own, she led her down another hallway and disappeared down a winding stair.
Athrun stood there, quite at a loss of what to do. He was extremely grateful to Lacus for helping him out of the mess he had gotten himself in to. But still he felt a little odd being here. Ever since their engagement was broken, he never came here when he didn't need to. He glanced at his watch. 12:05. Right now he would have been sitting at his desk eating his home packed lunch. His thoughts drifted hazily towards the paper-bagged lunch stuffed in his drawer.
After surveying Kira and Lacus' mansion, he found that he felt highly uncomfortable not working to his routine. After all, his daily schedule was safe, secure, and efficient. He didn't have time for ambassadors in pain, to a point he needed help from his former fiancée that – funnily enough - he probably still had feelings for, and was now engaged and in love with his best friend!
He collapsed onto the couch and clutched his head. Damn! He should not have let that thought out of his head! Ever since he heard of his friends' engagement, he had refrained himself from thinking such thoughts. But every time he let a trace of the thought out, why did it hurt even more? Wasn't it supposed to disappear? Or maybe his guilt was making him feel worse?
Athrun chuckled bitterly, full of woe. How Kira would kill him if he heard what was going on in his head…
"Athrun?"
The said boy jumped to his feet, heart pounding. "K-Kira!" He gasped, "You scared me!" The brown haired boy, who even at the age of 21 couldn't keep his mop of hair tamed, looked at him oddly. "Sorry about that. But what are you doing here?" Athrun hastily gave his friend the full explanation as to avoid any suspicions. Breathing a sigh of relief, his friend laughed at his misfortune. "Poor you, but at least you came to the right place." He said proudly, as Athrun recounted the time Lacus has nursed Kira back to health after he was shot down at Jachin Due.
Athrun could still remember the time when him and Kira had been Gundam pilots. He had left that profession a year earlier than Kira so he could pursue a career as future Chairman. But after that near fatal ambush at Jachin Due, Kira was no longer able to have full control of his hands at times, thus ending his piloting career.
He could still remember him talking with Kira by his bedside, after learning the news that his brave friend would never be able to pilot a Gundam ever again.
"Wow Kira," Athrun looked down sadly at his friend, "I'm so sorry. Is there anything I can do…?"
Kira punched his friend's arm weakly. "Don't be, alright? Everything has to end sometime. My time was just a little shorter than most." He smiled brightly through his pain. "Besides, the wind that shuts a door always blows open a window, as most say."
Athrun smiled back. How brave Kira was! But his friend interrupted his thoughts. "But as for something you could do…" Kira smile turned to a nervous grin. "Could you tell me a bit about Lacus? I mean, she's been so kind to me and…" He trailed off, his smile still one of a 16 year old.
The green-eyed boy swallowed and smiled bravely. "Sure. Anything for you Kira."
Athrun laughed weakly, and averted his eyes to the floor. Why did he have to feel so guilty for just thinking about Lacus? Was it now against the law to think about one of his good friends?
"So what are you doing here Kira?" he finally asked, looking at his friend who had collapsed on the couch next to him. Kira smiled and replied quite happily, "Oh, Lacus wanted me to come home for lunch today. The wedding is quite soon and she wanted me to decide what centerpieces we should have." Kira laughed, and for a moment Athrun felt a pang of jealousy. What wouldn't he give to be planning a wedding with Lacus and fussing over centerpieces?
At that moment Lacus appeared. "Ath- oh! Kira!" She ran over to her fiancée and planted a kiss on his lips. "I'm so glad you remembered to come!" Lacus said, apparently forgetting that Athrun was in the room. "The florist delivered the flowers today, and the white lilies…"
Athrun tuned out, leaving the happy couple to chat about their special day. He then realized Cagalli hadn't come out with Lacus, and wondered what happened to her. For surely his father would be even more angry if he had lost the ambassador rather than just accidentally spraining her back. Turning to Kira and Lacus, he coughed as discreetly as he could, which was enough to capture their attention.
