Athrun's Final Realization
By: Jacen Leonhart

Chapter 1: The Big Surprise

"Come on, Athrun. Hurry up!" Cagalli said excitedly as she half-dragged, half-led a blindfolded Athrun across ORB's military airbase.

"Cagalli, Wait up! Where are we going anyway?!" The navy blue-haired youth asked, panting.

"I told you, this is really important! Just keep walking will you?!" The blond girl replied, laughing softly, her amber eyes twinkling. This was something that she and her twin brother, Kira, had been waiting to show to him for some time now. How he managed to put this all together within the two-and-a-half months Athrun spent recovering in the hospital she would never know, but she was thankful nevertheless. At least with this, she thought, her expression hardening, he'll never feel have to feel sorry for himself again… I hope…

Athrun however, did not seem to share her enthusiasm. After all, the civil war between ZAFT's renegade FAITH detachment and the supporters of Lacus Clyne, PLANT's current Supreme Chairwoman, had already been concluded months ago. He made sure of that. Not to mention ORB and PLANT – more specifically Lacus and Cagalli themselves – successfully concluded negotiations and signed a treaty to ensure continued diplomatic relations between their two nations. What could be so important for Cagalli to go and drag him all the way out into this sweltering hot airbase? And in a blindfold to boot!

"Cagalli, wait… can't you at least take this darn thing off?" Athrun pleaded after stumbling for the umpteenth time, no thanks to the blindfold. The sand-yellow haired girl's only reply however, was to laugh and tell him to be patient a little longer.

At least this doesn't seem to be anything urgent, he thought; urgent at least, by his standards. During the time he had spent in the hospital, he had received no news of any imminent threat to ORB's national security. Nothing serious had happened, apart from Lacus "reprimanding" him for breaking his promise not to self-destruct his Gundam during the end of the last war. Though he still felt his stomach twist at the memory of that pink-haired lady looking down at him at his hospital bed, with her lake-blue eyes flashing angrily, and him losing consciousness at her words and the very sight of her…

Thankfully, Cagalli's voice roused him back to the present, pushing those horrid memories away.

"Here we are!" Cagalli finally said, removing the blindfold over Athrun's eyes.

The bright sunlight his emerald-green eyes like darts, making him squint and wish he had his dark sunglasses with him. When they had adjusted, he saw that they were standing outside a particularly large mobile suit hangar, the type used to store the special units.

Athrun looked at her quizzically. Despite the sweltering heat and his frustration at being dragged almost all the way, his curiosity got the better of him and thus, followed Cagalli inside.

It was dark inside the hangar, save for the dim light, though Athrun could identify the unmistakable gigantic silhouette standing just a few meters in front of them. Despite his uncertainty, he felt his heart skip a beat. Could it be that the "surprise" that Cagalli's about to show me was actually…?

But before he could even finish that thought, a familiar – and excited – voice rang out from somewhere.

"Surprise, Athrun!" And the lights were promptly switched on. What he saw made his jaw drop and his eyes widen in surprise.

"That's my...!"

It was a Gundam.

His Gundam.

There was no mistaking that small "V" insignia on its chest and those long plasma cannons mounted on the mobile suit's back; it was definitely his old Savior Gundam.

But why? Athrun thought, why did Kira and Cagalli have to go through all the trouble to restore (and from what he saw, even modify) – that thing? More importantly, how in the world did they manage to even obtain the broken remains anyway?! Despite the questions running around his head, he could feel that all-too-familiar sharp stab of regret eating at his insides again. He had not forgotten that fateful confrontation in Crete two years ago…

"Do you like it?" Kira asked, that childish look on his face becoming more pronounced. Athrun could see that his childhood friend was evidently excited… and dead tired, judging from the dark circles under those amethyst eyes.

