A week- Gundam Seed Destiny One-shot AU Fanfiction.

None of the characters are owned by me. I apologize if any part of this story doesn't match exactly how it is in the anime, I haven't caught up to the current episode. (20)

A week can seem like a long time for some. To Cagalli… it felt like an eternity had passed.

Athrun had gone to Plant a week ago, saying he could not sit around and watch. With no one around, Yuuna had sweetalked Cagalli to marry him. She reluctantly agreed, but the ring in her finger said otherwise. Deep inside her heart, she hoped that he would return to stop this.

Now after her adventure on her wedding day being crashed (to Cagalli's relief, of course) by her brother, Yuuna had tried again, but to his dismay, Cagalli had made sure she did not see or talk to him again. After all, her life was almost ruined because of him.

Perhaps a vacation would help. Cagalli went to spend some time with Lacus and the children of the orphanage. Kira and Lacus were surprised when they saw the President of Orb standing at the door. Never the less, they warmly invited her in, and made her feel at home right away. The children are kind and innocent, Cagalli thought. How many will become soldiers when they grow older? War solves nothing, yet still people go on with it.

Cagalli went to Plant to check up on things. Back to the place where the Gundams were stolen, back to the place where a Zaku had saved her from being killed, back to the place where Minerva had first started her voyage. She was surprised to see Minerva docked again, surprised to see all where there. But she was most surprised when she went to the inside, and saw a person getting out of a red Gundam. He walked slowly to Cagalli. Cagalli tried to move back, but couldn't. Is this person Shinn? If he is, is he still angry at me? He took off his helmet. Olive eyes stared into her amber ones. He smiled. "What are you doing here?" She shook her head. "Nothing… I… I had some things I needed to talk about with the High Council, that's all. I came here because…." She trailed off, but he seemed to understand. "Anyway, I'm glad I can see you again, Athrun." She smiled. He nodded. Smiling, he shattered like glass, and so did everything around her. Everything turned black. Cagalli gasped. What is going on? Athrun! Athrun! Where are you? A small flame appeared. It spread into a large fire that lit up her surroundings. She was still in Minerva… but something was terribly wrong. Everyone was dead, the Minerva was a wreck… "It can't be…" she stuttered… "How… why….. never… NO!"

Cagalli sat up. "Cagalli! Cagalli!" Lacus exclaimed as the burst through the door. Cagalli's eyes were opened wide in shock ,the fire still slowly fading from her mind. "What's wrong, Cagalli?" Kira asked, following Lacus. "I need to go to Plant." Cagalli said, determined.

A week later, after making sure everything would be okay after she left, Cagalli boarded a shuttle to Plant. She needed to see if Athrun was okay. The weapons sector was rebuilt, like in her dream… or should I say, nightmare. Minerva wasn't there. Returning home a few days later heavyhearted, she stood by the port of Orb, staring out into the ocean with her sad amber eyes. And for the first time in weeks after Athrun left, she broke down and cried. She could still find him, but… no replies to messages, nothing proved if he was still alive or not.

Rouge Strike was still in the base of Orb. Cagalli knew she wasn't a very good pilot, but she'd still try. Try to pilot in space, try to find Athrun. She launched a small ship carrying a few crewmembers and her Gundam out into space. She was relieved to see a crewmember taking out a few Zaft uniforms from a compartment. Now, it seems, Zaft would not attack them, or would they?

Drifting in space, Cagalli saw a few OMNI mobile suits approaching, Sending herself out, she attacked them, and won, or so it seemed. "Princess! Be careful!" The crew warned. She simply shrugged and moved farther and farther away from the ship. Looking around, she moved closer to the Zaft forces. Athrun saw the red and pink Gundam coming towards him. "Ah, you must be backup. Come with me." He said. Rouge Strike did nothing. A message flashed across one of the screens in Saviour. Athrun blinked. "Is there something wrong with your communication system?" He typed in reply. "No, but I'd rather keep myself secret to your section for now."

Mobile suits began to surround them. "Move forewards, be careful! Make sure none of their attacks hit Minerva!" Athrun commanded. "Yes sir!" answered the other pilots, but once again, no reply from Rouge Strike.

It was a winning battle for Zaft. Cagalli smiled. It seems that she could pilot. She had so much on her mind she wanted to tell Athrun, she didn't notice a mobile suit charging towards her, beam saber ready to strike. Cagalli screamed, the first time her voice was heard from the Rouge Strike since she had joined the Zaft side that day. "CAGALLI!" Athrun shouted through the communicator. He opened the door to his cockpit. "Come here, hurry!" The door of Rouge Strike opened. Cagalli quickly made her way to Saviour, into Athrun's open arms. "You silly girl!" He scolded. "A place like this isn't for a princess and her Gundam!" Cagalli was about to speak, but she stopped when she saw an explosion. Rouge Strike was... destroyed!

Many mobile suits formed a circle around Saviour. There was no excape. Their weapons were strong, if they were destroyed, all the mobile suits' pilots in that area would be killed. Saviour tried to get out, and attacked one of the suits from OMNI. Right away, Athrun knew his mistake. There was no way the could get out of this now. He put one arm around Cagalli and pulled her towards his body. From Minerva, Talia saw a giant ball of light. Light… from when many multiple mobile suits were destroyed at once.

When all had calmed down, the remaining army of Zaft returned to Minerva. Meiling suddenly exclaimed, "I've lost contact with Saviour!" Talia sent Shinn and Lunamaria to find it.

When they reached the place of the giant explosion, there they found a completely destroyed Saviour Gundam. The cockpit wouldn't open, and it was hard to open it while operating a mobile suit. They brought the Gundam back to Minerva. When it was opened, they were all in shock.

Inside, a smiling Athrun and Cagalli lay, dead. A pin and a ring floated infront of them.

A month later, Lacus and Kira walked down the cemetery path, hand in hand. Roses and other flowers had bloomed. They each held a bunch of flowers. Standing infront of a large tombstone, they placed the flowers, bowed slightly, and left.

The tombstone was a light pink. 2 glass boxes were cut into the stone, one with a ring, one with a FAITH pin. The roses planted on both sides began to grow on the stone, but the words and decoration were still visible:

Athrun Zala: October 29, 55 CE- February 27, 74 CE

Cagalli Yuha Attha: May 18, 55 CE- February 27, 74 CE

May their love never part, even after death.

The petals began to fall from the cherry blossoms hanging on the trees. The light pink and white petals fell like rain, like tears. A gentle breeze played with the petals that fell on the tombstone, pushing them back into the sky.

Two people sat on a hill at the cemetery. One held her hands out, catching the blossoms. The one beside her, sat with one arm around her shoulder. She smiled at him, throwing the petals at his face. "Hey!' He exclaimed, trying to catch her. She simply giggled and ran.

Lacus heard a sound of laughing. Looking around, no one was there. "Lacus, is there something?" Kira asked. She shook her head. "Must be the ghosts playing. This is a nice time of the year, after all." "Ah, I agree."

The end