A Brand New Start

Full Summary:

AU, slightly OOC: Cagalli Yula Athha and Athrun Zala were best friends at Archangel University. They were really close friends that were almost always together; their friends and classmates speculated that they were more than friends. Cagalli had developed feelings for Athrun during the two years they've known each other for. She had believed that Athrun felt the same way, based on his behaviour around her. Cagalli's belief was correct; Athrun did indeed have feelings for her. However, before Athrun could confess his feelings for Cagalli, he had to deal with a past that recently returned into his life. Because of this, Athrun became cold and distant. Worried, Cagalli tried to help Athrun and support him, but Athrun kept being more cold and distant towards her. After a few months of this, Cagalli couldn't take Athrun's behaviour anymore. The two fought and in the end, Cagalli was emotionally hurt. Upset and hurt, Cagalli decided to cut Athrun out of her life. The two stopped talking for a year. Athrun disappeared from many peoples' lives. Now…a year later..Athrun came back…


A young woman came home from a day with friends. She was perfectly content. Her life was going great. She has good future ahead of her, great friends and a loving family. It has been a year since she graduated from Archangel University. With a degree in political relations, she was ready to follow in her father's footsteps and become the next leader of ORB. This young woman was Cagalli Yula Athha, the adopted daughter of ORB's current leader, Uzumi Nara Athha. She went to her room to check her e-mail to see if there was anything important that she needed to read. She remembered an old e-mail account that she once had and thought she should check it, just in case some of her friends forgot she had changed her e-mail address. She knew that something was telling her to check that old account. After signing in and taking a quick glance at her inbox, Cagalli gasped. In her inbox, was an e-mail from her ex-friend: Athrun Zala. She didn't know what to do. She wasn't sure if she should read the e-mail from him. It had been one whole year since the two stopped talking to one another. She remembered the pain she felt after he said those harsh words to her. All she did back then was be there for him. She was a good friend to him. Even though she loved him, she still remained a true, loyal friend to him. She once took a chance and confessed her feelings to him, believing that he felt the same. He didn't reciprocate, but she was certain that he had feelings for her. Even after that failed confession, their relationship never changed. Cagalli never understood what changed the Athrun she once knew. After a few minutes of dwelling in the past, Cagalli decided to just read it. It didn't matter what it said to her. Athrun was nothing to her now; he was just a thing of the past. Her life was going the way she wanted. She opened it and slowly read the message:

Cagalli,

I want to apologize for what happened between us last year. I was the biggest ass ever. You did so much for me and I blew you off. I really hope we can be friends again and start over. I'm sorry for the drama and I'm sorry for blaming you. It was never your fault. It was my own selfish self…I'm the one to blame. I really want to make amends. If it's alright with you, would you like to go for lunch together and hang out? I'll buy.

Athrun.

Tears slowly streamed down her cheeks. She didn't understand why she was crying. All the hate she had for Athrun disappeared. She didn't know what she was feeling. It was a mixture of surprise, sadness and happiness. Cagalli was still doubtful about Athrun's apology, but she couldn't help but feel happy to see an apology from him after all this time.

"Cagalli!" a familiar voice called from downstairs.

Her twin brother's voice distracted her from the e-mail.

"I-I'm in my..my room, Kira," Cagalli managed to say in between sobs.

Kira didn't like the sound of Cagalli's voice. He immediately went upstairs to her room and let himself in.

"Cagalli, what's wrong?" Kira asked as he went to comfort his sister.

"This…" Cagalli said as she pointed to Athrun's message on her screen, "it's from..it's from Athrun…"

"Seriously?" Kira said with a hint of anger, "if he says any more things that hurt you, I will really give him a piece of my mind. He's got some nerve contacting you again after what had happened."

Cagalli shook her head. "No, Kira…Athrun..Athrun actually apologized…this whole time, I thought it was all my fault. I had learned to accept it over the last year. I got over him; I forgot about him. But I…I didn't expect him to contact me again and actually apologizing…"

Cagalli let her tears continue to fall as Kira read through the e-mail Athrun had sent to her.

"Wow…now that sounds like the Athrun I used to know," Kira said, "but what happened? I haven't really spoken to him ever since he hurt you…Never really forgave him."

"I don't know either, Kira," Cagalli said, "but…this apology…is it real? Can I really believe that he means that? I really don't know…"

"I don't know either, Cagalli," Kira said, "it's really hard to say. Of course, I'm in no position to tell you what to do…it's up to you."

"You're really no help Kira," Cagalli said and laughed.

"Well, what do you want to do, Cagalli?" Kira asked.

Cagalli thought about it. Did she want to associate with the person who hurt her so deeply again? Deep down, she still wanted to know why. She wanted to know why this happened. What happened to the Athrun she thought she knew? And most importantly…she wanted to see him again. She wanted to see the Athrun she once knew because after all…she still loved him.

"I am doubtful about his apology," Cagalli said, " but…I will accept it. I can forgive him, but I cannot forget the hurt he inflicted. Besides, why not see where this goes? Of course, I won't be opening up to him again like I did once before. I'll be keeping my guard up."

"Well…" Kira said slowly, "I hope you'll be okay. But remember, your big brother will be here for you when you need it. If you need someone to kick that guy's ass, don't hesitate to call me."

Cagalli raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me? I'm the older one here. And I can kick his ass myself"

Kira laughed. "That is true, but I'm still the older one."

Cagalli glared at him and punched him lightly on the arm. "Besides, don't you want to know why Athrun changed so suddenly? Don't you want to know why your best friend disappeared from your life?"

