Music Background-Ima Kono Shunkan Ga Subete, Kanoyo no Uta

Hello, you all! I know this is really a late update. Yeah, I know, sorry! I never thought secondary school will be this hard. Homeworks and everything…plus Arabic... oh my God…I almost don't have time at all for fanfics! Anyway, thanks a lot to my beta reader, Lily. Enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 21- Farewell To A Friend

Lenore clapped her hands to her mouth, emerald eyes widened in shock. Snapping back to reality, she hugged her son, who seemed lost in his own thoughts. She knew this was a big shock for him. Athrun knew Tolle since he was in middle school and Lenore knew he considered Tolle as one of his best friends.

"Stay strong, son...His condition isn't serious, right?" She whispered, caressing Athrun's hair.

"...I don't know...Kira said he's bleeding very much. Mom, I need to go, everyone's panicking right now and don't know what to do...I must hurry."

Athrun said, still looked miserable. He broke his mother's hug and stood up, taking his wallet and cell phone before running out from the room with car keys in hand. A moment later, Lenore could hear Athrun's BMW leaving the mansion.

"I hope he's alright..." She sighed, standing up and walked out from the room.

Athrun drove as fast as he could. In his head, there was nothing except for the image of Tolle lying dead and covered in blood. A tear fell down his cheek slowly but he didn't bother to wipe it. Based on Kira's story, the accident happened near Lacus' house and it wasn't far from Athrun's own house. He arrived at the place in five minutes or so.

Getting out from his car, he approached Kira who was holding a crying Lacus in his arms. Kira detected his presence at once and his confusion turned into relief.

"Athrun! There you are! I...I really didn't know what to do…I've called the police just now and I didn't have any idea what to do after that except calling you; maybe you know how to handle things...I never been in this kind of situation...it's terrible..."

But Athrun didn't seem to hear what Kira said. He was staring at Cagalli, who was crying bitterly in Yuuna's arms. He couldn't breathe well for a while, his teeth gritted and his fists clenched. It wasn't jealousy, he knew it. He felt betrayed, very betrayed indeed. He wondered, did Cagalli ever think about his feelings at all?

Kira nudged his elbows suddenly. "Athrun?"

"Ah? Oh yeah..."Athrun immediately turned to his best friend. "We just wait for the police to come. How...How did this all happen? Tell me the details."

"Well...you know, we were hanging out with the others at Lacus' house. We were walking home together; Lacus followed us because she wanted to drop in at your house to find out whether you are alright. That's when it happened. His cell phone fell and he bent to pick it up, not seeing a car speeding in his direction at that time. And then...I heard screams at the same time the car continued to speed up and…the girls cried very hard and Milly..."

Athrun's emerald eyes fixed on a crying figure on the ground. Kira was right; Miriallia looked very sad even though Dearka was beside her, trying his best to calm her down. He also saw Shiho, crying silently as Yzak caressed her long hair, holding sadness in his eyes. Lacus was still crying a little but not as bad as the other girls. She managed to stop her tears from falling but was still sniffing. He looked at Miriallia again, his expression softened. He approached her.

Bending down, he put a hand on her shoulder and called softly, "Milly..."

Miriallia turned and as soon as her eyes met Athrun's, she hugged him tightly without warning. Everyone was shocked, especially Dearka. He averted his gaze quickly. Athrun didn't know what to do except for patting Miriallia's back to comfort her. He knew Dearka didn't like it but he didn't have a choice. He couldn't possibly break the hug. He was sure Dearka could understand it. Throwing Dearka an apologetic look, he tried to smile but failed, wondering how Cagalli felt right now when she saw him hugging another girl...

-Dearka's P.O.V-

I couldn't understand it, I really couldn't. I was beside her just now, I was hugging her but she didn't even look at me. But Athrun only called her name and she hugged him! Her crying seemed to ease a bit when Athrun patted her back.

I knew Athrun didn't really want to do it, I understood but what I couldn't understand is, why couldn't I do that too? Why couldn't I comfort her?

I didn't know how should be feeling now. For me, there was no chance Tolle was still alive. Blood was everywhere. By looking at this, everyone could tell that he was gone…If he had, then I should feel sad like the others. Or should I feel happy for it? Wasn't it what I wanted before? When he left Milly to me, I wished he would never come back. And now, he might be never come back anymore...

I couldn't deny that I was quite glad he had gone. That meant Milly was single now and she could be mine. But I couldn't stand to see her crying like this. I believed if the car driver that hit Tolle didn't drive away, she must have killed him. She seemed so sad, I knew she really was. I knew...she loved him very much...

