Ok, here's chapter 11! (I think, hehehe)
Disclaimer: why would I be writing fanfiction if I owned Gundam Seed?
Athrun
I run
Towards you,
Hoping,
Dreaming,
That I'll find you
The real you
Despite her reputation, Cagalli had never just run away. Normally, she'd only leave to go join the army. So this was a first. She felt nervous as she emmerged from her bed, fully clothed, seemingly ready to take the night. You have to do this, she told herself, you know that. Hoping her newest disapearence wouldn't cause to much trouble, she opened her bedroom door and ran.
It took Athrun all of his courage to face his commander, let alone walk up to his tent. But, eventually, after about half-an-hour of telling himself everything would turn out fine, he was face to face with Le Creuset.
« Ah, Athrun, is there something you would like to discuss? » he asked.
« Yes… » the younger man answered, trailing off.
« And what would that be? » asked Rau. In the current context, this was a question that would usually be asked with a certain cheek. Yet, none could be detected in Le Creuset's voice.
« It's…uh…about Nicol, yeah, Nicol, » stamered Athrun without much reasurance.
« Yes, and what about Nicol? »
Athrun was silent for a moment. He was thinking about what he would next.
« Nicol's death has greatly affected me, » he began, « and I feel that unless I have a chance to clear my head, it will only continue to affect me. » Le Creuset smiled, Athrun was skilled with words.
« So, you are asking for a leave of absence? Is that it? »
« Yes sir. »
« Very well, I shall grant you six weeks starting tommorow. »
« Thank you sir! » said Athrun, before leaving rather hurridly. They both knew this had nothing to do with Nicol.
Cagalli was far from Heleopolis now, but she hadn't stopped running. She didn't want to. It felt nice, the running, and the fact that there was nobody who would try and stop her. As she though about that, she couldn't help but think back to everyone at Heleopolis who would freak once they found out she was missing, again. Most likly though, no one had realised it yet. After all, the one person who always checked on her in these sorts of situations, was dead. She felt tears welling up in her eyes as she remebered the events following his death.
« FATHER! » cried Cagalli once she saw the courpse in the study. She ran to it, « Father! » she cried again. There was no response. He was dead. Realising this, she sunk down to her knees and cried.
She was found hours later by Kisaka, who took in the scene and brought her to her room, putting her to bed. He had stayed with her untill Kira arrived. He had left, giving them the chance to speak in private.
« Your king, » said Cagalli simply.
« Yeah, » said Kira, he looked distracted.
« Congragelations, » replied his sister sarcasticly.
« Uum…thanks? » mumbled the new king, still in shock.
« Amazing how things change so quickly… »
« It's ironic really, » said Kira suddenly, « I'm now king of a contry, leader of a cause, that is waging a war against coordinators, yet I am one. »
« What? »
« I'm a coordinator. »
An akward silence filled the room. Cagalli was shocked, Kira was nervous. As usual, the princess broke the silence :
« You'd better not tell your mistress, Lady Fllay, unless you want an empty bed that is, » she said sarcasticly.
« Do you hate me for being one, a coordinator, I mean? » questionned Kira shyly.
« No, of course not, you're still Kira after all, » replied Cagalli. They both smiled for a split seccond. Then it was gone and they were both in tears, crying for thier father.
Athrun had been eager to leave that mourning, packing all night and getting no sleep at all. He had left before dawn, on foot, not to sure of where he was going, just happy to get away. Now though, it was nearly midday and he was beggining to regret not any plans.
« This is so unlike you Athrun, » said Nicol's ghost, the one that lived in his head. He just shook it off. Yes, this might of been strange for him, but it felt right. He took a look around him. He was in a small clearing, surrounded by trees, a small brooke ran through it. The place was something out of a painting. Athrun remembered his mother telling him about how beautiful nature could be, what a wonder it was. He himself had never seen it's full beauty untill today, his landscapes had always been full of lavish, gory castles or battlefields. The wonders of nature truly are great, he thought. It all looked so beautiful, he wished it could stay like this forever, that no one would tamper with it. That led him to thinking : Is that what coordinators are? Wonders of nature that have been tampered with?
Cagalli had disapeared again. Kira wasn't surprised, she was his twin after all. And, as unpredictable as she could be, he always had a good idea of what was going on inside her head. The same went for her. So when everyone asked if they should search for her he said : « No, it's better that we give her that freedom she yearns for. She needs it. » God knew, he needed it too.