"Oh, Athrun!" Lacus said, looking much happier now that Kira was here. "Cagalli is downstairs. I gave her a salve for the bruises on her back, and Meyrin was kind enough to give her a massage. Last time I checked, she was fast asleep on the table. " Lacus smiled reassuringly at her friend.
Athrun sighed at sigh of relief. Perhaps the ambassador's report wouldn't be completely bad, as she could write; The people of ZAFT make good masseuses.
"Don't worry Athrun, your father knows that you'd never hurt her on purpose." Kira said to his friend. Athrun was about to grin at his childhood friend when he suddenly remembered something and his half-formed grin slipped off his face. Kira, seeing this, sighed with exasperation.
"Oh please Athrun. Don't tell me you're still going on about that." When his friends face still remained as cold as stone, he said desperately. "This isn't MY fault. It's not like I was the one who is making you do this!" For even the calm and collected Athrun Zala had a temper that matched the temperamental Yzak Jule.
Poor Lacus looked back and forth between her fiancée and her friend. "What are you all talking about?" She enquired hesitantly. She knew she had to tred softly on the subject as to not set off an explosion of some sort.
Athrun crossed his hands and turned so his back faced his friends. Kira explained softly to the former pop star. "Chairman Zala wants Athrun to pay extra attention to whichever ambassador ORB sent. For instance, making the ambassador his… lets say escort throughout the festivities ZAFT set up for the diplomats. Kind of like sweet talking the ambassador so that he or she would have a good report to give back to his home country."
Lacus stared back at Kira, looking slightly confused. "But why? I mean, ORB and ZAFT were never really great friends, but why the need now?" Hearing this, Athrun whirled around and spat out, "Probably my father thinks of this as a good test to see if I can inherit his position when he retires." He began to pace angrily. "Like some pawn he can send out and do his bidding. He's probably betting money on me making a fool out of himself so he can give the position to that bastard R-"
Lacus quickly guided the fuming Athrun down onto the couch. "Now Athrun. What makes you think that all the time? Your father is intent on making you the chairman and has said so many times." Lacus looked down on Athrun like a mother would to a six year old that had just uttered a particularly dirty word. Kira strode over to his friend and said quickly "And think about it this way. You're already well acquainted with the ambassador."
Athrun looked at his friends. "What?" But then his eyes traveled to the hallway, which Lacus has emerged, from a few minutes ago. "Oh…"
Kira nodded solemnly. "A rocky start, but nothing the Zala charm can't fix, right?" Athrun adjusted his collar nervously. "Yeah, well…" Images of a feisty blonde filled his mind and Athrun began to doubt the capability of the 'Zala charm' as Kira called it.
Lacus smiled comfortingly at her friend and pulled Athrun to his feet. "Come to the balcony," she said, gently guiding the two boys toward the direction, "so we can finalize some wedding plans before Miss Yura wakes up, okay?"
The rest of the afternoon passed happily and smoothly enough. Athrun decided that maybe being spontaneous and skipping work wasn't so bad, although the percentage of him doing this again was slim to none. The three friends drank teapot after teapot of lemon tea and skimmed over so many flowers that Athrun began to get dizzy over the sweet floral smell.
But deep in his heart, Athrun had already acknowledge the fact that this was probably the last time the three friends would hang out like this. Soon Lacus and Kira would be happily married, and would probably have children soon. And Athrun would simply diminish and fade into the background, burying himself in his work for the next 4 decades or so. With his friends gone, would Athrun's life consist only of sleep, food, and work? Athrun shivered at the thought.
But before he knew it, he was slinging Cagalli's arm over his shoulder and waving goodbye to his friend. Slowly guiding the ambassador to his car, he carefully placed her in his car and started the ignition. As they passed the residence's gate, Cagalli stirred and was finally half aware of her surroundings.
"What- where are we?" Cagalli murmured groggily as she glanced around.
