! HALT !
You have come across the SEQUEL to Identification Number O04172. If you start off in chapter one without reading the prequel, you will be UTTERLY LOST.
New readers, you should go read the original- just find it on my profile- OR read the summary of the first story (located down below the dots so that you don't spoil it by accidentally reading it if you wanted to read the original) before proceeding to the sequel so you're not scratching your head wondering what in the world happened.
Old readers, feel free to jump right to the first chapter (just scroll down the page!) or read the summary to refresh your mind.
oh, and (a) is the at symbol, which ff.n does not allow me to put in the chapter.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Identification Number O04172 SUMMARIZED
140,000-plus words into 1,000! yay!
CE 71, a war has broken out between the PLANTs and the Earth Alliance over genocide on the part of the EA, and enslavement of Naturals on the PLANTs. Cagali, a spy from Orb, is sent up to PLANT to pose as a Natural slave and gather information. She ends up with Athrun Zala, a young, ZAFT red, as her 'owner.' On PLANT, she meets Athrun's friend Nicol Almalfi, who has a socially-inappropriate romantic relationship with his Natural slave, Tati, and Lacus Clyne, the daughter of the PLANT Supreme Council Chairman.
Lacus had been stuck on Earth during the first part of the war, and had gone to Orb, where she and Cagali's brother had a relationship despite her engagement to Athrun. Lacus recognizes Cagali and suspects her. Later, Lacus tells Athrun she is pregnant, breaks off the engagement, and returns to Earth to find Kira. She leaves Cagali with valuable information intended for her father.
With stress from Lacus leaving and then the death of a friend in battle, Athrun begins to develop feelings for Cagali.
Cagali sneaks into ZAFT headquarters and steals information on the Neutron Jammer Canceller and other ZAFT technology. Shortly thereafter, Cagali becomes extremely sick.
Athrun takes care of her while she is sick, and when she recovers, he informs her that he is being deployed on Earth and leaving in two days. He confesses his feelings for her, which Cagali does not accept. She leaves with Kira, who has come to retrieve her from PLANT. They steal the ZAFT Mobile suit, FREEDOM, and join up with the Orb ship, the Archangel.
On the Archangel, Cagali become one of seven mobile suit pilots- Kira Yamato, Manuel Gomez, Lloyd Carson, Abraham Brewer, Mumtaz Barr, Shinn Asuka, and Cagali. All but Cagali are Coordinator boys. Shinn is notably mean to Kira and Cagali.
At Heliopolis, the Archangel gets new mobile suits- Murasame and Blitz. On their way back to Earth, they get into a fight in space and Cagali gets a massive headache.
In Orb, Kira and Lacus meet up again and Cagali recalls her and Kira's childhood, adopted multiple times and switched around between families. Since they have turned eighteen, a package arrived at their house with the research notes of the Ullen Hibiki.
The EA plots an attack on Scandinavia and the Archangel leaves Orb to provide back up. On the ship, Cagali and Kira discuss Ullen Hibiki's research- in which he used them as experiments when they were first born, injecting them with drugs to improve mental performance. As a side effect, they suffer headaches under stress.
In Scandinavia, they battle the Destroy, Abraham is killed, and the pilot of the Destroy- Stella- is captured. Shinn takes a liking to Stella, though her health is quickly failing. Cagali believes Stella was drugged in a similar fashion to what Dr. Hibiki did to her and Kira. The Archangel gets into a brief fight with ZAFT. Lloyd is badly injured and Kira proves to be a miraculous pilot. However, upon returning to the ship, Kira collapses. We learn that Stella has passed away.
On the way back to Orb, a deadly virus spreads throughout the Archangel, affecting only Naturals. Special isolation procedures are put into place. Natural crew members are dying off, and Cagali is one of the few uninfected. The Archangel runs across a ZAFT ship and gets into a fight. In the battle, Kira, in a Blitz machine, is captured by ZAFT.
Cagali is devastated by Kira getting captured, and is comforted by Shinn. Locked away in isolation from the virus, Cagali realizes that this is the same sickness that she contracted on PLANT. She leaves isolation to see the virus for herself, and is dragged back by Shinn, who expresses his fear that she will die also.
