Wow! I just so happy to see such a great response from everyone! Also, the same day that I posted up chapter 12, I was accepted into my first-choice college, so I'm feeling pretty good right now.
Now then, without further delay here we go!
Unconsciously, her body betrayed her, as waitress instinct kicked in and she strolled over to hand them their menus.
She froze, suddenly snapping out of her thoughts and finding herself only steps away from Athrun's table. It looked like neither of them had noticed her, so she took the few moments she had to steady herself.
"Come on Cagalli... You're an actress. You can do this."
Straightening herself as much as possible, she took her final steps forward.
Athrun felt like stabbing himself with a fork repeatedly looking up after seeing none other than Cagalli, standing before him.
"Welcome to the restaurant, I hope you have a nice dinner." She spoke in an eerily and uncharacteristically cheerful tone. Meer's eyes widened.
"Cagalli! What are you doing here!" She asked excitedly, oblivious to how Athrun was slowly sinking in his chair, which may as well have been quicksand.
"I work here." The blonde haired woman beamed, plastering on a fake smile and forcing a cheery voice.
"Breathe Lacus! Breathe!" Kira cried frantically, his face as close to the video screen as he could get it.
"I'm okay... Really…" She insisted, trying to take deep and calming breaths. "It's okay. I'm sure that Cagalli won't jump to conclusions."
"And what about you two? I had no idea that you guys were dating! Why, Athrun! How could you keep such a secret?" Cagalli swung her head to the side to look at him with a false expression of glee, as if waiting for an answer.
Kira raised an eyebrow. "You sure about that? This is Cagalli we're talking about. She's pretty impulsive. And I don't know… Just hearing about it made me think it was a date. She's actually going to be seeing it."
"But I'm sure she'll give Athrun a chance to explain. And they he can just tell her the truth and it'll al be cleared up." Lacus responded after careful thought.
"I-I uh…" The flustered, cobalt-haired boy stammered, eyeing the butter knife on the table temptingly, and completely at a loss of words.
Cagalli politely handed them their menus and waved. "Anything to drink?"
"Just water." Meer replied casually.
"Poison…" Athrun muttered under his breath. Cagalli raised an eyebrow.
"I'll… just get you some water too"
"You sure about that either? Athrun can get pretty confused sometimes." Kira sighed.
"That's true too." Lacus nodded sadly. "Very true… But what am I supposed to do, go spy on them?"
"Or… You COULD just trust them, and let them work it out?" Kira suggested with a laugh. Lacus smiled gently.
"Yes, that would work too… All right."
"Caga!-" Athrun finally started, but by that time she had already tossed them their menus and stalked off. He whacked himself in the head with the hardcover wine list three times, before opening it and letting out a heavy sigh. Not that he knew what he would have said...
Maybe... "This isn't a date?"
Then again, it sure as hell looked like a date.
Goddammit.
"By the way, since the play's been moved up so I'll try to take an earlier flight so I can see it on time." Kira added, glancing at the clock on the lower right corner of the screen and frowning. "It's getting late here though…"
Lacus nodded. "Sounds fine. Go to bed now." Waving a bit, until the screen went black. She spun to her left in the swivel chair she was sitting on, and reached out to grab a framed photo of her and Kira, taken when they were at the resort. It had taken almost half an hour, Athrun, Cagalli and herself, to finally get him to stand still for longer enough to take a picture due to his camera-shyness.
And so there they were, smiling against a perfect background of sand and sea, thoroughly exhausted but still absolutely elated. Fingering the silver frame she had placed the photograph in, she smiled.
Cagalli returned with two glasses full of ice, then went to grab a pitcher of water. She frowned a bit… Okay Athrun looked uncomfortable. Was that a good thing or not? Was it because of her?
Faking a cheerful demeanor again, she approached their table and began pouring their drinks.
"Okay… So he doesn't seem to want to make eye-contact with me… Serves him right!"
"Uh… Cagalli?" Meer tried to catch her attention.
"And why didn't I hear about it?"
"Cagalli…" Athrun started.
"Since when did this happen?"
"Cagalli!" Athrun repeated.
"What?" She snapped, abruptly jerked out of her thoughts
"That's some funky looking water you've got there…"Athrun pointed to his glass. Cagalli looked down to see herself pouring piping hot coffee into a tall glass of crushed ice.
"Oh, crap! Sorry!" She quickly lifted the pitcher, slapped her forehead, and dashed back to grab the right one.
Meer blinked as Athrun chuckled softly.
"I wonder if she's all right…" Meer wondered aloud.
"She… did that, probably out of habit." Athrun smiled watching Cagalli's frantic figure weave in and out of table, back to the bar.