I wondered if she thought Athrun was better than me. I wanted to help her too but she didn't seem to need my help at all and I know, Athrun was better than me when it came to handling girls. I glanced at Cagalli, she seemed furious and gripped her purple-headed fiancé's shirt very hard. There were a lot of things I couldn't understand...

The sirens of the police car shook away my thoughts

-end Dearka's P.O.V-

Athrun immediately stood up when he realized the police arrived. He turned to Miriallia who was still holding him. "I'll talk to the policemen. Stay with Dearka for awhile. Everything will be alright, I promise you." He said with assurance, patting Miriallia on the shoulder softly.

After leaving Miriallia in Dearka's hands, Athrun approached the two policemen. He thought he was the only one who could handle the situation since the other boys were busy with their partners. The girls collapsed into tears again when they saw an officer wrapping Tolle's body and taking him to the ambulance, which came with the police.

"Sir, I am his friend..." Athrun started but one of the policeman cut him off.

"You saw the accident?" The serious policeman asked. His name tag read Sahib Ashman.

Athrun scratched his head. "I didn't. I just arrived here after my friend called me. But my friend," He gestured at Kira, "told me what happened. He...Tolle...bent down to pick up his cell phone and didn't notice there was a car in his direction. And it seemed like the driver drove away, probably afraid to be blamed for the accident."

Sahib growled, unsatisfied. "We need to speak with the one who saw the incident!"

Another policeman patted his colleague's shoulder. "Sahib, calm down, alright? They're just teenagers and their friend is dying. Don't stress him out any more."

He smiled at Athrun kindly. "I am Andrew Wardfelt. Thanks for telling us that but we really need to speak with the real witness. By the way, may I know what your name is?"

"It's Athrun, Athrun Zala. Maybe my friend Kira can help you. But as you can see, we all are still in shock. Tolle...is our good friend. And he became engaged not too long ago."

Athrun said, eying Miriallia slightly before turning to the policeman again. "But, sir...is there...any possibility that...Tolle is still alive?"

Andrew shrugged. "We don't know yet. But this case is serious since the driver ran away. We must contact your friend's -you call him Tolle, right? We must contact Tolle's parents immediately. I hope you can help us, Zala." He said.

Athrun nodded as he glanced at the ambulance which had started to leave the place. "Sure, sir...anything..."

Eternal Hospital

"...Yes, please come immediately. Yes...we don't know yet...Sure, please calm down, Mrs Koenig...okay, see you soon..."

Athrun turned to Andrew. "I've called Tolle's parents; they said they will come as soon as possible." He informed.

The policeman gave a pat on Athrun's shoulder and smiled.

"Thanks a lot. Now I need to discuss something with my colleagues. Excuse me, please?"

When Andrew left him, Athrun looked around him. All of his friends wore the same worried expression. Miriallia was still crying and if Athrun wasn't mistaken, she hadn't stop crying. Dearka seemed too tired to tell her to stop crying so he just let her cry. He patted her back at the same time.

Lacus stopped crying completely and now was closing her eyes and held her hands, praying, with Kira looking worried at her. Cagalli was staring at her lap; tears still brimmed in her eyes. Yuuna simply held her shoulder.

Meanwhile Shiho was leaning against Yzak, her eyes closed, sleeping. Yzak held her body in one arm while the other one held his cell phone. Athrun knew he was telling their friends about Tolle. He felt glad Yzak thought about doing that, since he was too tired to do it.

He took a seat beside Yzak, who looked slightly startled. His cold sapphire eyes met Athrun's emerald one for awhile but he quickly turned back his gaze to his cell phone.

"Shiho is asleep, isn't she?" Athrun tried to start a conversation.

"Yeah. She's tired. This accident really gave her a shock." Yzak answered in a low voice. Obviously he didn't want to wake Shiho up.

"Not only her. Tolle is...well, you know...we've been friends since last year." Athrun said as he looked around. His eyes stopped at the sight of Cagalli whispering something to Yuuna. He looked down, trying hard not to feel hurt.

Yzak saw it and frowned. "I don't understand you. But if I were you, I wouldn't sit here and just look at them. She's yours." He whispered.

Athrun sighed. "You don't know how I feel; Yzak and I don't think she is mine..."

"Coward. I will never let another guy touch Hahnenfuss as long as she is my girlfriend. It's an insult for me." Yzak said. He stared at Shiho lovingly for awhile before turning back to his cell phone.