On the ZAFT ship, Kira meets Athrun, who recognizes his name, and Nicol, who convinces Kira to side with ZAFT. They place Kira back on the Archangel and send a team to treat the "S3" virus- a biological weapon engineered by PLANT. S3 only affects Naturals. Cagali meets Nicol, who gives her a letter from Athrun. Kira talks to Cagali about seeing Athrun again.
In space, the EA attacks Heliopolis, and Heliopolis responds with nuclear force. Seeking to gain nuclear weapons, the EA sets its sights on the Orb homeland, demanding its surrender and alliance to the EA. ZAFT, hoping to keep the EA from gaining nuclear weapons, sends Orb similar demands. Orb does not side with either.
In Orb, before the ensuing battle, Kira arranges for Cagali to meet Athrun again. Cagali is not happy that he is connected with and a supporter of the use of the S3 virus to win the war, but comes to terms with their different opinions.
The EA attacks Orb first, and the Archangel team (and Cagali) fight off several of their mobile suits, before Cagali gets a debilitating headache, and leaves the battle. Unable to make if back to the Archangel, Cagali lands her mobile suit and passes out. Athrun finds her, cheesy romance ensues, and then Athrun escorts her back to the Archangel.
On the Archangel, there has been a coup d'état. The Coordinators on the ship, lead by Kira, have decided to side with ZAFT. They attempt to take Cagali prisoner, but she escapes. Kira runs after her and Cagali shoots him.
Cagali panics from having shot Kira, and thinking he is dead, she runs off and hides in a room in the living quarters. She feels extreme guilt, confusion and grief, and resolves to shoot whoever finds her in the room. Nicol finds her, but she is unable to shoot. He takes her gun away. Athrun joins them later and informs them that Kira will survive.
Cagali loses all hope in people and in fighting for anything. She realizes that she is unable to do anything to stop the impending disaster with the S3 virus, or affect the flow of the war in any way. Depressed, thinking any place is better than Earth, she asks Athrun to take her back to PLANT.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
File Edit View Insert Format Tools Help
|SEND| |ATTACH| |SAVE| |SPELLING| |CANCEL|
|To:| Kira (kirayamato(a)orbconnect .co),
|CC:|
|Subject:| Re: Cagali
Font: |Arial| Size: |12| B I U
No, sorry. Nothing's changed. I've talked to Cagali, and she still won't talk to you. She says she doesn't hate you, she just doesn't think she can handle it. She's still trying to recover from last June. I know it's been a long time, but this takes time. Apparently a lot of time. Just try to have some faith in her. She'll come around eventually.
And to the question you've been asking for the past three months, same answer. For the last time: No, I am not sending her back to Earth. Absolutely not. I guarantee that she wouldn't see you or talk to you. She'd be off alone and she can hardly take care of herself. I can't leave until my military service is complete and despite the way Natural slaves are treated on PLANT, I'm more concerned about the way Cagali would treat herself. Don't ask me that again.
And when I think of it, she's been getting better, just slowly. I mean, when I first brought her back, she would hardly talk to me. She at least does that now. She's trying to occupy herself more also, which I think is a good thing. No offense Kira, but I think the less she thinks about you right now the better. If anything happens, I'll be sure to e-mail you.
-Athrun.
November 11, CE 71
PLANT, Aprillius 4
Athrun Zala pressed send and leaned back in his chair, away from the computer screen. His hair, cut just above his shoulders, was midnight blue without the use of any hair dye and his eyes, without the use of any colored contacts, were a garish green color that might be pulled out of a box of markers. If these obviously abnormal attributes did not scream that Athrun Zala was a Coordinator, his maroon ZAFT uniform dispelled any remaining doubts.
As of two weeks ago, Athrun was twenty. He was well off for the average twenty-year-old PLANT citizen with a house, a car, a well paying job, and no significant loans to pay off. He even owned a Natural, which for the record, was quite an expensive commodity to come by. The government identified her as number O04172. Of course Athrun didn't call her by the number tattooed on her arm; he called her Cagali.
Cagali was about a year and a half younger than him. Her hair was blonde, which was actually a fairly common color among Coordinators, but her eyes were sandy brown, and rest assured, no Coordinator had eyes the color of dirt. She lived with him on Aprillius 4 and he cared for her much more than any sensible PLANT citizen should care for a Natural slave. Of course, sensible and Cagali could hardly be associated. Nothing made sense with Cagali, not anymore. Not after the war. She wasn't the same.
