JC: The previous chapter was so sad. I felt bad for writing it. Imagining Cagalli-sama sad makes me sad too. Wah! Sorry for the childish moment here. I've been acting weird these days and I don't know why. Just go on and read the story...

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Seed/Destiny.

Love Fulfilled

Phase 11: Recollections

Cagalli rested lifelessly on her bed as she stared blankly at the ceiling with tear stained eyes. She had cried endlessly and thought of nothing but her brother. I'm your brother... she thought, remembering the sound of his voice and recalling the times he was with her. She turned over to her side and buried her face in her pillow. I love you, Cagalli... Those words flashed through her head, bringing more pain in her heart and tears to her golden-brown eyes. "Kira..." she uttered his name in a low and frail voice. "Why does it have to be you?"

Flashback

"Cagalli, I want you to meet your twin brother," said a middle-aged man with a deep voice. "His name is Kira, Kira Yamato." The man held a little 10-year old boy with short brown hair and purple eyes.

The little blonde princess smiled at the boy. "Hello there, Kira!" she said. "I'm Cagalli, nice to meet you."

Kira was a little shy so he hid himself behind the man.

"Come out of there..." She pulled Kira out by grabbing his shirt. "Are you afraid of me?" she asked him.

Kira quietly shook his head.

"Look, I'm your sister and you're my brother. Since we're going to be together from now on, we should get to know each other."

"Um... yeah..." he replied meekly.

Cagalli sighed in frustration. She was annoyed by his shyness, but that didn't stop her from being friendly with him. "Why don't we go out and play?" she asked him, making a puppy dog face at the same time.

Kira found that face to be really cute, so he couldn't refuse her offer. "Sure, let's play..." he said.

"Yay!!" she exclaimed happily.

Flashback Ended

Her memories from the first time they met brought a temporary smile on her face. She got up from bed and walked to the window. She glanced at the sky with dull and emotionless eyes. She had stopped crying tears, but her heart was still suffering.

A creaking sound came from the door as it slowly opened, letting a bit of light to enter the room. Athrun peeped in to check on Cagalli. He had expected her to be in bed, but instead he saw her standing weakly by the window. He approached her and as soon he reached for her shoulders, she suddenly dropped to her knees and wept. At that moment, when he saw Cagalli's tears, he also felt like crying. He knelt down to her level and hugged her warmly. "It's all right, Cagalli," Athrun whispered into her ear. "I'm here for you."

After that, she paused briefly as his words echoed in her mind. First, she heard Athrun's voice being played back, but soon she started hearing Kira's voice, telling her the same thing.

It's all right, Cagalli. I'm here for you.

Flashback

Cagalli, who was already 15, was crying in front of her father's grave while holding a bouquet of white roses in her hand. "Why did you leave me, father?" she asked, hoping he would answer. She knelt down and placed the flowers down.

A hand touched her shoulder, making her turn to the owner, who was none other than her brother. He had a smile on his face and kind-looking eyes, making Cagalli feel assured and calm inside. "It's all right, Cagalli," he told her. "I'm here for you."

"Thank you Kira... On the day father died, I was devastated. But you stood by my side and comforted me. Thank you very much, brother." Her eyes softened as her hands trembled.

"That's because I care for you."

"Kira, please don't ever leave me," she said, her eyes almost pleading. Kira was her only family now. "Promise me, okay?"

"I won't." Kira tilted her chin and looked at her sincerely. "I promise, so don't worry about a thing." He made a promise to her that day—a promise to never leave her alone.

Flashback Ended

"He promised he would never leave me but... now... he's gone..." Cagalli muttered in a shaky voice as she grasped onto Athrun's shirt.

"Cagalli, it wasn't Rep... It wasn't Kira's fault. Somebody killed him..." Athrun said.

"I know... but..."

