Find Your Way Back
started:02/20/2006 3:46 PM
"We appreciate your prompt arrival, Yamato-san." Kisaka's tone was hurried, as he gestured the brown-haired young man into the heavily-secured compound.
"Mou, no need to be formal. Just Kira, please."
They paused briefly at the inner gate, and Kisaka's expression was apologetic as a somber security officer frisked Kira. Kira shrugged back at his sister's right-hand man, as if to say "I'm used to it."
His sister. With quick strides he went through the familiar path, right, left, up the staircase, and at the end of the hallway would be Cagalli's room. Behind him Kisaka's voice trailed.
"It was Mana who found her. You said I should call you if anything happened, and I did."
Kira nodded in reply, and braced himself as he entered the double doors. Mana was standing at the foot of the bed, weeping softly. The Athhas' private doctor was bent over a still-unconscious Cagalli's right arm, wrapping gauze around the wrist. On his sister's left a pair of nurses were examining the IV drip. With a soft groan she opened her eyes, just as the doctor had finished dressing her wound. She looked around the room with a perplexed frown. Mana began sobbing anew. Kisaka sighed in relief. The nurses stood back as Kira rushed to her bedside. "Cagalli?" he prompted gently.
Her gaze was steadier now, she was coming out of her stupor. Her fingers twitched, and he grasped her hand. A single tear ran down her cheek, and he felt her hold tighten. "It's okay, you're safe now," he said in what he hoped was his most reassuring voice. He could never get used to being the strong twin. Often it was he who needed to be comforted by her.
Cagalli said nothing but made an effort to sit up. Kira helped her, taking care not to disturb the IV line. He felt a sudden pang as he saw the scar on her left wrist, stark white but already fading. He knew she often wore long-sleeved clothes, or bracelets, or cuffs, just to hide that scar. Now she'd have the other arm to worry about, he thought wryly.
Dr. Shirota put his medical tools away as he addressed her. "The local anaesthesia will wear off soon. I used a laser to seal the cut. It's the latest technology, and should leave only the slightest of scars." He looked at the siblings through his glasses. "You're very lucky that we got to you in time. This was a deeper slash than before."
Kira glanced at Cagalli, in case she said something, but she didn't. He followed her gaze towards the almost-brown bloodstain on the pale peach carpet, and inwardly winced. War veteran though he was, he hated the sight of so much blood. "Thank you, doctor," he mumbled.
Kisaka cleared his throat. "I trust that you will all keep this incident private, as before?" The nurses quickly nodded under his piercing gaze.
"Of course," Dr. Shirota replied. "I haven't been private doctor to the Athha family for nothing, you know-"
"Who found me?"
Shocked, everyone turned to the Orb princess.
"Who found me?" she asked, more impatiently.
Mana approached her. "I did, Cagalli-sama. When I was taking up your breakfast." She put a hand to her chest at the sudden frightful memory.
"Cagalli-" Kira interrupted, putting an arm about her shoulder. He knew where this was going.
She ignored him. "And you called the doctor?"
Kira gave Mana a look that said, "No, tell her no," he pleaded but the nursemaid missed his meaning.
"Yes, I-!"
The room filled with female shrieks as the bedside lamp shot past Mana's head and into the wall.
"WHY DIDN'T YOU LEAVE ME ALONE!" Cagalli's eyes blazed with fury and would've rushed at the elderly woman if Kira had not held her back. "I WAS SUPPOSED TO DIE! WHY DIDN'T YOU LEAVE ME ALONE! WHY DIDN'T YOU LEAVE ME ALONE TO DIE!"
Kira might have been amazed at her sudden almost-demonic strength as she struggled to free herself from his hold, if only he wasn't too busy stopping her from killing anybody else. "Calm down, Cagalli!" How could she, after losing so much blood, still be able to kick and thrash and scream as she did? He thanked the high heavens for his Coordinator strength. He turned to the two nurses, who were still too surprised to move. "Get Mana out of here, please!"
"YOU STUPID, USELESS IDIOT OF A WOMAN! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU!"
Swiftly the nurses escorted the sobbing Mana outside. Kisaka moved in to help Kira hold down the still-struggling girl.
"Hold her steady," Dr. Shirota instructed, taking out some supplies from his bag. "Could you turn her head to the side?"
Kira quickly pulled Cagalli's jaw towards him. She has stopped screaming, but was still crying with rage. The doctor pressed a staple gun-like instrument to her neck. After a "click", she stopped struggling. Her breathing became quiet.
The three men held their breath.