The war between PLANT and the EA had nearly destroyed her. Just a few months ago, in June, ZAFT had let loose its superb biological weapon, the genetically engineered S3 virus, in two major EA cities, London in Eurasia and Washington in North America. The virus had done its job perfectly, killing Naturals mercilessly until the Earth Alliance was forced to surrender. With that, the Coordinators of PLANT gained control of all Earth Alliance territory.
And with the knowledge of the horrific ending to the war, Cagali had never been the same. She used to have a firm believe in her values of the world and would defend her point of view. Now, if asked for an opinion, she wouldn't have one to give. She used to put energy into everything she did; now she was moving through the motions with little enthusiasm at all. She used to play the piano when she had nothing to do, but she'd barely touched it since the end of the war. She just… watched television.
Athrun felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked away from his computer to see Cagali. "I made you a sandwich for dinner, if you're hungry," she said.
"Ah, thanks," he said and stood up. "What about you?"
"I'm not hungry," she said. "Just tired. I think I'll go to bed."
"It's seven o'clock. It's too early to go to bed. Did you not sleep well last night?" he asked.
"I slept just fine," Cagali told him.
"Do anything tiring today?" he asked.
"I went jogging, but nothing really. I'm just tired," she said.
At that point Athrun narrowed his eyes and asked, "Did you eat breakfast?"
To which she replied, "no."
"And what about lunch?"
"I had half a sandwich," she told him.
"You're tired because you've eaten practically nothing all day," he said sourly. "Come on, you should have something to eat too."
"I already said that I'm not hungry."
"I don't care if you say you're not hungry. You said the same thing yesterday, and the day before, and the day before that. And I'm going to tell you the same thing. You have to eat."
"I just don't feel like it," she said plainly.
He gritted his teeth, trying to think of something to say. "I'll get you anything you want to eat. How about steak?"
"I don't want anything…"
"Curry? Pasta?" he suggested.
"Really, Athrun, I'm just not hungry…"
"Lobster?"
"Lobster? But that's really expensive. Don't they have to import it from Januarius 9?"
"I would buy it if you would eat it. You want it?" he asked.
"No! I don't want to eat anything. I want to go to bed," she turned her head away from him sharply and moved to leave.
Athrun grabbed her wrist and stopped her. "If you eat, you'll sleep better, and then you won't be tired tomorrow." She looked back at him with out saying a word. "Please?" he urged her.
She looked down at the floor to avoid eye contact. "I don't want anything."
Athrun felt Cagali try to pull away from him. He tightened his grip on her wrist. "Cagali," he pressed. He was looking down at the top of her head. "Cagali, listen to me."
"I'm listening," she mumbled to the floor.
"Cagali, you're human, just like me. You have to eat to live."
"I know that."
"Then why are you starving yourself?"
"I'm not starving myself," she protested.
"What else do you call not eating? A diet?"
"I eat…" she trailed off.
"You eat what? Half a sandwich? Your version of half a sandwich is a paper thin piece of meat on a slice of bread. And you probably didn't eat the full slice of bread either. Even if you did eat your entire half sandwich, that's still not enough food."
"I'm well aware of my health and how much I eat. I can take care of myself. Will you let me go now?"
"Really? You think you can take care of yourself?" Athrun asked sarcastically. He let go of her wrist and held his hands up in surrender. Cagali stood still for a moment, surprised that he had let her go. "If you want to take care of yourself, go back to Earth." When he said that, her head turned to look at him sharply. Her eyes widened as she searched his face for sincerity. The color drained from her face in an instant.
"You're a Natural. You can't take care of yourself on PLANT. You'd be in far over your head if I wasn't here. If you want to take care of yourself, go back to Earth. I'm not holding you back," he told her. She didn't voice a reply. Instead, she looked into his eyes, a look of utter horror etched on her face.
Athrun felt a pang of guilt when she looked at him like that. He knew very well that, for whatever reasons, she dreaded the thought of returning to Earth. He knew that she'd rather be constantly mistreated on PLANT than return to Earth. Mentioning the idea of 'return to Earth' was the equivalent of blackmailing her… Yet, how else was he supposed handle this? She'd hardly eaten in three weeks. One way or another, pleasant or not, this had to stop.
