Disclaimer: Gundam SEED/Destiny DOES NOT belong to me.

A/N: See, I told you I would be updating more often! I'm so glad its summer! Well, like I promised in the last chapter, I'm going to try to make this chapter longer. Hmm…do you really think that Cagalli hates coordinators? Yea, that last phrase did make her sound a bit like Fllay huh? Hehe…

Chapter 5: Athrun's secret

"This can't be…." Cagalli thought as she back away until she felt the cold wall trap her from behind. Athrun hesitated to move closer since he knew she was going to tell at him again.

"Why didn't you tell me…in the first place?..." she questioned, but Athrun only looked away. "What do you plan to do with me?" she asked again wanting to hear something from him.

"I don't plan to do anything to you Cagalli…I…I'm only trying to help you…" Athrun spoke without looking at her face.

"LIAR! You treated my as your friend in school…now here you are, standing right in front of me…wearing that…that ZAFT uniform! How do you expect for me to trust you now?"

Athrun looked up and saw Cagalli with a bit of both scared and confused expression on her face. "Cagalli…I.." Athrun took a step forward but stopped.

"You knew from the beginning who I truly was, didn't you! And this is why you came to Orb, isn't it?" Cagalli couldn't stop herself from stopping her mouth, for all she felt was angriness.

"You don't understand, I didn't know who you were until you told me. I didn't even know your father had a daughter….and yes, this is why ZAFT soldiers came to Orb. My father told me about it, but I didn't know he was thinking of killing your family, as well as you."

Cagalli stared blankly at Athrun in disbelief. "Your…father? You mean, your father is the head of ZAFT?"

Athrun nodded. "Yes…his name is Patrick Zala, I see you didn't know…."

"But….I don't get it, if you're his son, why are you….." her question trailed off and couldn't finish it.

"I have different beliefs than what my father has…even if his orders were to kill you and your father, I don't think that is the right thing to do….I may not have the right to say this but…no matter what you think, you are still a friend to me.

For some reason, Cagalli felt like what he was saying was the truth. She wanted to sew her mouth for jumping to conclusions without even knowing.

"Um..Athrun, I'm….I'm sorry…" Cagalli managed to speak out.

Athrun smiled a bit. "I can't blame you for getting angry…I would have done the same…I should be sorry for not telling you…." there was no sign of anger in his tone.

Cagalli let out a sigh. "Won't you get in trouble for disobeying your father?" she asked.

"That's why I have to keep this a secret…." Even though Athrun wasn't sure of what he was going to do, or what was going to happen, he promised himself that he will do whatever he believes in.

Cagalli faced down to the floor. "So…do you live here alone?" she asked quietly.

"Yea, my father practically lives at his office and well for my mother…she passed away..." Athrun's voice saddened a bit as he mentioned about his mother. Cagalli was curious of how his mother passed away, but she kept herself back from asking since it seemed to sadden him.

"Oh…I see…I'm sorry to hear that…."

Athrun let out a deep breath. "No, it's alright…it's been awhile since she was gone…"

Cagalli suddenly had a flashback of what she said to him earlier. "Get away from me you…YOU COORDINATOR!" Those words she has said echoed inside her head. Athrun may be a coordinator, but what right did she have to say that to him? He was only trying to help her and she didn't even know it.

"You know…what I said to you earlier…I didn't mean it….I don't hate coordinators at all, but when I saw you wearing that uniform, those words just automatically came out. I want you to know that I don't have any bias opinions towards coordinators…and that I'm really sorry." Cagalli couldn't face him as she spoke. But after, there was a brief silence. She waited for Athrun to say something but when he didn't, she glanced up at his face.

When Cagalli saw him smiling, she quickly dropped her head again. "Why is he smiling? Did I say something wrong?..." She bit her lower lip as the moment felt awkward.

"Today at school…I was worried of how I was going to tell you about this...but now I see that there was nothing to worry about in the first place…" Athrun spoke out gently,

Cagalli slowly looked up at him, confused. "Worried?"

Athrun slightly nodded. "I thought you would be angry with me even if I told you my secret…and yet, I see you here, apologizing to me, instead of me apologizing to you. You are different in every way I expected you to be…"

"Oh…well I…" Cagalli felt completely speechless. They stood like that for a while until a ringing sound filled the room. Athrun moved to the table and picked up the phone to his ear.

