Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Seed. If it were mine…the ending would have been different.

Chapter 20 – Another Dead

A few days had passed since Cagalli had woken up from her coma. Athrun had ordered her to stay in bed, while her wounds slowly healed. Today, Athrun was the one bringing her meals to her. He slowly approached her and sat down on her bed.

"Good afternoon Cagalli Zala," he greeted her happily. Cagalli smiled at him.

"Do you know when I'll be able to get out of bed?" she asked. Athrun gulped and avoided her gaze. This was always a touchy subject to talk to her about. She hated the fact that she had to stay in one room fir a long time.

"Soon. Your injuries are slowly getting better. You should be able to walk around the ship soon, but only if someone comes with you. It would be horrible if you fainted in the halls somewhere," Athrun explained. Cagalli's eyes lit up in excitement.

"That's great!" she exclaimed, "Then I'll finally be able to fight again!" Athrun tensed when he heard her words. He looked at her sadly. Cagalli saw his expression and sighed.

"You don't want me to fight do you?" she said.

"No, I don't" he replied calmly.

"But why?" she complained angrily.

"Because I've already lost my child in this stupid war, I don't want to loose you too. I almost did and my heart almost stopped," he explained. His eyes were watering up again. "I don't want to loose you Cagalli. I love you so much. Why do you keep on putting yourself in danger?" he asked.

"Because I have something to protect too. My friends, my family and you. I can't just sit back in the sidelines and do nothing. I know that I can help you somehow, but I don't want you going on the battlefield alone. Do you know how I feel when you're out there risking your life for me? I get extremely worried. If I go with you, then we both have a chance to loose each other, but I want to help too! I want to fight!" she answered, "I'm sorry that our child was killed, but I still want to protect everyone I care for," she added softly. Athrun didn't respond.

"Please Athrun," Cagalli begged. Athrun turned away from her and sighed.

"Alright, but just be careful," he agreed. He walked out of the room.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"The ship needs repairs, so we're going to a nearby colony for the supplies," Lacus stated as she and Kira walked down the halls.

"Where are we going?" Kira asked curiously.

"Heliopolis," she replied. Kira stopped walking and tensed. Lacus looked at him with worry in her eyes.

"What's wrong?" she asked him.

"Heliopolis…The place where everything started. I guess they rebuilt it after the war," Kira murmured to himself.

"I guess," Lacus answered, "The ship will be landing in a few minutes, so we should get ready to disembark." Kira nodded and followed the pink haired singer.

"Heliopolis!" Miriallia exclaimed as she walked around the colony. Everyone had decided to go outside for a bit. Athrun had even allowed Cagalli to come too. The only person that wasn't with them was Kititsa, who had decided to wander away from them with Maki.

"Let's go find Kititsa. I'm sure she's lonely," Tilla stated. Everyone agreed and looked for their missing friend.

Kititsa and Maki just wandered around the colony. They stopped walking when they reached a huge empty park.

"It's so quiet here," she stated. Maki silently agreed.

There was a rustle in the bushes and Kititsa heard a branch snap. She quickly turned around and grabbed her gun.

"Who's there?" she yelled. A familiar man with red hair and green eyes stepped into her line of view.

"Good afternoon. You can lower your gun, I'm not going to hurt you," the man stated.

"Never! I know you; you're that idiot Deko. I'm never going to trust my enemy!" she yelled. Deko smiled and started to walk towards her. Kititsa backed away in fear, the gun in her hand shaking because of her trembling fingers.

'He's a highly trained coordinator. I have to be careful with him,' she thought. She didn't have any weapons she could use except for the gun, but that wouldn't be enough. So she did the only thing she could. She ran.

"Maki run!" she exclaimed. They both started to run into the forest, but Kititsa tripped on a branch and fell on the ground. Maki didn't notice her mistress' fall, so she continued to run until she vanished out of sight. Now Kititsa was completely alone and the enemy was behind her. Deko walked up to her and laughed.

"I guess your friend abandoned you," he stated silently.

"Shut up!" she yelled. Deko continued to examine her.

"You're cute," he stated. "You should join our group then you won't be killed when we destroy everything."

"Never!" she screamed. Deko sighed and backed away from her.

"What a shame. You were such a pretty girl. Now I'm going to have to kill you," he explained as he pulled out a gun. He aimed it at Kititsa. "Goodbye," he whispered as he pulled the trigger. The gunshot was heard throughout the whole park and at that exact moment, Maki jumped out of the bushes and took the bullet for her. Kititsa's eyes widened as blood flew everywhere. Kira and the others arrived to see the body of the lifeless tiger limply fall to the ground. Deko noticed his unexpected guests and fled. Kititsa got up to her knees and shook Maki's body. The tiger didn't move. The bullet had pierced her heart, instantly killing her. Kititsa hugged the tiger's body close to hers. Maki's blood dripped onto Kititsa, staining her clothes.

"Ma…ki…" she stammered as tears began to fall from her eyes. Cagalli leaned on Athrun as she stared at her distraught friend.

"Maki!" Kititsa yelled as loud as she could. She continued to hug the lifeless animal and cried.

I can't believe I just did that…O.O please don't flame me. I also happened to like Maki, but at least she did what she set out to do. She protected Kititsa from Deko.

Please Review.

Ja ne