Disclaimer: I absolutely own my plot and my original characters (if there are any). Other than those I own nothing.
Arietta
Author's Note:
Many thanks to mariad, Alex Ikari, Inulover4eva, ninofchaos, and me, MySelf, and EYe for reviewing!
About the shortness of the first three pieces…well, er, they are just ideas that came to my mind that moment, so…(shrug). Anyway, although this one has little of Kira and Cagalli interaction, it is longer. Much longer than I expected in fact. Hope next time when another idea comes hitting me in the head, it'll be one with lots of interaction between Kira and Cagalli. Enjoy!
Note:
The house in this fic is the one in Onogoro.
Forth Piece…
It's nothing…
"Will they be all right, I wonder…"
Closing the door behind him, Athrun turned to smile at Lacus. "I'm sure they'll be fine. At least today, Mrs. Yamato and Mana-san are both with them. They will know how to stop when things get out of hands."
"Maybe you're right," sighed Lacus. "Still. I can't help but feel a little worried, considering after what happened last time…"
Athrun coughed in his hand to hide his laugh.
Lacus gave him a look of mild reprove, though her blue eyes were twinkling with amusement.
Last time they left Cagalli and Kira to look after the kids while they were out to buy grocery, the house was in quite a mess when they came back. Not to mention about the broken windows, the screeching Haro (apparently some kids tried to feed it with sweet, which it 'ate' and became rather…hyper), and Cagalli with one sprained ankle.
It turned out that, as Kira was reading the girls' a story (he and Athrun were the very objections of affection of the girls), a ball flew straight to the window and broke it. Kira barely dodged the said ball as it zoomed at him. He caught it, of course, thanks to his good reflex, and was surprised to find that the said ball was one extremely hyper Haro.
Just when Kira was about to turn the thing off, they heard a yell of "Oh S---!" which quickly followed by dry crushing sounds of leaves and breaking branches, then ended with a loud thud.
Trying to rescue a bird nest that was near slipping off the tree branches, Cagalli fell off the tree herself when the protective mother bird – no, one damnably protective mother bird – attacked her, probably thinking that she wanted to steal her babies or something.
(And I should fried them all, Cagalli had muttered when she related the story for the second time that day)
Two boys then came and admitted about feeding the Haro with sweet. They then pled with Kira to do something, 'cause it wouldn't stop zooming around and already it broke another window and was wrecking the living room, as well as 'hurting' other Haros.
So anyway, to cut the long story short, the hyper Haro got turned off, Cagalli's ankle was properly tended to, and the rest of the afternoon was spent in cleaning up the house (and trying to break up small fights). They were half way done when Lacus and Athrun returned.
"Although I think I should thank that bird," said Athrun, putting bags of food in the car trunk. "Otherwise, I wouldn't get the chance to carry Cagalli around the house like I had for three days."
Lacus giggled. "Athrun, I didn't know you were such a pervert."
Athrun's mouth twitched. "Not my fault if I seem like one. Kisaka's been watching my every move ever since I became her bodyguard. First time I thought I was going to die from his glare when I got as close to her as two feet." He closed the trunk and went to the car's passenger side to open the door for her. "To be a brother is such a privilege, now I realize. Kisaka never pays the slightest attention, even though he's watching the weather forecast, when Kira actually hugs her."
"I know," said Lacus, getting into the car. "I wish I could do half the things Cagalli does with Kira sometimes. I know I can never bring myself to hold him so naturally like she often does whenever he seems sad or troubled…"
Athrun got into his seat and started the engine. "What do you think we'll see when we get back this time?" he asked, changing the subject.
Lacus caught the hint and replied in a light tone. "Hopefully not another screeching Haro. Since last time, the other Haros still feel annoyed with him and won't let him play with them."
"They won't?" Athrun laughed. "Maybe I should make another one to keep him company until the others forgive him, hmm?"
"If it doesn't trouble you so much," said Lacus, smiling.
Athrun glanced at her, one brow raised. "Lacus…don't you think that fifteen Haros is quite enough?"
"I don't think one more will hurt anyone," she said, folding her hands primly on her lap. "That is, if you don't mind…"
"I don't. But this is exactly what you said back then when you had only seven Haros."
