English is not my first language. Please bear with grammatical errors.
Disclaimer: I don't own GS/GSD.
Season of Farewell
Epilogue
Enjoying the wind against her body and the warm sunshine of May on her bare arms, Cagalli rode her bicycle down the long, familiar slope toward her apartment. At the end of the slope, she turned to right, toward the parking area. She slowed down as she entered the area and hopped off her bicycle in front of the parking space for bicycles.
Pushing hers into between other bicycles, she put a little too much force. Her bicycle hit the wall next to the space and then bounced back into another bicycle, making some crashing noise.
"Oops, sorry." She caressed her yellow bicycle, then the black one that belonged to her neighbor hers had just hit, before locking her bicycle and taking her backpack out of the bike basket.
Ahmed often said she treated her bicycle, and other belongings of hers, badly. As if he was any more careful with his possessions.
Slinging her backpack over her shoulder, she huffed, but then, felt a pang of loneliness at the thought of her best friend. Unlike her who had a six-year course, many of her friends, including Ahmed, had graduated from college in the beginning of this spring. It wasn't like she was alone now; there were still some friends and many familiar faces around. It wasn't the same, though. Since this semester had begun last month, she had been struggling to adjust to the big change in her life.
"Well, I'll see him soon at least," she told herself.
Ahmed was now working in Heliopolis City, but he and Miriallia were coming to visit her during the four-day break starting today which was Friday. Just a few more hours, then she was going to see them in person.
Shaking off the loneliness, she stretched a little before beginning to walk toward the entrance of the building. She had just come back from an animal shelter where she volunteered and felt tired after hours of walking dogs and cleaning up cages and giving a bath to animals. She was planning to take a shower and some rest, doing something invigorating like watching sports games. Then, she would be ready to have fun by the time she met up with her friends.
She had many things she wanted to do with her friends during their stay, though they had not made a specific plan, except for having her birthday party in the Sunday afternoon through evening, for Ahmed and Miriallia had insisted on making one after they got here so that the plan suited their moods or something like that. Being rather—or a lot—impulsive and used to improvising, Cagalli had not argued.
Daydreaming about the entertaining stuff she and her friends, both those visiting her from Heliopolis City and those living in Tassil, were going to do put a bounce in her steps. Miriallia seemed to need some extra fun. When Cagalli talked to her on the phone yesterday, the brunette had been pretty annoyed at Dearka, with whom she had been having a more-than-friends-but-not-really-dating relationship since their second year of college.
Cagalli pulled her phone out of her backpack to make another research on what to do. She automatically checked new texts first, then tilted her head.
Athrun and she always exchanged good morning texts and good night texts. But he had not returned to the one she had sent this morning even though it had been already about five hours since and the text had a read icon.
If it was someone else like Kira, she would just dismiss it; her brother forgot to reply or forgot his phone itself just as often as she did. But this was Athrun. He wasn't the type to put off texting back or the type to forget or lose his phone.
Medical students, who had a six-year course like students of veterinary medicine, started working at the university hospital as student doctors in their fifth year, observing and engaging in actual medical practice. Since he had begun that part of his education this spring, Athrun had been busier. Still, he always managed to reply to her texts in several hours at the latest.
And he wasn't supposed to have much to do today except for the tutoring lesson he usually had on Friday evenings. Because a field trip was going to occupy most of his time from Saturday to Monday, he had said he was planning to spend this free time finishing a couple of reports he had to write on this weekend.
Maybe he was too engrossed in his reports and forgetting everything else? It sometimes happened to him with robots. But then, the text of hers in question wasn't anything complicated that required him some time or focus to form a reply to: Morning. I'm already excited about meeting Ahmed and Miri! I actually woke up earlier than my alarm clock. It was nothing largely different from her regular morning texts; usually, he sent a text which also said good morning and how his morning was.
And he had read her text. Could he have been so preoccupied that he even forgot to reply just a simple Good morning after reading her text, no matter hard or interesting those reports were? If he was that distracted, it seemed likely to be because something bigger was happening to him.