"Kira?" she mumbled, looking up at him with drug-dimmed eyes. "Don't...don't tell him, okay? He doesn't have to know…."
"But..."
"Promise me you won't tell...him…." Her eyelids dropped shut and her body was limp.
"That will give her about four hours of rest." The doctor closed his bag and handed something to Kisaka. "If she expresses mania again, give her this. Keep watch over her for a few days. I'll be back to check on her then. The nurse will take the IV out tomorrow." He turned to Kira with a face that said, "Good luck, young man," and hurried out of the room.
Gently Kira placed her head against the pillow. Kisaka was looking at the instrument handed to him with a somber expression. The brown-haired Coordinator shook his head. "I need to make a few calls."
"Something to drink, Mr. Zala?"
He shook his head gently. "No, thank you. I'm fine."
The flight attendant smiled in understanding and continued down the aisle. Athrun sighed and brought out his cellphone from an inner coat pocket. Absently he flipped through the menus. At the very top of the call list, Meyrin's name and number glared accusingly at him.
"Hey, Athrun, where'd you go? We're supposed to meet Onee-san and Shinn and the baby tonight at the new restaurant! I called you at the office but your secretary said you left early."
He chuckled. "You're way ahead of me aren't you? I was just going to call you up because, well, something came up…so… I can't make it tonight."
Silence.Then "Oh, okay. I guess I'll go without you. "
"I'm really sorry."
She sighed. "Ah, well, I didn't mean to sound so nasty. It's just that we hardly ever see you now, and this was planned ages ago, and I've been looking forward to it and…." Her voice became shaky.
He heard his flight being called at the spaceport terminal. "Hey, I have to go now. I'll make it up to you and Luna and Shinn when I get back, okay?"
"Wh- You're at the spaceport?" Another pause. "You're going to Earth."
"Yeah."
A sniff. "You're going to see her, aren't you?"
"Yeah." Athrun could've sworn that he sounded apologetic. "It's a little sudden, I know."
"She IS your girlfriend. And it's none of my business anyway. Have a nice flight."
The line had gone dead before he could put another word in. Athrun passed his thumb over the keypad, wondering if he should call Meyrin back, then realizing that he had left the spaceport so he couldn't. He looked out the window the black emptiness. Meyrin was so persistent, some would even consider her annoying, but she was so earnest and loyal in her affection, always there when he needed to talk. Yet he couldn't feel the same way about her as he did about Cagalli.
He blushed as he realized he had said Cagalli's name aloud, although it was just a whisper. He leaned back in his seat and flipped through the pictures on his cellphone until he reached the one taken at his last birthday. Kira and Lacus had thrown him a surprise party at their place, and Athrun had asked Kira to take a photo of him and Cagalli out on the brightly-lit balcony. He stroked the tiny screen affectionately. She'd grown her hair long, and it was less shaggy. Her golden eyes sparkled with fun and her smile exuded confidence. Their wineglasses were raised and he had an arm around her waist.
It was a wonderful birthday.
He looked out the window again, suddenly impatient to arrive at Orb. He knew it would take at least 12 Earth hours to travel from the PLANTs to any continent. He knew it all too well. As Councilor of Martius City and chief engineer of the Space Transport department, it was his pet project to develop a faster, lighter mass transport vehicle that would cut space travel time by at least half.
It was to everyone's surprise that he stepped down as PLANT Chairman two years ago, and contented himself with being a Council member. Yzak Joule had eagerly assumed the Chairmanship, and, Athrun noted (with some satisfaction), was probably realizing that with the glory of the title came the pressure, paperwork, and intrigues. Athrun smiled knowingly. It would be good for the hotheaded Yzak to be Chairman, and to learn to think before speaking, and not to let his emotions cloud his decisions.
Athrun's own resignation was not without its share of media speculation. Some said it was fatigue; others, a failure to settle the long-standing dispute between entrepreneurs clamoring for increased energy sources and environmentalists vehemently against nuclear energy use; others still, a breakdown in his relationship with Cagalli Yula Athha, Representative of the Orb Union.
Well, maybe the last had a speck of truth in it.
It was a year or so after the last war, and the two of them went hiking through the mountainous area of Onogoro one evening. On a high peak they sat and waited for the sun to rise up from the hills and shine through the trees.
"Wooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwww," they said in unison at the breathtaking sight, like two kids who had stepped into Candyland.
She leaned her blond head against his shoulder. "It's so beautiful."
"Mmmm." With one hand he pulled her close. "But I can think of something just as beautiful."
The head Representative of Orb laughed. "Really? What?"
"This diamond ring on your left ring finger." With a magician's flourish he held it up for her to see.
