Confession Time: the Aftermath
Summary:
He is a priest. She is a prostitute. What will happen if something drastic happens due to their actions before?
--
Author's Note:
Surprisingly, chapter four is here! Thanks for bearing with rheii and I. This chapter is quite happy for me…dunno why!
So please do enjoy! Remember to review and tell me what you want to happen next (just like if you want me to kill a certain character or whack them with a big stick to wake them up or something…)
--
Beta's Note:
Guys, this is a continuation of a one-shot that just became alive on its own. Please read it.
--
Disclaimer: I do not own GS or GSD. (rheii: If she did, Fllay would have fallen into a bottomless pit right in the beginning of the gs series, Meer would have been burnt alive like in the Witches' Trial (so fitting) , and Meyrin would have already been left in a deserted island that was full of piranhas and carnivorous dinosaurs. No, worse.)
--
Chapter Four
"…I'm pregnant."
Tears trickled down the beautiful face of the blonde prostitute as she slumped on the dirty couch, forgetting about the dress altogether. Her hands shook as she tried to reread the contents of the letter, but it was to no avail. She buried her face on her palms in shock.
This shouldn't be possible…
She was still in disbelief. How could this happen to her? Ever since she entered this respectful line of profession, she had always used protection…
"Oh shit…" There was that day. The day that she and the young priest crossed paths.
She was inside the club's premises. Cagalli was casually talking with her room mate about buying additional pills after work when their boss called her. She promptly went to her and asked what was wrong. At first, her boss ignored her inquiry and had a little chat which bored her to death, since she was an old hag and all. Upon yawning for the tenth time, her boss broke the bad news— she would be suspended for one week because their club has been penalized by some cop who happened to be her customer the other night.
Engulfed with anger, she shouted a litany of prayers and made her graceful exit. As she gave her work place one last look, she felt her knees go weak and unceremoniously fell on the snowy ground.
It wasn't my fault… she said repeatedly in between sobs. As she continued to cry, she felt her chest tighten—an asthma attack! Seeing that no one was in sight, she hastily searched for her respirator and her other medicines. There was nothing there.
Great…what a fucking day! She forced herself to calm down, taking deep breaths. Surprisingly, it was quite effective until a hot priest showed up and did his priestly duty with the utmost sincerity. But being a prostitute, she thought of toying with the priest for awhile and as their little play ended up in the priest's office, she almost forgot about the pill. But then, she shoved that concern away with a "what the heck" expression silently.
"This is some big shit…" She sighed as she dried up her tears and massaged her temples to calm herself down a bit.
Is there anyone I can ask help from?
She thought of only two persons—Athrun and Kira—who appeared as the valid and most reasonable candidates. But if she chose Athrun, it would be totally awkward, never mind the fact that he might get into trouble since priests' are not allowed to have blood related kids.
She slightly frowned. Kira was her only choice left.
Cagalli lazily stood up and made her way to her brother's residence.
It would be a very long time when she would have the chance to come back here again.
--
"How was it?" Lenore handed her husband a cup of coffee before sitting across him. She tucked the loose strand of her midnight blue hair and crossed her legs, waiting for his response.
"Earth to Patrick, are you still alive?"
Patrick dreamy eyes suddenly came to life as he heard his wife calling him. "Yes, darling?"
"So, how was your conversation with Ulen?"
He placed his cup on top of the table between them, "Fine.."
Lenore frowned. The smirk that was playing on his face told her that there was something more to it.
And for once, Patrick was happy that he and Ulen's phone conversation were one of their better bonding moments.
Ecstatic. That would be the only word that could describe their recent re-acquaintance.
Start of Flashback
"Ulen! So nice to hear your voice again, old buddy!" Patrick Zala, the impatient father who deeply yearns for grandchildren, inwardly cringed as he cannot come to terms with himself as he referred his eternal rival as a buddy.
Ulen typically rolled his eyes and crossed his legs as he tightened his grip to the cordless phone, "Stop all of your nonsense, Zala. I'm not one of your fan girls to be fooled with your exaggerated references."
The older Zala huffed, a bit offended with what the other person had said. "Anyways," his voice turned serious, "You have a daughter…Cagalli, was it?"
"Yeah…so what?" Ulen crossed his fingers. Did her daughter rampage on one of Ulen's public places again?