Cagali had been up and down, up and down, since the end of the war. At first, she didn't talk but in short sentences, few and long in between. She would recoil slightly if Athrun approached her and couldn't bear to be around anyone else. Suddenly, it was as if the sun came out. She would smile and talk and enjoy the company of others. For about a week, Athrun thought she was going to be normal again.
But as soon as his hopes had risen, nightmares began to keep her awake all night. Cagali's stress from the nightmares was easy for Athrun to see. Once, she had woken him during the night to cry on his shoulder. Twice, he had been woken by some loud exclamation, only to have Cagali lock her bedroom door and tell him to leave her alone. During those days, she moved like a depressed zombie and just as she had done before, rarely spoke and avoided any form of social interaction that she could. Sleep medication had alleviated the nightmares and Cagali began to recover. Athrun was beginning to think positive again, until she came across a PLANT citizen who found it necessary to 'put the Naturals in their place', and she recoiled once more. So the cycle continued.
When she was quiet and reclusive, Athrun had come to know how to handle Cagali. Athrun found the best solution was to offer her counsel, if she wanted it, but to give her plenty of space to sort out her problems without unwanted interference. If he pressed her much, she became agitated and distressed. How ever, now she wasn't just being quiet and reclusive, she was refusing to eat. Giving her space meant letting her starve herself. She wasn't responding well to the pressure he had been putting on her for the past few days. Even so, his conclusion was final. This particular phase had to end. Now.
"Athrun… You wouldn't really…" she said meekly, hesitating in fear of her own words, "send me to Earth…"
"What do you think?" Athrun asked. "Earth is a much better place for Naturals than PLANT, even with the majority of places under ZAFT military control. And Kira's told me that Orb has hardly changed at all. He says…"
She interrupted him sharply. "I won't be seeing Kira," she declared. "I can't."
The words jumped out at him. A definite change in the tone of her voice made Athrun forget what he had intended to say next. He let out a slow breath. "Cagali, I know you don't want to go back. But we don't need to talk about Kira right now. Kira's not the problem.
"The problem is that you're not taking care of yourself. You're losing too much weight. Three weeks ago, your clothes fit you just fine. Now, they're baggy. That's not healthy. Do you like to watch me constantly worrying about you?"
She sighed. "But Athrun, you always worry about something. If it's not me, then it's some other petty thing."
"Don't try to brush this aside, Cagali. A self-imposed next-to-no-Calorie diet is not a petty thing. I'd be crazy if I wasn't worried."
"I'm not worried about myself. You shouldn't be either."
"What are you saying? Do you not understand? All I want to do is take care of you," said Athrun. "I want you to be safe and happy and… and well fed. Is there something wrong with that?" Cagali winced as he spoke. "Nothing?" he asked again. "I want to help you and you're not letting me. I'm only asking you to eat."
She responded with silence, nothing to say at all. Athrun hated it when she was silent. It was so unlike her. It was so unlike the Cagali he had first met. A few seconds passed as Athrun tried to think of something to say. A buzzing sound behind him made Athrun turn around; his cell phone, vibrating on the computer desk. Even such a quiet noise was sharp contrast to the silence.
"You should answer it," said Cagali, as the phone buzzed.
"We're not done talking."
"You should still answer it," she said.
Annoyed, Athrun looked away from Cagali and to the caller id. "Natural Registration," he read aloud and picked it up. "You stay here," he said to Cagali, and then spoke into the receiver, "Hello?"
-Hello. I'm calling from the Natural Registration Center. May I speak to Athrun Zala?- he heard through the speaker.
"This is he," Athrun replied dully.
-Mr. Zala, is it correct that you still have Natural Number O04172?-
"That is correct," he said.
-In accordance with the Natural Worker's Health resolution passed by the PLANT supreme council in October this year, Natural Registration is now required to obtain a blood sample from all Naturals living on PLANT once a year to inspect it for disease. The resolution requires this year's samples to be taken by first two weeks of November and we have noticed that you have yet to contact us in order to schedule an appointment for your Natural to have his or her blood drawn.-
Athrun rolled his eye, but said politely, "I'm sorry, I wasn't aware that was required. What is the earliest time that I could have this done?"
-The earliest available time is tomorrow morning at seven.-
"That will be fine."
