Author's Notes: This is my first AsuCaga and Gundam Seed Destiny fic. This is only a two chaptered fic. I made this due to writer's block in my two Shaman King fics. NA5 is 10 percent done and TM3 is 60 percent finished.

Disclaimer: Gundam Seed Destiny does not belong to me. The plot was produced by my silly imagination with a little help from my friends.

Summary: "The mind forgets but the heart remembers." Who said it is better to live a life filled with lies? Her. Who said it is better to forget? Her. Who said she has nothing to forget and regret? Him. AxC oneshot!

The Fallen Angel
-shackled wisteria-
Lies
Chapter One

Flashback

"Why?" came the defeated voice of someone who nearly lost the most important person in his life, until he took her for granted and left with another.

A lad with amethyst eyes spoke with resentment resembling to that of an aggressive criminal. "You're the reason. The one to blame."

"Why?" Athrun Zala asked again as pain cut through his heart like a knife, that resulted to a fatal wound. No, he shook his head, it was more than that, he supposed. He was as good as dead.

"Why do you keep on asking when you should know the answer?" Kira's cold voice echoed through the ORB princess' hospital room.

"How? When? Why?" Athrun cannot think of anything more to say. Those questions, they were enough to tell how shocked he was ever since the truth was unfolded right next to him.

"You left her to follow Dullindal's orders and marry that Meer Campbell. We didn't know how she got hold of that information when no one aboard the Archangel told her about it," the brown-haired Coordinator replied.

Out of frustration, Athrun hit the wall and muttered curses under his breath. "Did she try to commit suicide?"

"No."

"Then why!"

"Hemorrhage, the doctors concluded. They told us it will not be long before she wakes up. But if she doesn't…"

Athrun hastily averted his gaze towards his childhood best friend. He hesitated but continued as sorrow seemed to double the weight of the world in his back. "But if she doesn't?"

"She'll end up in comatose or unfortunately," Kira paused, "dead."

"But she will wake up, won't she!" Athrun demanded but the misery brought him back down on his feet when Kira shook his head and said, "We don't have any clue."

Tension aroused among the three conscious people inside the room. Athrun was restlessly clenching and unclenching his fists at the far side of the room. Kira stood a few meters from the patient's bed. And Lacus, the pink-haired lass, quietly sat at the chair beside Cagalli's bed, her head hung low.

Time passed by, no one spoke and created a single noise except the reverberating sound of the air conditioner buzzing throughout the small area. A few seconds later, Lacus raised her head and muttered slowly, "Kira, Athrun, Cagalli's awake."

Both male turned their head towards the stirring figure on the bed. Russet eyes opened in the dim light of the quarter and the clashing sound of the bed sheets paused time.

"Where am I?"

Lacus quickly rushed into her aid and held Cagalli's hands in hers. "Cagalli-san. Cagalli, are you alright?"

The blonde-haired princess formed her pale lips into a thin slick line before saying, "T..tell me. A..are y..yyou Lacus Clyne?"

"Huh?" Lacus asked as confusion swirled in her head. She looked up to find Kira and Athrun holding the same expression.

Cagalli lifted the corner of her lips and smiled. "I'm sorry if I'm mistaken. I…I c..ca…can't seem to remember some things."

Lacus frantically waved her hands defensively. "No Cagalli, you're right it's me Lacus!"

She coughed, "I'm glad." Cagalli shifted her attention to Kira who stood blankly at the end of her bed. "And you must be…Kira Yamato? You're my twin brother right?"

The said male nodded. Kira ushered Athrun, who was still gaping in disbelief, near Cagalli. Athrun, on the other hand, looked as if he was petrified into his spot. He can barely move his feet and his fingers were trembling vigorously.

Cagalli watched Athrun carefully as she appeared pensive in thought. She angled her head in different positions and scrutinized each and every part of the emerald-eyed Coordinator. Her vision clouded when her eyes clashed with Athrun's, creating a vortex inside her head she couldn't quite comprehend. Cagalli glanced at Lacus for a moment and whispered to her in silence, "Who is he?"

Stunned, Lacus panted worriedly. How weird was Cagalli's case anyway? Why can't she remember Athrun when she recognized Kira and her perfectly? Sure, she and Cagalli had made a strong bond while aboard the Archangel. It doesn't also change the fact that Kira is Cagalli's brother. But her relationship with Athrun is obviously different from theirs. Deeper, as Lacus said.

