Wandering Snowflake
By: CrYsTaLxAnGeL

Disclaimer: Nothing owned, nothing stolen.
Note: Alternate Universe. There's also a character I made up. For cagalliyulathha.

How dare he?

It was raining snow today. Everything in my surroundings was a blur. I couldn't see where I was going or who I kept bumping into. All I know was; I was lost.

Without hesitations, I placed my cold, bare hands in my pocket and dug my face deeper under the scarf around my neck. It was cold. But this feeling was no stranger to me. It always felt cold. It always was.

But… When did this feeling start again?

…

Oh yeah.

Just this afternoon.

It was almost New Year's Eve. And there was a lot to do.

"Hey Lacus," I started. I looked over to her and smiled. "I can't help but ask, do you think that Athrun would prefer sweet caramel cake or vanilla cake?"

Lacus giggled. I admired her a lot. She was pretty, she was popular and most of all, she was nice. She also had pretty silky hair which was colored pink. When I first saw her, I thought that it was dyed. But that was like first grade. Come to think of it, we've been friends since the first grade. And that was like 10 years ago.

"Mm. Knowing him, he'd prefer simple cookies with chocolate chips and sweetened milk," she replied. I sighed.

Pouting, I honestly told her, "You know, Lacus. It hasn't been a month since we've been dating but it seems that I don't know him at all. Sure, we've been friends since you guys decided to break off the engagement thing… But I still think there's something missing."

I then looked at Lacus and I was surprised. She had a frown on her. "Something wrong, Lacus?"

She shook her head. But there seemed to be hesitation. "No," she replied in a low voice. I shrugged it off and we continued walking.

"Anyways," I started after a few moments of silence, "I think that Kira's up to something."

She looked at me.Gotcha.

"What do you mean?" she asked me, a bit anxious. Actually, I had no idea. I was thinking of that runt.

"Er… For the past few days, he seemed kinda… disturbed. When I would knock on his door, there'd be a loud bang and crash here and there. I think he's hiding something."

Lacus blushed. Uh oh.

"Uh… I think he's hiding his present for you! That must be it!" I grinned a fake smile. Suddenly, she giggled.

"Is that so?"

She seemed kinda happy about it. For her sake, I smiled. Kira was my brother, for the matter. He was my twin. But since our birth, we were separated. Both our real mother and father divorced when we were about a year old. So, for about half my life, I didn't know him.

Until that day came…

"Miss Cagalli," someone called me.

I stood up from my seat as the doctor called to me. I walked over to her side. She kneeled to my level and she had a sad face on her. I was worried.

"What's wrong, Miss Kishimoto?" I asked.

"Uh…" she hesitated. She stood up and placed her hand on my shoulder. Since she was much taller than me, I looked at her. There was something in her face that kept telling me something was wrong. "Miss Kishimoto?"

"Y-Your father… Would like to speak to you."

I nodded. She pushed me a little towards a door she exited from earlier. She opened it for me and saw my sick father on a large bed. This was his bedroom. I could hear him cough and moan. I walked in.

The door was closing, with Miss Kishimoto pulling the knobs together to close it. There was no sound that I could hear except for my father's rough coughs. It made me felt uncomfortable hearing them. It scared me a lot.

"C-Cagalli?" My father called out as he felt the bed bounce a little as I sat on it. I made a small 'yes', assuring him that it was me. I looked carefully at him. His eyes were closed and he seemed to be sleeping. But there was a smile on his face. "D-Daddy…"

I could feel tears forming in my eyes.

"Shh," he said. With his hand, he kept moving it until he found a cloth from my shirt. He pulled me closer to him and I followed. Then, I could feel him pulling me closer, signaling me to lay my head next to his heart. "Cagalli, my sweet angel, listen to papa…"

"Papa will not be around much longer. And since that is so, papa is assuring that little Cagalli will not be a bad girl."

I nodded as the tears in my eyes started falling.

"Cagalli, I want you to listen. Please get that picture from the table…" He pointed his finger on a table near a vanilla-colored couch, with his eyes still closed. I didn't pay much attention on how he knew where it was and eventually jumped off the bed to get it. Once I was just a foot away from the table, I saw a picture of my dad, a woman and two little kids.

"Daddy, who are these people in the picture with you?" I asked, loud enough for him to hear. I picked up the picture and once again jumped on my dad's bed. "Cagalli, the woman in that picture is your mother. And those little kids are you and you're twin brother, Kira."