-Thank you for you time. Please note that in order for the blood sample to be of highest accuracy, your Natural should not eat anything, nor drink anything other than water, for twelve hours before the blood is drawn.-
Athrun nodded, even though the person on the other end could not see. "Alright. That will be fine," he said, trying to get the person off the phone.
-Thank you for your cooperation. We will see you tomorrow morning. Have a nice day.- The person on the other end hung up the phone.
Athrun put the phone down and looked back to Cagali. She pointed at her watch and quoted, "in order for the blood sample to be of highest accuracy, your Natural should not eat anything, nor drink anything other than water, for twelve hours before the blood is drawn." Athrun felt his jaw drop slightly as the irony of the situation settled in. It was seven fifteen. "May I go to sleep now?"
Athrun let her go.
...
November 12, CE 71
PLANT, Aprillius 4
6:50 am, and the colony hadn't yet opened the reflectors to let in sunlight. "After this, you and I are going to go eat breakfast," Athrun announced, as he and Cagali arrived at the Natural Registration Center.
"Don't you have to go up to headquarters afterwards?" she asked him. "A good ZAFT soldier can't be late."
"Four hours from now? That doesn't even remotely concern me. This shouldn't take too long, anyways." he replied and looked to Cagali grimly. "I'm making sure you eat before I go on space patrol for the next two days. You will eat. I won't allow you to starve yourself." He parked his car, and they stepped out and began to walk towards the building together.
"I haven't been trying to starve myself, Athrun, really. When I'm hungry, I eat. When I'm not hungry, I don't. That's it. I wish you would stop pestering me," she said.
"I know you say its fine, and maybe you think it is. So, humor me. Just eat the normal amount that your body needs to function and I'll stop pestering you. I promise," he told her.
They reached the NRC and Athrun let Cagali enter before him. The receptionist processed them quickly and sent them to wait; there were several other Naturals in the clinic for the same reason. Looking at the other Naturals, Athrun noticed that all but one of them were female. The one male was a boy who looked about ten years old. He'd probably be sold to a manufacturing company in a few years to get him out of this PLANT civilian occupied area. No one really wanted a male Natural. Females on the other hand were much more docile, less likely to do something along the lines of start a rebellion, kill their owner or set off a bomb.
Almost a year ago now, Orb had taken use of that and sent up a young, docile-looking female Natural, who had proceeded to break into ZAFT headquarters, in the middle of the day, and steal engineering data on nuclear technology, among other classified military information. The PLANTs been lucky it was Orb that decided to pull this stunt, rather than the Earth Alliance. Now, it didn't matter. Both Orb and the Earth Alliance were territories under ZAFT control.
Although ZAFT had traced the break in to Orb, they had the name of the Natural sent on the mission, not her identification number. PLANT didn't even keep track of the Natural's names, that being the case... Well, they weren't looking for her anymore, but when he and Cagali returned to PLANT, they had picked a generic Russian name to call her around those who didn't already know.
To think that she had been the one to pull that off, this petite, weak-looking girl that sat beside him, Athrun wouldn't have believed it. Nor would he have believed that she had been trained as mobile suit pilot as well. The way she looked down at the floor, a look of emptiness on her face, a lack of will... She didn't look capable of pulling off something like that. The way she was before, she had been careful to mimic the behavior of the other Naturals she saw, but he had seen glimpses of a much stronger person than the one sitting beside him now.
Eventually, Cagali was summoned into the back areas of the NRC. Athrun picked up a magazine, flipping through the pages carelessly as he waited. There was an ad for Natural slaves. He paused, looking at the page, feeling a strong sense of pity for any Natural unfortunate enough to find them-self on PLANT. Well, it might be better than being on Earth with the S3 virus...
After reading a mildly interesting article or two, Athrun checked his watch. Twenty minutes had passed. He glanced up and noticed that a Natural who had been called a few minutes after Cagali was now leaving. He put the magazine aside and stood. He looked down the hall in the general direction where Cagali had disappeared. He walked over the receptionist and said, "Excuse me, does it normally take twenty minutes to get a blood sample?"
The woman perked up in her seat. "Oh, no. Well, sometimes, I suppose. That's not my job really, so I don't know."
"But a blood sample? You've had Naturals in and out all morning. Could you check to see if something is wrong?" he asked.
She nodded and picked up the phone, calling back to one of the rooms to ask about Number O04172. "They said she'll be out in a minute," she told Athrun.
