A/N: Another one-shot for the season! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
The Magic of Christmas
- December 25- Christmas Day –
A young man in his room looks in the mirror and adjusts his seasonal clothes. Looking at his reflection, he smiled at his clothes in approval. He walks towards his large elaborate bed and admires the decorations on the bed board. He then looks around his room and felt even more happy at all the Christmas decorations all around his room. Remembering how it all happened made him feel so good.
…FLASHBACK…
- One week before Christmas -
He had just got off work and entered the gigantic mansion as he loosened his tie.
"I'm home!"
Noticing no one was around and feeling like an idiot for shouting his presence to the air, he began walking towards the grand staircase that led to his room until he saw a maid just pass by not noticing him.
"Ummm… hello!"
"Hmm? Oh! Master Athrun, your home early. How was work?"
"It was okay. How was your day, Yori?"
"It was splendid and thank you for asking. Can you believe that Christmas is almost here?!"
"I can tell with decorations all over you."
The maid looked at herself and saw ribbons, garlands and sparkles all over her.
"Oh! I'm sorry for presenting myself like this to you."
"No no, it's fine. But if I may ask, why are you all like that?"
"Oh! We're decorating the mansion. You should know that Master Athrun. Remember the two years before the second war that we always decorated the house around this time? And your friends are coming here for the party, remember?"
"Oh yeah! I must've forgotten."
"It's fine, you are a busy man. Miss Cagalli was very excited when we were taking out the decorations. She just loves the season."
"Speaking of Cagalli, do you know where she is?"
The maid leaned closer to him and whispered, "She's in her room cleaning her bathroom."
Athrun was shocked. "Really?!" The maid nodded at him. "Wow! The Representative cleaning her own bathroom."
"Miss Cagalli always likes doing things herself. She treats every maid and butler here like family. Even though we tell her that we're okay with it, she refuses that. She's such a wonderful lady."
"She is isn't she?" Athrun smiled lovingly to himself and the maid smirked at his smile. She and the whole house knew from the very beginning that he loved her deeply and was her secret boyfriend since he came here.
Four months after the second war, they had made up, with the help of Kira and Lacus, and started over their relationship from the beginning. Both vowing to make it right. But they haven't really talked with each other as much as they used too. It wasn't work, but more like they couldn't get over what had happened between them. They act like nothing had happened but you can tell that the past was really bothering them. Both refused to even talk about it and Athrun never asked or mentioned about the ring. When they 'so-called' made up, all they did was live in the same house, act like they were just friends, and talked about work. Neither had even hugged or even kissed since the last time they did. When they are about to, one of them always makes an excuse and removes themselves from the closeness.
The butlers and maids were all worried for them, because in their eyes, they were such a wonderful couple. Kira and Lacus had asked them to let them know what was going on just in case they had to come in and give them both a push. But the maids and butlers thought that they don't need a push, but more like a whack on the head. They had to solve the situation themselves and if they really, really have to, then they will contact their best friends.
"Miss Cagalli might still be in her room if you hurry on up there now."
"Hmmm? Oh! Right. Thank you."
The maid smiled at him and walked off continuing her business.
Athrun made his way to the grand stair case and then into a hall as he walked down towards Cagalli's room, which was beside his room.
When he was in front of her door, he knocked on the wood door and waited for a response but nothing came. So he twisted the doorknob and entered her room. The first thing he noticed was decorations scattered all over her room.
He chuckled to himself as he found it very cute that Cagalli was like a child when it came to these things. He then called out to Cagalli and walked towards her bathroom door. He knocked at the slightly opened door and she didn't respond. Instead he heard her singing.
He opened the door wider and saw that Cagalli was on her knees scrubbing the tub with a sponge and singing a song. He couldn't believe that she was actually on her knees for something. And bowing down to a tub who demanded to be clean! Cagalli Yula Attha never kneels to no one.
Athrun's first reaction was a "oh my god, she's so cute in her cleaning gear,' then it changed when he heard her sing a song that was one of Lacus' latest songs. It was as if an angel was singing right now. Her voice was just beautiful. Athrun realized that this was his only time to witness her do something other than work and act all tough.
