"Wake up dear. How about you fetch mummy and daddy to take a morning stroll?" the blurry image of her mother besides looking down on him with an angelic smile, he doesn't have the heart to say reject her no matter the problem that he just slept for two hours. He noted that it's only seven in the morning and he still has a few more hours of sleep. He nodded his head and closes his eyes back again.
He waited his mother to go away but she didn't.
"Oh baby, wake up now. Your mummy and daddy will be late if you don't wake up now. We did have an appointment with an old friend seven thirty in the morning you know." She said it; slightly confuse why her son is sleeping back again.
She heard a groan coming behind the blanket and less than a second, that blanket was thrown away. Her son seated on the bed looking back at her in disbelief then moaned and went back to his warm blanket.
"No restaurant will be open at this time of day." He grumbled. His few more hours of sleep will be ruin.
"Don't worry about that. We will be jogging and of course you are coming as well."
A moment of silence interrupted them and the woman standing beside her son's bed was sure that she can hear his son mumbled something close to oh dear but ignore it. She patted his head along with blanket and walked out of the room.
"Athrun, hurry up. We don't want to be late."
III
He sends his parents off to jog with an old friend of them here and decided not to waste such a beautiful day secluded inside his own home. Feeling the soft wind brushing his hair and the cooling sensation on his skin that seems so weird to him, he decided he needed to come out more often to take some fresh air.
He took a stroll around and found himself walking towards the nearby park and seated on a bench, looking around at his surroundings. The sun was not too shiny and hot but the winds aren't cold and freezing either. The weather is turning colder every single day and soon, he thought is going to snow.
Christmas is near too
The raining season had passed probably a week ago if he is not mistaken and his parents is still her and forcing to take a look at the pictures of girls that his mother intended to introduces them to him whenever they had the chance. He needed a time off from both parents and his works. He was somewhat thankful that he is here.
He looked around him feeling somewhat like a stranger to this place. He didn't notice there was such a huge tree in the middle of the park all his life driving around the neighbourhood. Few swing and slides are build and children running around them taking turns to have their chance to be on the swing. There are some joggers as well, clothes wet and parents of the children talking to each other like close friend.
This just proves how long I have been secluding myself in work
Slowly, his eye lid felt tired and involuntarily closes. He knew he shouldn't rest here but he could only sleep for two hours last night and he's tired.
III
"You have such a pretty daughter Uzumi." The eyes on her somehow bring discomfort to her, being surveyed like a porcelain doll and in the meantime trying to remember how in the world did she agreed to come out with her father. Oh right. Now she remembers. Threat from her own father to find someone to marry her and that made her jump right off the bed and change.
Maybe someday she should try it on her father.
"Hot headed daughter of mind." She saw her father shook his head and she had the urge to roll her eyes in front of everyone. She just hears this statement coming from her father, the same man whom she had inherited the trait of hotheadedness from. The pretty woman caught hold of her arm and begins to ask her things. She answered them politely and somewhere back in her mind, this woman reminded her of someone but she just couldn't place her finger on whom.
"Now Cagalli, do you have any interest person in heart?" the woman asked all of sudden.
"Ah…well, not exactly." She looked away, feeling the heat already crept to her cheeks. From the corner of her eyes, she could see the woman's smile widen and her eyes brighten up for a moment and then turned back to normal. She adverted her gaze towards the nearby park and then back to Cagalli again.
"It's bored isn't to walk along with old people. Why not go to the park there and take a stroll? When we are done, we will search for you there." She smiles again.
"Are you sure? I-I can…"
"Just go Cagalli." The blonde turned her attention to her father, getting his approval; she waved and walked slowly towards the park. True it is that it's good to get away from them and she believed back then, that woman whom her name is Lenore will begin to ask more questions about her non-love life.
Relieved was shown all over her face as she skipped her way towards the park and eventually ran her way towards the big tree in the middle of the park when she could feel the rain drops on her head. She looked outwards underneath the tree where the droplets of water still hitting her. She couldn't help but groaned.
Now how am I going to go back in the middle of a heavy rain?
She leaned against the bark of tree looking at the people running to and fro to get away from the rain. She sighed, felt like an idiot waiting underneath a tree alone and dripping wet as well.
"All of things rain. Why don't you just snow instead?" she snapped out of her thoughts when she heard someone talking behind her. She turned and glanced to the other side of the tree and found him, wet and looking back at her in surprise.
