A six-year-old Cagalli sat all alone at the bus stop, waiting for her father Uzumi to come and pick her up from pre-school, like he promised he would. She felt a bit intimidated as her twin brother Kira wasn't there with her. At least then she would have felt better. But Kira had been selected to attend a different kindergarten.
She had no friends either. No one wanted to come near her; especially after she lost her temper with Fllay Allster and her snobby attitude. Fllay was a very popular figure in class and almost everyone wanted to be friends with her, but Cagalli hated her. She had told Fllay off for insulting her short blond hairstyle. So when Fllay started ignoring Cagalli, everyone else followed her cue and ignored the little blond too.
Friendless and alone...and yet Cagalli was used to them. Everyone else had treated her this way since she could remember.
As she thought this, heavy footsteps came from behind her.
"Hello there, little girl."
She stiffened.
A tall, thin man with long dark hair and sinister black eyes looked at her lecherously. He smiled, but his crooked smile only added to her panic. She didn't like him. Where was Daddy?
The creepy man smiled wider. "You're such a cute, pretty child. Why won't you answer me? I won't hurt you."
"Daddy says I shouldn't talk to strangers!" she snapped, although inside she was frightened.
"My, my, what a temper for such a small child," he continued slyly. He sat down on the bench and patted his knee. "Come and sit on my lap."
She couldn't move. She couldn't speak. Fear had overwhelmed her.
Where was Daddy?
The stranger's face darkened. "I said, SIT ON MY LAP!"
She shook her head.
SLAP!
Her hand slowly lifted to touch her crimson cheek.
"Don't make me do that again. Now be a good little girl and sit down on my lap like I told you to."
She quickly jumped to her feet and scuttled into a run. But before she could run for her life, he already had his hands on her. Squirming and kicking frantically, Cagalli tried to disengage herself from his grip. "LET ME GO, YOU JERK!" she cried.
"You're making me lose my patience, little girl. Remember, I did warn you..." He raised his hand as a maniacal smile crossed his face, ready to punish her as he had promised–
A young Athrun was walking out of his play school and heading home when he saw what was happening. He narrowed his eyes angrily. There was a pervert who was mishandling a blond child. He ran over impulsively and gave a sharp upper kick to the man from behind, the way his military father had taught him.
Surprised, her abuser fell forward and landed facedown on the ground. The sudden impact rendered him unconscious.
"Are you alright?" Athrun asked the trembling girl he had rescued, his green eyes filled with concern.
She raised her head and he was astonished to find himself staring at the tomboy everyone dubbed as 'too strange' to play with. He remembered her first name. Cagalli, wasn't it? He smiled kindly. "My name is Athrun Zala, your classmate. I hope you're not injured in any way."
He felt his heart break when her golden-brown eyes watered. "Cagalli..."
"A-A-A-Athrun..." she hiccupped, tears falling from her eyes.
She looked so scared and so fragile...Not at all like the vicious tomboy his fellow classmates had accused her of being. Athrun's eyes softened.
"It's alright, princess. I won't let that bad man touch you again."
But she was still crying, out of relief or fear he didn't know. So he asked her the first thing that came to mind, "Do you like banana split sundaes, Cagalli?"
She nodded her head slowly.
"Okay. I'll buy you a banana split sundae if you'll come with me." Seeing the mistrust in her eyes, he added, "Trust me."
She stared at the unconscious man Athrun had saved her from, and then smiled at her new friend.
"I...trust you."
He offered her his hand. She took it.
And that was how they first met...
And that was when she began to love him...
2. Two
"What alien language is THIS!"
Cagalli stared at the arithmetical formulas their math teacher was writing on the blackboard. She sighed and resisted the urge to bang her head against her desk. What did it matter if she might suffer from hemorrhage? At least she would have a reason to get out of her non-favorite lesson in the world!
Beside her was Ms. Evil Personified herself, Fllay Allster. The redhead was smirking as she glanced at Cagalli. She simply loved to torture that blond since their ancient rivalry spanning childhood days. And she was waiting patiently for the right moment to spring her next trap...
"Now class," the math teacher began, "does anyone know how to do this equation? Oh, Miss Allster, do you know the answer?"
Fllay had raised her hand and now smiled brightly. "Oh no, I don't. But Cagalli here does!" Her index finger pointed to the surprised and then furiously glaring face of the blond.
