Disclaimer: Gundam Seed, not mine.
A/n: Okay, so it's been like three months or so since I've made my existence known here in FF. net. But I've been suffering from writer's block again. Which is why I'm writing this story. And hopefully, I won't get the block on this one. So tell me if it's okay, okay? Geez, am I getting repetitive…
Chapter 1 The Accidental Rendezvous
It was long after midnight, but the city park in Lancaster Avenue, Onogoro City, Orb, wasn't completely empty yet, though heavy rain had been pouring for hours.
A little girl, who looked to be about five years old, was sitting on one of those wooden park benches, staring at her wet, motionless feet. She had shoulder-length blonde hair, which at the moment looked straighter than it actually was.
If a casual observer were to look at this child closely, he/she would notice that her trembling lips were turning blue, her small frail-looking body was shivering, and – though one would have to do a double take – the girl was crying in silence. The reason? Well, that'll be known soon.
And who better to know first than a little boy who was walking by?
The said little boy, who also looked like he was no older than the blonde, was taking careful steps, while holding a small umbrella in one hand. He passed by the figure on the park bench without noticing her. After taking a few more steps, he stopped, turned around, and quickly put his umbrella over the girl.
"What are you doing without an umbrella? And at this time of night too," the boy said, almost sounding like a parent though he was only five.
"Look, you're freezing," he went on, taking off his blue sweater and placing it on her.
The girl's head tilted upward, looking at the blue-haired boy through amber-colored eyes, like it was perfectly normal to be soaked head to toe in a park at dawn.
"I don't care," was all she said.
The boy was taken aback. "You don't care? Why are you here anyway?"
"Ran away," she answered.
"Why?"
"Why are you here?" the blond said pointedly. "I won't tell you why I'm here if you don't tell me why you're here."
The boy, who had vivid green eyes, hesitated. But he figured he had to tell someone, and in this case, a girl - who didn't know better than he did - was the only one he could confide in.
"I decided to take a walk," he said. "My parents were fighting when I went out of the house." Then he shrugged, as if to say, "That's it."
"Oh," the blonde said in return. She stared at her slippers again. "So I guess I'll have to tell you why I'm here."
Before the raven-haired five year old could say anything in response, the amber-eyed girl spoke.
"I ran away because of my father," she started. "He took my brother with him somewhere, just after dinnertime tonight, and when he came back…" she trailed off, not really wanting to say more.
"When your dad came back, what happened?"
"My dad… He said he gave Kira away to an orphanage. Just like that," the blonde continued, snapping her fingers when she said "that".
"Why?" the boy asked for the third time that night.
The girl he was talking to shook her head. "I dunno. All Father said was 'Cagalli, you wouldn't understand it yet.'"
"I-," the boy started to say.
"I hate him. I hate Father," the girl, Cagalli, said, cutting the boy off. "I hate him!" she screamed.
"Hey, I'm sure he has some kind of reason why he sent your brother to the orphanage," the boy said, trying to calm her down.
"Why does he have to take Kira there? He has a real family," Cagalli answered. "Only kids without families are sent to the orphanage."
The boy didn't have an answer to that.
An awkward silence surrounded both of them. The only sound that could be heard was the ongoing downpour of the heavy rain.
"What's your name?" the blonde asked, breaking the silence after a few minutes.
"I'm Athrun Zala," the boy replied, holding out his hand.
"Cagalli Yula Attha," the blonde said, shaking Athrun's extended hand.
"You're princess of Orb, aren't you?"
"Don't call me a princess," she said testily.
"Why not?"
"It makes me sound all girly, and I'm not really all that girly."
"Oh, okay," Athrun said slowly, surprised that the princess didn't want to be addressed as one.
"I've heard about your dad from my father," Cagalli said. "He owns that big building I always pass by on the way to school."
"Well, uh, yeah, but that isn't all he owns," the green-eyed boy said, at first shaky, but proud towards the end of the sentence.
"Hey, it stopped raining," the blonde announced, holding her palm in front of her, trying to feel for raindrops, if there was still any.
Athrun put his umbrella down. "Yeah, it has stopped."
He sat down next to Cagalli, forgetting that the bench was still wet from the downpour. As soon as he realized that, he jumped out of it like it was filled with a hundred volts of electricity.
"Oh no, my shorts are getting wet!" he groaned.
Cagalli couldn't help but laugh.
Athrun frowned. "Hey, it's not funny!"
After a while the blonde stopped laughing. She gave Athrun a serious look.
"Hey, can you be my substitute brother?"
"Substitute brother?"
"Can you?" she persisted.
"Okay. Why not?" Athrun said.
Cagalli stood up and gave him a hug. "Thanks!" she said happily, like a grown-up had offered to take her to the carnival or something.
And at that exact moment, the sun started to spread its early morning light on the east.
"Cagalli, get off me! I don't want to get cooties, you know!"
And so was the start of Athrun and Cagalli's unbreakable allegiance of friendship.
A/n: Well, call it a prologue if you will since it isn't all that long. And I promise I'll try updating on my other fics as soon as I can get rid of my writer's block.