Again, Athrun sighed heavily. "I know, Yzak...I know..."

"Aishiau mirai wa tashika ni shiteiru no Kanashimi wo kono te ni tori modosu sono toki made nido towa konai ima anata no koto shika mienai..."

Mayu and Shinn clapped as Stellar finished singing. Shinn was cheering loudly. It was okay for them to make noises because they were at the beach and there was no one else there.

"Wow, Stell, you're great! How come I never heard about your singing talent before?" Shinn asked, still clapping.

Stellar blushed as she sat down next to Mayu and Shinn on some big rocks along the beach.

"Well, I never sing at school. We have Lacus-san as the school songstress and she is much better than me. And I also have some nerve problems. If you want to know, this is my first time singing in front of people."

"And you did it great, Stellar nee-chan! Mayu loves the song very much! What is the title of it?" Mayu asked as she stared at Stellar in awe.

She took Stellar as her role-model. Stellar had amazed her in many ways. The blonde was pretty, danced well and Shinn told Mayu that she also excelled in both studies and sports. Now, she knew that Stellar could sing well too.

"The title is Shinkai no Kodoku. In English it means Sea's Loneliness. I created it." Stellar answered.

This excited Mayu even more. "Wow! You are very brilliant! You are a great singer, you can create songs and you are good at pretty much everything! Mayu also wants to be like you!"

Shinn smiled to himself as the two girls continued to chat. After knowing Stellar always went to the beach alone at night, he couldn't help but worry about her. Tonight he came to accompany her. He knew it wouldn't happen every night or else his mom would suspect he was doing something wrong. Shinn couldn't possibly tell her about Stellar.

He brought Mayu along so Stellar wouldn't think about anything bad and bringing Mayu meant they wouldn't be alone. At first Shinn was hesitant to come because he didn't want Stellar to feel disturbed but she assured him that she didn't mind at all. It felt safer, she said.

Suddenly Shinn's cell phone vibrated in his pocket, meaning a new message arrived. Mayu and Stellar stopped chatting and looked at him as he took out his cell phone and read the message silently. His face became pale as soon as he finished.

"What's wrong, Onii-chan? Who sent that message?" asked Mayu curiously.

"It's from Luna. She said...Tolle was in an accident and...he is badly injured."

"Koenig-san? Haww-san's boyfriend, right? Oh my goodness..." muttered Stellar slowly. "So he is at the hospital now?"

Shinn nodded and put his cell phone back into his pocket. He stood up and looked at both Mayu and Stellar.

"I want o go the hospital. Mayu, you go back home and Stell, you can come if you want."

Mayu protested. "Mayu wants to go with Onii-chan! Tolle nii-chan is very funny and kind, he always helped Mayu! Mayu wants to meet him!" she wailed. Her tears began fall as she stood up.

Stellar stood up as well. "I also want to come. Koenig-san is kind to me too. He is kind to everyone. Poor Haww-san..."

"Okay, then but Mayu, you call Mom, okay? We'll take a taxi straight to the hospital." said Shinn. "I just hope we still have time..."

"Tolle! Tolle! Where is he? Where's my son?"

"Please, please calm down, dear..." Mr. Koenig tried to calm his wife down even though he himself looked very worried.

Mrs. Koenig, a plump woman with small eyes, held her sobs and wiped her tears. She knew she couldn't make noises in the hospital. But she couldn't help but cry silently. Tolle was her only son, her only child in this world and now he might not live through the night. She would never be able to meet or talk to him anymore. If only she noticed earlier...

Tolle had been acting very weird since the morning. He woke up very early and tidied his room, something that he never did before. And before he went to school, he hugged both his mother and father. He told them he loved them very much and even though he was someone's fiancé, he was still their son. He acted really strange so Mrs Koenig asked him whether he was ill. Tolle laughed. It was his last laugh for his parents.

Remembering the scene made Mrs. Koenig feel sadness in the biggest amount. She looked around and noticed all of Tolle's friends were grieving as well. She knew his son had many friends. And then she spotted Dearka holding Miriallia's hand. Her expression changed at once. She marched towards them and pulled Dearka's hand from Miriallia's, shouting,

"What do you think you are doing? Holding my future daughter-in-law's hand like that!"

Dearka blinked at the woman twice before gulping and standing up, offering his seat to her. She sat down and pulled Miriallia into her arms.

"Aunty...Tolle will be alright, won't he?" Miriallia muttered weakly, leaning against her. "...He will be with us again, right?"

