I do not own Gundam Seed.
1. Words that are expressed in Italics are either thoughts of a person or flashbacks.
2. Thank you to those who have reviewed, you really made my day with the encouragement.( HUGE smile )
3. This is the second part of this fiction and I plan to have at least one if not two more to finish up with the particular fiction, so please have faith in me, ne?
4. Anything that you are curious about or confused, please ask and I will try to rectify it in the next installation of this fiction. Names that are spelt wrong is entirely my fault and (sheepishly grins) do please overlook it.(smile)
So ladies and gentlemen, I present to you :
Stand By Me
by : forst2light
Athrun
A warm breeze ruffled my hair as I walked down the well trodden path towards the small house that I had bought just recently. There were birds twittering happily in the trees and the sun was out after a week of rain and cold weather, it was a truly beautiful day but my heart was not in it. It had been three years since that fateful incident that involved Kira Yamato and my then fiancée now wife Cagalli Yula Attha, and as I walked down that path that would lead me to her, I could not help wondering what would have been if I had not made that certain choice.
" Athrun?" A weak voice whispered my name.
" Cagall!" My head shot up promptly, the exhaustion that I felt then flew out the window immediately.
" Where am I? Why are you here? I thought.." Tears welled up as she recalled the last talk that we had.
" I'm so sorry Cagalli, please forgive me, it really isn't what you think, I choose you!"
" You choose me?"
" Yes."
" I don't need your pity Athrun. I don't need you to choose me. I need you to love me. Do you love me?" I was holding her hand and her grip tightened considerably as she waited for my answer and I hesitated no more.
" Yes."
" Say it."
" I love you Cagalli, will you marry me?" This time it was tears of happiness that brimmed in her eyes and she nodded, her eyes closing in exhaustion. Tears were forming in mine too but for totally different reasons. 'I'm sorry Kira' My mind whispered sadly.
" Where's Kira?" She whispered, her voice slurred. " There's something important that I need to tell you but I can't remember what it is.."
" Shh..sleep now, I'll still be here later, you can tell me later." I murmured softly into her ear, all the while stroking her blonde hair softly until her breathing deepened and she fell asleep once again.
" Athrun!" I heard someone cry out my name and with senses on full alert, I scanned my surroundings as I was trained to in the past before relaxing considerably when I recognized the woman I supposedly love.
" Cagalli." I waved back at the waving figure in the distance and berated myself inwardly for being so caught up in the past that I had not realized that I had indeed reached the small cottage that was situated by the lake, our small sanctuary from all the hype that surrounded us. Cagalli motioned for me to go to her side and I obediently obliged, her wounds were healing properly and a live in nurse I had hired took care of her needs .
" Come Athrun, come and see this!" She whispered to me urgently, doing her best not to startle what she was pointing excitedly at. I squinted from the sunlight and lifted my hand to shade my eyes to get a better view and found myself looking at a swan and her brood of cygnets. I sighed, resigned, and forced myself to plaster a smile on my face before turning to face her. I knew what she expected me to do at this moment, this beautiful moment when the day was clear and free, she wanted me bundle her up in my arms and kiss her passionately, swearing to her what I had swore at the altar not too long ago. But, the mere thought of that made me cringe inwardly. I had been giving excuses after lame excuses to refuse bodily contact with her and I knew that she was getting impatient and the trust that she had so freely given in the beginning was diminishing day by day. I continued smiling at her as I slipped my fingers into hers to hold, both of us lapsing into silence that was so familiar now that it almost felt comfortable.