"You're in my car, Miss Yura. I thought I should send you home before it was too late." Athrun said, eyes still concentrated on the road. "I hope your back feels better?" He inquired politely. The blonde glared at him, and retorted, "No thanks to you."
She knew she was being inexcusably rude. Athrun Zala had been the one to cut work and bring her there so they could help her. But for some reason all the wrong words kept tumbling out of her mouth! But Athrun just grinned and replied, "Ah yes, and it's a good thing it was Lacus that cared for you. She has a very kind heart, for one." Cagalli simply made an annoyed sound deep in her throat and switched on the radio; twisting the dial so it would go to the station she wanted. Hard rock music blared through the music system; nearly deafening it's occupants.
In one fluid motion Athrun switched off the radio. Disgruntled and half-asleep, Cagalli defiantly switched it back on, only for the blue-haired driver to turn it off. This went on for quite a while, Athrun still resolutely expressionless and Cagalli getting more and more angrier by the minute.
After Athrun switched it off for the 178th time, Cagalli absolutely lost it. "Stop doing that! Some people are trying to listen to decent music!" Cagalli yelled, nearly as loud as the singers on the radio were. "Firstly, I wouldn't call it decent," Athrun said firmly, "And secondly, you won't be able to hear what I have to say if we all go deaf, understood?"
Now that was caught in the snares of Cagalli's attention. "What do you need to tell me?" She said suspiciously, eyeing Athrun warily. He smiled appreciatively and continued. "Yes, you're correct that I was not the one that healed you of your," he grinned sheepishly, "And it was probably my fault that you were inflicted with the wound. On the other hand-"
Now Cagalli hastily jabbed a finger towards Athrun. "Correction. You were the one who hurt me." She scowled as she recalled the incident in the office of Athrun Zala. Unfazed, Athrun plowed on. "But, I was also the one that graciously brought you to the Yamato-Clyne residence and put you in the care of Lacus…" He raised an eyebrow in the mirror towards the glowering blonde.
"Whoa, whoa. What are you getting at here Zala!" She turned towards Athrun, twisting the seatbelt around her slim frame, her face dangerously close to the young man's. A whisper of red flickered across Athrun Zala's pale feature, but he just said, "Please sit down. That's a driving hazard, you know." Quite taken aback, Cagalli huffed and slid down back into her seat.
Athrun sighed with relief, something that Cagalli cleverly noted. 'Through and through, he's still the prude with no life…' she grumbled, turning the other way.
"Hey, Athrun?" She turned to the young man next to her, half expecting him to ignore her completely. Which, of course, just proved she knew nothing about Athrun Zala. For the first rule his governess drilled into him at the tender age of four was; 'be a gentleman. Always give girls the attention they deserve.'
And of course, keeping eye contact automatically fell into that category.
Without thinking, he finally tore his eyes off the road and his eyes met Cagalli's. "Yes, Ambassador?" he said politely, fulfilling his role as 'gentlemen'.
For a split second, Cagalli just stared back at Athrun, puzzling him. Why was she looking at him like that? Was there something on his face? Her lips were moving, but no sound came out, like a goldfish out of water…
Her eyes…Mesmerizing….
"A…Athrun…"
"Yes?"
"WATCH OUTFORTHECARRRRRRRRRR!"
Tearing his eyes from the screaming ORB ambassador, he jerked the steering wheel to the left, narrowly missing the truck barreling their way…
I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die….
Athrun sighed as his new no-longer-sleek, crushed, and mangled black car was towed away by the mechanics. At least they were lucky they were alive. Crashing into a lamppost was much, much better than colliding with a huge truck, after all.
They hadn't been hurt, thank goodness. The front of his car had taken the brunt of the hit, and they hadn't been going very fast anyway. Athrun had always prided himself as a safe driver, although he usually drove by himself, as people always complained to drove too slow.