Watching her clean and putting elbow grease into the scrubbing, he slowly crept up to her and kneeled beside her where she wasn't looking. He took note that she didn't sense him and that made him frown as an assassin could come in and kill her just like that. He made a note to let her know that later.
When Cagalli was finished with her tub cleaning, she grabbed the shower and began to rinse the tub.
"Hey there."
Cagallil jumped and let out a yelp as she sprayed the shower head to the unknown person who crept up to her. Recovering from her shock, she looked at who she sprayed, which the shower was still drenching, and her eyes went wide as she quickly closed the shower.
"Oh my god, Athrun! I'm so sorry! Let me get you a towel!" She fetched her yellow towel and began wrapping it around Athrun.
"It's okay. It was my fault for creeping up to you." Athrun began rubbing his wet clothes with the towel to dry himself.
"You're home already. How was work?" There it was again. The same question they always ask each other. Athrun frowned inside and decided that he was tired of this.
"It was great… Hey! You're doing housework! How rare is that?!"
Cagalli slapped his wet clothes which made it hurt more. "Who says I don't do housework?! I always do!"
"Oww!... Yeah, but I never see you do it and today is my first time. I have to cherish it. You look so cute cleaning and singing!"
Cagalli blushed all red and hid her face as she walked away from him. "Oh shut up! I was not singing!"
Athrun walked up to her and grabbed her arm. "Your voice was like an angel's. It was beautiful." Cagalli blushed even more. "Maybe you and Lacus should do a duet! It'll be really good!"
"Uhhh…uhhh… I don't think Lacus has time for that."
"Yes she does. She always does."
Didn't want to be in the topic anymore, Cagalli made it to her bedroom and changed the subject.
"Anyways! Oh no!" Athrun came in just behind her and was puzzled at her 'Oh no!' "The decorations are all over the place. And you saw how messy it was too! I'm soooo embarrassed!" Cagalli threw a hand to her forehead.
Athrun chuckled at her reaction. She was all worried over that? How cute!
"Don't worry about it. I thought it was really funny to see it like that. It makes me happy to see that you got to live like this with your inner child. Unlike me. But anyways! So… Christmas is coming pretty fast huh?"
Cagalli saw Athrun's sad face and noticed his sad tone. She walked up to him and grabbed the towel from around his shoulders and dried his hair with it. Athrun had a face like what a child does when a mother towel dries their hair. It was so cute to Cagalli.
"Would you like to help me decorate the house?"
Athrun looked at her and smiled. "I'd love to."
Cagalli smiled at him. "Alright, but go get dressed first or more like take a shower."
Athrun chuckled, "Didn't I just get a shower?"
Cagalli slit her eyes at him and then laughed.
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When Athrun finished his shower and changed into something more comfortable, he came out of the bathroom and saw Cagalli waiting for him on his bed also in something more comfortable and presentable than her cleaning gear.
She was dressed in black short shorts with leggings up to her knees and brown boots. Her shirt was velvet red and her sleeves flared at the ends with a criss-cross, like a shoelace, of ribbons on her shirt chest and back. There was a hint of a white shirt inside her velvet shirt accenting the rims.
Athrun was in smooth black jeans and wore a light colored shirt with a black blazer style jacket.
"You ready?" Athrun nodded. "Alright! Let's go!" Cagalli grabbed his hand they ran out the door and down the grand stair case to get started on the decorations.
For the past hours, they covered mostly all parts of the house with decorations. Athrun did the outside lights while Cagalli held on to the ladder. She threw a snowball at him for being to slow and taking his sweet ass time. He did all the high heights decoration while Cagalli did the low ground where she could reach.
They laughed everywhere they went as they were both covered in tinsels, garlands, ribbons and sparkles. There was many moments when Athrun made her blush every time he commented her on how cute she was or when he teases her.
