Author: I've finally took the time to revise this one. Man, when I read it, it had a lot of errors and the sentences sometimes didn't make sense. I'd revised it twice already and I don't know if it's became better. Well, here's chapter 14. Take your time to read it.
Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Seed.
Forever
Phase 14: Light of Love
Kai was being confronted by Jean in the Minerva Ship, as she demanded for an explanation about Crystal's presence there. He did nothing but stayed silent.
Nathalie glanced at Kai then to Jean. She crossed her arms and wondered about the situation.
Just then, Athrun, Cagalli, Kira, & Lacus arrived at the military facility, and they all looked very eager. Kira and Lacus told Akira to go to the office and stay there. Afterwards, they hurriedly went towards the Minerva ship where they saw Jean coming out with Crystal. The little girl saw her parents coming and she immediately went to them.
Pleased to see his daughter, Athrun lifted the girl and hugged her. He then handed her to his wife who was so worried about her. Cagalli smiled warmly and hugged Crystal tightly.
As Jean approached them and saluted, Athrun asked, "Jean, how did Crystal get here?"
"It seems Kai took her," Jean replied.
"What?! Kai!"
Kai showed himself and walked towards them with Nathalie by his side. He bowed his head and begged for forgiveness from Athrun and Cagalli.
Athrun clenched his fist in anger. He couldn't believe the nerve of the guy. He had the guts to even show his face after what kidnapping his daughter. He grabbed Kai by the collar and punched him right on the face.
Kai fell to the floor and held his swollen cheek. He stayed down, staring at the floor with guilt and shame. The punched he received was what he deserved, he thought.
Athrun glared at him as if he wanted to kill the blue-haired guy.
Quickly, Cagalli held his arm and told him to stop.
Athrun calmed down a bit and took a deep breathe. To think that he was supposed to be the calm one, yet he was the first one to lose temper. But he was only acting that way because he was a father. If anything would have happened to his little Crystal, then Kai would receive more than a mere punch.
"I understand how you feel. I'm upset as well," she muttered, patting Athrun's shoulder. She briefly glanced at Kai and felt sorry for him. She placed Crystal down, approached the guy, and offered her hand to him. Despite what he has done, Cagalli was ready to forgive him.
Kai weakly smiled and took her hand.
"I'm sorry, Cagalli." Kai said, standing on his two feet again.
"I know. But taking Crystal away without even asking us is wrong." Cagalli reprimanded. "We were really worried."
Kai gritted his teeth and clenched his fist. As he looked at Cagalli, he felt the regret of letting her go. He still loves Cagalli until now but he knew that she could never return his love. Cagalli had Athrun and she was already a mother. Kai suddenly fell to his knees and cried, carrying a heavy and painful heart.
The orb princess knelt down and rubbed his back just to comfort him. Even Crystal joined her mother by touching Kai's head which made him stare at her. The little blonde girl just smiled and looked at him with those emerald green eyes. He wrapped his arms around the girl and hugged her. After a while, he released her and stood.
Crystal tugged on his uniform as she sucked on her thumb. She glanced at her father with those lovely innocent eyes. "Um… Please don't punish Kai. I love Kai. He is a good person."
Seeing that his daughter was getting along well with Kai, he put his anger behind and said, "Don't worry we won't punish him."
Kai once again faced Cagalli and apologized. "Well, I have to go now…" He turned around gradually and walked away from them with Nathalie following him. He was overjoyed to know that Cagalli was still kind to him. Deep in his heart, he longed for Cagalli's love. But he knew that she could never love him as much as Athrun. However, he did not lose Cagalli completely. "She's still a friend…" he muttered softly.
"That man seems to amaze me a bit." Athrun said, turning to Kira, as he held Crystal's little hand.
"Why is that?" Kira asked.
"His love for Cagalli never seems to fade from his heart." Lacus replied, presenting a cheerful smile.
"Kai... I'm sorry. You'll always be here in my heart as my friend." Cagalli thought. After all, she owed Kai for a lot of things. She was happy that Kai accepted the fact that she loved Athrun. She was happy to have such an understanding person as a friend.
Later…
Athrun took Cagalli out for dinner. He reserved the best seat in an expensive restaurant. It was on the terrace where the flower garden can be seen. There was a full moon that night and the stars were shining brightly.
Cagalli admired the view as well as the breeze. She had always enjoyed that kind of atmosphere. It made her feel refreshed and relaxed.
Athrun clasped his hands and placed his elbows on the table. He took the chance to stare at Cagalli for a while. He had to admit that her green dress with spaghetti straps suited her completely. Not only that, her hair was decorated with orange flowers at the side, making her more beautiful. Cagalli was a wonderful sight for him. No moon and stars can ever compete with her beauty, he thought.