Athrun declined an offer to send them to the hospital. Because for one, they were both fine. At least he was, and as soon as they were out of the car Ambassador Yura dashed behind some magnolia bushes, so he assumed she was alright. And two, it would be better if his father never found out about this…
He stared nonchalantly up at the canopy of red above him and wondered how in the world he landed in this park again. Glancing over at the 'preoccupied' ambassador, he sighed and strode down the familiar left path of the park. After all, his governess taught him nothing about taking care of vomiting girls.
'Oh god this is so embarrassing!'
After feeling her stomach settle down a bit, she stood up again with difficulty, feeling the familiar shooting pain in her back again. She stumbled towards a nearby park bench, feeling very dizzy and lightheaded.
She slumped down, feeling like she'd like nothing better than to sit here for a long, long time wallowing in self-pity after being almost killed.
'Zala should thank me,' she grumbled, 'it was because of my quick thinking that we got out with all our limbs in one piece.'
Ah, but was it not you that distracted Athrun for his driving?
'W…what? He's the driver! It was him that took his eyes off the road!'
Hey, you can sit here and argue with voices in your head, or you can get your butt of the bench and start figuring out a way to get home before Kisaka and Afhmed start worrying about you!
That managed to click in Cagalli's mind, impressive considering the state of her mind at that moment. But how to get home… The park was a fairly long way from her headquarters, and hitchhiking was definitely out of the question. And no way in hell would she borrow change from Zala to pay for public transportation…
Cagalli slinked further down the bench. 'Face it. By the time I get home Kisaka, Afhmed, and Sai will be angry enough to bodily hurl me into the plane and ship me home…'
'No! Atthas never give up!''…Father…' With that, Cagalli sprang up to her feet (at the expense of her sore back) with new enthusiasm. Feeling around in her pocket, she managed to unearth a stick of gum. Ripping off the wrapping as if it did her a personal wrong, she popped it in her mouth with a maniacal smile, only for it to fade within a few seconds.
'Father…. Is that how you felt when it happened to you?' Cagalli placed her hand on her lurching stomach. 'Did you want to throw up too? Did you know that you were going to…'
'No! I'm not going to think about that now!' Cagalli shook her head like a dog shaking off water. 'I'm not going to dwell on black thoughts. I'm going to place one foot ahead of another and walk towards to future, whatever it may bring, and never look back!' Cagalli squared her shoulders determinedly, and began to look around for a missing blue-haired boy. Where in the world did Zala go?
After declaring Athrun Zala M.I.A, she shrugged and set off on her choice path to the other side of the park.
'How in the world did I get here again?'
"You're not much of a gentleman."
And there she was again, standing in front of him, hands crossed as if she caught him in a dirty act. And just moments before he had been sitting on the side of the fountain, just enjoying the sound of water hitting water.
"Beg pardon?" Athrun blinked a few time. The sun was setting her, cloaking them in an orange hue, illuminating her ferocious amber orbs.
"Listen here Zala," she glared down at him, while he stared innocently up at her, "Maybe you can charm enough girls to make a fangirl cult, but I,"
At this point Athrun was completely lost,
"I can read you like a book." Cagalli said proudly, placing her hands on her hips. But, she didn't seem mad…
"Wait, what is this about?" Athrun stood up quickly, as if to gain leverage against this girl.
'A rocky start, but nothing the Zala charm can't fix, right?'"What I'm saying Zala," she said, amused. "Is that you're not the gentleman everyone thinks you are."
"What do you mean?" Athrun shot back. "I kept eye contact when you were talking to me in the car, which," he couldn't help adding, "nearly got us killed." It was only seconds after these words left his mouth when Athrun realized what he had said…
His 'smart' retort was soon drowned out by hysterical laughter coming from a certain blond. She immediately doubled over and clutched her side, her peals of laughter shaking her entire body.
"Eye contact?" Cagalli managed to gasp before she was overcome by another fit of giggles. "You really are as much of a prude as they say!" She hobbled over to the fountain and sat down, still clutching her side with laughter.
"How kind." Athrun replied dryly as he sat down beside her. "And I suppose that's what I'm well known for over there?"
