Chapter 21: Freefall

As she was freefalling head first toward the ground her life began to flash before eyes, She wanted to die, to end it all before the situation progressed further. She felt that if she lived another day a war would begin, but only this time Orb would be the target. If those children were allowed to be born it would only be a small amount of time before Al killed her, and manipulated them to do his bidding , after all, they were designed to be his cloans and he could influence them anyway he liked even before birth. But still she didn't decide this lightly. She couldn't live with herself if she killed them, but then again who said she had to live at all, and what better way to go then protecting your loved ones. While holding onto Topaz tighter she said,

"I'm sorry Topaz, but I won't let you die alone, because of my existence, your life has been filled with suffering." That was her excuse anyway

But still~ it was hard when she thought of him,

"Kira" she said with a shallow breath, as she thought of her father giving her the picture of them both before she boarded the kusanagi

"You won't be alone, you'll be with your brother" said lord uzumi

He'll be ok she thought, his parent's will be there to comfort him and he'll have Lacus to share a full life with...

but then her memories of the other consumed her thoughts "Athrun" .. because he has no one...no mother, no father, and soon no ... and then she saw Athrun's face fixated within her mind, and sharply heard his voice say

" The hardest battle is to keep living" she then realized

that if she died now, she would be playing right into Al's hands .. he only needed her body to keep them alive, and her status to elevate them to the top of the political spectrum. What he really wanted was Orbs power, And right now she was about to kill the very person who could possibly lead her to him and take away his.

"Sorry topaz you need to live a little longer their is someone else I need to kill first, he wants to manipulate me and possibly drive me insane DAMMIT THAT'S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!" screamed cagalli. She felt a kind of dormant power awaken within her , It's as if whatever she thought happened. She released Topaz from her hold and maneuvered her body in such a way that she rolled onto the ground. Topaz bounced once dropping the pills and then landed on her side, as she tried to reach for them ..cagalli grabbed her arm, turned her onto her backside straddling her front. With topaz's legs in between hers... she pulled her up by her shirt, and punched her face.

"Listen to me whether you live or die makes no difference to me,...but..."

Topaz wasn't listening she tried tirelessly again and again to reach for her pills and then purposely began to convulse hoping to draw cagalli's attention away from what she was doing, but it was too late. Cagalli saw what she was reaching for and grabbed the bottle.

"This- is this what you want??"

Topaz turned her head away..

" Hey bitch listen to me...If you want these, you'll tell me what I need to know.." topaz thought for a moment, and then decided to play along... If cagalli needs her then she'll have the pills, be rid of her enemies, and have athrun in bed just in time for lunch, after all, if cagalli was anything like her then revenge has a heavy price to pay, and in her state of mind she was sure that her original would pursue it to no end ... she wanted to grin, but instead she sighed

"Whatever, I'm dead anyway" and then she began to shake, as cagalli tried to hold her down the crystal necklace that her mother had given her shaped in the form of the upside down obelisk slipped out of her shirt and dangled from her neck. It illuminated as the moonlight hit it, and that caught topaz's attention.

"How...How..." uttered toapaz as she was trying to speak..."Did you ge...t... The sol...a...rium crystal Via you bitch, you finally did it...but why did you give it to heeeeeeeeeerrrrrrr" and then she passed out .. It was all part of her plan, but cagalli didn't know that..

Her eyes grew wide filling with tears as she still sat straddling topaz's body weeping. Not for her loss of life, but because she thought she lost the one person that would lead her to salvation ... she screamed as it began to rain. However, In the shadows slowly walking toward her direction was shin, and standing on the side of the building trying really hard not to be noticed was kuzzy .. He didn't approach, he had only come to see kira, but caught an eye full instead,

"Cagalli" he whispered beneath his breath " You are the gift that just keeps on- giving " said kuzzy with a smirk on his face as he quietly walked away disappearing along the side of the buiding.

In the meantime, cagalli was now kneeling beside topaz's body pounding her fist into the grass that was now wet with the rain. Then she heard a shuffle, she didn't turn around to see who it was, Instead she quickly rolled out of her position , grabbed a rock and aimed for the persons head. Although he managed to dodge it by tilting his head to the side, nothing stopped him from drawing his gun.

