English is not my first language. Please bear with grammatical errors.

Disclaimer: I don't own GS/GSD.

Season of Farewell

Chapter 2: Calm Days

"By the way, Kira mentioned he'd had another argument with your father," her boyfriend said, tugging Cagalli's hand as they passed a woman on a sidewalk.

Today, they weren't studying with their friends after school. Instead, they had left their school, which was at the top of a hill, and were walking down a slope toward a shopping mall at the bottom of the hill. And catching up since they had not had much time to talk during lunchtime for she had to eat fast so that she could go to practice for the Team Relay with her teammates.

Cagalli heaved a sigh. "Yeah. A couple days ago, Dad came home early and...well, it was more like my whole family argued."

"Your father sounds...quite determined," Athrun commented sympathetically.

Early in the summer, Ulen had found out that Kira wasn't going to medical college as he had expected; he had seemed to have assumed his son would surely follow in his parents' steps until then. Since the realization, her father had been trying to make Kira change his mind.

At first, Kira had tried to make Ulen give up by claiming his grades weren't good enough, which only resulted into Ulen suggesting Kira spend a year after graduating high school studying for medical college and go to college next year like some people who wanted to get into tough colleges did. His attempt to avoid a conflict by the roundabout reply having failed, Kira had shifted to outright refusal to go to medical college in favor of engineering college.

The argument between Kira and Ulen had continued throughout the summer, and the end didn't seem to be in sight though it was already the beginning of autumn. Cagalli and her mother had been on Kira's side, of course. Even though outnumbered, however, her father didn't seem to be caving in.

He had even threatened that if Kira didn't do as he said, he wouldn't pay for his college. But Kira had said back that in that case, he would just ask his grandfather, Uzumi, who had more than enough money to loan him money for college which he would pay back after getting a job.

Cagalli had initially thought that her father would give up after the failed threat. It had not been the case, though. He still tried to convince Kira that becoming a doctor was best for him this way and that. Her mother had said with a sigh that Ulen had always been a stubborn man who believed in his way.

Kira had often been complaining and their friends, not just Athrun, were aware of the disagreement.

Cagalli made a face. "He sure is persistent. Mom's been trying to persuade him into letting Kira make his own decision, but he still says Kira's too immature and needs some guidance, or something like that. And insists Kira can make robots as just a hobby, not as a job, like some of his clubmates."

"I see." Athrun let out a breath, and, after a pause, asked, "Has your father also said something about your choice of major or college?"

"Nah." She shrugged. "Dad isn't as interested in me as in Kira," she said with a pout. Not that she wanted her father to try to coax her into changing her choices like he was doing with Kira's. But still, Ulen's lack of interest made her a little sad.

A memory from childhood came back. When she was six, her father had gone to a conference somewhere far and brought gifts—key chains—to her and Kira when he came home. Her excitement had been short-lived, however. After handing the key chains to them, Ulen had pulled a book, one about human body for kids, out of his bag and given it to Kira, saying it would help him study.

Ulen had not seemed to be pulling out another book, so she had asked, holding out a hand toward her father, "What's my book about?" She had hoped hers was something more interesting.

He had looked at her with a puzzled face. "I haven't got any more books. I bought that"—he had pointed a finger at the key chain in her hand—"for you."

"But you gave Kira two presents," she had pointed out, her eyes wide. "I have only one."

He had just shrugged, like he wasn't sure what to say. Frowning at him, her mother had said gently, "How about we go to a store on Saturday and I buy a book for you, Cagalli? Actually, it doesn't have to be a book. You can have anything you want."

"But I don't want 'anything.'" She had stamped her feet. "I want a book from Daddy." Her eyes had been brimmed with tears.

"We can share this," Kira had suggested, holding out his book.

"I don't want that book!" she had yelled and pushed him.

He had fallen on the floor and Via had yelled, "Cagalli!"

Her parents had scolded her and sent her to her room. She had run up the stairs, angry and sad. She had not talked to Kira for the rest of the evening, after she had been allowed to come out of her room.

She had not been able to explain why she was so upset then. Nor had she really understood it herself, except that it wasn't fair. She had not liked reading that much. But now she knew. The book had been a symbol, a proof of her suspicion that her father cared more about her brother than he did about her. And she had been angry at Kira for receiving so much of their father's attention.