Wondering whether she should be worried, she went back to the home screen and looked at Athrun's face on it. Currently, the background picture was one of her and him from when they had gone to a beach with their friends in the early spring three years ago; Lacus had had a photo shoot on the beach though it was a rather cold day, and her friends had paid a visit. In the photo, Cagalli was raising a hand to her friends far away and Athrun was looking at someone or something next to the camera, their hands joined but hidden from the camera by his body.
"You're not being a hamster, are you?"
With slightly narrowed eyes, she tapped his face, which looked a bit like one of the icons, surrounded by them. Though of course nothing happened.
During the past four years, since their huge fight that had started with her college choice, he had become more comfortable opening up and talking about his problems and feelings, especially with her. But it didn't mean his head no longer became like a hamster on a wheel. Athrun was Athrun, after all, no matter how much he grew up and changed.
Come to think of it, while they had talked on video chat last night, he had seemed a little weird, though it was more like he was excited about something but didn't want to show it. Could whatever he had been hiding be related to the lack of reply from him? When she had pointed out his seemingly good mood, he had just shrugged it off, saying he was looking forward to the field trip.
Maybe he had been too busy preparing for the trip to reply to her? She knew he had already packed his bags just like an organized and prepared person he was. He had said so during the video chat and she had seen a proof: the packed bags in the background. But there must be other preparation stuff he should do, probably with his fellow students and perhaps his professor. Maybe he had gotten a call or another text right after he had read hers, which was related to the trip, and the interruption had caused him to forget about her text.
So, it was possible that this was nothing to worry about. Though it was probably best that she checked on him just in case.
About to begin writing another text to him, she glanced forward to make sure her way was clear and she wasn't going to bump into something or someone while typing. She was already near the entrance of the building, only a dozen meters away.
Her eyes reached the entrance, then popped out. She stopped dead, not believing what she was seeing. Someone was leaning against the wall next to the entrance. Although he was in the shadow of the building, she still could decipher his face.
He turned his head, probably sensing her presence. Resting on her, his green eyes softened with warmth, his face lighting up.
"Athrun!"
As she ran to him, who took a couple of steps in her direction, she nearly tripped over her own feet once.
"What are you doing here?" She poked his chest with her finger, just in case he was a hallucination or something. He wasn't.
"I came to celebrate your birthday, of course," he replied nonchalantly, though a twinkle in his eyes gave away his amusement at her dumbfounded face. "I can't miss my girlfriend's birthday party, can I?"
"But—but you said..." she stuttered.
Every year since moving to Tassil, she had flown back to Heliopolis City during the holidays in the beginning of May to have an early birthday party with her brother and her loved ones at home; she had celebrated her actual birthday with her friends in Tassil.
This year, however, Kira had said he wanted to go on a trip with Lacus during the holidays; they had not had much time together recently and they might not have a chance for a while because now that he was a grad student busier than an undergrad.
Athrun had also told her one of his professors was organizing a kind of field trip to a hospital which was one of the most technologically advanced hospitals in the country during the weekend; it would really help his education if he could see those advanced instruments with his own eyes, and use them even.
She had understood, but still been disappointed. Then, Ahmed and Miriallia had suggested coming to Tassil instead of Cagalli going home so that they could have an early birthday party with her friends who were still around Tassil. It had sounded like a good idea, especially since most of her other friends in Heliopolis City or PLANT were busy during the weekend, and lifted her spirits. And she had spent the past few months planning and looking forward to it.
"My story about the field trip was a lie," Athrun told her. "Well, one of my professors is actually planning a field trip to the hospital I told you about, but it will be months away from now. And Miriallia and Ahmed aren't coming. Not until Sunday anyway." She just blinked at him, unable to find any words. "They helped me surprise you. They told you they were going to spend the whole break with you so that you wouldn't come home to Heliopolis or make many plans with your friends here. They, and Kira and Lacus and some of our other friends who can make it, are coming on Sunday to celebrate your birthday here. It's my birthday gift for you. Our birthday gift." A pause, then he added, "Some of them are actually coming earlier, but they will leave us alone until Sunday."