He cleared his throat, "I saw her hanging around my son's chapel. Did you send her there to pray for your salvation?"
He heard the old rival laugh a tad bit too creepily. "If I wanted salvation, then I should have sent her to the pope and ordered her to fuck him to get my excommunication certificate so I can leave this stupid religion and start my own."
Again, the impatient father laughed, "If ever you'll send her to Vatican for your special certificate, tell her to get my son one also because something tells me that wedding bells would be ringing soon."
"Strange," Ulen tried to imply on something, "I had your feeling as a dream that wedding bells would be ringing soon and it involved your son and my daughter."
"What a coincidence!" Patrick silently thanked his lucky stars as he sees his dream of playing with his grandchildren not anymore that distant, "I'm so delighted that we would have a new business tie, Ulen."
"Whatever," he felt quite relieved that his daughter's kid would in good hands, "I'll send you the details later."
"Always a pleasure."
End of Flashback
Seeing that her husband had that dreamy expression again plastered on his face, Lenore sighed, "If you need me, I'll be in our room." With that, she stood up and left, leaving the impatient father alone but deep inside, Patrick wasn't feeling lonely at all as he reminisced the memory of Cagalli's mother, Via Hibiki.
Unlike Lenore, Via was different. She wasn't much of an avid parishioner like Lenore, who knew every single prayer that those priests had made, because she often quotes that donation money collected in the offertory just goes to the obese priests. Although that quality of hers is often disliked by her mother-in-law, that didn't stop Patrick to love and stalk her.
Yes, you read it right. STALK.
You see, since Via was among those great female socialites, Ulen's parents had the both of them engaged even before they can say their A B C's. And that's how Patrick ended up stalking her though it ended abruptly as his engagement with Lenore came.
How badly he wanted to cancel it! But as he learned to love the saint-likefiancé and with Ulen's daily taunting on how he became the lucky git to marry his Via, he eventually ended his secret feelings for her.
Patrick smirked. Why did he feel that there was a cycle coming into play?
--
"What a beautiful day!" Meer sighed contentedly as she saw no signs of the annoying, older Zala within the chapel's premises. At last, God had somehow granted her prayers of banishing the old fart away!
She smiled blissfully as she continued to sweep front yard of the chapel while humming the latest song of the renowned songstress, Lacus Clyne. As she was about to hum the same song again, a mail man approached her, gave her several letters, and promptly left.
Upon resting her broom on the wall, her eyes widened as she saw a familiar dry seal on one of the letters. "Oh my God…"
It was the pope's seal. What's more, it was addressed to none other than the not-so-innocent priest, Athrun Zala.
--
"Papa, are you sure that this would work?" Lawrence, the kid who was aspiring to be a singer while not having a single drop of Lacus' talent in his blood, asked his father who was currently drawing some sort of magic circle on their expensive marble floor.
Apparently, after many rejections from all sorts of Christian chapels and churches, it had made the Yamato family do the most despicable thing that a faithful Christian would do. That is to gamble their wife's current evil self to the black arts.
The brunette wiped his sweating brow before giving his son a riled look, "Yes it will! I saw this in a movie a few years ago…" after completing the so-called effective magic circle, he told his son to place his wife, who was tied down on a chair, in the center.
The young Yamato gulped as he pushed his mom to the center and then stood beside his father and sister. "I hope this works…" he held his sister's trembling hand.
Kira opened a thick, black book and read the mantra as he stretched out his right hand to his wife's direction.
"Be expelled, evil spirit!" he shouted the last part of the mantra.
All of a sudden, an eerie screech came from Lacus' mouth as the electricity was cut off.
"This is not good!" Kira yelled and raced his kids towards the door. Before stepping out of his house, he told his kids, "I'll get help!" Even with much protest from his kids, he sighed heavily. He knew that it was wrong—leaving his kids behind—but hey, he had a life to live. He can start a new life with a new wife and have new kids!
Wiping his brow due to the stupidity of his ingenious plan, Kira's eyes widen as he saw a shadow coming closer to him. "Oh shit…" he quickly kneeled on the ground and closed his eyes while saying a litany of prayers fervently.
"Kira, did you just leave your kids inside the house?" the shadow asked as she peered on the window.
He slowly opened his eyes and smiled as he found out that the shadow was his sister, "Cagalli! Good thing you came!" he hugged her tightly.