Cagalli had decided to decorate the rooms for where their friends would be staying. Especially Yzak's. Athrun had mentioned that it would be soooo funny to see Yzak's reaction on it. Knowing him for such a long time, he knew that this would really irritate him.
When Athrun went to take a short nap, Cagalli had been spreading all the Holiday sprit in his room. When he woke up from his wonderful slumber, he found himself in a room decorated with Holiday colors and a smirking Cagalli sitting beside him.
He asked if she had any rest at all and she shook her head, still with a smile on her face. Athrun sighed and told her to take a rest but she refused. Instead of pushing her to sleep, he decided to let it go as he didn't want to ruin her joy. But before that, he gave her a kiss on her head that made her blush like mad. He laughed at her and she chased him around the house.
Finally, after hours of decorating the whole estate, they were at their final mission: the large gigantic tree.
The tree was mostly already decorated with ornaments, lights, bows and fillers. They still had to put on the garland and the star. They agreed that Athrun would put the garland on and Cagalli would do the final put up of the golden star.
When Athrun had finished putting the garland on, he went to assist Cagalli at the ladder. She was all the way at the top and was wobbling a little.
"Almost there…" Cagalli reached at an angle and finally placed the star perfectly at the top. "Finally! Finished!" Suddenly she began to lose her balance. "Uh oh!" She wobbled more and then she completely lost balance. "AHHHHHH!"
"CAGALLI!" Athrun released the ladder and just made it in time to catch her as they both fell to the ground.
"Owww….Oh Athrun! Are you okay? I'm so sorry!" Cagalli placed a hand to his cheek. Athrun was still seeing stars but then they disappeared and he saw how close Cagalli was to his face and felt her warm hand on his cheek. He blushed really hard.
"I…I'm fine. Are you okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine. Thank you for catching me." Cagalli noticed the position they were in and blushed really hard.
"I'm glad. I can't bear to see you hurt." Athrun laid a hand on her cheek and his other hand was on her back.
Cagalli blushed at their current situation. But she then saw something in Athrun's eyes. She knew what it was. He was still sad and upset with himself for hurting her in the past.
Cagalli smiled at him and she leaned forward to his face. Athrun was unaware of what was going on until he felt something on his cheek.
Cagalli kissed him on his cheek and then hugged him. Athrun was shocked at first but then got over it as he smiled. He hugged her back and buried his face into her neck and inhaled her scent as she did his. None of them spoke a word because there was no need to.
…FLASHBACK END…
Athrun opened his eyes when his memories of the day they decorated the house ended. He took one last look at himself at the mirror and nodded in approval. He checked his pockets and everything was in place.
Today was a special day and he prepared for this day for weeks. The only person who knew was his best friend and his best friend's girlfriend.
Athrun took a deep breath and walked out his room, en route to his date's room. He knocked twice and the door opened to reveal a very gorgeous looking Cagalli.
She wore a dress like she always did for this season. The dress was simple and festive. Nothing too fancy and nothing too expensive looking either. It was velvet red and it went on top of her square patterned chest and back, pastel canary yellow long, wide at the end, sleeve with a criss-cross on her chest and back top. It was like a baby doll dress that widens as it flows down from under her chest to her feet. She had red and green ribbons at the side of her hair that held it back and some jewelry on.
"You look beautiful."
Cagalli blushed and smiled. "Thank you. You don't look too bad yourself." Cagalli fixed his collar and unbuttoned the first two buttons. "There, now you look ready to go."
"My lady." Athrun held out his arm and Cagalli took it as they went down the hall and the grand stair case.
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The party was a success and everyone had a great time. All their friends were there and they all danced, took pictures and played many games.
The dinner was just incredible and the desserts made were unbelievable. This was the reason why everyone love the holidays. It was all about the food and the get together of family and friends.
Everyone was chatting with one another and unknown to one couple, they were standing under the door frame with a mistletoe on top of them.
"Hey, check out Zala and Attha." Dearka said to Kira. They both looked at them and they smirked as they nodded at each other.
Cagalli and Athrun were talking about random stuff until a group of their friends went up to them.
"Hey there! Awesome party!" said Dearka.
