Dinner was over.
"The pie- it's really good! I never thought Mir and Cagalli could make such a good one," Luna said.
"I did the crust and Cagalli made the filling," Mir explained.
"So, who's up to night swimming?" Dearka said to everyone.
"I think I wanted to dip myself in the water too," Kira said to them. He was sitting at Cagalli's right, with Mir on her left. Athrun was on the other side of the table. Quiet.
"How about you Athrun. Want to go back there?" Meyrin asked.
He just nodded.
"C…can I…swim…too?" Cagalli asked as she pulls Kira's sleeve. Since his return, she never left his side, and it seems she totally forgot about Athrun's existence.
"Sure," Kira answered.
"Then I think I'll go too," Miriallia decided.
"I'm tired… want to take a nap early," Yzak said.
"I think I'll pass…I'll stay here." It was Luna who's spoken.
"How about you Shinn?"
He was staring at the pie. Never eaten a strawberry pie before. He lifted the food and ate it. Began to chew.
"I'll go," he said after swallowing the lump.
"So, Luna and Yzak are staying. They're arguing the whole day. Would it be okay to leave the two of them?"
Meyrin was walking with Athrun towards the shore, while the others follow.
"Yzak won't do anything nasty to Luna, even if she's so ill tempered," Athrun answered. But his mind was somewhere else. Dearka and Mir caught up with them.
"She refused me…" Dearka said with an exaggerated expression of regret.
"Refused?" Meyrin asked.
"Don't listen to this pervert. He wants me to wear a bikini, and I told him I wasn't swimming because it's too cold," Mir explained.
"You still refused my request," Dearka said as he moves away from Mir.
"Go find someone who can fulfill your … whatever!" Mir said as she moves forward.
"Hey! I'm just joking!" Dearka went forward and grabbed Mir's waist.
"Don't do that!" Mir exclaimed.
She looked at Athrun and Meyrin.
"We didn't see anything- go ahead," Meyrin said.
Cagalli was walking slowly. She was burying her feet in the sand as she moves forward- dragging it. Kira on the other hand was busy talking with Lacus as he waits for his sister.
"How is she?" Lacus asked.
"She's doing okay. We're walking to the beach. She said she wants to swim."
"Did…you…give…it?"
"Yeah."
"How did she react?"
"Happy…"
"…" Lacus took a deep breath. She was in one of the Supreme Council's chambers. Working.
"Kira… how long do you plan to do this?"
" Do what?"
"Pretend…"
He stopped walking. Turned to see Cagalli as she walks toward him. Took a while for him to answer.
"I don't know."
" I understand."
The call ended.
Lacus lay back on her chair. Tears were beginning to cloud her vision.
What am I thinking? Why am I feeling this? I'm not losing him…am I?
Their situation was a little bit odd. She suggested that he'd go with the pretension, yet now, she's been worrying about something…which she could not understand. Had it existed long before this fiasco had befallen? She wasn't sure.
He is sure.
He loved his sister more than anyone else. She was his only true family. To sacrifice, and pretend, were two things he'd gladly do…
Luna was sitting on the couch- watching TV.
Yzak went to the shower.
She was watching some cheap drama show. Her eyes- already half closed.
She had fallen asleep.
He was finished taking his shower. Went to the TV… turned it off.
Shinn was far behind everyone else. If Cagalli was a turtle, he's been an ant.
He was thinking of the pie… how it tasted. Sweet and sour… and a little bit salty.
The cold see breeze was getting into his skin. Deeper perhaps. He's been feeling the cold ever since…he can't even remember when it started.
The water was a bit warm, far from Mir's expectations. But she stayed in the shallows. Dearka was smoking a cigar. He was with her, looking at the same view of the dark waters.
Meyrin on the other hand, went to a nearby cottage. Brought with her a good book. Sat down and read as she enjoys the cool breeze.
She was a little bit terrified with the sight. The ocean wasn't blue… almost black.
There were a few stars- no moon.
She held Kira's hand as they moved forward. Her feet was already drenched, then her thighs.
"Are you sure you wanted to swim?" He asked her. She nodded.
Athrun was walking alone.
Learning to deal with solitude- face to face. He wasn't able to talk with Kira about what he saw… about what he did.
Shinn reached the place. Saw Meyrin in the cottage, Athrun walking away, the twins swimming, and the lovers watching them. He looked at the skies.
No moon- he thought.
Kira said she shouldn't swim too far, so she just floated within his arms' reach.
He was enjoying the waters too. Been so long since he'd gone to the ocean.
Seawater is different from hot springs. It has its own mystery, which hot springs
couldn't possibly posses- for it's too trivial.
Meyrin was beginning to fall asleep. The lights were a little bit dim, so her eyes tired out easily. She went towards the beach. Along the way she saw Shinn. Lying on the sand, facing the sky.
She sat down and joined him.
"I couldn't continue reading, it's a bit dark in there. Have you seen Athrun?"
He shrugged his shoulders.
"Saw him earlier."
"I feel sorry for him."
"Should you be?" he asked. His eyes were closed.
"Shinn… I…"
"He made his choice. He has to suffer the consequences. You should make yours too."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Move on." He began to rise and sit beside her.
"I… have accepted it," Meyrin confessed. "All I can do now is to be with him as a friend."
The wind carries pieces of sand as it drifts. It's irritating to someone's eyes. It can cause tears.
The sand hit her.
Shinn stood.
"I'll go swimming." He reached out his hand towards her. "Want to join?"
She nodded.
Mir suddenly noticed Athrun's absence. "Where is he?"
Dearka shook his head.
He wasn't able to notice that he'd gone far from the others- walking towards nowhere. That was his direction- all along. His feet were starting to twitch. But still he moves forward. He looked back. He saw her figure, drifting in the water. She was too far.
Everything makes sense when someone views things from afar- he realized.
"Where have I been all along?" he asked himself.
He watched the color of the mundane sky. It was a shooting star that he saw, but its glow only hurt his eyes. He took a deep breath.
" I will not give up."