Hey everyone! Sorry if this update took me longer than the other chapters. I've started working just this June so I was doing some work stuff and also adjusting how I manage my time. But anyway, here is the newest chapter!
Chapter 4: Seen and Unseen
Step.
Lift.
Step.
Lift.
He had been doing this for a while now.
He trudged along, following Cagalli's tracks. She's way ahead of me. He thought to himself as he struggled to catch up. She looked really small from the distance between them. He saw that she was already with Flay and the others. Tilting his head down, he kept his eyes to her footmarks that were already imprinted almost a minute ago.
Both his feet were sunk in the marsh. Cagalli advised him to remove his slippers when they got to the muddy part of their walk, as it would get in the way. She told him that there were shells and tiny crustaceans there, which he though would stab his sole. There was a slight stubbornness in him, which was why he kept the pair on his feet. It was the first time for him to go to a marsh. Maybe in the past, he had, but of course he doesn't remember.
Alas, he made the wrong decision. He couldn't move freely as the slippers seemed to be glue itself on the marsh with every step. To remove his feet of the slimy ground, he had to yank his leg with a bit more force than the normal. It required a lot of effort, really.
The reason behind wearing the slippers was to prevent his feet to be smeared by the mud. From the looks of it, whether he chose to wear slippers or not, his feet would still be dirty. He could see that the spaces between his toes were already soiled. Plus, the former choice was more of a hassle.
How everyone else walked without difficulty in this marsh, it was a complete wonder to him.
Sighing in defeat, he removed his slippers and he let both of his feet be completely submerged in the mud. It was cold, clammy and uncomfortable yes, but he could walk better than before. Pausing for a brief moment, he realized that nothing was really pricking his soles and that he was just speculating too much.
"Athrun!" Cagalli called out to him and he shifted his attention from avoiding visible shells and crabs that he could see to look at her. He was even unsure where she now was because there were a lot of people from the village who went to help in planting the mangroves. Maybe there were fifteen of them more or less. Looking for her wasn't really difficult, as her red shirt immediately caught his line of sight.
He got embarrassed when he saw that Cagalli didn't move from where she was standing and decided to wait for him. The pace of his movement increased so as to lessen the time that she would have to wait for him. With that amount of effort that he put in, he caught up with Cagalli, who had a very worried expression on her face.
"I'm sorry for having to bring you all the way here." She looked really guilty just looking at her companion struggling so much with the marsh. The expression on his face was funny though; she imagined that deep down he didn't like the feeling of the mud on his feet and it was taking a whole lot of his composure to hide from her that he found it gross. This guy in front of her was rich, according to the clues that they got from his things. So it was reasonable to assume that it was his first time going to a mangrove forest. Besides, she also felt thought that it was gross the first time she went to the mangrove forests, but slowly gotten used to it.
The reason that they were here today is because Sahib and Ahmed invited them to participate in the mangrove rehabilitation project that would take place today. Cagalli was really excited with the idea and pleaded for him to come as well. Since he had nothing to do anyway, and because he just couldn't say no to her requests because of the things that she had done for him, he agreed without hesitation.
'This is something new and it sounds fun." He remembered musing to himself, seeing the way that Cagalli's hazel eyes brightened with enthusiasm, he really didn't have the hear to say no to her. Planting mangroves really sounded interesting. Plus, he felt like they were like forest rangers in helping to restore natural resources.
What he didn't expect what the difficulty of walking in the marsh. And he thought that Cagalli was just joking when she mentioned that it still sometimes creeps her out, even though she had been doing that for a long time now. Every time he took a step, he felt like he was going to slip. He even imagined what sort of creatures were at the mercy of his feet at the moment. What else was in the muddy swamp?
"Hey, are you okay?" She cut into his train of thoughts. He realized that he spacing out.
He nodded and smiled. Although she wanted to go on this adventure, she might decide to just turn around and go back home if he gives her even the tiniest hint that he also found the marsh a tad gross. He was a guy for crying out loud! He shouldn't be thinking that way. Besides, this was for the mangroves. This marsh was just an obstacle.