A pause. Then Cagalli laughed, louder this time. "Oh my God, Athrun, that has got to be the CHEESIEST proposal in the universe!"
The raven-haired Coordinator pretended to pout. "I spend several nerve-wracking months combing through the finest jewelry shops in the PLANTs for an engagement ring, and she laughs at me when she sees it."
"Hey, don't be mad. I was just kidding." She lifted a hand to her neck. "But I thought you already gave me an engagement ring."
His eyes followed her fingers to where they pulled at a ring with a reddish-purple stone that was strung on a gold chain around her neck. It seemed like a long time had passed since he'd slipped it on her finger, when he was so afraid that he was going to lose her soon that he had to do something, anything, to keep her to himself. She'd been worried about misplacing the ring that she'd used it as a pendant instead. "I know. I just wanted to make it official. So what do you say, Cagalli Yula Athha?"
"Umm…." She shifted uncomfortably. "We don't have to get married right after being engaged, right?"
It was his turn to laugh. "No, we don't. Although I would really want to, as soon as possible. Who knows how many evil fiancés you've been promised to? I don't want you to be with anybody else. Just me." He brought the ring up to the sunlight, making the stone sparkle. "Is that okay with you?"
Cagalli sat up with a sigh. "Athrun…." She took both his hands in hers. "There's no one else I want to be with either."
He almost choked with joy. "Is that a yes?"
She bit her lip momentarily. "But this isn't the right time."
Thankfully, his fingers didn't drop the ring at those words. "Why not? The war's behind us, both the Earth and the PLANTS are rebuilding. Everything's settling down."
"That may be true, but the Orb Union would oppose our engagement at every turn. They'd comb through all the royal families to look for another match for me. My detractors could attack me for not observing legal protocol. The peace we've achieved is still fresh and fragile, Athrun. There are still people in Orb who want your head for the Heliopolis incident. And there are members of the royal families who would enjoy seeing my head roll as well."
"But you could turn any bad press on its head. Our engagement –besides our personal relationship- could be symbolic of the peace effort between Earth and the PLANTs. A union of a Natural and a Coordinator-" Athrun shook his head in frustration. "Ah, it's all too politically complex."
"So you understand." Her brown eyes were somber. "I'm not saying no. I'm asking you to be patient." She folded his hands over the little golden band that seemed so very heavy in his palms now. "Will you keep this for me until I can wear it?"
Athrun forced a smile. "Of course, princess."
"Agh! Don't call me that." She pressed her forehead to his. "And remember, it's my ring. Don't you dare give it to anyone else!"
"I won't."
"And don't lose it. If you do I'll have to spank you."
He raised a dark eyebrow. "Will you really?"
The Orb Representative rolled her eyes. "Athruuuuuuuuuunnnnnnnnnn…."
"Hey, just kidding -!" Then Cagalli's arms were hugging him.
"I'm sorry it's like this," she murmured against his ear. "If things were different…If our lives were simpler…."
He hugged her as well. "Well, I could resign as PLANT Chairman tomorrow and kidnap you and take you to some deserted tropical island."
"Now you're being silly. Aren't I supposed to be the silly one?"
"Or we could fake your death."
"Athruuuuuuuuuunnnnnnnnn….Look, we'll work this out, okay? You and me. So please don't lose your feelings for me."
"I won't. And make sure you have no fiancés lurking around."
When he went back to December City, he buried himself in work as usual, but every now and then he'd take out the ring and stare at it. Why did he agree to take the Chairmanship? he wondered. It was taking up time that he'd rather spend visiting Cagalli. Why did he have to be born a Coordinator? In many ways, that separated him from her too.
He resigned a few weeks later.
"Oh, great Haumea." Cagalli shouted into his private phone line after hearing about it on the news. "I'm not even going to ask you if this has anything to do with me, because I know it does!"
"Well, it was a thankless job anyway-"
"Don't lie! You wanted the position because you wanted to make up for the atrocities your father and ZAFT committed. You wanted to turn things around." She sighed. "You threw that chance away, and it's my fault."
"But I AM working for that goal. I'm a Council member still. So don't blame yourself." His voice softened. "Besides, now that I have greater freedom of movement, I can visit you more."
"So it really is all about me." Her voice was filled with guilt.
"Don't be like that. We'll work things out, like you said. You and me."
"Work things out, huh," Athrun whispered to the window. He put his cellphone back into his coat and closed his eyes. It would be some time before he reached his destination.
A/N: Thanks for the reviews! I've changed the spelling of Meirin's name to the standard Meyrin (smile).