As you can see, I have decided to continue this story. I don't know how much longer I can make it before running out of steam. We'll see.

Enjoy!

Oh, and the titles/enquotes are from some of my favorite songs. Just a heads up there.

The Long And Winding Road

A picture is worth a thousand words. At least, that's what they say.

But at the moment, the only words Cagalli could think of were expletives.

She didn't know who sent it, though if she thought about it rationally for a moment then it would have been rather obvious.

A lot of things had come up in the past month. The stress was taking its toll, and of course everyone lived in terror of her wrath once more.

That in itself was a shock to many in the office gossip circles. Athrun had managed to tame her, as well as help to take the pressure off of their financial problems over the past year. More recently, Yuna and his father were attempting to engineer a hostile takeover of the firm. They were even playing dirty pool by trying to rake Vulcan Enterprises through the muck. That would drag down its market value and make it an easier acquisition. Athrun was a great help in keeping order and sanity during this new round of chaos.

But Athrun couldn't help with this one item. Old doubts and insecurities were threatening to drown Cagalli. At the moment, she felt as if she was being sucked under by quicksand. Desperate to fight her way out, she only sank deeper into depression.

Which brings us back to the picture. It was Athrun. With another woman. There were lots of other pictures, but only one brought a fear that froze her heart. There must have been at least fifty pictures total, but the others didn't warrant more than a brief glance.

The girl? That was an easy question to answer. It was Meryin.

The place? Equally easy. All the pictures seemed to be in and around Athrun's house. There was no way to be sure, but it mattered little. Cagalli was already convinced.

What was going on? Well . . . let's just say it was something very inappropriate.

Very inappropriate indeed.

"Everything alright?" It was Athrun peeking in the door. "Should I come back later?"

"No," Cagalli scrambled to hide the photos and slid them in her top drawer. "Come on in."

"Are you sure? You look rather pale. Would you like to take the afternoon off?" Athrun put the back of his hand to her forehead. She had been sick a few times and he hope she wasn't trying to work with a fever again.

"I just got some rather disturbing news. No big deal," she tried to play it off. She didn't want to have this conversation just yet. She flew off the handle rather easily and she had been in more than a few bad fights with him recently. This might be the final straw if she cut loose on him today. She just couldn't deal with this now.

Athrun knew her enough to know what her hesitation meant. "Okay, you don't have to talk to me about it if you don't want to. But I am concerned."

"I know. And I can't tell you how much I appreciate that. It's just . . ." Cagalli took a deep breath before continuing. "We can talk about it later, okay?"

"That's fine." Athrun handed some of the usual stuff. Project updates, the latest numbers on their hedging attempts, etc. "I'll come by at the end of the day and check on you. Is that alright?"

"Sure." Cagalli had a hard time looking into his eyes. He's always been so kind and sincere. Has he just been playing me this whole time? Is he already running around like Yuna did?

"Try not to overdo it," he parted by kissing her forehead. They were not often affectionate, so this was a rare indication of his concern.

Affection varied wildly in the couples that Athrun was best acquainted with. He had basically categorized them into three types. There was the 'over-the-top' kind. His first and probably best example would be Shinn and Lunamaria. They didn't really care what others thought of them. Oftentimes, Athrun wondered about something: If it weren't for indecency laws, would those two be going at it in public?

Though it was rarely discussed, that had been an ulterior motive for Meyrin moving in with Athrun. She wanted to get away from that.

The second type was what he referred to as 'school yard' romances. Lacus and Kira fit into this one perfectly even after being married for a year. They seemed like high school kids, often holding hands or innocently smooching in public. But they always had an eye out for the dreaded teacher who might round the corner at any minute and give them detention. And they would both blush whenever they saw others watching them.

Athrun and Lacus had once fit into that category, but then they were quite young when they were going out. It seemed odd that 26-year-olds would still be going through that, but who was Athrun to question it? Lacus and Kira were quite obviously happy.

That reminds me. I better call Lacus and see if she and Kira can do something for Cagalli. Athrun made a mental note of it.

The final category was the 'stone cold' group; Yzak and Shiho. They never held hands. They certainly never kissed. At least, not when anyone could catch them. Still, the rumor mill often churned out stories of their passionate private life. Athrun had never seen any evidence of that. And he didn't really care to.