"Next thing you know, she'll be throwing bagels at me…"
Cagalli was positively seething. If she had a bagel, she'd throw it. As she walked away, she tried to steady her right hand, which was balled into a tight fist, with her equally shaking left hand. But why?
Because she was mad at him? She had no reason to be! It's not like they were together... She had no reason to be mad at him, or feel like he was cheating on her.
Or want to choke him with is own tie.
Or stab him with the silverware.
Or beat him over the head with a stack of menus, then drown him in onion soup.
Was this jealousy? Certainly not! THIS... was the product of a long day's work. Then to see them so casually enjoying dinner... Indeed. Surely that was the only possible thing she could be jealous about.
She took a deep breath, and made an honest effort to convince herself.
And failed miserably.
Letting out the breath in disappointment, she turned at the sound of her name being called out.
"Yes?"
"Could you come over here for a minute?" The young man, that had been coming so frequently lately waved her over. I need to talk to you about something.
"I'm afraid if it'll take long, I don't have time. Tonight's a busy night." She explained, knowing that he had a tendency to ramble. And also, she just wasn't in the mood to provide sympathy to anyone.
He looked down at the napkin on his lap, and she knew that meant he had a lot to say. "Well then, save it for another time." She shrugged, turning and beginning to walk back to the kitchen.
When suddenly she felt something engulf her from behind.
After Cagalli had left, Meer had launched into pleasant conversation. Or at least, Athrun thought it was pleasant. He wasn't really sure because… well… he had no idea what she was talking about. So far, her life story it sounded like a how an unfinished puzzle looked. In the times he paid attention, he mainly heard something about a goldfish, paper dolls, and a ballerina costume. Which put together meant her life story was about a paper doll goldfish in a ballerina costume...
And somehow, he had severe doubts about that theory.
But if you added all his other thoughts, you'd have to add Cagalli. And how cute she looked in her uniform. And how disappointed she looked at first. And how heartbreakingly cheerful she pretended to be. And how angrily she sulked off.
And how loud she screamed…
Wait a minute.
Screamed?
Whirling around, he caught sight of a shocked Cagalli trembling in the arms of some random man that seemed to have hugged her from behind. The people sitting at neighboring tables had quickly retreated to a safe distance, fully confident that the customer had gone mad.
As for Cagalli, well she looked too terrified to move. Eyes wide, her pupils were turned to the side, as if trying to see who was more or less on TOP of her. Bolting out of his seat, Athrun raced over.
The man appeared to be... shaking for some reason, blubbering in barely coherent but VERY lord words.
"If I don't confess my feelings for you now, I'll die of secret passion! I simply can't live without you! Please say you say the same!" He bawled. And with that he swung her out to arms length to face him, clasping her shoulders. Cagalli frowned at the idea of her being whipped around like a rag doll...
As for Athrun... well he could only raise his eyebrows in disbelief and frown.
"You have GOT to be…"
"KIDDING ME!..."
Cagalli cursed a thousand times over in her head. If not for pity and sake of her job, she would have killed this guy three times before he even hit the ground. Tightening in disgust, she could only bear with it, as he blubbered words of devotion.
Of course she was also the color of a fire hydrant at this point, not only being the center of attention, but the center of attention, apparently due to some sort of sick, twisted, warped love gone horribly wrong.
She pictured her boss lecturing her about how the "customer is always right" and so as a server, she was to do anything he wanted, to make his stay pleasant.
"I wonder if that includes falling in love with him…" She sighed.
Of course not. That didn't make any sense. What made sense, LEGALLY, was for her to kick this guy's ass for sexual harassment, in a professional surrounding no less! Yet this option presented a few problems:
1) She was wearing a uniform. That included a skirt. So she hypothetically speaking, COULD kick his ass… but she'd end up flashing half the restaurant too… And something about that just didn't quite.. AGREE with her
2) She was… slightly too embarrassed to do anything.
Temper vs. Embarrassment. What a dilemma… Usually she would definitely follow through with her homicidal urges, and after the initial shock wore off, that's exactly what she planned to do. But she barely had recovered when a voice came from behind her, the interruption suddenly springing her free from the death grip.
Quickly taking a few steps back, it wasn't until she was almost to the edge of the crowd of people, that she realized who the voice belonged to…
"I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to hold in your dying passion for a moment longer…" Athrun sighed, a hand to his forehead. Infinitely relieved as the stranger let Cagalli go and she quickly got away, he continued as best he could to keep up the distraction.
"Why? What does this have to do with you?" the man spat bitterly.
"Well… me not so much. Your 'significant other'… very much."
The man visibly paled.
"She hired me to be a private investigator, to tail you. And I'm afraid if you continue to do this, I'll have to tell her everything." Athrun continued nonchalantly. Within five minutes, the same deliriously passionate mad man had run out the door and was tearing down the street at full speed screaming the name of… some woman. Presumably his wife or girlfriend.
