Disclaimer: Sunrise

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"Tolle, I'm sorry but do you have some time?"

The one who was called by Alex turned his head toward him. Tolle saw him holding a large paper, folded by half to make it easier to carry, and he was nodding towards the break room next to their office space, signaling him to follow.

Office hours had ended and not many staff were still in the building at this hour, only those who still had to finish work overtime, including him and Tolle. Miriallia already clocked out, but she still stayed behind to wait for Tolle. Lacus mostly left the office right on time after her marriage, only staying behind when the situation called for it, and today was most of the time, so she was already out of the office.

At first, Tolle asked Miri to wait for him a bit, but Alex told her she could come along if she wanted to, so Miri tailed them both to the break room.

"What? Is there any trouble with your work?" Tolle asked. He thought Alex was already about to leave as he saw him clear his desk and put away his personal things in his bag. It was unusual for him to discuss work outside of office hours.

"No, it's not. Sorry, this is a personal favor I want to ask from you, if you are okay with it. And it shouldn't take too long." Believing he would immediately understand what he was talking about, Alex spread the folded paper, revealing the A3-size paper on the table in front of them. And sure enough, both of them gasped as they saw what it was.

"Oh, my gosh! Congratulations!" was the first thing that came out from Miriallia's mouth after seeing the marriage registration paper, with Alex's and Cagalli's name on it.

"Congratulations indeed," Tolle followed after fixing his surprised face. "So you want me to fill in the witness part?" Tolle asked, touching the column reserved for 2 witnesses that was needed before the form was submitted.

"Like I said, if you are okay with it," Alex pulled out a pen from his pocket, holding it out to Tolle.

"Of course I don't mind," Tolle took the pen from him. "Ooh, this is my first time. What do I have to fill here?"

Alex pointed to the part she had to fill in, "Here, fill in your name, date of birth, your address and the address of your registered domicile."

"Eeh, I can't be the other witness?" Miri said as she noticed the filled in part on the witness section.

"Yeah, sorry about that. Cagalli's boss volunteered for her. I wanted to ask you both, but I think it's better for Cagalli to have someone from her side to participate in her marriage."

"What? You mean we are from different sides from her?" Miri asked, pouting. Alex was making it sound like Miri and Tolle were an outsider for Cagalli.

"Well, you have only met her once. So technically you are still a stranger to her. But I'm sure she thinks about you just like how you think about her." Alex told her about Cagalli who was so happy to receive the pictures of her that Miriallia had taken at the beach. "She's just not sure how to approach you, afraid of bothering you. If you want to get closer to her maybe try initiating a talk with her, but don't be too pushy. She needs a lot of space. With her… well… leg and past in Orb…"

"I understand l," Miri smiled sympathetically. "Oh, while we are at it, I'll get you the form to submit later after your marriage is registered. Make sure to get a copy of your new family register and submit them together." Miri left them and went back to the office, half-skipping.

As Alex watched after her, feeling grateful that Miri was just happy for him, Tolle called his attention, "Alex."

When he turned, Tolle was holding the filled form in his hand, handing it out to him. But as he reached out his hand to take it from him, Tolle moved his hand away, still holding the paper.

Alex furrowed his brow. Why was he trying to joke around now? But when he looked up to his face, he saw that Tolle's face was straight and serious.

And then with a tone as serious as his face, Tolle asked him, "Alex, are you really sure with your decision? I know I told you to forget about Lacus, but I do think you are moving too fast with Cagalli. It's marriage, you know? Not a simple dating like what Miri and I currently had—even though I do think about my future with her. But… You are not doing it because of Lacus, right?"

Alex knew the immediate reply to that, that one of the many reasons why he was moving fast with Cagalli was because Lacus might be in danger. So he used Cagalli as a shield, to prevent Athrun Zala, or anyone from his past, to approach Lacus and make a connection between him and her.

Especially after what he had seen before at the beach house. Alex didn't see his face, but the idea that that person was 'Athrun Zala' was still swirling in his mind. Alex didn't know how he could be there—how did he know that Alex and his friends plus fiance could be there. Only few people knew about their plans—mainly the family members or close friends of each member of that gathering, but among those people, who would bother to come in the dawn just to see them from afar? And if he was an outsider, especially Athrun Zala, how could he know the privately owned beach house where they were staying? Alex was pretty sure no one was tailing them on their way. It was as if that person knew where to look for him.