Cagalli
I felt Athrun's fingers slip through mine and I tried to blink back the tears of disappointment and hurt. Three years ago, this movement would have made me deliriously happy, but now, it just made me feel sad. I looked out from the corner of my eye towards his profile which had not changed much since I first saw him. Slim and slightly taller than before, he was the boy I had pointed a gun at, stripped in front of, cried tears of anger, hurt and happiness before and most importantly fell in love with. But, now, everything had changed, he is still Athrun Zala the man I love but I Cagalli Yula Attha, is no longer the woman he loves or if that he even loved me at all. I wished that I could turn back the time to find out where and what had went wrong, to try to avoid it or even to correct it, but deep down I knew that no matter what I try to do, the unraveling of the future for the both of us would still be unavoidable. I glanced back at his profile, taking in hungrily everything that I could memorize and remember forever, his longish blue hair which curled slightly at his collar, his emerald green eyes which was forever shuttered and closed off from me and all the good times we had when we were still naïve and young. He turned towards me with a quizzical look in his eyes but I just smiled sweetly at him and pretended nothing was wrong, it was a mask I had three years to practice and perfect. My eyes roamed over his slim frame before turning away and settling on the picturesque surroundings. I had thought that he had bought this property out of love for me, but I knew now that my thoughts were naïve and wrong. He loved me, but it was not in the way I had wanted, but if I could just hold on for awhile, maybe he would have a change of heart.
Who are you kidding?
Shut up.
He loves your twin, not you.
I said shut up!
Don't do it Cagalli, you will destroy the both of them. You have to tell him the truth. The truth that you have been hiding these three years …
Shut up.
" Cagalli? Are you okay?"
" Why are you here Athrun?" I asked sadly under my breath before turning away and walking back to the cottage that had been the home for me for three years leaving him Athrun, my husband behind.
Athrun
" Sir! This came in early this morning." It was Monday morning, the next day after a night spent with Cagalli in the cottage.
" What is it?"
" I'm not sure sir, but it seems important."
I barely looked up from the computer screen and said to Tri " Leave it on the table. Thank you." Tri did what he was told and left the room soon after that. The morning passed by with me buried till the head with all the paperwork that Cagalli had no time to look through and it was not until after four hours did I lift up my head to glance at the white envelope addressed to me written neatly in a handwriting that I was very familiar with.
" Kuso." I cursed out loud before tearing open the envelope frantically, my eyes scanning the letter in haste.
Dear Athrun,
How are you? I hope you are doing well. It's been three years I think. Time seems to be hard to keep track of in here. I'll be free soon, and I will find the person who did this to me. I will not bother you with any details and I hope that you would wish me luck. I do understand what you have done in the past, and I have been patient. Three years is the time limit that I have. I hate this place Athrun, and I will never ever forget it. I do not blame you for me being in here but I will never forget what your decision is.
Kira
" Kuso!" I cursed once again, my head buried in my hands, memories of the not so long ago replaying itself with amazing clarity in my head.
" Let me get this straight, you do not want to pursue the charges anymore? What happened to change your mind? I had thought that you were quite adamant at finding the evidence?"
" General Laws, I know that my decision in the past was a rash and stupid thing to do, I have thought about it properly and come to a conclusion that I would not like to undergo the hassle and the time consuming process to prove what is so evident to everyone except me, that Kira Yamato is guilty of everything that has been charged to him."
" I see. What prompted the change?" This time it was General Anders who spoke up, and by the look on his face he was enjoying every moment of this. My hands which were hidden from view under the table bunched into fists and I had trouble keeping my voice and facial expression calm.
" What prompted me to change my mind is not the main matter now. The main matter is that I refuse to continue with that mindless chase."
General Laws turned his head towards General Anders and said " Come on General Anders, do not give the boy such a hard time. You have to know that he was quite close with the killer." He paused a moment to look at me before continuing, " You do understand what you are saying, I hope you have really thought this through. The mistake of making the wrong decision would haunt you for the rest of your life and the council do not appreciate any repetition of what had happened just now. The council have not the time to play with frivolous whims. So is this your last decision?"
I took a deep breath and uttered the word that I know I would regret for the rest of my life, " Yes."
Back in the present, I looked at the letter that was clenched tightly in my hand and wondered what Kira was planning, my thoughts jumbling and pouring each other, weighing each and every options that I had, it was a habit that had been ingrained so deeply in the past that it was only natural for me to do so. In the end, I grabbed the jacket that I had kept forgetting to bring home and stuffed the letter into one of it's pockets before rushing out the door.