"K-Kira…" Athrun stammered, "…you-you shouldn't have!" It wasn't that he didn't appreciate what his childhood friend did, but Kira really didn't need to go through the trouble, not after Lacus angrily told him that he wouldn't receive any more Gundams for what he did…

"Aww… shucks Athrun," Kira said, laughing as he ruffled his brown hair, still looking excited, seemingly unaware of what his friend meant "It was nothing! Really, I…"

"No, no!" Athrun said, shaking his head, tears were starting to form in his eyes now, "Its – Look!" he added at Kira's puzzled expression, "I don't even deserve to have one after… after I…" after I blew up my last Gundam… He couldn't bear to finish that sentence out loud anymore. What was even more painful for him was that his friends were even burdened by the effort to provide him with this new mobile suit, despite Kira and Cagalli doing it willingly all for him.

Sighing, Kira shrugged and gave his sister a look that said "He's hopeless…" He knew that Athrun preferred not to involve his friends if he could avoid it. He would rather go alone than see anyone get hurt while fighting alongside him. Furthermore, he was not the type that would easily accept lavish gifts of this kind from his friends. But working alone, even for the sake of keeping your friends safe had its limits, especially if you were often forced by circumstances to self-destruct your own mobile suit, leaving you severely injured and possibly, feeling miserable afterward.

Just as Kira was about to step forward and say something, Cagalli stepped in and gave Athrun a hug; something that she rarely had done, despite them spending so much time together nowadays. "There, there. It's alright." She said, her voice surprisingly warm; it reminded Kira of that time when she comforted him this same way aboard the Archangel five years ago.

"Look, Athrun," she said slowly and softly, her amber eyes looking deep into his emerald-green ones, "I know you've always worked hard to protect me and everyone else you care about, and I know how sad you are when you know that there's nothing you can do to help someone, but don't you think I'd feel the same way whenever you risk your life for me?"

"But, Cagalli, I…"

She held a finger to his lips, but instead of giving him that usual piercing look and stern imposing lecture, her eyes – Athrun had just noticed – were full of nothing but anxiety. It felt as if she was begging him to listen to her. "Even I feel useless because I haven't been able to help you–no, because I couldn't do anything to help you. Can you understand that, Athrun? At least with this, I could…"

"Cagalli…" Athrun said weakly, "protecting you is supposed to be my job. But I…"

At this, Kira put a comforting hand on Athrun's shoulder. He could not stand to see his childhood friend looking so miserable. "Look Athrun," he said, his posture and expression were considerably more serious that was it was a minute ago. "I know you care about us, and I appreciate that. But you could at least rely on us a little more. Don't you think we feel the same way? Not being able to help someone and knowing that there's nothing you can do about it... Don't you think that's the most painful of all? You should know that better that everyone else by now!"

"But, Kira…!"

Why did he have to remind him of that fact? He was not the only one who knew that. Kira and Cagalli had also been placed in helpless circumstances more than once in their lives: Kira not being able to protect those people in that doomed shuttle, Flay getting shot down, Cagalli not being able to stop ORB's soldiers from being slaughtered in Crete, Athrun not being able to protect Lacus because of his injuries, Heine and Nicol… Yes, I DO know that, thank you very much… he thought painfully as he clenched his fist; as if doing so would somehow ease the pain.

"Don't say those things as if you're the only one who understands that!" he shouted, shaking Kira's hand off his shoulder. There was no point in going over painful memories of friends and loved ones they lost during those long years of war.

He looked away from them. Tears welling up in his eyes again as memories of his past mistakes from the last three wars came flooding back to him. Why didn't they understand?! He thought as he clenched his fist. During the first two wars, he thought he was fighting on the right side only to realize too late he was being manipulated. Even though he didn't make that same mistake this time with the last one, he still felt as though he had not achieved anything significant. Despite the fact that peace had settled for now, another war always seemed to break out shortly after. Even though Kira and Cagalli were just trying to help him, what good would it do if it all came to waste again?

"So, why?!"

"Because we're friends, Athrun. It's what we do." Kira said, firmly but gently.