And that made him a little bit restless. He had talked to Dearkka and asked him to find something about it, anything. But so far, no such luck.

But even without that, he had been planning on marrying Cagalli as soon as possible, to smooth things over for her so she could get her green card. It would take at the very least one year after Cagalli changed her status as his spouse to adjust to the eventual permanent residence. So it was better to start soon in case the adjustment process took longer.

But of course he couldn't tell the truth to Tolle.

Before Alex could answer him, Tolle continued. "Also… I know this might sound crazy… But she's not marrying you so she can obtain a spouse-visa here or the likes of that, right?"

I should have asked Miriallia instead, Alex thought while facing Tolle with the best confused face he could make—especially since what he said was exactly what Alex had been thinking just before he asked the last question. Alex couldn't give anything away here, not even the slightest hint. He already made that mistake with Kira, so he couldn't afford to be found here either. "What? Where did that come from?" Alex asked as if he was trying to comprehend what Tolle had asked him.

"Well… You know… she's a foreigner, and I heard that some foreigners often use marriage as a shortcut to prolong their stays. And… You're just… You moved on so quickly… with a foreigner…" Tolle tried to explain as best as he could, flailing his hands in the air as if to stress his words. "Too quickly, if you ask me. Like… marriage already, Alex? Really?"

"I thought you wanted me to forget her and move on?" Alex asked him back, using what he wished for him on the day of Lacus' marriage.

"Well, yeah. I do… But…You are speeding up the process here. Whatever happens with trying to know her first, and then woo her, dating her, enjoying the process to get there? Why are you rushing things?" Tolle answered him with another question yet again.

"I already know her, I'm currently dating her, I'm not sure about the wooing part—"

"No, no, no, not like that, but… Ugh, the point is, you moved on so fast that it's weird. It's usually not like this, so I can't help but think that there is something else going on between you two. Like… Cagalli using you for her own advantage since she is a foreigner… And she is a refugee, on top of that—"

"Now you are just making assumptions based on her background. She will be sad if she knows," Alex tried his best to sound disappointed, hiding the worry he felt inside on how close Tolle got to the truth. "I… love her, she loves me," he stated as calmly as possible, "Why wait if we are going to end up together?" He asked again.

"You wait so you have time to think thoroughly if this marriage will go smoothly or end up badly," Tolle explained patiently.

"You want my marriage to end badly?"

"No, I don't! Of course we don't want that. But that's why I'm telling you to wait, spend more time with her, and rethink about it all, if she is really the one for you. How did you know if she is the real deal in these short few months? You used to see Lacus with that dreamy far eyes, like you worship the ground she walked—"

"Wait, I did?" Alex cut him mid sentence. Was his feelings really that obvious to other people?

Was that the reason why Kira realized about him?

"Yeah, you did. And you didn't see Cagalli the way you saw Lacus. You guys… looked different… You were like… two people with a good understanding of each other… There was something going on between you guys, I'll admit, but it's different from what you had with Lacus."

Alex didn't realize that Tolle was this perceptive. He knew Tolle realized his feelings toward Lacus, but he didn't expect him to notice the difference to this extent.

"Does it always have to be like that?" Alex tried to counter, though he didn't know if it would work on Tolle or not. "With Lacus… Well, borrowing your own words, you could say that I… 'worshiped' her…" He used the word Tolle had used in his statement before, moving his fingers to make a quoting gesture, and making sure to stress the past tense. "But with Cagalli I feel… comfortable… if that makes sense…" Alex genuinely hoped that what he was saying was acceptable. He didn't know if that was a common thing to say about your fiance or spouse, but he was cautious if Tolle would see through it if he just denied what he had said to him and over exaggerated things by telling blatant lies—like he felt the same thing with Cagalli the way he did with Lacus. So Alex polished what he actually felt with something a little bit of icing on top, "We understand each other's needs. Living with her is easy, like… I don't need to make things perfect with her, she accepts me as I am, and even with her current condition—be it as a refugee or with her being on prosthetic—I don't really have any problem with her. I'm good with the way she is… "

Hearing himself saying those things, Alex paused for a moment.