Moments earlier~~~

He didn't run to the window when she jumped out as lacus and kira had done to see if she survived. Instead He ran to their room and grabbed the one weapon he kept under the night stand, because whether she lived or died the fact still remained that someone was going to pay the piper. He didn't have time to wait or tell the others what he was doing, time was of the essence. He hastily ran to the stairs and jumped over the railing to ground floor crouching his body as he landed to absorb the impact. He ran out of the opened patio door and their he saw someone leaning over the maids body. He was sure that it was cagalli, but couldn't help but draw his weapon when a projectile came flying at him. It was now a Mexican stand off, only the person on the other end was not holding a weapon.

SheHuffed and puffed with her fists at her side, once she saw who it was, she relaxed her fingers and her hands rested at their side. She wanted to run to him but he had a blank stare on his face, and then she heard someone behind her speak her name with a raspy voice.

"ca...ga...l..l...i"

She didn't need to turn around, she knew that it could only be topaz, but what she failed to realize was the she wasn't the only one who heard it, so did Athrun, as she reached for his hand in an attempt to lower his gun.. He fired...

at that instant her arm fell down to her side... She didn't look, but turned her head to see if topaz was ok and then she heard another click...

As she turned face forward... There stood kira behind Athrun with a gun pointed at the back of his head...

Minutes earlier~~~~

Kira and Lacus ran to the window as cagalli jumped out of it with topaz. kira noticed blood on the glass but didn't know whom it was from

"Oh MY!" said lacus as she saw the red droplets on the window pane. Kira just stood there stunned and speechless it was as if the scene of her jumping kept playing over and over in his head and then he heard a thud as lacus sat on the floor with her face coupled in her hands in disbelief. He didn't care where Athrun was, nor did he want to comfort his wife. After all, He knew where she was ... but cagalli...

without thinking he just reacted...He took off his shirt exposing his hard bare chest, wrapped it around his hand and punched out the remaining pieces of glass hanging around the window pane. He then threw his shirt on the hallway floor and jumped feet first out the window. As he landed he heard a gunshot, He saw Shin out of his peripheral vision to his right, grabbed the gun from his hand turned around and pointed it to the back of athrun's head.

"Pull that trigger again and it will be your last!", said a very stern, but tense Kira " Do you even notice what you're doing?"

Athrun looked around and he saw topaz clenching her chest.. had he shot her? He wondered .. He saw lacus race to her aid with three military officers , as they helped topaz/ nina to her feet lacus stood thinking about how she arrived at this moment

A few minutes earlier...

As lacus looked up, she noticed kira jumping out of the window. She realized that she had to do something...bouncing down the hallway came pink haro ..

She cuddled her dear pink with her cheek

"My dear pink what am i to do..." She thought for a moment while stroking pink haru with her hands as if it were a child.

"MY dear pink you must go to the gate quickly and bring back the guards to the south side, for we have an enemy in our midst"

"oooooooooookkkkkkkkkkk non nu non nu", said haru, as she ordered it to alert the guards at the gate.

Lacus then removed the cell phone from her pocket and texted shin to meet her on the south side of the building and to be ready for trouble. Afterwards, she ran down the stairs holding her dress. Once the guards arrived at the front door accompanied by lacus they ran around to the south side of the building where they saw Topaz trying to get up from the ground.

"Take her to number one", said lacus

Topaz still had a tough time standing. Shin who was standing behind kira walked over to where lacus and the guards were, before he reached them cagalli called out his name

"Shin!" He turned his head toward her and she threw him the bottle.

"make sure they give her only one of these and you keep the bottle, but wait till she's secure. I didn't survive for nothing dammit"

"Whatever, I don't take orders for you, but I do see your point" Shin walked over to Topaz and stood in front of her

"your pathetic" he said to her... " Hey guys, In spite of what she's done.. She's not a piece of meat you know. He picked her up and carried her limp body to number one. As he passed by, athrun was reminded of carrying meer's limp body down the corridor of the arc angel, but this was different. Because Topaz... was still Alive. He then turned his attention to cagalli, as the rain picked up a little he saw pink water begin to flow along the sidewalk beneath her feet. He then saw cagalli stumble backwards a little only to be caught by lacus.