"You...all tricked me?" she finally managed.
"We did." He nodded with a smug smile.
She opened her mouth to only close it without saying anything. She repeated it a few more times. She wanted to yell at him and smack his head for deceiving her. But staring at his pleased smile, she couldn't hold onto her anger. He was here, in front of her.
She compressed her lips before jumping at him. "I missed you," she said, wrapping her arms around his neck. They regularly talked and she had been back at Heliopolis City for spring break just a month ago. But she had still missed him.
Without missing a beat, he hugged her back. "I missed you, too."
She nuzzled her nose against his neck to breathe in the scent of him, his sweat mingled with his shampoo and aftershave, which was so familiar to her nostrils. He was really here, having come to see her. She basked in his scent and feel and warmth.
Wait, speaking of scen—
"Oh. Oooh."
Following the sound of opening doors, a female voice came from behind Athrun. They turned their heads to find a young woman with short reddish brown hair standing at the entrance. Cagalli and Athrun were blocking the brunette's way, their bodies pressed against each other.
"Sorry for interrupting," the brunette said, covering her mouth with a hand. "Don't mind me. I'm just leaving. So...please continue."
Flushed, they quickly distanced themselves. Passing them by, the brunette threw Cagalli a teasing grin, mouthing "More handsome than a photo," while trying to hide it from Athrun with a hand. Cagalli scowled at the brunette and made a shooing gesture with her hand.
The brunette, Mayura, was actually her friend who had been a student at Tassil University until this spring and still lived in this apartment. Cagalli meant to introduce Athrun to Mayura and her other friends in Tassil during this weekend, but was eager to keep him, and herself, safe from their prying questions as long as possible.
Walking away, Mayura waved a hand at them. "Bye, Cagalli, and Athrun-kun. Have a good tiiiiiiiime and see you sooooooon," she drawled as suggestively as one possibly could, making her intentions to tease them now and interrogate them later more than clear.
"Get lost already, or else..." Cagalli growled. Mayura just giggled, but turned her back toward them anyway.
Cagalli sent another glare at her friend's retreating back. But then, she shook her head and pushed her nosy friends out of her mind, and turned her face to Athrun. "Let's go to my room."
He nodded, picking up her baseball cap that must have fallen on the ground when she had hugged him and handing it to her.
"That was the friend of yours living here as well, right? Mayu...ra-san?" he asked as she pushed the cap and her phone into her backpack.
"Yeah, that's correct," she said, then pulled her face a little, fishing her keys out of a backpack pocket to open the entrance doors. "But can we just forget about her? I'd rather not think about what she and my other friends were going to pry out of us. Not now."
They entered into the building and walked across the lobby to the elevator, stopping by at the mailboxes to collect her mails.
"Okay." He gave another nod, already appearing a little intimidated. Dealing with new people, especially inquisitive girls, wasn't his forte.
"Don't worry too much. I'll protect you," she assured him, pushing a button to summon an elevator. Then she changed the subject, which both of them certainly needed. "My room isn't big, but we should be able to squeeze in." She tilted her head, realizing he had only one sling bag with him. "Where are your other bags?"
"Actually, I booked a hotel room. Kira wouldn't leave me alone until I booked it in front of him. I already checked in and dropped off my stuff." He paused before making a face and adding, "Kira also made sure it was a single room."
She shook her head at her brother. It wasn't like she had never spent a night with Athrun. Since they had become college students, her mother had given her and Kira free rein with a warning that they shouldn't abuse the freedom and that she expected them to act like responsible adults who deserved the freedom. Her mother didn't reproach her for staying at Athrun's house when she was back during breaks, though Via had told Cagalli that she and Athrun should show respect to his father who still lived in the house no matter how little time Patrick spent there.
In contrast, Kira sometimes made a show of frowning on her sharing a bed with a guy, though it was just an act to annoy or tease her and Athrun. He had not grown out of it yet.