Athrun gently pushed her away from him to face her. He wiped the tears from her eyes with his thumb. He could feel a burning sensation inside as he touched her face. A smile appeared on his face, telling Cagalli to smile as well. But Cagalli was incapable of smiling, because sadness had overwhelmed her.

"Athrun... I don't know if I could go on without Kira," she said.

"Please don't say that," Athrun responded.

"The greatest battle ever is too keep living, but I don't know if I still have the strength to live."

"Cagalli..." Athrun frowned and wrapped his arms around her. No words could comfort Cagalli at the moment. The pain of losing someone was just too unbearable. Athrun knew that he should never leave her alone.

Miriallia's Room

Miriallia Hawe was in the sanctity of her room, crying for her friend, the one she cared the most. She was settled in her chair, facing the computer. On the screen were images of Kira and her together during their childhood days. She glanced through all the photos as she recalled the good times with Kira. Her childhood days were filled with fun and excitement just because of him.

Can we be friends?

Flashback

A young 5-year old girl, Miriallia, was being bullied by kids older than her at the park. Of course, trying to be brave and stubborn, Miriallia defended herself from them, but she was too weak and fragile to beat them. One of the kids pushed her down and threw sand at her face, thus blinding her a while. "I can't see... I can't see... I'm going to get you guys for this!" she exclaimed, rubbing her eyes.

When the kids were about to kick her, a boy appeared in front of her and got hit instead. Miriallia opened her eyes and saw her hero on the ground.

"Ah! Are you all right?" she asked.

The boy quickly stood up and answered, "I'm all right." He glared back at the bullies, who got intimidated by him. And all of a sudden, they all ran away.

Miriallia got surprised at this. "Wow! You scared them! That's so cool!" she yelled. She stood and hugged the boy tightly until he turned purple like his eyes.

"Um... I... ca... Can't breath."

Hearing that, Miriallia released him immediately and apologized for her actions. The boy just smiled back and told her it was okay. "But I'm really impressed with you. Those kids always pick on me and I can't seem to beat them and you just... wow!"

"It was nothing really. By the way, I'm Kira... What's your name?"

"I'm Miriallia, but you can call me Milly, ok?"

"Okay Milly-chan... Can we be friends?"

"Sure, why not!"

Miriallia raised her fist up high. She then turned to the boy and extended her hand to shake. Kira glanced at her hand first before he shook hands with her. He let out a silent gasp when he felt her hand. Her hand was so warm. He looked up at her and noticed how cute she was. "Kawaii!" he blurted out.

"What did you say?" she asked, looking puzzled.

"You're so cute."

Apparently, Miriallia thought of it as a compliment, so she just thanked him.

"Milly-chan, we're friends now, right?" Kira placed a finger over his lips, looking at her with an adorable face.

"Of course we are!" she replied, making a thumbs-up at the same time.

"Then let's go and play together!"

Milly replied, "Okay!"

They walked hand-in-hand to the slides. When Milly went up the slide, she stopped to see the whole playground. She raised her hands and waved them high. As the wind blew, she closed her eyes to feel the cool breeze blowing through her face. After a while, Kira called her attention and told her to hurry up since he wanted to slide as well. She opened her eyes and turned to her friend with a silly smile as she scratched the back of her head. "I'm sorry... I'm going to slide now," she said. With one push, she slid down the slide.

Kira immediately went up. Before he slid down, he waved his hand at Milly, who was watching him from the ground. "Milly-chan, I want you to be my best friend, because you're fun!" Kira said.

"I'm fun..." murmured Milly as she blushed. "I'm fun, huh?" She waved her hand back at him and said, "Okay! We'll be best friends forever!"

Flashback Ended

"Kira, my most important friend, is gone," Miriallia murmured, wrapping her arms around her as she trembled miserably.

Mansion

As soon as Kai arrived at the mansion, he went inside and asked the butler if he could see Cagalli. However, the old man answered, "I'm sorry sir... I cannot let you see the princess, because she's very depressed at the moment."