Cagalli immediately stopped laughing as her insides quickly froze up. He knew? He knew about the apartment full of ORB secret agents rifling through confidential files and listening to incoming and out coming phone calls from the Chairman's office? He knew that she was actually not Cagalli Yura, but Cagalli Yula Attha, princess of ORB?
She looked away from him, her heart pounding. It all makes sense now! How stupid was she to actually fall for his tricks? Her heart thudded louder and faster in her chest. Now that he had lured her here, what would he do to her? With her gone, what would happen to ORB? What would happen to her?
"Are you going to throw up again?"
Without looking up, Cagalli immediately scooted away from the concerned boy, desperately thinking about some plan to escape. She could start running, for she was positive that she could outrun Athrun any day. But what if he called backup? She immediately broke out into a cold sweat. There was no place to go, no place to hide…
"Here, why do-"
"AAAAAAARRRRGGGGGHHHHHH"
If anyone had walked upon the pair in the park that day, which luckily no one did, they would have probably been either highly alarmed or highly amused by the scene before them,
There was Vice-Chairman Zala, on his back and his hands in front of him, with an obviously shaken blond woman nearly kneeling on his chest, brandishing a loaded gun.
Okay, maybe more alarmed that amused…
"W-WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?"
"NO, WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU? LURING WOMEN INTO A SECLUDED AREA, UNDER A FALSE PRETENSE THAT YOU JUST WANTED TO HELP THEM? BUT REALLY, YOU'RE JUST A SICK OLD -"
"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? THAT WAS MY INTENTION FROM THE VERY START!"
"OH, I'M SO SURE THAT IT WAS! SO YOU DON'T JUST HAVE YOUR WAY WITH THEM THEN HAND THEM OVER TO THE POLICE?" With that, Cagalli tore her eyes away from Athrun's and swung her gun around the park, making sure that there wasn't anyone there.
"N-no, Miss Yura, you have to understand…" Athrun said hoarsely, his throat raw from all that excessive screaming. His words died in his throat as he stared up the barrel of Cagalli's gun.
"Now tell me," Cagalli said tensely, her teeth gritted. "What do you know?"
Athrun blinked once. Then twice. "S-sorry, what?"
"Tell me Zala, what do you know?" Cagalli grabbed Athrun by the shirt collar cocked her gun.
"NOTHING! Absolutely nothing! I'm dumb, illiterate! Just please, please don't shoot me!" Athrun tried to escape from Cagalli's iron grip. No use.
"Liar." Cagalli whispered dangerously, as her finger hovered towards the trigger.
Silence was all that passed between the two, before Athrun, emerald eyes full of panic and fear, whispered, "Okay, I'll tell you…"
YES!
Cagalli's insides were dancing the tango, although she tried to keep her face as immobile as possible. "Smart move Zala, now tell me or I'll have to shoot you."
Athrun nodded numbly, and gestured to Cagalli to come closer. Cagalli, taken off her guard, inched closer to Athrun's face ..
"AHHHHHH!"
SPLASH
Now the scenario was a bit different. A very wet and very furious blond was sitting in the fountain, while a smirking Vice-Chairman Zala had possession of the loaded gun.
"So Miss Yura, it seems the tables have turned." Athrun said, his voice very unlike his scared, trembling tone moments before.
Eyes narrowed, Cagalli spat, "You'd stoop so low as to catch a girl off guard and throw her over your shoulder into a fountain? That's very polite."
Smiling nonchalantly, Athrun smiled. "No, that technically doesn't count, as it was a act of self-defense, for both our sakes by the way. You could have hurt yourself with this weapon, if used recklessly. " Athrun gestured to the gun, earning a venomous glare from Cagalli.
He continued, "And about the 'off guard' thing. I'm terribly sorry. I try to be totally honest with visiting ambassadors." Athrun pocketed the gun and strode towards the fountain with his hand outstretched to help Cagalli out of the fountain.