But Cagalli's face soon turned into a grin. "Well, we're used to sleeping together in a single bed, though, aren't we?" The bed in Athrun's room at his house was a single bed after all, on which they had spent a long time together during vacations.
He smiled as they walked into an empty elevator. "We sure are."
"And since we don't have my annoying brother around for a couple days..." She waited until the elevator doors closed though there was no one in the lobby. "...we could spend a whole day in bed," she suggested with a seductive look, ignoring the warmth creeping to her cheeks.
His cheeks turned pink, but his smile deepened. "That sounds tempting." He placed his hands on her waist to pull her close.
She melted into his embrace, glad that there was no security camera in this elevator. His hand cupped her cheek, his face leaning toward hers, and she started to close her eyes only to open them wide as a thought, that had vanished before completely forming earlier, interrupted by Mayura, finally made a proper appearance.
"Hold on." She took a step back, suddenly self-conscious. "I stink, don't I?"
She sniffed her shirt. Working at an animal shelter meant you often smelled like animals, and on top of that, one of the cats had even thrown up on her this morning. Although she had washed the vomit off, the smell was still clinging to her clothes.
Athrun silently averted his eyes, too polite to admit it out loud.
"I'll grab a shower as soon as we get to my room," she said with a frown. "And when I stink, just say it, okay?"
The animal smell she constantly carried around her was half the reason why she usually rode a bicycle around the town instead of using public transportation; the other half was because it gave her more freedom.
"I don't mind kissing you anyway," he offered, looking at her longingly.
"Well...if you say so," she conceded. If he didn't mind her smelling bad, she didn't have much problem. Not to mention she longed for a kiss with him as much as he appeared to.
As she stepped into his waiting arms, however, the elevator stopped with a ding and the doors opened. They stared at each other before sighing in unison.
"My room is just there," she told him wistfully.
"Yeah." He sounded just as wistful.
"So, a hard day at the shelter?" he asked as they stepped out of the elevator, holding hands.
She shrugged. "Nah, just a normal day."
Dealing with animal vomit or animal waste was an unavoidable part of working with animals. Although she didn't particularly love the part, being able to spend time with and care for animals was worth it.
After moving to Tassil, she had thought about finally getting a pet, but begrudgingly given up the idea; she went home during breaks and moving around that often wasn't good for animals. She would have to wait to have her living pet until she settled down.
Volunteering at an animal shelter had been her way of consoling herself. She had not had much chance to spend time with animals in college during the first year; she now had more chances, but she had decided to continue volunteering anyway for she liked working there. She also had two robotic hamsters and one robotic lion Athrun had made for her—Mango, Midnight, and Blanco—which satisfied her desire for pets to an extent.
"Do you have any shifts during this break?"
"No, this morning was the only shift I got for the shelter, or the clinic." Like him, she also worked at the university animal clinic as a student assistant.
"Good," he said with satisfaction. "By the way, I'm actually glad you came home straight from the shelter. I knew you were going to stop by at your apartment before"—he flashed a grin—"'going to meet Miriallia and Ahmed.'" Clearly, he was still very pleased at the success of his deceptive plan. "But I was a little worried you might go to lunch with your friends at the shelter and I have to wait for a while."
She shook her head. "I bought and ate some snacks on my way home, but I thought I'd wait until Ahmed and Miri arrived and then, we could have a late lunch together..." She suddenly stopped, giving him a puzzled face. "Wait. How come you are here?"
He quirked an eyebrow. "Are we starting over?"
"I mean, how could you arrive so early?" she amended. "You shouldn't be here until..." She lifted their joined hands to check his watch. "...at least two hours later."
When she flew from Heliopolis City to Tassil, she usually arrived at her apartment a little before three.
She had expected Ahmed and Miriallia to arrive around that time as well and thought that she would have enough time to prepare herself before joining her two friends at a nearby hotel they were going to stay at and going somewhere with them. Since she meant to go out, she had needed to take a shower and wash off the animal smell beforehand; it was the main reason why she had been planning to come home after her work at the shelter, on which Athrun had obviously counted.