The brown-haired coordinator had no intention of going home right away without even seeing Cagalli. After all, that was his purpose of visiting the mansion in the first place. So he insisted the butler to take him to Cagalli. Again, the butler refused since he thought of her current state. "If you're not going to let me through, I'll just have to use force on you," Kai warned with serious eyes.

The butler shook his head, continuing saying no to the coordinator.

"Oh, come on... let me see her."

"What's going on here?" a deep male voice broke into their argument.

Both Kai and the butler turned to the guy, who happened to be Athrun. The butler bowed his head at him. "Lt. Zala, this soldier wanted to see Princess Cagalli, but I didn't let him because of the state she is in right now," the butler explained properly.

Athrun, very well, understood his concerns. He looked at Kai and promptly greeted him with a grin. "Hey there, Kazuya... It's been a while." His voice sounded a little cranky.

Kai shot him a glare. "Where's Princess Cagalli?" he asked.

"She's in her room, sleeping," Athrun answered.

"What?!" yelled Kai in surprise. "She's sleeping..." He lowered his head as he deeply sighed in disappointment.

"Don't tell me you came here to cheer her up with your corny jokes?" Athrun blurted out as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Kai got pissed at him. "My jokes are not corny!" Feeling annoyed, he rolled his eyes away from the bodyguard. After a few seconds of silence, he placed his hand on his head and looked down on the floor with sad eyes. "And yeah, I came here to cheer her up."

Athrun wasn't the least bit surprised at this, because he knew Kai admired Cagalli very much. Kai was one of his rivals to her heart. Even though Kai was annoying, he was very kind and friendly. His outgoing personality was something Athrun didn't have, and most of the time, he felt jealous of Kai. Other than that, he still respected Kai as his faithful comrade and a good friend. Now, he was seeing a different side of Kai. He understood how he felt, because he also felt the same way. "I'll let you see her when she wakes up," Athrun told him.

Kai smiled after that. "That's great! Thanks man!"

"I'm only letting you see her so you can stop bugging the butler."

"Say what you want, Zala! As a matter of fact, one of the reasons I'm here is because of your sister, Jean."

"And why is that?"

"She asked me to come here to make the princess smile again. As you know, I can make people laugh."

"Or cry..."

"What did you say, Zala?!" Kai groaned as he showed a fist at Athrun.

Athrun was not at all intimidated by this. Instead, he just laughed at Kai. "I was just kidding, Kazuya. Honestly, do you really think you can cheer Cagalli up?"

Kai nodded his head with complete assurance. "Well... I can't be too sure about that, but I will try my best for the princess."

Beach

In a beach house near the Onogoro Coastline, a woman with brown hair and auburn eyes watched the sea from the terrace. She took one deep breath and smiled as she felt the sea breeze. It was refreshing. She felt like a free bird flying in a clear blue sky. It was heavenly. "I wish it was always this peaceful," she said to herself.

After a while, she went to her bedroom where a young boy was sleeping soundly in bed. She stared at him, wondering what to do with him. "Hmm... I better just call HQ and inform them..." Before she finished her sentence, she heard the boy mumbling something in his sleep. He appeared to be struggling as well. He was starting to sweat a lot as he screamed the name 'Rey'. "What's happening to him?"

In an instant, the boy's eyes jarred wide open as he sat up on the bed. He clutched onto the sheets as he breathed heavily. He felt his temple and sighed in relief. "It was only a dream," he said. He took his time to look around the room before asking, "Where am I?"

"I'm glad you're finally awake," the woman spoke as she revealed herself.

"Aren't you Captain Murrue Ramius of the Archangel Ship?" he asked with eyes wide in surprise.

The woman nodded. "That's right..." She positioned herself in front of him and saluted. "It's good to see you're safe and sound, Representative Kira Yamato."

To be continued...

JC: I'm sorry to disappoint those who have guessed Lacus. It was Murrue Ramius. You must think Kira has no pairing here. Please be patient with that. Until then, please review and no flaming.