"Okay…" she pushed him away and opened the door, only to be hugged by her niece and nephew who instantly hugged her, very delighted to see her. Again, she pushed them away in order to free her from their tight hug, "Anyway, I came here to ask for your help."
"What is it?"
She cleared her throat, "Can you drive me to father's house?"
--
It was about midnight.
The wind blew fairly cold air as the leaves of the trees danced along with it. The moon was in its half crescent phase, somehow reminding a depressed person to turn his frown upside down but it seems that that cannot be applied with Athrun Zala's situation at hand.
You see, the young priest was having a pretty decent sleep until a series of loud knocks interrupted his slumber. Although priests were meant to be more forgivable than most human beings, one thing that Athrun can't forgive a person is for disturbing his sleep.
Trying to prevent his tongue from murmuring profanities, Athrun sighed as he struggled out of his bed and went to the door. He grumbled as he touched the knob and upon turning it, his eyes widened as he saw the person who knocked on his door.
He plastered the most feigned smile that he had ever projected in his life, "Oh Pope Yzak! What a pleasant surprise to see you!"
The angry pope irritably pointed at him, "Because you had sexual intercourse with a woman, I hereby remove you from priesthood!"
"Noooooooo!" the shocked priest tried to reason out but it was too late. The pope stamped the excommunicated dry seal on his forehead and left. "No!" he cried again and touched his forehead but he didn't feel the seal instead, he felt cold water being splashed on him.
"What the f—" he blinked his eyes from a couple of times and saw Sister Meer looking at him worriedly as she held an empty pail. Now that explains the water.
"Oh father, I'm so sorry…! You kept on shouting and I was really worried so I came in and splashed water on you!" she reasoned out.
Athrun sat up and ran his fingers on his silky, blue hair, "It's alright…" he smiled gently, his right eye twitching ever so slightly.
"Thank God you're alright, father." She sighed in relief and stood up. She was about to walk away but she halted upon remembering the letter addressed to him. "Oh father, I just remembered. There's a letter for you." She took it out of her pocket and gave it to him.
"From where?" he asked upon receiving it.
"…Vatican…"
He felt his mouth go dry.
--
As the stop light switched from green to red, Kira faced his sister who was currently toying with his daughter's hair, "You know…it doesn't mean that just because you're…you know, in that state, means that he can control you."
She shook her head, "I think I explained it to you clearly. I don—"
He cut her off. "Have any other choice, my child will have a bad future, yadda yadda yadda."
The blonde was irritated. "Don't cut me off, Kira. Besides, I really need his help—financially that is—and unlike you, I'm not a college graduate…so I can never have a high paying job to give my kid a good future."
"But Cagalli!" he tried to reason out, "You don't need his help. Just remember all the things he did to us before! Remember mom…!"
Mom. That one word was enough to make the strong willed Cagalli crumble down to a weakling. How could she forget about her?
She sighed deeply as she recalled where everything went wrong. It was during her second year in high school where she found out that there was this raven haired guy who was beginning to take interest in her. Of course, just like any other girl of her age, Cagalli cannot keep her excitement and she did all sorts of crazy things just to be more attractive and appealing in his eyes.
Wearing make-up wasn't a big issue with Via, her loving mother but it became quite a scandal when she found out that her daughter had been failing some exams due to a guy. She was quite angry so she confronted her daughter and had a heated argument about taking care of her studies before her delusional love life.
That drew the last straw on Cagalli's patience meter and she answered back, which she was never able to ask for forgiveness. On the day she decided to make up with her mom, Via died. At first, she was quite convinced that her actions were right and that her response on that argument was normal for girls her age. But as her life gone to frenzy, she realized that her mother was right after all.
Cagalli wiped the single tear that trickled down her face as the stop light switched from red to green. She gazed outside and saw the dreaded mansion that they had left years ago nearing them.
After a few minutes, the car stopped and Kira unlocked the doors. She alighted from the vehicle but before she walked away, she heard him say, "If anything bad happens, I'm just a call away and I'll gladly kick his ass for you."
A smirk found its place on her face upon realizing that the old, protective Kira was coming back, "I will." She waved good bye as she saw the car leave. Now that she knew that Kira would always be there for her, she was confident enough to make a truce with the onslaught that awaited her inside that house.
"Welcome back, my dear Cagalli."