"Oh…"

For hours and hours, dad and I kept talking about my mother and my brother Kira. Although I know I was supposed to feel strange about knowing about my two other family members, I didn't feel bad at all. It was actually interesting. At least I knew that I do have a mother and a brother.

Then my father told me something strange.

"Cagalli, starting tomorrow, you will be living with them," he said. I didn't know what I felt. I was happy, although also burdened by something. "But starting then, you won't be able to come back to me, my dear."

After that, I really didn't see him.

The day after our talk, I was sent to my mother and Kira. And then days later, my mom said that my dad died. How unfortunate for us.

"You know, Lacus," I started after my thoughts wondered off, "When I met Kira, I was actually mad. He kept asking me questions and kept treating me as if I were his baby and stuff."

She laughed gently. "I bet he was really happy to know that he had a baby twin, don't you think?"

"Yeah right, there wasn't a day in my life without him asking me where I would be going and who I'd go home with," I answered as I raised my shoulders in a moment. I looked up ahead and saw a party shop. "We're here."

Lacus pushed the door open and stepped in, with me following behind. I closed the door behind me and gazed at the shop. Since Christmas just passed a few days ago, there were still decorations placed up. The shop was glittering wonderfully with the lights on. And the tree that stood by the corner was small, but very attractive. Then Lacus and I separated to look for different decorations for the New Year's Eve party.

As I kept browsing around, I was brought in a very peculiar aisle. I looked at right side of the aisle and saw a row of shelves with different types of stuffed toys. And on the other side, there were these sparkling figurines on the shelves. But there was something that attracted me most – a sparkling snowflake figurine.

I walked towards it.Mm… It looked pretty nice. I took it and placed in the basket that was provided by the store. Then I continued to look for more party decorations and even for confetti.

After a few checks around the aisles, I managed to get party decors and confetti. I looked outside of the store and saw Athrun. I smiled. I went to look for Lacus.

"Lacus," I said, smiling as I saw her, "Hey listen. I'm gonna go out for a moment. Would you mind holding the basket for me? Oh yeah, in case I don't come back in 10 minutes, let's meet at the park, ok?"

"Sure, no problem," she answered smiling. I placed the bag down and thanked her. I started to run outside, trying not to let Athrun escape my sight.Maybe he could help me and Lacus with the party preparations…

I saw him walking in the park. I decided to stalk him for a while.

I ran and hid behind a tree while he kept walking in park, almost reaching the fountain – which was the center of the park. I kept on running to the nearest tree I could hide. Then I saw him stop behind the fountain. It looked like he was talking to someone. I ran to bench which was close by. I saw a newspaper and decided to hide myself. I opened it and he passed by.

"Athrun," a woman's voice started. "Where are we going now?"

I was worried. My heart… seemed to beat fast. Who is this woman? I couldn't recognize her voice. I couldn't match it to anyone I knew. And it also seemed that she was saying his name in a seductive tone.

"How about we have an early dinner at a restaurant, Mika," he answered. Who the heck is this Mika? My face started blankly at the newspaper. I didn't pay attention to what was written on it. Athrun's voice and that… Mika's was all I could pay attention to at the moment.

"Aw," she started. "Couldn't we just eat at my house later?"

"I can't. I need to meet Kira and everyone else at his house later. We're having a party," he answered. My eyes widened. This is Athrun. No doubt about it.

Then that Mika girl started to say, "Can't you just ditch them?" How dare her!

"Sorry, dear," he answered. I couldn't take it anymore. I waited for a while for their voices to fade and for my heart to control the emotions that I was feeling. How could he? H-He's cheating behind my back… Athrun.

Although I didn't know him, I tried to love him. The dates we had together, nights we've spent in a room… They were just nothing to him. I loved him… Even from the start!

Lacus had just told me that she broke up with this guy and today, I was going to visit her and meet him. Kira tagged along too.

"Hey Kira," I said with a sigh, "Why are you coming along again?"

"Because," he said with a smile. "I just can't leave my baby sister alone."

I sighed once more. We were walking towards Lacus' house and there was just a block left before we would arrive. Kira was always the protective kind, I always say.

"But, it's just Lacus' house," I said with a grin and added, "Plus, we're twins. And you're just a few seconds older than me." He pouted. I loved teasing him. I always made it a habit to tease him.

"Still!" he said, "I'm older."

"Whatever," I answered, contented.

We continued walking and kept on chatting on about random stuff. When we finally arrived, Lacus was outside, ready to greet us. I smiled at her, "Hey Lacs."

She smiled and waved. "Let's get inside, shall we?"