"Let's go then." Cagalli put her arm on Athrun's waist, just in case he loses his balance yet again. When he put his hand on her shoulder, she couldn't help but feel her body temperature rise, unbeknownst to her companion. His hand on her bare shoulders, it just felt so warm. She shook her head fiercely; she should stop all of these thoughts before she went insane.
She felt that Flay was giving her that knowing look because when she looked back at them, she gave her a glare and she didn't look amused that her blonde friend was hogging Athrun to himself. But it was a good thing that there were other men there to distract her from going to their direction.
On the way to the forest area, he tried to forget the slimy sensation on his feet by asking Cagalli all sorts of things. He asked her about mangroves. It was a good thing that she was so talkative like always, that he momentarily forgot about the marsh that they were treading on and how unpleasant his foot felt. Mangroves, she started, were almost depleted thirty years ago as the people unknowingly used them for firewood or as a material to built their houses.
By then, the people noticed that the more that they cut, the less food they get from the area. Before the people in the island used to eat crabs at least once a week, but they noticed that the number of crustaceans and other kinds of fishes have been decreasing in that area where they once easily found them. Their livelihood was also affected because without anything to sell, it became harder for them.
Flooding also became an issue. Whenever there were strong storms, the people near the shores would stay at their friend or relative's house for the time being.
He was listening intently to everything that she was saying that he didn't notice that they arrived at the mangrove forest area. He was able to realize it when they were handed a basket that contained the propagules, rope and wood. She quickly let go of his hold on him and received the basket from Sahib. As she took out a handful of long and green seeds, he gave her a clueless expression. Frankly, he had no idea what to do with it. Cagalli noticing his expression, once again laughed. She really was laughing at him so much, but he didn't mind.
"You remove this round thing, errr, I don't even know what this round thing is actually called…" She stated apologetically, while trying to demonstrate what she was doing to Athrun. "Anyway, you remove it from the propagule, this green long thing." With one pull, she tossed the round object back to the basket. He did the same thing and then waited for her to continue.
"Hand me the rope please." She asked him, to which he complied.
She got the thin threads of rope and did the unexpected. Using her teeth, she managed to cut the long rope so it would only be two inches long each. He had to admit, his jaw dropped big time. Rope. Teeth. No scissors. He marveled at the fact that she bit the rope apart instead of using the pair of scissors that were given to them. He looked around and everyone else seemed to be using the scissors. Even though she looked really beautiful, she was doing things that were very unusual for a girl to be doing.
Wait did his mind just tell him that he found her really beautiful?
Well she really was. She wasn't like the girls that he saw in town and in their neighborhood that really wore girly clothes. She wasn't like Flay who always seemed to want to look nice all the time. Even with the simple and rather boyish clothes that she wore, he had always found her to be so striking, especially with those sincere and bright hazel eyes of hers.
Even the first time that he saw her, he couldn't help but muse to himself that the woman that had nursed him to health and let him stay at her house was really just an angel in disguise.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" His contemplation was interrupted by her defensive voice and probing expression.
"Erm… Uhm… Err…" Frankly he didn't know what to answer her. Just now, I couldn't help but admire how beautiful you are. Of course he couldn't say that. He might not have a place to stay afterwards if he dared to say it. He didn't dare look at her and tried to distract himself with the mangroves and the propagules in his hands.
"Find it unconventional that I gnawed the rope?" She was teasing him, he could tell.
"Well, I guess… Yeah… Kinda… Maybe… Sort of… A bit…" It was the perfect alibi but he stuttered as he tried to look for words that wouldn't appear offensive but he ended up saying everything at once.
"Okay…" She decided to let it go since it was making him nervous as hell. "Fine, I'll use the scissors. Just don't look at me like that! It's like I'm an alien or something…" She retorted, not knowing that the reason why his eyes were on her was nothing of the sort.
"Sorry! I didn't mean to offend you!" He tried to redeem himself but Cagalli was already shrugging it off.
"It's fine, it's fine. Don't worry about it." She reassured him. He really took everything seriously! She figured that his personality was really like that, even before he lost his memory.
He was already handing her some of the rope that he had managed to cut as a sign of apology for his rudeness. She couldn't help but laugh at this apologetic gesture; he really was too uptight.
They went to work, tying the propagules to the tiny pieces of wood stuck to the marsh. Cagalli explained that in this way, they could prevent the propagules from being easily washed away when the tides close in and until they grow stronger to be stand on their own.
