Okay, this one takes a bit of a sadder turn in comparison to the first three. I've come to the decision that this is only going to be ten chapters long. If I decide to make it longer, I'll let you know. I have all but the last chapter written out, so expect the updates to be rather quick.
Chapter 4: Shattered
Shattered by Trading Yesterday
Athrun sighed and rested his forehead against the freezing glass of the window in his quarters aboard the Minerva. The empty abyss of space seemed so peaceful. The darkness surrounding the ship so calming.
"Too big." He murmured to himself.
Space was too big. It hid the real problems with its enormity. Where they sat, unmoving in the blackness, they did not see the destruction that was occurring around them.
"Lies." He sighed and moved to his bed, falling back onto it with a thud.
Where did it all go wrong? Better yet, why did it all go wrong?
He had been happy – for the most part. Being a soldier, a pilot, a coordinator, the routines and normalcy in Orb had made him a bit stir crazy, but for once, he was actually enjoying himself. No surprises. No attacks. No death.
And he had his princess there with him every day, every step of the way. She had evoked such a range of emotions that he didn't even know he possessed and had just started to scratch the surface of what it all meant when he pulled himself away, too anxious and too restless to just sit around and wait to see what would come from their newest strife.
And now…now he didn't know where he stood in anything that he did or does. There were so many could've-should've-would've and what ifs he had a hard time focusing on the now and figuring out what was going on in his own mind.
"Cagalli…" Athrun looked back out the window and out into the black expanse and sighed again.