Nobody moved… Until Cagalli started clapping. Turning around, Athrun grinned at the sight of an amused expression. Soon her applause was joined by everyone else in the restaurant. Giving a mock bow, he managed to slip out through the crowd, and back to his table. Cagalli quickly ran to the back, eyes still completely on her.
Meer sat at the table nervously, playing with her dark hair. The dye was all gone now, so it was back to its natural black color. Still the same length… but it was a bit plain in color… She was a bit plain herself…
Sighing, she looked up to see that Athrun had come back. He had been pulled aside by the management, for a description of what had happened. Meer forced a smile.
"Everything all right?"
"Yeah, I think so now… They're sending Cagalli home for the rest of the night." He responded, placing the napkin on his lap and tucking it into his belt.
"Sure you don't want to follow her?"
Athrun blinked and his head jerked up to look at a somewhat sad Meer, who wore a sympathetic smile on her face.
"What do you mean by that?" He raised an eyebrow.
"You worry about her a lot… don't you?" Meer continued, ignoring his question. Athrun shrugged a bit.
"Sure… She's like a sister to me. I mean… she's my best friend's sister." He answered casually.
"That's it?"
Athrun paused holding his fork in midair. Redirecting his gaze to face Meer's neutral expression, he quickly averted his eyes.
"More… or less."
What the-? That didn't make sense. Well… no it made SENSE. But it wasn't…
"The truth…"
"Does Cagalli know?" Meer continued, as if reading his thoughts. She was looking away now, hair hiding her eyes and expression still unreadable. Athrun stared at the fork in his hand for a minute, inspecting the prongs with his fingertip, studying his reflection off the brilliant silver.
"Probably…"
"Not…"
"You better go get her Athrun… Because the only person I'll give up on you for is a someone who… Really matters a lot to you." Meer's voice grew quiet, barely allowing Athrun to catch her last words. He sat there, fiddling with his cutlery a bit longer before standing up abruptly. He thentook his coat, said a quick goodbye to Meer and left hurriedly.
Meer sat there for a moment longer, lost in her thoughts. Refolding the napkin and placing it on the clean white tablecloth, she sighed. Standing up, she left with melancholic smile. Though she'd expected she would cry… for some reason no tears came.
"I guess this is a good sign…"
After Meer had left, Athrun soon followed, opting for the long way home in hopes that he might still be able to run into Cagalli. And as luck would have it, he soon caught up to the surprisingly un-traumatized blonde, strolling down the dark streets.
"You know, it's dangerous for girls like you to be out here alone, so late at night." He joked loudly. Cagalli stopped, recognizing the voice, and spun to face him.
"Absolutely Athrun. What with predators like you walking the streets, what woman could be safe?" She rolled her eyes, folding her arms across her chest. "What are you doing here? Thought you were having dinner." She tossed the topic into the conversation, trying to keep a perfectly neutral voice.
"She walked out on me." Athrun shrugged, finally catching up.
"You're kidding." Cagalli stared at him, wide-eyed.
"Nope." He shook his head, declining to go into the details.
"Sorry that the date didn't work out…" She muttered out of courtesy.
"It wasn't a date… Just dinner."
"By the way, thanks for your help back there. You really didn't have to do that." She stated lamely. Athrun frowned.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Well… you were a customer. You shouldn't have gotten involved… The manager would have dealt with it." She shrugged in response. Athrun stared numbly.
"Ri-ight… and in the meantime he'd just hug you and continue professing his love?" He smirked. Cagalli shot him a sharp glare, and he shrugged in return. "Besides, I'd hardly call what I did, unnecessary." He pointed out. Cagalli seemed taken aback.
"You think it was necessary?"
"Completely."
"Explain."
"I shall." Athrun grinning widely. His face suddenly grew serious, and he looked at her earnestly.
"You aren't just my best friend's sister anymore. Remember when I told you… a really long time ago… 'That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet?'"
Taking a deep breath of icy air, he turned to a very flustered Cagalli, who was beginning to feel uncomfortably warm in her bulky coat. She nodded slowly.
"But… viewing a rose from different perspectives, it's still a rose too, right?"
She nodded again, for lack of a wittier response. Usually she liked to play devil's advocate and argue the other side for fun, but something told her this wasn't the time…
"So then… As Kira's sister, at resorts, as an actress, as someone getting sexually harassed by a very likely insane man…" He chuckled, "You've still been that odd waitress I met at a coffee shop, months ago. And as much as I try to not see you in the light of a blonde waitress who fascinated me months ago, you consistently pull me back."
