AN: This is my first story so I don't know if it will be good or not. We'll see I guess.
Disclaimer: If I owned Gundam SEED/GS Destiny, Athrun and Cagalli would be married but they aren't so that should say something for you. If that wasn't clear enough, I DO NOT OWN THE CHARACTERS OF GS! THEY BELONG TO THE WHOEVER CREATED THEM!
FushionAC: Well, I don't think Lacus knows for sure herself XD. All she knows is that her marriage isn't going smoothly and recently she finds it hard to talk to Athrun on a personal level. She feels that he thinks that she isn't successful enough and since she knows that Cagalli's condition is worse, if she asks Cagalli to live with Athrun, he'll mentally compare them and think that she, herself isn't that bad after all. Hope that clears it up. Sorry, I didn't realize that it was confusing.
Azetta: Aww, thanks for liking the change in Lacus. I guess I'm tired of her being the perfect girl and all that. I felt like in Destiny, she was so fake. I mean, she spoke pretty words yet relied on other people's protection. So ya, anyways, Lacus's character will change gradually towards the end of the story.
FIRE LADY OREN: Thank you thank you thank you! You don't know how much your reviews mean to me!
animadix2011: Well here it is!
Truth be told, Athrun didn't know why he was in such a rush to get home this particularly home. He carelessly stuffed all the important looking papers strewn across his desk into his briefcase. He left his office in such a hurry that he almost knocked his secretary over. He mumbled an apology at her briefly before continuing his way.
Dearka raised his eyebrows at him. "Hey Athrun, going on a date? Who's the lucky lady eh?"
Athrun didn't appear to hear him. If he did, he didn't show it.
Yzak scowled at Dearka as he walked by his desk. "I thought Athrun's married," He remarked sourly in a sarcastic tone.
Dearka shook his head with a grin. "Tsk tsk Yzak, couldn't you tell that there was trouble in paradise a long time ago?" He said in an annoying sing-song voice.
Yzak glared back, "If you ask me, there was never a 'paradise'." As Dearka gave another one of his coy smiles, he quickly retorted, "And frankly put, I don't spend all my time staring at Athrun. If you're so concerned of his personal matters that you're leaving your work behind, I highly suggest marrying him!"
Dearka simply smirked back and said, "First of all, I am perfectly straight. Secondly, I think someone is a little grumpy. Jealous of Athrun Yzak? For you I suggest getting laid."
Dearka watched with amusement as Yzak's face slowly got redder and puffier. Soon enough, Yzak slammed his fist on Dearka's desk and practically yelled, "Why in the world would I be jealous of Athrun Zala? I certainly wouldn't want to spend all my spare time running that stuffy old shop full of junk! And honestly, why in the world would I want someone like Lacus Clyne as a wife? If I were him, I'd strangle her already!"
Dearka simply ignored this outburst and continued talking, "There's a girl in this somewhere Yzak, I bet you that."
Yzak rolled his eyes, "So you're saying that Zala's running that old shop of his for a girl? Man, I never knew he was this pathetic."
Dearka shook his head and sighed, "No no no! Let's be honest here, nobody ever passes by that shop of his. I'm talking about now. Did you see that big smile on his face just a while ago?" Dearka grinned, "I'm 300% sure that there's a girl in this and her name isn't Lacus Clyne."
Yzak glared again, "Are you done your gossip yet?" He scowled deeply, "Get back to work idiot!"
Dearka gave a wry smile. "Yzak Joule, Yzak Joule. I know you... You act tough but inside you care. We both do. Now, Athrun's been our pal for the longest time and from our understanding, we both know that Lacus Clyne and him don't match."
Yzak decided to ignore this and stalked off briskly. Once he was alone. He sighed to himself and run a free hand through his silver hair. He didn't knowe what about Lacus Clyne rubbed him the wrong way. Whenever she was mentioned, he felt a sickening feeling creep up in his stomach. She reminded him of... Nevermind, he would not go back there. He swore to himself to never think of her again.
As much as Yzak convinced himself that he didn't give a damn about Athrun Zala's life, at some level, he was genuinely concerned about his... ahem... friend. Even though he didn't know why in the world why someone like Athrun spent all of his spare time
crammed in that stuffy old shop of his, he still felt some kind of respect toward Athrun enough to be concerned of his personal problems. He felt his temper rise as his mind wandered to Lacus Clyne again. After this little soliloquy of his, he mentally cursed himself for worrying too much.