"O-oh…" was the only thing she can manage to spit out from her mouth at that moment and she thought that she must looked awful all wet and acted like a complete idiot muttering an oh to someone you happen to…know.
III
"Nothing is better than a hot tea early in the morning." The purplish woman hair sighed in delight as she took another sip of her tea in a café looking outside through the window on how that rain washes everything.
"Indeed. Now I wonder what Athrun is doing considering we still have his car key." Her husband wondered.
"Oh…I have Cagalli's here." The blonde's father fish out a bunch of keys from his pocket, looking interested at his new profound and continue to enjoy his cup of tea.
III
"Good morning?" he said, his facial expression showing that he is having doubts on his own choice of words. Cagalli couldn't complain more considering he is making an attempt to start out a conversation.
"I wish I could say the same to you." She shrugged, leaning her back against the bark of the tree again. She saw him nodded in agreement and his eyes looked forward at the car parked beside the streets. She surveyed and couldn't find his cab anywhere.
Maybe he had another car other than taxi
"I hope you don't mind me asking miss but what are you doing here?" he turned his attention back at her.
"You can call me Cagalli." She looked away slightly trying not to meet his gaze. "I accompanied my dad and his old friend until they convinced me to take a stroll in the park which I did."
Athrun clenched and unclenched his hand, suddenly feeling nervous and sending shivers to his spine. He wasn't quite sure if he had heard right or she just asked him to call her by her name. Imagining him calling her name and she did the same all of sudden brings colour to his cheek.
"A-ah...C-Cagalli. You can call me Athrun as well." He said and the blonde looked up in surprise before giving him a smile.
"What about you Athrun? What are you doing here?" she asked, feeling that she have to start out a conversation and she was glad to hear her name coming out from his mouth and the way he mentioned it was just so right. For so many months of remaining clueless of who is he and even what's his name, she finally get to know about his name and actually calling him.
"You can say it's a coincidence but I am taking my parents to meet up with their old friend as well." He laughed and she followed suit. Their conversation continues, sharing thoughts and talking just about anything.
They were too engrossed in the conversation that they did not realize that the rain had finally stop and people begin to gather once more.
III
"Look at them Patrick, they are conversing so well that they don't remember their parents." Lenore took hold of her husband's arm and leaned on his shoulder. Her mother instincts kicks in when she saw how happy her son is, smiling and laughing together with a girl and not any ordinary girl.
A girl that she intended to match makes him with.
Mother knows best
"I guess the preparation of wedding between those two clueless love birds is bound to happen sooner or later." Uzumi grin his famous Cheshire grin on his face, his eyes sparkle looking at his daughter. She is finally growing up, he thought and he believes this young man can give everything that he couldn't give to her daughter.
"They are growing up." Lenore quickly wiped the tears forming in her eyes on her husband sleeves. The spoken man put an arm around his wife shoulder.
"You should save the tears for their wedding." He said.
III
He was an amusing man, slightly confused and somber when he was thinking. She found out this much when she saw him thinking and all this discoveries were less than half an hour. She glance at the watch on her wrist and gasped in surprise. She had stand here, under the tree talking to him for two hours straight.
He must have noticed her when he snapped out of his thoughts. This time he seems to notice that the rain had stopped.
"I guess that we both have to go." She looked up from her watch back to his eyes, nodded in regret.
"I hope to see you again…other than being your passenger." she said and he nodded. She turned her back against him and walked away from the tree, turning once in a while to wave goodbye to him.
Watching her go somehow clenches his heart. They were finally having a decent conversation and yet it ended so soon. He shrugged. They can meet again someday just like what she had said, not as passenger and he is looking forward for it.
III
"Did you enjoy your morning walk Athrun?" his mother asked as soon as he stepped into the café his parents had mentioned.
"I did and where is your old friend?" he asked, looking at his surroundings only to notice his parents was the only customer there.
"They left and are you looking forward for another walk sometime soon?" Athrun noticed the grin on his mother face seems to grow each time he answer her question but he chose to ignore it.
"I will be looking forward for it."
To meet you again…Cagalli
Author's Note:
Finally finish my examination and in the progress of doing my Additional Mathematics project so updates are longer than usual. How many long necks here? Considering I didn't update much, my brain is kind of hazy so the outcome of this update is unfortunately horrible.
Please forgive me and thank you everyone who took the time to read and review and of course please continue to do so.
To anonymous readers,
Chimu, asucags, and asga : Thank you for reading and reviewing. I hope you will enjoy this chapter as well.