A Brand New Start (Part 4)
A/N: So sorry for the late update on this fic! Instead of reading my explanation for why it took so long to update, just read the next chapter =)
About 30 minutes later, the Tunnel of Love ride resumed. Athrun looked down at Cagalli. It seemed the sudden movement had not woken her. He didn't blame her though; he knew how tired she must be. They did stay up pretty late talking to each other the night before. Surprisingly, Athrun didn't feel tired at all. He gently pulled Cagalli closer to him and leaned his head against hers.
"If only we could stay like this forever…" he thought to himself and sighed.
It was a moment worth remembering. Athrun wished he had his camera with him; he really wanted to engrave this moment in a photograph. He looked at Cagalli fondly and smiled. Suddenly, a flash of light followed by a sound of a camera clicking occurred in front of them as they were nearing the end of the ride. Athrun released Cagalli carefully and looked in the direction of the flash. As the boat passed by, he caught sight of the culprit. He recognized the brunette as she walked beside their boat. The boat was going fairly slow; it wasn't a problem for the brunette to walk with them as they floated by.
"Well…if it isn't Athrun Zala," Miriallia said loud enough for him to hear but quiet enough as to not wake Cagalli, "I see you've come back from the dead."
"Miriallia," Athrun said, acknowledging her.
Miriallia eyed Athrun suspiciously. She lost her trust in Athrun ever since he hurt one of her close friends. However, she didn't quite understand Athrun's previous behaviour in the past. She knew Athrun had feelings for the blonde. Her boyfriend, Dearka, even agreed. It did not make sense at all; the whole situation back then made no sense. But now, here he is once again. Miriallia was waiting in line for the Tunnel of Love ride with her boyfriend (who decided to go get something to eat since the wait was too long), when she caught sight of something familiar exiting the Tunnel of Love. Upon recognizing the pair in the boat, she went into the "employees only" area of the ride to get a closer look at what she was seeing. Being one of ORB's top news photographers, Miriallia was able to enter the restricted area with no problem. As the boat got closer, she could feel her heart soften. The scene in front of her was so cute that it made her briefly forget about what had happened to her friend. Athrun and Cagalli looked like a real couple and Miriallia wanted to capture the moment in a photo. She continued eyeing Athrun suspiciously.
"Look," Athrun said, "I know what you're thinking and no, I'm not here to hurt Cagalli again. I promised myself I wouldn't hurt her again."
"Then tell me, Athrun Zala," Miriallia asked suspiciously, not taking her eyes off of Athrun, "why are you here? What do you want with Cagalli?"
Athrun looked at Miriallia. She was also one of his good friends. He knew how important Cagalli is to her and he knew that if he wanted to be friends with Miriallia again, he would have to speak the truth and earn her trust again. He knows he can still trust her. Besides, nothing can get past her.
"I came back to make amends, to start over," Athrun said, without taking his gaze off of Miriallia, "with everyone, especially Cagalli."
Miriallia looked at Athrun. She could tell that he was being sincere. His eyes showed that he has solved whatever dilemma he had in the past and has made his decision. She reads peoples' emotions and resolve through their eyes; she can tell whether or not someone is telling the truth. She also knew that Athrun's body language provided the answer to her other question, but she had to make sure.
"And what of your feelings for Cagalli?" she asked.
Athrun looked at Miriallia before turning his attention to the sleeping Cagalli beside him. His eyes softened and he smiled. It seemed like Miriallia wasn't there for a second.
"I love her. I've loved her for a long time now," Athrun said, looking at Cagalli one more time before facing Miriallia again, looking firmly into her eyes, "I love Cagalli Yula Athha."
Miriallia sighed, both in relief and in defeat. She was relieved that Athrun was telling the truth and she knew there was no use trying to find his hidden motives. It was all clear on his face. She glanced at the polaroid image she had taken of them and gave it to Athrun.