Miriallia's words had everyone wanting to cry. Mrs. Koenig hugged her tighter and the two cried silently together. Lacus' tears started to fall again after seeing the scene and Cagalli began to weep once more again.

"Kira!"

Kira, who was trying to comfort Lacus, turned and saw Auel, Meyrin, Lunamaria, Shinn, Mayu and Stellar approaching them. All of them seemed worried. Shinn held Mayu's hand so tight that Kira could swear that he saw Mayu winching.

"You all..." He said, feeling amazed, wondering who had summoned them and told them about the news.

"I only told Nicol." Yzak said as though he could read Kira's mind. "Maybe he's the one who told this lot."

"Yup, Nicol sent me a message. He said there was an accident and Tolle was currently in Eternal Hospital."

Lunamaria explained. "I was with Meyrin and Auel at that time. Then, I told Shinn and he came with Mayu and...well, we just met at the entrance."

Shinn blushed when he felt eyes turning to him. "Well...when Luna sent me that message, I...err...Mayu and I were having a chat with Stellar so we come together." He said. "But it's not the matter now. Tolle...is he alright?"

Kira shook his head sadly. "We don't know yet."

Mayu looked at the grieving people around her. She felt sad too. She knew Tolle as one of his brother's friends. She knew all of her brother's friends; Kira, Athrun, Dearka, Yzak, Auel, Lunamaria, Meyrin and more. Tolle always teased her and taught her some jokes. She also knew Tolle had a nice girlfriend. She wondered how his girlfriend felt right now.

Her brown eyes suddenly noticed a blue-haired boy sitting alone, looking both worried and anxious.

"Athrun nii-san..." She called under her breath. Letting go of her brother's hand, who was explaining to Lunamaria why Stellar came with them, Mayu walked towards Athrun and took the seat beside him.

"Are you alright, Athrun nii-san?" Mayu whispered. She knew it was not right to speak loudly in a hospital.

Athrun nodded and drew a small smile. "I'm fine, Mayu. Thanks."

Mayu narrowed her eyes. "But you don't seem so...oh yeah, Onii-chan told Mayu you have a new girlfriend. Where is she?" She asked, still whispering.

Athrun frowned at the question. He didn't know what to say to the curious Mayu. And at last, he decided not to lie. The matter would get worse if he did.

"See the blonde girl over there, Mayu? The one who is sitting beside the purple-haired guy? That's my girlfriend. Has Shinn told you her name?"

"Cagalli Yula Attha, right? But why is she sitting with other guy, not you?"

And they came to the hardest part for Athrun. He knew Mayu asked the right thing. Cagalli was his girlfriend, why was she sitting with another guy? He bet Meyrin was also wondering about that right now. Again, he didn't know what answer should her give to Mayu and decided to lie.

"The guy is her adopted brother, Mayu. He just came from Orb. He and Cagalli are very close. Cagalli is so depressed about the accident and only her brother can comfort her." Athrun let go a heavy sigh after he finished. Lying was really not his thing but he had no choice.

Mayu nodded slowly but asked again. "But Kira nii-san is Cagalli nee-san's real brother, isn't he? So why it isn't Kira nii-san comforting Cagalli nee-san?"

Girls like Mayu could be annoying sometimes. If they wanted to know about something, they would want a very detailed explanation. Athrun wondered how Shinn coped with Mayu all this time.

"Because...because Kira is busy with Lacus. Lacus is Kira's girlfriend, remember? That's why." Athrun said. He rolled his eyes and saw Shinn whispering something to Stellar. He turned back to Mayu. "I didn't know that Shinn is close with Loussier. I thought he was with Lunamaria."

"Well, they just started seeing each other lately. Mayu likes Stellar nee-chan very much...You know what, Athrun nii-san, Mayu personally thinks that onii-chan is more suitable with Stellar nee-chan than Luna nee-san. But this is a secret; don't tell anyone, okay, Athrun nii-san?" Mayu whispered, putting a finger on her lips.

Athrun laughed softly. "Yeah, I think so too. Loussier is a good student at school and Shinn is such a stellar student as well. I think they will make a good pair. Furthermore, I don't like the Hawkes much, you know. Ah, can you keep that one a secret, Mayu? Meyrin won't be pleased if she knows."

"No problem." The brown-haired girl answered happily.

"Excuse me." A doctor came out from the operation.

He got everyone's attention at once. Mr. and Mrs. Koenig rushed to the front and Mrs. Koenig's tears started to fall again.

"Please, doctor...How's my son's condition?" Asked Mr. Koenig. He looked very anxious; his hand was folded tight on his chest.