After dinner, she had talked with her grandfather on the phone, who consoled her and then reminded her that as unfair as the situation was, Kira had done nothing wrong. The talk had eased her anger and sadness to some extent, and she had started to feel bad about what she had done to her brother. In the middle of the night, having been unable to fall asleep, she had quietly gone downstairs, opened a drawer where she kept her snacks, and grabbed a bag of chips. Then she had sneaked into Kira's room to shake him.

"Kira," she had whispered. "Kira!"

It had taken him a while to respond. "Cagalli?" he had said sleepily.

She had inhaled a deep breath and said, "I'm sorry." She had pressed the chips against him. "Forgive me?" Offering him some snacks was her usual way of apologizing.

She had waited for the answer a little nervously, though she knew he would accept her apology.

"Okay," he had mumbled, yawning, and taken the bag of chips.

She had let out a sigh of relief before climbing onto the bed. He had scooted to make room for her. They had fallen asleep soon.

Next morning, her mother had scolded her for smuggling snacks into bed. Cagalli and Kira had not been allowed to bring snacks to their rooms, let alone their beds. But Cagalli had not really cared about being scolded.

On the weekend, her mother had taken her to a shopping mall and Cagalli had chosen a unicycle as her gift, which her mother had previously been reluctant to buy for her. After putting the unicycle into the car trunk, Via had crouched down in front of her.

"Your daddy can be very forgetful, especially when he's wrapped up in his work. So please forgive him for forgetting to buy a book for you, will you?"

Cagalli had looked at her mother—her warm and loving amethyst eyes—for a moment, then nodded. "Okay."

Via had smiled with relief and hugged her. "Let's grab some ice cream. But don't tell Kira, okay?"

Her mother had put a finger over her lips and they had shared a conspiratorial smile before heading to an ice cream store.

A squeeze on her hand pulled Cagalli out of her memory. She looked at Athrun who said gently, "Or maybe your father is satisfied with your choice of career and therefore, has nothing to say. Veterinarian is an admirable job, like doctor."

She smiled and squeezed his hand back. "Maybe."

The sadness in her heart dissipated at his warm concern. Moving her hand holding his widely, she searched her mind for a more pleasant topic, her gaze wandering through the roadside trees changing colors.

"Oh, hey, I haven't told you Ahmed, my friend you know, may be applying to Tassil Uni as well, right?"

He thought a little before slowly asking, "Isn't he the one who asked you out?"

"Yeah, that's him." She nodded, an amused smile spreading over her face.

It felt like such a long time ago that Ahmed had confessed to her in the beginning of their senior year in middle school. Although their exchanges had become awkward for a while after she turned him down, they had gradually returned to close friends before graduation. The confession had become a kind of funny memory, which they sometimes made a joke about. They had been long-time friends after all, since childhood. He was one of her best friends.

After learning that her father had forbidden her to have a pet even though she loved animals when they were in the third grade, Ahmed had even "lent" her his dog, Mal, letting her come along while walking the dog and take care of the dog or play with the dog along with him. Mal, a Pit Bull with chocolate-brown fur and green eyes that had died two years ago to their great sadness, had given Cagalli so many fond memories and she couldn't thank both Mal and Ahmed enough for that.

Though the dog wasn't what connected her to Ahmed, of course. He would have still been an important friend to her even without Mal. He was kind and funny, though a bit annoying. Even though their high schools were different, they often talked on the phone or exchanged texts and regularly went out, with or without their other friends.

"He hasn't decided yet, since Tassil is far and he's not sure his grades will improve enough," she continued. "But he is considering going there and I'm trying to convince him he should go for it."

She had almost jumped with joy when Ahmed had told her this morning at their bus stop that one of the colleges he was considering was actually Tassil University since it was the best for the subject he wanted to learn. She had made him swear to study as hard as possible so that his grades wouldn't be a problem. Until facing this possibility, she had not realized exactly how much she disliked the idea of moving to a new place by herself.

"He is interested in desert greening," she informed Athrun, "so we're going to different colleges even if he goes to Tassil Uni. But still, we'll be at the same university and probably take the same classes at first. Either way, we are planning to have study sessions on weekends. Both our cram schools are near the city library, so probably there."

After school on weekdays—when she didn't have to work for the Sport Festival Planning Committee—she studied at her high school with Athrun, Kira, and their friends until she had to leave for classes in cram school or the time for students to leave came; on weekends, she had been studying at her cram school with Kira and their friends who went to the same cram school until now.