Kira
" You ready son?" Roy Kilburn's face was grim but there was a barely restrained excitement that lurked beneath the grimness and I understood what he was feeling. It had been three years in this desolate place, and it was time to get out. The first year had not been easy, the prison was famed for it's torture and harsh treatment towards it's prisoners and it had not helped when news broke that I had tried to kill the Representative out of love for her current husband. It was one thing to be a murderer, but a gay one as well, it was intoleratable. The beatings and the taunts had came almost at once and many a time I found myself bruised everywhere with a broken bone or two. Roy had always been there to help but what can a man do when the person he was trying to protect had no will to fight? The second year passed with me gaining strength and with help from Roy, I began to pick myself up from the hole that I had dug and buried myself willingly into. I began to win fights and soon after that, no one dared to come near anymore. The planning started in the second year and after days and months spent observing and gathering information, it was time to act.
" Yes, I'm ready." And it was action time. I laid myself in position on the floor and began to twitch and convulse violently on the cold cement floor, acting out the simplest ruse in the book.
" Guards! Something's wrong with him!" Roy shouted, desperation and the right amount of worry a lethal mixture that brought the guards running.
" What happened?" One of them shouted, suspicion etched all over his face, evidently this was not the first time it had happened.
" He ate that and just fell. Please you have to help!" Roy was clutching desperately at the soldiers uniform bringing him closer for the view of me. My acting must been quite realistic as the guards, all three of them fell for it.
" Stand back!" One of them commanded before entering the correct code to release the lock to the prison cell and all three trooped in. Two of them crouched beside me to try to control me and the third kept a watchful eye on Roy while trying to talk into the walkie he had with him to alert the doctor and to send for backup in case something happened. But before the soldier could do anything, Roy had pounced on him while I leapt up from the floor, miraculously cured and attacked the remaining two guards. All three of them were caught off guard and everything progressed as planned with the whoops and cheers of the other cell mates. Both of us stripped two guards of their uniforms and weapons before securing them with the restrainers that they had on them.
" Hey, let us out too!"
" Way to go!"
" Bastards! Let us out too!"
" Don't be selfish!"
We walked briskly down the hall with caps pulled down low over our faces and ignored the taunts and pleads of the other prisoners. Both of us knew that the commotion in the cells we had left behind would alert the other guards that there was something wrong. Time was the essence and I understood all too clearly that we had to hurry. Both of us rushed down the corridors trying to pace ourselves in order not to attract any unwanted attention, we understood the risk that everything could go wrong if anyone of us made a careless mistake. In time, we reached the garage where all the vehicles were kept and Roy Kilburn hotwired one of the jeeps. Both of us looked at each other in unrestrained glee and set into motion the plan that we had spent so long to perfect. It was time for our revenge.
Athrun
" How could this have happened?"
" I do not know sir!"
" Where were the guards who handled this?" I looked in exasperation at the snivelling young man in front of me. I stared in distaste at his acne prone face and tried to control my anger and impatience at their incompetence.
" They are outside sir! Shall I get them for you?" The guard could barely hide his relief as I nodded for him to do so and he rushed out in a whirlwind of bad body odour. I drummed my fingers impatiently on the table in front of me while waiting for the three useless guards to enter the room. I did not know why I was in such a foul mood but I knew that I had to get to the bottom of this.
Oh but you do know why you are in a temper.
What do you mean?
You can't face him and watch him turn away from you as you did before to him. You are feeling guilty and ashamed. You would have preferred it if he stayed in here forever.
You are wrong.
How can I be wrong? I'm you. I know all your deepest thoughts and fears.
Shut up!
I won't till you correct what you have done wrong. You love him for goodness sake. How could you have gone down such a wrong path?
I have done it and I cannot turn back.
You can. Find out the truth. It has been buried too long.
I know what to do. Shut up.
" Sir!" Three quavering voices brought me back to attention and I looked up in annoyance at the three useless guards who had let Kira get away.
I glared at them and watched in satisfaction when they seem to shrivel and shrink in face as they tried to cower away. " How did he get away?"
" Kira Yamato had help from another prison cellmate!"
" Roy Kilburn sir!"
" He pretended to have food poisoning and we had to.."