"This is a rather long-winded explanation of why you helped me, isn't it?" Cagalli commented, trying to get him to hurry up and stop talking as soon as possible, before her head exploded from overheating. She buried her face in the collar of her jacket.
Athrun smiled. "I guess what I'm trying to say, is that I think it was necessary, because to me you are… Someone who…"
"Dammit… Say it. Just say it…" His mind pushed.
"Matters." He finished lamely, yet still breathing hard.
"Sorry mind, heart, whatever."
It wasn't a lie.
It just wasn't the full truth. He'd tell her that later. Like... When he had more courage, or with 10 seconds to live, or something to that extent.
Cagalli lifted her head, and seemed somewhat surprised,
Or was it disappointment?...
Some sort of blank expression was covering her eyes, the fail-proof window into her feelings... When suddenly she broke into a smile.
"And though not so much, you're still that laptop toting random guy that kept coming into my cafe." She laughed and began trotting along again. Athrun chuckled fondly and followed her.
Yeah, definitely still the same Cagalli...
"So... how did you know he had a girlfriend?" She asked out of curiosity.
"I didn't. That was a lucky guess." Athrun replied automatically.
Suddenly, Cagalli's face turned into a scowl and she glared daggers at him. "A… A LUCKY GUESS!"
Athrun's eyes widened, realizing what he had just said. Looking at a seething Cagalli, he quickly turned and tried to run away, before all hell broke loose. Suddenly he felt something hold him arm back. Looking over his shoulder to see a somewhat still furious, but reluctantly grateful Cagalli, he sighed in relief.
"You're lucky it worked." She muttered, suppressing a smile.
"I've been pretty lucky all day." He grinned back.
Kira opened up a window on his computer and went to the browse for airplane tickets. Since the ones he had wouldn't get him back until January, he'd have to swap them, or something to that effect.
Clicking around for a while, choosing the appropriate price, and finally sitting there drumming his fingers on homerow.
"Searching for your tickets..."
"Searching for your tickets..."
"Search complete!"
Kira paled.
There was no way... this was possible. He had even checked with the travel agency just a few days ago, to make sure it would be okay. So then how on earth?... WHY on earth, were the words:
"Search yielded 0 results. Sorry, we have no tickets available."
Glaring rudely back at him from his computer screen?
Cagalli flopped down face first onto her bed. Long day. Tiring day. Surprising day.
Disappointing day...
Disappointing? How? Rehearsal was great. Work was, granted a bit strange, but still good. So then...
"I could read it in his eyes…"
He just didn't say it... Not that she was expecting it. So what if he didn't say what she was expecting?
"It's just not what I wanted to hear..."
He said something else. Something infernally vague that could be interpreted in a thousand different ways. Heaven knows what he actually meant...
"I matter?..."
A lot of things mattered. What the hell was that supposed to mean? And why was he being so vague? And why did she CARE?
"Because he matters..."
No argument there. But... mattered in the same way she does to him? Unless she mattered in a way, that she thought was the way that he mattered... or he mattered in a way that she thought she matters...
"What the hell?"
Losing her train of thought, or rather getting thrown off it into the land of confusion, she grabbed a pillow and hugged it to her knees, frowning slightly.
"Accept it."
Accept what? There was nothing to accept. She rolled over restlessly, the pillow now pressed under her stomach and sandwiched between herself and the bed. Of course he mattered. He mattered
"More..."
Okay a LOT more…
"Than I'm letting myself think." She mumbled, her words muffled by the sheets she spoke into.
Dammit.
Well, there you have it. Now that Cagalli's admitted her own feelings to herself, all that's left is for them to confront each other!
... Of course this is often the hardest part.
Currently I have no idea how long the next chapter will be, but I'll try to get it up by the end of the week. My schedule's pretty tight right now though, so that doesn't look too likely. Nonetheless, I'll try my best, or I'll end up posting a horrendously long chapter. We'll see…
Thank you to all my reviewers again! Once more, I tried to reply to all of your thoughtful comments, and I think I managed to get just about all of you. If not, really sorry about that!
Athrun-n-Cagalli, kura52, Freyris, KiraFreedom, asga, Kintora, rain angst, joyphoenixdragon, ANONYMOUS, Eternally Asuka, animemistress419, FreedomElf, Maryam Khanoom, MXC - the show- rocks my socks, SasukeLuver678, purple1, lil kagome 13, XxbuffyxX, gseedlover, Princess Ashes, Moonee, IYGU, Cagalli Yula Athha Fangirl, astrocosmos, The Angels' Princess, Genny-chan, cloudy mind, koali alolao, Yukimi noh Daiomoru, animeluver461
So, now I'm going to try and do 5 hours of homework in the 2 hours of time I have… dies
Periodic-Prose