"Kira said he'd join us, and we're going to ask our other friends from middle school," she added. "Fllay'll probably come. I'll ask Miri, too, if her early exams don't go well." The brunette was applying for the photography course in an art college which was called the Terminal for some reason. She was trying to get accepted through the early decision plan and if she passed the test, she wouldn't need to study anymore. "Though I hope she'll be successful since she's been trying hard..."

Cagalli closed her mouth, noticing there was still a frown on Athrun's face.

"What's the matter?"

He looked like he was debating in his head. After a moment, he shook his head. "Nothing."

She pulled her own eyebrows together. "Athrun, are you all right? Nothing happened...like with your father, did it?"

She was aware that although they were on better terms than before, he and his father were still not exactly tight; he sometimes complained about how his father was overbearing. Come to think of it, he seemed to have been a little off recently.

She didn't think he had argued with his father about his college like Kira and her father. From what he had told her, his father was satisfied with both his career choice and college choice. But they could have disagreed on something else, and Athrun might be frustrated because he wasn't the type to talk back to his father, or always show his displeasure to others. He tended to bottle up his feelings.

He smiled at her. "I'm all right. It's really nothing."

She studied him for a while, then nodded. "Okay. But tell me if anything happens, yeah?"

"Yeah."

Although his smile didn't seem completely genuine, she decided not to press. He often needed time to prepare himself before revealing his problems. And he had promised to talk to her if there was a problem. It was probably enough for now.

Soon they reached the shopping mall and headed for a bookstore in it. They had come to buy study guides for her. She liked the biology study guide Erica Simmons had lent her last week and had decided to buy one for herself. She also looked for a good math study guide. Athrun had given her some advice and after skimming through several books, she picked one.

"Can we stop by at the engineering section? I want to check a magazine," Athrun said.

"Sure. Let's go."

While Athrun leafed through the magazine, she took out her phone and logged in her Faceguide account. There was a new post from Professor Ashman with a picture of the university library, which informed his students about new books the library had bought. As she scanned the post, an idea occurred to her. She went through his old posts and collected photographs of the university campus, then attached them to a text.

"We can go now."

"Yeah."

She glanced at Athrun and started walking, still typing. He circled his arm around her shoulder so that she wouldn't bump into someone or a bookshelf.

Sending the text, she looked up and explained, "I was sending some photos of Tassil Uni to Ahmed. Seeing the campus may help him choose the university."

He smiled back, but the smile seemed a little awkward. However, she didn't ask since she had decided to give him some time. She just took his arm off her shoulder and held his hand to squeeze it. His face softened and he pulled her hand so that their bodies lightly bumped.

As they got in the checkout line, her eyes fell on piles of magazine on a platform a few meters away.

"Back in a second," she told Athrun and trotted toward the platform to pick up a copy of the magazine.

"Isn't that a fashion magazine?" He looked puzzled as she came back to the line. "I didn't know you buy fashion magazines."

"This isn't for me. It's for Kira." She tapped the cover where their pink-haired friend was smiling. "It should cheer him up." The magazine featured his girlfriend; Cagalli paged through it to make sure it had many photos of the idol.

Satisfied, she smiled at Athrun whose smile seemed genuine this time.

When Cagalli entered the smaller conference room which was now functioning as a kind of the Sport Festival Planning Committee Headquarters, there were only three students inside. One of them was the Chairman and she walked over to him, assuming he had some tasks to hand out. The task that had been assigned to her was over and she didn't have one at hand.

"Hey, Chanoo. What's up?"

He looked up from a binder in his hands. "Hey, Cagalli. Will you copy these and make booklets? The rulebooks." He turned his body to put down the binder and pick up a pile of papers from the desk he was sitting on.

"Sure thing. How many?"

He told her the number, which was a lot since it was the number of students in SEED Highschool plus a little more. He also gave her detailed instructions.

"You should bring some other people..." Adjusting his glasses, he looked at the other two in the room, which she imitated. But the two students seemed busy, discussing something over several papers. "Well, I'll send some people to the printing room as they come. You just get started, okay?"

"Got it."

She took the pile from his hands and turned around. Her eyes met those of the person who just opened a door to the room.

"Oh, good timing. Hey, you don't mind if I take her with me, yeah?" She turned back to the Chairman and pointed her chin toward the door.

"Go ahead."

She gave a nod, then headed for the door. "Hey, Meyrin. Come with me. We need to make rulebooks." She lifted the pile in her hands a bit.

The younger girl nodded obediently and fell in line with her. "The printing room?"

"Yup. Others should come to help later."