And right now, it was only half past twelve. It made no sense Athrun was already at her apartment.
"That's because I had the earliest flight," he replied casually, tugging her hand to nudge her into resuming walking down the corridor.
"But it's too early. It leaves Kaguya Airport at...what? Six?" And it took about an hour by bus or car from Heliopolis City, or PLANT, to the airport. "Shuttle buses don't run that early."
"It's six thirty," he corrected her. "And I took a taxi."
She stared at him almost disbelievingly. "Did you sleep at all last night? You must've left your house at four or something."
He shrugged. "I worked hard yesterday and my supervisors let us go home early in the evening. You know that." She actually did, since they had video chatted last night. "So, I went to bed earlier than usual. Not to mention I could compensate for my lack of sleep during the flight." He closed his mouth, but then, he seemed to remember something. "Ah, sorry I didn't reply to your good morning text. I was in the plane at that time and I received it only after getting off. By then, it was rather too late to reply a good morning."
"Oh, okay. That explains it." She nodded her head with understanding a couple times, but soon stopped it. "But what happened to your tutoring lesson? And reports?" She narrowed her eyes, though not with seriousness. "Or were they lies, too?"
"I started to plan this months ago and when I had taken the lesson, I told my student I couldn't have a lesson today," he explained. "He had no complaints anyway, for he wanted to enjoy this long weekend to the fullest as well. As for reports, I already finished them during the week."
She gave him another disbelieving stare. "But you've been pretty busy this week. You looked really tired."
She knew his schedule was busy; he had to research a lot or make a presentation or write reports for the work at the hospital. How on Earth had he been able to find time to write a couple more reports?
Then, understanding dawned on her.
"You looked tired because of that. Because you were trying to be free this weekend to come here." She made a little frown. "Maybe you shouldn't have had the earliest flight after all. You must've needed a proper rest. Like sleeping in a bed instead of an airplane seat."
"But this way, we can spend longer time together," he argued.
She blinked. "Oh." Realizing that was why he had gone out of his way like that, she felt deeply touched. "Wow."
"You'd like that too, I hope?" He glanced at her, looking almost completely certain that her answer was yes.
And he was right. "Totally," she answered sincerely and intensely. Her steps slowed as she closed their distance—though it was only a little to begin with—to nuzzle her head against his shoulder.
He dropped his speed as well and his head touched hers. "I'm glad to hear that," he said softly.
They shared a moment of tender silence until a thought occurred to her and she opened her mouth again.
"You know, we could still spend this break together if I went back to Heliopolis like I planned first, without you—all of you—going through all the troubles," she pointed out, then hurriedly looked up to add, "Not that I don't appreciate your effort. I really do."
"I know." He squeezed her hand with a smile. "But I wanted to spend time with you at Tassil. And bring our friends here to celebrate your birthday. You must feel lonelier here than at Heliopolis, and I thought I might be able to ease your loneliness by making more good memories here, or something like that." He averted his eyes a little shyly, shrugging his shoulders.
The emotions filling her became even stronger and she felt like she was going to burst out literally. She wanted to hug him right away, but restrained herself—though barely—for they were already in front of her room. Once they were behind the door, she wouldn't have to hold back at all.
Although she unlocked the door as fast as she could, it still felt too slow. Pulling his hand, she opened the door to jump into her room. She tossed her keys and backpack on the floor and threw herself at him, even before the door closed. Judging from the sound, his back hit the wall. But he wasn't complaining, holding her back firmly.
"Thank you. Thank you so much," she said against his neck.
Instead of replying with words, his hand grabbed her chin to turn her face to his. Their mouths clashed. The kiss was hungry and rough. She wanted to feel inside his mouth but also wanted to pull his tongue inside her mouth. She wasn't sure which one she was getting at right now. Maybe both at the same time. She didn't really care, as long as she could feel him and taste him.
She was all over him. Her hands were clutching his head, full of his silky hair. Her nose was filled with his clean scent. Her body was plastered against his firm body. Her mouth was locked with his hot mouth. Her tongue was intertwined with his demanding tongue. But it wasn't enough. She wanted more. Much, much more.