Slightly annoyed, Athrun returned to his seat, and watched another Natural leave. He picked up another magazine, but felt too perturbed to read whatever rubbish was written, and tossed it aside. Fortunately enough, Cagali came out within the next five minutes, one of the medics with her.
Athrun stood up as she made her way over to him. "What took so long?" he asked. Cagali looked down at the floor and ignored Athrun's question.
"She seems to be sensitive to having blood drawn," stated the medic. "She passed out for a minute."
For someone who didn't know Cagali, they wouldn't have seen any emotion portrayed on her. It was suppressed, but Athrun could see a bit of worry and guilt etched on her face, like a child knowing they would be scolded for some wrong doing.
"She says she hadn't been feeling well lately," added the medic. Athrun found this doubt-able. "Would you mind bringing her back in a week?"
"Not a problem. Is that all?" said Athrun. The medic nodded. Athrun looked to his Natural, "Well then, Cagali, shall we go?"
With that, they headed out of the NRC, to the parking lot, Cagali trailing slightly behind Athrun. They climbed into the car, and Athrun looked at her. Cagali had focused her gaze on the floorboard. Athrun didn't even bother to filter the callous from his voice when he spoke. "I think your lack of nutrition has probably left you weak enough to faint from a paper cut. What do you think?"
Cagali opened her mouth to say something, but then closed it without uttering a word. He stared at her for a few more seconds before starting the car. "I've been very patient with you, Cagali. Do you agree?" She didn't respond. Athrun pulled out of the parking lot and onto the street. "I'm trying to figure out what exactly you're thinking, but you won't speak to me. Can't you tell me why you won't eat?" he asked. As usual, she gave no response.
Athrun took a deep breath, to renew his resolve. After a few more minutes of silence in the car, Athrun arrived in front of a restaurant that his friend, Nicol, recommended. This particular place's owner was receptive to Natural customers, though the Naturals were seated in the back, as to not cause problems with the other customers.
The place wasn't busy at 7:30 am, none-the-less, Athrun preferred that Cagali be separated from whatever racist moron there might be. Athrun avoided taking Cagali out like this for that very reason, and was happy to be seated in the back, out of view of the other customers. A Coordinator girl with lilac hair took their drink orders and gave them menus.
Athrun watched Cagali look at the menu. It was step up from refusing food of all sorts. "Pick something to eat." he reminded her. "If not, I'll pick something for you, and we won't leave until you eat."
She responded with a slight nod. "I can pick," she told him.
Athrun couldn't help but smile with relief. "Are you sure?" he pressed her.
"Positive. And I know, I have to eat it, too." Said Cagali.
"You knew exactly what I was going to say," said Athrun, with a bit of amusement.
"Not hard to guess when you say the same things all the time."
Athrun gave Cagali a threatening stare when the waitress came back, to assure that she ordered something.
"I wanna see you clean your plate," he said after the waitress left, "This is the only food I can be guaranteed that you consume for the next two days, since I won't be around to make sure you eat. I don't understand how you can be so masochistic."
"I'll eat, I promise," said Cagali.
Few words passed between them while they waited for the food. The lilac haired girl was back within five minutes with a large tray. In front of Athrun, she placed the vegetable omelet he had ordered. Then she began to unload Cagali's order.
A tall glass of orange juice; a bowl of fruit slices mixed in with yogurt; a stack of four pancakes with fresh berries and whip cream on top; two slices of toast; a bagel with cream cheese spread; a small bowl of oatmeal, a pile of scrambled eggs with cheese, salsa and sour cream; three slices of bacon; two pieces of sausage; and a t-bone steak. Athrun's jaw dropped. His omelet seemed like a snack compared to the feast Cagali had ordered.
The waitress left, and Athrun asked, his eyes wide as saucers, "Cagali, what did you order?"
"Super breakfast for two," she replied.
"You think you can eat all that?" said Athrun.
"You want to fatten me up, right?" Said Cagali. With that, she grabbed her fork and dug into her meal.