The printing room was on the first floor, next to the faculty room, not far from the conference room which was on the second floor. Fortunately for them, the printing room was empty, no one using the two copy machines.

Cagalli handed Meyrin a half of the papers. "Use that machine. I'll use this one." She told the redhead the number of copies she should make and they set a paper into each machine.

As the machines started working, Cagalli asked, leaning toward her machine, "Do you like sports, Meyrin? Did you nominate yourself for the committee?"

She had known Meyrin, who was a year younger than she was, to an extent since the redhead was a member of the robotics club, to which her boyfriend and brother had belonged until the summer, but had not had many conversations with the younger girl.

"Well, no. I joined the committee only because nobody in my class wanted to and I was chosen by lot. And I don't really like sports. I'm not exactly good at them, though I do okay. My sister is the athlete in my family. Not me."

Cagalli nodded understandingly. "So you guys are like me and Kira. I'm the athlete and he's the computer geek."

"Uh, yeah...I guess."

"You haven't taken—"

Before Cagalli finished the sentence, Meyrin's machine stopped and both of them looked at it.

"Oh, there are no more papers." Meyrin opened up a pile of blank papers, which was placed next to the machine, and put them into a container and the machine resumed its task. But she still looked around, apparently searching for something.

"What are you looking for?" Cagalli asked.

Meyrin looked at her. "Are there more papers over there?"

Cagalli looked around her machine. "I have four piles here."

"I have only one more. I don't think they are enough."

Cagalli calculated in her head. "You're right. Wait a second."

She opened the door to the faculty room and called out to a teacher who was nearest. "Mr. Tiger, are there more papers for the copy machines in here?" For some reason, teachers sometimes kept a few piles of papers in the faculty room.

Andrew Waldfeld, who seemed to have been distributing cups of coffee of his original blend to his colleagues like usual, turned to her, a tray in his hands.

"No, we're empty here. If you need more than those in the printing room, you should go and ask the custodian. And you probably have to carry the piles from the storage." His right eye twinkled; his other eye was always closed due to an injury. "But it must be a tough task for a young lady like you. Of course, I wouldn't mind lending a hand if you just politely ask, Miss Hibiki."

She stuck out her tongue. "I do not need your help. The custodian has a dolly and I can carry the papers by myself."

The one-eyed man sighed in mock sadness, his scarred hand up in the air. It was rumored that he had gotten the scars because of an explosion during a chemical experiment, glass or metal charades cutting his eye and chemicals burning his hands. Well, the man himself actually insisted that the scars were from a fight against a tiger with chemicals as his weapons—hence his nickname Mr. Tiger; his choice of clothing which included tiger-print tie and shirt and such had also helped the nickname become popular—but no students believed it of course.

"So, you rob this old man of the pleasure of being useful for once? That's not nice."

"You aren't that old. And you'll find another chance anyway. You put your nose into a lot of stuff," Cagalli pointed out before retreating into the printing room and telling Meyrin what she had heard.

Then she went to the custodian's office and brought papers—and a couple of ink cartridges and a dozen packets of staples, at the custodian's suggestion—to the printing room, which were actually heavier than she had expected. But she managed. It wasn't so big of a challenge since she was used to training her muscles.

She and Meyrin removed the stuff from the dolly and built up the piles of papers next to the machines while placing the other things on a large square table at the center of the room. Then, she went to return the dolly. When she came back to the printing room, Meyrin was doing something with Cagalli's copy machine.

The redhead looked up and explained, "I was setting a new paper since this machine too finished copying the previous one." There were two piles of papers on the table; she seemed to have collected the printed papers from the machines and set them there.

"Thanks. Now we're back to the waiting, I guess." Returning to her place next to her copy machine, Cagalli traced her memory. "What were we talking about before? Ah, I remember. You said you aren't an athlete. You never practiced karate like Lunamaria then?"

Meyrin's older sister, who was in the same year as Cagalli and a student of SEED High as well, took a karate lesson at the same dojo as Athrun did. Cagalli had gone to some karate competitions to watch and support him, and seen the sisters there.

Meyrin shook her head. "I tried before, but it's a bit too...scary? I don't think I'm made for it."

Cagalli looked at Meyrin with interest. Karate fascinated her; she loved watching karate competitions. She might have taken a lesson herself if she had not been busy with the volleyball club.

"I didn't think some people may find karate scary," she told Meyrin. "But now you mentioned it, it makes sense."