"Whoa! Don't fall we can't have you getting injured now can we", said lacus with a small grin on her face

Cagalli smiled and stared at Lacus trying to help her gain her footing

"Thanks but your...Too little... too late"

Lacus held up her right hand and with a stunned look on her face she stood speechless as she watched the blood wash off with the rain.

" Relax lacus it's just a flesh wound, nothing to be concerned about, I've been through worse. Athrun fell to his knee's dropped his gun on the ground and screamed,

"NOOOOO!" at the top of his lungs

Cagalli shook her head violently from side to side rushed to him as quickly as she could, without falling she knelt on the ground and held his head fast to her chest. Athrun still in shock could not speak

"It's not your fault! Athrun listen to me it's not your fault!" Athrun sounded as if he were going to hyperventilate. Although it hurt like hell she found the strength to lift her right arm and placed his face between her hands, staring straight into his eyes she repeated the words

" It's not your fault!" Then kissed him deeply, once she came up for air she slapped him.

"Sorry, but I needed you attention..." She pointed to the broken potted plant on the ground by the building.

"I told you that it was not your fault and now I've proved it toooo you..." Athrun relaxed for the first time and then cagalli fell forward into his arms. Athrun's heart skipped a beat, as lacus rushed to her aide. As he turned her onto her back he saw the cut on her arm.

"She's ok", said Lacus " but we need to get her inside out of the rain"

"right!" said athrun " kira, can you carry her please, there is something that I must do..."

"but athrun...?"

"please kira, and can I borrow your gun?"

" Sure, but promise me that you won't do anything stupid."

"Don't worry, I won't" Athrun looked down at the gun, and then turned to kira who was carrying a very limp cagalli in his arms.

"Did you know that the safety was on!"

Kira smiled,"UH... yeah, I was never going to kill you...I ..JUst wanted to show you what your future would be like..even if it meant... scaring the hell out of you...You needed to see what you were doing before it was too late... to ...go ..back, because the one thing you can't get back is your past, but ...you can change your future..." kira turned his back towards athrun, and athrun towards his, as they began to walk away with neither turning around Kira called out

"Athrun"

"yes"

"Don't do anything that I wouldn't do...promise"

"One that I'll Keep, and don't worry, I'll be there before she wakes up"

They both continued on their respective paths

Back at a very special guest house on the Atha estate known as number one Shin had given Topaz her one pill. He sat on the edge of her bed until she stopped shaking, Once she was sound asleep he decided to make his way back to the main house. He wanted to see lacus, but more than anything he needed to talk to cagalli. He ordered the guards at the front door not to let anyone in or out and left the third guard in the living room.

"Don't underestimate her, and if she wakes alert me immediately" ordered shin

" Yes, Sir understood"

Shin then walked away, but he didn't notice athrun in the distance, coming his way soaked from head to toe with a pink smear on his shirt, from the blood thatspilled as he held cagalli in his arms before kira took her away. He hid the gun underneath his shirt behind his back, so that it wouldn't be noticed. By the time he arrived to number one shin was long gone. As he approached the front door both soldiers saluted.

"At ease, Is the prisoner ...uh special guest secure?"

"yes sir, master shin said that she was sleeping and not to let anyone through sir"

" i would hardly say that I was anyone, Step aside please..."

" but!"

"Do not let me tell you again", said Athrun STERNLEY "Now let's try this again, STEP ASIDE"

They opened the door for him and that's when he noticed the guard in the living room.

"Mind if I sit with you a moment?"

"Not, at all sir!"

"Let's say we play a game of cards"

"But -"

"But what"

"You're a legend sir, I can't possibly win against you"

"You'll never know unless you try"

"Since you put it that way..sure.. it will be my honor..." the soldier couldn't control his happiness

"Hey, by the way do you want a drink"

"is it ok?"

" Sure, why not.."