Athrun found it enjoyable. Not only was he able to help the environment by helping in planting the mangroves. But he was able to also spend time with the people in their neighborhood. They were really warm and kind. A good number of the people that were here were familiar to him because they have dropped by Cagalli's house to share with her the food that they had and they chatted with him for a while, asking how he was doing. Even though he was the new kid on the block, they treated him as if he was already a part of their community.
They shared with him stories about their families and daily lives. He found out that most of the people in the local area were fishermen or farmers. So that was why they were always sharing with Cagalli their latest catch from the sea or grain of rice often.
"You know, a lot of men here have tried and are trying to court Cagalli." Mana whispered to him. She was one of Cagalli's neighbors, an old lady who had three kids who were all fishermen. "My grandson, Ahmed, tried to court her before but he couldn't win her heart. A lot of the men that have tried did not succeed. My, my, our Cagalli says she still hasn't found the right man for her."
When Mana was telling him that, he couldn't help but look in Cagalli's direction, which wasn't that far from where he was standing. Wiping the sweat from his forehead, he straightened his posture and looked towards where she was at. She was with Flay and another neighbor of theirs named Abby. They were all laughing heartily as they chatted and planted the mangroves.
It didn't surprise him that she had a lot of suitors. If it were otherwise, then it might have shocked him immensely. She had a really kind heart. She always wanted to help in any way that she can to make things better. That was why a lot of people from the local area always gave her fruits and all sorts of food, to thank her for everything that she did for them.
Aside from that, she was really adorable and charming, always managing to make other people feel very lively and cheerful in her presence. Whenever she smiled, he felt all warm and happy inside. Literally, it was like she was a ray of sunshine that descended from the sky.
"You know what…" Mana whispered to him again. "I think you might be the one for her." She gave him a smug grin, which made him blush in embarrassment.
"Me?" He gulped nervously, unable to concentrate on the mangroves as he dropped the propagules on the marsh. For Mana to say that in a very straightforward manner, it surprised him.
"Yes!" She nodded fervidly. "I really think that you two make a very wonderful couple! Besides, you two live under one roof, am I wrong?"
"We do…" He answered her politely, but was sensing where this topic was headed.
The old lady sniggered to herself. "You two already look like newlyweds! Husband and wife just starting their lives together forever!"
"Newlyweds?!" Athrun's eyes were wide in shock as she stared at Mana who was still working on the mangrove-planting project.
"The neighbors think so!
"Mana! Athrun!" He saw Cagalli excusing himself from Flay and Abby and was walking towards them. "What are you two talking about?" The expression on her face was a very innocent yet her tone was very eager. She was curious since Mana kept on whispering to Athrun then would take a glance at her. It was like the two of them were sharing a secret.
"C-cagalli!" Athrun stammered like he was a criminal that was caught red-handed.
"Hmm?" She kept looking at him and waited for him to respond, still unaware of what was going on.
When he wasn't answering, it was Mana who spoke for him. "We were just talking about you dear." She giggled as Athrun became more and more horrified.
"Me?" Cagalli appeared to be really surprised and clueless at the same time. She pointed her index finger to herself and looked back at the two of them. "What about me?"
"It's nothing! It's nothing!" Athrun laughed anxiously, shaking his head fiercely and flailing his arms around to say that nothing is the matter so that Cagalli wouldn't pry deeper. But because of his tense gestures, it made her even more intrigued than she had been a minute ago.
"With the way you're acting, I don't think it's just 'nothing'." Cagalli crossed her arms and cocked an eyebrow. He really wasn't a good liar.
"I think Flay is calling you." He gulped again while blurting out that obvious lie.
"No she's not." She didn't even turn back to look at them because she knew that it was just an alibi to distract her from asking what they were talking about. With him acting that way, all the more she wanted to know what it was.
"Aww, he's getting embarrassed." Mana covered her mouth with her hands to prevent herself from laughing so hard. "You see Cagalli, I was just telling him that…"
"Mana…" Athrun cut her off, giving her pleading signals and expression so she wouldn't continue what she was saying. He knew it was just so impolite of him to do that but something inside of him wanted to do that.