"Very well then, Miss Athha, please answer the problem."
Mentally wondering if murdering a certain redhead would be considered against the law, Cagalli slowly stood up and swallowed. Her eye twitched as she studied the math problem on the blackboard. What the heck! What on earth does "FX+45" mean? Does it have some kind of secret code behind it or something?
"Ah...um..."
People started snickering. Fllay looked innocent but inside she was smirking.
Cagalli smiled nervously. "You see, um, FX means..."
Oh crap! It could mean one plus one for all I know!
"Miss, I know the answer."
As usual, her knight in shining armor came to her rescue.
Athrun stood up and gave the answer as detailed and efficiently as possible. Cagalli blinked, not understanding a word he was spouting but feeling extremely thankful nonetheless.
"...and that's why the answer is 45.67."
Their teacher frowned once Athrun stopped his explanation. "That is correct, Mr. Zala. But I was asking Miss Athha, not you. Next time, would you please refrain from answering questions intended for your other classmates instead? Miss Athha, you may sit down."
As Fllay silently fumed over the ruin of her 'embarrass the heck out of Cagalli' plan, Cagalli turned and smiled gratefully at her best friend. "Thanks, Athrun," she mouthed.
He winked back.
Athrun Zala sighed wistfully as he gazed at the pink-haired angel sitting a few tables away from him.
It was recess, and everyone was enjoying their precious break away from their lessons. He and Cagalli sat at their usual spot in one corner of the cafeteria, with him watching Lacus Clyne like an undercover agent.
Lacus was sipping her tea and talking to her friends. She smiled and laughed, looking positively radiant in his eyes.
Ah...she's so graceful even when she sips something as simple as tea, he thought dreamily.
"HELLO, ZALA? ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME!"
He almost fell off his chair when Cagalli shouted into his ear. He cringed and pretended to dig his ears. "Relax, princess. My eardrums are practically ringing from your earsplitting screech."
She stuck out her tongue. "So? I had to get your undivided attention somehow!"
"You have it now. So what is it?"
She blushed faintly as she twiddled her thumbs. "Umm...you know about the school dance this Friday, right?"
Of course he did. In fact, just seconds ago Athrun had been in the middle of mulling on how to summon up the courage to ask Lacus to it. Somewhere out there an author should have written a step by step book on it and make the lives of clueless guys like him easier! "Oh yes, I do. Why?"
She cleared her throat. "I was...wondering if..."
He nodded encouragingly. "If...?"
"If...if you want to drink your latte. No sense letting it go to waste when you're too busy gawking over someone else," she said quickly.
Somehow, he thought she was about to ask something more serious than that but let the matter drop. "Go ahead. I'm on a latte diet anyway."
She nodded and took his drink.
Whoever said love is easy ought to be tied up, gagged and thrown into the bottom of the deepest ocean in the world, she thought darkly as she sipped the latte.
"Hey, Cagalli!"
A tall, purple-haired man stood in front of said girl, smirking arrogantly.
Cagalli's lips thinned. Yuuna...her long-time admirer who had been chasing after her since as far back as she could remember. But Cagalli knew part of the reason he pursued her was because he thought she was a challenge. She had never agreed to go on a date with any males bold enough to ask her out and he wanted to prove to his friends that he could do what they couldn't.
She tried to keep her irritation in check. After all, showering her righteous fury on him would only have him begging for more...like knowing ice-cream is detrimental for the human body but you cannot resist them anyway.
"Hi, Yuuna, what is it you want?" she asked with a tight smile.
Mr. Yuuna I-am-God's-gift-to-women Roma Seiran inclined his head. "You, me, and the dance this Friday is what I want, baby."
"Don't call me 'baby', you numbskull! Do I look like a five-year-old toddler to you?" she shot back.
"No need to get all riled up, baby," Yuuna said with a laugh. "After all, this is your future dance partner you're talking to. So are we on this Friday or what?"
She fumed. I swear he's denser than a rock!
Before Cagalli could tell him to go to hell, Athrun smoothly cut in. "You're wasting your time and breath, Yuuna. She told you she isn't going and that's that."
"Oh, I'm sorry, was I talking to you?" Yuuna scowled as he glowered at Athrun. "I don't care what you say. It's not as if you're her boyfriend. Or are you?" He narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
"We are just friends," Athrun said calmly, "but just because we're friends it doesn't mean I would let her go out with one of the world's most unintelligent and moronic life forms on the planet without inserting my argument on the matter."