Other than Cagalli's need for the green card and Athrun Zala problem, Cagalli was actually easy to live with. She helped with chores, she respected his personal space, easy to talk to and pretty much a nice person to talk with, a good listener. Overall, Alex felt comfortable living with her as a roommate.

But that thought made him contemplate one thing, another thing that just came to his mind.

Would he feel like that too if it was Lacus who was living with him?

Alex had no one to compare to before. Just like what Tolle had said, all this time, he had been worshiping Lacus like a goddess. But most of the time, Lacus usually only seeked him when it is convenient for her, or when she needs him to do something for her. Cagalli would never do that; even when he told her all the advantages she could have by marrying him. Cagalli only took what she needed, and never demanded for more. Instead, she tried her best not to be a bother to him and whenever she could, she would do things for him.

He had been devoting his time and effort for Lacus, covering for her, doing almost anything for her. But would she do the same to him if they were to live together? Lacus did repay him for things he did for her—in the way she knew best. But deep down, he felt like he realized Lacus did that to make him feel appreciated, to keep him by her side. Anytime he came to his senses, Lacus would look up to him from below her lashes, keeping him close with her sweet voice.

And not just him. In the past, she would do that to anyone.

Would it be as easy to live with her as living with Cagalli?

Alex felt like he knew the answer already. "And I… I just don't think I can live like that… with Lacus… She'll be too… demanding, I think…" As the words came out from his mouth, the meaning of each word slowly seeped into him.

Why? Why now that he knew how it felt like to live with someone he can comfortably live with, that he felt like slowly seeing another part of Lacus that he hadn't seen before, like the bigger part of the picture was starting to come into his line of sight.

"Alex, are you saying that you had actually moved on from Lacus?" Tolle asked incredulously.

If he said that he had no feelings left for Lacus, Alex was sure that would be a lie. But if he said no, Tolle would be suspicious of him again.

"Tolle, I'm getting married to Cagalli. Stop bringing Lacus into our conversation. How can I hurt Cagalli like that with my past crush?"

"Well, if you're really sure about that," Tolle finally handed the marriage registration form back to Alex. Swiftly he ran his eyes through the form, checking if there was any problem in the part he filled.

"Alex," from behind them, Miriallia came back with a piece of A4 paper. "Here, you can give them to me when you're done. After you submit them, we'll add your spouse to the insurance payment. You can get the details later if you need them."

"Thanks, Miri," Alex took the sheet from her and put it inside the marriage registration form, making a mental note to himself to fill them too later.

"Hi, did I make you wait?"

Cagalli looked up and saw the person she had been waiting for, standing just beside her table. She could see his hair was a little bit damp, maybe because he ran across the currently pouring rain. "No, my drink just came now. Here," Cagalli passed him the drink menu as Athrun took his seat across from her. She watched him as he scanned the menu, thinking about what he would order, and then back to her own drink, the autumn-limited pumpkin spice latte.

After he told the waitress his order—a regular hot coffee—Athrun turned to Cagalli and smiled," It's been raining a lot, isn't it? I hope we don't get any typhoons around this season."

"Yeah, it's getting colder day by day. Did you run through the rain?" Cagalli gestured to her own hair.

"I ran from my car to the shopping street. Since the distance wasn't that far, I didn't bother to use my umbrella. How was your trip? Where did you go again?"

"We got invited to the beach house by…" Cagalli hesitated to tell the truth, but since the marriage process was already half way through, she decided that it was the best for her to tell the truth; lying would just hinder her visa changing process by adding an unnecessary witness to her unauthentic marriage. "The friend of my soon-to-be husband," she finished her sentence. To add more impression, she brought her left hand up to her chest, showing him the engagement ring on her finger by slowly caressing it, as if remembering the person who gave it to her—Alex must be proud of her act right now.

"Husband?" Athrun looked and sounded like he was shocked. "You are going to get married? When…?"

"We'll submit the form next week," Cagalli admitted.

