A/N: Terima kasih! ^^
Okay, so about last chapter... you need to read till the end of this story to know about the dream...
And only a few more chapters left...
So, thank you for all of you, for your support and he reviews you gave me! I really love you!
And now, here is chapter 20. Happy reading!
Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam SEED/Destiny
Chapter 20
October, 8th 2010
Cagalli was snapping some pictures of the foster child doing their crafts.
Athrun had asked Cagalli to go with him to an orphanage. Athrun had been asked to make some kind of party for the children there by the owner. The owner, Mwu La Flaga, was related to his guardian, and Athrun had visited there once with Kira, and also helped them with some money. And now, Kira asked Lacus too, since she said she always loved children. And Cagalli used this as the opportunity for her article this month. (A/N : Again, it's something I did when I was in the club. I don't think the real illustrator would do it.)
They were making a candle case from unused plastic bottle. Lacus was there, explaining every step to them. The girls prefer to color their case with pink or yellow or red paint, while the boys used blue and green paint. The kids were so attuned to Lacus, no wonder for that. Lacus seemed at ease with all the snooping children. Kira did as best as he could to deal with the children, and so did Athrun.
Cagalli didn't know how to do that. She was sure that she couldn't handle them like Lacus; she never really liked children. But she sometimes she imagined what she would do if she had a child, her own child. And now that she was with Athrun, she felt like she really wanted one.
"I'll go to interview the owner," Cagalli said to Athrun and walked out from the room where everyone was doing their craft.
Cagalli was just doing her other side of a person from a press company. She drew picture, but sometimes she did this kind of journalism, just for a change of blaze. And she interviewed Athrun and Kira and Lacus too, though she found it a bit funny for interviewing her friends and boyfriend.
After Cagalli had done interviewing Mwu and his wife, she went back to the sunroom room where everyone was. When she opened the door, all the children were sitting in circle, and so did Athrun, Lacus and Kira. They listened carefully to what Athrun was whispering. As they heard someone entered the room, they suddenly went rigid and went back to their plastic bottle.
"What were you doing?" Cagalli asked, bemused. It was just me, she thought. But they looked… like hiding something…
"Nothing!" They answered with smile on their face.
Cagalli knew they were hiding something.
Lacus clapped her hands and said, "Okay, everyone. Let's put it here and let the paint dry. Now who want to sing and play together outside?"
The kids cheered and stood up, fighting to hold Lacus' hands and Athrun's, or to be carried by Kira. And then some girls were rushing to Cagalli and fought to hold her.
"Miss Cagalli, let's go to the garden with me!"
"No, with me!"
"No, I get to stand beside her!"
"No, I do!"
"Oh, come on, you guys! I'll go to the garden first. The ones who can beat me get to stand beside me!" Cagalli cheered and they marched to follow Lacus and the others. Children were always like that when they meet new people who came for them. They wanted the new people's attention.
Cagalli sat between two little girls who had beaten her; Cagalli let herself be beaten deliberately, and so the other adults. Lacus held a pencil case she had borrowed from a girl.
"Okay, so we're going to sing, and while we are singing, we'll be passing this pencil case to one another, started from me, to Ally, and then so on. When the song end the one who is holding the pencil case shall be punished! Okay?" Lacus explained the rule. The kids cheered; they understood.
And then they started singing Doe Ray Me and passing the pencil case.
Near the end of the song, the kids passed the pencil case faster and started giggling. A few kids passed it faster than before, continued passing it even thought the song ended.
And it ended on Cagalli.
"You cheated!" Cagalli exclaimed. Traitors! She had thought that they liked her!
"Miss Cagalli, you're going to be punished!" A few girls pushed her to the center of the circle. She went and stood there reluctantly.
"Okay, what do I do as the punishment?" Cagalli grumbled.
"Sing!" the kids chorused.
"What song?" Cagalli asked, still grumbling.
"Under the big chestnut tree!" one of them said.
"And with the movement!" the other added.
"No!" Cagalli protest.
"Oh, come on Cagalli, just sing!" Athrun said, and Cagalli glared at him.
"Okay, then!" Cagalli said. And then everybody was quiet. Cagalli felt awkward, standing in the middle of the circle and singing alone.
"Uuh, can we sing together?" Cagalli asked. It wouldn't be so uncomfortable if they sing along.
"No!" The kids chorused again, some of them were giggling already.
"Okay." Cagalli huffed, and started to sing, while moving her hands as she was singing. She felt like a kindergartener again. When she had done singing, she went back to her place with red face.
They continued the game, and then sang other songs, and then play another game until evening. Cagalli felt like she would fall down any minute and really need a recharge. She couldn't believe the other still had some energy to even laugh. What she heard after she thought that made her sighed in relief.
"Dinner is ready!" The cook said, standing at the porch.
"Yaay!" The kids cheered again. Cagalli huffed; children always had such a great stamina than adults. And then she could felt someone held her on the waist.
"Exhausted?" Athrun asked, smiling.
"These children are so strong. I really want to go to bed and sleep till next day!" Cagalli hung her shoulders.
"Oh, it's just a few hours with children, Cagalli."
"With a child is all right. But thirty three children…" Cagalli whimpered.
"C'mon, let's eat to regain our energy!" Athrun took her hand in his and walked together to the dining room.
The dinner was quite cheerful, and Athrun was happy, but also a bit confused because he rarely had this kind of dinner. The kids was bantering and joking about what they had done today with the adults. They complained for the carrots on their curry but they ate their carrot cake—without knowing there was carrot on it—happily. They asked constantly when the adults would come again, thought they just answered that they were not sure when. They even asked them to stay over for the night and offered their bed so they could sleep there. But Athrun and the other as politely as they can—so not to hurt them—told the kids that they should go home this night.