Kira thought about it for a moment. "As a matter of fact, I do. I still don't understand all this and what had happened. I swear he had feelings for you too."

Cagalli's heart skipped a beat and she felt happy that even her own brother believed Athrun had feelings for her, but then she felt her heart plummet. She remembered the hurt from a year ago. She looked down. Kira noticed a sudden change in the atmosphere between the two of them.

"Ah, I'm sorry Cagalli!" Kira apologized quickly, "I didn't mean to-"

"It's okay, Kira," Cagalli said and looked at him, smiling, "I'm okay."

Kira pulled his sister into an embrace. "I'll always be here for you. We're practically family."

Cagalli nodded and hugged her brother back. Her stomach rumbled in response and she blushed in embarrassment.

Kira laughed and released his sister.

"Looks like someone is getting hungry. I'll go to the kitchen and have the kitchen staff prepare us dinner. Lord Uzu—I mean, father, will be back soon," Kira said, "I'm still not used to calling Lord Uzumi 'father'…"

Cagalli laughed. It had been 3 years since her father took her brother in. Kira had lost his parents in a car accident in Heliopolis. It had been tough on the young man, but he managed to pull through. It was a huge shock to have found out that Athrun's best friend was her twin brother.

"Sounds good, Kira," Cagalli replied, "I'll finish this e-mail and meet you in the dining hall after."

Kira nodded and left his sister's room. Cagalli went back to her chair and sat pondering about what to write in response. After a moment of thought, she began typing.

Athrun,

First of all, sorry for the late response. I've been busy finishing my degree and stuff. Second of all, I don't really use this account anymore. And finally, I'm quite surprised to see an e-mail from you. It seems this apology is authentic, but you never know…you might go back to being your old, cold self again. I don't really know if I should accept your apology…but for now, you might be forgiven.

Cagalli

Cagalli re-read her e-mail. She couldn't help but add a little coldness to her e-mail. After all, this was the man that crushed her. She couldn't afford to lose again, not after all the work she put into forgetting that guy and moving on and becoming stronger then before. She was happy now. That was the important thing. Satisfied with the message, she hit "send", put her laptop on standby and went downstairs to join Kira, and possibly her father, for dinner.

After dinner, Cagalli went back to her room to look at her notes and books her father had loaned her on political relations and the world. However, her mind couldn't focus on the task at hand. She was really curious to see if Athrun had replied back. Part of her doubted he would respond right away. He wasn't the same person anymore. And even if he responded, it might be cold and hurtful. But another part of her was hopeful. She went to her laptop and "woke" it up from standby. A notification window popped up saying that she had a new e-mail. Her heart skipped a beat. Cagalli opened her inbox and she felt her heart jump in delight. There, sitting in her inbox, was a message from Athrun. She smiled, but then quickly frowned.

"Get it together Cagalli!" she screamed at herself, "remember what he did to you. You shouldn't be happy to receive a message from him!"

But no matter how many times she scolded herself, she knew what her true feelings were. Cagalli took a deep breath and opened the e-mail. Her eyes widened slightly in surprise as she read his message.

Cagalli,

I had a feeling you were ignoring me too. But that's okay, I deserved it…I thought I knew what I was doing, but in the end, ruined a lot of things in the process. But let's not dwell in the past and relive the drama. I really am sorry for everything and I really do hope you'll forgive me. Come on, let's meet up and hang out like we used to?

Athrun

Cagalli thought for a moment and began typing. She re-read her message and sent it. One minute later, Athrun responded back. For the next few hours, they exchanged e-mails. Cagalli eventually decided to retire for the night as it was close to two in the morning. She had no idea she was conversing with Athrun for this long. It almost felt like old times. Cagalli decided it was okay to give him her new number and e-mail address. She sent one final e-mail to Athrun telling him to text her or to reply back to the e-mail address she currently uses. Two minutes after sending the final e-mail, her phone beeped. Cagalli couldn't help but smile as she knew who it was. She sat on her bed and grabbed her phone from her bed stand to read the text.

Hey, it's Athrun. I had a feeling you changed numbers…

Cagalli laughed. "Well, you did deserve it."

She texted him back and before she knew it, they continued texting each other for the next 2 hours. At 4 AM, Cagalli decided to call it a night. It was really late and she was really tired. She had a big day ahead of her as she had agreed to meeting Athrun in the afternoon for lunch that day. She sighed as she lay in her bed, thinking.

"Stupid Cagalli!" she screamed at herself, "you let him do it again! Better be on guard when you see him later, got that?"

She mentally reminded herself to be on guard multiple times before she finally drifted off to sleep.


Author's Note: Well how was it? I actually got the idea to write this fic after something similar to this storyline happened in my life 3-4 years ago. There is a difference between this fanfic and what happened in my life: I fell in love with someone else =) I know I should be working on my Christmas fic that I started last year…but I promise, the next part is almost ready to be uploaded! So, keep checking =) You'll like the next installment I came up with for that fic. Until then, read and review!

And also…if you all don't mind, let's keep the AsuCaga flame alive okay? It seems it's not as bright as it once was before…and with the new GS Destiny remastered out, I feel that we gotta keep the flame burning more than ever now =D So please, if you all get the chance, please visit my fansite/shrine that's dedicated to them and also, join the fanlisting? Thanks! 3 If I get more members, I'll have the final part posted to this new fic faster, as well as the third part to the xmas fic =) Go to my profile for the link 3