After all, it was an art of damaging a human body. Although it wasn't allowed to inflict actual harm on the opponent as Athrun had explained to her, their attacks were still capable of causing injuries, still dangerous. And not everyone was a fighter who could handle, or even love, the danger. Some people were more of a pacifist, like her brother.

"You're reminding me of Kira more, actually."

Meyrin tilted her head. "Well, Kira-senpai and me get along well."

"Yeah, he told me you're nice, and a good programmer. And Athrun praises your working attitude."

Meyrin's cheeks turned pink. "It's nice of them to say such things."

Cagalli smiled at the younger girl. "I don't know your programming skill, but I agree you are a good worker."

Meyrin smiled back. "Thank you."

Cagalli's eyes drifted toward the window. The track club was practicing on the schoolyard and she watched them longingly. "I miss my volleyball practice. I can't wait for the sport festival." Patting the copy machine, she made a pout. "But after that, we seniors won't get to have much fun. Only studying for entrance exams, and then graduation."

After a short silence, she shook her head and looked at Meyrin. "Well, I hope you're enjoying your club." She started doing simple stretches with her arms and legs. Thinking about her practice had made her want to move her body. "Are you in the Club Relays this year, too?"

In the Club Relays of the sport festival, all clubs competed against each other, though athletic clubs and non-athletic clubs ran separately. But it was more like a fun game, having no effect on the overall scores. Some clubs, especially athletic clubs, still tried to win first place; other clubs used it as an opportunity to appeal to students who belonged to no club and could be a new member of their club. Both Athrun and Kira had represented the robotics club two years in a row and were going to this year as well. Cagalli remembered the strawberry-haired girl had been another representative of the club last year.

"I am. None of our freshmen are really good at sports, so our members will be mostly the same as last year." Meyrin paused, then asked. "Speaking of entrance exams, is it true you're going to Tassil University?"

"Yeah, that's my first choice. Did Kira tell you?"

Meyrin blushed. "No. I saw it on a thread."

Cagalli thought for a moment. "You mean the anonymous threads, right? Do they have that kind of information?" She didn't remember seeing something like that on the anonymous websites students used to chat or exchange information about their school. Then again, she rarely went to those websites. Kira, who spent a long time online, fed her enough information from the Internet.

"I happened to be reading a thread where some people were talking about...colleges, like who goes where and how hard it is and things like that," Meyrin said a little hurriedly. "Someone heard you're going to Tassil Uni and wrote about it in the thread."

"I see." Cagalli nodded with understanding. Tassil University wasn't one of the best colleges, but was still a good university. It was natural that some people were curious about it. She might not be the only one in her school who considered going there even though it was far from here. "Was there any mention of someone other than me applying for Tassil Uni?"

If there was another senior, they might be interested in studying together or exchanging information with her. They could also help out each other after going to Tassil. It would be nice to have a familiar face around in a new place. She might not have to go there alone even if Ahmed wasn't coming; and if Ahmed was coming, the more the merrier.

Meyrin blinked several times, then thought a little. "I don't think so."

"Hmm. Will you let me know if you run into that information?" Cagalli made a mental note to also ask her teachers about it later. Since she had made the decision only about a week ago, she had not checked such information yet, though she knew fairly well about Tassil University thanks to Professor Ashman. Probably she should ask Kira as well.

"Um, sure."

"Thanks." Cagalli smiled at Meyrin who gave her a vague smile. "How about Lunamaria? Is she going to a college in PLANT?"

"Yeah. Her first choice is M&M. She wanna learn space engineering."

M&M, whose official name was Martius and Maius Technical Institute, was the hardest technical college to get into from what Cagalli had heard.

"Ah, that's fantastic. Thinking your sister may go to space someday, or help people go, must be quite exciting, yeah? Does she like GUNDAM WARS?" Cagalli asked, flipping through the printed papers on her copy machine just to have her hand occupied.

It was a famous movie series about a war in space, one of her favorites. She didn't know much about engineering stuff, but Athrun said the machines in the series were interesting and quite accurate from the engineering aspect.

"She does. We went to watch the episode two together," Meyrin replied.

As they were discussing the movies, the door to the corridor opened and three students walked in. They were all members of the Sport Festival Planning Committee and must be the help sent by the Chairman.

"We're still in the middle of copying, so sit and wait." Cagalli motioned toward the table. The students picked up folded chairs beside the wall and seated themselves to chat.