Lacus hiccupped as tears spilled out of her crystal blue pools.

"Kira," she called out. "Why is this happening to her?"

"What?" Athrun was the first one to react.

Kira followed with the same agonizing tone as Athrun's. "What do you mean."

Lacus burst into tears when she caught Cagalli's hopeful and concern expression. "Lacus?"

She wailed directly to Athrun. "Athrun. She doesn't remember you."

Flashback Ends

A year after the war.

A year after I had been bedridden in the hospital due to an unexplainable hemorrhage.

A fine Saturday morning.

Yet there was nothing special except that peace finally existed between the opposing crowds

Because this is…

Another day of pain.

…Of lies.

TTTTTTTTTTT

Everything is back to normal.

I'm glad that I've been able to run ORB well, with the help of my friends. I finally made use of my power and decided to get rid of the old parliament when Kira and Lacus made me understand that those idiots were only manipulating me back then. Maybe you will ask as to who replaced the position of Unato and the others. Who do you think? Kira, Lacus and the others of course.

At first, it was a very tough job for all of us. I mean, removing the Seiran's from the government of ORB would be a scandal! But I managed to pull through, because the bullheaded Cagalli Yula Attha they knew before came back in the exact time! After that, we requested reinforcements both from ZAFT and the EA and fortunately, they agreed.

Why would there be complications if the current chairman of ZAFT is said to be a very close friend of my brother Kira Yamato? I was informed that former Chairman Gilbert Dullindal died in the war and that made, sort of, Kira comfortable. We knew that Chairman Dullindal was guilty for the 'Lacus Clyne Assassination Schema'. So to think that he deserves to die is nothing offensive and bugging to me.

And that's that. Life here in ORB is running fast yet smoothly. But life is unfair, don't you agree? Because until now, I'm not yet free.

Yes, a year has passed but still, no one has a clue as to what I'm doing, as to what I'm enduring. But it can't be helped. In order to banish this pain that keeps on tugging at my chest for quite a long time, I have to lie. I have to pretend and carry a façade I've never intended to wear. I shook my head. Dwelling in my past will cause only further heartbreaks, more tears, more everything until that everything gives me nothing.

Everyday I turn on the television to watch the news and be updated on what is going on, something churns inside me. I would feel so weak again—so weak that my bones can no longer support the weight of my body. Each time I see the bubbly face of that so-called Lacus Clyne look-a-like clinging into her husband who happens to be the current chairman of ZAFT, Athrun Zala, my heart would break into piercing shards of crystal tears.

Oftentimes, Lacus would ask me why with worry spread throughout her face. I would tell her I do not know. That question would then be followed by a 'do-you-know-him-personally' line. And as expected, my answer is no.

But sometimes I wonder how good of an actress I have been for the past year?

KNOCK! KNOCK!

"Come in," I replied to anyone who wishes to enter my office. I huge smile appeared in my face when I saw Kira's head sticking out of the door. "KIRA!"

Kira smiled back yet I think something is portrayed in his eyes that I cannot see. Then I noticed Lacus was walking in too. "Hi Lacus!"

"Hello Cagalli," Lacus greeted with her usual cheerful voice.

I stood from my chair with a half-filled cup of coffee and walked up to them. "Anything you want from me?"

"Cagalli," Kira started calmly or more appropriate, carefully, "Athrun Zala, chairman of ZAFT would like to visit us three days from now."

I stared back at Kira, my auburn eyes widened. Tears threatened to fall from my eyelids as my vision became blurred. I gulped slowly when my mind started creating a whirlpool of superficial thoughts concerning the said ZAFT chairman. I can vaguely see Kira and Lacus. I cannot even hear anything. It is like my senses were blocked by that blasted, haunting name.

What would I give to forget? What would I sacrifice to erase the pain?

Everything.

I firmed my face. I can't just reveal the truth, especially at this time when my life is still going smoothly. But my mind won at the end, I answered with a deadpanned expression. "No."

Author's Notes: Please be kind and review! I will be very thankful! I'll be on vacation for a month. England! Here I come! All my other fics will be on hiatus for a while. For chapter two. I'll ask someone to upload it for me, it's already done mind you.But please, R/R this one! Thank you!

shackled wisteria