Kira and I took off our shoes with just our socks on and walked in their house. Lacus closed the door behind us and lead the way towards the living room. I felt kinda awkward though. Who is this guy that Lacus was engaged to? But I was really nervous since I was Lacus' best friend, they might talk more about me rather than themselves.

When we arrived in their living room, Kira gazed in awe. It was no surprise though. The first time I visited Lacus' house, I was stunned. The living room was just like a big ballroom. The windows started down from the floor reaching up to the ceiling. But I laughed at Kira too. "Hey Kira, I thought you already visited this house already."

"Y-Yeah, but that was like years ago!" Kira answered, still gazing at the extravagant house. Then, I heard Lacus talking to someone. I looked at her and saw a man beside her who had dark blue hair and was dressed rather formally. "Guys," Lacus started. "This is Athrun Zala, my ex-fiancée."

Kira and I both looked at him. He smiled to us and greeted, "Hello. You must be Kira. And that lovely girl over there must be Miss Cagalli. I've heard so much about you."

I blushed. I nodded. "Thank you. I'm sorry but Lacus hasn't told me a single thing about you until a few days ago."

He shook his head and apologized, "No, no. There's no problem. Actually, our parents didn't let anyone know about it. They decided that it would have been better if the announcement would be after the wedding. But since Lacus' father and my mother decided to decline it… Well, you know."

He didn't explained much but I understood.

Then I felt Kira nudge me on the shoulder. I glared at him as the nudge was harder than expected. "What?" I whispered to him. He glared at me too.

"Don't get too flirty with him! Just because he's single now, you just can't start being lovey-dovey!" he whispered back. I rolled my eyes. Here we go again…

"As if!" I told him. I folded my arms over my chest and looked away.

"Something wrong, guys?" Lacus asked. Kira decided to answer. "Er, no problem at all, Miss Clyne."

"Oh, don't be so formal, Kira," Lacus giggled. Then I heard Kira laugh in a strange way. I tried to observe and smirked.

I whispered to him, "Who's flirting with whom?"

He glared at me.

"Hey guys, why don't you sit here?" Athrun suggested. I nodded and walked closer to the two. Lacus was seated just next to Athrun. Wow… They really look nice together. Kira and I decided to a couch that was just a rotation away from the couch that Lacus and Athrun were sitting on.

I couldn't help it but something attracted me to Athrun. So, from time to time, I started to look at him. Lacus, Kira and I were talking on and on about how we met each other and stuff. Then after that, Athrun talked about himself. Everything went well, I guess.

But I didn't notice that…I kept looking at him the whole time.

And before I knew it, we were going out…

I kept it a secret from Kira and decided to tell him when I think he was ready. Athrun was a nice person. All throughout the relationship, he was there for me. We didn't have a fight… Ever.

And when I felt that I was already close to him… I was already spending my nights over t his house.

Everything was a mistake!

It was getting colder and colder. No matter how hard I dug my face onto the scarf, I was still freezing. If I would go home now, Athrun would be there. And I didn't want to see him…

I just kept on walking there.

I just realized then that I left Lacus in the shop earlier. I'll let Kira pick her up…

I took my cell phone from my pocket and sent Kira a message, telling him to pick up Lacus from the park just 2 streets from the house. I also added that I would be back in a while and to tell Lacus that I was sorry for ditching her in the shop. After sending it, I placed the cell back in my pocket.

I looked down on my feet.

How long have I been walking since then…?

Then I bumped into someone. "S-Sorry," I said with no emotion. Then continued to walk.

"Cagalli?"

I stopped. Shit…It was him.

I don't want to see him! I ran away, crying hard.

How dare him… My name… He called my name… But it seemed to sting me as he said it. It was cold. My heart was freezing cold. I didn't care if I bumped into people. I didn't care if they saw me hurt… I didn't care!

My feet continued to run, involuntarily. I didn't seem to care where I was heading. All that mattered was… I was far away as possible.

But eventually, I needed to stop.

I panted hard and sweated. How far did I go? I didn't know. And I didn't care, at the least. I sat down near a tree and rested my back on it. Damn him… My face was now dirty due to the crying I had done earlier. My eyes were tired as well. I wanted to sleep away from this horrible day.

I tried to control my emotions.

I closed my eyes.

That night, I was sleeping in the freezing ground. As if I was a lost snowflake from the sky…

Note: The end. Ouch. Hours of making the story. Dedicated to cagalliyulathha. Sorry for the bad pairing. I know that they were supposed to be lovers and all, but I seem to be feeling weird at the moment. Sorry. Please review on this long story. Edited on some mistakes.