Disclaimer: I do not own this series
Fine Like This
The elevator stops; the doors slide open. She enters and catches his gaze, vaguely aware of the other people in the room. Only he retains his poise while the rest tense up at the presence of the lioness. She smiles kindly at those in the elevator before stepping inside.
A twitching lip. Good morning, Princess. How are you?
An arched eyebrow. Oh, same old, same old. You?
A nod of the head. Fine, nothing to complain about.
A tilted head. Good to hear.
The elevator dings, and all those around them go on their merry way, leaving her and him alone.
One, two seconds later, the elevator dings again. It is his floor.
His sleeve touches hers, and the back of his hand caresses her fingers. For just a moment, he takes her hand in his and squeezes. I'll take my leave now.
He lets go and goes out; he does not look back.
The elevator doors close, leaving her to herself. She purses her lips in amusement, and she shakes her head, smiling.
"Subtle, Athrun. Real subtle."
Something beeps.
Her head snaps up, and she groans, "Typical, just typical."
She tries to find that something. Bushes - no. Bench - no. Trees - no. Where - ?
She steels her gaze and frowns deeply. "You can't be -"
She looks at her watch, her beloved watch, and sure enough, the stupid beeping is coming from said watch. She grits her teeth, "Seriously?"
"Well you can't expect me to put transmitters and detectors in every place in Orb, can you?" His voice is calm.
She narrows her eyes. This is so unfair.
He glares at her. No, it's not. You're just being difficult!
She sticks her tongue out. You're being difficult!
He raises both eyebrows. Resorting to childish tactics, are we?
She sticks her tongue out again. You're childish!
He sighs. Everyone's getting worried, you know.
She lowers her gaze. Sorry.
He looks around, and he sees the twinkling lights of the lamps. He looks up, and he sees the countless stars sprinkled all over the night sky and the beautiful crescent of the moon. He basks in the beauty and serenity of the evening atmosphere. He tilts his head. "I guess I could let you off for a few more minutes."
She looks up, and after a second, she narrows her eyes. You -
He shrugs. "I'll cover for you. But only five minutes, Cagalli."
She chews on her lower lip. He turns on his heel but she stops him by grabbing his shirt tail. Wait.
He arches an eyebrow at her direction. She puffs out her cheeks. "Stay with me for a while?"
"Kisaka - "
She only looks at him.
"And Kira - "
She raises her eyebrows and purses her lips.
He relents. Alright.
He doesn't care about the cavalry that is to come.
He sits with her on the bench, and her head rests on his shoulder. He lets her do so for much, much longer than five minutes.
She jolts in her chair, reeling from the thud her office doors made when they were slammed just a few seconds ago. She looks up and meets his heated gaze. Her eyebrows scrunch together, and she stands up, placing her pen neatly on the table.
He stomps towards her, and she notices the papers in his hand. She cannot help but cringe. Of course, she knows what's in those papers, and she knows that he might - will - not be happy with her once he sees it.
He not so gently puts the papers on top of her desk. What the hell is this?
She glances at the headline for a second and her eyes meet his. She sighs, "Athrun."
"Cagalli. Explain." He demands. He isn't shouting but his voice is steely, and she winces.
"It's just - I - I mean..." She trails off, not able to put words into sentences, or rather, she can't even form words at all. So she just settles for, "Athrun..."
"Cagalli," he sighs exasperatedly. "You don't need to do this. I've already told you, you don't need to risk anything for me. I can take care of myself."
"Yes, but..."
"No buts," he says. "Trust me, okay?"
She nods demurely, and she stares at her shoes like a child would when scolded. His expression softens immensely, and he wraps his arms around her. She grasps on his sleeves like a toddler, and she hates that she's comparing herself to a baby. Maybe she is a baby.
"I appreciate the help," he tells her. "But I don't need you to do anything unnecessary, especially if it's for me. I care about you, Cagalli, and you care about me, but I know how you are when it comes to the people you care about. I can't have you sacrificing your life's work just to save my neck."