" Sir it was not out fault, he tricked us!" I listened to them babble incoherently with fear but the only thing that had registered was the name. Roy Kilburn. Kira had mentioned that name once upon a time when he had asked for my help and I had turned him down. I remembered all too clearly the content of the letter that had came this morning and in a perverse way I was relieved that finally all the hidden secrets and lies would be soon out in the light. I knew one day I had to face the music and after three years of hiding and selfishness, it was that time exactly.
Back in the Orb administration building,
" General Laws, General Anders would like to see you."
" Tell him I'm busy." Came the gruff reply from General Laws to his secretary as he continued with his work.
" Sir Sir!" General Laws looked up in annoyance when he heard the frantic calling of his secretary as his automatic door swished open to reveal an angry General Anders.
" General Laws, there is bad news."
" Can't this wait?"
" No."
General Laws looked in exasperation at the man in front of him and waved his secretary off before saying to General Anders, " This had better be good."
" Kira Yamato and Roy Kilburn have escaped."
General Anders looked in satisfaction at the surprise and shock that was clearly etched on General Laws face when he spluttered out an undignified " What!"
" They escaped this morning from prison."
Minutes passed as General Laws absorbed the information and calmed his emotions while General Anders looked on. Gone was the flustered old man and in place was a cool mask of indifference and when he opened his mouth once again to speak, it was controlled with no emotion whatsoever. As much as General Anders hated to admit, General Laws scared him.
" Has anything been found? Does Athrun Zala and the Representative know?"
" Athrun Zala is already there questioning the guards, it seems that he received a letter penned by Kira Yamato this morning and had rushed out right after."
" Kira Yamato sent a letter to AThrun Zala? Was anything of importance written in it?"
" We are not sure. He took it with him."
" Send someone to the prison. No better still, we'll go and supervise the whole process of this questioning. We can't let anything else go wrong." General Laws got up from his chair and straightened his clothing that were slightly rumpled. He pressed a button on his phone that connected him to his secretary, Trisha and ordered her to arrange for his and General Anders departure to the Hoxworth Prison, his eyes gleaming all the while. He smiled at General Anders who visibly cringed at his expression and said before walking out the door " It's time for the hunt Anders."
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
" Sir, General Anders and General Laws are here." Tri whispered to me and I nodded in acknowledgement. Their personal visit came to me as a surprise and I wondered why had they taken the time out of their busy schedule to do so. But before I could contemplate further, their larger than life presence filled the room.
" Athrun Zala, what a surprise!" Came General Laws bass while General Anders barely looked in my direction. " What are you doing here?"
" I came after I received a letter."
" By Kira Yamato I presume?"
" Yes." I looked at General Laws looking at me, I knew what that crafty old man was thinking and I refused to voluntarily give it to him. His eyes looked pointedly at me before realisation dawned in his eyes and it hardened perceptibly.
" Come now, Athrun, where is that letter? It is evidence."
" I left it back in my quarters back in the Orb administration building." The lie came effortlessly and my expression was one of pure innocence but a hunch told me that the General was not falling for it.
" Are you sure Athrun Zala? It would be a shame to ask others to frisk someone of your stature." A low undertone of threat was woven into this sentence but I refused to back down.
" I'm sure, I did leave it in the Orb headquarters." A pregnant pause followed and this time even General Anders was looking on and I detected a faint look of awe in his eyes. I stared back at General Laws and could see his brain whizzing away pondering what his next step would be. My whole body was tensed and ready for any action that came but the General surprised me by backing down.
" Oh right then, you can show it to us some other time. Now where were you in the questioning? General Anders and I would be here to witness the rest, okay?"
" Yes sir."
