Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed or Gundam Seed Destiny.
"Is the Chief Representative in at the moment?"
"My apologies, Admiral Zala, but she's not," the young, pretty brunette secretary answered, offering him a small, sympathetic smile. "She's actually in a cabinet meeting for the rest of the afternoon. Did you want to speak to her about an urgent matter?"
Athrun shakes his head, smiling back politely at her. "No – it's nothing like that, Eloise. It's just that I received some reports that we were waiting for, and I was hoping that I could speak to the Chief Representative about it."
"Well, she's quite busy for the next few days. But I can try to schedule a meeting with her for next week and I'll call you to confirm."
"That sounds great. Thank you," he tells her before he leaves her office, heading back towards his own. As he walks down the long corridor, he can't help but think about how it had been nearly two months since his return to Orb; and how in that time, he repeatedly found himself in this exact same situation. He supposes that he should have been more used to it by now. The world may have finally been at peace again, but there were so much left to do - so many meetings to attend, paperwork to done and high-ranking officials to meet. Cagalli was simply far too busy to see him most days with all the work that she still had do and their meetings, when they did happen, were always brief, only discussing what was absolutely necessary before she quickly headed off to the next engagement in her schedule.
It was why in the two months since his return, he had yet to have a proper conversation with her. He thinks perhaps that this was just how things would be like from now on.
Still, he wished that he could have a moment alone with her, away from everything and everyone else. He wanted to tell her how sorry he was for all the pain he had caused her, for leaving her during the war when she had needed him most. He had so many questions he wanted to ask her too – like how was she really doing and whether she was happy. Once upon a time, he had been the person she had always told these things to. He had been her confidante, her lover.
Of course, things were different now; he knew that. But even if they could never be together again, Athrun hoped that they could at least be friends. However, these days, it had felt like there was nothing left between them other than the awkward, overly formal exchanges of two people who had become strangers.
He finally reaches his office and when he enters the room, he closes and locks the door behind him. He then takes a seat at his desk and starts to review some of the files that had been left for him by one of his subordinates, burying himself in his work. No matter the distance between them now, he was still committed to supporting her in any way that he could. He would play his own part from the side lines, as an officer in her army, while she led Orb and worked tirelessly to preserve the fragile peace for her country and the rest of the world. He would help her achieve the dreams they both shared for the future.
And maybe one day, when things had settled down more, there would be time for them to speak again. Until then, he would wait patiently for that day to come.