"Really? I'm sooo glad!" cheered Cagalli.
Dearka smirked at the both of them. They gave him a weird look as they saw Dearka making an eye contact to them to look up. They both looked up at what he was staring at and saw the object.
The two people blushed red as their eyes widened at the sight. Up above them was the berried holly mistletoe that Athrun had put up that Cagalli had made him do.
"Go on! You guys know the rules!" cheered Kira. Then a chant started to form from around them that cheered them to kiss.
"KISS! KISS! KISS! KISS! KISS!"
They both eyed Kira and Dearka. They knew they were behind this to make the crowd cheer them on to kiss.
"Come on Athrun, Cagalli, the people are waiting," Lacus said sweetly.
The couple let out a sigh and they faced each other. Cagalli was the nervous one of the two since she never really initiates anything. It was always Athrun who does it.
Seeing her nervousness, Athrun smirked to himself as he found it cute to see her like that. He knew that she was always nervous when it came to close affection. So to ease her from the crowd, he brought her to his chest with his hand behind her back. He placed his other hand on her cheek and smiled at her shock and blushing state.
"Let's give them something to talk about."
Cagalli didn't have time to respond as Athrun's lips came crashing down to hers as he gently, yet possessively kissed her with so much passion. It was so intense that Cagalli unknowingly opened her mouth for him to explore. Soon, she was into the kiss and kissed him with equal amount of passion. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he hugged her even closer.
The crowd began to cheer and cat calls were heard all over. Hearing that, the couple immediately broke away and they were all red, making the berries on the holly look in shame.
"AROOOOOO!!! That was great you guys! You gave the audience quite a show and finally at that!" Dearka rooted in joy.
"Yeah! Finally!"
"You guys haven't done that in months from the last time you kissed!" cheered Lacus.
"Alright you love birds! It's present time!!!" Dearka shouted as he ran like a child towards the tree.
Everyone agreed and they ran to the tree and began to distribute the wrapped gifts. Kira gave Athrun a wink and Athrun nodded a thank you.
Cagalli was still shocked by the kiss as she just stood there with wide eyes and red cheeks. The noise of cheer and excitement of her friends opening gifts was deaf to her until Athrun wrapped her shoulders.
"Come on, let's join the fun."
Cagalli just nodded as she let Athrun lead her the way, still with his hands around her shoulders.
They watched their friends laugh and thanked each other on the gifts. Many laughed and gave Dearka a glare on the presents he got them. When it comes to Dearka and gifts, it was always teasing and hilarious.
Cagalli finally out of her shocked state, smiled at all her friends. They were all so happy and having a good time. Inside, she smiled sadly to herself, as she knew that she could never be like them. She has a huge responsibility for taking care of her country. Sure Lacus too, but she's different. She could do it with grace and she had many people with her. Cagalli had those too, but they weren't the type of people like she has. Lacus actually has people that adores and respects her. Cagalli only had followers and many of her own council members disagree in everything she suggested or did. They only act nice and some only cared for her just to be in her good books or because they don't want to disrespect her late father. She was just a person living in her father's shadow.
Their friends started throwing gifts at Cagalli and Athrun. They opened it with care and laughed at what they received. Dearka was so excited about his gift for Athrun that he was right behind him when Athrun was unwrapping the paper. And for Dearka to be this hyper, the gang got suspicious and was curious on what he got so they were behind him too.
When Athrun took a peek at what was inside the box, he immediately slammed it shut and blushed an extreme shade of red. The gang laughed really hard. The girls were tickled pink as they were embarrassed at what it was.
"You like it? AHAHAHHA!"
Cagalli was confused. "Athrun, what did you get?"
"Not…Nothing!"
Cagalli didn't believe a word from him. Judging by his red face and their laughing friends, she suspected that it was something only Dearka would do. Knowing that, she didn't want to know what it was.
Lacus, who was beside Cagalli, got a signal from Kira and she nodded.
"Cagalli, let's go see if there are anymore presents under the tree."
"Sure."