Lacus looked at him innocently. "Did I really? That is strange, I can't seem to recall saying that. But of course, my memory's never as good as yours."
Athrun laughed. "Very well, you win. What color do you want this time?"
She thought for a moment. "Another pink one would be nice."
He nodded. "Pink it is then."
Athrun and Lacus arrived half an hour later, both expecting loud noises and a kind of mess but were surprised when there were neither.
They were even more surprised when they went inside the house (very neat, by the way) and saw no one there. Even the Haros were missing.
"Where's everyone?" asked Athrun, depositing all the bags on the counter.
"I don't know," said Lacus, looking quite confused herself. "Do you think they've all gone outside? To the beach maybe?"
Athrun glanced at the clock on the wall. "Probably… Wait. Lacus, did you hear that?"
"Huh?"
"I think I heard something from the living room…" then he frowned. "I could have mistaken, though."
"No, I think I heard something, too," said Lacus, tilting her head to one side, listening.
"Let's go see, shall we?"
She wanted to but… "We should put things away first. All the frozen things at least anyway."
He agreed. So, they quickly put things away and when that done, they walked to the direction of the living room in search of everyone.
Still, nobody's there. But now they could hear voices. Specifically, Kira and Cagalli's voices.
"Don't leave," that was Kira's voice. His voice sounded strangely pained and sad. "Please, not just yet. Stay a little longer…"
"They're waiting," replied another voice – unmistakably Cagalli's – softly. "I cannot keep them waiting any longer. I want to stay with you. I wish I could, but I can't."
Athrun and Lacus exchanged a quick, startled look.
"You can. Please stay...I can't bear if I have to lose you."
Lacus inhaled sharply and Athrun blinked at the clear note of desperation in Kira's voice.
"You know you've never lost me. You know, don't you, that you will never lose me," she whispered gently, sadly.
Lacus gripped on Athrun's sleeve tightly, feeling a little light-headed. Athrun had to put one hand on the wall to steady himself. No, it's not possible… This is not happening…
"I love you!" Kira cried, and they could hear tears in his voice. "Doesn't that mean anything?"
Somehow, they managed to drag themselves to the slightly ajar door. The light curtain fluttered softly each time the evening breeze stole its way in.
Lacus's eyes were brimful with sudden tears as Athrun's face paled to match the whiteness of the shirt he wore.
On the terrace stood two persons. The last light of the setting sun caressed their sad features gently as if trying to comfort and sooth their pains.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, her voice breaking. "I'm so sorry…"
He fell to his knees and wrapped his arms around her waist, burying his face in her stomach. "I love you. I love you…so much."
She bent down and put her arms around him. Were those tears that glittered in her sorrow-filled eyes?
Quietly, she murmured back. "I love you, too. Always have. Ever since you brought light into my world…"
"Don't leave. Please don't leave me…I love you…"
Next to him, Lacus choked back a sob.
She drew away slightly and took his face in her hands, gently tilting his face up to look at her. "You promised…remember?"
He was silent for a moment, and they could see his shoulders trembling faintly.
"I love you," she said again and kissed away a tear from his eyes. "Always."
"I will never forget you," he whispered and gently pulled her closer---
"STOP RIGHT THERE!"
Two young boys came charging at him, tackling him from behind, and, losing balance, Kira fell forward with a startled yelp. All four fell to the hard ground with a loud thud, but at least Kira managed to cushion Cagalli when she fell, so that itdidn't hurt her too much (though it did hurt him more).
Then, a girl came running toward the heap, screaming shrilly, "Shou-kun! Aki-kun! I can't believe you! That's the best part, too!"
One of the boys yelled back. "So what? I don't care for the stupid story! He's about to kiss Cagalli-neechan!"
"Yeah!" said the second boy, trying to strangle Kira. "Cagalli-neechan's supposed to be my bride!"
"No, she promised me!" yelled the first boy.
"No, she didn't! She promised me!" the second shouted back.
"I didn't promise anyone!" screamed Cagalli from more-or-less the bottom to the heap angrily. "Now get off of me, all three of you, or I'm going to shave your heads bald and kick your sorry asses all the way into the sea!"
"Cagalli-sama, you mustn't speak that way!" Mana exclaimed in a scandalized tone as she came forward to help.