The doctor kept silent for awhile, looking down. Slowly, he faced Tolle's parents with a look that everyone knew very well...

"I'm sorry...we were not able to save him..."

Mrs Koenig almost fainted at the last word, Miriallia muttered quietly, "No, this can't be happening...this is a lie...The doctor is lying...Tolle won't leave, he swore he won't..."

And then, unexpectedly, she ran towards the doctor and grabbed him by coat. Tears covered her blue eyes. Everyone panicked; she seemed to have lost control.

"Tolle will not leave me! You're lying! Tolle isn't gone! He's fine, I know it! Liar! I don't believe you!"

The doctor just stared at her blankly before giving her a small smile and held her shoulders.

"Miss...This is his fate...We doctors try to help but we can't change fate..."

Miriallia sniffed. "But he promised me he would marry me...we would live together happily...why did he go, doctor? Why must God take him from me? I love him very much, I can't live without him..." She fainted in the doctor's arms.

"Milly!" Dearka shouted, rushing to the front to take Miriallia from the doctor. So did Athrun. Both of them brought her to the chair. Dearka looked very worried but among the others, he was the only who didn't shed any tears at all.

Even Yzak shed tears when Tolle's death was announced by the doctor. Lacus sobbed very hard on Kira's chest and Yuuna's shoulder was wet by Cagalli's tears. Yuuna cried a bit as well. Tolle treated him very friendly earlier, unlike the others who didn't seem to like him at all. Mayu hugged her brother and cried silently. So did the others. Everyone was crying, except for Dearka.

The doctor bent down and patted the crying Mr. Koenig softly on shoulder. "I'm sorry. We've tried our best. But it's quite surprising; I assume he must have been a good person, seeing how much his friends hate to lose him..."

Mr. Koenig nodded and wiped his tears. "He was a good son and just engaged... I never expected he would leave earlier than me; he was only sixteen...my one and only son...Why must God take him this early, doctor?"

"God loves him more than any of us. Don't blame God...Just accept his fate..."

"Hello, this is the Zala residence. Lenore Zala speaking."

"Hello, Lenore, dear. This is Patrick."

Lenore's eyes and mouth widened in excitement. She had waited for the call for almost a month.

"Patrick? Oh, how are you? I miss you very much! I always call you but your secretary said you were at meetings. Ah, Athrun always asks about you. Do you know that he is dating Via's daughter now? When will you come home? I will cook special dishes for..." But Patrick cut her off,

"Lenore, listen...Maybe I can't come home for a while. It's so busy here. I'm sorry, Lenore. Send my regards towards Athrun."

There was a silence for a while as Lenore's expression turned to a gloomy one. She thought Patrick called to tell her that he would come home soon. But her thought was proven wrong.

"Lenore? Are you still here?"

"Ah, yes. Okay, I'll tell him later. He's not home right now. Please take care of yourself, dear." Lenore said, trying her best to make herself sound happy.

"Thanks. You must take care of yourself and Athrun as well. I have to go now. Goodbye, I love you."

"I love you too. Goodbye." Lenore smiled. Patrick still didn't forget to say 'I Love You' before ending the conversation.

She put the receiver back to its place and sat on the couch at the living room, focusing on the television again. Deep inside her heart, she hoped Patrick could come home more often. She always felt lonely.

Athrun had grown up now so he couldn't stay at home with her all the time. She wished her husband could spend more time with her. But it couldn't be helped.

"Guess I must bear with this until Athrun is old enough to take care of the company...

"Kira!" Nicol called from afar, running towards Kira and

Lacus. Flay, Sai and Kuzzy were running behind him, all anxious.

Kira, who was hugging Lacus, stood up. "Nicol!"

Nicol panted. "Sorry, I arrived late. My music teacher didn't let me leave. Anyway, how's he? Tolle, I mean."

The brunette looked down for a while before staring at their faces. He shook his head sadly. "We lost him."

"No way! That guy..." Flay shouted, disbelieving, as tears fell down on her cheek. "He is dead?"

Lacus nodded and hugged Flay. They cried together silently. Kuzzy and Sai looked at each other, unable to say anything while Nicol looked like he was holding his tears. Kira sighed; now he realized how important a person Tolle was to his friends.

Athrun was walking as he sipped the last bit of his hot cocoa. He felt a bit relieved after drinking it, which he took from the machine provided. He turned into a deserted block to throw away his plastic cup, and that was when he saw it.

Cagalli and Yuuna, kissing.

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