His moment of gazing was interrupted by the waiter who came to take their orders. Athrun shrugged and told the waiter his orders which were kinda a lot. He wrote it down on a piece of paper and headed back to the kitchen.
"Isn't this too much?" Cagalli asked.
"No... I want you to experience the best." Athrun told her.
She slightly blushed at what he said. She quickly turned her sights at the stars above the sky as she clasped her hands together on the table. "Thanks, Athrun…" she said softly, her cheeks burning more.
Athrun sipped from his glass of water and glanced at the wedding ring on Cagalli's finger. He placed his hand on top of hers, making Cagalli turned her head at him. His eyes softened as he smiled so warmly at her. "I love you so much…" He lifted her hand and placed a kiss on it.
She blushed lightly and giggled. "I love you too."
At that, Athrun stood and pulled Cagalli towards him. Her hands were now on his chest and her face was so close to his. Athrun lightly kissed her on the forehead. He couldn't help himself. The urge to kiss her was so strong for him. In addition to that, he liked kissing her because he always managed to see a cute and lovable face from Cagalli. He had always adored her almost naïve face when she's embarrassed.
Cagalli giggled a bit and held his face. At that moment, she felt like the luckiest girl in the world. To have Athrun as a husband was one of the greatest things that happened in her life.
He kissed her again, but this time on the lips. It was one hot and passionate kiss, and it gave Cagalli the Goosebumps. And to further the kiss, the princess gently pushed his head and deepened the kiss even more. Their cheeks burned in crimson red at the same time.
Crystal was watching the stars from her room. She found star-gazing to be a very interesting hobby. She even declared that some stars looked like the Akatsuki Gundam. But the maids had the knack of bursting her bubble by telling her that the stars are simply stars. Speaking of stars, Crystal wondered how her father and mother were doing. She took a picture frame from a table. It was a picture of Athrun and Cagalli. She smiled as she saw her parent's picture, feeling so amazed to see her parents during their teenager years.
Suddenly, a knock came to her door and a little boy went in. It was Akira, the little brown haired boy who wanted to play with Crystal. Upon hearing that, she placed the picture frame back to its place and ran up to the boy. They decided to play hide and seek. Crystal was up first and she started counting one up to ten.
Akira searched for a hiding place in her room. He found the closet to be very big, so he went in and locked himself up. After the count, Crystal started looking for her cousin. She tried under the bed but he wasn't there. She tried to bathroom but still no sign of Akira. She crossed her arms and wandered her eyes around the room until she spotted the closet. When she opened the closet, Akira came out wearing a skull mask.
Crystal got scared and fell to the floor, carrying frightful eyes with her. The blue-eyed boy took off the mask and started laughing, making Crystal so mad.
"I'm sorry I couldn't help myself." Akira giggled.
"Do that again and I'll wipe you out." Crystal warned, clenching her fists.
Lacus was currently looking for her son around the mansion. She figured that he might be in Crystal's room. When she passed by there, the door was slightly opened so she peeked in. She saw Akira playing with Crystal. She entered the room and greeted the children.
"Mom... Hi! I was just playing with Crystal." Akira told Lacus.
"I know but it's getting late. Little boys and girls should be asleep now." Lacus said.
"But I want to play some more." Akira complained.
"You can play with Crystal in the morning." Lacus said.
The pink princess held his hand and gently pulled him out of the room. He waved his hand at Crystal and bid good night. Crystal slowly closed the door and hopped onto the bed.
"I hope mother and father come home soon." Crystal said. "They must be having fun on their date."
Lacus brought Akira to his room and tucked him in. She stroked his brunette hair and placed a kiss on his forehead.
The little boy smiled and slowly closed his eyes.
Lacus bid goodnight to her little son and turned off the lights. She slowly closed the door behind her and headed towards her room where she saw Kira lying in bed.
"Is Akira asleep?" Kira asked.
"Yes... It's time for us to get some sleep too." Lacus said. She crawled up beside him and made herself comfortable.
Kira kissed her on the lips and stared at Lacus momentarily. As he remembered his past days with Lacus, he smiled and held her cheek. Speaking of the days, he was suddenly reminded about his sister who was dating Athrun at the moment.
"Cagalli & Athrun are sure taking their time." Kira said.
"You know how romantic Athrun can be." Lacus told him.
"Yeah I know." Kira replied, placing his arms around his wife to pull her closer to him.
Lacus slightly blushed as she leaned her head on his chest.
"Lacus... sweet dreams." Kira whispered, stroking her wonderful pink hair.
Next day
A new shipment of M1-Astrays arrived in the Military Facility. Five of them were assigned to the Archangel Ship. Jean Corda, the executive officer of the AA was there checking up on the mobile suits and the new mobile suit pilots. They all saluted and properly introduced themselves to Jean. They all had pleasing appearance but they appear to be rookies, she thought.