"Hi, Shiho," he waved.

Shiho waved back. She was much more than a receptionist. She was also one of Cagalli's most trusted friends.

Where do Cagalli and I fit in? Not that it mattered much. Their relationship seemed to be in a holding pattern somewhere between 'heavy infatuation' and 'official couple going steady.' They were not intimate, but then Athrun wasn't looking for that. After Cagalli's exposition of her trials with Yuna, Athrun didn't want to approach the subject. Besides, if what he wanted was wild and crazy sex then he could have easily stayed with Meer.

Walking down the hall thinking of Meer conjured up deep seeded feelings of regret. Not for dumping her, but for hurting her. She seemed fine whenever they bumped into each other, but Athrun could help but feel as if she was going through something similar to what he had endured after breaking it off with Lacus.

Please let her come out of it alright, he prayed. Athrun didn't want another person's suffering to hang on his shoulders. He had enough on his plate already.

Making it to his office, he was completely wiped out. It had been a busy six weeks. He had managed to get things on track and rally the company to win new defense contracts, but things were still pretty fragile. It felt terribly wrong that he should be the rock holding strong in the hurricane. Just a couple of years ago, he was the one being tossed about like a paper in the wind.

Cagalli was in trouble and he knew it. Not so much the company. She had finally come to grips with the fact that saving her father's legacy isn't all that there should be to life. No, this was something personal. She was about to crack.

And hard.

"I see. Thanks Kira. I really appreciate that." Athrun hang up the cordless phone and tossed it toward the couch. Tossing phones was a habit he had developed, though Meyrin's guidance had taught him that he should throw the phone only toward soft items. To do otherwise might break it. Again.

Cagalli was gone before Athrun had the chance to come back. Shiho had informed him that Cagalli was tired and didn't want to be disturbed. Oddly, Shiho was herself disturbed by having to relay such a message to Athrun. And now Lacus had already gone to Cagalli's side without Athrun having to say anything. It was quite apparent that something big was bothering Cagalli and she didn't want Athrun to know.

At least, not yet anyway.

"I have to know and you're the only one who can tell me." Cagalli could only talk about this with her best friend. It just so happened that there was a time when her best friend knew Athrun better than anyone.

Lacus took a look at the photos, stopping in shock with the one that gave Cagalli such a fright earlier in the day. "I don't know what to think."

"Is he really like that? Would he do that to me?"

"First of all, you don't know when these were taken. It could have been long before he even met you. The digital time stamp in the corner can be easily faked, not to mention everything about the picture itself." Lacus replaced all the photos into the envelope from which they came. "And you don't know who sent these. I'll bet it's just someone trying to rattle you."

"Well they did a damn good job of it. I've been crying for the past four hours." And Cagalli's eyes were all puffy to prove it.

"For what it's worth, I don't think Athrun would cheat on you," the pink-haired girl sighed. "But you're not going to feel the least bit better by anything I have to say. I can see the rebuttal coming. You'll say something like 'But it's been years since you were close,' or something like that. Maybe you should calm down a little and just go ask Athrun. Or Meyrin."

"We've been fighting a lot lately. I don't know . . ."

"Just call him. He's probably worried sick about you. If I know him at all, he'd rather you call and fight than just not talk to him." Lacus knew this from experience.

Cagalli gave in. "Okay, but stay with me. I need some moral support."

"Hello? Oh, hi Cagalli. Just a minute." Meyrin went off to find Athrun. Fortune seemed to be against Athrun and Cagalli this evening.

With the receiver now in Athrun's hands, Cagalli didn't know what to say or do. "Athrun?"

"Yeah. Are you alright? Your voice sounds kind of shaky and Shiho hinted pretty hard that I shouldn't bother you."

"I really need to talk to you but I'm not sure what to say or how to even say it."

"Please tell me what's wrong. Should I come over?"

"No. Well, I don't know. I'm . . . I'm scared, Athrun." Her voice betrayed a little anger underneath that fear.

Athrun's brow furrowed in bewilderment. "Alright. Tell me what you can. I'll just sit here patiently until you tell me to do otherwise."

"Grrr."