"Hello, this is Athrun Zala."

"Where are you Athrun!" came a loud, angry sounding response. Athrun flinched a bit as the loud voice ringed through his ear.

"I'm at the apartment." He replied without hesitation.

"What! Didn't I tell you to come here right after school!"

"I'm sorry father, I forgot."

"Well it's too late now, I already sent our soldiers." Cagalli couldn't hear the voice as it calmed down. She saw Athrun nodding as he talked. Soon, he put down the phone.

"I'm assuming that was your father?"

Athrun looked over at Cagalli and nodded. "He's pretty angry…"

"You are a terrible liar, you know that Athrun?" Cagalli said as she tried not to laugh.

"Hmm, I've never been that good at lying…"

"I'm sorry father, I forgot." Cagalli imitated what Athrun said in a low voice. "It almost sounded like you forgot on purpose!" She broke out laughing.

Athrun smiled. It felt good to see her laugh after all that intenseness. Soon after, Cagalli stopped laughing and looked at the clock. It was 6:15pm.

"I didn't know that it was this late already. Do you think it's safe to go back to my house now Athrun?" she asked as she turned her head towards him.

"I wouldn't bet on it, my father is the type of person who doesn't rest until he's satisfied. He'll keep sending our soldiers to your house until they find you…" Athrun spoke with a concerned look.

Cagalli sighed. "Then what am I supposed to do?" She ran her fingers through the side of her head and found her hair still partially wet.

Athrun took Cagalli's hand and led her to the table. He picked up the phone and handed it to her. She looked up at him feeling confused.

"You know you're father's cell phone number right?" Cagalli nodded, but she was curious why he was asking her this all of a sudden.

"Tell your father that you'll be staying here for a while."

"WHAT!" Cagalli blurted out at Athrun's face in shock. "Me? Stay here! B-but Athrun!"

"Just do it. Your safety cannot be guaranteed if you stay somewhere else other than here."

Cagalli then looked at the phone. She hesitated awhile before she dialed. Her fingers slightly trembled as she pressed the buttons. Cagalli then slowly put the phone up to her ear and heard it ring continuously. .

"Hello?" came a voice that Cagalli was expecting. She opened her mouth to say something but nothing came out. She took the phone away from her ear and looked at Athrun nervously. "Athrun…I…I can't do it…" He took the phone from her hand and held it up to his ear.

"Is this Izumi Athha?" Athrun spoke with no fear. Cagalli's eyes widened. "What is he doing!"

"Yes, but who is this?" Izumi questioned back. Athrun decided not to answer that and jump right to what he was going to tell him.

"I am taking your daughter and she'll be staying with me for a while, I cannot tell you where she is right now or who I am. But your house is unsafe for her to stay in, as well as yourself. You don't need to worry because I promise she'll be alright here."

"Wait! Wha-" Athrun ended the call before Izumi could question him more. "Well, that's taken care of." He looked at Cagalli who was staring at him.

"I can't believe you just did that…my father is going to kill me! I should have never dialed the number…"

Athrun gave a small chuckle. "What's done is done." Cagalli groaned and threw herself to the couch beside her. She buried her face in her hands. "Sorry Athrun…I know I should be thankful but…" her words sounded muffled, but Athrun knew what she was saying. He sat next to her and took her hands away from her face.

"I know I'm doing things without even asking you first, but if you got killed, I would feel responsible…"

The sun was setting and the orange light streaked throughout the room from the balcony and the windows. Cagalli saw her shadow beside her feet as well as Athrun's. She moved her body to look at him. His face seemed even more beautiful in the warm sunlight. Athrun had a slight grin on. "Do you like staring at my face?" he asked with a hint of humor in his voice.

Cagalli felt her face flush. "Oh, sorry! I'm not trying to be rude or anything! It's just that you were right there and I couldn't help but to-" she froze when his hand stroked her hair smoothly.

"You could catch a cold if your hair stays damp. Stay here, I'll get you a dry towel." Athrun stood up and made his way to the bathroom.

Cagalli put a palm to her left cheek and felt the warmness die down. "This is definitely not because of the sun…"

A/N: Yay! This chapter was a bit longer right? Well I hope so! Oh my gosh, I just found this kawaii magazine picture of Athrun holding Cagalli! I'm going to print it out. XD

Now, I'm ready for reviews please! Thanks…