A/N: Dear readers and reviewers, first of all, I apologize for the great delay in update, but lately real life was becoming more hectic, and there's not that much time for writing anymore. I promise I won't abandon this fic and for more info please refer to my bio. I'm afraid the next update will be more sporadic and so please do not ask me to 'update soon'.

Thank you for your attention.

to chardreams: Yes, you're right. I'm glad someone finally noticed those lines are from the OP4 and ED4.

Many thanks to Garowyn for the great beta-reading.

Orb, 11 AM

"Any news from our honeymooners?"

Kira Yamato didn't stop in his rapid strides, and Mwu La Fllaga fought hard to keep up with the younger man's pace. "We tried the surveillance camera yesterday, but apparently the storm had made it impossible to transmit anything perceivable." Kira stopped to bite his thumb nervously. "I hope they're all right..."

"Aww, don't be glum like that." The older man patted his back cheerfully. "I mean, they're Athrun and Cagalli. You can throw them out to space and into a self-detonating huge-ass contraption, and they'll still return unscathed, right?"

The Orb general whipped his head dangerously to Mwu. "This isn't a joking matter! Who knows if they've actually started killing each other there?"

Mwu fretfully took a step back. "T-Take it easy, Kira..."

"Major, I gave Cagalli a gun. A GUN! I don't want to go there and find only their dead bodies!"

"You worry too much! I mean, if they have all those history together, it will definitely take something very big to make them really slaughter each other."

"Oh, yes, like finding out how the plan was conceived by one of them?"

"Calm down, Kira, calm down..."

"Reconciliation my ass..."

Unbeknownst to both of them, a figure was listening silently and disappeared into the darkness.

Cagalli, Day 13

"Did you lose something?"

I glanced up from the floor to Lacus' serene face, and inwardly winced. There's no way for me to tell her what I've been searching for. What should I tell her? My past? The only thing I received from a friend? (No, he had given so much that you once thought you couldn't live without him, but you learned to pick up the pieces eventually.) The last thing my former boyfriend has given to me? (No, Cagalli, that was a hug, you remembered clearly because he was the one who stepped up first and took you in his arms. It was our goodbye.)

"Nothing," I replied to her, noting that not even a slightest frown had appeared on her face even when she could always discern a lie when she hears one. Years of working and living with children and politicians had trained Lacus to be a true lie-detector. "It's nothing important."

"Oh," was Lacus' only response as she looked across from my desk, eyes focusing on somewhere I couldn't place, and when she finally excused herself I finally realized what she was looking at.

It was my hand, unconsciously fingering my neck, where my lost ring used to be.

-

You know how those angst-ridden movies always have rain in their scenes? Whether it's from the sky or from one of the characters' eyes or both, it's always waterworks.

Oh, great news, the weather forecast for today: 'expect a rainy day with storms coming your way.'

To hell with moralities and duties. If they want me to stay here and rot, it's their choice.

Early this morning, Athrun's fever, along with his countenance has finally gotten better. He still has that look of an unwanted puppy, which made me want to hug him and hit him at the same time.

-Did you lose something?-

Tired and drove to my wit's end, normally I would start screaming at anybody that tried to start a meaningless conversation with me. But this voice has always been serene and soothing, and somehow, the reason that she's one of the culprits that had dumped me into this hellhole didn't bother me that much.

"I already told you, nothing." I shook my head profusely, and imagined her sitting in a classic chair inside a room with countless monitors, images of me from every angle, scrutinizing my every movement while sipping her tea with a small, secretive smile.

And I could really imagine her grin actually getting wider. –It's okay if you said so.-

"The play is over, Lacus. Get me out of here, because it's useless. Athrun already confessed everything to me."

-Oh? It seems to me just now you're quite enjoying the vacation. What more could you get, Cagalli? A vacation to a romantic island with Athrun. I could hardly get one, and now I'm enjoying every second of it.-

"Just because you're on vacation doesn't mean I have to get one. If I had known, you would have dragged me down to some beach in Barbados or Izu, kicking and screaming."

-Exactly. That's why we opted to...oh, throw you down from some several hundred feet above?-

"You could have killed me."

-In which we didn't. Oh, Cagalli, we know you're tired of these words, but do you really think that we'd risk this if there's no chance of getting the two of you together?-

I shot the camera my most dangerous look, armed with the knowledge that it has absolutely no chance of affecting the person in the other line. "What do you mean?"

Just then, assorted adolescent voices erupted on the background, greeting me. Some I recognized, though others not so much.

-Say hello to Cagalli, children!-

"H-hi, kids. I trust you're all well?" Immediately I felt the guilt of never visiting for four years. Some of them should be pushing the teen years, the rebellious phase, and soon the orphans would be leaving for the society.

-Cagalli, how come you never visited us again?-

"I was kinda busy, Timmy, but I promise I'll go the moment I have the time. I'll bring lotsa gifts for everyone!"