By the time Athrun had finished a third of his omelet, she had finished the fruit and yogurt, bagel, and oatmeal as well as half the steak. Athrun watched Cagali as she stuffed her mouth full of food and swallowed, hardly bothering to chew. Hadn't she refused to eat yesterday? The Natural girl sitting across from him had finished the steak, eggs, bacon and sausage, and was generously pouring syrup over her pancakes. Athrun finished his relatively tiny omelet, and felt quite full. Cagali was beginning to slow down. Despite of how little she had eaten over the past few days, Athrun knew there was a limit to how much her stomach could hold. She chewed a bit of pancake slowly, and forced herself to swallow. Although he was grateful to see her eat, this wasn't what he expected.
"Cagali... Are you gunna eat all of that?" Athrun asked again.
"I will," she told him.
She used the orange juice to wash down her mouthful of pancakes, and stuffed another bite in her mouth. She still had a good amount food left.
Athrun put his elbow on the table, leaning his chin on his hand. "I'm glad you rediscovered hunger. But I don't think you can finish that," he told her.
She didn't look up from her food, and took another bite.
"You've got a ways to go," said Athrun. "You don't need to finish it all. You've already eaten so much."
She shook her head. Another bite of pancakes. This one took longer to chew and longer to swallow. She had three pancakes to go. Another swig of orange juice. Another bite of pancakes. Athrun watched her eat slowly for a few minutes. Two pancakes left, and she stopped.
"Are they good?" Athrun asked. She nodded, not looking up from the plate. Athrun reached over with his fork, taking a bite for himself. The syrup and pancakes were incredibly sweet, not quite to his taste. He reached over again to take another bite. Something wet dropped on his hand.
Athrun leaned forward, looking at Cagali's face, which she hid by refusing to look up from her plate of pancakes. Tears rolled down her cheeks.
"Cagali..." said Athrun, at a loss for words. She took another bite and stuffed it in her mouth. "Cagali... stop eating," he said, and pulled the plate away from her.
She hiccupped, even more tears falling down her cheeks. "I'm so sorry, Athrun," she said.
"D... don't cry, here," Athrun stammered, grabbing his napkin and passed it to Cagali.
She covered her face with his napkin. "I'm sorry, I forget where I am. I can't let myself cry here," she said, with another hiccup. "The new NExTA resolution... for Natural Health... The people at the NRC are supposed to check if privately owned Naturals are being abused. They noticed... they said... you're so weak. And you're so skinny. Is your owner feeding you...?" her voice cracked. "I told them it was my fault not yours but they didn't believe me... They checked me for bruises... And I have one here," she pointed to her right shoulder. "I told them it wasn't your fault. I told them you took good care of me. But they said they could take me away from you. And I'd never see you again... and I was... I was so scared that they might..." She hiccuped again, wiping her tears away with the napkin. "I'm so sorry, Athrun. I'm so sorry..."
Athrun couldn't think to do anything other than stare. Then he put both elbows on the table and buried his face in his hands and groaned. His fingers ran through his hair, his fingernails digging into his scalp. "Cagali..." he said her name. "If you were taken away from me, you'd be sold to someone else. You would probably never be able to return to Earth. Everyone you know, you'd probably never see again. The rest of your life you'd be a slave, here. This is PLANT, Cagali. Don't forget where you are."
"I hadn't even thought that far," said Cagali, with another hiccup. "I only thought about you... I don't want to be alone, Athrun... I'm so sorry..."
"You have to eat," Athrun told her, a stern tone in his voice. She reached for the plate he had taken away. "Not now, every day, at least two meals. Preferably three. And next time you decide to do something stupid like starve yourself or hurt yourself or... I don't know, stop breathing, I hope you can remember this."
"I didn't decide to starve myself," she said. "I kept thinking, thinking about everything. Everything they show on television on from Earth, everything that's happened, and I remember everything. Then when I see food, I can't bring myself to eat. I'm not hungry, and if I do eat, I just feel awful."
Cagali never finished the rest of her meal. After she calmed down, Athrun paid the bill and took her home. He changed into his ZAFT uniform, to leave for two days. He took the power cord to his desktop computer and the cable wire to the television and put them in his car. The last thing Cagali needed was to watch videos taken by the ZAFT occupation forces on Earth- short, bloody battles against remaining rebels, overcrowded hospitals full of Naturals infected with S3- which were almost constantly playing on the news.
"You can't let yourself think about the past, Cagali. What's done is done. You have to think about your life here and now. You don't need to be thinking about things that don't affect you, or worrying about things you can't do anything about. Bad things will always happen," he told her. "You have to live your life. No more television. No more internet news. They only show the worst things anyways."