As Athrun eased the front door open, he heard a soft tinkling melody. He smiled to himself as he recognized the sweet melody. He followed the sound of chimes to the living room. A soft smile etched against his lips as he saw Cagalli curled up on a couch with her knees tucked under her chin. He studied the petite blonde carefully and gazed fondly at the tiny music box clutched in her grasp. Seeing that she kept the music box filled his senses with a tingling warmth he dared not to decipher further. He chuckled as she wrinkled her nose in discomfort as her bangs tickled her face. He held up his hand slowly and brushed her bangs out of her face. As her expression relaxed, he felt a peaceful feeling settle in his stomach. He reached over and carefully shut the lid of the music box. The tinkling sound faded away.
As soon as he did that, however, he instantly regretted it as Cagalli's golden eyelashes fluttered rapidly a few times pulsing like a butterfly's wing. A few seconds later, they unveiled revealing a breathtaking pair of liquid amber orbs. For a moment, neither of them moved. Before Athrun had time to further marvel at those exquisite eyes which beheld so much emotion in them, he caught himself and quickly moved away.
"I'm sorry for waking you," Athrun apologized softly and lowered his head in embarrassment. Cagalli rubbed her eyes groggily and her lips parted into a slight yawn.
Gradually her eyes settled on Athrun. She gasped and her cheeks flushed as she realized that she wasn't alone.
Athrun smiled gently at her. "I guess I owe you many apologies now. I'm sorry for behaving very impertinently when you... first came. I'm sorry for not helping you settle down completely and I'm also sorry for leaving right after you just got here. I'm also..." He was cut off as Cagalli had pressed her finger to his lips abruptly.
She waved her other hand lightly and laughed. Her eyes sparkled pleasantly, "No need to apologize!" She smiled.
Athrun shook his head, "If I could find one fault in you it would be your propensity to forgive too easily." He smiled to show that he was joking.
Cagalli grinned back and shrugged her shoulders, "Is that so?"
Athrun nodded slightly. "If you forgive too easily than you allow yourself to be hurt too easily."
Cagalli shrugged again, "There's nobody I know to hurt me..." She remarked lightly slightly trailing off at the end.
Unexpectedly, Athrun moved closer to her and wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug. "Don't ever say that," He mumbled fiercely. His voice was muffled by her hair, "More people care than you think."
After a few seconds, he released her and smiled. A blush had worked its way to Cagalli's cheeks again. Athrun cursed himself inwardly. He usually didn't go around hugging strangers but somehow he felt as if he knew Cagalli for a long time. When he was little, his mother told him that simple things make people the happiest like hugs. Ever since then, hugging had sort of became a habit to him. However, this hug felt... different... in a good way. He never noticed how comfortable her embrace was until the second he pulled away.
Cagalli opened her mouth but decided not to say anything.
Athrun blushed and said, "A hug makes everything better don't you think?" quickly to cover up his embarrassment.
Cagalli twisted a strand of golden hair around a finger. She bit her lip. She didn't why she suddenly found it hard to talk to Athrun. She was perfectly fine with him two days ago in his shop. Maybe it was the fact that he was the husband of her ex-friend? She looked up at Athrun and shook her head teasingly.
Athrun gave her another one of those dazzling smiles of his. Cagalli smiled back but she was sure that there was no way it could ever match up to his.
After dinner that Athrun made, he suddenly turned to Cagalli and said, "So," he began, "Tell me more about yourself."
Cagalli glanced at him startled by his bluntness. She threw him a teasing glare, "Look, when a situation is already as awkward as it is now, asking me to tell me more about myself doesn't make it any less awkward.
Athrun raised his eyebrows in amusement, "You think this is awkward?" He asked lightly.
Cagalli pouted, "Well isn't it? Here I am, practically a total stranger sitting in your house and I'm supposed to be here for a whole frickin' month! If this isn't awkward, I don't know what is!"
Athrun smiled at her. "First of all, I wouldn't say we're complete strangers. Second of all, we definately won't be strangers after a whole month together. Finally, stating how awkward a situation is certainly doesn't help alleviate the akwardness." Athrun had ticked off his points one by one casually on his fingers grinning at his final point.
