Set after Destiny: Athrun and Cagalli are married. One evening, Athrun calls Cagalli, who's still at work for a light conversation about their "little angel"… Then again, how innocent can Cagalli's daughter get?
Athrun drummed the fingers of his right hand on the table, holding the phone with his left. Turning his head, he took another glance back at his little... seemingly angel: His daughter... "Innocently" playing with her dolls.
"Hello, Representative's office, how can I help you?" A familiar voice answered.
"Put me through to her." He requested curtly, knowing that his voice would be recognized by the secretary. He waited a few moments more, until the voice of his wife came through.
"Hello?"
"Cagalli?"
"...No. It's just someone impersonating your wife, who is actually currently on vacation in Bermuda because she wanted to get away from you. Expect divorce papers in the mail within a week. Of course it's me you dolt. This is MY PHONE." She retorted sarcastically.
"Just checking." Athrun sighed.
"Something wrong?" She continued. In the background he could hear her shuffling papers.
"Nothing much. I just fancied an evening chat." He shrugged.
"Hm? About what?"
"Nothing in particular. Say, I don't suppose you could tell me how my 4 year old daughter knows the term, aerial dog fighting in HiMAT mode?"
The papers stopped shuffling...
"And how do you know she knows such terms?"
"She used them while explaining to me, what her dollies were doing." He replied, in an eerily casual tone.
"Which is?..." Cagalli inquired calmly.
"Well... from what I understand, Fairy tale godmother Barbie went into HiMAT mode after drop kicking Ken. Although Ken is grounded, his support unit, who is Butterfly Princess Barbie apparently has a DRAGOON system, so high maneuverability will be a necessity."
More silence.
"Where is the little darling?"
"On the carpet. Ooo, Butterfly Princess Barbie just lost a wing." Athrun winced.
"Tell her she's grounded." Cagalli frowned. Athrun turned around.
"Honey? Room." He relayed, nodding towards the door with his head.
Their daughter looked up to her father, then looked at the phone... her face that was once graced with glee transformed into a scowl.
"Daddy! You said you wouldn't tell Mommy!"
"Sorry honey. Room, until Mommy comes home." Athrun motioned towards the door, and a maid came into accompany her.
"No! I wanna bring my dolls! Mommy! Mommy! I didn't tell Daddy thatyou told me! I swear! He figured it out himself. He tricked me into it! Mommmmeeeee!" she continued protesting, all the way until her surprisingly loud voice trailed down the hallway and into her room.
What a bad liar... Cagalli thought to herself, upon hearing her daughter's feeble attempts to scapegoat.
"We're going to have to teach how to be a better liar..." Athrun chuckled aloud, as if reading her mind.
"Eh? Why's that?"
"Well if she's going to be a sneaky politician like her mother, she better be able to hold a decent lie." He joked.
Cagalli frowned. "Why does she have to be a politician?"
"Don't you want her to be?"
"No. I want her to be whatever she wants to be." She explained. Athrun smiled gently.
"Of course. I couldn't agree more... now, about aerial dog fighting..."
"Oh geez Athrun, gimme a break! She asked about it!" Cagalli threw her hands up in frustration, as if he could even see her.
"And why pray tell did she ask about it?" Athrun inquired, raising a curious eyebrow.
"She wanted to know why Daddy's big toy doesn't have wings like Uncle Kira's big toy." Cagalli sighed, quoting her daughter's words.
"Big... toy?" Athrun paused with uncertainty, a slight blush rising up his face to meet furrowed eyebrows and darkened eyes.
"Not THAT kind of big toy you idiot." Cagalli scolded. "Get your mind out of the gutter. She meant your gundams. She saw you guys flying them for that annual exhibition show last weekend."
"Oh...so then..."
"So then I explained to her that Strike Freedom has 'wings' because although it can fly without being in HiMAT mode in the earth's atmosphere, it has far superior maneuverability IN HiMAT mode, or rather with the 'wings.'"
"That's it?" Athrun questions testily.
"That's it." Cagalli confirmed. "Honestly Athrun I just don't get why you're so sensitive about her knowing stuff like this."
"She's too young to be this knowledgeable about weaponry. And besides, I'd rather not have her be so aware of Daddy and Uncle Kira's pasts." He insisted.
"But you're a war veteran Athrun. You're an ace. The guy that went out and played hero twice. And you're famous for it now. She's bound to find out at some point." Cagalli noted with rather convincing words. However being a naturally cautious and also just having gotten used to her by now, Athrun was not as susceptible to her persuasion as others.