"I was telling him that you two make a very wonderful couple." She continued anyway, her face beaming with victory.
He could tell that Cagalli was very surprised as well. She didn't respond after what Mana said and instead gawked at her like crazy. A while ago, her face was like of a child, innocent. But right now, her face was red as a tomato. He didn't even know that people were really capable of getting that red!
"Ma-mana! What are you saying?" It was her turn to stutter in embarrassment and Athrun couldn't think of anything at that moment except that she looked exceptionally adorable, with her face flushed and her acting in a defensive manner.
Mana chuckled again, as if it was to tease the two who were melting under the sun's rays because of too much flustering.
"Don't you think so, Honey?" When her husband came near them, Mana grabbed him so that he could listen to their conservation. He was startled at first because of the sudden grip on his arms. "Don't you think that Cagalli and Athrun just look good together?"
Her husband cleared his throat before answering to regain his composure after his wife surprised him. "Yes Honey, I think they do!" The both of them didn't know whether he was being honest or just complied with his wife's views, but still, that made Cagalli blush even more than before and Athrun could sense that she would explode the more that Mana teased her.
"Everyone, isn't it right?" She then asked the group of people near them, who nodded as well. Cagalli was too mortified already. "Cagalli and Athrun should just get married right?"
Most of the people were laughing and agreeing with her.
It was a good thing that Mana needed a rope so she shifted her attention to asking the people around them for some extra rope. Cagalli motioned Athrun to escape from there and to plant the mangroves on a farther area where Mana wouldn't see them.
-o0o-
"Cagalli…" Athrun called out to the blonde that was walking in front of her. They were already way too far from the others and still she wasn't showing any signs that she wanted to stop. The water was getting higher and higher. From their feet to their ankles, and now it was almost up to their knees.
He couldn't blame her either if she wanted to escape Mana and her teasing. He was feeling that it was really getting awkward himself. But still, going this far away from the group might be too dangerous.
"Cagalli!" This time, he managed to get a hold of her arm to stop her from walking further away.
"What?" She looked back at him, as if this was completely normal for her.
"Aren't we going a bit too far?" He asked her.
"Not really!" She shook her head no. "This part is still okay for us to be in. I just want to be away from Mana before she calls everyone else! She really likes making pairings of people here in the island!" She pouted, as she didn't really like the situation that they had been in.
He couldn't help but smile yet again when she showed him that expression of hers yet again. "She does? I'm guessing that she likes match-making you with a bunch of guys as well?"
"How did you know that?!" She spat at him defensively. Was he like a psychic or something?
He kept on giving her that amused grin, which made her want to pull her hair out. He was teasing her as well!
"Athruuuun! Tell me!" She was splashing seawater to him with her feet and kept on kicking and kicking when he refused to respond.
Now he was chuckling while covering his face with his hands so as the water won't get into his eyes. It appeared that he didn't even mind that his clothes were getting soaked with what she was doing.
"You're not really going to tell me?" She cocked her eyebrow again and leaned down to grab something from the sea and Athrun feared for the worst when her hand finally resurfaced from the water.
It was the marsh.
She was going to throw marsh at him.
At his face exactly.
She knew that he didn't like the feeling of the marsh at his feet, let alone its sensation on his face.
"Cagalli…" He gulped nervously, one wrong move and his face will be smeared with the icky marsh. Fine it was okay if it was just all over his foot, but if she were to throw it anywhere else… "You wouldn't…"
"I would." She gave him a stern look. "Speak now or else…" She threatened him, glowering at him for added effect. She knew this was definitely going to work. He was giving this weird expression the first time he set foot on the marsh.
"…"
With no response from him, she threw the marsh at him with one swift move. It was a good thing that his reflex was fast enough to avoid it from hitting him.
It was annoying that he managed to dodge her attack, so without further ado, she leaned back to grab some more and threw it at him as fast as she could. But still, he skillfully avoided every shot. Gosh, was he a ninja or what?
He felt like his mind went berserk as he evaded the shots that were aimed at his face, neck, chest, arms, shoulders, stomach and legs. He didn't know how he did it, but the mere thought of having marsh on his body was enough to give him that ninja skills.
But pretty soon, he was starting to get tired. He knew Cagalli was too, but she just wouldn't stop. It looked like she was really having fun with this. Any moment that he loses his focus, he might just get splattered with the marsh.
