Author's note: This story is inspired by the ending of GSD, when we see Athrun wearing an ORB uniform and it's implied that he has returned back to ORB to be with Cagalli. This story will fill in the gaps and explore how the two find their way back to each other after everything that's happened between them.
When his ship docks into the port of Orb, he feels nervous.
He wasn't really sure what to expect, but he knew that he should be realistic. Athrun didn't think it was likely that she'd come running back into his arms just because he had finally returned to Orb after nearly two years away.
They had left things on such uncertain terms when they had parted, after all, and so much time had passed since they had last seen each other or talked. He was well aware that Cagalli could have changed in that time; perhaps she no longer harboured any of those old feelings that he still clung onto. She could have been a completely different person now. And yet, even if it was illogical or foolish, a part of him still also held onto the smallest hope that perhaps things hadn't changed at all; that despite everything that happened between them, they were still the same people that loved each other, and could find a way back to each other, just like they had always promised to when they were mere teenagers.
He finally takes his first step off the ship, and when he does, it only takes him a few seconds to spot her. She always did manage to stand out amongst any crowd that she was with her golden hair. She truly looked just as radiant and beautiful as the last time he saw her before the war had ended, and he simply watched in silence, captivated by the woman, as she walked towards him along with four of her military officers.
Once she eventually gets close enough, Athrun quickly raises his hand up to salute her, immediately remembering the official protocols and procedures that now governed their public interactions since he had decided to join the army.
She and the officers then raise their hands up to return the gesture; and it's then, in that moment, that he notices that her left hand is bare. She's no longer wearing the ring he once given her. It might have been a small detail, but he understands what it must have meant about where they stood now. And at once, his hopes are suddenly dashed and his heart plummets in his chest, although he tries his best to keep up the expression of neutrality that he wore on his face.
"Chief Representative," Athrun forces him to speak up, barely managing to get those few simple words out of his mouth.
"General Zala," Cagalli acknowledges him formally, and she gives him a small smile, but it's far too polite and rehearsed, and it never does quite reach her eyes. "Welcome back."
It's not exactly the familiar homecoming that he'd had hoped for all these years.