Finding Destiny

Chapter 23

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"Don't worry about your friend," Athrun placed his hand on her shoulder. "I'm sure that big guy won't let anything happen to the old woman." He rubbed his hand comfortingly across her shoulders. "Boys are more talk than action. I've seen them cry like babies when they get confronted."

Cagalli could no longer endure the distance between them. She quickly turned into his toned chest, wrapping her arms around his neck and holding on as if her life depended on it.

For a few moments, Athrun didn't react. His hand just rested on her shoulder. He could feel her tears dampening his shirt. He took a deep breath.

And breathed in the scent of his wife, his mate.

His Cagalli.

A dam broke deep inside and he pulled her closer, needing the nearness of her as desperately as he needed air. He stopped thinking, analyzing and simply felt.

His mind floated away while he held her. He buried his face in her hair and breathed for what seemed like the first time in years. She smelled of cinnamon and scented soap and something else. She smelled like Cagalli. Smiling, he thought of telling Rose that he finally got close enough to the waitress.

She felt so good pressed against him. Her heart pounding against his, their breaths against each other's throats, her breasts flattened against his muscular chest.

With instinct over thought, he leaned her against the wall of the building, pressing her into the cool brick, needing the solidness of her body, needing her softness.

He told himself he would pull away if she gave the slightest sign that she didn't welcome his nearness, but to his surprise, she dug her fingers into his lengthy hair and held him just as tightly.

All thoughts vanished as his body moved with her breathing. Turning her mouth to his as if sensing what he wanted mentally. His lips found hers before the idea of kissing had reached his mind, but he made no move to pull back.

The passion of their kiss rocked both of them. She pulled back a moment and rubbed her cheek against his beard, then returned to his lips.

He felt as if they stood in deep water in the middle of a lighting storm not wanting to move, he wouldn't have pulled away even if they had taken a direct hit.

He couldn't get enough of the taste of her lips.

The smell of her.

And the feel of her body against his.

She felt the same.

His lips brushed over hers and she opened her mouth, begging him to take more as her hands moved across his chest, measuring, memorizing.

There was no world but here and now, no one else but the two of them, no past, no future.

His hand moved down the front of her silk blouse. Moans of pleasure whispered between them as the kiss deepened and his touch grew bolder.

Athrun's sanity slipped and he didn't care. He pressed his open palm gently over her breast as though it belonged there as he kissed her with more passion than he thought he ever possessed.

Her hands moved over him, hungry for the feel of him beneath her fingers.

They were not shy lovers stealing a kiss, but ageless lovers clinging to one another for survival.

He broke the kiss and listened to her rapid breathing as he slid his open mouth down her throat, then lower until the buttons of her blouse stopped him. Kissing his way back up, he stopped at her ear.

"Unbutton it." He wasn't sure if the words were a command or a request. He simply didn't care. He knew that he needed to feel her skin.

Her hands trembled as she slowly unbuttoned her blouse.

"Do you want me to stop?" Pulling his face away, he stared keenly into her golden orbs.

"No," she whispered, pulling his mouth to her once more.

The kiss was long and passionate. They broke it when neither had no more breath left. Moving his mouth down her neck, the open material of the blouse gave way and he savored the swell of her creamy skin that rose above her bra.

Pressing her against the wall, he returned his lips to her mouth. Her body shook with desire, absorbing the slight movements he made. She deepened the kiss.

His legs moved between her knees and pressed higher, trapping her with his weight while his hands spread across her hips. She moaned as he continued to move his hands.

Somewhere, in the frontier of their minds, they heard shouting.

It took Athrun a moment to gain reason enough to be aware of his surroundings. Her hands pushed against his chest as the shouting grew louder.

Then she was gone, running towards the street. Running away from him.

Athrun didn't have time to take a step when Detective Snyder rounded the corner and almost collided with Cagalli.

"Ash!" he shouted out of breath. "Call the police. Tell them we need an ambulance and backup. Now!"

Cagalli nodded in agreement and ran past Athrun to the café.

"Don't worry about Miller, he is fine!" Snyder shouted after her. "Faring better than me in the fight," he mumbled quietly.

Staring at the cop quietly, Athrun didn't say anything.

Looking up, Snyder took notice of Athrun, "That you Zala?"

Stepping out of the shadows, Athrun responded, "It's me."

Narrowing his eyes, Snyder replied precariously, "Stay out of this, Zala. Don't get involved. What is happening here tonight has nothing to do with your missing wife."

"But….."

Checking his gun, Snyder said, "If you want to help then get Ash home. A woman in her condition doesn't need to be on the streets this time of night. I'll tell Miller you're taking care of her. Monday told me the old man worries over her like a little hen."

Without giving Athrun time to argue, Snyder disappeared into the shadows of the night.

Thinking back to what Snyder said, "A woman in her condition?" he whispered softly. Then it hit him, Cagalli was pregnant. Deep down he knew when he held his wife, but he also knew the feel of his wife when she was pregnant.

Quickly thinking back to the bombing, Athrun briefly went over the data he had collected. Cagalli never left him due to marriage issues. His guess about her being hurt or losing her memory could be right. Or just maybe Snyder's theory of her having a good reason to hide was correct. Otherwise, why would she be here in Orb, only a few blocks from her home calling herself Ash Yula?

Did she know who she was? Did she know he was her husband? He had to find out.