-Wheee! Cagalli, then, can you bring us a baby?-

My brain stopped working for approximately five point two seconds. "Baby? What baby, Rosie?"

-Mama Lacus said you're going on a honeymoon with Athrun, so by the time you come back you'll have a baby!-

The nerve of these kids. Where the hell did they hear this stuff? "No, Josh, I'm not on a honeymoon, I'm just going on a vacation, so I'm not going to have a baby, okay?"

-Ehh? But my neighbor once went away for to a honeymoon, and they have a baby!-

Kids. They caught onto these things nowadays? Now how am I gonna answer that question? "No, Shinichi, you see, I was not really on a honeymoon--"

-Now, now, kids, Mama and Cagalli need to talk, so why don't you go out and have Uncle Kisaka teach you how to raise a proper princess.-

"I HEARD THAT!"

Minutes after the children said their goodbyes, Lacus turned her sole attention to me. –Now, what was it...oh, right. Your reconciliation plan.-

"Right. Your reconciliation plan. Or more importantly, Athrun's. And get us out of here." I paused to give the camera my most pleading look. "Please?"

She should understand how hard it was for me to say such things.

-Sure.-

"But...?"

-Only if you've found it in your heart to bond with Athrun, and walk along the same path again.-

"That's out of the question. The heart--" I stopped, not wanting to believe that I've made such words from my mouth. "--chooses who it loves. You can't force it the other way."

-Nobody forced you before.-

"Things have changed, Lacus. And sometimes it's for the better."

-The way I see it, nothing has changed.- A slight pause, and her voice grew softer. -You're still living in the past.-

Ah. I was wondering when will someone notice that and tell me out loud about it.

Then I imagined Lacus, over the multiple screens somewhere in Onogoro Island, smiling over our conversation like it was done over coffee break. –Your plane will arrive sometime.- she said, and somewhere in the back of my mind, the whole idea sounded nauseating and relieving at the same time. –I want you to take your time for these last days you two have. To really communicate and talk some things over.-

Easier said than done, I thought. It was either one of us wasn't listening or the other simply didn't care.

Then it came over me like lightning.

Inside the darkness of the room, Athrun's breathing sounded like a child's—harmless and calm, like he hasn't been changed by time. I reached out to push away his stray bangs from his eyes very carefully, as I've never seen him so relaxed. His soldier instincts must have been honed to perfection, but at the very state, he looked nothing like one.

"Are you listening, Athrun?"

There was, of course, no reply for the sole exception of his soft breathing in the bedroom's dim lighting.

"Listen, I just talked to Lacus, and she said she's going to get us out of here soon. She asked me to talk with you." I sighed and warily kneaded my temple. The rest was going to be difficult, even when he's unconscious. "The truth is, I was devastated when you left and I had to stay. Four years ago, I had believed we had a chance for everything. I thought—you were my everything and vice versa. And then you had to go for Chairman Zala—and the only thought in my mind when I saw you in the TV, waving with a plastic smile like a puppet leader was 'I'm never going to see him again.' That's why I sent you that letter." Looking at Athrun's sleeping face through a film of tears was suddenly too difficult. "There was this certain phase in my life where I hate you so much, and God, it was so tiring. Forgetting you has also been the most tiring thing. But to stop loving you—was the only thing I couldn't do."

I stared at his face in the blackness, the soft bluish bangs, the features that really belonged to a woman, burning the image into my memory and felt my heart sank, realizing how much I'm gonna miss everything of him. "All I wanted by the time we went back to our lives is simply move on. You and I, we've been doing it for the last four years. We had our shares of good memories and I have faith in you—that you could do it."

Getting up to the door, I smiled wanly at him for the last time. "Thank you for being such a good listener." I touched my face, and surprisingly, I was dry-eyed at finding it so easy to finally let it all spill.

-

"Looking for this?"

Kira was standing across from me at my desk, and in his hand, dangled an object that has been disturbing my sleep for the last two weeks. The look on his face was unreadable, but he wasn't smiling. He seemed to have prepared a very long rant...I mean, speech. But he was silent, and eyed me quietly, and just then I realized he was waiting for my reply.

"Sort of," I answered with a wan smile, and unconsciously, my hands reached out for the item. He didn't extend his hand or made any motion to return the object. "Where did you find it?"

"Have you been looking for it?" he said, eyes never leaving mine. "Everywhere?"

"No, you idiot. I just realized I lost it this morning. Give it to me."

"You're lying."

I wanted to laugh at him silly, but my twin brother's blank look slowly turned into one of pity, and instantly I felt like doing nothing else but to weep to my heart's content. Surprisingly, I was dry-eyed and my voice sounded dangerously normal.

"Harsh words, Kira. We politicians are liars by nature. And I'm returning it."

By then, he had left the ring on my desk, halfway striding to the door, muttering something under his breath. "Don't lose it again."

I didn't know it at that time, but he had made his choice, sealing it along with my fate.

But there was a sudden jolt at the back of my head, and the rest was darkness, and the last thing I heard was a faint snort.