General Laws
I marvelled at Athrun's ability to stand up to me and if I was true to myself, I enjoyed that verbal and emotional sparring very much, it kept my mind young and healthy. But logically, I knew, that this attitude of his would cause quite a lot of trouble for me in the future. The bugs that I had set up in his house was filming each and every movement and word that had been uttered between the Representative and him. It was evident that something was wrong within their marriage and this would be the perfect opportunity to put my plan into action. Cagalli's clone was primed and ready and just waiting for the me to put her into the picture. My plan had been thwarted once but now the opportunity had once again presented itself and this time it would not fail. I chuckled to myself and looked on at Athrun interviewing the hapless guards.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Athrun
" Come in Athrun Zala, come in. No need for the formalities." A booming voice greeted me once the sliding door to General Laws' quarters whooshed open to reveal me. I nodded and lowered my hand, accepting the offer to go into General Laws office and was immediately transported from the cosy hallways of the Orb administration into a fanatically clean almost clinically so office. It had never ceased to amaze me at the neatness and tidiness of it all, everything was in place, the pens and pencils in their respective places in the holder which was exactly two inches away from the papers that the General was currently overlooking or signing. It was a known fact that he supervises everything from the cleaning of his desk to the hovering of the carpet and it scared the cleaning personnel witless.
" You wanted to see me sir?"
General Laws' hawk like eyes looked at me in an unconvincing lack of disinterest before asking the question I knew that was troubling him the day it happened." Yes. I hope that you have received news on the runaway suspects?"
I looked dispassionately at him, my mind whirling furiously to think of the reasons why he was so interested with the disappearance of Kira Yamato and the renegade Roy Kilburn but could come up with nothing. " No sir. I have not received anything on them. My team has been indeed trying to pinpoint their locations but have been unsuccessful so far. They are very good in hiding their tracks."
General Laws looked fleetingly as if he wanted to throttle or murder someone when he heard what I had to say but soon passed. He smiled an oily grin at me and said, " Well I do hope that you would try harder, after all you are the Representative's aide." And husband. I understood perfectly the pointed look and my dislike for him grew more, he had been planning something but nothing I did could unearth what he had his mind on. I saluted him once more before stepping out the uncomfortable room and walking away to my quarters which situated not far away from Cagalli's. As I passed by her office, I heard her voice quavering as she spoke to someone on the phone.
" You don't understand. I cannot do that. It would not help! I know you are right but there is nothing I can do! Just give me more time." With that the conversation ended and I was struck by the desperate pleading tone that Cagalli had used. I had not meant to eavesdrop on the conversation but I could not help overhearing it as the door to her office were opened which struck me again as odd. I knocked softly to attract her attention on the wooden panel and she looked up in surprise.
" Athrun? What are you doing here?"
I watched her movements and discovered that her hands were trembling even though she was trying to cover her distress by plastering a perky smile on her face. " What is wrong Cagalli? Is everything all right? You shouldn't push yourself so hard coming back to the office. Who was that on the line?"
I tried to slip in the last question as unobtrusive as possible but as usual her perceptiveness was amazing. Her expression changed immediately and threatened to crumble any moment but somehow or rather she kept her composure and retorted quite harshly, " It's none of your business. How dare you eavesdrop on my conversation."
" I'm sorry." I apologized, not understanding her irrational burst of anger. " But the door was open, I could not help overhearing the whole thing."
" Nothing is wrong, don't you have anything else to do?"
" Yes, I'm on my way back to my office from General Laws quarters. I just wanted to know…."
But before I could complete my sentence, she had cut me off abruptly," Do not worry about me Athrun. Just go and do whatever you have to do okay?" I nodded at her, head bowed low, I knew what had prompted this emotional burst as I recalled her last sentence that was muttered under her breath.
" Why are you here Athrun?"
This charade that the both of us were trying to keep up was crumbling bit by bit around us and the emotional torture that I was putting on the both of us were tearing us apart. I knew that if I did not do anything soon, the relationship between the both of us would be irreparably damaged. This whole front was my fault, I had put myself here in the first place, the memory of that fateful event crystal clear in my mind, but if I had thought by choosing Cagalli all my problems would be solved, it had backfired. My selfishness to have kept Kira in jail had turned sour, he had escaped and the wheel of fate is starting to turn.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Kira
I felt the wind whip through my hair as we travelled at breakneck speed down bumpy small roads to put as much distance between us and Hoxworth Prison. Both of us had not talked nor relaxed an inch since the escape and the feeling of exhilaration was slowly ebbing away and in place was the fear of the unknown future. It had been three years for me and a whole lot more for Roy, what had changed in these few years? I observed my surroundings as much as I could in the dark but there was nothing that I could detect. It was night and a good six hours since the escape yet none of us were able to let our guard down till we found shelter. Orb was an island not at all a big place, and though the wild provided good coverage it was limited. I wondered what our next step would be. Planning the past two years had mostly involved getting out of prison but not where to go after. Yet, still I appreciate Roy's help. I looked above me to the stars and could not help feeling nostalgic as this particular moment triggered a memory.