They went scouring the tree. Lacus was pretending to look for gifts. She made contact with Athrun's eyes and she winked at him. Athrun nodded as he smiled.
"Lacus, I don't think….Oh wait! I found one!"
Cagalli slid the box out with three large holes but not large enough to see what's inside. She sat on the ground with the box in front of her. Athrun was right behind her and she didn't notice. Cagalli examined the object and saw a tag on it.
"Merry Christmas, Cagalli! I hope you love it! Love always."
"Who could it be from?" Cagalli was just about to unwrap the gift until it started to move on its own. "AHHH!"
Cagalli leaped back and Athrun caught her from behind. She was so scared that she was holding onto Athrun's shirt. Athrun held her close and reassured her that it was alright.
"Athrun! Go check it! It could be a bomb!"
"It could be a bomb and you want me to check it?" Athrun threw a hand over his heart and acted hurt. "That hurts."
"I didn't mean it like that. Ahhh! It moved again!"
"Why don't you go on and open it. It could be something….cute?"
"B..but-"
Kira kneeled beside her. "Come on, Cagalli. Open it. It doesn't look dangerous."
Cagalli looked at Kira and he smiled and nodded at her.
If Kira and Athrun thinks it's okay, then it's not a bomb. Right?
The box moved again and Cagalli hesitated. When it stopped moving, she began to unwrap it. She noticed that the box felt warm.
When all the paper was off, she proceeded to opening the flap of the box. When she fully opened it, she was met with the cutest eyes ever and a jingle from its collar.
"Meow."
"Oh my gosh." Cagalli picked up the sitting kitty and wrapped it with her arms. The striped black tabby meowed again and cuddled into her arms. "It's sooo cute! You're adorable aren't you?!"
The gang smiled at her. It was the first time for them to actually see her smile with true happiness than a sad smile. They knew that she was only putting up a smile whenever they were around, when truly she was sad inside.
Lacus kneeled down beside her and petted the kitty. "She's really cute isn't she?"
"She's gorgeous!" Cagalli petted the kitty and it licked her hand which made Cagalli giggle. "But who's it from?" Cagalli looked in the box and found nothing. She noticed the red collar with a bell and examined it. There was something hooked beside it. Cagalli gasped with wide eyes.
She felt large arms from behind that were still around her waist when she jumped in fright. She looked up to the owner and was met with loving caring eyes.
"You…"
Athrun smiled at her and unhooked the object on the kitty's collar.
"Cagalli… we had many ups and downs that practically destroyed us. After the second war, we vowed to start over and make it right. But we haven't even been doing that right. All we do is act like friends and not like what we're supposed to. We never talked about what had happened during our department and never made any moves to one another. To be honest, I was scared. I was scared that you would reject me and so I didn't make a move. But I was growing tired of this game and decided that I would do something about it. I was the one who ruined it in the first place so I have to fix it."
Cagalli looked straight into his emerald eyes and saw that he was hurt inside. She continued to listen.
"You might be wondering how I got a hold of this… Well, I had Lacus get it for me since she was more suitable for that mission." Cagalli looked at Lacus and Lacus smiled at her as she nodded. "Cagalli… I don't want to do this anymore. I don't want us to be strangers and act like nothing had happened." He brought Cagalli closer to his chest and Cagalli felt him trembling. "I want to be with you. Forever. I want you to be mine and mine alone. I know I sound selfish, but I don't want to be with anyone else but you. It was always you. There was never a second that I didn't think about you. You're the only one that I allowed to steal my heart and hold on to forever."
Cagalli had tears that began to form in her eyes. She was holding it back from falling but she couldn't do it. A tear fell from her eyes down her cheeks.
Athrun held one side of her face and wiped the tears with his thumb as he looked lovingly at her.
"Cagalli, we can make it happen. We can make it work if we work together." He went closer to Cagalli's face. "I know we're still only nineteen and you might not be ready or if you still want to be with me, but… Cagalli… will you make me the happiest man in the universe and become my wife? Will you marry me?"