Eleven o'clock. He needed to leave for headquarters soon.
"I wish you were coming back today," said Cagali.
"I'll be back before you know it," said Athrun.
"I know. But still. I don't want to be alone right now," she said.
Athrun looked at the Natural girl whom, when he had first met her, he would have never imagined that there would be any relationship between them. Now, he wanted nothing more than to make her happy, to never see tears in her eyes again. He wanted to hold her in his arms and never let go. Unfortunately, he could only hope that Cagali returned those feelings, even in the slightest sense.
He reached towards her and put a hand on her shoulder. He squeezed her shoulder slightly and gave her an assuring smile. Anything more affectionate than this was pushing it with Cagali. She looked up at him, and Athrun found that he couldn't look away from her eyes. Sandy brown. He wondered why so many Coordinators had their genes edited so that their eyes would be fancier colors. The natural color was beautiful by itself.
Cagali fidgeted slightly. I guess I should expect this, thought Athrun. He was probably making her uncomfortable by being so close. He retracted his hand. To his surprise, she practically jumped forward and wrapped her arms around his waist, clinging with all the strength she had. Her face was pressed against his shoulder, the top of her head underneath his nose. He felt as if something had exploded inside him. An uncontrollable smile spread across his face. Athrun wrapped his arms around Cagali, savoring the warmth of the embrace. How long had it been since she had last let him hold her? Three months?
A few minutes must have passed while he stood there, holding her in his arms, running his hand up and down her back. He couldn't help but think that there was nothing better in the world than this. Even so, other duties called, and he had to push her away.
"I need to leave, Cagali. I'll be back before you know it," he told her again, pulling away.
She stepped back, and nodded, giving him a forlorn look as he headed out the door.
"Don't look so sad, Cagali," said Athrun, still unable to wipe the smile off his face, despite Cagali's cheerless face. "Smile. You look like the sun when you smile, with your blonde hair," he told her.
She smiled, letting out a slight laugh. "The sun? You can't even see if from inside the colonies."
November 14, CE 71
PLANT, Aprillius 4
Athrun Zala returned to Aprillius 4 after an uneventful patrol around four o'clock in the afternoon, and was out of ZAFT headquarters by five. He checked the mail when he arrived home, sifting through for items of interest. A worthless catalog, a page of coupons and advertisements, the water bill. An official looking envelope caught his interest. He opened it on the way to the door.
It was legal information regarding his inheritance. Athrun had never imagined that he, the only living member of the Zala family, would have trouble claiming the family inheritance and accessing trust funds set up in his name. Unfortunately, until recently, he had been underage, and unable to access any of this. Now that he was twenty, he could enter into the legal process to claim his family's assets.
He opened the door to his house and froze. He could hear piano music, notes drifting through the house. She was playing the piano again. The song she played was smooth and relaxing. The tone changed between minor and major as she made variation on a warm melody. Athrun smiled, but did not dare go greet her now, lest she stop playing. He sat in the kitchen, where she couldn't see him, and listened to the music as he read through the details of gaining legal access to his inheritance. He sifted through the rest of the mail, and found a hand addressed, square envelope. He opened it, pulling out the card inside. Gold ribbons ran around the edge of the card, and red, cursive script read:
You are cordially invited to the wedding of
Kira Yamato
and
Lacus Clyne
Monday, December 23, 71
Seating begins at 3:30 pm
Athrun briefly glanced at the details before heading into the other room, where Cagali was playing the piano. He stood behind her, watching. She didn't notice him until he placed the card on the piano, in front of her. She turned to him.
"Welcome back," she said.
"Don't you think you should go?" he asked, pointing to the card. Cagali picked up the card and examined it. "He is your brother. You only have one chance to go to his wedding," said Athrun.
"In the best case scenario," added Cagali, still looking over the card. "I don't know if I can," she handed it to Athrun.
"You have to see him eventually. He e-mails me all the time, you know. Concerned about you," said Athrun. "It's a month away. I have a week's leave from ZAFT right about then, for Christmas. We could go to Orb."
"I'll think about it," said Cagali.
AN: Emo Cagali is really hard to write... just thought I'd tell you.
And I have a survey on my profile (the web address is at the bottom of my profile page) about what characters the readers would like to see survive/not in this story. If you're feeling up to it, I'd love feedback.