Disclaimers on the characters of Gundam Seed/Destiny. They are the intellectual property of Mitsuo Fukuda-sensei and I only borrowed them to fulfill my muse's desire.
Beautiful,
By Winterwing3000
You look at the mirror with your eyes closed. Your breath is trapped in your throat. Your mind reeled at the possibilities of what is reflected back at you. Your knees are banging with anticipation, hands sweating with fear clenched between your nails and your palm.
Slowly, steadily, fearfully, you open your eyes and wince at the bright lights glaring down at you. They put you in the spotlight and you see the imperfection of your self-esteem, the beast of your self-hatred, the phantom of your fears. And in that tiny, obscure, and white corner of your eyes, you see the small speck of what others call you.
Your eyes linger on that fragment, observing it with alert, curiosity, and detail. You seek the answer seen by everyone but unknown to you, and only you.
With clouded eyes and a veiled mind, you see nothing but the disgust, conceit, and nothing of you.
Short, colorless, stringy hair. Freckled skin across your collarbone. Narrow, amber eyes of glass. Thin, pale lips pursed and the words hidden within the tip of the sharp pink tongue. Rounded ears peeking from underneath the tangles.
Limbs too long, hands too big. Feet too small, head too angular. Nails dirty, skin dark, eyebrows thick.
Everything is too big, small, long, short, dirty, pale, dark, thick, thin. This imperfection bothers you immensely. You are too ashamed of this thing, person, beast. Tears overflow from your eyes and they fill that speck, that little white corner. You don't see what other's see anymore.
So everything breaks.
And suddenly, colors splash all over you.
He steps through the doors from the colors. His arms reach out, and his fingers curl around your hips. His warmth seeps into your body. It peels off the scars of your inner disfigurations, the ugliness of your self-esteem, your self-hatred, your fears. And it washes your eyes clear of everything you see.
You soak in his presence and it envelops you, your limbs, hands, feet, head, eyes, nose, mouth ears, and cheeks. You as a whole undergo a cleansing. It is refreshing and daunting at the same time.
You tell him so. But he only pulls you closer.
And then his breath enters your lips and it fills you completely. You gasp and struggle at the new life and you drown. But he saves you and pries open everything about you. You panic and fight against it.
Too ugly, too imperfect, too scared.
He holds your arms and tilts your chin. Tears cascade down your cheeks and sobs choke your words. The walls that flew up before crack under his gentle and all-knowing gaze. The walls chip at the sweetness and sincerity of his smile.
The words you yearned desperately to hear for so long are uttered at last.
"You are beautiful."
The walls fade.
And you are reborn.
AN: Because every girl, no matter how confident we may appear on the outside, are always insecure about who we are on the inside. And I thought Cagalli must have thought about this once, especially when she is raised as a princess where words are often for sugar-coating.
Hope you enjoyed my first non-descript Cagalli x Athrun.
Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!