And there he was. The old man opened his arms, expecting her to embrace him or something like that. Yet unknown to him, his pregnant daughter had not lost her fiery personality as she threw her bag at him.
"Asshole." she mouthed at him before she entered her former home.
--
"Why am I so unlucky?" Athrun asked himself for the umpteenth time as he read the letter. It was evident from his expression that the content of the letter itself was very unpleasant. Still, at least it wasn't as scary as his dream of the pope stamping an excommunicated seal on his forehead and oh—don't forget that that pope was Yzak!
A small smile crept on his face as he remembered his best friend. Yes, believe it or not, Yzak and Athrun were best friends not so long ago and their relationship went to a slow pace upon his entry in priesthood. But seeing now that his future in the holy business is as bleak as Dearka's dark complexion, it was about time to ask his friend for some advice on his favorite game called life.
He was about to reach out for his cell phone when his cordless phone rang. He muttered some indecipherable profanity under his breath and answered the call, "Yes, Chapel of the Most Sacred, Blessed Ever Virgin, what can I do for you?"
"Athrun? Can I speak with my son, Athrun!" the caller pleaded and it was so obvious that it was the impatient father, Patrick Zala.
He pinched his nose to make his voice sound a bit different, "Oh I'm sorry!" he did his worst imitation of Meer's voice, "Father Athrun went to heaven already! If you wish to speak with him, please kill yourself first and ask St. Peter, our long-time gate keeper, to let you in God's enthusiastic kingdom!"
"Quit joking, boy!" he sounded serious, "Your mother is barely hanging on! The family doctor can't do anything to keep her on!"
His eyes widened in shock, "What?! You're still at our old house right?"
"Yes. Please do hurry, she doesn't have much time!"
"I'll be right there!" he hung up the phone and quickly got dressed. If only he knew that the situation was nothing like that at all.
Little did he know that it would be a beginning of a very long and stressful adventure.
--
"Thank you, Mana." Cagalli gave her empty cup to the old helper as she settled on the sofa. She then crossed her legs and looked at her father, "So what are your terms?"
"Terms? Does a father who welcomes her prodigal daughter back, need terms with her?" His acidic smile made Cagalli twitch.
She typically rolled her eyes and slammed her palms on the table between them, "If we don't settle this, then I'll just walk away and—"
"And then what?" he cut her off, making her speechless and a bit apprehensive.
"Do you wish to see your kid despising you because you are a prostitute?" he pressed on, "C'mon Cagalli, life is not like your soap operas where they worship prostitute mothers just because they work hard for their children. Even if you become industrious in your line of profession, it is inevitable that it is still disgusting and no one will come to respect you."
She felt agape, not knowing exactly what to say or to retaliate him with.
Ulen scoffed at his daughter's shame. "Don't worry, we will make everything legal here." He showed her a pile of documents and gave her a pen, "I'll give you two terms that you wish me to abide with—just to say that I'm not that much cruel—and you'll follow the thousands of terms I have prepared just for you."
Cagalli touched her brow, this was something that she mustn't take lightly. What should I write? There's got to be something bit—the bitch! Of course! Why didn't I think of that?
"Well?" he was getting impatient.
She took his pen and smirked at him, "I'll only need one." After writing her term with capital letters, she gave back the document to him and his eyes widened as he saw it.
"This is ridiculous!" he stood up, "You don't expect me to kill Meyrin?"
"She is old, dad." She feigned her sincerity. Truth to be told, she only wanted to see the annoying home wrecker be torn apart.
He sighed, this was for his grandkid after all, "Fine." He muttered.
Yes! She inwardly rejoiced as she saw the bitch's death coming to play in her mind but something her early celebration as she saw their old helper, Mana, nearing them, bringing along a lovelier dress than the one she is currently wearing.
She eyed it suspiciously, "Is that Meyrin's death dress?"
The old helper laughed a tad, "Oh you have mistaken, Miss. It's for you. Master Ulen was the one who chose it for you."
She looked at the old man, confused. "I'm getting married already?"
He shook his head, "You're going too fast with your life. It's for your eighteenth birthday, your debut."
"…"
--
"Where's mom?" Athrun asked the helpers who were crowding the entrance of a room in their manor, "Where is she?!"
A maid, who took noticed of Athrun's presence, approached him, bringing along with her a pen and a paper, "Sir Athrun! What a pleasant surprise to see you here!"
"Where's mom?" he again asked.