More girls came in to rescue. They pulled the two boys from Kira and Cagalli just as Mrs. Yamato unhurriedly came to join them.
"You played really well," she said to her son, smiling. "I saw you played at school some years ago and I thought you were quite good then, but you improved a lot."
Kira helped a scowling Cagalli up to her feet before turning to his mother. "You think so? But maybe it's because I wasn't as nervous as I was then."
Mana nodded. "I think, Cagalli-sama, you played much better than when you did with…"
Cagalli growled. "Dare you say that name, Mana, I swear I'll---"
A little girl came then and tugged at Cagalli's hand. "So, what happened at the end, neechan? Did the marionette-lady leave him?"
The scowl left her face and she turned to reply. "Yes, she did. She didn't want to, though. But then, she was a toy just like the others, so she had to. Who knows," she laughed. "Maybe some kind fairies might turn her into a real person, like in Pinocchio story, and then she came back…"
"'And they lived happily ever after'," finished the girl, her eyes twinkling brightly. "Really?"
"Let's hope so," said Kira and he took the little girl up in his arms.
Two more girls came to them. "Will you play for us again next time, niichan, neechan?"
One of the boys muttered sulkily. "Just because there're more girls…" (right, so they lost because of the voting system...)
"Why don't you ask Lacus and Athrun, next time?" suggested Kira. "I'm sure they'll do much better. Snow-white might be good if they play together."
"Talk about Lacus and Athrun…" Cagalli pulled the white (goddamned) ribbons from her hair and returned them to one of the girls (they insisted that if she wouldn't wear a dress, at least she could put ribbons in her hair to make it look more real). "Why aren't they back yet? It's almost three hours…"
The door to the living room opened and Athrun and Lacus stepped out.
"Lacus-neechan!"
"Athrun-niichan!"
Boys and girls rushed to greet them. They crowded around the two and talked rapidly. Today we've been good! We helped with the garden, too! You know, the roses are coming out! Did you buy ice creams? Can we stay late tonight? It's Friday…
The little girl asked if Kira would carry her to Athrun-niichan. Well, you know, a girl can have a crush as early as six years old, too!
After a while, Mrs. Yamato and Mana joined force; together they herded the children inside, leaving the four alone to talk. They never got to talk to each other much at all lately with all the work and everything.
"You've gone for a long time," said Cagalli. "Was the traffic bad? When did you come back?"
Athrun came to her side and kissed her briefly on the cheek.
Cagalli stared at him.
"The traffic's not too bad," he said, smiling down at her. "And we came back a while ago."
Lacus linked her arm with Kira's and gave him a light kiss on his cheek.
Kira blinked at her.
She smiled up at him. "Did you have a good afternoon?"
Cagalli and Kira exchanged a confused look.
Kira nodded. "We did. At least this time no one tried to feed any of the Haros again. And we played..."
"I thought you hated acting, Kira," said Athrun suddenly.
Kira blinked at his friend. Then it clicked. "I see. So, you both saw that, didn't you?"
Realization dawned; Cagalli looked up at Athrun, her brow raised. "Athrun, don't tell me that you…"
"No, of course not," said Athrun a little too quickly, while color creeping up to his cheeks.
Kira turned to look at Lacus, who found the pattern of the tiled-ground to be very interesting all of a sudden.
"It's nothing," said Cagalli, her voice brusque with annoyance. "The kids – no, the girls – made us act out a story, the Marionette, if you've heard of it. Kira's mother and Mana thought it would be fun, so we---"
"I know. I'm sorry, Cagalli," apologized Athrun, his face was fairly flushed by now with shame and embarrassment.
"It's nothing," said Kira, a note of chilling coldness in his smooth voice, and Lacus winced. "There's no reason for you to think like that at all. It's not possible…" a strange light of bitterness flitted across his eyes then, but no one noticed.
Except her.
Her gaze met him for the smallest fraction of seconds and he saw, not for the first time, how the same light flickered in those eyes, reflecting his, before she turned away.
You promised…remember?
He did.
Sighing quietly to himself, he drew the surprised Lacus into his arms, holding her close. "It's nothing…"
Cagalli wrapped her arms around the confused Athrun, hugging him. "Nothing for you to worry. At all."
I bet this must be very confusing (sigh). Even I don't really know why it turned out the way it did...