The gang were all surprised. Now they knew what was going on. They knew that the couple needed a push and that neither of them was making a move. They suspected that Kira and Lacus were doing something when Athrun had called them to a secret meeting. To be honest, none of them could stand the sight on how their friends were acting like nothing happened. All of them had a plan of their own to force them to talk about their relationship and make it work. Now they don't have to, seeing that Athrun's plan was already in the works. They always knew that Athrun would make the first move as Cagalli was too stubborn and scared to mention about it.
Everyone was praying that the two solved their problems. They watched in anticipation on how the situation was unfolding. All they need to hear now is Cagalli's answer to Athrun's question. It all comes down to her. It's now or never.
Feeling the tension in the room, Cagalli knew she had to say something. When she first saw the object on the kitty's collar, she instantly knew what was going to happen. She lived with Athrun for too long and practically knows everything about him just like he knows everything about her. During his speech, she was thinking about the past and the now. She knew that Athrun loves her deeply. The only thing that she wasn't sure of was herself. It was always about that. She was always afraid that she might hurt him and that was why she never said anything and acted like nothing was wrong. She didn't want to face the fact that she had hurt him once already and couldn't bare the thought that she might hurt him again. She was always self-conscious of herself.
"I…I don't want to hurt you." Athrun felt more of her tears on his hand. "You're wrong. I was the one who ruined our relationship. I was the one who agreed to the marriage and let you go. It didn't occur to me that you were going to come back for me or how you felt. One month had passed since you left that day and I heard nothing from you. After I was saved by Kira, I learned that that jerk changed every code and command and that was why you couldn't get through. You were there on the wedding day to save me, but you were blocked. I came to the realization that you did come back and that I hurted you. I hurted you deeply into your heart. I was a fool to believe what he or everyone else said. I was a fool to believe that my people wanted that. I always thought of what they want and never for myself. I learned that the hard way."
"Cagalli…"
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I hurted you so much. I..I…"
Athrun hugged her tightly into his chest as she cried. "Shhh…. It's not your fault. You hear me? It's not your fault. They pressured and pushed you to do things that you knew was wrong. If I was there, none of that would've happened. I won't lie that I wasn't hurt at your decision but I hurted you too. I should've came back immediately and the moment Dullandal showed me the Savior, I should've known that he was using me. I'm sorry for hurting you in everything. And I should've called you immediately when I got to the PLANTS and when I was coming back. Kisaka would've made sure you got the message on your private line. It's my fault that I re-enlisted… I did it to get back at you and I realized that that was so very wrong. I'm so sorry, Cagalli. I'm so sorry." He hugged her deeply and she just cried into his chest.
The gang was saddened at their confession. It was both their faults. Athrun only re-enlisted because he got angry at what Cagalli did and he was only doing it back to her. Self-consciously that is.
Not able to take the emotions in the room, Yzak sighed and let out his opinion.
"Oh get over it!" Everyone looked at him and so did Athrun and Cagalli. "So what you guys hurted each other. You're even now aren't you? Yes, Attha was stupid to agree to the marriage when she should've thought of herself first. Zala, you're even more stupid and an asshole to get back at her by re-enlisting to ZAFT. You both learned valuable lessons the hard way didn't you? Now that you both confessed your feelings and admit your actions, it's over now, done with! Deal with the past, get over it and move on towards your futures! Attha! Stop doubting yourself and care more about yourself instead of the peoples. You can't make everyone happy. Zala! Stop being an asshole and keeping things to yourself. You both are the same! And Zala, you should really take note of yourself when you're in public. Woman likes men like you and you're hurting Attha by not knowing that your looks and charms are making woman out there make a move on you and giving you flirtatious looks. And do not question or comment about my speech! Expecially YOU Dearka!" Dearka was too shocked to even make a comment. All he did was smirk and gave a really ugly look.
Everybody was just completely shocked at Yzak's outburst. Of all people to give advice and all, it was Yzak. He was surprised himself, but he didn't care. He couldn't stand it that his friends were like that. If no one or themselves were gonna do anything about it, then he will. His woman companion beside him was smiling at him and hugged his arm. Shiho was so proud of him.