She nods into the crook of his neck, but she whispers stubbornly, "A puppy can't clean up its own mess." (1)
"Ah, that is true," he says. "But I'm no puppy."
She smiles, "No, you are not."
She is bothered. Yes, Cagalli Yula Athha is very much bothered, and she just realizes how much she dislikes brunettes with wide blue eyes, a large bust and swaying hips. Especially when that description of a certain woman is working very closely with a blue haired man who has emerald green eyes.
"What are you staring at? Or glaring at, to be precise."
Cagalli snaps up from her train of thought and meets emerald eyes. She blanches.
He arches a delicate eyebrow, and his lips twist into a small smile. "Were you spying on me?"
His smile widens as she reddens and sputters for an answer, "N-No, of course not! And if I was spying, I would do a far better job!"
"Then what are you doing standing here in the middle of the sixth floor lobby?" He challenges.
She lifts her chin up defiantly, "Who says I can't?"
Athrun raises his eyebrows, and Cagalli flushes. She looks away, "Who is that girl anyway? The one I always see you talking to? The - the brunette with big eyes?"
"Oh Jessica?" Athrun says. "She works down in research."
"You guys seem awfully close," Cagalli mutters.
"Oh no, she was just helping me with security details for your conference next week," Athrun points out. "Gave me a report just now."
"I thought she's in research." Cagalli narrows her eyes.
"With a specialty in Eurasian politics, traditions and culture." Athrun chuckles.
"Oh."
"Cagalli, are you jealous?" Athrun taunts.
"What? No!" Cagalli gives out a nervous giggle. She scoffs, "Jealous? Why would I be jealous? We're not even together...anymore, so there's nothing for me to be, uh, jealous about."
"Huh." Athrun purses his lips in amusement, and turns on his heel. "Well then, I'll leave you to your standing."
Cagalli blinks once. Twice. She tilts her head.
"Oh and Chief Representative? You still look adorable when you blush." He smiles that annoying smile of his that makes Cagalli - and every other girl - go weak in the knees.
Cagalli blushes bright red, "Damn you, Zala."
She still hates dresses, especially the long silky ones that drag themselves all over the floor. She also hates the unnecessary make-up Myrna insists she put on. And of course, let us not forget her hatred for killer high heels that make her knees go weak in the worst sense. But whenever she sees his face, his expression, the way his eyes light up as she walks towards him as if she's the only woman in the room, the way his lips turn into a smile as if she's the only thing that makes him happy...
"May I?" He extends a hand. She takes it, and together, they glide on the dance floor, their eyes never leaving each other's.
...the way his hand squeezes and caresses hers as if she's the only thing that matters, she thinks that everything is alright, and she thinks that the dress she is wearing is for him and she doesn't care about the frivolousness she is put under.
A knock on the door.
She ignores it.
Another knock.
"Cagalli, Myrna asked me to check up on you...you've been in there for an hour. Cagalli?"
She only stares at her twisted hands. She swallows, but she doesn't answer.
"Cagalli, open the door. Cagall!"
She looks away from the door, and she fidgets on the toilet seat. She tries to stop her tears, but she finds that she cannot.
"Damn it, Cagalli!"
He opens the door to the bathroom forcefully, and he doesn't care about the repairs or the fact that he just committed vandalism in the home of ORB's princess.
Cagalli sobs even harder, biting her lip to muffle the sounds. She shakes her head, refusing to look at him.
"Cagalli." He kneels down beside her and holds her hand. Still, she refuses to meet his gaze. "Cagalli, it's not your fault."
"He's dead, Athrun," she murmurs through her tears. "He's dead because of me."
He wraps his arms around her shaking body. "But Richards did not die in vain. He died protecting you, you who will make sure the peace we have all worked so hard for will remain for many, many years to come."
"But, but..."
"Hey, Richards wouldn't want to see you like this," Athrun tells her, patting her back.
"I don't want to lose anyone else, Athrun," Cagalli sniffs, looking up. "I lost my mom, my dad, Ahmed, my friends...now I lost my bodyguard. I can't - I just can't."