It was early afternoon. The princess of Orb was running again. She had been non-stop since mourning. Under the warm summer sun, she felt as if wings were growing on her back. Cagalli had never realised just how much she loved to run. If only she could do this forever. She arrived at a forest. It was big, thick and imposing. That wasn't going to stop her though. She ran through it as if there were no tommorow, paying no attention to all the cuts and bruises she was recieving, or the small snake that bit her ankle when she accidently stepped on it. It was mid-afternoon when she finaly saw something besides trees. A small brooke. She stopped to look at it for a seccond, observe the silvery water that was runing through it. Cagalli smiled, she was going to run with it.
The story of the princess of the brooke is rather simple. It goes like this : once upon a time, in the kingdom of Orb, a young princess made frineds with a brooke. Toghether they ran throughout the forest without a care. The end. It wasn't really a story worth telling. What happened after though, was.
Cagalli noticed a clearing up ahead and began to accelerate, wanting to see it. That was when the snake bite from earlier finaly kicked in. The tomboy suddenly felt dizzy, her ears began ringing, her vision became blurry. She lost her balance and began to a fall, as she did, all she could see could see was a mix of blue and silver : the brooke. She screamed.
Athrun heared the scream. He was on his feet immeadiatly and ran to where it had come from. When he got there, he spotted someone underneath the water, unconcious.
« Don't worry! » he said for no reason at all, before reaching for the person. He pulled the body out of the water, the person wasn't breathing. Athrun groanned inwardly, knowing what he had to do. He began doing the bouche-a-bouche treatment. It was only when his lips were pressed firmly upon the person's did he realise something : the person he was doing this to was Cagalli, princess of Orb. Immeadiatly, he pulled back, thinking she would kill him on the spot, but she didn't react. He looked at her, she was breathing now, but still unconcious. He put her hand over her forehead, she had a fever. Without thinking, he flung her over his back and began on a mad dash towards the nearest town.
The Tiger's Inn, was a small respected place, known for it's good service, comfortable rooms and bizzare coffee brews. Besides a few men getting drunk just before the witching hour, it's usual tenants were not used to an enourmus amount of commotion. So they were all surprised when Athrun came running with Cagalli on his back, begging for help. The innkeepr's wife, Aisha, went to greet them.
« What seems to be the problem? » she asked.
« It's my…brother, » said Athrun, telling her the first lie that entered his head, « we were fishing and he fell in… »he trailed off. The blue-haired lady, Aisha, quickly understood the situation.
« Andy get down here! » she cried, « there's a young boy in need of medical assitance! »
« What happened? » asked the man comming down the stairs, Andy.
« He fell into the water and under for too long! »said his wife. Andy looked to Athrun.
« Did you… » he began.
« Yes, » he answered, blushing.
« Good, then have him lie down for awhile and we'll do a medical examination later, » said the innkeeper sternly. Athrun followed him to an upstairs room. He opened it up, there was only one bed (A/N : don't go getting any ideas!). Andy noticed this. « I'll go ask Aisha to get you a matress, » he said.
« Thanks, » said Athrun nodding, delicatly, he placed Cagalli on the bed.
« Hey kid! » said the innkeeper as he was about to leave, « what's your name? »
« Alex Dino, » said Athrun without hesitation.
« Very well. »
It had been quiet at the emcampment ever since Athrun had left. That was something no one had really expected. After all, Zala was a quiet guy. But then again, with Athrun on his leave of absence, and Nicol, well dead, Dearka had nobody to tease and Yzak had nobody to yell at. Funny how quiet people could make such a difference. Not only was it quiet without Zala around, for Dearka, it was boring. Once he was through with all his routines and drills, he found himself in his tent with nothing to do. He sighed, what was so wrong with having girls amoung the ranks anyways? That lame excuse of a princess always joined up, why couldn't other girls follow her lead? He sighed again, louder. Suddenly, he caught wind of another conversation (besides the one between him and him, that is).
« Azreal can be really foolish sometimes, of course I mean well, » said a familiar voice.
« Yes, but he's just taking precaution because of your position here with ZAFT, » said another one.
« Well he really need not worry, I will do this for him as long as he delivers the goods, » said the familiar voice, « tell him that. »
« Very well Creuset, » said the other voice, Dearka's eyes went wide in shock, « untill next time, for our blue and pure world. »
« Of course, » said Le Creuset.
Athrun stared out the window, amazed at how he had come to be in this predicament. Suddenly the door opened, it was the inkeeper and his wife.
« I hope this isn't a bad time, » said Andy.
« Of course not, » answered Athrun, realising they had come to examine Cagalli.
The other man nodded and began his work. He was very professional while he examined her, doing everything carefully, nothing outrageous. Finaly, he was done.
« Well, looks your friend got into quite a bit of trouble, » he said. Athrun looked up at him.
« What do you mean? » he demanded.
« See this? » asked Andy, pointing to Cagalli's ankle, « snake bite, it won't do anything much if we treat it soon, the reaction from the vennom is what made her fall. »
« What did you just say? » asked Athrun.