Okay fine, Cagalli wins this one.
"Okay, okay I'll tell you!" He was begging her to stop the attacks already, while trying his hardest to move around so that he still wouldn't get hit.
After the last throw of marsh, she stopped completely. He panicked when she leaned down again. It turns out that she was just washing her hands because it was completely covered with the marsh.
"I'm listening…" She crossed her arms and waited for him to speak.
"Well Mana has been telling me that you have a lot of suitors. She said that she was rooting for a lot of them but then you never even dated one of them, even if they asked you. So I was thinking that maybe Mana was the one who really tried to make you end up with one of those guys." He told her.
That embarrassed Cagalli more and started to speak in a defensive tone again. "Those weren't really suitors! It's just Mana trying to set me up! Think of it as a matchmaking thing of hers!"
"I think the suitors came in first, then came Mana and her matchmaking skills." He countered her.
"No it did not!" She insisted.
"Yes it did!"
"How can you be so sure then?" She inquired.
"Well because…" His voice trailed off, uncertain whether he should continue what he was saying or not.
"Well?"
"Uhm…"
"Say it!"
"…"
"Want to have another batch of icky marsh thrown at you?"
"O-of course not!"
"Then spit it out!"
"Well if I say it, then you still might throw marsh at me." He defended himself. This was a lose-lose situation.
"No, I won't!" She raised her hands up to reassure him that she wouldn't do anything of the sort.
He walked to the tall mangroves that were near them, his back facing Cagalli. Getting the propagules from the trees that could already be used for the planting, he turned to face her to finally answer her.
"It's because you're beautiful."
Cagalli, who was on the process of walking towards him, was taken aback by his sudden words. She lost her footing when she was stepping and slipped, landing on the water on her back with a loud thud.
"Cagalli!" Athrun dropped the propagules that he was carrying and ran towards where she fell.
It didn't seem like she was panicking at all because the water wasn't splashing violently, but he had to get her out of the water. She must have been hurt somewhere. He managed to grab her shoulders and pulled her upward from the water. Relief overcame him when he heard Cagalli exhale deeply. Both of them were now really soaked, as Cagalli gasped for breath.
Her hair was all was covering half of her face. He met her dazzling hazel eyes when she tilted her head up. She didn't speak at all, and he felt like she was really containing her anger, which made him more anxious and certain that she wanted to strangle him.
They continued to look at each other for a few seconds, his hands still on her shoulders, until a crab suddenly crawled out of her hair. Both of their eyes were off of each other as they trailed the path of the crustacean. From her hair, to his hand, to his arms, then it fell back it the water.
Plop! Went the sound of the crab as it dropped.
Their eyes finally met again, but this time, both looked at each other with bewilderment.
It was then that Athrun started to laugh.
"What's so funny?!" And she was back to glowering at him for making her fall like that. But she had to admit; it was the first time that she heard him laugh. It was so genuine, so natural, hearing him like that. She was glad that he was able to laugh like that with her. She liked hearing it, that hearty laugh. In a way, it relieved the need to strangle him. How could she even do that to him? When he was being so adorable?
Wait did she just say adorable?
As they stood up, he finally was calming down from laughing at a crab. But he still looked very amused. "There's another one underneath your shirt."
"What?" She quickly fumbled for edge of her shirt and pulled it upwards, revealing that there was really a crab, and it fell down, just like the first one did.
One thing she didn't realize was that she raised her shirt a bit too high, accidentally letting Athrun see her stomach and a portion of her left breast. He didn't really mean to look at it, but everything was happening so fast that he did.
She let the shirt drop back down to cover the exposed parts and looked at him again without even noticing what she has done.
Quickly, he looked away and started to walk back to where the other people were, but he slipped.
"Athrun!" Cagalli yelped, not expecting that he would fall as well.
In the distance, hidden behind the big mangrove trees, there Flay was, lurking as she observed the two of them. Her friend was helping Athrun "the handsome" get back up after being submerged in the mud.
She couldn't help but smile to herself.
"Oh my, Cagalli just flashed Athrun."
-o0o-
A/N: Finally done!
Hehe I just had to replay that crab scene in episode 24!