"Look Athrun! A wishing star! Quick quick! Make a wish!"
" I don't believe in all this."
" Just do it!" I thumped him hard on the back eliciting a wince and he closed his eyes to make that wish.
A few seconds later his emerald eyes popped open and he said a little exasperatedly " Satisfied now?"
I looked at him, smiled and nodded. I settled back into the jeep that we had drove in and looked into the inky black sky. " What did you wish about?"
" It's a secret." He winked. " What about you? What did you wish for?"
Both of us looked at each other and grinned, youthful and free, he knew what I was about to say even before I opened my mouth, " It's a secret too right?" I nodded and the both of us settled back into the jeep in companionable silence.
" What you thinking about kid?"
I looked at Roy startled before relaxing, " Nothing much."
" We need to stop for petrol soon, and maybe we could get something to eat. It would be dangerous and I hope that we could find something else to wear that would give us more cover. By now, our escape would probably all over the news."
" I know. But we made it. We made it out." I watched his silhouette that was illuminated by the passing streetlights and noticed his mouth quirk up in a small smile.
" Yes, we did kid. We did."
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Cagalli
I looked in disbelief at Athrun, my ears ringing with the information he had just bombarded me with. " He's escaped? When?"
" This afternoon."
" No clues whatsoever?"
" No."
I looked down at my fingers and noticed hazily that they were clenched into fists very tightly, the pain that came from breaking skin did not faze me at all, in fact, I welcomed it. I welcomed anything that could take away the thoughts that were currently running through my head at the speed of a freight train. My eyes roamed everywhere, taking in surfaces of my cottage, noting the furniture and most of all his presence in the room. He did not notice me looking at him and I knew that this news had struck a chord within him. Hope? Maybe. Anger? I did not know. I wanted to stop thinking about it and ask him straight to the face like I did before but I found that I could not. I did not dare, not after what had happened before. I could not take the answer that I knew was deep within him and bubbling closer now to the surface with my twin brother's escape. Silence enfolded the both of us in it's arms and during that uncomfortable period of time, a memory popped involuntarily into my head, it was the earlier conversation between me and Lacus Clyne.
" You cannot hold it back from them. You had just put your twin brother in jail for three years. He was innocent!" Her voice that transmitted back to me was incredulous, disbelieving when I broke down after her insistent questioning and told her everything. She could not comprehend what I had done.
" Do not think for a moment that I had not regretted that decision!" I screamed back down the phone to Lacus before continuing softly this time," I love Athrun too much to loose him. I thought I could. I tried, but I can't. You don't understand."
" Was it worth it?" Lacus's voice came back from the other end, sympathetic and sad. She already knew the answer. It was not worth it, Athrun had not been mine, he was never mine in the first place. Sure he had married me, but his heart was with Kira, my twin. A part of him had died and stayed there in Hoxworth Prison, the man that was with me was no more than a shadow, the shell of the man I had fallen in love with. The realisation had came early, but selfish as I was, I clung to it desperately like driftwood with hope that he would soon change his mind, that maybe he could love me instead of Kira. With that small glimmer of hope, three years had passed with no changes whatsoever, Athrun was still miles away from me and my brother had missed three years of his life.
" You have to tell them sooner or latter."
"" You don't understand. I cannot do that. It would not help! I know you are right but there is nothing I can do! Just give me more time."
" Please don't dig yourself deeper into the grave, tell Athrun before everything blows up in your face. Cagalli Yula Attha, you have to do it!" Tired of listening to her, I had slammed down the phone, hands shaking and looked up to see Athrun.