« Hum? oh, her, » replied Andy, « yup, that's what I said, » he paused, « you're not fooling anyone Athrun Zala. » (Though Aisha did seem quite shocked as her husband spoke those words.)
Dearka was confused now, what he had overheard was, well, scary. Le Creuset was working with then enemy? With Azreal? What the hell was going on?
Funny how things changed so quickly. One minute, Dearka had been board and annoying, the next time he was seen, he looked nervous, paranoied even.
« What the hell is going on with you Dearka? » demanded Yzak.
« What? oh…nothing, » he said.
« Of course, nothing's going on, and you aren't naturally attracted to girls, » replied his comrad. « Now tell me what's going on! »
After a moment of silence, Dearka told Yzak what he had heard.
« Are you crazy? » cried the silver haired boy, « the commander would never betray us! Why would you even believe such a thing! We've been with him for more than seven years! How could you say such a thing! » The blonde just stared at him.
« That's what I though too, but I can't deny what I heard… »he trailed off.
« Knowing you, this is probably just a story you made up out of boredom, » answered his friend angrily. « The commander would never do that! He's one of us! »
Dearka sighed and tried to believe Yzak. He was exhausted, most likly he had misunderstood the conversation. Keep telling yourself that, he thought.
Athrun had yet to get over his shock at the innkeeper's perceptivness, so it wasn't surpirsing that Andy had to repeat his next question more than once.
« Hey kid, would mind giving us the girl's name already? » he barked somewhat irritated.
« What was that? » asked Athrun, coming out of his daze.
« Your lover, what's her name? » asked the frustrated innkeepr.
« She's not my lover! » said the younger man instinctivly.
« Then why, pray tell, are you blushing? » asked Aisha playfully.
« Never mind that, could you just answer the question? »
Athrun thought about it, they were asking for her name, wich meant they didn't who she was. Things were better that way.
« Mayura, » he said, the first thing that came to mind, « Mayura Rivers. » The two others nodded.
« We'll give you two some private time now, okay? » said Aisha, not-so-subtly pushing her husband out of the room, forcing Athrun to grin.
« Thanks, » he said.
The seemingly nosy innkeeper returned about and hour later with Athrun's dinner.
« There's a clinic not far from here with the medication she'll need, » he began, « but it's pretty pricy, think you'll be able to affrod it? » Immeadiatly, the ZAFT soldier knew he was being sarcastic, after all, he made good money with his job. And then there was the fact that Cagalli was a princess, though he didn't know that.
« Nah, I think I'll be ok, » he answered.
« So, what exactly happened to your sweetheart back there, I mean what got her into this mess? »
« I'm not sure, » began Athrun, not protesting about her being his sweetheart, « it's kind of complicated. »
« I'm sure it is, » replied Andy. His face suddenly turned serious, « so tell me, what's it like to of changed sides? »
« Excuse-me? »
« You used to fight for the late Lord Uzumi, now you fight the revoulutionary that is ZAFT, what exactly does that do to you? »
Silence. Athrun fianly spoke up.
« It's hard, » he began, « but if you change sides, it's because you know it's the right thing to do. »
« So you didn't do it for the money. »
« No, I was living fine while I was blindly working for Orb. »
« Then what did you do it for? »
« My beliefs, I think, I'm a coordinator after all. »
« But so is the new king, yet he still fights against his own people. »
« Kira's being mislead, he's only doing this because of his rank in thier corrupt society, because he dosn't know any better. »
« Dosn't the same go for you? »
« WHAT? »
« Athrun Zala, son of the legendary Patrick Zala, true heir to the throne of Orb. Do you really believe ZAFT's cause? Or are you just fighting with them because of who you are, because of your last name? »
Athrun couldn't belive what he had just heard. After joining ZAFT, he had never questionned his motives, he had always told himself it was the right thing to do and that was that. But now this man had him thinking, did he just join because of the shadow his faceless father had left behind? No, there had to be more to it than that.
« But I was fighting against my contrymen! The very race we created! »
« Coordinators aren't a different specis, » said the older man. Somehow, those words were very familiar to him. « And what about her? » continued the other man, « is she a coordinator? » Athrun's silence told him the truth.
« So anyways, » began Andy, « if you give me the money, I'll go get your little lover here the medicine she needs… »
Lacus was ready to leave. She was ready to go and join Kira, to help him. She had everything she would need, supplies, transportation, even an escort. Her only problem was her father. How exactly could she explain to him that she wanted to help the new king, the enemy king? She stared out her window and sighed. The pink princess knew it would've been easier to leave now, while he was away, but, even if his reaction might not of been pleasing, Lacus wanted her father to know what she was doing. She nervously waited for his arrival.