Considering that he had discovered a few disturbing facts about Yuli. The man certainly had ties with a few commanders and soldiers from the war and it looked like as if he had been doing them favors for a while. The question was: what were they doing for him in return?

Realizing what he had just done, Athrun knocked his head against the brick and groaned in pain. How could he have acted that way with her? Kissing her and touching her as if he was some animal.

If she knew who had tried to kill her, they had far more important things to talk about than whether she had unbuttoned her blouse.

Leaning against the wall, he decided she would probably never come out of the café. If she had a memory loss, she would lock the door and wait for help. She would probably think some kind of sex maniac waited for her in the darkness.

He closed his eyes. Did he really ask her to unbutton her blouse?

Trying to calm down, he decided to let her tell him. If she was hiding, playing the role of Ash, she might be lying about the pregnancy as well.

Smiling softly, he realized he had no idea how to approach someone with memory loss, but attacking him or her probably wasn't the first plan. Maybe he should play along. Let her call herself Ash if that made her happy.

Not positive what to do, he waited. One thing for sure, he didn't plan on losing her again. If he had to win her all over again, he would and he planned to stand between her and whoever wanted her dead.

………………………

Hanging up the phone, Cagalli stared out at Athrun's silhouette outside, alone in the darkness. By the time she felt brave enough to step outside once more, she heard the sirens answering Snyder's call.

She had no idea what she would tell Athrun, but the time for pretending was over. No matter how dangerous it was to bring him close, she had to tell him everything. Part of him must already know who she was or he wouldn't have kissed her the way he did.

He stood among the shadows that crisscrossed in the entryway to the café. Walking towards him, she gathered up her courage.

However, before she could say anything or touch him again as she clearly wanted to do, he pushed his body away from the wall he was leaning against. "I'm sorry Ash. I don't know what came over me, a few minutes ago." Pushing his hand through his navy hair, he added, "Snyder told me to see you home."

Blinking at him for a moment, all Cagalli heard repeating in the back of her mind was Ash. He still didn't know who she was. Her husband had kissed her with more passion than he had ever shown and he thought he was kissing another woman.

That pushed her over her limit. Yet instead of smacking him, she laughed.

Athrun joined her, first nervously, then truly. When they both finally calmed down he added, "I love the way you laugh. It reminds me so much of my wife."

Deciding to play the game, Cagalli smiled. She had once heard a complaint from a politician that in every marriage the wife realizes she married the village idiot and tonight must been her turn.

"You loved her, this wife of yours?" Cagalli asked curiously.

"She was my heart," he answered. "Trouble was I don't think she truly believed it or she wouldn't have disappeared." Staring at her for a second, letting the words sink in, he turned away from her and said, "If you lock up, I will drive you home."

Turning to lock the door, she replied, "You don't have to drive. We can walk."

Taking ahold of her hand, Athrun started to lead the way away from the businesses. Usually their strides matched perfectly, but Cagalli had shortened hers as her center of gravity had begun to shift with the baby.

"I'm sorry," Athrun said, as if he had read her mind. "I didn't mean to walk so fast."

"It's all right; lately everyone seems to walk faster than me. I am pregnant, you know."

"I know. Snyder mentioned it," he answered simply.

They continued in silence, both lost in their own thoughts. When she reached the steps of the doc's home, Cagalli turned away from Athrun without giving him any details as to why she was staying here. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." He hesitated, unwilling to leave her, "Are you safe here?"

"Yes," she answered with her back to him. Turning away slowly, she stared at his worried face in the moonlight. Feeling her emotions break down, tears bubbled in her eyes. "I don't know where to start, Athrun. I don't know how to tell you all….."

He couldn't hold back any longer. He pulled her into his arms and held her against him. "It's all right, Cagalli. Everything is going to be all right now."

She cried softly on his shoulder. When she tried to talk, he hushed her softly with light kisses. "Tomorrow, we will talk. Right now, it is enough that I finally found you."

Author's Note:

Finally they found each other! About a yr later they finally reunite. It's about time, I might add. Sadly enough, can't promise that they are out of the woods just yet. But it's a start that they finally found one another once again.

I want to say thank you to ritachi, my wonderful beta-reader b/c if it wasn't for her I don't know what I would have done with grammar/structure of these past few chapters! Thank you!

I want to say thank you to all the reviewers!

asga - Angel of Dreams - Wyntermajik - mariad - HimeHikari -

Chayla Maznable - ritachi - invain - cottongreentea - Story Weaver1

ailiricxxz - Miriae - stuntsheep - Akirou - ennov -

AnimeSiren - Here4TheParty - transmobilesuit - Satu-chan - Shells

cherry - Darth Riven - animemistress419 - Kawool - Doctor Kiba

Chibi Bishi - lightyearsaway - Anonymous (1) - Anonymous (2)

Thank you for reviewing and I hope you liked the chapter and hopefully you are pleased.

Okay...let's see. The next chapter...well I can promise you that other characters will be focused on b/c the last 2 chapter consisted of Cagalli and Athrun scenes.

1) Estelle and Tarak will discuss their options about the information they overheard

2) Athrun will be talking to Rose about his rediscovery of Cagalli and they two will formulate a plan to find proof that Amarifi was involved with the bombing

3) Miriallia and Dearka's job is put in danger as their time for their article starts to tick away quickly

4) Visitor finally reappears at the local food shelter in downtown Orb