They have finished all the preparations—the document application at her embassy went smoothly—thanks to Alex who coached her and prepared all the things they needed. Though the process was quite long, they couldn't submit the marriage registration right away. They had to wait a few more days because of Alex's schedule at his office, but she was glad because she wanted to prepare her heart. The change of status felt too sudden for her; she needed more time to process. So they would go to the registry office next week, and prepare for the next step for her visa status change, from a refugee to PLANTs citizen's spouse. After some more paperworks, she could apply for the green card.

Cagalli watched Athrun's expression as he went from shock into thinking mode. With his fingers on his chin, he looked deep in thought, which was confusing her. What was so shocking and puzzling with her marriage? Was it because the last time they had met she told him that Alex was just her boyfriend and Athrun hadn't thought of her to marry him this fast?

For a while, Athrun still had not utter a response to Cagalli's news of marriage, and she was getting confused and worried. Was there anything that she wasn't supposed to say?

Then, the waitress chose that moment to bring Athrun's drink, and it seemed to pull him from his deep thoughts. Athrun blinked and stared at his order being placed on the table. After muttering a 'thanks' to the waitress, Athrun reached for the bowl of brown sugar cubes that was brought together with his coffee.

Cagalli watched, bewildered, as Athrun put six cubes of sugar to his coffee. Immediately, she remembered the time she had breakfast with Alex and the amount of sugar stick he put in his coffee. They both had a similarity with sweet drinks.

And this little fact was somehow tugging her gut. But this could just be his personal preference, both to Athrun and Alex. So she tried to shove it away from her mind.

After sipping his coffee—with Cagalli knitting her brow at the sight, imagining how sweet his coffee would have tasted—Athrun gave his attention back to Cagalli. "Ah, sorry. You caught me off guard there," Athrun took a sip from his cup. "So that boyfriend of yours is now your fiance, and from next week he's gonna be your husband," Athrun concluded. "How do you feel?"

Cagalli winced inwardly. If anyone asked her how she feels about marriage, she was supposed to be happy right? So she had to form an answer that shows the right feelings.

"I've been waiting for this, so… I just can't wait," Cagalli uttered her best answer. Well, technically it was not wrong. She had been waiting for the day of her being a legal, permanent PLANTs residence. All of those words were her real feelings.

"How long have you been with him?"

"Uh… only a few months, actually. But—"

"A few months? And you guys are planning to get married next week?" Cagalli could hear something—like a curious tone in his voice. "Are you sure he's not… you know… umm… If he really loves you?"

"Don't worry about that. I know how he feels, and the feeling is mutual." Yep, they had mutual intention, so she didn't have to worry about that part. But she had to convince him more. As Alex always said to her, they couldn't afford to make even one person suspicious about their relationship.

"I don't know, Cagalli. I'm a man, so I know how men think. I know we've only met a few times, but you seemed like a good person, and I believe you deserved to be happy. But… I'm sorry if I offend you, but seeing as you are a foreigner, there is always a possibility that he's not staying with you with the best intentions. I just don't want you to get hurt—wont wish it on anyone. Are you really sure he's not like that?"

"Of course I'm sure. If not, I won't be marrying him… I know we seemed to be moving fast. But rest assured, we… trust and lo-love each other," God, I hope he didn't notice the stutter, Cagalli thought.

"Are you sure? Men are crude, Cagalli. They might only be using you to achieve their hidden intentions." Cagalli didn't know why but Athrun's words made her body let out a small twitch—it was as if the words meant something more for him. But Athrun seemed to not realize her reaction and continued, "What if he approached you just because you are a foreigner so that he can show you off to his friends like a trophy? Do you actually know his past, like if he had a former girlfriend that left him, and you are just a rebound from her? I don't know, there are many other possibilities too but… I think you get what I mean."

One of his questions about her being a rebound made her heart skip a beat. Of course this could be Athrun's actual concern, but the way he phrased it… It hit too close to home.

"No, there's nothing like that. I… We've been living together for the past two months to get to know each other, so I'm pretty sure Alex had nothing like that." Cagalli tried her best to deny Athrun's words.

"Is that so…" was all Athrun said before he took his coffee again, after he watched Cagalli's face closely and carefully.

A fleeting thought suddenly came to Cagalli's mind, but she tried to push it away, knowing that there was no chance for it. Athrun had said that he doesn't know anything about Alex,

So there was no way he could know about Lacus and what she was to Alex. His words were purely an example that passed his thought, and it must be quite a common thing out there, Cagalli assured herself.