Finaly, his carriage arrived, Lacus ran out to greet him.
« Father! » she cried like a child, but when she reached the veichle, only the sad faces of his guards greeted her. Dacosta looked at her sadly and took her aside.
« This is very hard for me to say Lady Lacus, » he began. The young woman instantly understood what had happened.
« What is it? » she asked in denial.
« Your father, Siegal Clyne, was killed, » he said quietly. A unkown look of horror made it's way onto Lacus' face. Well, at least she wouldn't have to explain her plans to him, she thought biterly before starting to cry.
By midday the next day, Cagalli had been given the medicine and was showing signs of recouvery, even if she was still unconcious and barly moving. Even though he trusted Andy's medical expertise, Athrun was still worried. He approached her bedside and observed her quietly. Indeed silence was in the air. It was that heavy, deep, sad silence that always followed bad news. He crossed his fingers, the same he had when he was a child and hoped she would be ok.
An hour or two later, he had gone to the bathroom, for, well personal needs. When he came back, he noticed Cagalli was stiring, he rushed to her.
« Cagalli? » he whispered. She didn't respond, but slowly, she opened her eyes. « Cagalli, » he repeated. She obsevered her surroundings for a moment, peacefully, not really understanting the situation. Then she saw the man looking down at her.
« ZALA! » she creid, « what are you doing? Where am I? What did you do to me? »
Athrun began to laugh.
« What's so funny? » she demamded.
« Nothing, » he said between chuckles, « it's just, you haven't changed….I'm glad. »
Cagalli was silent, confused, but also somewhat happy.
« So, would you mind explaining what's going on? » she asked timidly. Athrun immeadiatly filled her in. She listened carefully.
« Actually, I'm glad we ran into each other, » she said once he was done.
« Why is that? »
« I…I left to find you…we need to talk. »
But before they had the chance to go any further, the nosy innkeeper came barging in.
« Well, well, well, looks who's up, » he said playfully.
« Who do you think you are barging into people's rooms like that! » demanded Cagalli.
« I'm the Innkeeper princess, I have the right to check up on my tenants every now and then, » he said in the same tone of voice.
« WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME? »
« What? Princess? I thought every girl dreamed of being one. »
Athrun sighed a sigh of relief. As perceptive as he may of been, Andy hadn't quite figured out the truth about Cagalli yet.
« What did you really come here for? » barked the ingognito princess.
« You do realise that you've been out cold for more than a day, and in my care at that? Along with your lover-boy, me and my wife have been pretty worried about you. I was walking by and I heard voices, I suspected you were up. Don't you think it's only natural for me to come and see if you're allright? » Cagalli was silenced. Andy though, contiued to talk, « Aisha'll be here in a moment to check up on you and get you into some proper clothing, » the tomboy flinched at the mention of 'proper clothing' dresses no doubt.
As if on cue, the innkeeper's attractive wife entered the room, and went then left with a somewhat confused Cagalli.
« Actually, » said Adny once they were gone, « the reason I came here is beacuse I'd like to talk to you about something Zala. »
« Yes? »
« You know of Lacus Clyne, am I correct? » he asked, somewhat mockingly.
« Of course, she's my fiance! » replied Athrun. The older man gave him a look that said cheater.
« Yes, well, she has come to me for aide. »
« Why? »
« She is planning to meet up with the new king. »
« What? but why would she do that? »
« She's wants peace and she belives that the only way to achieve it is by working with him. »
« No way! That's nonesence! Why would Lacus do that? »
« Though you didn't say it out loud, you menntioned that the new king is being manipulated by the government. He wants peace, and can easily achieve it, but his coucilmembers who are proffting from this war will lead him in the wrong direction. Miss Clyne has a certain, shall we say connection with this new king, she wants to help him bring peace to our war-torn country. »
Athrun nodded uneasily.
« Very well, and why does she want your help? » he asked.
« Andrew Waltfelt, » said the other, « Desert Tiger. »
« The Deserting Tiger… »
Dearka was tired, he had hardly slept the night before. What he had heared the day before was hauting him. Yzak had told him whatever he thought he heard was crap and to forget about it. But then again, Yzak had always looked up to the commander for some weird reason. He was passing by Le Creuset's tent when he heard voices. Still suspicous about the day before, he approached so he could hear what they were talking about.
« I told that old fool Azreal he could trust me, » said Dearka's commander's voice.
« Yes, and now we have the proof, » said another one, the one from yesterday, « Siegal Clyne is dead thanks to you. You truly are on our side. »
Cagalli
I've found you
Or you've found me
We've found eachother
There is much I need to say
There is much you need to say
We both have much to talk about.
And that's that! Review please!