Athrun grabbed two beers from the fridge and sat them on the coffee table, and although athrun only pretended to take sips of his, the guard drank as much as he could while they played cards"

Meanwhile in the bedroom of number one lay topaz sleeping. She was dreaming of wearing a beautiful short yellow sundress, running through a meadow filled with sunflowers only to arrive at the ocean. Once at the ocean she came upon a man dressed in white whose hair was blowing in the wind, as he turned around she noticed that it was athrun whose emerald green eyes glistened in the sunlight and his hair was wet as if he had just left the ocean. The two didn't speak, but he walked up to her grabbed her neck and gently laid her down onto the sandy beach with his body covering hers. As she stared into his eyes she began to feel something cold and hard press against her calf, and slowly travel up leg toward her inner thigh, as this happened she let out a sigh of ecstasy, not opening her eyes, she felt her breast being coupled, her nipples tingling as she felt something wet like ice touch them, she then felt tiny drip drops of water travel up her neck. She then closed her eyes as she felt him tug at her hair forcing her head back. She wanted to be surprised by what he would do next as she was swept away by his sweet smell of ocean mist. Feeling his tongue race up her neck she felt a kiss so hard as if her neck were going to bleed. But nothing could prepare her for what was next. She had heard that sound before, she opened her eyes and they met with athruns , her lips were millimeters away from his, his hair was dripping wet, but her neck was being forced back with the barrel of his gun and to make sure she didn't move, his leg was in between hers and her hair was being pulled backward with every fiber of his being.

"If you try to move you'll shorten your life, but out of respect for my wife... Tell me why should you live?"

"She struggled to speak," I've always dreamed of being in this position with you.. "

"bad answer! "He moved the gun toward her jugular and pulled her hair harder

" Wait! Wait! ...I...love you! Just one kiss... I didn't want to die without saying it.." Athrun released the safety.

"How about the kiss of death, I'm sure you have friends waiting for you in hell!" Athurn began to squeeze the trigger when topaz yelled,

"Wait, I know who tried to kill Cagalli!"

"why should I believe you"

" i don't know, y our the one with the gun you tell me?"

Athrun stayed in the assumed position motionlessly staring into her eyes with his finger still on the trigger... He wanted to believe her, but he wasn't sure if he could control her..

Back at the mansion, cagalli lay sleeping with lacus sitting at her bedside reading a book, when kira walked in with a two glasses of water.

"Here you go lacus, this one's for you and this one's...well I guess she's sleeping"

"Yes, and she hasn't stirred once"

"What do you say we get something to eat" lacus looked over at cagalli

" It's ok lacus, I'm sure she'll be just fine"

"well... ok"

Kira took lacus's hand and they walked out to the room together. Once they were at the end of the hall kira grabbed her by the waist

"Oh MY! " she said

As they engaged in a marital kiss, and that's when the glass broke. Kira ran quickly down the hall to cagalli's room, she was convulsing erratically, in doing so she knocked over the glass of water, kira screamed for lacus and she came running into the room, She touched her head and it felt hot to the touch.

"Kira we have to get her to a hospital!"

"NO! we can't "

"But Kira she'll die"

" I said NO DAMMIT! now help me hold her down. Lacus just starred at kira and then he saw someone grab her feet..

Kira looked up.,, It was kuzzy

"She appears to be having the same symptoms that you had kira. You know that time when we were trapped in the desert after we descended to earth...Either way we both known that's impossible right? Cagalli is a natural. But what I don't understand is why won't you get a doctor to save your own sister?"

kira felt as if he was caught between a rock and a hard place. He turned to his wife.

"Lacus please get some ice.."

"But-"

"LACUS!" she didn't argue

Kira stood up and walked towards kuzzy

"What's your angle?"

"Theirs no angle I'm just being observant that's all...Look it appears that she has calmed down a bit..Why don't' I see you later?"

"huh...ok"

"Don't bother getting up Kira I know the way out"

Kira sat down in the chair and touched cagalli's head she was burning up, he couldn't help it.. These were defiantly the symptoms of a coordinator. Did she have a genetic time clock that was triggered by his blood, or could it be that which is growing inside her...

"Athrun... Kira...please...I don't want to die"

He didn't want to ignore his sisters pleas, but his gut told him to wait

"I'm not going to leave you cagalli...Athrun where the hell are you?"

"Please kira ... i don't want to be the cause of a war..." kira cringed as he held onto her hand ...he was the only one that knew what she was going through and right now the only one who could save her, Her life was 100 percent in his hands.

Down the hall Lacus was filling up a basin of water humming one of her songs of peace when she felt someone stroke her arm. She thought that it was kira but when she turned around, she quickly learned that it was not to be the case, as she found her mouth covered...by an unlikely person...