"So, what is it that you want to give me?" He showed her his usual warm smile again.

Cagalli was glad Athrun didn't ask more about Alex's and her marriage, so she went along with his change of topic, the actual reason she called him here. "It's nothing special, really. Just something I found when I walked along the seaside shops," Cagalli pulled out the keychain she had prepared; she put it in a clear gift pouch for a better presentation to him. "I used to live near the beach at Orb back then. So I want to give you something that represents me and my home. You gave me that haro mascot, something that connected you to your current life. So I want to give back with something that shows myself," she put it on the table and pushed it to him. "Well… if you don't like it, just pretend to take it and you can dispose of it later—"

"Cagalli," Athrun called out to her with a half-amused, half-soothing voice. "I like it. I've never received a present from anyone with this kind of sentimental background. People… gave me things to impress me usually. So this is a nice change. I appreciated it," he pulled something from his jacket pocket—his car key—and put the keychain from Cagalli on it.

Cagalli was glad that he didn't hate it. There was still a possibility that he was saying all that so as not to hurt her, but at least he didn't laugh at her for giving him such a plain and simple gift, compared to the limited keychain of Haro Sweet—

A small faint gasp escaped from Cagalli's mouth as she remembered the talk about Haro Sweets she had had with Alex's friends. And now she remembered another thing she wanted to ask him.

"Athrun, you… Have you… Umm…" Cagalli tried to find the right words, but still afraid that she would offend him for saying such things about his family business. How could she ask him about the rumor spreading about his company without making him upset?

"What is it? You can ask me anything," Athrun smiled, seeing Cagalli shifting her eyes side to side, clearly looking confused on what to say to him.

"It's just that… I heard something… not really nice about your company…"

"What? Did you hear that someone has a complaint about us? Which product? Or did they visit our factory? Did they not have a good exp—"

"No, no! Nothing like that. It might be far from what you think at all. It's a… Uhh… It's just… I heard a rumor, and it's not a nice one… regarding the Haro Sweets," Cagalli couldn't look straight to him, so she focused her eyes on the menu stand at their table.

"Rumor?" she could hear Athrun's confused face.

"Yeah… Of course I don't believe them. But I'm… I guess I just want you to know that it is out there."

"Uh-huh…?" was all Alex uttered, indicating for her to continue.

"So… they said that there is a secret club inside Haro Sweets, and that… it's related to drugs…?" Cagalli ended her sentence in a questioning tone, feeling unsure to ask him the direct question if that was true or not, so she added a little bit of the questioning tone.

Contrary to what she believed Athrun would respond, Cagalli heard him suddenly laughing out loud, something she hadn't expected from him, especially not what Cagalli had thought his reaction would be. Though Athrun immediately tried to stop himself and put a hand to cover his wide grin.

But his eyes showed something else for a while, one that she felt a little bit different with the amusement she heard from his laughter. And cagalli couldn't help but stare at him until he noticed her staring.

"What, you said it yourself that you don't believe it, didn't you?"

"Well, I did say that…"

"Where did you hear that, anyway?" Athrun was still grinning as he took another sip of his coffee.

"Well, I told you I was going to the beach a few weeks ago, right? Some people I met there said that they had heard some kind of rumors about Haro Sweets, and she said the most talked one was about the secret club and drugs. They said some people even came to the Haro Sweets factory and asked the staff about it. I believe it was just a rumor, but is it okay that this kind of rumor is spreading? Won't it harm the company's reputation?"

"As long as they can't prove it, it will be just a baseless rumor. If it gets out of hand, I'm sure my father won't stay still and will do what it takes to find the culprit who started it," Athrun answered confidently.

Cagalli sighed. She was a little bit worried about that. But maybe she was forgetting a small detail, that Haro Sweets was not a mere small company. Of course their CEO would make a move if the rumor was threatening them enough.

"Oh, by the way, how were the assorted cookies I gave you last time? Did you like them?"

"Yes, I liked them all," Cagalli's face brightened a little bit. Seemed like Athrun was not offended at all and he was just making light of it.

"Too bad I didn't bring one with me. I should have remembered," Athrun's face fell a little bit at his own inconsideration.