"Here," Miriallia said as she gave Athrun the photograph, "call it…a 'welcome back present' and a reminder of whom you're here for."
Athrun looked at Miriallia confusedly as he grabbed the photo, then at her camera.
"I thought you were a professional photographer? Why use a camera like that?" he asked.
"Dearka got it for me," Miriallia replied, "he said that it would be more fun to take and produce photographs instantly."
"I see…" Athrun said as he glanced at the photo in his hand.
As Athrun looked at the photo, he couldn't help but smile. He tucked it carefully into his pocket, being careful not to wake Cagalli.
"Although you used a camera like that," Athrun said, "you still know how to capture the emotions of your subjects."
"Thank you," she said proudly, "well, I better go back in line with Dearka. Do come by and visit us sometime. Dearka really has missed you."
"Nah, I don't think so," Athrun said and laughed, "he probably missed how I always got on Yzak's nerves."
Miriallia laughed. "That may be true. Well, I'll see you guys later!"
"Yeah, for sure," Athrun said and Miriallia walked away, disappearing through the gates.
Athrun felt Cagalli shift slightly. She let out a soft groan and opened her eyes. She noticed she was resting her head on something, or someone. She raised her head and found a pair of emerald green eyes staring at her.
"A-Athrun…?" she murmured softly.
"I see you're finally awake," Athrun said softly and smiled, "sleep well?"
"Y-yeah," Cagalli replied, trying to stifle a yawn, "I'm sorry for falling asleep on you…it's just that—"
"I know," Athrun said, "we had a long night last night. Would you like to call it a day and I'll take you back home?"
"No, it's okay," Cagalli answered and blushed lightly, "I'll be fine. I…I want to spend some more time with you…"
Athrun blushed lightly after hearing Cagalli's last sentence. He simply nodded, completely lost for words. Cagalli, suddenly feeling uncomfortable with the following silence, pulled away from Athrun and looked around at her surroundings.
"When did we get here?" she asked.
"Not too long ago," Athrun replied, "we were in there for over half an hour."
"That long?" Cagalli said in disbelief, "we could have been on other rides during that time!"
Athrun laughed. "It's okay. There's still plenty of time left before the park closes."
Cagalli glanced at her watch. "You're right. Do you want to go play some games? We didn't get the chance to due to an…unforeseen circumstance."
"Sounds like a plan," Athrun said.
After leaving the Tunnel of Love, Athrun and Cagalli ventured to the game stalls to play some carnival games. They decided to play a dart game first. Both of them were evenly matched and neither wanted to concede defeat.
"You're good Athrun," Cagalli said, clearly impressed with his skills.
"You're not so bad yourself," Athrun said, also impressed with her skills, "but there can only be one winner."
"And that's going to be me," Cagalli said proudly as she threw another dart into the center of the dartboard.
"I don't think so," Athrun said as he too, threw a dart into the center of the dartboard.
The two continued their game of darts. Eventually, the game master gave in and allowed both of them to win two large prizes of their choice. Athrun, carrying two large stuffed animals (a bear and a lion), followed Cagalli to the next game stall. The two continued playing games, both as a team and against each other. They were both evenly matched for all the games and they wound up winning the largest prizes available at each stall.
"What a game, that last one," Cagalli said excitedly as she sat down on a bench.
"It was one hell of a game," Athrun replied as he sat down next to her, "I knew you were competitive, but I didn't think you were that competitive."
Cagalli and Athrun both laughed. They both were holding quite a few prizes; they had opted to not take any more large prizes as their hands were already full with four and instead took the smaller prizes. Everyone that passed by looked at the blue and blonde pair.
"What shall we do with all these?" Athrun asked Cagalli.
"I don't know…maybe we—" Cagalli started to say.
"Hey look mommy!" a little girl shouted and ran towards Athrun and Cagalli.
"Daddy! Look at this!" a young boy shouted as he too, ran towards the couple.
"It's the princess!" another little girl shouted.