Yuuna frowned. "Was that an insult?"
Athrun rolled his eyes. "I rest my case."
Cagalli looked at Athrun for a long moment, and then she gave Yuuna a sickeningly sweet smile.
"Yuuna...I accept."
Her best friend gaped at her as if she'd just announced she was going to jump off a cliff.
Yuuna blinked then smirked. "I knew you were just playing hard to get all these years, Cagalli! Well, get all pretty up for tomorrow's dance, okay? I'll be waiting for you, baby!" He winked as he turned and walked off to brag to his friends of his unbelievable accomplishment.
Silence.
Athrun placed a hand over Cagalli's forehead.
"Err...Athrun, what are you doing?" she asked blankly.
"Just making sure you haven't suffered from temporary insanity or if you've hit your head too hard from your basketball practice yesterday," he countered. "What in blazes possessed you to agree to his offer? I thought you, and I quote, 'hate his guts'!"
Cagalli slapped his hand away. "Maybe I just want to try something new," she snapped. "Maybe I just want to try my hand in the dating scene. After all, I never had a date in my life and I'm tired of having to wait for my 'special someone' to finally take notice of me!"
Athrun gritted his teeth. "Well, maybe he's not worthy of you in the first place! Why should you have to wait for that 'special someone' to take notice of you? You deserve someone better than him, and especially better than Yuuna!"
"That is SO malicious, Athrun Zala!" Cagalli snapped. "Besides, at least he takes notice of me. The guy I like can't even see me as anything other than fish bait!"
And then she hated herself. Although at times they would exchange caustic remarks, she very seldom quarreled with her best buddy.
"I-I have to go." She lowered her head and quickly walked away.
Athrun sighed.
"Oh man!" Cagalli scowled when she missed her chance to score a point for her team.
Her basketball practice today was horrible. She kept missing points and turns and their team was losing badly.
"Okay, practice is over!" Their coach called after he whistled. "Cagalli, you did poorly today. What happened to you?" he demanded.
"Sorry, couch. I had...a few personal problems," she replied.
"Well, don't mix personal problems with your practice. I want a better performance than you did today next time, is that clear?"
Cagalli nodded solemnly. "Yes, sir."
"Good. Go on home now and remember practice is off until next week."
The sky was dark and looked as if it was about to rain. Cagalli's teammates had bid her farewell and left her. She sat on the bleachers, wiping her sweat with a face towel.
As Cagalli sat there, she remembered it was on a day like this that she and Athrun shared their very first banana split sundaes together...
"Banana split sundaes!" At 'Snow Flakes' parlor, a younger Cagalli was happily taking a big bite of her feast and waved her spoon in the air. "Thank you very much, Athrun!"
"No problem, princess."
She blinked at him. "Why do you always call me 'princess'? I don't live in palaces, I don't wear glass slippers and I don't have any prince who likes me."
Athrun laughed. "I thought it fits you. A little misconstrued princess, who lives in an ordinary home, wears sports shoes, and as for the prince..." He paused. "I'm no prince. But I'd like you to be my friend."
She smiled. "That's great! That would make you my very first friend!"
"Ah, a special day like this should be honored. Let's make a sacred pact that we will always be best friends," Athrun said as he spooned up his sundae.
"I have an idea! Let's have banana split sundaes once a week as a symbol of our friendship!" Cagalli proposed. "And every time we taste it, we'll remember this day!"
Athrun smiled and nodded.
In union, they opened their mouths and ate their sundaes and then clashed their spoons as one.
Together, they said, "Best friends forever."
They laughed.
And since that day, she had hero worshipped him as much as she did her own brother...
She felt something soft and hard under her head. Her eyes opened groggily.
Someone had picked her up and was giving her piggyback ride. She could just make out his face.
"A-Athrun..."
His green eyes scolded her as he glanced at her from the side. "You silly girl...how could you fall asleep on the bleachers in the middle of the day? See? That's why I keep telling you not to over-exhaust yourself with your extra-curricular activities. Who knows what would have happened if I hadn't phoned your family and asked if you were home? Don't make me worry like that again, okay, princess?"
Cagalli leaned her head on his shoulder tiredly. She could already feel her eyelids dropping. "Thank you, Athrun."
Athrun smiled and kept on walking.
To be continued...