It took another half an hour until all the copying was done. Then they started making booklets with the papers and staples. Two more students came to help later, but when they completed the task, it was already twenty past six, forty minutes before the time all students had to leave the school premise. Cagalli and Meyrin had been in the printing room for more than two hours.

As the final task, they divided the booklets into seven piles for each of them to carry to the conference room where the booklets were kept safe until being distributed. The other students started to leave with their piles while Cagalli was stretching. Instead of going with them, she opened the door to the faculty room again.

Waldfeld was chatting with her homeroom teacher on the sofa. Cagalli walked up to them.

"Ms. Murrue, Mr. Tiger, we are done with the printing room. I thought I just let you know."

Murrue gave her a comforting smile. "You've been working for long, it seems. You must be tired."

Waldfeld smirked. "I'm actually surprised you could bear holing up in such a small room for hours. I expected you to go berserk from the stress, even if just a bit."

Cagalli huffed. "I have much more patience than you give me credit for." He didn't need to know she had been feeling like going to the schoolyard and exercising.

Murrue sent a half-chiding, half-amused look to the chemistry teacher before saying in an appeasing manner, "We all know you're a hard worker, Cagalli-san."

"Thanks." Cagalli smiled at her favorite teacher aside from Ledonir Kisaka who had been her coach at the volleyball club, made a face in Waldfeld's direction, then waved a hand. "I should go. I still have to carry the booklets to our headquarters. Good evening."

The teachers returned good evenings. Cagalli went back to the printing room to find Meyrin standing there alone with two piles on the table.

Cagalli tilted her head. "Didn't you go with the others? We don't have anything left to do, do we?"

Meyrin shook her head. "I was just waiting for you."

"You were?"

"Yeah. I thought you might need some help."

"Ah, thanks. But it's all right. I just went to say we're leaving. Let's go."

They left the printing room, turning the light off and Cagalli closing the door with her foot, and started walking back to the conference room. All the other students who had worked along with them seemed to have gone way ahead, and only their footsteps were echoing in the dimly-lit corridor.

As they reached the stairs, Meyrin hesitantly said, "Can I ask you something, Cagalli-senpai?"

"Shoot."

"Is Athrun-senpai all right with your going to Tassil?"

Cagalli adjusted her pile as she climbed up the stairs. "Well, he is a little worried. But supporting me anyway."

"I see. He's such a generous guy, isn't he?" Meyrin said a little dreamily.

Cagalli blinked at Meyrin's comment which seemed like a sudden leap instead of a natural flow of the conversation, but nodded anyway. "Yeah, he is." She had no objection about her boyfriend being a kind person who tried hard to help others even if it meant he had to do unnecessary work.

"You're lucky to have him."

"I know," Cagalli said with a smile.

As she turned her eyes forward, she noticed the chairman of the planning committee poking his head out of the conference room.

"Hey!" she called out.

"Hey. We were wondering where you were."

"Sorry. We were telling teachers we were done."

Cagalli sped up. Meyrin seemed to be following suit and they soon reached the room to join the others.

Thank you for reading!

···

Below are replies to the reviews.

To Passerby:

Thank you for the review! Yeah, I really like to believe my writing has improved since I started uploading fanfics here. Before that, I didn't think I could write a long story, but here I am.

And I'm glad you like this fic so far. I'll continue to try to do my best!

To Fuyu Aki:

Hello. Thank you for another review!

I suppose that in romantic fics, Cagalli, being female, is more likely to be the main character and therefore, struggle and agonize more than Athrun. But this fic is more about Athrun than it is about Cagalli. She will have some angst later, but he will have still more. After all, he is the one who did a lot of agonizing in the series, right?

Yeah, Athrun hides his feelings a lot. It's actually one of the reasons why many of my AC fics are written from his perspective. It's easier to let readers understand Cagalli's feelings by her expressions and words, even her thoughts; it's harder with Athrun's. So I tend to rely on his inner voice.

Oh, and I totally agree Cagalli is his sun! :)

To PegasusInCage:

Thank you for your reviews!

I know it's difficult for many people to read a fic containing some AthrunMeyrin. In fact, I'm not exactly a fan of those fics myself. But I needed to include it in this fic. I hope you'll give this fic a chance.

Yes, Cagalli's grandfather is Uzumi and he will have an appearance. Look forward to it!

And no, I didn't rate this fic M for the prologue. There will be maturer scenes which I'm not comfortable including in T-rated fics but need to include in this fic. So I decided for an M-rated fic.

*posted 01/26/19*

*edited 01/26/21*