Cagalli groaned and plopped her head down into her hands. "Can we just stop talking about awkwardness already?"
Athrun chuckled. "Well, I didn't start it," he remarked. His eyes twinkled.
Cagalli pouted and crossed her arms in front of her chest and glared at him. Still, she couldn't help but be mesmerized by the few strands of his silky navy blue hair as they swayed so naturally and ruffled gently before returning to its perfect place.
Athrun, meanwhile, felt slightly worried at her silence. He felt guilty. Did he go too far teasing her? He waited for a few seconds and when she continued to wordlessly glare at him, he quickly walked over to her. He gently placed his hand on her arm. "Hey, I'm sorry. I wasn't being serious. I didn't mean to hurt you," he said gently in a soft voice. When Cagalli didn't reply, he removed his hand. "I'm really really sorry," he continued.
Suddenly, he found himself on the floor. He blinked and rubbed the sore part of his back that hit the floor. He saw Cagalli looking down at him laughing in delight. She playfully stuck out her tongue at him. "Gotcha!" Her eyes sparkled with energy and she leaned down to look at him better.
Seeing his change, Athrun grabbed her wrists and pulled her down with him. He obviously took her by surprise as she remained immoblie. He grinned and rolled over so that she was pinned underneath him. He laughed playfully.
Cagalli growled which only made Athrun laugh harder. Then, he released the hand on her right wrist and ran it along the sides of her body tickling her mercilessly. Cagalli writhed and laughed until tears began to form at the edges of her eyes. Athrun decided to stop and watched with amusement as Cagalli lay on the ground still gasping for breath.
"Looks like I won!" Athrun laughed and held out his hand offering to pull her up.
Cagalli glared at him. She took it and tried the old trick of pulling him down with her but he already prepared himself for that and simply wrapped his other arm around her waste and pulled her up. He stared into her eyes and smiled. "That's not going to work," he remarked teasingly.
Cagalli stuck her tongue out at him and released herself from his grasp. She looked at him and laughed. He laughed back and held up his hand. "Truce?" He offered breathlessly.
Cagalli nodded with a mischevious grin in her eyes. "For now..." She trailed off in the end and grinned.
Athrun chuckled and they both returned to the dinner table. He subconsciously smiled to himself and wondered since when did he become so good humoured?
It was nighttime as Cagalli sat curled up by her lamp scribbling musical notes on a crumpled piece of note paper.
"Come in!" She called as she heard a knock on her door.
Athrun smiled at her as he wallked in with a cup of tea. "For you m'lady," he joked and bowed as he handed her the cup. "Seriously though, I assumed that you weren't sleeping and you know what? I guessed right!"
Cagalli rolled her eyes and stuck out her tongue. "Thanks," she said.
Athrun chuckled and reached out a hand to ruffle her already disheveled hair affectionately. "You better sleep soon. I thought you might want a tour of this area tomorrow. I wouldn't want you falling asleep now would I?"
Cagalli sighed softly. "I can't sleep," she admitted.
Athrun smiled and said gently, "I know, I hope this helps," he motioned to the teacup.
"Thanks again," Cagalli smiled as he walked towards the door.
"No problem!" He called, turning back to flash a grin in her direction.
Truth be told, he didn't know when he suddenly became so playful. Even with his best friends (you can call Dearka and Yzak that right?), he felt like he couldn't talk to them on a personal level. He opened up to Cagalli more than he opened up to anyone else that he knew for years even. He didn't know why. It was her, it was just because she was who she was because he highly doubted that another cheerful person like her can make him talk like she could. He slapped his palm onto his forehead and told himself that he was thinking too much and made his way back to his room to sleep.
As Cagalli roughly put away her papers, she smiled to herself thinking that this month may not be that bad after all. She was even looking forward to tomorrow. She plopped down on her bed that seemed so comfortable and homey even though she just settled in today. As she stared at the patterns on the ceiling, she gently tapped her right fingers on her bedside while softly humming the tinkling melody of the music box.
Thanks for reading! I know, my grammar is atrocious. If you see any errors, please notify me by PM or review and I will fix it ASAP. If you read this, please review even if you find this horrible. I appreciate any comments to make my writing better!
Good? Bad? Horrible?
Love, Flame, Criticize,
I'm all ready
~AngelfishXD