After a while, they reluctantly separated their lips, needing air. Her head was dizzy and hazed, consumed by the heat the kiss had caused. The heat only Athrun could cause in her. Breathing hard, they stared into each other's eyes, their foreheads touching. His eyes were dark and captivating, almost intoxicating, and pulling her in—drowning her in the deep emerald sea. She could tell what he wanted, that he wanted the same thing as she did.
"Are you sure you don't mind my smell?" she asked between pants.
"I am." He took her lips again as if he couldn't stay away, but soon pulled back to add, "And I have condoms with me."
An amused smile spread over her face. "You sure love to be prepared, huh?"
He grinned. "It serves me well as you can see."
She let out a laughter and he promptly joined her. Her chest was bubbling with love and happiness and she was grinning from ear to ear while kicking off her shoes, until she nearly stepped on Blanco the white lion—Athrun's gift to her for her nineteenth birthday—that had sensed her return and come to greet her.
"Ooh." She managed to regain her balance, then picked up the cat-sized lion, resuming walking into her room and examining the robot. "I didn't break you, did I?"
"I don't think you need to worry," Athrun said unconcernedly, locking the door and taking off his shoes. "I told you, it's programmed to avoid that kind of accidents and has good reflexes,"
With a pout, she stopped in the middle of the room, and squeezed and petted Blanco that nuzzled his head against her chest with a low growl. "Your daddy's cold, isn't he? Of course I worry about you."
"Can we continue?" Athrun motioned toward her bed with a small pout, though she knew he wouldn't admit to pouting.
She put on a dramatic thinking face. "I don't know. I'm not feeling like sleeping with someone who's cold to my pet. Don't you know what they say? 'Love me, love my lion.'"
"Isn't that 'Love me, love my dog?'" he pointed out.
"Whatever. Don't you love me?" She held out the lion robot toward him. Blanco moved one of his paws as if inviting Athrun.
Sighing, her boyfriend patted the robot's head. "Satisfied?"
"Yup." Smiling, she released Blanco on the floor, that started walking away from them, and straitened up to hug Athrun. "Love you, too."
Circling his arms around her, he shook his head a little. "Sometimes, I just can't tell if you are easy or difficult to deal with."
"Take your time to figure me out." She stood on tiptoe. Their noses touched. "We're not in a hurry."
His eyes softened with affection. "No, we aren't."
She closed the distance and they engaged in a slow, long kiss which marked the beginning of a long weekend together.
The End
A/N: I think that in a way, Athrun and Cagalli's story in GSD is the struggle of a traditional man who wants his girlfriend/wife to put their relationship first but fell in love with a modern woman who puts as much importance on her job as on their relationship.
I won't explain it in detail here since it would be too long. If you've read "The Ring," Athrun's part of "The Girl of the Past," "Chain of Love," and/or "Missing Piece," you can hopefully understand what I mean. You can also read analyses on my blog; they should be helpful as well. The address is on my profile page. I'm also going to upload a long note on this fic on the blog in a week.
Anyway, in other words, I believe that although there are extraordinary factors like Cagalli's position and war, AC's story in GSD isn't so extraordinary itself. That a similar thing can happen to many couples.
That's how I got the idea of this fic.
My purpose of this series was to show that Athrun and Cagalli can fall in love and have a big fight concerning how to live their lives in an ordinary setting, just as they did in the original series. What makes them them, whether as a couple or as individuals, is not how many extraordinary things happen to them, but the ways they deal with the situations they are in, right? So I tried to keep events and problems in their lives and relationship as ordinary as possible, make them things that can happen to any high school student (with similar social status, that is).
···
This is my first—and probably will be the only—long story. It actually became longer than I expected. And I sincerely thank you for continuing to read this fic to this very end. I hope it was an enjoyable and satisfying experience for you.
And hopefully, see you in another fic!
Also, happy birthday, Cagalli and Kira!
*posted 05/18/19*
*edited 12/02/20*