"Sh," Athrun whispers, holding her close to him. "You're not going to lose anyone else, okay? You won't."
"You can't promise me that, Athrun." Cagalli grips his shirt.
"I know I can't," Athrun says. "But I'm still here, and I won't leave you alone as long as I am able to. That, I can promise you."
"It's two in the morning," Athrun reproaches.
"Last few papers..." She tells him, her eyes not leaving the papers on her desk.
Athrun sighs, "You're still the same. As always."
"You make it sound like it's a bad thing," Cagalli says.
"Well, if you look at it this way, it is a bad thing," Athrun points out.
Cagalli finally looks up. "I'm just doing my job."
"So are the other millions of people in ORB," Athrun raises an eyebrow. "Except, they do it during the day. They don't do the work that's due next week during the time when they are supposed to be sleeping."
"Just because it's due next week doesn't mean I shouldn't do it now," Cagalli argues.
"Don't get philosophical with me, Cagalli." Athrun crosses his arms. "We all know that at two in the morning, you should be over there in that bed fast asleep, and yet you are not."
"So are you."
"Only because I have to check up on you."
"Excuses."
"Cagalli," Athrun sighs. "You shouldn't stay up late all the time. It's bad for you health."
"I'll be fine."
"Cagalli."
"Last!"
"Cagalli."
She puts the pen beside the neatly stacked papers and stands up.
She is in a tank top that is tucked into her shorts and sneakers. He is in a dress shirt with the sleeves folded up to above his elbows and jeans. And they were strolling side by side at the fair.
There aren't any hand holding or arm wrapping or hugging or kissing or any of that sort. They are just two people, a girl and a boy, or rather a woman and a man, enjoying their day off, spending time away from their rigorous work.
She forces him towards one of the game booths to play, and sure enough, he wins. He glances at her, and he asks her to choose a prize.
Her eyes become bright, and she points giddily at a large stuffed lion, a golden creature with a mane around its neck.
She spends the rest of the day carrying the present in her arms, the wide smile never leaving her face.
There aren't any hugs or kisses or anything that would insinuate that they are a couple, but she is more than satisfied with the lion he gives her to remind her of him.
She has already told him over and over to go away, to forget her and move on. With Meyrin, perhaps.
But he doesn't, and she has given up on his stubbornness a long time ago.
However, she thinks that it is alright like this, alright that he doesn't listen, that he never listens, because she knows that she will never listen either.
And she finds out that she doesn't quite like him being with redheads, or brunettes, or blondes - other blondes, or any kind of hair color there is anyway .
Besides, she'd rather have it a little at a time, than have none at all. That is one of their many similarities, she thinks, and she is scared at how much they have in common, yet she also takes pride in that fact. It only proves how compatible they are and how compatible they could be had they been able to be together, or rather how compatible they will be when they become a couple in five, ten, fifteen years.
Cagalli stays positive these days; she learns that this is the easier way to bear the burden, to remain hopeful and to never give up on what could be, on what will be.
Yes, Cagalli Yula Athha knows that she can't have it all. It will be selfish of her to believe so. But it isn't wrong for her to keep on hoping and loving and waiting for the day her dreams all come true.
So she waits, waits for the day she and he can go back to the same home. Maybe there will be a little boy or a little girl with wide doe eyes.
She states she chooses her country above all else at all times, but she knows that this is not true. What she really feels cannot be denied, after all, especially not by her own self.
So she goes on with the ebb of life, day by day, one step at a time for she knows that someday, they'll be arriving at the same home, and there will be a little boy or a little girl with wide doe eyes. And she's fine.
She's fine like this.
(1) This conversation came from Suits
I am planning a second chapter to this, told from Athrun's point of view, but I don't know how long that'll take me to do, if I could do it at all. In any case, I hope you all enjoyed this and please share me your thoughts on this story!
Happy Birthday to Athrun Zala! :D
Hope you guys enjoyed the read!
Thank you very much!
Cheers!
~Aly