Kira smiled at the guests, nodding slightly to acknowledge them. While he did that, his eyes scanned the room. Inward, he sighed. "Not again," he whispered. Lacus, by his side, heard him.
"Guess you have to find her again," she whispered back to her husband. Her husband nodded.
"But I can't just leave you here with the guests," he said, searching the room again. Finding the person he was looking, he gestured for Shinn to come over. The black-haired commander walked over to him. "Shinn, have you seen Cagalli anywhere?"
"No. Don't tell me. She did it again?" Shinn groaned, smacking his forehead. Kira grinned sheepishly. "Don't worry. I'll find her before anyone finds out," Shinn assured Kira, sighing.
"Thanks."
After assuring Kira that he would get Cagalli, Shinn climbed the stairs to the children's rooms. As he walked towards the door in front, he saw the door opened and Athrun stood before him. Both blinked at each other, stunned. Leaning his head away, he saw Rosalynn's bedroom door was ajar.
"Athrun, what are you doing here?" he asked calmly. At his question, Athrun came to life.
"Lost my way," he said, grinning sheepishly. Shinn walked towards the room, gesturing for Athrun to follow. He walked in the room and found Cagalli sleeping peacefully beside Rosalynn. He smiled when he saw how both mother and daughter looked like angels sleeping together.
"Who – whose daughter is that?" he heard Athrun asked. Taking a deep breath, he walked up to Cagalli and bowed down near her ear.
"Cagalli, Cagalli," he soothed. She stirred but did not wake up. "Cagalli Yula Athha," he called out her full name. Finally, she cracked one eye opened, then attempted to fall back to sleep. "Oh no you don't. Cagalli Yula Athha, if you fall asleep now I'm going to do something that you will regret," he said. He heard a soft snicker and saw she closed her eyes again.
With that, he picked her up and carried her over his shoulder. He heard her gasp while he laughed.
She felt his arms around her and the next thing she knew, she was over his shoulder. She gasped. "Shinn Asuka, put me down right now," she said. Only his laughter answered her. "Shinn, come on. You know I hate this," she whined softly. Finally, she was abruptly placed down. Without any warning, she punched him real hard on the arm. Cagalli told him to hush when he yelp lest Rosalynn woke up.
"Hey! Is that how you thank a friend?" she heard him groaned softly while she wiped her hands clean. She snickered and turned, only to spot Athrun near the door.
"A – Athrun," she stammered. Millions of thoughts whirled in her head as apprehension rushed through her body. In an attempt, she tried to block his view from Rosalynn.
He stared as the black-hairedman picked her up like a sack. He continued to stare as Shinn placed Cagalli firmly on the ground and she punched him on the arm. When she finally turned and saw him, he saw her eyes widened with recognition and … fear. This intrigued him and yet distressed him.
"A – Athrun," he heard her stammered. It was then her action that really intrigued him. She tried to block his view from seeing the little girl who was sleeping.
"What are you doing here?" she asked.
"I got lost and ended up here," he replied. She turned to face Shinn nervously who patted her shoulder in comfort. Shinn then maneuvered both him and Cagalli out of the room. He looked on as Shinn closed the door with a soft click.
She allowed Shinn to push her out of the room, her heart beating furiously hard that she thought all of them could hear it in the quiet empty corridor. "What am I going to do? What to say?" she thought, the two thoughts kept repeating themselves. She saw Shinn glanced at her with concern.
Taking a deep breath, she opened her mouth to speak but Athrun walked away and out through another balcony. Numbly, she just stared at his back while there was a pressure at the small of her back. She turned and dumbly looked at Shinn nodding for her to follow Athrun. With that, she grabbed Shinn by the hand and walked up beside Athrun.
For a moment, all three stared at the yellow moon above.
"How is everything in PLANT?" she asked, breaking the silence.
"Everything is going as according to plan. Though we still have some people who believed in my father's idea of life, most supported the idea of peace," he answered. She looked down at her hands on the railing.
"How is Meyrin?" she asked nervously. As she was looking down at her hands, she missed the glance that Athrun gave her and that Shinn was looking.
"She's fine. In fact, she is here at the ball," he said.
"I take it she came with you?"
"You could say that."
Again, silence filled the air.
"That child. What is her name", she heard Athrun asked, breaking the silence.
"Rosalynn," she answered. This time, tension filled the air. Unable to take the silence anymore, she glared at Athrun. "Why don't you just ask who is the father!" she said, anger in her voice. Shinn stared at her back, concern in his eyes.
"So who is the father?" Athrun asked. He stared down at his hands now. She did not answer him for quite sometime. He glanced back at her and saw her eyes glaring at him with tears in them as she opened her mouth to speak.
"I am," Shinn said, all of a sudden. He sharply glanced at Shinn while Cagalli froze, her mouth opened slightly. In Shinn's eyes, he saw something that was indescribable. He looked on as Shinn clasped his hand over Cagalli's.
"I see," he only said, his expression unreadable. With that, he walked back into the mansion and straight back to the ball.