"Cagalli..." He sighed. "It's not that. I admit, having her know about my past is a bit daunting. I mean, I'm not exactly fond of the idea of my daughter asking me "Daddy, have you ever killed anyone?" when I'm tucking her some one night in the I hope, far future. But I'll deal with it. It's a part of my past, and I can't change that."
Cagalli smiled understandingly. "I know. It's okay though... we're all dealing with it. Together."
Athrun eyes softened further, and he nodded. "Yes but... I don't want her thinking that she NEEDS to know it. I want her to live an innocent life, where knowledge of guns and dirty politics don't have to be known to her. Where she doesn't feel like her life's in danger."
"But she doesn't Athrun" Cagalli interjected. "Not at all. She's just curious about it. But really, she couldn't feel safer. I know that, what with her own set of armed guards and a father and uncle that pilot nuclear gundams." Cagalli lightly chuckled at the last few words. Athrun raised an eyebrow curiously.
"What do you mean by that?"
"Think about it Athrun. What are you going to do when she's all grown up and dating?"
Athrun frowned. "I'm going to be perfectly calm and reasonable."
"Riiiight. Well if not you then Kira. ONE of you guys will crack. I mean... I've heard of over-protective fathers, but over-protective Ace pilots that own massive weapons of colossal destruction? The poor boy... I can see it already. Both Strike Freedom and Infinite Justice will be there to escort her to her first school dance. Oh… and what about her first break up? You guys are going to torture him…" Cagalli was now laughing full-swing and Athrun couldn't help but frown more.
"He'll have brought it on himself if he's the one that broke up with her... " Then pausing to listen to his own words, he cracked a smile too. "Hey, don't act like you're Miss. Passive. You're probably going to beat the living pulp out of him if he breaks her heart."
Cagalli grinned. "Of course."
Both of them sighed and stopped to gather their thoughts for a moment. "Still concerned about whether or not she's safe?" Cagalli asked in a light, mocking-tone.
"No...You're right. She's growing up in better times. The world's peaceful now. And you just reminded me, that I'll be protecting her...and you."
Athrun paused and waited for her response. Cagalli numbly held the receiver to her ear, taken aback by the sudden display of affection. In an utter loss of words, she spoke from instinct.
"Thank you."
"I know." He smiled calmly.
"I'll be home soon." Cagalli smiled, grateful that this was over the phone and he couldn't see her blushing.
"Want me to wait up for you?" asked Athrun, fully aware that his wife was probably blushing furiously anyway.
"No. It's fine. Go to bed." She urged. "You must be tired."
"Not tired enough to fall asleep without you lying beside me. I'll wait." He insisted. Cagalli blushed again.
"Suit yourself." She shrugged, shaking her head in an attempt to dissolve the blush.
Okay" Athrun nodded. "I will then. Oh, and Cagalli?"
"Hm?"
"That blush of yours. If you don't want me to see it, try to make it go away before you get home." He grinned, hanging up.
Cagalli sat at her desk, stunned. "That guy...knows me too well." She sighed, gently placing the phone back onto the receiver.
Pausing, she looked at the last documents to take care of on her table. She studied them for a moment, flipping through them, estimating the time in would take her to finish. Then, picking them and squaring them, she rummaged in her desk for a large binder clip and securely fastened them together. Placing them in the 2nd drawer from the top, on the left hand side of her large oak desk, she took out her keys and locked them away securely.
"Time for me to go home." She smiled, and she stood up to go.
Haha, none of my usual babbling this time. I wanted to write this as a humorous fic (basically just the idea of Cagalli's daughter being horribly violent with her dolls), but my serious, then fangirlish side prevailed, compelling me to add the "Awwww" moments and the ones that deal with the stuff from the series. (Ie. The aspects of war, dealing with their problems etc.) This was really just for fun though, so I really enjoyed writing it.
Wanted to get this up before I posted up the final chapter of Blush and Smile. I did a lousy job though, considering I'll be throwing that up in about a day. Hmm maybe I'll just push back the uploading of the final chapter by a few days then...
(Spots several readers collapse) ...Uhh.. guys? I was just kidding. Guys?
(Remaining readers pelt me with rotten veggies) Ow! Watch the carrots! It was just a joke!
Hope you enjoyed this! Thank you for reading!