"Hey Cagalli, let's help Murrue san to clean the table and plates," Lacus said as Cagalli was going to leave the room.
"Uhh… Okay…," Cagalli said. She was so tired, but didn't want to rest while the other was still had some work to do. She walked back and help Lacus and Murrue.
"Let's see our candle case, kids!" Athrun said and the kids cheered again. They went to the sunroom and closed the door.
"Oh… I want to be six years old again!" Cagalli moaned while she collected some plates.
"They are so energetic and cheerful and happy, aren't they?" Lacus asked, smiling.
"I want to have their stamina, to be able to do many things without getting tired."
"Oh, they are going to be tired and sleep so soundly tonight," Lacus put some of the plates on the dishwasher.
"Thank you for coming here. The kids were so happy today. And Mr. Zala was so kind to help us with the money he had donated for this orphanage," Murrue said as she came back from cleaning the table.
"Oh, that's Athrun. And I'm glad he donated some of his affluence for other people. It's nice to know some people still care for others," Cagalli said, feeling proud.
"And you're lucky to have a boyfriend like that." Lacus patted Cagalli's shoulder.
Cagalli just smiled, remembering the moment she ran away from Athrun. She was glad that she could assure herself to go back to Athrun and stay with him.
They quickly cleaned the rest of the dishes and tidying the dining room. After that, Cagalli slumped her body into a couch. "God, what an exhausting day."
"But it was nice. I'm happy I could spend some time with the children," Lacus said as she sat beside Cagalli.
"You get along well with them. I couldn't do anything if one of those kids cries or if they are angry…" Cagalli listed all the things that had happened to her when she was interacting with a child.
"Oh, you'll be a mother sometime, Cagalli. It's good to be used to them before you have one," she advised.
"If only…" Cagalli mumbled under her breath. She recalled her conversation with Athrun about kids a few days ago. She didn't get along with kids well, but wasn't most mother get along with their children easily after they hold them once? If the kids were their own kids, wouldn't it just be all right?
Cagalli wanted her own child, with Athrun. But would she be ready to take the consequence; her child being trapped in a curse which would bring her or him suffering through life, just like the father?
No, she didn't want to be selfish and have a child without thinking about how her or his life would be. But she was selfish enough for wanting to keep Athrun for herself. And as she thought about Athrun, she could just forget everything else and focused only about him.
"Cagalli…" She turned her head and saw Athrun was smiling eagerly. "Let's go to the balcony on the second story."
"Is there something? Can't it wait?" Cagalli asked, she wanted to go home, to sleep.
"Just come with me, it won't take that long. After this we will go home." Athrun held out his hand. Cagalli looked at it, sensing that Athrun was planning something for her. But she took his hand anyway.
"Where are the kids? I didn't know they had slept. It's so quiet." Cagalli asked as they went upstairs.
"They haven't. They are outside," Athrun said, still dragging Cagalli's hand.
"What are they doing?"
"They were doing me a favor," Athrun sound cheerful.
"What favor?"
Athrun didn't answer. He guided Cagalli to the deck and dragged her to see the backyard where they had spent their afternoon from there.
Cagalli gasped.
The kids cheered when they could see Cagalli was seeing their work. They waved their hands to Cagalli and circling their colorful candles which were put on the ground in a pattern which clearly said:
WILL YOU MARRY ME?
One of the kids shouted, "Say 'Yes', Miss Cagalli!" and followed by the others, cheering her to say yes. Lacus and Kira shouted with them as well.
"Athrun… what's this… What does this mean?" Cagalli turned to Athrun, and gasped louder when she saw him kneel on one knee, holding a small red velvet box. Cagalli could only think one thing that could be inside the box.
"Cagalli Yula Athha, you're the only one who had the place in my deepest heart, which had never been touched, couldn't be touched by any other woman. You're the one who understand me, who can brighten my day, who care about me despite who I am, what a can do with this curse on me; the one who safe me from my dark, depressing self. I would like to spend the rest of my life with you, make you happy in many ways I can do. I know I'm not perfect, far from perfect compared to the other males out there. But would you do me the honor by marrying me, and make me the happiest guy ever in this world and be my wife?"
"Oh, Athrun…" Cagalli said, and couldn't say any more than that, and opened and closed her mouth a few times, looking for the best way to answer him. It was so overwhelming; these past few days, she had been sure Athrun would propose to him soon because of their talk. She had been imagining how Athrun would do it…
"Say yes! Say yes! Say yes!" She could hear the kids cheered them. She swore she could hear Murrue and Mwu, and Talia and Gilbert too. Even she could hear Rev. Markio said once, "Don't make him wait, child!"
Cagalli looked at the candles again, read every word over and over, marveling the colorfulness of the candles, the thing they did this day. Athrun had prepared it all along.
"Cagalli…?"
Cagalli looked at Athrun who seemed so nervous. She could almost hear his frantic thought running on his head. And then she saw the ring, the silver ring with a ruby. The darkness of the night made it glows couldn't be seen, and the candles were too far. But she was sure it was beautiful.
Cagalli held her hand out.
Athrun sighed in relief and too the ring, and put it on Cagalli's ring finger.
"It fits perfectly," Cagalli said, lifting her hand to see the details.
"Good, then." Athrun stood up and hugged Cagalli tightly.
"I love you Athrun. And I would be so honored to be your wife and spend the rest of my life with you," Cagalli said softly on his ears.
"I love you too, Cagalli. And thank you for making me the happiest guy in world."
"Oh, wait till our wedding day," Cagalli said, images were already playing on her head.
"I can't wait," Athrun said. He pulled away to kissed Cagalli on her lips, a long, loving kiss sealing their love together.
They kissed for a while and didn't even hear the cheer of happiness from the people on the backyard.
And now, the end is near...
Review...!