"But…!" He was never able to finish protesting. Friends?!

Athrun looked as if he was suddenly doused with ice-cold water: Those were the same words that he had told Kira whenever he would help him with a particularly difficult piece of homework, back during their childhood days on the Moon.

Because we're friends… It's what we do…

Thanks, Athrun!

Don't mention it, Kira…

Athrun gave Kira a surprised look. It was as if he was seeing his best friend in a different light. During the times that Kira cried as a child, it was Athrun who was at his side, comforting him; and now, here in this very hangar, was Kira doing the same thing that he did almost a decade ago. Athrun let out a sigh. Wars certainly had a way of changing people, but Kira seemed to have matured even more than any of them – possibly even more than him to even be able to say something like that.

Suddenly, it became very clear to him: After everything he had gone through during those three wars, his friends were still there with him, at his side. He had friends who cared about him, about how he felt. Looking back, it would seem laughable now at least, to think that he didn't realize this since he was too busy trying to protect them and not get them involved in any of his battles.

He looked at Kira again. The brown-haired Coordinator met Athrun's grateful smile with a look of acknowledgement, thankful that his friend finally realized what he should have all along. He then at looked at Cagalli, whose amber eyes now burned with that blazing look of pure joy Athrun had rarely seen.

The smile on Athrun's face became more pronounced, as if the three of them understood one another without needing to speak. Taking a deep breath, Athrun stroked Cagalli's cheek, she accepted his touch, drawing comfort from it. There was no other reason for her to distance herself from him any longer. She thought that it would have been the best for the both of them that way but she was wrong, for that would have meant ignoring Athrun's pain as well as her own.

Perhaps Lacus was right after all: They needed each other, and if Lacus could have Kira by her side while she ruled as PLANT's Supreme Council Chairwoman, why couldn't it be the same with her and Athrun?

"So," Cagalli asked Athrun, "will you accept it?" motioning towards the Gundam, "and I know this might be sudden but, well," she added tentatively, "ORB's laws allow me to choose a knight of my own from the military, so I was wondering..."

There was no need for her to ask that question already though. Athrun knelt on one knee in front of Cagalli and bowed his head. "Yes, your majesty!" He said happily. "My life is yours for as long as…"

"Athrun!"

This was something that Cagalli always felt so awkward about. Why did he always have to act so… so knightly?!

"Oh give him a break will you, Cagalli?" Kira said, laughing, "You should know that Athrun always acts like that. He's quite the gentleman alright!"

"Kira! ... Oh what the heck…" She said. Might as well not spoil the moment, despite how awkward it is to me as it is.

"I assume that's a 'yes' then?" She asked, extending her left hand and putting on the most formal tone of voice as she could muster, though she made a mental note to ask Lacus to teach her how to speak more formally someday.

"It is," Athrun said sincerely as he reached out to hold Cagalli's hand and kiss it. But before his lips even touched it, another surprise hit him like a rock to the head: The ring that he had given her almost two years ago was back where it once was! It was unmistakable with that crimson jewel. This time, his eyes almost popped out of his head. "Cagalli! This ring… you…" he spluttered. Of all the surprises today, this one certainly was the most unexpected.

She smiled serenely, "Yes, Athrun, it is." She said as she helped him up to his feet. "I kept it all these years. The same way you did with the Haumea stone I gave you six years ago." "I saw it while you were unconscious at the hospital," she added upon seeing Athrun's shocked look. "It's alright," she assured him, "you can keep it."

"Are you… you sure about this?!" He asked, instinctively clutching the talisman stone hidden underneath his shirt. To his relief, Cagalli didn't even appear angry about this.

"It was a gift." She said, smiling.

"Thanks… you guys…" was all Athrun managed to say. Tears welled up in his eyes again, but these were tears of joy. There was no more need for words at this point as the three of them embraced each other in a group hug.

This, Athrun thought, is definitely the best day of my life.