Athrun and Cagalli were surprised at Yzak's speech. But he was right. They were both being idiots. They chuckled a little and then looked into each other's eyes. Athrun enclosed her hands with his as she smiled at him.
"Yzak's right… Let's do this together."
Cagalli smiled lovingly at him and she wiped the last of her tears.
"Yes. Let's do it together."
They hugged each other only to be interrupted by Kira.
"Cagalli… you still didn't answer Athrun's question and I think everyone hear wants to hear it too. Otherwise we're gonna get another ear full from Yzak."
Yzak glared heavily at Kira only to be chuckled at by everyone. But in a way, he was happy too. The thing they did to his guest room would be excused, as he was glad that his friends solved their relationship problems. He'll just have to wait till after Christmas, so he can beat them up for decorating his room, trying to humiliate him.
Cagalli forgot about it and she didn't need to think about an answer. Athrun looked worried and yet anxious to hear her answer.
Cagalli placed a hand on Athrun's cheek. "Yes…. Yes, I'll marry you."
The people went wild. They cheered and danced with happiness. Finally, their Princess of ORB was not only happy but finally happy with her one and only. The one and only that is able to tame her and make her the happiest woman in the universe. The one who stole her heart and cherished it deeply.
Athrun couldn't believe his ears. He was so nervous of her answer and was afraid that she might reject him. But he was wrong. She said 'yes' and hearing that made him want to jump up with joy.
He hugged her so tightly and wanted to cry, but held it back because men don't cry. "Thank you… Thank you, Cagalli." Cagalli smiled into his neck as she hugged him back. "I love you."
Cagalli's eyes went wide and softened upon hearing that. She always longed for him to say those three words to her.
"I love you too. And thank you."
Everyone awed at the couple. Their conflicts were finally over and now everyone can move on happily knowing that the lovebirds are back on the track of love.
"Meow. Meow."
They released their hug when they heard the kitty's cry. They forgot that she was still there on Cagalli's lap.
Cagalli picked it up and gave it a kiss on the head as the kitty meowed again. "Because of you, I'm gonna name you Boo Boo, because you're full of surprises."
"Meow."
Cagalli giggled. "I think she likes it." Athrun and Cagalli both chuckled.
"I think so."
"Hey! Kiss already so we can get this party back on!" shouted Dearka.
Athrun and Cagalli looked at each other and smiled. Just before they kissed, Athrun slipped on the ring that she once took off, but will now never leave her finger.
He laced their fingers together and brought her close. "Merry Christmas and I love you."
"Merry Christmas. This is the best Christmas ever and I love you too."
Then after a lot of drama and long waits, they finally kissed without any hesitations, nervousness or doubts.
The crowd cheered for them and the party was back on.
Athrun and Cagalli had made sure that they would talk about everything that happened while they were away from each other. The first step was to let everything out and not lie to each other. Also, Athrun had a talk with Cagalli about how she didn't sense him creep up to her and that an assassin could've taken her out. Of course Cagalli fought back about it, but then submitted to him and promised him that she would be more aware.
All their friends congratulated them and were now planning on what to do for their bachelor and bachelorette parties. The couple wanted to immediately get married so they can start their lives together as husband and wife. They may be young, but that doesn't matter as it was just a number. They don't care what others thought of their union, as long as they were happy with each other.
Not only is the union for themselves, but it was also a union for the Coordinators and Naturals. Even though Cagalli does have some of the Coordinator gene, but that's their secret and it stays among their friends.
They partied all night long and everyone had a great time. There was not a single hint of uneasiness, but pure happiness. The snow began to fall and they all went outside to play in the snow. Even Boo Boo plaved in the snow as Athrun and Cagalli had to keep picking her up from sinking into the deep snow. It felt so good to be with everyone they love and care about. There was no way they could live without each other's presence.
I guess it is true that Christmas is magical. It brings friends and families together to celebrate with cheer and to ease off the hard long year.
This is the most memorable and best Christmas ever.
The End