"No, I can't have you giving me more things! Besides, I really want to visit the factory myself, so I'll get one when I can go there one day."

"Really? Then I recommend you come around December because we usually put special decorations at the outer park. A lot of people love taking pictures there," Athrun recommended.

"Yeah, I saw it on the documentary." Then both of them talked animatedly about the factory. Athrun gave Cagalli pointers on which part to visit, what kind of sweets that was popular there, and a spoiler of their new winter limited sweets that was planned to be on sale this December.

"I'll give you a sample of our product later, I hope you like it."

"I told you no need to give me more! I don't like being indebted to other people."

"No, no. Please, accept it. I want to hear what you think about it." Athrun insisted. "Besides, I'm sure you won't be able to resist it after you try one."

Cagalli blinked as she felt a weird feeling at the glint she was sure she saw in his peculiar green eyes.

.

"Relax, you are making this chair wobble, that guy over there is gonna think there is an earthquake."

"But… how can you be so calm?" Cagalli exclaimed in a low voice, still tapping her left foot rhythmically. Sometimes her prosthetic twitched as if she was moving her stump together with her left foot. "What if there is something missing? If I wrote anything wrong in the form, if my documents were—"

"Cagalli," Alex stopped her rambling, holding her right hand that she put on top of her prosthetic knee joint. Lately he had been 'practicing' on touching her when necessary in front of other people. "If there is anything wrong with our documents, we just have to go back home, fix it, and come here again. Stop worrying too much."

Monday finally came and now Alex and Cagalli were at the registry office. They had submitted their marriage registration form and were now waiting for the registration process, then obtaining the copy of their new family register.

"But… I still can't believe that I'm getting married, like this… in this shape, with you…"

Cagalli completely understood that ever since she knew the struggle she faced after experiencing the conflict in her country, her hope to live a normal life was slowly thinning, almost to the point of nonexistent. The same with marriage—she had always thought she would never marry someone, for whatever reason that was. And she had been admiring it, something that she would never be able to have, or so she thought.

But now, she had never expected to be able to marry someone.

Even though she and her marriage partner agreed to part ways someday.

To think that this marriage would definitely end up in divorce, she felt a little bit complicated that this marriage bond that was meant to be a sacred one, was tainted by their own other agendas—even though she completely knew it was too late for that.

At least she got to experience being someone's wife, even though it was just a fake.

"Mr. Alex Dino!" the call made Cagalli jolted visibly, and Alex just scoffed, half smiling.

"Come on, they are calling us," Alex swiftly got on his feet, and extended his hand to help Cagalli stand, as he was sure Cagalli would have difficulty doing that since she was so nervous.

"Your marriage has been registered. Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Dino," the way the registry office clerk called her new name made her heart palpitate.

From now on, she was no longer Cagalli Yula, but Cagalli Dino.

"Here is your family register. Do you want to take a commemorative picture over there?" She asked, pointing to one corner of the area, with a small simple bright flowery backdrop with 'Just Married' written on it, and a board showing today's date.

"Yes, of course," Alex answered without asking Cagalli first. And Cagalli knew Alex would accept the offer. Because the picture would go straight to their special photo album, an album that they had been preparing specifically for the green card interrogation purpose. Every opportunity that could be a proof for their marriage would go straight into it.

"Don't forget to smile," Alex whispered to Cagalli as the clerk walked away from them with Alex's camera in her hand. He was holding the board, while Cagalli was holding their marriage registration form.

"I know," Cagalli half-hissed when she answered him. Though she hoped that her smile was natural enough to other people that might be seeing the pictures.

After the clerk snapped a few photos, she handed them the camera back. "Once again, congratulations on your marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Dino."

Both of them make sure to recollect Cagalli's personal document—her passport and residence card—before leaving the city office. And as they walked out from the office, Alex looked at her and grinned conspiratorially, "I'll be in your care from now on, Mrs. Dino."

Just like that, now she was officially his wife, and he was officially her husband now.

Both of them were already in too deep. There was no going back from here.

"Likewise, Mr. Dino."

Yaay, they are married~

Now Cagalli is already half-way to get her green card, if nothing happens...

So how do you think Athrun's gonna play his part here after? Do you still want him to take Cagalli away from Alex?

Cheers