" Cagalli? Are you okay? Cagalli!" Athrun's voice called me back to the present, I looked at him before avoiding his eyes.
" I'm fine." I took in a deep breath and caught his arm as he started for the kitchen. " There is something I need to tell you."
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Athrun
" There is something I need to tell you." Cagalli said, her voice strangely devoid of any emotion and her honey blonde hair hid her amber coloured eyes from my view.
" Is something wrong?"
" Kira Yamato is innocent."
" Huh? What?" My mind was slow at grappling what she was trying to tell me.
" Kira was not the one who hurt me."
" What are you trying to say?" I could not believe my ears, I struggled to keep my emotions in check but I was fighting a losing battle. " Cagalli, please say what you want to say," I left the last part unspoken and she stiffened, she understood the unsaid threat.
" After the confrontation with you, I went to Kira's house. I had to ask him…I had to ask him about him and you, whether it was mutual. He was drunk, he passed out on the sofa before I could ask him anything and I walked into his kitchen to get him a cup of water. Just as I was turning, somebody attacked me, it was a woman, her features were hidden by the dark but I knew it was a woman, she had a knife and she stabbed me. I tried to run and I was so scared. I was screaming and screaming but no one came. I tripped over the table beside the sofa Kira was lying on and fell, the assailant had wanted to kill me but Kira saved me by stirring and by that time, a neighbour had rushed in and everything else was like you know." Cagalli was like a commentator commenting about a football match or a basketball match with no feeling whatsoever, just a woman talking in a robotic detached tone about some mundane thing that had happened three years ago. None of us moved, none of us talked, I was barely able to grasp and to make sense what she was telling me about. And then everything clicked into place and I exploded.
Cagalli
" Is it true!" I heard him say softly, venom dripping from his voice and I nodded miserably in confirmation. " You kept this all to yourself for three years?" His voice grew louder and more menacing.
I bowed my head in shame and did not look up. I could not look up, I did not want to see the hurt, the anger, the hatred, the disgust that was in his eyes. I could feel the tears forming in my eyes and I tried blinking them away, tried shutting them into a box and willed myself to think of good things, happy things to prevent myself from crying.
" You knew the truth and you never said a word in three years?" Athrun was pacing the room like a caged lion now, his fury full blown and very evident. " He was your brother!"
" I..I.." I tried to get the words out, I wanted to defend myself, I wanted to tell him that what I had done was all because of him, but I could not get the words out.
" When were you going to tell me Cagalli? Were you planning to hide it for the rest of your life? Don't you have morals!"
I looked up in shock when he near shouted the last sentence and this time it was me who exploded, " Morals! Who do you think you are by lecturing me about morals! Do you think I wanted to! I loved my brother! You were the coward Athrun, you had your chance to prove him innocent but you thought that you were doing the noble thing by marrying me, don't you dare preach to me about morals. All of us were unhappy, and it was our fault! Not mine only Athrun, don't you dare put all the blame on me!"
" I cannot believe that you are saying something like that," But his eyes were avoiding mine and I knew that he was feeling guilty too.
" Please Athrun, we could do this together, we, no I could go and tell them everything, everything!" I was begging but I did not care, it was not the time to think about pride and dignity.
" Cagalli, don't you understand? It's too late. Too late for the both of us to do anything to save the whole situation not when Kira is out." He turned to walk away from me and towards the front door.
" Stand by me Athrun. Please." I said softly, desperately. My last plead, my last hope for our future. But the only answer he gave me was the slamming of the front door. I had lost. He was gone. And I was all alone once more, defeated by my own stupidity.
General Laws
" Stand by me Athrun. Please."
I watched with passionless eyes as the whole situation unfolded in the screens in front of me. I was sitting there listening to everything that had went on between the two spouses in the hidden room in my quarters, I smiled and thought to myself that this time Lady Luck had helped me clinch the moment. I basked a little while more in that glow of glee before pressing the button that would connect me instantly to that moronic General Anders. I waited impatiently for him to waddle to the phone and before he could say anything to me I had spoken.
" Send her now."