Cagalli blushed at the princess remark as a few more children ran towards them, admiring the toys they had. The parents of the children finally caught up to them.
"So sorry Lady Cagalli," a woman said as she caught up with her son.
"My apologies Lady Cagalli," a man said.
"It's okay," Cagalli said kindly to the adults and she bent down to the children's height, "would you kids like these?"
"YES!" the children shouted in unison.
Cagalli smiled. She got up and smiled apologetically to Athrun. "I'm sorry about this. I didn't expect to cause a commotion here."
"It's okay," Athrun replied and smiled, "is this what you want to do with the prizes? Give them to these children?"
Cagalli nodded. "I was thinking of donating them to an orphanage later. But since these little ones showed up, I decided to give it to them instead. Beats carrying them around the rest of the day. Is that alright with you?"
"That's fine," Athrun said as he grabbed a few of his prizes and crouched down in front of a young brunette girl, "which one of these would you like?"
The little brunette girl blushed lightly and pointed at the giant stuffed bear. Athrun smiled and gave the toy to the little girl.
"There you go," he said, "take good care of it."
The little brunette girl smiled widely. "Thank you!"
Athrun and Cagalli spent the next hour handing out gifts to the children. It brought smiles to their faces, knowing that they brought those smiles to those children. The parents thanked them and apologized before leaving with their sons and daughters. The two of them waved good-bye to the children before heaving a sigh of relief. Cagalli turned to Athrun.
"I think we should go get us some dinner," Cagalli said, "I'm starving."
"Me too," Athrun said and he held out his arm, "shall we, princess?"
She looked at Athrun sternly. "You know how much I dislike being called 'princess'…"
Athrun laughed. "I know, I know. I couldn't help it."
Cagalli laughed as well and wrapped her hand around his proffered arm. "Well then, shall we go?"
"Certainly m'lady," Athrun said, earning a light smack on the back of his head.
"Okay, okay," Athrun said as Cagalli laughed, "I'll stop."
After nice and quiet dinner, the two of them decided to end their evening with a ride on the ferris wheel. They sat in a red pod on the ferris wheel, enjoying the breathtaking view of ORB. Cagalli looked outside, watching as the city passed by. She thought about the events of today. She really enjoyed herself; she had a great time with Athrun. It felt like old times. The flirting…the stolen glances at one another…the kindness…the warmth of his presence…it was so nostalgic. She didn't want this day to end. She wanted to remain with him a little longer. She loved him. No matter what had happened, no matter what she did to try and forget him, she couldn't. She couldn't let go of the feelings she had for him. She wanted to know. She really wanted to know why Athrun did what he did a few years ago. She wanted to know his feelings. Cagalli looked at Athrun and quickly looked away when she realized he was looking at her. She looked away, trying to hide the faint blush that was forming across her face. She clenched her fists, debating whether or not to ask that one question she's been wanting to ask for so long. Will it be worth it? Will it change anything? Will it ruin their newly rekindled friendship? There were so many possibilities and she was scared of the outcome, but she wanted to know. Cagalli felt a hand cover her clenched fists. She looked down and found Athrun kneeling in front of her, holding her clenched fists with both his hands.
"Cagalli?" he asked looking at her, concern evident in his voice, "are you okay?"
She wanted to know.
"Why Athrun?" Cagalli said softly.
A/N: And that is the end of chapter 4! I'm sorry I had to end it like that. I felt that this chapter was getting too long already. I also lied…Athrun will not be revealing his reasons for his actions in this chapter..it'll be in the next chapter instead. I have a few more ideas for this story. I'll do my best posting the next chapter soon (as well as the Christmas one I have going)! And again, so sorry for the delay for this chapter…life got in the way and I find it harder to keep up with things these days. You know how it is...*sighs* Don't you wish you could be a kid again and have no worries and responsibilities? But anyways, this story is still ongoing and I do intend to finish it. Until next time. And don't forget to read and review!