In response, Cagalli glared at it and stood up by herself. "Fine! You know what? Arrest me if you want! Just to let you know, I'll have ORB agents crawling all over you before you can say 'Justice Gundam'!" She was only faintly aware that her threat might have worked a little better if she hadn't been dripping wet.
Blinking, Athrun replied, "Justice Gundam?" Then a thoughtful, but uncharacteristic smirk spread across Athrun's face. "Ah yes. If we on Aprillus One were able to create another Gundam, Justice would be a good name for it. Wouldn't you think Ms. Yura?" Cagalli, climbing out of the fountain, glared at him and began to wring out her hair.
"Yeah, and I'm sure that the pilot of your yet-to-be created Justice Gundam will be handsome, dashing, and brilliantly smart?" Cagalli said wryly, pocketing a quarter she had found in the fountain, in case ZAFT prison didn't offer the 'one-call' thing for free.
"Hmm… I suppose so. Who'd fit that profile?" Athrun began examining his shoes, deep in thought. Annoyed, Cagalli cleared her throat. Reminding him of the obvious, Cagalli said, "Um, hello? Aren't you going to arrest me?"
Puzzled, Athrun studied the sopping wet girl. "Why, whatever for?"
Something finally clicked in Cagalli's mind…
"W…well you see, Mr. Zala, we have a… custom in ORB." Cagalli said quickly, making this up as she went along. She stood in front of Athrun, anxiously wringing her hands. She was never too good at winging it, but here goes…
"Custom?" Athrun scratched his head. "I'm sure that gun-wielding isn't a custom in ORB…" He subconsciously made plans to cancel that vacation to ORB for Christmas, just in case.
'Mr. Zala? Something is definitely up…' But years of learning the art of interrogation in ZAFT prevented Athrun from saying so. After all, Ms. Yura is like a bomb. Cut the wrong wire and she'd blow up. Literally.
Cagalli forced out a highly false falsetto voice. "Oh, um…we don't mean any harm, but when you say over there," Cagalli took a deep breath. " … You mean, going to the washroom."
"The washroom?" Athrun exclaimed, positive that she was lying, yet curious to where this would turn out. Besides, the loveliest shade of red was creeping up Ms. Yura's face, which was more highly entertaining to watch.
"Yes!" Cagalli said quickly. "And you know what happens in the washroom, right?" After gaining a hesitant nod from Athrun, she quickly elaborated. "Yes! So it's an insult because… ORB is nothing like the contents of a washroom! We have a very low unemployment rate, and an almost non-existent homeless rate, and…"
"… And so when anyone says over there, they are threatened with a gun?"
Cagalli let out that falsetto laugh again. She was starting to really, really hate herself. "Oh, you know me. Very, very patriotic…"
Athrun seemed to contemplate something, meaning which their conversation lapsed into an eerie silence for a few seconds. Beads of cold sweat ran down Cagalli's forehead as Athrun, his brow furrowed in concentration, stared at the ground.
"I have decided!" Athrun snapped his fingers.
Cagalli swallowed a lump in her throat.
"…. I don't forgive you."
Kaguya: Wow, that took a long time to write. I'm so sorry for the long delay and I'm sorry that this chapter didn't contain the entire preview that the previous chapter had had, but I promise that It'll all be revealed in the next chapter!
School is really tough right now, so I'm sorry that my updates shall not be very constant, but thank you for everyone that reviewed and offered their encouragement! It all means so much to this lazy author!
Cagalli's alias is Cagalli Yura, and I made it Yura so it'd be different than Yula, but thank you to the people to pointed this out!
And just one more quick note. I'm not implying that Athrun is dumb or cowardly in any way.He is, in this story, very smart and clever. I just felt that I needed to say thisin case someone didn't catch the 'acting dumb' part in the fountain debacle. The only problem is that being an Athrun fan and all, it's difficult trying to get the monotony part of his personality to show in this chapter, but... well you'll have to wait for the next chapter XD.