Suddenly a little girl with honey-brown hair and purple eyes with a very fair complexion bumped into her. The girl fell on her butt.
"Ouch! That hurts!" she said.
"Are you all right?" Jean asked.
"Yes... I'm quite fine thank you very much."
"What's a little girl like you doing here anyway?"
"Why? Is it a crime?" she replied roughly. "My parents took me here if you have a problem with that."
She pointed at her parents who were talking to Cagalli and Athrun. Her father had blonde hair and purple eyes while her mother had brown hair and blue green eyes. She knew that they were Miriallia and Dearka. Jean never knew that the both of them already had a child. It was pretty shocking for her. She brought the girl to her parents.
"I see you've met our daughter." Milly said, as Dearka lifted the little girl and placed her on his shoulders.
"She's cute. What's her name?" Cagalli asked.
"My name is Miaka." The little girl told them.
"She acts like her father for some reason." Jean thought, smiling.
PLANT
Shinn Asuka, the Destiny pilot, has become an official member of FAITH. He now wears the FAITH symbol on his red coat uniform. His comrade, Lunamaria Hawke, the Impulse Pilot, was now the newest captain of the Minerva. She wore a white uniform, light blue mini-skirt, and black boots. Her younger sister, Meyrin Hawke, was the executive officer and ranked Lt. Commander. She wore a black uniform, a black mini-skirt, and long white boots. The pigtails were now gone but now she tied her hair in a ponytail.
The red-eyed coordinator was having an MS battle simulation. He was facing 5 ZGMF-601R GuAIZ R and 3 GINN High Maneuver II. As the battle went on Lunamaria and Meyrin watched him from the control center. Shinn was doing great as usual with his Destiny Gundam.
Suddenly, the videophone rang and Meyrin answered it. The screen showed Stellar's image.
"Hi! Can I talk to Shinn?" Stellar said with a smile.
"He's having a MS simulation but he'll be done in a minute." Meyrin told her.
"Okay I'll wait." Stellar replied.
Meyrin approached Luna and told her that it was Stellar. The impulse pilot contacted Shinn and her image instantly popped into the Destiny's screen.
Shinn scolded her for disturbing him. But Luna narrowed her eyes at him and crossed her arms.
"I was calling to tell you something important."
"Can't it wait? I'm not finish yet!" Shinn told her.
"Okay then, if your simulation is more important than Stellar..." she said sarcastically.
"What?! Stellar? Wait I'll stop now." Shinn replied, his voice turning soft.
Luna and Meyrin laughed at him since he was panicking. They knew that Shinn can get pretty jumpy when it comes to his girlfriend.
When he got off the mobile suit, he went to the command center where he saw Stellar on the screen of the videophone. He scratched the back of his head and smiled at Stellar. "Sorry to make you wait." Shinn started.
"Shinn, you said that you were taking me out today." Stellar said.
"I almost forgot. Don't worry I'll be there right away."
Shinn almost dropped his helmet when he heard the sisters laughing at him. He clenched his fist at them. He was about to say something nasty, but Meyrin reminded him that he better get going. Shinn ran off to change in a blinding speed.
Meanwhile, Stellar was waiting for him at the park by the fountain. She was wearing a blue mini-skirt, a white tube blouse, and white sandals. She looked at the clock and sighed. Shinn has not yet arrived. However, after 30 minutes, he finally arrived. Stellar immediately hugged him and placed a kiss on his lips.
ORB
Cagalli, Athrun, Kira, and Lacus were having the day off. They were all at the mansion. Their children were playing outside the garden with their new toys that they recently got from their parents.
Cagalli has the habit of checking at them from time to time to see if they were having fun. She could clearly see that the children were enjoying one another. She smiled and turned her attention to the group who were talking about their past experiences in battle.
Athrun Zala, son of the former Supreme Council Chairman Patrick Zala, was one of the top elite soldiers of ZAFT. After the battle at Yakin Due, he retired from ZAFT and became the bodyguard of Cagalli Yula Attha. Two years later, the new chairman persuaded him to rejoin ZAFT. He became a member of FAITH. After all that, he is now the husband of the Head Representative of ORB and the father of Crystal Yula Zala.
Kira Yamato, the ultimate coordinator, was once an ordinary student who studied in Heliopolis until he stumbled upon the Strike Gundam. He became a soldier of the EA and the pilot of Strike. He became an enemy of ZAFT and his best friend Athrun Zala. His Strike got destroyed in battle against the AEGIS and was thought to be dead. Later on, he found himself in the presence of Lacus Clyne who later entrusted the Freedom to him. He fought in the battle of Yakin Due together with his twin sister, Cagalli. After two years he went into battle again to prevent war with his Freedom. Now, he's the husband of Lacus and the father of Akira Yamato.
