Apology: An AsuCaga one-shot

Athrun sat, deep in thought on a chair staring out of the window, awaiting Cagalli's arrival. He was fingering a small box in his pocket. When he was injured and lying in bed, he had time, lots of time, to think and repent on his actions. After much thought, he decided that he owed Cagalli an apology.

Yes, he owed Cagalli an apology, and not only for one, but for quite a number of reasons. He had went off to ZAFT seeking knowledge, but ended up joining the ZAFT forces, and all because he believed in Chairman Dullindual. It had led him to be more confused than ever before: his aims, his mission, his goals, all in one complete mess. Joining ZAFT was a mistake right from the start. He had had a gut feeling at first, but had just shook it aside. Yet, his instincts were, unfortunately, right. Joining ZAFT had made Athrun doubt even Kira, his best friend. He had been too caught up in the fakery of ZAFT: a Mia impersonating Lacus, the harsh reality under those nice, wonderful words of Chairman Dullindual.

Yet most of all, it had prevented him from being beside Cagalli when she most needed him.

Yes. He realized that his actions had actually showed that he did not believe in ORB, even though he never intended them to be that way. Joining ZAFT was, in a way, showing that he did not trust ORB's motives and actions. He had already let Cagalli, as the leader of ORB, down by making that one wrong decision.

And he had let Cagalli fall into the horrible Yunna Roma's hands.

He should have realized that Yunna would have struck when Athrun himself was away. Cagalli, without Athrun, had let herself fall into Yunna's hands. If not for Kira, she would have already been in them. Athrun had stopped himself from thinking what Yunna would actually do to her. He just could not bring himself to imagine it. It was too horrible.

If only he had been there, he would have prevented the wedding from taking place from the start. He wouldn't have let Cagalli fall into the wrong hands. Cagalli wouldn't have been forced to marry that dense and stubborn Yunna, even if it was for ORB. He would certainly have prevented it.

If only he had been there…

Yes, all that was happening now was, in a way, his fault. Cagalli would not have escaped from ORB. ORB wouldn't have been hiding Djibril. This stupid war over Logo's would never have come to ORB and threatened all their lives. He knew the others would say this wasn't his fault, and that he was just doing what he should do. However, Athrun, one to shoulder responsibilities, kept thinking that all this was his fault.

Athrun had made up his mind to make it up to Cagallli. He knew he had almost destroyed her wonderful future – the future that would have been with Yunna, someone she didn't like nor love at all. He would give Cagalli a surprise, one that he hoped she would like and accept.

Athrun had, after he had recovered from his injuries, found a night when Cagalli was free. He was going to treat Cagalli to dinner. Not just any kind of dinner: this dinner was going to be prepared by him and not one of those chefs outside. He had mentioned this idea to Kira and Lacus, and they had supported him. They had even helped prepare it. Both of them had just left, wishing him best of luck. Although they had very much wanted to be there, they knew that both Athrun and Cagalli wouldn't like someone intruding on their privacy. Now, the table was laid, the food prepared. The only thing missing was the wonderful person he was to be sharing all this with.

Now awaiting Cagalli's arrival, he let his thoughts wonder again. Athrun was kinda nervous. He hoped that the food was good enough. Although he couldn't say he was a great cook, he had to be way better than Yunna. Plus he had Lacus, a great cook, helping him. Athrun reckoned that, however clever and great that Yunna may think himself as, Yunna would never have cooked so much as an egg in his entire life. He wondered why he thought that way. It was probably because Yunna seemed so clumsy and everything. Why, he couldn't imagine Yunna preparing his own meal.

Chuckling at that thought, he went to the front door of his apartment. He had just seen Cagalli walking by. Opening the front door, he saw Cagalli, wearing her usual, casual outfit. He doubted that she had much time to change after coming over from a meeting. Well, it didn't matter much to Athrun. He himself was wearing that black suit that he wore when he gave her the ring. They were very much alike in their dressing: casual.

Cagalli gasped as she entered the dining room. The table had been set for two with a , with a wide spread of dishes laid out on the tabletop. The atmosphere was calm and relaxed. Although it reminded Athrun of the dinner he had had with Mia, he knew it was two totally different things. Today, he was having dinner with someone he enjoyed being with.

Both sat down and started eating. Soon, they were wrapped up in their usual talk of basically almost everything under the sun. All too soon, Athrun found that dinner was over.

The dinner was over, but not the surprise: there was more. Now, this was the hard part. Athrun didn't know whether he had the courage to do it. All this time, he had been fighting out in his Gundam, protecting what he believed. Yet, he had difficulty doing this. He swallowed, put his hand in a pocket and his fingers wrapped around a small box.

Plucking up his courage, Athrun got off his chair and knelt before Cagalli. He couldn't believe he was doing this in the first place. Cagalli looked surprised, as she was supposed to be. She had absolutely no clue what was going on. Athrun took the small and simple box. In it held something precious and valuable. Here was the surprise he hoped Cagalli would accept, and with it he would renew his promise to protect her from any harm. He opened it up to Cagalli and said the four words that would change both his and her lives forever…

END

no prizes for guessing what Athrun said to Cagalli! But you're welcome to guess all the same. :)

OOooooo I just love this scene.. Wouldn't it be cool if it really happened?

P.S. If you didn't know what was inside the box, it was a ring. However, I highly doubt that you wouldn't know that. Anyway, with this point you could guess what Athrun said to Cagalli right?