She gave him the pen and the paper, "The doctor said that your father came to a hysteria attack as well, making you the only relative sane enough to sign this document."
"Fine." He took the pen and the document from her and roughly signed it, and placed it inside his pocket, "Where are they?"
She pointed at the door of the room, "Right there, sir."
"Thank you!" he struggled his way to the door and upon opening it, his eyes widened as the scene before him wasn't that much climatic like the dramatic scenes in local tv dramas, "What the heck is going on here?" he demanded.
His parents ignored him and raised the banner, shouting, "Welcome back, Athrun!"
"Welcome back?" he asked in disbelief, "What the heck are you talking about?"
"Still clueless, eh?" Patrick released his grip of the banner, "Look at the document you signed before entering."
Athrun took out the document he placed inside his pocket and read it. It was clear and official. He had said sayonara to his escape route, priesthood. Angered with the sudden revelation, he looked at them sternly, "This is outrageous! I wasn't aware of…this when I signed this damn thing!" he threw the document on the ground.
The impatient father did the tsking gesture, "Athrun, my dear and beloved son, did priesthood did this to you? This out-of-this-world attitude of yours, I mean."
"…" he was speechless, not knowing what to say.
His mother stood beside his father and clasped her hands, looking pleadingly at him, "Athrun, I know you don't like marrying Lunamaria and we promise that won't happen again…! So please stay with us, we know that your heart is not meant for God's calling!"
By looking at his mother, he became quite convinced that all they wanted was to make him stay and live a good life, "Whatever…I'll stay here as long as that bitch stays away."
With that said, it made Patrick smile. It seems that his life long dream of having grandchildren wasn't that impossible now that the tables had turned.
--
After a day of arguing with her father about the very sudden debut of hers which was today, she can't yet accept the fact that her life was going on a very fast pace. It was impossible, right? For most girls of her age, it was. But for Cagalli Yula Hibiki, it wasn't. Probably her life was partly a fairy tale after all.
Cocking her head to the side, she stared at her reflection on the mirror. Was this a sniveling prostitute, or a rich heiress? Probably the latter…
She sighed heavily, should she really go on with this? Well, if you ask her, she would tell you that it was just like any other birthday but for socialites like his father and his business partners, their daughter's extravagant debut is a sign of stability because commoners cannot afford it.
Speaking of her extravagant debut, aren't all debutantes incomplete without their handsome escorts?
A smile crept on her face as she remembered the young priest, No…it can't be…him again… she gasped a tad as reality began to sink in her mind. It was impossible. He was a priest and men belonging to that line of profession aren't meant to a life of profligacy and extravagance.
Athrun should never know that he had a child waiting for him somewhere. It would actually be better if they never met again.
How wrong she was.
--
"Tell me, where are we exactly going?" Athrun, dressed with the finest tuxedo money could buy, asked his parents who were completely ignoring him.
Pity won over his mother's current ignorance of his existence, "We're going to a debut!"
"Of a rich bitch?"
"Yes, of a rich bitch, Athrun." His father confirmed his inquiry. Honestly, he doesn't still get it why his son hates high class females. For one, they are the complete package because they have beauty and brains yet, his son is quite against them.
Well, seeing his son a bit annoyed makes Patrick quite happy for some reason. "By the way," he almost forgot to tell him, "You'll have to get to know a lot about that rich bitch…"
"What?" he asked in disbelief as the car pulled over and within a few seconds, his parents were able to drag him inside the grand hall of the celebrant's home, without him knowing it.
"Well, good luck, son!" his mother and father bided him a momentary farewell for they have already mingled with some noticeable business partners.
As he sat on one of the chairs, he looked at the other guests miserably, " I can't believe it…why did I even agree in being a guest of an unknown rich bitch!?" Athrun asked himself for the umpteenth time as his eyes restlessly roamed around the grand hall. Unknown to the young escort, said beautiful rich bitch had just arrived from her limo.
Oh, let the sparks fly.
--
End of Chapter
--
Author's Note:
First, I like to acknowledge rheii for editing this! Thanks a lot rheii! You are a true friend! Okay, so guys, thanks for reading and please do review!
Writing the next chapter, Nareiya…and possibly…rheii…yes, maybe her again…
--
Next Chapter:
Will Athrun be as surprised as the owner of the sunshine like eyes? Will a new player come into play? Read to find out!
--