Jean arrived there in her new car, which was so flashy. She walked up to the door and knocked on it until Lacus opened the door. The green-eyed soldier greeted the pink-princess properly.
Lacus showed her in and brought her to the garden where she saw Cagalli, Athrun, and Kira. She quickly stopped and saluted.
"Jean, you don't have to be formal. It's only us." Cagalli said.
"If you say so Miss... I mean Mrs. Zala." Jean replied.
"What brings you here?" Lacus asked.
"Just to visit... Well mainly I came here to see Crystal and Akira." Jean answered.
Two kids ran towards her and pulled her hand. They invited her to play with them and Jean agreed. Crystal placed a blindfold around her eyes and Akira told her to spin around and count to 1 to 3. Jean got a little dizzy as the two kids ran away from her. Jean tried her best to find them by listening to their voices.
Jean's POV
Here I am playing with their kids. I thought it would be only in my dreams that I could meet the war heroes. I joined the ORB military because they inspired me. I was once a simple military nurse and now I'm the executive officer of the Archangel. I can't even believe that I became friends with Representative Attha. Makes me wonder how these two kids will turn out when they grow up...
End of POV
Kai made a surprise visit at the mansion. It was indeed a surprise for Crystal, because she was glad to see him again. He knelt down and stretched out his arms, letting the little girl hug him
"What are you doing here?" Cagalli asked, approaching the orange-haired soldier.
"I just wanted to see Crystal again." Kai replied.
"Is that so?" Jean spoke. "Did you really come to see Crystal or the Representative?"
"Um... well... actually... both of them..." Kai said nervously.
"You're welcome anytime here." Cagalli told him.
Kira noticed Athrun feeling upset about Kai. He placed a hand on his best friend's shoulder and gave him a concerned look. "He's only visiting. No harm done there." Kira assured in a whisper.
"Huh? I know that Kira, it's just that..." Athrun spoke softly.
Kai approached the blue-haired coordinator and asked him if he could talk to him in private.
Athrun nodded and brought him to the living room. When he sat down the couch, he said, "Kai, before you say anything, I want to properly thank you for helping Cagalli back then."
"It's no problem... I can see that she's having a nice life with you." Kai said with a hint of bitterness in his voice.
"Do you still love her?" Athrun asked.
"Yes, I do..." Kai replied. "But she loves you and I have accepted that."
Jean overheard their conversation. With those words that Kai said, it made her feel sorry for him. Kai was her good friend and she knows that he's a nice guy. If he were probably evil, then he would take Cagalli for his own. Somehow, she was thankful that Kai understood Cagalli's feelings.
Just then, Cagalli entered the living room with Crystal.
"Will you come and visit again?" Crystal asked, tugging on Kai's shirt.
"Don't worry. If I have time then I'll visit you..." Kai replied, rubbing her head.
Athrun went over to Cagalli's side and placed his hand on her waist. When Kai saw that, he felt a little envious but he tried to ignore it. He shook hands with Athrun and then with Cagalli. He sighed and walked towards the door. As he opened the door, he stopped momentarily to look at the princess again.
"Bye..." Kai spoke.
He headed towards his car, started the engine, and took off immediately.
Crystal waved her hand and shouted "bye-bye!" several times until she lost sight of the vehicle. She then walked towards her parents.
Athrun lifted her and placed a kiss on her forehead while Kira, Lacus and Akira watched them up close.
Later that night, Athrun and Cagalli visited the beach where the breeze was cool and the sea was calm. The sky was full of the stars and the moon was bright. It was such a perfect night. The couple walked along the shore, holding each other's hands.
Cagalli stopped and stared at Athrun. She smiled and touched his face, looking so passionate.
Athrun clasped her hand and kissed it. He stared at the ring on her finger, making him smile so widely. He wrapped his arms around her waist, while Cagalli placed her hands on his chest.
"Cagalli, I'm glad that I met you. I will always love you forever." Athrun spoke.
"I know..." Cagalli sighed. "We've been through a lot haven't we? From the day we met on that island, the battle in Yakin Due, up to now. I can't say that we had a boring life."
"Destiny can be harsh sometimes but I'm also grateful that it brought us together."
"Athrun... I love you. You'll always be in my heart."
Athrun leaned his head and kissed on her lips. A slight wind blew passed them, which made Cagalli felt a little chill. Because of this, Athrun cuddled her even more. Cagalli felt his warmness and his heart pounding so fast. No one could ever break them apart at that moment. For them it was not the end of their story but a new beginning. They now have Crystal and it was another trial for them.
End
Author: The end of Forever... So how was it? Please review and no flaming. I would like to thank those reviewers who have supported me up until now. Kisses