Hinting that she was bossy wasn't exactly the best thing he could have done, but he was standing firm. "Any time you're ready."

"Fine. What is Meyrin doing over there?"

Athrun heard another voice in the background. "She just came over for dinner. You know that happens all the time."

"Is there anything going on between you two? I, um . . . there are these pictures and . . ." Cagalli lost her voice for a moment.

"You mean romantically? No, nothing has ever gone on between us. Is that what this is about? I told you up front about Meyrin. And just what is this picture business? Are you having me followed?"

That did it. Now she was balling again. And screaming at him.

"Look, Cagalli. If this is what's been wrong with you then you're just going to have to deal with it." Without waiting for a response, Athrun hung up and threw the phone onto his bed.

"Of all the things for Athrun to say," Lacus shook her head in disappointment. "But he may have a point."

"How can you say that?" Cagalli was balling anew after her brief conversation with Athrun.

"Well, even I don't know if you two are really serious and I'm your best friend. You two are certainly not serious enough to be so insanely jealous and possessive. You haven't fully told him what's wrong, so giving him the benefit of the doubt what's he supposed to think about this? And Meyrin has been his best friend for a long while. He may think you want him to blow her off and Athrun definitely wouldn't do that, even if you two were married and had a dozen kids."Lacus knew full well her words weren't reaching Cagalli. Just by virtue of Meyrin being there with him, Cagalli was about to blow.

"Deal with it?" Cagalli curled her fists in rage. "That's it! I am going over there and punch his lights out."

"I don't think that's such a good idea . . ." Lacus's protest was cut off by a sudden yank on the arm. Cagalli would be dragging her along for this confrontation as well.

"No buts, we're going."

Luckily Lacus convinced Cagalli to let her drive. Not only was Cagalli too upset to be behind the wheel, Lacus also wanted to make a stop first.

"This is not Athrun's place," Cagalli observed. By now she was fuming.

Lacus ran in to get Kira before Cagalli could commandeer the car. "Please, Kira. You must try to calm her down," Lacus pleaded.

It did little good. All their efforts only seemed to make matters worse. In the end, Kira came along for the ride.

"Why are you here?" Cagalli almost screamed the question at her brother.

"I'm just here to make sure you don't do something stupid." Kira muttered under his breath, "Not that this isn't stupid enough."

"It's good that we can still enjoy quiet evenings like this. Think Cagalli will mind?"

All Athrun responded with was a grunt. Then he moved his bishop.

Meyrin made the appropriate response. "You two have a fight? Your mind's not on the game." When he was troubled like this, she always won at chess.

"Something like that." Unwilling to take the time to think about it, he made a random move. It put his queen in jeopardy.

"Seems to be happening quite a lot lately." Meyrin could get mate in ten moves. Maybe less if his decisions kept getting worse.

"Things have been weird. Either things will settle down or we'll go our separate ways." Athrun was trying to be cool about it.

Which didn't fool Meyrin a bit. "What did she say to you on the phone?"

"It doesn't matter. I'll straighten it out tomorrow." He decided to concede defeat just as the doorbell rang. "I'll get it."

A short walk three rooms away, from the living room to the foyer. Kira was clearly visible through the peep hole.

Athrun opened the door with, "Hey Kir . . ." but his greeting was interrupted by a red streak coming from the side.

The red being Cagalli's t-shirt. But Athrun didn't get the chance to focus his eyes on her before she planted her fist firmly in his right eye socket.

"Ow! Was that really necessary?" Athrun didn't really try to defend himself, but thankfully Kira and Lacus were there to restrain Cagalli from doing anything further.

That is, until Meyrin came to see what was wrong. In her pajamas.

"Raaah!" Cagalli's bloodcurdling scream preceded her knee colliding full force with Athrun's crotch.

"That's enough!" It took Kira pinning her arms to control Cagalli.

"You bastard," she cried. After several minutes she settled down into a whimper. "Oh God, why?"

Meyrin tried to care for Athrun the best she could, but there was little she could do. She suggested, "Now that everyone's here, why don't we go to the living room and have some hot cocoa?"

"I might need an ambulance," the stricken Zala tried to say. The words came with understandable difficulty.

The long and winding road that leads to your door . . .