AN: saw this story on my profile, and figured I should try to finish it... anyway, here's part 2, from the perspective of those who are the second loves.

PART II: THOSE WHO ARE LOVED

CAGALLI: REBOUND

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She's your fiancée, isn't she?

Ex-fiancée, because I was a fool.

Despite what he told her, she couldn't help but feel that he still cared about Lacus, still loved her.

She was so different from the other girl. Despite being a princess, Cagalli didn't act like one. Lacus was much more of a princess. She was pretty, polite, well mannered, and strong. She was brave enough to start a rebellion, using her words and influence to change her world. She was a leader, wise and kind. How was Cagalli ever supposed to compete with that?

She knew that he had loved Lacus once, but what about now, that they were no longer engaged? And what did Cagalli fit into all of this, was she simply his rebound?

She didn't even know why she liked Athrun in the first place. He was a ZAFT pilot, one of those people who'd attacked Orb's neutral colony of Heliopolis and stole one of those mobile suits, and had killed countless people. She had every right to hate him.

But she didn't.

Was it because he had let her go when he could've killed her right then and there on that deserted island?

At the time, she was baffled by his decision, and had wondered whether he was stupid, not that she wasn't grateful, just that it wasn't what she'd expected of a trained ZAFT soldier.

Or maybe it was seeing him so fascinated by the little crabs that crawled onto the beach, she was reminded that he was more of a boy than a soldier, that he was just like her, a child fighting a grownup's war.

Either way, as she pointed his stolen gun at him, she found that she couldn't shoot, that she couldn't kill this boy.

And the next time they met, she found that as she stared into his tearful eyes that reflected her own, once again, she could not shoot. She could not bear the thought of him dying, which was why she had given him her Haulmea amulet.

I'm glad I've met you Cagalli.

She was glad to have met him too. But somewhere in her mind, she'd always wonder if she was still a rebound.

Her question was answered in the form of a promise ring.